cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46797842

May 2, 2026

The creative team behind many of the viral sensations featuring Lego characters and storytelling critical of the war launched by US-Israeli forces against Iran two months ago, posted a new video on Saturday that seeks to forge solidarity between everyday Iranians and Americans suffering from the conflict, and who desperately want to see the fighting brought to an end.

“The Iranian AI Lego team has another video out,” said Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a DC think tank focused on US foreign policy. “The music, lyrics, and imagery are all designed to appeal to disillusioned Americans.”

  • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
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    14 hours ago

    Iran being smart enough to do the thing the US admin is too stupid to: win the hearts and minds of your adversary’s civilian populace.

    • WaxRhetorical@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      Historians are going to have plenty of work to do describing how the US threw away all of their soft power over the course of some decades. Absolutely wild to see.

      • Napster153@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        Not really, such things have unfolded a hundred times over in history, it’s pretty much prophetic.

        Men like Trump pave the way for real dictators who in return pave the way for emperors who in turn pave the way for tombstones.

      • Aqarius@lemmy.world
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        7 hours ago

        Oh, it’ll be easy: “Once their opponent dissolved, a portion of the US elite convinced themselves that ‘history is over’ and, being unopposed, they no longer needed to cultivate soft power and can simply seize whatbthey want outright.”

  • TotallynotJessica@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    14 hours ago

    The US has given up on all of it’s real strengths because Trump is too stupid to see anything but raw military might as important. The US used to be so good at winning people over through its promotion of human rights and liberal values of freedom. It was always a mask, but it was a very valuable one. It certainly never won over everyone, but it bought them enough good will to allow Pax Americana to persist. Trump has torn that mask clean off, not realizing just how much he would change the game for everyone. The very confidence and desire to be the dictator of the most powerful empire on earth has made that empire significantly less powerful.

    • Prior_Industry@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      It’s not just him though, there is a whole admin that is also happy to do this and these people will still be around ready to start over in another future republican government, even if it’s democrats that get in next time. A bug chunk of America appears to be happy to be on this path now.

    • Mrkawfee@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      So true. I’m glad that people acknowledge this “Liberal values” shtick was opium.for the masses. The global south has always known the US as a rapacious imperial force for resource theft, exploitation and violence

      • TotallynotJessica@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        5 hours ago

        I mean, I don’t have a normal perspective for an American by any stretch of the imagination. Most people here still think that America is or at some point was great.

    • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
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      14 hours ago

      Sign in to confirm you’re not a bot. This helps us protect the community.

      Got anything besides youtube? They apparently don’t want me to watch it (at least not without IDing myself to them…)

      Also, how the fuck does verifying the viewer’s humanity protect the fucking community? I’m not commenting or liking shit.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    23 hours ago

    I wonder if that’s why all the Iranian accounts suddenly stopped calling everyone “zionazis”?

    I won’t comment on how/why they got that memo a few days before the video, but it clearly wasn’t working and makes sense they’re pivoting.

    From a purely technical standpoint, it always made more sense for Iranian trolls to commiserate with Americans online; play it as “the only country that wants this is Israel” would be super effective.

    Insisting anyone who disagrees is a Zionist just makes the label mean nothing and makes people disregard anything else the propaganda is saying, even the true parts.

    All they were doing was diving people who were already against Israel and trump

    • Mrkawfee@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      I guess Israel is so hated in the US by younger more receptive audiences that they don’t need to highlight it.

  • zd9@lemmy.world
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    23 hours ago

    Yeah so… that video is completely true and great and all… but is this video being put out by the same regime that murdered like 20 THOUSAND unarmed civilians?? Trump and his puppeteers are bad (Thiel, Heritage Foundation, Musk, Vought, Andreeson, etc.) but also the Iranian Regime is way worse. How about they all blow up each other, so the People can finally have their revolution?

