Trump’s war song, glory hallelujah!

I always thought that the Battle Hymn of the Republic was a Negro spiritual, originally composed and sung by slaves in the run-up to the Civil War of the 1860s that sought an end to slavery. So I was sort of surprised when it was sung at President Donald Trump’s inaugural. Was it originally, or also, a white song? After some browsing, I find that the answer is yes, both sides have a claim to it pala.

The original tune is that of Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us, a religious hymn borne of slave culture that was being sung in “camp meetings” in the southern states by both blacks and whites, of meeting up on “Canaan’s happy shores” and giving glory to Jesus “for glory is His own” — one of 150 hymns first collected and published in the early 1800s whose tune and variants spread across to northern states.

Fast forward to the 1860s. Around campfires, Union soldiers played around with the lyrics of Say, Brothers and came up with John Brown’s Body and the “Glory Glory Hallelujah” refrain, in tribute, lament, memory of the  anti-slavery radical John Brown whose trial and hanging for treason in 1859 heightened tensions that led to the Civil War.

Soon enough, white poet Julia Ward Howe rewrote, elevated, the lyrics, made the song “richer for a kind of educated audience” and re-named it Battle Hymn of the Republic, which quickly became a powerful anthem not just for the victorious Union forces, but also for the other side of the racial divide that persists to the present.

What we heard at the Trump inaugural is the latest white version, rendered by the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club, with “very clever changes in key and tempo.”

As the voices of the midshipmen and women echoed from the neoclassical style walls of the Capitol rotunda, the dignitaries – including former presidents, Supreme Court justices, and world leaders – were transported out of space and time into a mythological and patriotic dimension in which the majestic room beneath the Capitol dome really became the ‘symbolic and physical heart’ of the Capitol, and of America as a whole.

Before this, the Battle Hymn was mostly sang at state funerals — Robert F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter. That Trump deemed it the appropriate first musical number at his second coming had me wondering exactly what message he was sending not just to African Americans but to the world in general — this song of wrath and lightning, swords and serpents, triumphalism and vengeance, all in the name of God whose truth is marching on. So help us God.

Birgitta Johnson is quick to point out that the “Battle Hymn” is, at the end of the day, a war song.

“The kumbaya moment will not be happening across the aisles because of this song,” she says, “because it’s really about supporting whatever your perspective is — about freedom or liberation, and having God as the person who’s ordaining what we’re doing. And ‘glory, hallelujah’ about that.” https://www.npr.org/

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That Patriotic and Awful Song: ”Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Robert Bray
https://www.hnn.us/article/that-patriotic-and-awful-song-battle-hymn-of-the-r

One Song Glory by Andrew Limbong
https://www.npr.org/2018/07/04/625351953/one-song-glory

Battle Hymn of the Republic: a musical chameleon? by David Guion
https://music.allpurposeguru.com/2019/04/battle-hymn-of-the-republic-a-musical-chameleon/

So help me God! by Amelia H. C. Ylagan
https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2025/01/27/648955/so-help-me-god/

Who’s afraid of Senate impeachment trial?

The INC & DDS were still high on that huge almost-2M-strong political rally — yey! di na mai-impeach si VP Sara, the people have spoken! — when PBBM‘s chief legal counsel proceeded to douse cold water on the very idea.

Juan Ponce Enrile:  As a nation and a state , we will incur a very detrimental precedent if we follow the logic implicit in the INC rally that they mounted. Are we prepared and ready to face the long term consequences of that INC move? https://www.facebook.com/jp.enrile

Quite persuasive, sa totoo lang. As JPE warns, should Congress refuse to act on the impeachment complaints on the say-so of INC, it would set an awful precedent for the next time an impeachable government official screws up and deserves to be impeached — the Iglesia, or some other group, only has to rear its ugly head again and say NO, and that’s that?

