The Radical Child

Today's the president's birthday, but I don't want to do another entry on that and pretty much covered that in my last entry with grimmrow--and I did post a lot of memes and art to my DeviantArt account on that subject--but I'd rather focus on Flag Day.

Flag worship is an American tradition I absolutely do not fucking like, and sort of goes against my Christian values since idolatry is a big no-no if you read the Ten Commandments, which the American Right seems to forget, and since America and its allies did evil shit throughout its history, like backstabbing its allies, exterminating the Native Americans, laying waste to the Confederacy, and warmongering post-WWII, I sort of consider the American flag a graven icon, a symbol of imperialism--the whole "the more states it gets, the more stars it gets" thing--even "racist," since racism was prevalent before, during, and after the Southern Independence War, especially more so today on part of blacks. A symbol of hypocrisy as well since America was conceived on bullshit principles like "all men are created equal" (which is fucking wrong, and as an autistic that doesn't sit well with me), accusations against the king of Britain his ministers did, and the indigenous population being "merciless Indian Savages"--which would foreshadow their genocide, and I know the American Left mostly represents that toxic American "value" of double standards.

And I think the pledge of allegiance is really dumb as well, pledging allegiance to such a flag and its respective country, and nowadays I wouldn't do so for religious reasons. The Texas pledge of allegiance, though, is a million times better:



I know Kamala got shit for flubbing the US pledge of allegiance but I can forgive her for that and would personally rewrite it as:

I pledge allegiance to the United States of America,
A republic whose people and governments keep one another in check,
One nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.

I like Bart Simpson's pledge of allegiance as well, which pretty much feels how I feel about America good and bad:



This episode was made back in 1997 but has aged really fucking well. Definitely my all-time favorite scene from The Simpsons. Said war was Vietnam so Nelson's "Haw, haw!" was definitely warranted. Apparently they predicted Trump making fun of John McCain as well ("I like guys who didn't get caught!"), alongside him becoming president. McCain was still an asshole, though--he backed the coup that brought the current government of Ukraine into power--but was right about campaign finance reform (though his laws were full of holes), and we need to go even fucking stricter since both parties are corrupted as fuck by money today, but the Supreme Court would naturally bitch.

That aside, I find most American patriotic music really fucking cringe. I know "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" was the first (albeit de facto) national anthem, but the lyrics sort of seem nonsensical, and I know Renaissance English. "My country, it is of thee." "It is of thee my country." That makes no fucking sense. It was also written at a time when the average white had to work 80-hour works weeks--and slaves had it no better--which doesn't seem very fucking "free" to me.



I like doing these "reaction" memes that plague DeviantArt--and Judy Hopps' face is really fucking priceless.

And I think "The Star-Spangled Banner" is actually a really fucking horrible national anthem, one of the worst in the world next to Japan and Britain's given the whole flag-worship thing and militarism.

The only patriotic song I really like is "America the Beautiful," and I think it should be the national anthem instead, and I love lyrics like "God mend thine every flaw," and if I ever gave political speeches, I would end them with, "May God mend America's every flaw!"



"The Star-Spangled Banner" to me is sort of the national anthem equivalent of "Simple and Clean" from the Kingdom Hearts games, okay music but really moronic lyrics. But the "black national anthem" people are also fucking morons, and I had posted before about black people wanting everything black but then screaming about segregation, akin to minority and fringe groups trying to push their standards and values upon the general population like the gay and trans communities really try to today.

I had mentioned on someone's DeviantArt submission ages ago about how "America the Beautiful" should be the national anthem but they bitched that God shouldn't be in the national anthem.

Were it not for my l'esprit d'escalier I would have pointed out how Canada is way less religious than America but mentions God in their national anthem--and "O Canada" is definitely a fuck of a lot better than "The Star-Spangled Banner" and how The Netherlands is even less so, yet this is theirs:



Really, really fucking beautiful, sort of sounds like the story of my life, my all-time favorite national anthem, and one I would definitely stand and salute for. The Netherlands is actually the only other country I would consider living in since it's the most accessible to Anglophones (English-speakers) as 90% of the population speaks English, alongside other shit like being more culturally and religiously tolerant, crime not being a problem to the point where they closed prisons, good jobs in most fields across the country, and high pay with medium cost of living.

Germany's is probably second, and East Germany's is probably the best dead country's national anthem ever--and I can actually sing pretty decently in German as I can pronounce shit right, with Germany's national anthem sharing its tune with "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken," one of my favorite Christian hymns.

Yeah, I think I'm done.

Based on “Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog” by Ward Greene, this Disney classic opens at Christmastime in 1909 when a husband, addressed as “Jim Dear,” gives his wife, termed “Darling,” a Cocker Spaniel puppy as a present, ultimately named Lady. Years later, the stray terrier-mix Tramp encounters the pampered pooch, neglected due to Jim and his wife expecting a baby. Jim’s Aunt Sarah visits with her destructive Siamese cats after the child is born to babysit; after muzzling Lady, she escapes with Tramp, having it removed at the zoo and touring the town with her. Events at Jim’s home result in Tramp’s capture and potential euthanasia, although Lady’s canine friends go to the rescue.

Overall, Lady and the Tramp is easily one of Walt Disney’s hallmark films, with its music being notable and giving good character to the scenes. The opening credits theme, “Bella Notte,” recurs during the iconic scene at an Italian restaurant where Lady and Tramp share a spaghetti dinner, which Disney initially didn’t want in the film but is one of its highlights. However, the dog-howling rendition of “Home! Sweet Home!” at the pound (see below) feels like a case of Leave the Camera Running since it doesn’t add much to the film. Mileage will vary regarding ethnic stereotypes like the feline Si and Am’s musical self-introduction. Regardless, I found it a fun watch and would easily recommend it to those not of the modern “woke” crowd.