Is President Obama a Jimi Hendrix Fan? I Dunno, Was Hendrix Into Mom Jeans?
By now I’m sure you’ve heard that the President got a little colloquial in his Labor Day speech before a friendly Big Labor crowd in Wisconsin. He was doing fine until he decided to improvise about the “powerful interests” who talk about him “like a dog”.
This got the blogosphere buzzing. Most of the folks writing about his odd statement held to the theme “what in the world is he talking about”? You have to admit, it’s not a phrase you hear often, mostly because it doesn’t make a whole heck of a lot of sense. I suspect he meant to say that the feared and shadowy “powerful interests” were running him down like a dog in the street, but he couldn’t very well say that lest he enrage his PETA block of campaign contributors. So, he kept the general dog theme that has served him oh so well in the past and ran with it.
Matt Lewis, on the other hand, has found a different theory cropping up on the left.
Several observers are pointing out that President Obama’s line that, “They talk about me like I’m a dog,” is also a lyric from Jimi Hendrix’s “Stone Free.”
It is impossible to know if this is a coincidence, or a cipher. But it is clear that Obama has used lines in the past to communicate pop culture messages, which eluding listeners not familiar with the reference.
Well, it’s certainly possible that the President snagged a Hendrix line without attributing it. He has been known to blow a quote attribution in the past. However, I don’t think he was consciously quoting Jimi Hendrix. Yes, I know he spent many years at the feet of a bunch of dried-up hippie stoners who probably knew all the words to “Stone Free” but that doesn’t mean the President is an aficionado.
Remember, we’re talking the guy who loads Sheryl Crow and tons of maudlin Bob Dylan tripe on his iPod is tuned in to Hendrix?Do you really think this guy right here is a devout Hendrix fan?
That does not scream Hendrix to me. Peter, Paul, and Mary perhaps, but not Hendrix. Not even a little bit.
Other Posts of Interest:
- America Says, “No Stimulus”. President Obama Replies, “Shut Up!”
- President Obama Votes “Present” as the Blood Flows in Iran
- These Days, Some Special Interests are Extra-Special
Category: President Barack Obama
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