    • Soulg@ani.social
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      1 hour ago

      They did murder civilian protestors, it was not anywhere close to 20,000

    • Mrkawfee@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      Mossad and CIA operatives kicked off a violent uprising in Iran in January, following economic protests, which targeted police and other protestors. It was a cynical attempt to encourage a crackdown so Western propaganda could use it as a basis for “humanitarian intervention”

      It didn’t work but that absurdly false death count has stuck around like a bad smell. Verified death count is 3,000 and many of those were police.

    • Riverside@reddthat.com
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      19 hours ago

      murdered like 20 THOUSAND unarmed civilians?

      Source: the same Zionist media denying the genocide of Palestinians. Surely a non-doctored, totally true® figure.

      Also, about the “unarmed” part:

      US was arming Iranian dissidents through Kurds while negotiating with Tehran, Trump reveals

      So, the US sanctions Iran so heavily that the impoverished population wants to riot, and the US gives weapons to said impoverished population… Totally not a coup attempt!

      • belluck@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        6 hours ago

        The official stance of the Iranian Government is that ~3000 people were killed, ~2400 of which were civilians. Even if you choose to only believe the statement put out by the perpetrators, you still have to acknowledge that they killed multiple thousands of unarmed protestors.

        If you think that shooting at civilian protestors, regardless of how much they were incited by the enemy, is in any way acceptable, then I don’t see how you can claim moral superiority.

        The enemy of your enemy is not your friend.

        • Riverside@reddthat.com
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          5 hours ago

          If you cared the slightest about Iranian lives, you’d be protesting the US and EU sanctions on Iran that have debilitated its economy and hence murdered hundreds of thousands of people during the past half century. Based on a study by The Lancet, US and EU sanctions murder HALF A MILLION PEOPLE YEARLY globally since 1975, or about 38 million murders since 1970.

          The US playbook is to force economic turmoil through sanctions, literally starving people until they riot, arming the rioters, and then invading. Look at the protests’ timing with the exchange rate of the Iranian Rial, the protestors were rioting because they were starved by the US. But you blame Iran for the starving people who are dead because of explicit US policy of starving and arming people as a destabilizing factor. You literally fell for the US attempt to generate support for the war (or at least reduce criticism) because “Iranian government bad”, when ALL of those deaths and TENS OF MILLIONS MORE are the US’s fault.

          • belluck@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            5 hours ago

            Oh I absolutely agree. Both sides are very much complicit. I just get the image from your comments that you seem to believe that the Iranian government is somehow innocent in this, and I cannot agree with that.

            • Riverside@reddthat.com
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              3 hours ago

              Defending oneself from US intervention and regime change attempts is as innocent as it gets. What do you propose, that they peacefully accept getting couped?

    • hcf@sh.itjust.works
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      21 hours ago

      but is this video being put out by the same regime that […]

      It is not, actually. The group behind this is mostly a collective of around 9-10 Iran-based, Gen Z creators operating independent of the IRGC and/or official government of Iran. Their group/org name is “Explosive Media”.

      Lumping everyone in Iran as somehow part of “the regime” is kinda a shitty thing to do.

      That, and Trump’s ACA/Medicaid cuts are estimated to cause upwards of more than 50,000 premature deaths in the US, so you’re also objectively wrong if going by numbers, alone.

      In Trump’s first term, U.S.-led coalition forces killed more than 29,000 non-combatants in Iraq and Syria.

      But sure, the government fighting a CIA-backed, armed rebellion is worse than the government that–checks notes–drops tomahawk missiles on other countries’ elementary schools.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        21 hours ago

        collective of around 9-10 Iran-based, Gen Z creators operating independent of the IRGC and/or official government of Iran.

        About that…

        In previous interviews the outlet has said it is “totally independent”. But upon further questioning, Mr Explosive admits the regime is a “customer” - something he’s never before confirmed publicly.

        https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjd8jrd1vnyo

        If you’re ok having your domestic fascist regime being you’re “customer” you can’t really push back when people call your product propaganda for the fascist regime…

        “But they offer me monies!” Isn’t a good enough excuse to work for fascists with criticism for it.

