He seems like a political conservative, having supported Fred Thompson in the 2008 Republican presidential primary and then John McCain in the general election. He even wrote a campaign song for McCain, called “Raisin’ McCain”. Now, however, country singer and songwriter John Rich has taken a quite un-Republican populist approach, and written and released a song expressing outrage at the economic plight of the workers and farmers of this land, while the big bankers continue to receive astronomical handouts from Washington.

It is called “Shuttin’ Detroit Down” and features in the video a country music legend who is known more for his left wing views, Kris Kristofferson, and acclaimed actor Mickey Rourke.

The story of the video, which is implied by the song’s lyrics, is about a 32-year veteran of a factory, Kristofferson, who is being let go by the bosses. It has certainly struck a chord, because as of May 7, it was number two on the list of the top 10 most streamed videos on CMT.com.

Here, embedded from CMT.com, is that video of “Shuttin’ Detroit Down”:

(Hopefully CMT won’t take it down anytime soon.) You can also see below a live version of the song, performed in Madison, Wisconsin, where John begins by talking a little about the conditions in which he grew up in Amarillo, Texas.

I don’t think John Rich – whose work I’ve admired for many years although I don’t share his politics, at least possibly up until now – is exactly ready to raise the red flag. If he ever is, however, here is another song he just might consider covering, from a film that also could use a good remake:

Back in another time and era, pre-October 4, 2008, that is, many of us who had formerly lived on the Upper West Side would regularly make pilgrimages to our dearly beloved Yogi’s. Its closing by the real estate sharks made numerous headlines, and far beyond the confines of New York, judging alone by the responses I have personally received about our coverage of its demise.

On the night of its closing, numerous writers, journalists, and photographers showed up both to record this sad event, and also to have one last beer or shot, since at least some of them had puked there more than once.

While trying to navigate through the human sea of beer-worshippers who had gathered there that night, I started talking to this fellow who said he was there covering the closing for VanityFair.com. He said his name was George Gurley, and we talked.

His story, with the politically potent title of “Another Dive Bar Dies in Bloomberg’s Manhattan”, indeed captured the flavor, sounds, and scent of this bar, from the customers to the music to the bartenders to the bathrooms.

The story included a quote from me that I had wanted to celebrate my 60th birthday at Yogi’s. That joyous day was Sunday, March 22, 2009. I had a cold all week, so I postponed any celebratory drinking until my aging body said “beer and vodka” to me instead of “soup and tea.”

But I was in the neighborhood to have dinner and shop, so I wandered a few blocks to the intersection of 76th Street and Broadway, and sat down on a wooden bench in the area which separates Broadway. I had passed by the site a few times when it was all boarded up, and had also seen it recently now that the entire building has been ripped down, destroyed, incinerated, obliterated from our lives.

Now I have a photo of it, albeit an unintentionally misty one because I took it late at night with a phone camera, and not a real one.

I think the seeming haze adds a surreal quality to the photo, since all it took to destroy such a vibrant mini-community and oasis of controlled debauchery was the unquenched zeal and greed of a tiny handful of real estate, banking, and political pirates.

I’ll be back drinking again very soon, now in my 60th year. I hope to see y’all in the barrooms – unless, of course, you’re one of those types of bastards who go around looting and stealing from people like us. Our day is coming, and we’ll bury you at the foot of the big beer can mountain. You can count on that, boys.

Why ain’t this here song by Rodney Carrington on the jukeboxes of all our favorite honky tonks? Here are two versions (NSFW):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4v9ogmubTA]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgyeshD8RJY]

Yogi’s has been closed since October, the football was over, and my main computer is still being repaired, so I tried to go to sleep early Sunday night. When I awoke, I saw the following text message from our good buddy, Paul Katcher:

This is BREAKING NEWS for nycbp.com. I just spotted the huge bear from inside Yogi’s in the former Red Rock Roadhouse in the Upper East Side.

There have been rumors for some time that Tommy and Chardee will be moving into this location. Now there seems to be credible evidence that such a move may happen soon.

I just hope opening weekend is not the one I plan to go visit Amarillo, Texas! 10-4.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkqcsGQM49Q]

Man, this wonderful song is growing on me. I am sure a lot of the story will sound familiar to a lot of us. Just keep your cell phones charged up.

By the way, does anyone know which bar is featured in the street scene?

Regardless of which holiday you celebrate (or, for people like me, don’t), you can’t help being bombarded this time of year by armies of Santa Clauses, usually seeking a bailout, and from you.

Did you ever wonder where the hell all this money goes? Have you ever received a detailed accounting of who gets what from your handouts? And are you now or have you ever been just a tad suspicious that this “goodwill to all” stuff is merely another scam or racket, just like the stock market?

I was ruminating about just such things the other night at The Patriot Saloon, where I somehow ended up after being a guest on Joey Reynolds’s late night radio talk show on WOR. As I was sitting there, enjoying the lovely Jessica tending bar, and talking with a bunch of old friends who are fellow survivors of Yogi’s, I noticed another one of these Santa guys standing in the bar.

Now, I always wondered why his nose was flaming red, but now I had ironclad, documentary proof: Santa is a big fat boozer, and we caught him red-nosed and red-handed at The Patriot with a beer can in his hand.

So next time one of his cronies tries to bum some dough from you, just ask him if he wants a can or a bottle, laugh, and then walk away. Then go to the nearest dive bar, and if I’m there, buy me a cold one. At least you’ll know where your money went, and, after I hit the can, that while it was in the end flushed down the drain, it was put to good use.

(Photos by Eddie Goldman.)

A few months ago, we started to chronicle the doings of veteran bartender Lauren. She had just started working at Yogi’s shortly before the real estate sharks destroyed it, and after the bar where she had worked for six years, Fubar, had physically been destroyed by a crane collapse.

More recently, I ran into her Sunday night at The Patriot Saloon, where for that one night she was filling in. But she does now have two regular shifts: Wednesday nights at The Duck, and Friday nights at The Patriot. So go see her, somewhere, anywhere, as often as you can.

Now you really have no excuse ever to stay home!

I guess turkey day is the start of what is called the holiday season. That is what all these incessant advertisements and commercials have been insisting, and they wouldn’t lie, would they?

For some, this time of year is a busy one, pre-programmed to carry out shopping and all sorts of other rituals. The creative tendencies, whether produced by DNA, experience good and bad, or, more likely, some equation involving the two, tend to get overwhelmed or even crushed in this seasonal onslaught of conformity and commercialism.

Such a time is particularly difficult for those among us who think and, more to the point, act independently. Convention, custom, fashion, and the like count for naught to many of us, unless they can be shown to make sense, to be proved so.

But we, the independent and thinking folk, are a minority. Some of that is by economic necessity, as any economic system will not reward its outsiders.

So what do we do, while the prevailing mores, prejudices, and fears are utilized and manipulated to marginalize us? Sure, we all fight back in our own ways, to varying degrees of effectiveness. But alas, we are also very human, fallible, and emotionally vulnerable, too.

In the meantime, while the existing dumbness prevails, we need to feed our minds and spirits. What the dominant institutions cannot provide our critical minds, we find elsewhere, in the public houses, taverns, barrooms, and honky tonks. These crazy places may be our best refuge from all this insanity. Our problems may not be solved there, but our hearts and minds can be recharged so we can not only survive this season, but continue to go against the tide.

For us NYCBP’ers, this has become a harder task with the closure of so many of our bars like Yogi’s this year. But they are still out there, so don’t hesitate to free yourself from all this mindlessness. Have a rowdy good time, but remember to tip well.