08.12.11
On sucking up
Because that’s what you’re supposed to do whenever something from the enlisted in faraway places comes over the wires.
The band members [of Sidewinder] did not expect it either. Staff Sgt. Angie Johnson, of the 571st Air Force Band, 131st Bomb Wing, Air National Guard, only found out about the viral video when Carson Daly contacted her on Twitter. In short order, Mark Burnett and NBC’s the Voice reached out as well. “ Totally can’t believe I’m tweeting with you right now. Jaw.On.Floor,??? Johnson wrote.
I can believe it. The band has an incredible sound on par with the original songstress Adele. Watch it.
Eh. Not quite. The singer is indeed very good. The rest of the band? Not so much.
And if you look hard you can probably find an act in your hometown just as accomplished. That means — in quite a few places. Learnt it as a music journalist many years ago.
No link straight to YouTube. It’s easy enough to find, having been linked by every major media organization.
Go to the WaPo and read the gush. The video is embedded on the page.
Part of our new normalcy is the collective backdoor guilt shared by most of the country.
Which, of course, has not participated in the decade long wars.
And while that’s the way our leaders and the Pentagon set it up, when they removed our responsibility they also took a piece of everyone’s soul as payment.
So whenever something comes over the wire now, discovered to be from the young people in camo, the overcompensation squeezes out. Overcompensation as balm for the hole where a piece of the soul was surgically removed years ago.
Honor the soldiers in whatever they do.
No discouraging words please.
I’m tired of it. So call me an asshole if you must, it’s been done many times.
Go on American Idol or America’s Got Talent or The Voice or whatever, already. Just like the hundreds you see in the auditions, all of them pretty good, even though they never make it to the season.