Sympathy for the Donald

No, I have none. Do you?

So the other day, I watched the four segments of the CNN documentary 1968. If you have not done so, I recommend it. I graduated from high school in June of 1968 . . . fifty years ago next month. (To my knowledge, there is no reunion. Or maybe I wasn't invited. Oh, well.) Aside from my graduation, there was a lot that happened in 1968, some good, but most of it bad. The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy alone would make it a very bad year, but then there was also the Vietnam Conflict and all that was connected to that. And of course, there was Nixon.

In one of the segments, footage of Mick Jagger singing "Sympathy for the Devil" was juxtaposed with films of all the bad shit that was happening. Fifty years later, I was stunned once again by the appropriateness of those lyrics to the events of the day as well as days past. The song was released in 1968 on Beggars Banquet and deals with, among other things, the Russian Revolution, the crucifixion of Christ, the Kennedy assassinations, and the Holocaust. I started thinking about what lyrics Jagger and Richards might have written if the song was created today.

And then, while driving through South of the Border today (Pedro says hi), my Sirius radio station played "Sympathy for the Devil." When the Muse throws something in your lap, you pay attention.

For the rest of my drive, I rewrote the lyrics. With all apologies to Jagger and Richards, here is my updated version of their classic song. C'mon, you know the tune. Sing along!

Sympathy for the Donald

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and lies
I've been around for a long long year
My success is no surprise

And I was 'round when Hillary
Had her moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Comey
Washed his hands and sealed her fate
(And then I fired him)

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game

I stuck around Charlottesville
When I saw it was a time for a change
Praised the Klan for their swastikas
Heather Heyer screamed in vain

I built a wall
Had no compassion at all
And while the shootings raged
Watched the bodies fall

I watched with joy
While my Russian boy
Bought me four more years
All despite your fears

I shouted out
"Who killed the Kennedys?"
When after all
It was Ted Cruz's dad and me

Let me please introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and hate
And I lay traps for refugees
Who get killed before they reach the USA

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name . . .

Just as every black is a criminal
And all the Muslims are bad
As heads is tails
Just call me Dennison
'Cause I'm such a clever cad

So if you meet me
Have some loyalty
Have some bigotry and some hate
Use all your well-learned complicity
Or I'll lay your country to waste

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name . . .

Tell me, baby, what's my name?
Tell me, honey, can you guess my name?
Tell me, baby, what's my name?
I tell you one time, you're to blame

What's my name?

(You know the answer.)