At Daylight Video today, which featured Buck Owens’ song “Waitin’ in Your Welfare Line,” commenter JPeckJr suggested Owens must have influenced Ronald Reagan’s social safety net policies. I’m sure he was at least half-kidding, but I’d like to push back a bit. Owens’ lyrics reflect an older, pre-culture-war understanding of “welfare” as charity. The singer is down on his luck, with nothing to fall back on but a woman’s love. If there’s any mean-spiritedness in the tune, it’s sure counteracted by Owens’ cheerful self-identification with the “welfare” beneficiary.
So there. Here are some less waybackmachiney news/views treats:
* Check out Daily Kos Elections‘ preview of today’s primaries in Connecticut, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
* Koch-backed group cancels over a million dollars worth of Michigan ads after their involvement in the state’s politics attacked by Democrats. Very interesting.
* At TNR Jason Zengerle profiles Clay Aiken’s underdog but celebrity-laden congressional campaign in North Carolina.
* At the Prospect, Paul Waldman goes after “raising awareness” campaigns as frequently useless.
* WaPo’s Aaron Blake reports swing voters aren’t remotely as obsessed with Obama as are Republicans seeking their votes.
And in non-political news:
* Appreciations pour in for work of Robin Williams, who apparently committed suicide at the age of 63. Very sad.
As we break for lunch, here’s Buck Owens and the Buckaroos again with “Tiger By the Tail.”
