This song actually has two story lines. First, the song is well done, especially if you like honky-tonk country music. Given the lack of flexibility in Obamanomics, it’s starting to look like Barack Obama only has one tool in the economic toolbox. It would not surprise me a bit to hear this played in Tea Party events all over the country:

On the other hand, the songwriter needs a better distribution strategy. Bryan Glover, a 26-year-old middle-school football coach, decided to share his creation with parents of his students. Bad idea (via Doug Powers at the Boss Emeritus’ blog):

A Tennessee middle school football coach is looking to the future after his termination for alleged political incorrectness.

Twenty-six-year-old Bryan Glover is a Christian who co-wrote a song called “When You’re Holding a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail,” which takes a dig at the current administration and what he believes to be the wrong moves for the U.S. He sent a link to his song to everyone in his personal e-mail inbox, which included parents from Grassland Middle School, where he coached football.

“An hour-and-a-half after sending out the e-mail, I got the phone call from the head coach saying that he had had complaints from parents; he was told to fire me,” the former coach accounts.

He notes that he was surprised by the allegations against him.

“When the coach first called me, he said his phone was blown up with parents saying that I was being politically incorrect — quote, unquote — if you will, and that some of them were even reading into racial overtones in the song,” Glover explains.

But he points out that the lyrics make no direct or indirect reference to race.

No, it doesn’t mention anything at all about race, ethnicity, or religion. The song focuses on the economy and health care, and Obama’s penchant for blaming his predecessor for, well, everything:

When the stuff hits the fan, they say, “Don’t look at me,

If you got trouble, blame 43!”

Glover should have known better than to get parents’ e-mail addresses for political commentary.  It doesn’t make any difference who the employer is; unless it’s an explicitly political organization, companies don’t want their employees spending their time debating politics.  They especially don’t want employees using their resources to make political statements to customers, and for a school, parents (and students) are the customers.  They no more appreciate political missives from conservatives than they do from liberals.  It makes little difference whether he sent it from his personal e-mail or not, as the addresses of the parents almost certainly came from the school’s system.

Hopefully, he finds work soon, and in the meantime, visit his website to express any appreciation you may have for the song.  I’d guess that he has a career in Nashville after this clever debut, even if the rollout was not as adept as Glover would have hoped.

Update (AP): Here’s an interview with Glover.