We all cringed when we watched the videotaped exposés of the Planned Parenthood doctors haggling over the prices of fetal remains.

Today we heard another horrible recording which made us cringe — in a different way.

A 1987 recording of Bernie Sanders’s rendition of “This Land is Your Land” hit the internet. The song was part of a six-track album entitled “We Shall Overcome,” featuring Bernie “singing” (to describe it charitably) backed up by “30 Vermont Singers.” The album features five folk standards and ends with a “conversation” with Sanders, who was then the mayor of Burlington.

Here is “This Land is Your Land.” Keep an antacid ready.

https://youtu.be/LK-Kem7fR6o

When I heard the first bars of that song, I was a bit concerned about the reggae-style intro. I’m a fan of the late Bob Marley, and I was concerned that I would never be able to enjoy his music ever again.

But as the song continued, Bernie’s vocal style brought to mind this classic Halloween recording from 1962.

Of course Bernie Sanders would be enthused about singing Woody Guthrie’s quintessential composition. Guthrie was a radical progressive who wrote the song in 1940 after becoming disgusted with the frequent airtime radio stations gave to Kate Smith singing “God Bless America.” He wrote the song as a sarcastic retort, and he included this verse which is typically not sung around Boy Scout campfires:

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me.
The sign was painted, said ‘Private Property.’
But on the backside, it didn’t say nothing.
This land was made for you and me.

He also wrote this verse which was never recorded. It was scribbled onto a sheet of paper and is now owned by Guthrie’s daughter Nora.

One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple,
by the relief office I saw my people.
As they stood hungry,
I stood there wondering if God blessed America for me.

It’s no wonder that the old socialist Bernie Sanders felt an affinity for that song.

Today the Democratic party offers its faithful these candidates for the Presidency: a former First Lady and Secretary of State who is up to her eyeballs in scandals; a former Maryland governor who thinks the rise of ISIS is due to climate change; and a socialist former Vermont Senator who once fancied himself a folk singer.

The Republican presidential field may be a free-for-all, but even with the inclusion of Trump it is not nearly as absurd as the Democratic roster.