Thankfully PBBM has acknowledged the wisdom of Enrile’s warning, as in, yes, indeed, junking the impeachment complaints would set a “problematic” precedent, but in the next breath he says:

“Wala nang congressman, wala nang senador, dahil nangangampanya na sila. Hindi tayo makakapagbuo ng quorum. And so, as a practical matter, the timing is very poor.” https://pco.gov.ph

Susog pa ni Senate Prez Chiz, kailangan pa daw pag-aralan, kung sakaling ma-refer to the senate ang Articles of Impeachment ngayon, kung kailan malapit nang mag-break for elections, back to square one ba after elections? https://www.gmanetwork.com/

Is Chiz playing dumb?  As far as I know, the Senate is a continuous body na kahit kailan ay hindi nababakante — kaya nga staggered ang elections, only 12 of 24 seats become vacant every three years (unlike the House of Reps).  Ibig sabihin, the trial can continue, pick up where the Senate court leaves off before election-break, once the new members have been sworn in. (Naturally the newbies are expected to be capable of catching up, or they have no place in those august halls.)

Atty. Rene Bueno:  Kapag impeachment court na ang Senado, puwede magpatuloy na litisin ang complaint … puwede ring i-set aside until after elections. … Marami nang jurisprudence re the Senate as a continuous body, no one can interrupt this function, and the main purpose is to maintain the stability of the government.  https://www.youtube.com/

Prof. Antonio Contreras: The concept of the Philippine Senate as a continuing body refers to its structure, composition and functioning, which ensures that its operations continue seamlessly despite periodic changes in its membership. This principle has legal and practical implications, making the Senate distinct from the House of Representatives. https://web.archive.org/

Fr. Ranhilio Aquino:  It is instructive that the 1987 Constitution and the 1935 Constitutions of the Philippines have staggered senators’ terms—thus assuring the continuity of the chamber…. https://manilastandard.net/

So. Malinaw na initiating the impeachment trial before elections won’t be a waste of time and effort for the Senate. Of course it would annoy the INC & DDS, and surely lose them some votes in May, but, hey, di ba’t matutuwa tiyak ang mas nakararaming mga Katoliko at Muslim atbp. na pro-impeachment — from BBM peeps to Leni Kakampinks — huwag ismolin o isnabin ang mga boto nila.

Kaya rin wala akong kabilib-bilib sa hirit ng Lower House Reps na useless isampa ang kaso sa Senado dahil sigurado silang i-a-acquit ng Senado ang VP.  Parang wala pala silang kabilib-bilib sa mga ebidensiyang napalutang nila mismo sa mga hearing ng Lower and Upper Houses re confidential funds atbp. So. Kung iyan pa rin ang pakiramdam nila after elections, hindi pa rin nila aaksyunan? Never mind their mandate?

If memory serves, ganyang ganyan din noong impeachment trials nina Erap at Corona. Walang katiyakan. Pero both times, in different ways, natanggal sila. Can it be that the powers-that-be do not really want the VP impeached by the Senate, bahala na lang sa 2028?

Suddenly I’m remembering VP Sara saying back in October 2024 that she has a list of 5 impeachable offenses by PBBM. Could it be why BBM doesn’t want her impeached, so that she won’t, can’t, try to impeach him? Quid pro quo, I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine, with the INC playing gamemaster? Sana naman hindi.

 

 

It’s a crazy planet

My YouTube algorithm is dominated by posts on the INC-DDS-KOJC rally, the Los Angeles wildfires, the Tulfo takedown, and the Pepsi challenge.

The rally. Two million daw ang darating sa Lunes. Kahit pa pinagtatalunan pa rin kung pro-BBM ba o pro-Sara ang Iglesia. Ang malinaw lang ay: puro sila anti-impeachment. And the DDS are making a big deal of the suspension of classes in Manila and Pasay, and the transfer of venue from Liwasang Bonifacio to the Luneta Grandstand. Ibig daw sabihin, anti-impeachment and pro-peace talaga ang presidente. Sey naman ng iba, hindi, inilalayo lang niya sa palasyo ang rally, in case magkagulo.

