In the spirit of my post, “Not by the Power of Man,” a friend recommended that I search YouTube for “kids sing obama” — be prepared to wonder: should I cry, be terrified, be angry, hunker down in the comfort and rest of God’s good grip, laugh … other?

Interestingly, it took me several minutes of searching in order to find just the clip, because there were so many satirical submissions; video collages mixing the Obama children’s chorus with historical footage of the Hitler Youth, Mao’s “Good Little Children” and even recent footage coming out of Pyongyang, North Korean. While those are fairly easy comparisons for most people to make, the whole thing seems eerily reminiscent of the many children’s productions I have seen at church — especially if you pay close attention to the words.

WE’RE GONNA CHANGE THE WORLD
Music and lyrics by Lily Campbell, age 9

We’re gonna spread happiness
We’re gonna spread freedom
Obama’s gonna change it
Obama’s gonna lead ‘em

We’re gonna change it
And rearrange it
We’re gonna change the world.

SING FOR CHANGE
Music and lyrics by Kathy Sawada

Now’s the moment, lift each voice to sing
Sing with all your heart!
For our children, for our families,
Nations all joined as one.
Sing for joy and sing abundant peace,
Courage, justice, hope!
Sing together, hold each precious hand,
Lifting each other up;
Sing for vision, sing for unity,
Lifting our hearts to Sing!

YES WE CAN
Music and lyrics by Kathy Sawada

Yes we can
Lift each other up
In peace, in love, in hope
Change! Change!

I have been waiting for some time for folks within the Dispensational Premillenialism camp to accuse Barack Obama of being the Anti-Christ. Finally, when we are well into the 2008 presidential campaign cycle, the warning message has filtered its way into the mainstream media. On its heels comes the shocking revelation that Barack Obama may actually be the Messiah. As a casual observer, the latter seems to be the more widely held public opinion (no doubt fueling the eschatological concerns).

It is fascinating. I mean, really, fascinating. It is a window into what the multitudes must have been blogging about when Jesus walked through the countryside. In fact, it was exactly what they were blogging about. They were wild and frenzied with uncontrolled hope for exactly the same reasons … they had no real spiritual awareness, per se; Jesus was going to be the guy who finally got the country in order.

Thanks to Ben of openswitch, I have become the latest victim of the 123 Meme (did you know that the origin of the word ‘meme’ comes from evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins?). Essentially, this latest online cultural idea — that, supposedly like a gene, can replicate and evolve — requires you to select the nearest book and post an excerpt on your blog using the following rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating! ¹
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the first 5 [full] sentences. ²
4. Post the next 3 sentences.
5. Tag 5 people.

For regular readers this quote will come as no big surprise:

[...] Where they supported the Persian Gulf War, this administration has not garnered their support for partisan reasons. The principles of interventionism, constitutionality and morality have not been applied consistently to each war effort by either political party; and there is a precise reason for this, over and above the petty partisanship of many.

The use of government force to mold personal behavior, manipulate the economy and interfere in the affairs of other nations is an acceptable practice endorsed by nearly everyone in Washington, regardless of party affiliation. [...]

The above was taken from “A Foreign Policy of Freedom: Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship,” which is a collection of Congressional speeches given by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas between 1976 and 2006. What might surprise you is that the date of this speech was April 21, 1999, in which Dr. Paul addressed U.S. foreign policy and NATO’s involvement in Yugoslavia and Kosovo. And you thought he was talking about Bush.

I am tagging: Rob, Jeremy, Jake, Matthew and stelmodad.

¹ I only later noticed that Dave Ramsey’s book, ‘Financial Peace,’ might have been closer. However, it was covered by a stack of papers on my desk. I guess that is natural selection at work.

² The original meme did not specify whether or not partial sentences counted. There goes that evolution and memetic mutation again.

Buchanan’s ‘The American Conservative’ Backs Paul: How on earth, four days before Stupor Tuesday, did I miss the announcement of this key endorsement? I guess us ‘tech savvy’ folks just don’t watch enough television these days.