Weekend Vid Picks: Rx2008’s Crashups

If Hunter S. Thompson had a YouTube channel, it would likely look something like the one run by Rx2008. A helmet-wearing, flag-waving, beer-swilling voice of dissidence, Rx, as he refers to himself, broadcasts both his drug use and his patriotism in his presidential campaign announcements. His rants are carefully constructed — they are also politically poignant trips of Prankster proportions. But it is what he refers to as his “crashup” videos, the meticulously reconstructed oratory of presidents and dignitaries, that really prove Rx groks online video.

Although recently eclipsed by Huckabee’s Chuck Norris-related viral notoriety, ex-Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel has had a notable online video history. He did an interview in a Georgetown dorm room with Politico video blogger James Kotecki (who currated YouTube’s main page the day of the debates), and he has an esoteric campaign ad that, despite flouting every viral video rule, has gained several hundred thousand views. Now the Alaskan has teamed up with Rx for what we are told is the first in a series of psychedelic video civil disobedience.

For Independence Day, Rx teamed up with JibJab to make this awesome rendition of the national anthem. Now if Rx would just mash this up with Jimi Hendrix’s version, we’d have a truly transcendent piece of Americana.

With nearly a million views, Rx’s crashup of State of the Union clips that showcase George W. Bush reciting U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday brought the VJ/DJ to the fore. I especially like the video’s commentary on the increasingly spastic frequency Congress with which gives standing ovations at the annual addresses.

Not limited only to American politics, Tony Blair gets blasted with the appropriately indecisive punk rock classic from The Clash, Should I Stay or Should I Go? And go he did.

The Decider recites some of the peace-mongering lyrics penned by The Walrus.