Song of the Day 10/25: John Williams & the Vienna Philharmonic: “Imperial March (from ‘Star Wars’)”

I suppose the fact that fascists have an underdeveloped sense of humor isn’t news, but it still drew media attention when a protester in Washington DC proved it. Sam O’Hara, 35, was detained by police when a member of the Ohio National Guard got pissed off about his form of protest, and he’s filed a lawsuit in response.

Angered by the occupation of the capital by armed troops, O’Hara took to marching behind them. “Using his phone and sometimes a small speaker, he played ‘The Imperial March’ as he walked, keeping the music at a volume that was audible but not blaring,” the lawsuit by O’Hara’s attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union says. “Mr. O’Hara recorded the encounters and posted the videos on his TikTok account, where millions of people have viewed them.” When police arrived, O’Hara’s attorneys wrote, they handcuffed him, preventing him from continuing his protest.

The ACLU attorneys, unlike the fascists, had a little fun with the whole scenario.

“The law might have tolerated government conduct of this sort a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” the lawsuit says, referring to the opening text of the “Star Wars” franchise. “But in the here and now, the First Amendment bars government officials from shutting down peaceful protests, and the Fourth Amendment (along with the District’s prohibition on false arrest) bars groundless seizures.”

I don’t know about you, but I get an extra kick out of the fact that this performance in Vienna, conducted by composer John Williams, drew cheers from the crowd when the opening notes played. As I recall from history class, Austrians cheered the Anschluss, too.