A brief observation on corporate-run government, oil spills, and music
Some of the best songs should have never been written. I’m sure for example that Woody Guthrie would have rather seen thousands of families prosper in this, the richest nation on Earth, than to write songs about the hardships these families faced because of the Dust Bowl, just as I’m sure that Neil Young would rather have four more Ohio residents alive today or that Bruce Springsteen would have given back the Grammy he received for The Rising if that meant that the 2,995 people who lost their lives on September 11th could be here once more.
But when tragedies do occur sometimes music is what helps the most to explain, to ask questions, or to say what we’ve been thinking in a way we couldn’t do with just words. From Bing Crosby’s “Brother Can You Spare a Dime” to Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name” this has always been the case. And two of the best songs I’ve heard in the aftermath of the Gulf Coast oil spill have came from right here on the No Depression community. One asks questions while the other simply defines a way of life in Louisiana. The songs speak for themselves and you can go ahead and scroll down to the bottom of this page right now and check them out, but I’m going to offer a few of my own thoughts on the subject just in case any of you want to know what I think.
In 2005, rapper Kanye West made the comment that because of his response to Hurricane Katrina, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people”. Bush is many things, most of them bad, but I truly doubt that racist is one of them. The situation can be summed up better by the Drive-By Truckers: “to the fuckin’ rich man all poor people look the same”.
But it’s beginning to look like no politician cares about anybody, at least in this country. They’ve all sold their souls to corporations and you and I don’t have the money to compete with that. The Bible says that “the love of money is the root of all evil” so I guess most of the politicians in Washington are going straight to hell since they are nothing more than glorified prostitutes in high power willing to do anything for money.
Remember the 27 miners who lost their lives a few months back? Did you ever hear about the improved mining safety regulations put in place because of it? That’s because Massey Energy owns Congress and it didn’t happen.
Remember the time that America went to war in a foreign country that hadn’t attacked us and had no plans to attack us? Remember the massive parades all over the country as we welcomed the troops home from that senseless war? That’s because Haliburton owns Congress and it didn’t happen.
Remember when Wall Street fucked up the entire country on a massive scale? And remember how the CEOs of Fannie Mae and their ilk are now in prison for perpetrating this heinous crime against the American people? That’s because they own Congress and got rewarded for it instead with a massive bailout.
So we all know that BP should pay for all the damages, that Tony Hayward and all of his millionaire friends should end up in a courtroom, and that America needs to come up with a way to drill for oil in a more environmentally friendly way while also allowing the oilfield workers to keep their jobs. Think any of that will happen? If so then you are truly delusional. Here’s your homework assignment: find out how much your Congressman took from BP?
And now with a recent Supreme Court decision, corporations have even more power than ever before. They are people now according to the Court and as people, they can give unlimited amounts of campaign cash to any politician in this country.
I’m on the opposite end of the political spectrum from the Tea Party crowd, but they are right about one thing. This country is not what it used to be and Barack Obama really isn’t changing that. Obama told Matt Lauer that he talked to experts so he could know “who’s ass to kick”. With all due respect, Mr. President, first you need to get off your ass and out of the White House, which is really just another mansion being lived in by just another millionaire and onto the streets and roads anywhere in any town in America. Talk to the people there and remember that they are the ones who voted for you, who thought you would make a difference. Maybe you can still start doing what we wanted you to do, but right now the most important thing and what we need you to do most of all is to keep your word on the oil spill. Go down to the Gulf Coast and kick some ass. Or next time it might be your ass that gets kicked right out of office.