This is overkill. I agree that sometimes political correctness can get out of hand, but I think we’ve actually been on an upswing (towards tasteless humor) as of late; I mean, you do know about the shite they pull on South Park nowadays right?
Jesus, what a stupid fucking rant. I just gotta stop clicking on any thread that has “PC” in its title. It’s going to be either more “Mac v. PC” bullshit, or another loser seizing on the most minor and irrelevant change in popular culture and holding it up as proof that we’re in the last days of Sodom.
Lucky it ain’t a rap song, that could throw off the rhyme!
Well, if everything gets too politically correct, this will happen.
Man says something about india, guy from there comes up
Guy from India: I prefer if you don’t say I’m an Indian.
Other guy: Then, what ame I supposed to call you NOW?
Guy from India:Native Indian
(or Fred)
Joke from a friend
Hey, I’m the first to piss on stupid hyper-political-correctness. It gets ridiculous FAST.
But I can’t go with you on this one. After seeing pictures and reading the account of a 19 year old woman with two broken legs, a broken arm, a bullet wound (and who knows what else happened to her) coming out of Iraq, I’m perfectly happy to have 'em sing “ones”
Now, if you want to talk about “shim” rather than “him or her”… and other grammatical acrobatics… That one you’ll hear from me on.
Emilio
Don’t tell me about it. Take a look at the official song of my Commonwealth of origin, “My Old Kentucky Home”. The line originally went, “'Tis summer, the darkies are gay.” (I can’t imagine what was so wrong about that!) Later it became “'Tis summer, the old folks are gay,” or occasionally “the children are gay.” Then, when the current definition of “gay” became entrenched, most people changed it again; the most updated version I’ve heard is “the children will play”.
This evolution needed to happen, I think, but it’s still funny. Some of my fellow smartasses and I in my high school chorus used to do it as, “'Tis summer, the African-Americans have a happy disposition–which is in no way meant to imply anything regarding their sexuality.” It works if you do it really fast.
Dr. J
Hey, Diogenes, don’t forget to mention that the song is one of the most horrible pieces of tripe to be recorded since Edison said “Mary had a little lamb.”
There’s an Irish folk song “The Men Behind the Wire”
that goes, in part,
Armored cars and tanks and guns
came and took away our sons
every man must stand behind
the men behind the wire
…
Heedless of the crying children
dragging fathers from their beds
beating sons while helpless mothers
watched the blood pour from their heads
…
firmly stand behind our men
…
till our boys come home to stay
Scott MX Turner and the Devil’s Advocates sing their
version of it, “The Ones Behind the Wire” because women
were interned too. I think this is wicked cool.
Armored cars and tanks and guns
took our daughters and our sons
well everyone must stand behind
the ones behind the wire
…
Heedless of the crying children
dragging parents from their beds
beating sons while helpless mothers
watched the blood pour from their heads
…
firmly stand by all of them
…
till they all come home to stay
You might want to consider belting out the old alma mater as if nothing had changed. If you do a brief search online, you’ll find the following:
I’d give a link, but it seemed as if you wanted to maintain the anonimity of your school; as such, I edited out revealing information from the quote. If anyone cares, he or she can e-mail and I’ll show him or her where to find the cite.
So at the next homecoming, stop the silliness and yodel out the old alma mater with much pride.
It bothers me as well for the same reason. Are we really a society so PC now that all of our music, poems, and works of art must be rewritten to accomodate the political watchdogs? If they wanted to salute both sexes (which is of course perfectly noble) they should have written their own damn song.
Ah, but that assumes that they have a modicum of talent to write a decent song. This is “American Idol” we’re talking about, best know for singing the songs of others, and for glurge-songs such as “A Moment Like This.” Methinks thou dost expect too much!
Where’s that barfing smiley when I need it?
Did I remember to mention that this song sucks?
I hate that song so bloody fucking much. I think a Doper here once said he met Lee Greenwood, who was a total asshat.
This only reinforces my theory that the only reason we’re in this war is because Lee Greenwood was short on cash and needed a career boost. 
I’d still like to hear whether or not the people who are offended by this alteration are also offended when people singing covers of love songs change the gender, which people have been doing for decades. What’s the difference?
Also, lest there be any uncertainty, the song in question really does suck.
Look on the bright side - at least they didn’t change it to ‘men and women.’
How about saying ‘such-a-song, slightly changed from so-and-so’s origianal’ or something. OK, that sucks too, but what doesn’t?
At one extreme we have ‘nigger’ expunged from Huck Finn and Adam tempting Eve to eat the apple, and at the other we insult half our population. I just don’t know.
I can’t really manage to get worked up about this. Rewriting a lyric of a Lee Greenwood song is like trying to wash a turd.
[DLR]Raise 'em up, raise 'em up, let’s see if you can salute![/DLR]
The most ironic case in recent memory was altering the opening speech in Star Trek from “where no man has gone before” to “where no one has gone before”.
The original version seems clear enough. The Enterprise was going where no man, i.e. no earthling human, had gone before, and it clearly wasn’t meant to be gender-exclusionary because one or more female crew members were in every episode.
Then they changed it to “where no one”, which simply creates problems, implying the new Enterprise-D is going places that no one (“one” being a sentient lifeform, I assume) has gone before. Trouble is, everywhere they go is already teeming with sentient lifeforms. Saying this is “where no-one has gone before” is similar to saying Columbus “discovered” America, when in fact millions of people already lived there.
In trying to be superficially politically correct, then ended up making it worse.
Plus the NextGen crew were a bunch of white-bread stiffs, but that’s another issue.
I understand your point about the speech in Star Trek, Bryan, but have to argue with the idea that “man” represents all genders. Because it doesn’t. In current usage, it means all people some of the time and just males the rest of the time.
So, as a woman, it’s up to interpretation when I’m included and when I’m not? Really, the English language can do better by me than that.
As far as the OP, if the Idols were singing the song, crappy as it may be, in praise/support of today’s troops, I don’t see a problem with the change. I don’t think it’s going to lead to gender neutral terms in Shakespeare’s sonnets or any damn silly thing.
FINALLY! Someone who agrees with me. I just fell in love with you, Guinastasia. 