ADD: Vote:The Trump Rewrite (Emma's Revolution)

Subject: Lyr Add: VOTE! (The Trump Rewrite)-Emma's Revolut
From: Joe Offer
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 01:49 AM

I came across this song today. I thought it was very pertinent for this week.
-Joe-

VOTE (The Trump ReWrite)
© 2017 Sandy O, Pat Humphries
Moving Forward Music, BMI
emmasrevolution.com

If they can count, the billions that loser says he’s worth
Why can't they count our votes
If they can count when Breitbart denies Obama's US birth
Why can't they count our votes?

We’re not done, we’re not tired
We won’t stop until . . . Steve Bannon
You’re fired!

When they claimed, he won the Electoral College fair and square, we said
“Why can't you count our votes?”
Voter suppression and ID laws gave him much more than his share and
Why can't they count our votes?

We’re not done, we’re not tired
We won’t stop until . . . Mike Pence
You’re fired!

Counting money, that one's easy
Corporate donations to his foundation
Conflicts of interest in the name of business
Scandals to the maxes
When are you gonna show your taxes?

If you can count 140 characters in a tweet,
Why can't you count our votes?
Her 3 million vote lead should have been your defeat
Why can't you count our votes?

We’re not done, we’re not tired
We won’t stop until . . . Donald Trump
You’re fired!

Why can’t you count our votes
(Black Lives Matter)
Why can’t you count our votes
(Refugees Welcome Here)
Why can’t you count our votes
(We Are All Immigrants)
Why can’t you count our votes
(Pussy Bites Back)
We’re gonna count all the votes
(Healthcare is A Human Right)
We’re gonna count all the votes
(Water is Life)
We’re gonna count all the votes
(Love Trumps Hate)
We’re gonna count all the votes
(#NotMyPresident)

Sandy O: guitar & vocals
Pat Humphries: guitar & vocals
Dick Bright: fiddle
Dewayne Pate: bass
David Rokeach: drums

Produced with and engineered & mixed by Daryn Roven
Recorded: 25th Street Recording, Oakland CA
Mastered: Charlie Pilzer, Airshow Mastering

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_-g95r89EI

---

Original Spook Handy Song (click)

Subject: RE: ADD: VOTE! (The Trump Rewrite)-Emma's Revolution
From: GUEST,Observer
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 02:34 AM

Yawn, another boringly predictable rant against the wrong target.

Please correct me if I am wrong in any of the following:

1. The United States of America is a confederation of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various other possessions.

2. As such it cannot have a binding single nation-wide vote similar to the recent referendum held in the UK, the USA has to vote state-by-state.

3. It was the political system of the United States of America, i.e. the Electoral College that declared Donald Trump the winner of your last Presidential Election. If you wish to rail against anything then target your political system that makes the current situation possible.

As for the man himself, he seems to be delivering, exactly what he promised those who voted for him and unless the Democrats get their act together pdq I would not be surprised if the man doesn't win a second term.

Subject: RE: ADD: VOTE! (The Trump Rewrite)-Emma's Revolution
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 03:37 AM

@Observer: as I understand the song, its target is exactly what you say, i.e. it argues for a change in the political system, so that the persons mentioned can be "fired".

(Your point 2. may be misunderstood by those unfamiliar with the British system; it should run: "Like the UK, the US do not allow a binding single nation-wide vote.")

Songs are about emotions, which often tend to be paradoxical. The call for "more democracy" may argue for smaller or larger political units, depending on the expected outcome in a particular matter. For example, the (legally non-binding) national referendum you mentioned went against the larger unit (EU) and the smaller units (constituencies as represented in Parliament).

Laws and systems can be changed, and political songs can help sorting out the emotions and arguments. Well, most of them fail, but this one is not among the worst, in my opinion.

Subject: RE: ADD: VOTE! (The Trump Rewrite)-Emma's Revolution
From: GUEST,Observer
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 04:27 AM

"@Observer: as I understand the song, its target is exactly what you say, i.e. it argues for a change in the political system, so that the persons mentioned can be "fired"." - Grishka.

I'm afraid it doesn't:

"When they claimed, he won the Electoral College fair and square,"

Who is the "they" being referred to? The simple fact of the matter was:

1. The votes of the Electoral College decide and declare who becomes President and Vice-President of the United States of America.

2. The Electoral College voted 304 for Trump as opposed to 232 for Clinton. No "claim" about it, the Trump/Pence ticket won by the Electoral College vote by quite an emphatic margin.

