Skip to main content

Friday Nite Videos -- Fourth of July, 2015

Portside
Which America should we recall on the Fourth of July? The "all men are created equal" of the Declaration of Independence or the gross inequalities by race, class and gender, the crying disparities of wealth, voice and security in real life? Both. Because the lofty declaration is more than a platitude and a snare; it has also always been a goal and a call to strive "to finish the work we are in." Lefty alternatives for the Fourth: songs, thoughts, a little inspiration.

Bruce Springsteen: Born in the USA

Springsteen's rock masterpiece captures the anguish of fighting a war (Vietnam) for which the soldier can find no explanation and no justification. 
 

Friday Nite Videos -- December 5, 2014

Portside
Chokehold Death Protests. Economic Agenda for America. Springsteen: My Oklahoma Home. She's Beautiful When She's Angry. The Feather and the Cannonball.

Springsteen: My Oklahoma Home

Bruce Springsteen, live in Dublin, sings Woody Guthrie's classic song of humor for surviving Dust Bowl and Depression."All except my mortgage blowed away." 

Celebrating Progressive Patriotism; Top Ten July 4th Songs

Peter Drier, Richard Flacks and Peter Rothberg
To some, patriotism means "my country -- right or wrong." To others, it means loyalty to a set of principles, and thus requires dissent and criticism when those in power violate those standards. Not enough Americans are aware that much of what we consider our patriotic culture, especially our iconic music, was created by artists and writers of decidedly left-wing sympathies.
Subscribe to Bruce Springsteen