White House Reveals the President's Play List

Perhaps, it's that he has an aide download the music. Or maybe, it's the fact that someone at the White House thought the world would care in disclosing the contents. Or maybe, it's the fact the the most powerful man in the world has to use headphones rather than cranking the White House speakers to "11." But something isn't right about the president's iPod.

The first inkling that there's something wrong about this comes from the fact that the president didn't buy it, or have an aide buy it for him. His daughters gave it to him as a present. Now, no one opposes daughters giving dad a gift (not this close to Father's Day anyway), but surely if Mr. Bush were heavily into the technology, he'd would have got his own. This isn't enough to condemn the situation outright, but it does cause some ill ease.

Then, there's the content. Now, no one is going to condemn the president for his taste in music (there are so many other reasons to jump on him), and if listening to some Nashville tunes will make him feel better, he should do so. For a former owner of the Texas Rangers, "Centerfield" by John Fogarty is even appropriate. No, what's troubling is that, for a White House so concerned about staying on message and being loyal, someone screwed up in releasing some of the information. "My Sharona" by The Knack is truly an embarrassment, and now all the other world leaders are laughing at him for having downloaded it. After all, Tony Blair was actually in a band. Mr Bush should fire someone at once to take the blame (Field Marshal von Rumsfeld for example).

And then, there's the under-utilization. Mr. President, sir, dude, the iPod will hold 10,000 songs. How can it be that there are only 250 on iPod One? OK, pirating music is an impeachable offense, and paying Apple $0.99 a tune will mount up, but surely, the POTUS can do better than 250 songs. There are no Beatles on it. Surely there's $20 bucks worth of Lennon and McCartney to be had. If they're too foreign, then what about the complete works of Hank Snow, just to make it look like there's a presidential passion for something artistic.

Some songs that might be appropriate additions follow, with all due modesty: "Rock the Casbah" by the Clash, "Personal Jesus" by Johnny Cash (or Depeche Mode), "Killing an Arab" by The Cure, "Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell, "Kashka from Baghdad" by Kate Bush, "The Empire Strikes First," by Bad Religion, "If Anyone Ought to Know" by Merle Haggard, "Yesternow" by Miles Davis (for a misunderestimated man), and "No One is Innocent" by the Sex Pistols featuring the Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs. As for Green Day's "American Idiot," well . . . .


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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