'Rocket Man': Why Must Trump Ruin Another Classic Song? (Guest Blog)

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I can’t listen to The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” anymore without wincing. Ignoring Mick Jagger’s protests, Donald Trump co-opted this ode to excess and turned it into an anthem of darkness during his presidential campaign. Not since Francis Ford Coppola used Wagner’s “Song of the Valkyries” to harken the helicopter attack in “Apocalypse Now” has a piece of music carried with it a feeling of dread and impending doom.

Now it’s Elton John who must be up in arms over the use of “Rocket Man” as a derivative of Trump’s bastardization of pop music and culture for his own political ends. This is what you get when you elect a reality TV star to be president — respect for the arts is thrown to the wind in order to get ratings.

When we were first dating, my wife loved Elton John and “Honky Chateau” was a well-worn album, especially where the needle was haphazardly placed on the grooves for “Rocket Man.” That song used to hold a special place in my heart — no more. Sorry, Nuala. Songs like “Rocket Man” and “You Can’t Always Get…” are now just grim reminders of white supremacy and cultural oppression.

Also Read: Trump's 'Rocket Man' Jab at Kim Jong-un Fails to Launch on Twitter: 'Makes US Appear Childish'

If Adolf Hitler had employed a pop culture consultant, and had escaped the bunker to survive into the 20th century — maybe he would have ascended the steps to the Nuremburg rally stage while the klieg lights danced to “Hey Jude.”

Speaking of The Beatles: For decades you would never hear a Beatles song being used to promote anything until Nike used “Revolution” in a 1987 commercial to sell expensive sneakers. Ironic that it was that song, since John Lennon’s precursor to “Give Peace a Chance” spoke of his indecision on political violence: “But when you talk about destruction, don’t you know that you can count me out — in.”

“Revolution” was written to be political. We never made love or gave birth or had a bar mitzvah to “Revolution.” However, when Nike’s “Revolution” ad aired, the three surviving Beatles sued despite having lost control of their intellectual property to Michael Jackson two years before.

Also Read: Trump Taunts 'Rocket Man' Kim Jong-un in Sunday Morning Tweet

George Harrison was prescient: “Every Beatles song ever recorded is going to be advertising women’s underwear and sausages. We’ve got to put a stop to it in order to set a precedent. Otherwise it’s going to be a free-for-all.”

The sausage Harrison predicted has Cheetos-orange skin and is the darling of any white supremacist who has registered to vote, and the hordes who can’t figure out the registration process. God forbid if Trump ever defiles the Beatles.

Music and politics have been strange bedfellows for eons. Nero fiddled while Rome burned. We can only guess what will be on Trump’s jukebox when he decides to immolate innocent North Koreans instead of pursuing focused diplomacy. But being a true Stones fan, Trump will probably be playing “Their Satanic Majesties Request.”

22 'Rediculous' Typos From Trump's White House, From 'Attaker' to 'Unpresidented' (Photos)

You can't have "the best words" if you can't correctly spell them. Even more serious than the Trump administration's beef with CNN is its beef with grammar, as is evidenced by a score of tweets and official White House documents that are riddled with spelling errors, misused words and downright gibberish. Here are 21 of the worst (and most laughable) offenses.
"Innaccurately"

Oh, the irony! The White House tried to call out the Congressional Budget Office for inaccuracy but inaccurately spelled the word "innaccurately."
White House/Twitter
"Honered"

Before "covfefe," there was "honered." Of course, newly-inaugurated Trump meant to tweet that he was "honored," but that's not what happened.
Twitter
"Unpresidented"

According to Huffington Post, Trump Twitter-slammed China for seizing a U.S. underwater drone in December 2016. He also made up a word in the process. By “unpresidented,” we can assume he meant “unprecedented.”
Twitter
"San Bernadino"

The White House got a few things wrong with this list of “unreported” terror attacks. First, many of the incidents actually had been reported. Second, “San Bernardino” was spelled incorrectly.
White House/Twitter
"Attaker"

