Still, how about a different angle on this; music not just as protest, but as witness and historico-emotive record? Assuming we come to our senses and right this ship politically in the next few years(a big assumption, I know), it’ll be very interesting to go back in 20 years and listen to records like this, Ted Leo’s stuff, etc, just to evoke a sense of what it was like to live through this madness. I think of it as similar to the way that I go to Woody Guthrie to get an idea of what it felt like to live during the Depression. Same with Bob Dylan and the turmoil and moral crusading of the 60’s, or early punk and post-punk and the powerlessness, cynicism, and rage of the Reagan/Thatcher years. These certainly aren’t primary sources, but they’re an excellent way of fleshing out the picture and getting a more immediate and personal look at how people felt about and coped with their times. Even if it doesn’t work as protest, I think a lot of it works in that way. Not every piece of art has to aim to persuade, even if it is dealing heavily with politics.