It’s a parody of Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” entitled “Strangers on My Flight,” and it goes into fun detail of Old Blue Eyes punching out the lights of a bunch of funny-talking, turbin-wearing furrinneerrss.
Please, please, find me a witty and burning thing to send back to this person. Preferably an awesome song.
(mods, feel free to move this thread if needed. I certainly feel it deserves to be in the Pit).
Mostly it seems to be just a revenge fantasy about hijackers/terrorists specifically rather than “strangers” in general (they seem to be carrying box cutters, they may try to “pick a fight”). Although the broader references to “turbans”, “smelly”, and “not talking right” are indeed offensive, I’d say it’s more pathetic than shocking.
If you really want your relative to stop sending you dreck like this, I wouldn’t recommend trading snark with him; it will just encourage him to send you more. Write back sympathetically and say how sorry you are that he’s feeling frightened about the possibility of flying with terrorists, and reassure him that the odds of actually encountering a terrorist are extremely low. Remind him that even if he finds it comforting, he shouldn’t try to carry a baseball bat for self-defense on board an airplane.
Kimstu: Nice in theory, but the wrong tactic to take on this particular relative. His motivation in sending me the link is equal parts right-wing revenge fantasy and good-natured ribbing. I’m likely the only person he knows who is vaguely left of center, so that makes me the Liberal to needle. However, he’s also decided that, since I’m younger than him, I am constantly in need of instruction. A reply like that will only get me a lecture on how of course he’s not actually afraid and I need to not take him so seriously and to lighten up damned thin-skinned Liberal that I am.
Oakminster: that song is very close to perfect and I may use it… but not yet. It’s a big gun. Gotta save it.
Suggest he would be much safer on his next airplane flight if he sneaks in a small gun for the protection of all onboard, because you can’t be too careful and ol’ 'Frankie’s not around anymore.
Wingnuts on the right
It’s crazy season
Giving us a fright
For no good reason
They want to overturn
The very rule of law
Frothing at the mouth
Their words a flowin’
Their brains have headed south
My mind’s a blowin’
I don’t know what to do
It seems they’ve all gone mad
Nothing that they’ve said
Is at all appealing
What’s that on their heads?
It’s tin foil shielding
Waterboarding and tea bagging
Birther screeds and
Finger wagging
Wingnuts on the right
What a bunch of ass clowns
Morons full of spite
They should be put down
I’m so very tired of
Wingnuts on the Right.
It’s closer to obnoxious than hilarious, but mostly just meh. It’s right wing wit, which typically is dumber and less skillful than Mad Magazine (and light-years away from the Onion.)
The obnoxious part is the fantasy of beating up people in turbans. The singer seems more interested in smashing “strange” people than preventing a hijacking.
I’ll second this; tell him real men carry guns onto airplanes!
In fact, tell him to make his own damned bomb and wear that strapped to his chest the next time he flies. It always a hoot to blow up the terrorists before they can blow you up.
Al Qaeda’s main intent is to inflict economic damage. Intelligence reports that 9/11 was far more successful to them than anticipated - billions of dollars of damage to the US economy.
The kid the other day with Detonator Drawers? I bet they didn’t even expect him to get on the plane. But at whatever point he is caught, it causes a kerfullfle in the US news, and does more economic damage as people go crazy, quit booking flights, and so the economic damage ripples.
So I’d point out to your friend that by forwarding this video she is doing exactly what Al Qaeda wants her to do.
Only because you want to ignore the obvious meaning of the lyrics in favor of your own interpretation that gives you a dose of RO against the right wing.
