Most people in the US are, by now, aware of several key truths about life in the United States right now:

1. We are engaged in an illegal war -- a quagmire, if you will -- in Iraq; it was a war intended long before 9/11, and the best advice of skilled, highly experienced generals was ignored.


2. George W. Bush wanted to be a "war president" and the architects of his Administration -- including Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld, plus several other from the Nixon years -- happily obliged, finding the opportunity to expand Executive Power far beyond tolerable (and legal) limits through a curious mix of fear-mongering about further terror strikes and the potential use of WMDs while hate-mongering over "religious fanatics" and a lack of "democratic freedoms" in Iraq.


3. Richard B. Cheney has been lying for years about everything, as well as pulling the strings behind some of the biggest outrages and failures of the Bush Administration.


4. The BushCheney (er, "CheneyBush"?) Administration has set its sights on Iran.


5. Dick Cheney can't shoot straight. Period.


6. It's Veteran's Day Weekend, a time where we should be honoring the veterans who have given body, mind, heart and soul to the service of our nation. That means, of course, we should reciprocate by actually addressing issues of PTSD, traumatic brain injury, homelessness and caustic, damaging leadership -- not by attacking them or their families when BushCheney policies, practices and failures cause them undue pain and discomfort.

Given those factors, I've assembled a couple of key videos for your enjoyment.

The first is Iraq: The Musical, first published on February 2, 2006 by the Freeway Blogger. Click the image to play it on the Huffington Post's site, or click the link above to go to the Freeway Blogger's first publication of it on Blogger.¹

If that doesn't set your hair on fire, the next one -- at least, the one I'd intended to use next -- would have. It was going to be the YouTube clip from an episode of The Simpsons from one of Treehouse of Horror Halloween episodes, specifically the one with the skit called "The Day The Earth Looked Stupid." From the Wikipedia article:

The population of Springfield, circa 1938 (during the Great Depression), are fooled by Orson Welles' infamous The War of the Worlds radio broadcast and believe the world has been invaded. A mass panic breaks out, and the citizens begin rioting and destroy the town. Sideshow Mel suggests they foil the aliens by cavorting in the mud naked like animals. So they do this all day until the next day, Lisa notifies the citizens that it was all a hoax and, angry at being fooled, the citizens of Springfield vow to not fall for such a trick again. Kang and Kodos decide this is the perfect time for a real invasion, and begin destroying what's left of the town. True to their word, the town does not believe that it is a real invasion and ignores it, although Orson Welles (Maurice LaMarche) comes to Springfield, admits it is not a staged act, and begs them to do something. Unfortunately, they do not, and the segment ends three years later with Kang and Kodos looking over the ruins, mulling on what went wrong and why they weren't greeted as liberators as they rid Earth's weapons of mass disintegration during "Operation Enduring Occupation", a parody of the real military operation, "Operation Enduring Freedom".

Yeah, that would have been lovely...but, instead, I encountered a notice that Twentieth Century Fox objected to the use of the material and it was removed from YouTube. Too bad -- it was a great way to virally advertise for their show while making an important statement through comedy.

So as not to disappoint, I will include this link to a vaguely related video featuring the music of The Ink Spots, specifically I don't want to set the world on fire, posted to YouTube by deadnights:

...there, better?

One final video now, folks, and the Veteran's Day / Dick Cheney Quail Hunting Weekend Musical Interlude will be complete. Going out as a dedication to all those currently fleeing for their lives in upstate New York, here's a video using the Bob Rivers Show Twisted Tune² "Cheney's Got a Gun" and thanks to ToonedIn. Vocals by Spike O'Neill. The video was posted to YouTube by user corkintheriver.

Have a great weekend, folks. And -- New Yorkers in particular -- keep your heads down.

Originally posted on ePluribus Media's Community Site and the ePluribus Media Beta Site. Crossposted to Docudharma and DailyKos.

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Footnotes

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^1. Lyrics and concept by Freeway Blogger, Mixing by Dr. Laniac.

^2. The Bob Rivers Show is a radio show that plays on 102.5 KZOK-FM, a CBS affiliate operating out of Seattle, WA.