Star Spangled Eyes

The most radical song in the history of American popular music.  

In the late 1990's Fortunate Son was edited into nationalist pap to sell godamn Wrangler Jeans .  Wrangler, who closed their last U.S. sewing plant in 1995, ran a flagsturbating television commercial that included only the lines, "some folks are born made to wave the flag/ooh they're red white and blue." Yep. Here is a company  manufacturing jeans in Mexican maquiladoras wrapping itself in the American flag.  They may as well burn the flag along with all the U.S. jobs they've outsourced. 

With the support of both political parties  the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed into law on December 8, 1993.  The outsourcing of U.S. jobs was now being aggressively facilitated by the American worker's own government.  Our nation's unions don't get a pass either.  The AFL-CIO's failure to mount a campaign of resistance helped seal the deal.  Offering up "reluctant" acquiescence was a monumental failure of labor's leadership and a disaster for U.S. workers and their communities.  What's that you say?  Surely organized labor would not sit quietly?  Indeed they haven't! American unions have for the most part continued to use member dues to subsidize the duplicitous Democratic Party.   Had the Democrats withheld support for NAFTA it would never have seen the light of day.  Perhaps it is a given that our political system exists to serve internationalized corporate power, but for labor and "progressives" to offer automatic support to a party that continuously crosses the aisle in the service of this destructive agenda is a disgrace.  Enough already!

At the very least, we should no longer tolerate the fraudulent patriotism of corporations nor the servile political class that slavishly does their bidding. 

Love and eternal respect to John Fogerty for tellin' like it is. 

Happy Independence Day! 

"Fortunate Son"

Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they're red, white and blue
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief"
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no

Yeah!
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh
But when the taxman comes to the door
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no

Some folks inherit star spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord
And when you ask them, "How much should we give?"
Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh