The labor and employment news is so grim these days, I’m a little sick of it, aren’t you?

So I thought it might be fun to post some Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger tunes for the next week or two or four—however long it take for me to snap out of this lingering disgust with Congress and the dismal state of, well, everything.

The song here was written in 1940, and it still makes a lot of sense today. I don’t think Tim Geithner or Sarah Palin have heard it or would understand it if they did, and it definitely wouldn’t go down well at any ‘prosperty gospel’ or Law of Attraction pep talk-type conference or service.

I have a license plate holder on my car from Landover Baptist that says, “Jesus was a liberal Jew.” I forget it’s on there, and every so often somebody either waves wildly at me thumbs up, or accosts me in parking lot to say something positive, or, on a darker note, eggs my car. It always takes me a few minutes to figure out why people are doing these things, but eventually I remember, “Oh yeah, the license plate thing.”

Despite the intentionally smart ass tone of that accessory, the sentiment expressed also happens to be technically true. Jesus really was 1) a Jew, and 2) a member of a radical sect of Jewish rabbis who felt the Pharisees were out of control (think Goldman Sachs/Pharisees—same general idea). So, technically speaking, the Jews didn’t kill Jesus, because Jesus was himself a Jew.

The bankers and the soldiers killed Jesus, over money.

That’s what the song is about.

Just noting the historical accuracy here, as it seems to have gotten lost.