The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Failure
Plus: Leaky Signals, My Awesome Mom, and Anti-Fascist Films for the Whole Family
In an interview this week with Never Trump podcaster Tim Miller at the Bulwark, Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was talking about the massive breaking story he just released regarding the very confidential security chat he was accidentally included on via Signal regarding the bombing of Yemen.
The chat reportedly included discussions amongst JD Vance, Mike Waltz, Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and more - sharing very specific details on an upcoming military operation that proved to be accurate.
It’s all over the news, it involves potential violations of the Espionage Act, and it was, as the normally-reserved Pete Buttigieg puts it:
You’ll likely hear your fill about it in the coming days, but what I found fascinating was that in the interview with Miller, Goldberg mentioned that he received the initial invite to the Signal group regarding the attacks on Yemen while he was in Salzberg, Austria, celebrating the 60th Anniversary of “The Sound of Music.”
Now, while I don’t tend to line up to watch a musical, I do specifically love “The Sound of Music.” Here’s why.
I was lucky enough to be doing consulting and freelance/fractional work during that time, so I was able to spend a bunch of time hanging out with her, sharing memories and meals, and laughing together while helping my two sisters take care of her in the final year of her life.
If you know anything about dementia, you know that people’s ability to follow TV shows and movies can rapidly change, and they tend to be drawn to either films that they’re already very, very familiar with or stories that are very structured and easy to follow.
In my Mom’s case, we watched literally countless Hallmark Channel movies together, and had movies like “The Sound of Music” and “Field of Dreams” on loop ALL THE TIME.
While my Mom was not in full possession of her faculties throughout all the viewings, and would often forget key parts, she loved watching “The Sound of Music” for the music and because she got real joy (mixed with a little sadness) from watching the Von Trapps successfully avoid capture by Nazis and going on to lead a beautiful life.
Like the majority of patriotic Americans, especially those who had relatives die in WWII, my Mom hated the Nazis. I mean of course she hated Nazis. Good, solid Americans hate Nazis, right? Like that’s not up for debate anymore is it?
I mean…try not to cheer and get a little weepy as the Von Trapps clear the top of the Alps and begin their descent into safety in Switzerland to the rousing, sweeping lyricism of “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.”
Now here’s where things get a little weird.
I’ve spent the last week trying to cope with the torrential cavalcade of bad news, illegal activities and corruption from the Trump Administration by seeking out the best protest art my YouTubin’ fingers can dig up.
In the land of the free and the home of the brave, some of the best art we have has come from patriotic artist types who have figured out beautiful new creative ways to raise their American middle fingers in protest.
Take, for example, the uber-radical film loved almost exclusively by East Coast elite types - the little known avant-garde punk masterpiece “Field of Dreams.”
Mom ALSO loved that film, not only because it’s about her home state of Iowa, featuring baseball in corn fields and well-known political radical Kevin Costner (who Mom thought was pretty cute), but also because of includes a healthy dose of virulent anti-fascist messaging.
I mean who could forget this scene, where a PTA mom wants to ban Terrance Mann’s novels because they endorses “promiscuity, godlessness, the mongrelization of the races, and disrespect to high-ranking officers of the United States Army,” and Annie Kinsella calls her a “Nazi cow”?
It’s no wonder such a radical film won 8 Academy Awards and got 14 nominations.
Mainstream America stands up for their neighbors, rejects racism, censorship and Naziism, even in the humble cornfields of Iowa, right?
But back to “Sound of Music” and weirdness.
Hidden there amongst the radical fringe where “Field of Dreams” clips reside, I came across a “Sound of Music” “re-lyriced” parody from New Zealander Shirley Zerban that turns “My Favorite Things” into “My Favorite Things about Project 2025.”
Clunky title, yes, but the execution on this one is truly remarkable, and the content is somehow even more chilling than a normal classic film about Austrian children outrunning death at the hands of Nazis.
And lest you think there’s only one song from “Sound of Music” that can be successfully parodied, Zerban also manages to somehow make “How Do You Solve A Problem Like A Maga” make as much sense as a classic Weird Al Yankovich number.
Next week I’ll get into the brave and disturbing new world of AI-based protest videos, but for now I’ll leave you with one more wholesome, All-American anti-fascist masterpiece.
Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” was nominated for five Academy Awards back in 1941, not just because of Chaplin’s signature gregarious brand of physical comedy, but because of the way that he closes out the film with a brilliant anti-fascist soliloquy that summarizes the type of patriotic, All-American love of democracy over tyranny that drove U.s. troops to help crush the Nazis.
It’s a jarring juxtaposition to Chaplin’s signature clowning persona, and it comes directly from the mouth of Chaplin the man, not Chaplin the actor.
”To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish…”Gives me chills every time. Definitely see the entire film, and make sure to watch it with the whole family.