That "Yes We Can" Video
First things first: The new “Yes We Can” video produced by Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am is good. Really good.
The song consists entirely of Barack Obama’s words, sung and respoken by will.i.am’s friends, singers, songwriters, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It’s like a less cheesy “We Are the World” but features performers your parents—and probably Obama—have never heard of. (Watch it here.)
It also led to this amusing exchange between will.i.am, the video’s director, Jesse Dylan, and interviewer Alicia Davis on ABC News’ “What’s the Buzz”:
Alicia Davis: Now, what are some of the changes you want to see right now?
will.i.am: Education. Um, America’s finance. You know, getting our dollar up to where it should be.
Jesse Dylan: Stopping the war.
will.i.am: Stopping the war. Health. Um, international policies. You know, good things.
Davis: Good things. We can support that.
I wouldn't give him a cabinet position, but he'd be a perfect minister of culture.
P.S. -- For the record, this is the fourth great song about Barack Obama. Others here, here, and here.
UPDATE 5:05 p.m.: A reader points out another solid Obama tune, this one by Kidz in the Hall. Hear it here.
UPDATE Feb. 5, 4:46 p.m.: Wow, there are a lot of these things.