Bruce Springsteen: Make America Fun Again
Bruce Springsteen has been in the news a lot lately, partially because he and the E Street Band just released a very strong new album called Letter To You, and partially because he keeps talking shit about the president. Most recently, the Boss told an interviewer Down Under he’d be on the next plane to Australia if Donald Trump wins reelection. Before that, he exhorted Trump to “put on a fucking mask” back in June, and a year ago he responded to a barb from Trump by saying the president “doesn’t know what it means to be an American.”
In the latest episode of his SiriusXM radio show From My Home To Yours, Springsteen continues to preach against Trump. The program, titled “From My Home To Yours, Volume 14: Farewell To The Thief,” begins with a Halloween-themed intro: “It is time for an exorcism in our nation’s Capital. Welcome to our Halloween slash election day monster mash,” Springsteen says. “In just a few days, we’ll be throwing the bums out. I thought it was a fucking nightmare, but it was so.”
He goes on to recite a rousing poem by Elaine Griffin Baker about the lack of culture and camaraderie in the current White House, a poem that manages to invoke the ice bucket challenge with a straight face:
There’s no art in this White House. There’s no literature, no poetry, no music. There are no pets in this White House. No loyal man’s best friend, no Socks, the family cat, no kids, Science fairs. No time when the president takes off his blue suit, red tie uniform and becomes human. Except when he puts on his white shirt and khaki pants uniform, and hides from the American people to play golf. There are no images of the first family enjoying themselves together in a moment of relaxation. No Obamas on the beach in Hawaii moments or Bushes fishing in Kennebunkport. No Reagans on horseback. No Kennedys playing touch football on the Cape. Where’d that country go? Where did all the fun, the joy and the expression of love and happiness go? We used to be the country that did the ice bucket challenge and raised millions for charity. We used to have a president who calmed and soothed the nation instead of dividing it. And the first lady who planted a garden instead of ripping one out. We are rudderless and joyless. We have lost the cultural aspects of society that make America great. We have lost our mojo, our fun, our happiness, our cheering on of others, the shared experience of humanity that makes it all worth it. The challenges and the triumphs that we shared and celebrated the unique can do spirit that America has always been known for. We are lost, we’ve lost so much in so short of time.
“On November 3rd, vote them out,” he concluded. Pretty good points, Bruce! Hear the audio version of these quotes below.