In 1853, in the run-up to the Crimean War, London‘s music halls rang with a rollicking and defiant song, with the crowd standing and roaring the tag line, “The Russians Shall Not Have Constantinople!” It is ludicrous to think of a present day London theater crowd standing and roaring defiance at anything at all. Nor will there be defiance from an American audience so long as Obama is president.

The music hall, the Internet
Are really just the same
A place where sober people met
To plan and play the game
For those who owned the music halls
And told us what to sing
And those who made the midnight calls
And told us what to bring
The game was capturing the flag
A small step will be fine
And if the Other seems to lag
Then it is Auld Lang Syne
Miscalculation can ensue
The game is always fraught
And then the piper’s pay is due
For lessons now untaught