(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Being a Patriot for pay: how it works [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-11-03  

Let’s talk about being a Patriot. What does that word actually mean? Well, it is usually thought to represent love of country. But it seems like sometimes there are other reasons for a person telling us they are, and other people honoring them for being a patriot.

One example that i am just being made aware of is Lee Greenwood. He wrote a song back in the 1990s called Proud to be an American. This has been brought to my attention by one of my favorite comics and political satirists, John Oliver. He is known for doing research before he comments, and this may not surprise anybody reading this, but the details did suprise me, believe it or not.

You see, John Oliver became an American Citizen in 2019, but the same there was another such ceremony with a speech from trump with the Lee Greenwood “special video” of singing the song. It was apparently supposed to be a great honor for these new citizens to see not just trump but Greenwood as well.

Below, the video will tell you the various “uses” of Lee Greenwood and his song. Not only has Mr Greenwood made lots of money off that song, a good thing since it is really the only one that he is famous for. There is also a Canadian version, in which Mr Greenwood remembered to change the words to Canada, and actually use place names from Canada instead of the United States.

The rest of the song, however, was left as it was originally even though the word changes actually made the original rhyming of the song obsolete and sound off. Now, the end version, which is about weird stuff is probably a satire done by Oliver.

Oh, and remember the over-priced, King James version of the Bible that trump was hawking? Guess who else was involved. If you guessed Lee Greenwood, you would be correct.

Oh and that Bible also managed to win a back and forth with Christianity Today who had an issue, believe it or not, with the addition of 1. the Constitution 2. the 10 Amendments and 3. a copy of the words to his song.

Oh by the way, he has also tried to monetize the name of the song, by having it patented. The government refused to accept the patent on “Proud to be an American” because it is a generic term that anybody should be able to say it without paying money to Lee Greenwood.

Oh and as John Oliver points out at the end, if you listen to Lee Greenwood’s advice about becoming a citizen will actually fail to past the test in all likihood. I know it is long, but watch it, you will see some amazing things.

Personally, I prefer the Will Ferrell take at the end, it is actually more honest. Nor is it likely to be cut and pasted using other nation’s name to make a few more dollars out of it.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/3/2282316/-Being-a-Patriot-for-pay-how-it-works?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/