Laughter as a Weapon: Auto-Tuning Qaddafi

Here's the story:

In his recent hour-long screech on a Tripoli balcony, Muammar Qaddafi vowed to hunt down his own rebellious people "inch by inch, house by house, room by room, alley by alley" and to wipe them out "to the last drop of blood". An Israeli musician and journalist named Noy Alooshe -- who is of Tunisian descent, by the way -- caught the speech. He noted the rhythmic repetitions, the zany clothes, and the trippy way Qaddafi kept raising his fists, and said to himself: "Classic hit!" 

Alooshe cranked up Auto-Tune and remixed Qaddafi's speech as a mash-up with "Hey Baby," a song by American rappers Pitbull and T-Pain. . . . It went viral across the Arab world. 

Some Arab viewers were put off to discover the video's Israeli provenance, but the vast majority, it seems, think it's terrific. In Libya in particular, young revolutionaries are loving it. The New York Times says the video has become a "popular token" of the Libyan uprising. 

Now here's the video:

"Every joke is a tiny revolution." ~ Orwell