You are also seeking to confuse point 2 in my original post.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland CAN and does hold national referenda based on a binding single nation-wide vote (IIRC we have held three of them so far in our entire history) - That is impossible to do in the United States of America because of the political structure in place (You have 50 sovereign State governors and administrations with their associated state legislatures and one Federal government and legislature).

The above song is all about disaffection and unwillingness to accept the result of the last Presidential Election. The lyrics do not call for any change in the system, they call for specific people to be dismissed (Fired!) On that subject I thought Steve Bannon HAD been fired?

Subject: RE: ADD: VOTE! (The Trump Rewrite)-Emma's Revolution
From: Bruce from Bathurst
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 04:29 AM

First of all, I support the sentiments of the song posted by Joe.

OK. I have to say I'm not a US citizen and I don't have the option of voting in the US even if I wanted to and I don't claim to have detailed knowledge of the US Constitution.

We're all friends here on Mudcat so I thought I might as well invest my AUD $0.02 in this thread because when the US sneezes, Australia eventually catches pneumonia.

Please, please, please, my US (and UK) friends, consider the positive aspects of compulsory voting and also consider the benefits of moving your voting day from Tuesday (or Thursday for UK?) to Saturday.

That's the system here in Australia and I think it's sensible (although my current Federal and State governments don't happen to be my personal choices). I accept it might be a PITA to have to vote when you don't like any of the candidates or if it happens to be a cold/rainy/inconvenient day but, for us, it helps that we have pre-poll and postal voting, which is a good thing.



Bruce

Subject: RE: ADD: VOTE! (The Trump Rewrite)-Emma's Revolution
From: GUEST,Observer
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 05:07 AM

Couldn't agree more on the compulsory voting that has always sounded like a very good idea. Not so the move to Saturday as the nominated voting day - Saturday is normally part of the week-end time-off. If by law voting is compulsory then employers both public and private MUST give their employees time off to vote on whatever day of the working week is nominated for voting.

Living in Australia Bruce, you too live in a Federation of sovereign states, with an elected Federal National Government. In Australia in addition to your normal elections you have both plebiscites and referendums. A plebiscite is a vote by citizens on a matter of national significance, but one which does not affect the Constitution. Plebiscites are normally advisory, and do not compel a government to act on the outcome. Plebiscites simply require a majority of electors’ votes. In Australia a referendum concerns a change to Australia’s Constitution, and the outcome is binding. For a referendum proposal to succeed it must win the majority of votes nationally and also win in a majority of the states. This is called a ‘double majority’.


Interesting to note that the song posted by Joe was recorded in California. Should the system in the United States of America change so that individual votes are counted, then basically the USA is ruled by what California and less than a handful of other states want - and the rest can just go hang. This is basically what the Electoral College exists for to prevent from happening.

Subject: RE: ADD: VOTE! (The Trump Rewrite)-Emma's Revolution
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 05:16 AM

Bruce (is that your name or just a generic nickname?;-)), not everybody is convinced that Australia is the very model of a good democracy and wise leadership. The joke "I'm an anarchist, but it must be a strong anarch!" applied to Aussies long before it did to other English-speaking countries.

There is no simple recipe that replaces constant rethinking. -

Observer, please live up to your moniker. Read Wiki for a start, everybody. Anyway, democracy does not require anyone to shut up as soon as the other party has won (- for the time being -); quite the opposite!

That said, I concede that not every line of the song is pure wisdom either.

Subject: RE: ADD: VOTE! (The Trump Rewrite)-Emma's Revolution
From: Joe Offer
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 10:19 AM

"You're fired," of course, refers to Donald Trump's oft-recited line in his The Apprentice "reality series" television program. It's the only memorable line that Trump had in the program. The songwriters most certainly know the specific procedures for removing Trump and Pence from office, but those procedures are a little too complicated to present in a song. "You're fired" tells the story quite effectively, except to a literalist. Oh, and note that the song was written in 2017, presumably before Steve Bannon was fired.

Since the turn of the century, the Republican Party has devised a variety of methods for taking control of Congress and the White House, despite having only a minority of the popular vote. They have become staunch defenders of the Electoral College, which was devised to protect the interests of slave holders without actually having to allow the slaves to vote.

We in California, many of us exiles from the Midwest, do feel disenfranchised. My vote counts far less than the vote of a resident of Wyoming.

But since we do not wish to offer the Music Forum as a haven for anonymous guests to conduct political discussion, I'm going to close this thread. If you wish to participate in the political discussions in the BS section, contact me by email and apply to become a member.

-Joe Offer-
[e-mail]