John McCain's 'Idiot Wind' Campaign: Dylan Nails It Again

It's always been one of my favorite mid-period Dylan songs (from Blood on the Tracks, for you youngsters), so it was good to see it getting thrust into the final days of the election campaign. I speak of "Idiot Wind' from the mid-1970s. It opens, "Someone's got it in for me/They're planting stories in the press/Whoever it is I wish they'd cut it out quick/But when they will I can only guess."

The Washington Post, preparing a lacerating editorial attack against John McCain for his dirty campaign tactics, asked the latest GOP bogeyman, the Palestinian professor/scholar (and Obama acquaintance) Rashid Khalidi, what he thinks of the current uproar. He wrote back briefly, "I will stick to my policy of letting this idiot wind blow over."

The Post then put "Idiot Wind" in its headline.

Indeed, I think when the dust settles, so to speak, next week, perhaps the phrase"Idiot Wind" will endure as the lasting depiction of the McCain-Palin campaign. We don't need a Weatherman, such as Bill Ayers, to know which way the wind blows. He's bringing it all Barack home.

The refrain of Dylan's "Idiot Wind" captures the tone of the McCain-Palin campaign perfectly:

Idiot wind, blowing like a circle around my skull,
From the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,
You're an idiot, babe.
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

And then there's this:

You hurt the ones that I love best and cover up the truth with lies.
One day you'll be in the ditch, flies buzzin around your eyes,
Blood on your saddle.

And:

I noticed at the ceremony, your corrupt ways had finally made you blind
I can't remember your face anymore, your mouth has changed,
Your eyes don't look into mine.

And finally:

I've been double-crossed now for the very last time and now I'm finally free,

***
Greg Mitchell is editor of Editor & Publisher and its popular new blog, The E&P Pub. His most recent book, on Iraq and the media, is "So Wrong for So Long.' During the 1970s he was executive editor at the legendary Crawdaddy magazine.

Comments

[daphidyl]

Although I'm all for getting anything Dylan out there, and although the words of "Idiot Wind" do fit the circumstances now, I can only imagine that Bob (never thinking of himself as the voice of a generation) must be gritting his teeth over these newspaper headlines.

[Rusel deMaria - Huffpost Blogger]

The Idiot Wind began blowing at gale force back sometime in 1999 when a certain W began his assault on America, and it now stinks worse than ever with McCain and especially with Palin - who doesn't even know what the First Amendment is about.

Please let this Idiot Wind pass over and be gone forever. Please let Truthful Wind wake us up.

[robeson]

I don't think 'the idiot wind' will be blowing over very soon. Just two days ago, in the HuffPost, Alan Dershowitz labeled Rashid Khalidi a rabid anti-Israel professor.

[knowBuddhaU]

Dershowitz is the kind of guy who'd take my statement, "I am white," to mean that I am anti-black.

[robbie44]

I think on the fourth us Americans are going to be tangeled up in blue............Obama 08

[krocklin]

It was reported this morning that the McCain campaign has alleged that Obama's mother wore army boots.

Obama spokesmen deny the charges as more desperate last minute name-calling.

However, McCain spokesman say that video evidence showing Obama's mother wearing army boots is being suppressed by the L.A. Times.

The merits of these charges will be discussed exhaustively by pundits from both sides on all media outlets until the day of the election

[robbie44]

So what if she did?

[knowBuddhaU]

Uh, back in the day, that was considered an insult, young one.

[pfc1369]

Excellent!

[robbie44]

Mr. Bob Dylan is the man................and you know it!

[Junggai]

Okay, now you've done it. I haven't listened to Blood on the Tracks since my copy was stolen out of my car three years ago, but your article has forced me to make a trip to the music store.

Heartland America should be singing the last chorus to themelves:

We're idiots, babe;
It's a wonder we can even feed ourselves.

[wisechild]

Last week I listened to "blood on the tracks" for the first time in years and marveled at how relevant Dylan's words, particularly on "Idiot Wind" were right now.

Last night I listened to Randy Newman's songbook volume 1 and cried when he sang "Louisiana" and "God's Song" and laughed to "political science" and "the world isn't fair".

It reminds me why I care, why I vote and why I support Obama.

And now, this excellent post to bring it all home. Thanks, Greg.

There is great comfort in knowing there is community in my beliefs. I thank you and the other posters here for reminding me.

[justchill]

you really want a chill up your spine? listen to masters of war today...a song that was written in 1963...

[PackyJ]

No doubt about it, Dylan is the Man. I've been a fan for 40+ years.
Jackson Browne penned another song in the same vein: "Lives in the Balance."
20+ years later, it still holds the same relevance.

[JumpingCholla]

A so-called anti-Semite who quotes Bob Dylan? Strange..

We live in a political world,
Wisdom is thrown into jail,
It rots in a cell, is misguided as hell
Leaving no one to pick up a trail.

Political World
Bob Dylan
1989

[Querent]

Plenty of anti-Semites quote Jesus, too. Strange.

[Oregon Ivy]

Don't let the idiot wind sweep away our future.

Get out and VOTE!

[Mudcrutch]

"You hurt the ones that I love best and cover up the truth with lies."

Idiot Wind has always been one of my favorite Dylan songs. Now it is forever linked to the 2008 election. I've always love the version on Hard Rain the best.

[Glenn1441]

Mr. Mitchell writes:

"Indeed, I think when the dust settles, so to speak, next week, perhaps the phrase"Idiot Wind" will endure as the lasting depiction of the McCain-Palin campaign. We don't need a Weatherman, such as Bill Ayers, to know which way the wind blows. He's bringing it all Barack home."

Come on... You gotta love that!

Wonderful post.

[lagumbo]

Idiot Wind, perfect. I will always associate that with JOHN MCCAIN for the rest of my life. Perfect discription.

[knowBuddhaU]

Beautiful! Thanks.

I have a confession: I'm a poet who don't know squat about Dylan. Worse, I can't stand his voice (except for Subterranean Homesick Blues, and Everybody Must Get Stoned).

Am I banished to Palin's America now?

[mommadona]

No - you are in good company.

Never could stand his whine.
It's the words that count, I suppose.

Never did get into his brand....

[knowBuddhaU]

Good to see you again, mommadona, very kind of you to say. The looks you get for criticizing The Bob, eh?

Maybe it's my jealousy showing?

I do indeed revere his writing.

[RRG64]

Nice.