        • hcf@sh.itjust.works
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          17 hours ago

          FTA:

          In earlier Instagram messages, he’d told us his operation had been directly commissioned for multiple projects by Iranian officials.

          So… What’s your point? What were the nature of the projects? Your linked article doesn’t say.

          Btw, are you an American? Do you pay taxes to the American fascist regime (or one of its coalition partners)? Yes? Then you directly fund the melting of school children overseas. Do you drive a gas-fueled vehicle? Yeah? Welp, 0.9¢ per gallon of that goes straight to frying little brown boys and girls in Gaza.

          If that’s not more concerning to you than feigning moral supremacy over some dudes making Lego videos then perhaps your vision is a bit tinted by a different kind of supremacy.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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            17 hours ago

            What’s your point?

            What I said it was…

            If you’re ok having your domestic fascist regime being you’re “customer” you can’t really push back when people call your product propaganda for the fascist regime…

            .

            Btw, are you an American?

            Yeah bro, it sucks…

            See that? A citizen saying their government is a bunch of fascists.

            1. What country are you from?

            2. How do you feel about your current government?

            Usually when asking it’s politie to offer up the same info pre-emptively.

            I answered anyways, but if you don’t reciprocate it kind of makes it look like you got something to hide

            • hcf@sh.itjust.works
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              16 hours ago

              They were rhetorical questions. You weren’t supposed to answer them.

              You have terrible reading comprehension.

              🤦‍♂️

              • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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                16 hours ago

                Does that mean I don’t get an answer?

                What country are you from?

                How do you feel about your current government?

                Usually when asking it’s politie to offer up the same info pre-emptively.

                I answered anyways, but if you don’t reciprocate it kind of makes it look like you got something to hide

        • Riverside@reddthat.com
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          19 hours ago

          Imagine believing the Zionist pro-genocide BBC international news coverage in 2026…

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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            18 hours ago

            Man, I really thought the “everyone I don’t like is a zionist” phase…

            The guy who wrote that article also just made a documentary:

            https://liontv.com/our-shows/palestine-action-the-truth-behind-the-ban-dispatches

            Calling out the UK government for banning Palestine Action…

            This may surprise you, the vast majority of “westerners” hate the governments of Israel, Iran, and likely their own domestic governments.

            Criticizing one place does not equallyean someone is “on the other side”.

            In fact, in a lot of conflicts, both governments are assholes.

            Does that make sense?

            • Riverside@reddthat.com
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              6 hours ago

              You literally ended your previous comment with “but they gave me monies! Is not good enough reason to work with a fascist”. Funny how this only ever seems to apply to foreign enemy states and not to people in your own fucking country. The BBC has been systematically silencing pro Palestinian voices and amplifying Zionist discourse, by your own logic your author is a fascist collaborator.

              You complain about “everyone I don’t like is a Zionist”, but you do the even worse “everyone my government tells me is a fascist”. Iran is not fascist for defending itself against US attacks, it has the right to self defense.

              If you have quarrels with deaths of Iranians, as I do, you’d be much better off protesting western governments sanctioning Iran with the express purpose of starving people until they revolt, western sanctions murder half a million people globally every year since 1975 (or over 38 million since 1970). If you want to look at the reasons for the anti-Government protests that oh so coincidentally spawned right before your war, look at the exchange rates of the Iranian Rial and the effects of US sanctions on currency value in Iran.

              The US playbook goes: sanction and blockade a country’s economy -> generate economic hardship for the citizens and insatisfaction -> arm protestors and/or rebel factions and/or neighboring enemies -> invade when crisis happens

              This helps the US generate the inner turmoil and chaos necessary for its goals, and the national and international popular support for the invasion. We’ve seen it in Syria, we’ve seen it in Libya, we’ve seen it with Iran before (Mosaddeq), and we’re seeing it again.

              • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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                4 hours ago

                No it applies to them too…

                I think the Cruz of the issue, is when someone criticizes something you support in any aspect, you assume that means the completely disagree with you every aspect of that topic and every other topic…

                I literally just explained what you’re still having problems with:

                This may surprise you, the vast majority of “westerners” hate the governments of Israel, Iran, and likely their own domestic governments.

                Criticizing one place does not equallyean someone is “on the other side”.

                In fact, in a lot of conflicts, both governments are assholes.

                And then you came back with this:

                you’d be much better off protesting western governments

                What the fuck do you think we’ve been doing?

                And why aren’t you doing it in the country you live in, but what disclose?

                I got a pretty good guess, but I’m trying not to assume.

                • Riverside@reddthat.com
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                  3 hours ago

                  And why aren’t you doing it in the country you live in, but what disclose?

                  My picture from 1st of May, literally 3 days ago, protesting in Vallecas, Madrid against the western militarization.

                  Iran will not improve until it gets rid of the US, so focus on that if you “hate both”.

      • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip
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        12 hours ago

        The fact that they’re whitelisted to use the internet alone implies they’re in cahoots with the government

        • some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world
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          9 hours ago

          Not necessarily. People have been working around the data blockade the whole time

          https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgzk91leweo

          I could see the government giving informal approval. (which could simply take the form of them knowing who the group is and letting them continue). But part of the regime? who knows.

          Not that the distinction really matters. The more I learn about Iran, I realize that basically everything that goes on there exists in some sort of grey area

    • egerlach@lemmy.ca
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      20 hours ago

      Two things can both be bad.

      Bad people can be right.

      Saying “this video by the Iranian regime roasts the US regime” doesn’t automatically mean that the Iranians are right. I see the rebuttal that there’s an implicit boosting and platforming of this which normalizes it. I don’t know which is worse. I think we’ll need hindsight for that.

    • Eldritch@piefed.world
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      22 hours ago

      Has more direct, violent control of their own people? Sure. Worse than trump and friends? Dunno bout that. Due to trump’s malice and incompetence, he’s getting people killed in the US as well as abroad. Plenty in Cuba are suffering and dying because of him right now. Africa too. They’re both shit and I won’t root for either. I certainly won’t begrudge them killing our soldiers following illegal orders over there invading at least.

        • Zorque@lemmy.world
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          19 hours ago

          So worse because of opportunity, not because of effort? Do you think the Iranian regime would have been any better if they were in the same position as the US?

          • Assassassin@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            19 hours ago

            I don’t know, because that isn’t the reality we live in. They’d probably be just as bad, but that doesn’t justify the US being awful either.

            • Zorque@lemmy.world
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              18 hours ago

              Who said it did? People aren’t saying there has to be a good guy, they’re saying they’re both bad. That trying to make one better or worse is pointless because they’re hurting people either way.

              You don’t have to pick one of two sides in this. You can just say “The war is bad”.

    • mrdown@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      22 hours ago

      Please decide yourself. The regime killed 20,000, 30,000, or 40,000? The USA is responsible for millions of deaths. I am sorry, but the USA is way worse than the Iranian regime.

      • backalleycoyote@lemmy.today
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        15 hours ago

        What’s the body count have to be to solicit an unfavorable opinion? Like, can you abide a few? Gloss over a few dozen? Do you require evidence of each kill? How many people does a theocratic authoritarian government have to murder for you to be like “yeah, fuck your regime”? Don’t conflate “fuck the Ayatollah and the IRGC” with “go America”. It’s not difficult to be disgusted with two fundies leaving a trail of bodies in their wake as they argue over oil and which delivery boy made up a better version of God.

      • FreeAZ@sopuli.xyz
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        14 hours ago

        I have a friend in Iran, his cousin died in the protests. His body was tagged 12,014. Shut your fucking mouth if you don’t know what you’re talking about.

