Censoring "1776:" Cool, cool, considerate men

Remember when "politically correct" meant it was approved by the radical left?

Those days are gone -- they've been gone for a long time. For longer than a lot of people realize, "politically correct" has come to mean "not offensive to the Old Confederacy-based GOP and its electoral 'Southern Strategy:'"

In the musical "1776," the song "Cool, Cool, Considerate Men" depicts Revolutionary War era conservatives as power-hungry wheedlers focused on maintaining wealth. So it's not surprising that then-President Richard Nixon, who saw the show at a special White House performance in 1970, wasn't a big fan of the number.

What is surprising is that according to Jack L. Warner, the film's producer and a friend of the president, Nixon pressured him to cut the song from the 1972 film version of the show--which Warner did. Warner also wanted the original negative of the song shredded, but the film's editor secretly kept it intact.

Here are the lyrics:

Dickinson:

Oh say do you see what I see?

Congress sitting here in sweet serenity

I could cheer; the reason's clear

For the first time in a year Adams isn't here

And look, the sun is in the sky

A breeze is blowing by, and there's not a single fly

I sing hosanna, hosanna

Hosanna, hosanna

And it's cool

Come ye cool cool conservative men

The likes of which may never be seen again

We have land, cash in hand

Self-command, future planned

Fortune flies, society survives

In neatly ordered lives with well-endowered wives

We sing hosanna, hosanna

To our breeding and our banner

We are cool

Come ye cool cool considerate set

We'll dance together to the same minuet

To the right, ever to the right

Never to the left, forever to the right

May our creed be never to exceed

Regulated speed, no matter what the need

We sing hosanna, hosanna

Enblazoned on our banner

Is keep cool

What we do we do rationally

We never ever go off half-cocked, not we

Why begin till we know that we can win

And if we cannot win why bother to begin?

Rutledge:

We say this game's not of our choosing

Why should we risk losing?

All:

We are cool

To the right, ever to the right

Never to the left, forever to the right

We have gold, a market that will hold

Tradition that is old, a reluctance to be bold.

Dickinson:

I sing hosanna, hosanna

In a sane and lucid manner

We are cool

All:

Come ye cool cool considerate men

The likes of which may never be seen again

With our land, cash in hand

Self-command, future planned

And we'll hold to our gold

Tradition that is old, reluctant to be bold.

We say this game's not of our choosing

Why should we risk losing?

We cool, cool, cool

Cool, cool, cool

Cool cool men

Here's the footage you couldn't be trusted to see:

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post to see the video.

Hat tip to Doctor Beyond.