Nationalism is power-hunger tempered by self-deception. Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them, and there is almost no kind of outrage — torture, the use of hostages, forced labour, mass deportations, imprisonment without trial, forgery, assassination, the bombing of civilians — which does not change its moral colour when it is committed by ‘our’ side. The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them. If one harbours anywhere in one’s mind … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Sets Things Right

♪ It took a short walk and a talk To change the rules of engagement While you searched frantically for reverse And them claiming That virtue never tested is no virtue at all And so I lost my ignorance ♪ — “Must I Paint You a Picture,” Billy Bragg, Workers Playtime Over the decades that Uvular spent training for the last bender that almost took his life, he regularly took liquor holidays lasting as long as three months. He kept a six pack in the fridge or a fifth in the cabinet throughout those weeks of abstention because he knew … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Tells Its Better Angels to Go to Hell

Monday’s child is fair of face, Tuesday’s child is full of grace, Wednesday’s child is full of woe, Thursday’s child has far to go. Friday’s child is loving and giving, Saturday’s child works hard for a living, But the child born on the Sabbath Day, Is fair and wise and good and gay. Private, meaning religiously affiliated, adoption agencies in Kansas and Oklahoma this week received the cover of law to deny applications from LGBT adults looking to become parents — even the proverbially good adults born on a Sunday. Lawmakers in Iowa compounded this bigotous folly by enacting a … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Carries a Parental Advisory

♫ What’s so great about the Barrier Reef? What’s so fine about art? What’s so good ‘bout a good time spent When you’re workin’ on a broken, workin’ on a broken man? ♫ — “Barrier Reef,” Old 97’s Earth Day, like your humble WPT host, has turned 48. Some* would argue Earth does not look a day over six-five hundred, but even at that age, the girl shows her mileage. Most would agree that white men took the toll, riding Earth and putting her away dried out.** Since the launch of the Industrial Revolution in mid-18th century England … . … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Grows World-Weary

♪ Whoa, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of Mississippi, find yourself another country to be part of ♪ — Phil Ochs, “Here’s to the State of Mississippi” An imprecise and ultimately dumb joke,* sent Uvular down a Phil Ochs YouTube rabbit hole. Very little has changed in the Hospitality State** since Ochs in 1966 set lyrics like the following to a tune Billy Bragg later stole repeatedly: ♪ And here’s to the government of Mississippi In the swamp of their bureaucracy they’re always bogging down And criminals are posing as the mayors of the towns And … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Finds Nothing New Under the Sun

♫ And now she walks as though she was Now she walks again with us Now she walks as though she was Newborn ♫ — “Newborn,” Guadalcanal Diary, 2×4 Happy Easter, Passover,* Opening Day, and belated Nowruz. Speaking of things resurrected, set free, playing ball, and begun anew, how about that public school teacher’s labor movement? From West Virginia to Arizona, underpaid and overworked educators have left their classrooms and stormed state capitols to demand fair wages. An insult of a public pension fix got treated as such by Kentucky teachers who staged a sick-out the morning after legislators tried … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Schools Some Fools

♫ Building up to the larger point With an arrogance not rare or pretty We don’t declare the war on idleness When outside it’s cold and shitty ♫ — “Titanic Terrarium,” The Tragically Hip Your humble WPT host will do three unthinkable things today. First, Uvular will riff on a song he does not like all that much. The lyrics strike many chords, but the soporific and shrill performance barely counts as anemic while staying far away from enjoyable. Which baffles, since every other song on Day for Night would just about make another band’s career. Second, he will slice … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Takes ‘March’ Literally

♪ A curse upon you Oliver Cromwell You who raped our Motherland I hope you’re rotting down in hell For the horrors that you sent To our misfortunate forefathers Whom you robbed of their birthright “To hell or Connaught” may you burn in hell tonight ♪ — “Young Ned of the Hill,” The Pogues Your humble WPT host proudly wears his seventh-eighths Irish ancestry in his reddish hair, grey-blue eyes, pale and freckled skin, and nearly fatal love of uisce beatha. Despite, or because of, that, Uvular regularly thanks his great-greats for getting the Ifreann out of Erin during the … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Gets Its Irish Up