        • Lucius_Sweet@lemmy.world
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          10 minutes ago

          Yea, well my cousins friend also died in the protests and a bunch of his friends too and you know what his body was tagged? -2672, this means that not only is the Iranian government not killing people, they are actively resurrecting them, my cousins friend and all the other guys just got up and walked out of that morgue, good as new.

          This is obviously sarcasm, it is very easy for anyone on an anonymous forum to claim whatever they want. It sounds to me like you are going out of your way to shut down conversation on this matter by unconvincingly claiming “your friends cousin” died. I bet you also had a supermodel girlfriend from two towns over.

        • EvergreenGuru@lemmy.world
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          2 hours ago

          😂 😝 😂 my friend was once the millionth customer at our local McDonalds . They added it to his social security card.

        • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
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          14 hours ago

          That sucks and all, and I’m sorry for your friend’s loss, but that’s precisely the kind of information that can be pinpointed back to him or his family. So be careful saying stuff like that.

        • davel@lemmy.ml
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          14 hours ago

          Obviously that’s not how body tags work. Either you or your friend is making this story up.

    • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
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      14 hours ago

      Actually no, that was the previous Iranian regime (before they killed the Ayatollah). This is the new Iranian regime (with the younger Khamenei).

      Maybe he’s not a murderous tyrant like his dad? I suppose it’s worth giving him an opportunity to build his own legacy without his father’s baggage, considering the circumstances.

      If he ends up murdering his own civilians too, then fuck him. But so far he hasn’t done that.

    • Tolc@lemmy.world
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      21 hours ago

      here we have another liberal manufacturing consent for the war and thinking republicans are the problem in america

      • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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        18 hours ago

        Lol that shit is hilarious, like people who actually live here can possibly forget ALL the Republican political messaging in support of this administration, its stupid ass wars, raping kids, hiding its crimes, and killing/marginalizing/deporting anyone who disagrees or even just happens to be brown.

        Do you have any idea how many fucking red caps and pro-Trump signs I have to see every day? Do you really think your limp words hold a candle to all that crowing about the Republicans “hurting the right people” finally?

        “here we have another liberal thinking republicans are the problem in america”

        YEAH! I ABSOLUTELY FUCKING DO!

      • Zorque@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        Here we have another my way or the highway extremist who only takes what they want to hear from a statement instead of the intent… or the actual content of the words.

    • Krusty@quokk.au
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      22 hours ago

      Trump and his puppeteers

      Don’t forget skull and bones.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        22 hours ago

        When people talk about trump being “unprecedented” I think it’s because people don’t know a prior Republican president specifically and explicitly requested to watch his son (a future Republican president) jack off as part of Skull and Bones…

        Like HW Bush full on requested a front row seat, knowing full well what would happen because his dad was also a member too.

          • GuyIncognito@lemmy.ca
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            36 minutes ago

            The Skull and Bones society is an elite, secretive undergrad club at Yale University. One of their initiation rituals involves lying down in a coffin containing the skull of Geronimo and jacking off. They are also alleged to possess the stolen skulls of Geronimo and Pancho Villa.

            Through the 1800s and 1900s, the Skull and Bones Society helped to mould the future elites of the United States into the perfect psychopaths ideal for management of the empire. Notable members include Prescott Bush, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, John Kerry, Averell Harriman (co-founder of Brown Brothers Harriman), William F. Buckley, William Nordhaus (the economist who won the 2018 Nobel Prize for calculating the optimal level of global warming at 4 degrees C, with any mitigation limiting warming below that being determined to cause too much economic harm); and a whole array of politicians, financiers, captains of industry, CIA men, ambassadors, and so on. And Paul Giamatti. They’ve all jacked off into Geronimo’s skull while other members watched.

        • Krusty@quokk.au
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          20 hours ago

          Monkeys spanking monkeys spanking monkeys over pieces of dat ass.

          Silly monkeys, give them thumbs, they’ll gather 'round and watch the monkey spank its monkey.

          Angels on the sideline again Wondering where this tug of war will end.