Journal of Post-Ralphaelite Thought

Woody Guthrie wrote the song " This Land is Your Land " in 1940 as a reaction to the syrupy sentiments of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." We forget now Guthrie's song was not originally just a patriotic camp singalong. When formerly blacklisted folk icon Pete Seeger sang it on the Washington Mall during the Obama inauguration concert, he sang the whole thing, including what singer Jill Sobule and others have mockingly referred to as the "Commie verses." An anthem is a song of celebration. For a country as diverse as ours we need more than one National Anthem. "This Land is Your Land" belongs on that list of unofficial anthems, and not just the feel-good verses. This Land is Your Land by Woodrow Wilson Guthrie This land is your land, this land is my land From California, to the New York Island From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters This land was made for you and me As I was walking a ribbon of highway I saw above me an ...

Hear that howling sound in the distance? It's the sound of entrenched interests realizing we may actually see some healthcare reforms come down the pike. The usual suspects: the Republicans and their friends in the immense healthcare insurance industry are making most of the noise. The noise is still faint and distant but it will get louder, much louder, as the debate warms up. Cries of Socialism, fraud, rationing of care and third hand horror stories about places where universal healthcare is the norm will abound. Bogus grassroots organizations, bank-rolled by huge corporations will miraculously spring up. Tons of postage will be spent sending out handsome glossy color mailings. Of course the Libertarians are squawking since they don't want to pay for anything, even though when push comes to shove none of them ever seems to turn down any of the government's supposed largess. You'll hear things like: Government healthcare will create a huge bloated bureaucracy Fact: in ...