“Don’t Stop Believing”

By Mad Dog
Published: Jun 14, 2010

Jonathan Alter writes: “Obama had just gotten back from Asia, and he said that he had just spoken with the President of South Korea who had told him that his biggest problem that he was facing domestically that the parents were very concerned that their kids were only learning English starting in 2nd grade and not in 1st grade and he was under pressure to import thousands of new English teachers. And Obama says, ‘This is what we’re up against in international competition.’  And then he left that session and did interviews with the American press and all they wanted to know was: ‘Had he read Sarah Palin’s book?’ And then he shook his head and, I’ll never forget that, he shook his head in dismay and kind of muttering said, ‘True story.  True story.’”
 
When I read that, I thought there must be thousands of stories with the same punch line: The American Empire just loves quicksand. And then I see something like this — kids at Ohio State creating a flash mob as they perform a neatly choreographed version of “Don’t Stop Believing” — and I think, “How great, how fun.” (Thanks, Linda.)