Another day, another meme mocking the self-styled militiamen occupying a wildlife refuge in Oregon.
Jon Ritzheimer, the notorious anti-Muslim activist and one ringleader of the ongoing protest, posted a video Dec. 31 which he addressed to his children. Sitting behind the wheel of a car, Ritzheimer tearfully explained he couldn’t be home for the holidays because “your daddy swore an oath.”
“He swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, against all enemies foreign and domestic,” Ritzheimer says in the video, while thrusting a pocket copy of the Constitution at the camera from the front seat of an apparently parked car.
After John Darnielle, frontman of The Mountain Goats and all-around good internet presence, posted a parody of the video, #DaddySworeAnOath was born.
#daddysworeanoath pic.twitter.com/CpZEmzNzu1
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) January 5, 2016
Dads across the internet answered Darnielle’s challenge with videos of their own.
A few of the best entries:
@mountain_goats #DaddySworeAnOath pic.twitter.com/SiYJBBqqK9
— (/) (;,,;) (/) (@AdmiralBeamish) January 5, 2016
Step.aside, John Ritzheimer. #Oregonstandoff #DaddySworeAnOath pic.twitter.com/YPl8P8cNXk
— Tim Kirk (@Tim2Kirk) January 5, 2016
#DaddySworeAnOath inspired by drama queen militiamen and @Tim2Kirk @mountain_goats pic.twitter.com/fL3IXkRMTU
— Patrick Cooper (@PatrickGeCooper) January 5, 2016
.@mountain_goats #DADDYSWOREANOATH pic.twitter.com/68Jw9WGud8
— CRABBRO-HO-HO!? (@Cassiyus) January 5, 2016
I bet Daddy swears a lot.
Daddy needs acting lessons…(those take-out waits at Wendy’s can be killer.)
It is obvious Daddy was reading off cue cards.
I’d be angry too if I was still having to buy clothes out of the Boys 8-20 Department at Macy’s…
I honestly think the feds doing nothing publicly about this, and instead letting these buffoons become laughing stocks, is probably the most effective way to deal with this. not only does it turn these guys into a joke, but it does so in a very, very public way; so public, and so humiliating, that it’s a pretty good deterrent against future similar acts.
law enforcement may have accidentally stumbled into this by taking time to assess the situation and formulate a plan, but at this point, i’d just let the internet keep it up.