The wildfires.  Does Trump get the message? He has called climate change a hoax, refusing to recognize environmental dangers, instead blaming his political opponents for the rising frequency of natural disasters or proclaiming them to be acts of God. He has promised to drill for more oil and cut back on renewable energy. https://apnews.com Last month he warned the EU that it must buy more U.S. oil and gas or else face tariffs. https://www.usnews.com What’s it going to take kayâ to make him see that it’s time to battle climate change, better late than never.

The takedown. The Erwin aka Erich Tulfo account of his long stay in the U.S. is revealed to be full of holes. Nag-TNT ba siya o nag-enlist sa U.S. Army? Kung TNT, ibig sabihin ay wala siyang dokumento; kung nag-enlist, ibig sabihin nakapagpapeke siya ng dokumento. Ano ba talaga? Walang katapusang “diskarte”? At totoo ba ang mga lumalabas na di kanais-nais na kuwento, di-umano, tungkol sa Tulfo brand? Huwag daw iboto?

The challenge.  Tama naman si Richard Heydarian https://www.youtube.com It was controversial, and it was tragic: let’s hear the perspective of women and other victims of abuse in showbiz history and culture. It’s about time, too. Beyond current issues of freedom of expression and right to privacy, there was prevailing then a low regard for starlets who dared bare their skin, in effect, thereby, allegedly, subliminally, inviting male advances, never mind consent. Martial law pa man din. There was just no keeping track of the case, thanks to controlled media. Next thing we knew, case withdrawn na. Nagkápatawarán na daw.

 

DDS to join hands with INC 13 Jan

If I’m reading DDS vloggers right, super-excited sila to join the INC peace rally on Jan 13, that’s next Monday.  Nagkakaisa sila with Iglesia Ni Cristo vs the Lower House impeaching VP Sara, and they’re expecting huge crowds not just in Liwasang Bonifacio but also in plazas and parks across the islands (korek me if I’m wrong), and even abroad, kung saan-saan magmo-mobilize daw ang mga miyembro ng Iglesia at jo-join naman ang mga OFW na marami ay DDS.

If I heard right (ang hirap talaga sa vlogs, walang transcript, sometimes you have to listen twice, thrice, to be sure) parang inaasahan din nila na sasagot ang mga pro-Marcos with rallies of their own, and maybe just maybe maaaring magkagulo (remembering Edsa Tres 2001 when Arroyo declared a state of emergency), which would give daw Marcos reason to declare martial law (that’s what the NSC meetings are about daw), which would galvanize the anti-Marcos factions in the armed forces into defecting (a la Enrile-Ramos-Ram in 1986, asa pa) which would see daw INC & DDS morphing into a people power force that would oust PBBM (who wants to rule forever daw), which would see VP Sara ascending the throne (already).

Buong buo ang movie in their minds. But where are the rest of us in that story? I imagine that we’re with the anti-DDS and anti-BBM vloggers who are pushing for impeachment just because we don’t want another 6 years of a Duterte who’s pro-China, pro-EJKs, and pro-AliceGuos, unless of course Sara can convince us that she will not do a Digong AND that she is not corrupt or has never been involved in any illegal operations.

Samantala, the Lower House of Congress is sitting on the impeachment complaints kasi daw walang katiyakan that 2/3 of the current Senate sitting as Impeachment Court would vote to impeach, or that a verdict would be forthcoming before suspending for the May elections. Better to wait till after elections when, hopefully, winner senators are those who would vote to impeach?

But really, sabi nga ni Ronald Llamas who was PNoy‘s political adviser in the time of CJ Renato Corona‘s impeachment in 2012, when Senate Court hearings started they didn’t have the votes to convict. And yet at the end of it, only three voted to acquit. PBBM only has to do a PNoy, maybe? Unless, of course, the INC-DDS rallies (24 hours long? longer?) prove too persuasive for vote-hungry congressional candidates to ignore. The devil is in the politics.