Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the same people I see on Facebook joining groups like 'Obama is a Socialist' would also set their statuses yesterday to wishing me a happy May Day. At this point I really shouldn't be shocked by the irony when most of the people showing up at Tea Part rallies don't know that Communism, Fascism and Socialism are all completely different things. We live in a country where people get pissed at the government for not doing enough to keep corporations in check and then freak out about one-world-government-takeovers when said government tries to implement oversight. And while I'm on my rant, I'm curious as to where all the "Drill Baby, Drill" crowd is now that the Gulf Coast is set to be be utterly destroyed by an oil spill. Perhaps more importantly, why am I friends with these people on Facebook and what does that say about me?!
Now, back to the real business. As most of you probably know, May Day was never meant to be a holiday about making flower baskets for the elderly, but rather, a day that celebrates international laborers rights and labor unions. No doubt there are a lot of songs I could choose to fit that theme - anything from Woody Guthrie, to Dylan, to Springsteen - but I thought I'd go with a slightly lesser known troubadour from the same tradition. While Billy Bragg is probably best known at this point for his work with Wilco on the Mermaid Avenue albums, Bragg has been a champion of workers rights in both his home country of England and here in the U.S.A. for decades. Now, rock on, comrades.
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