After receiving an injection from Dr. Hibbert, Bart becomes deaf, which makes him impervious to being bullied...until he accidentally moons the American flag during a donkey basketball game, prompting everyone in town to accuse The Simpsons of being unpatriotic under the new "Government Knows Best" Act.
Plot[]
Homer and Marge take their children to get their vaccination shots, but to keep them from finding out, they treat them to ice cream and give them kittens. Unfortunately, they figure out what's happening and become scared. While both Maggie and Lisa get their shots, before Dr. Hibbert is about to inject Bart, he escapes. After a chase through town, Hibbert finally outsmarts Bart by having Barney (and briefly Moe) impersonate him and the real Hibbert injects Bart. However, the shot causes Bart's ears to swell shut, making him temporarily deaf, Dr Hibbert tells them if they need anything he'll be on vacation.
At first, Homer takes advantage of Bart being deaf by using many loud sounds next to his ears which Marge puts a stop too. Even at school when the bullies try to talk to him, they think he's becoming bold so they freak out and run away. While at the Springfield Elementary School donkey basketball game, Bart teases a donkey with a carrot, unaware that the school band is playing the "Star-Spangled Banner." After he places the carrot in his shorts, the donkey takes it out and rips off Bart's pants (just like his famous punchline "Eat my shorts!"), thus exposing his bare buttocks. While Bart is bent over to cover his private part with his sweatshirt, the American flag is lowered behind Bart without him knowing and a photo is taken, which results in the crowd booing Bart, assuming he is mooning the American flag. When Skinner chews out Marge and Homer for what happened, Marge tries to explain that Bart didn't mean for what he was doing because he was deaf at that time; however, due to Bart's history of pretending to be disabled, Skinner refuses to believe it, (in the style of Aesop's story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"). To make matters worse, after Bart's hearing is cured, he still doesn't know that he did something wrong. Shortly afterwards, The Springfield Shopper takes the photo page and completely turns it around, making it seem as if Bart had mooned the flag on purpose which was titled "U-Ass-A!". Soon, everyone in Springfield becomes furious with the Simpson family.
When the family tries to clear up this misunderstanding, it is to no avail. Later, the Simpsons are asked to appear on a talk show and try to explain what really happened. However, instead of listening to their side of the story as promised the host instead asks, "What part of Americans do you hate most?" (an example of the fallacy of many questions), also turning the question on Homer and Marge, the later of whom answers "Well America is not perfect". When the host asks if this is why the Simpsons hate Americans, Marge snaps, saying that if he is referring to loud-mouthed talk show hosts, which she notes "everyone seems to be in this country" (referring to the fact that questions such as that one are the only forms of discussion in the US), then she does hate Americans.
This sentiment leaves everybody shocked, with even Bart, Maggie (who is too young to understand) and Homer (who is eating a sandwich) left taken aback by what Marge said. When the host expresses surprise that Marge has not been run out of town, she replies that she is well-liked in Springfield, prompting him to declare that Springfield hates America. As a result, the country turns its back on Springfield, even going so far to declare December 25th "We hate Springfield Day". Mayor Quimby worries that this could destroy Springfield’s reputation. Conventions pull out of Springfield left and right Frantically, Quimby decides to change the name of Springfield to "Libertyville". Everything in town is quickly patriotised; the traffic light colors are changed to red, white, and blue, and everything costs $17.76. While at church, Lisa speaks her opinion about patriotism, resulting in a SWAT team raiding the church and the Simpsons being arrested for violating of the "Government Knows Best Act".
The family are taken to the Ronald Reagan Reeducation Center, which houses liberal celebrities such as Michael Moore, the Dixie Chicks, Elmo (who went to the wrong fundraiser), and Bill Clinton. With some help from the last-registered Democrat, the Simpsons escape the jail during the talent show. After escaping, they realize the re-education center is on Alcatraz. While they are swimming to Oakland on the mainland, they are picked up by a French ship and are brought to France. They are well adjusted, but miss living in the US. They return to the US dressed as steam-fashioned immigrants from Europe, where the Simpsons, now the Simps, discuss their plans to integrate.
Reception[]
This episode is often cited as one of the worst episodes of the series, due to the heavy-handed political satire.