♪ My head can’t tolerate this bobbing and pretending Listening to some bullethead and the madness that he’s saying ♪ — “Your Racist Friend,” They Might Be Giants Accept, without excusing, the incendiary title of this WPT installment as Uvular running out of patience and bromides for discussing America’s original and festering sin. To turn a phrase, he demands to call a spade a spade.* An Economic Policy Institute analysis released two weeks ago concluded that since 1968 black people in the United States saw no progress toward equality in terms of economic attainment, home ownership, overall health, or treatment … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Crosses the Color Line

♫ It’s your life And you can do what you want Do what you like But please don’t keep a-me waiting Please don’t keep a-me waiting ♫ Passion meets aggression in this wheedling warble of teen lust. Just as Ray Davies issues the ultimatum to his hesitant girlfriend, your humble WPT host wants congressional Republicans to know that this loyal opposition from the out-party just will not work out unless they decide to screw over Trump and his felonious Cabinet members. True, House Oversight Committee Trey Gowdy did finally pledge to open an investigation into the black guy at HUD, … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Could Use a Weekend

Uvular can’t come to the WPT header this weekend because paid work leaves him too busy to devote 300-plus words to explaining why Special Counsel Robert Mueller handing down an eight-count indictment against Russian election hackers has firmly implanted Starbuck’s “Moonlight Feels Right” in his brain.* Until he returns, Uvular invites you to plug in the real-life events that make the lyrics to Soul Asylum’s “Beggars and Choosers” read like a biography of Donald Trump. ♫ Right before the aftermath, I saw where it would end. They said it was an accident, I guess that all depends On who you … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Takes What It Can Get

♪ [Eddie Kendricks] People moving out, people moving in. Why, because of the color of their skin. Run, run, run but you sure can’t hide. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Vote for me and I’ll set you free. Rap on, brother, rap on. [Dennis Edwards] Well, the only person talking about love thy brother is the preacher. And it seems nobody’s interested in learning but the teacher. Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration. Aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation. Ball of confusion. Oh yeah, that’s what the world is today. Woo, hey, hey. [Paul Williams] The sale … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Demands a Cure for Whelmedness

♬ Gone forever in a trigger slip Well, it could have been It could have been your brother (Shoot) Shoot straight (Shoot) Shoot to kill, yeah Blame each other, well, blame yourself You know, God is a bullet Have mercy on us everyone ♬ — Concrete Blonde, “God Is a Bullet” Three middle schoolers and an adult in Los Angeles, Calif., suffered injuries when a handgun concealed in a 12-year-old girl’s backpack fell on the ground and discharged. All victims will survive, including a boy shot in the head. The bullet somehow missed all vital structures in the 15-year-old’s head. … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Goes Off Half-Cocked

♪ Stand as far away from me as you can and ask me why Hang on to your rosary beads Close your eyes to watch me die You keep saying, kick it, quit it, kick it, quit it God, but did you ever try To turn your sick soul inside out So that the world, so that the world Can watch you die ♪ — Gil Scott Heron, “Home Is Where the Hatred Is” On Jan. 19, 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services extended the National Public Health Emergency related to opioids for 90 days. Expect little … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Just Ain’t NORML

♫ He said, “Fuck this!” and “Fuck that!” And this guy’s the diplomat ♫ — The Tragically Hip, “It Can’t Be Nashville Every Night,” In Between Evolution Famous Prussian Otto von Bismarck formulated the foreign policy principle of Realpolitik, a largely ideology-free pursuit of the nation’s best interest. Infamous grandson of a Prussian economic refugee to the United States Donald Trump this past week perfected the principle of Scheissepolitik, a purely ideological pursuit of no one’s best interest — with racism colored by xenophobia and Islamophobia standing as the ideology. Fresh off forcing Pakistan into a military marriage of convenience with … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Plays the Game of Global Diminution

♬ The fiddler watches you Wondering when You’re gonna slow down or speed up Finally, he just shuts his eyes again He turns around once And gives up But me? I’ve been coming here much too long To fall out the first time it don’t work It may take a while To catch up to your style So you just give the rhythm a jerk ♬ — “Broken Waltz Time,” Bill Morrissey, Night Tain   No matter what the header image implies, Pecos Bill did not get off on cosplaying a Village Person while dry humping wind storms he anthropomorphized … Continue reading The Weekend Politics Thread Rides the Cyclone