In the same report, the WH managed to misspell “attacker” 23 times in a row. That has to be some sort of record.
White House/Twitter
"W.E.B. DeBois"

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) botched the name of legendary civil rights activist, W.E.B. DuBois. It’s DU Bois, as in “DU” they realize the epic mistake they made?
Twitter
"Deepest apologizes"

Apparently, the DOE did catch the gaffe and subsequently tweeted out an apology… sort of.
Twitter/The Washington Post
"Columbia"

This is a common spelling error that also tripped up Steve Harvey in the past. For the record, when referring to the country, the correct spelling is "Colombia."
White House/Twitter
“Possibility of lasting peach”

According to a White House press release, one of Trump’s objectives during his most recent visit to Israel was to “promote the possibility of lasting peach” between Israelis and Palestinians. Who needs peace when you can have peaches?
White House/Twitter
“Couple with changes”

Another typo from the same press release. This time, someone left off the “d” in the word “coupled.” Hence, we have “A new approach, couple with changes.”
White House/Twitter
"Councel"

After Trump tweeted this misspelling on May 18, Merriam-Webster reported that "councel" was their most-searched word of that day.
Twitter/The Hill
"Tapp"

President Obama did not "tapp" Trump's phone at any time during his two terms in office, because there is no such word as "tapp" in the English language.
Twitter
Too vs. To

This was not a tweet. This was Donald Trump's official inauguration portrait... with an egregious typo printed front and center.
Library of Congress
"Teresa May"

This mistake doesn’t seem too critical… until you consider the fact that Teresa (sans “h”) May is the name of a British porn star, not the British Prime Minister. The latter spells her first name with an "h."
White House/Huffington Post
"Hear by"

He should have typed "hereby." Of course, POTUS received a lot of flack for this one, among his many other botched spellings.
Twitter/Pro Publica
"Educatuon"

Failure took the form of a White House Snapchat on April 17. There's no excuse for this one.
White House/Snap
"Thr" and "Gas"

Trump displayed poor spelling in his attempt to shade two credible news outlets via Twitter.
Twitter
"Amoung"

"Amoung," many other things, he will also not use spellcheck.
Twitter
"Predisent"

This was a statement made by Trump's lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, in an official White House document.
White House/Twitter
"Rediculous"

Once again, Trump unleashes a grammatically incorrect Twitter rage at his arch nemesis, CNN.
Twitter/ProPublica
"Make American Great Again"

On August 4, Trump (or more likely one of his editors) botched his own campaign slogan. Is nothing sacred?!
donaldjtrump.com
If you thought those word gaffes were bad, check out this list of celebrity gibberish terms, including Trump's infamous "covfefe."

Also Read: 7 Gibberish Words That Have Outlived ‘Covfefe’ (Photos)
Urban Dictionary
As Merriam-Webster so nicely put it, "heal (to become healthy again)
heel (a contemptible person)."
Twitter

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Welcome to the White House: where the words are made up, and spellcheck doesn’t matter

You can't have "the best words" if you can't correctly spell them. Even more serious than the Trump administration's beef with CNN is its beef with grammar, as is evidenced by a score of tweets and official White House documents that are riddled with spelling errors, misused words and downright gibberish. Here are 21 of the worst (and most laughable) offenses.

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BIO Richard Stellar

Winner of the Los Angeles Press Club's best blog award and a Southern California Journalism Award for his HollyBlogs, as well as an award for the Facebook group that helped to muscle the salvation of long-term care for the motion picture and television industry, Stellar's "vituperative blog on TheWrap" (Vanity Fair) focuses on issues related to the motion picture and entertainment industry. Stellar is founder of The Man/Kind Project, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation whose mission is to fight religious and cultural intolerance through the arts while building bridges of tolerance for all people. Stellar lives in Woodland Hills, California, with his wife of over 30 years, Nuala, and much too much Beatles memorabilia.