The House Democrats’ decision to sing “God Bless America” on the Supreme Court steps was cringe-worthy on many levels.
There’s a historical aspect of Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” that a lot of people don’t know about. Legendary singer Woody Guthrie kept on hearing Kate Smith sing that song on the radio, and he didn’t like it. After wandering the country and seeing so many people displaced by the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, he felt “God Bless America” was too jingoistic and out of touch.
So he decided to write a song responding to Irving Berlin’s song. While initially intended to be a satire, it evolved into an alternative form of patriotism that upheld the notion of equality.
So quite frankly, it’s speaks the ignorance of that group of House Democrats that they would choose to sing “God Bless America” on the Supreme Court steps. That they would align themselves with an out of touch song like this, and not know that Woody Guthrie wrote a response to this shows just how out of touch they were. Indeed, a casual observer who didn’t know who they were could have easily assumed they were celebrating the overturn of Roe v Wade. For all I know, maybe they were–good fundraising opportunities now abound for them…
“This Land Is Your Land” is a great song, but maybe even that wouldn’t have been appropriate for the moment. Honestly, I would have much rather seen the House Democrats on the Supreme Court steps perform this 1993 track from the band Senser. That song is more relevant today than the feeble DNC attempt at patriotism and resistance we saw yesterday.
