Well, that boss obviously went to jail, but public opinion din't care much about that event.

And I was joking: I always thought that there was many American leftists but they were ostracized and censored, you just confirmed my thought.
Alexander Solgenitsin, who won a Nobel Prize just because he told "Oh, Russia is so bad, West is so good, Communists eat children, Capitalism is beautiful [...and how much money they give me just 'cos I say this...]", and is a shitty Czarist nationalist and a reactionary (I'm not Stalinist! I think he should have been free to speak his mind in Russia, but he's a shitty reactionary, not a democratic!), once said:

"In Russia, when they don't like what you say, they make you disappear.
In America, they make no one hear you."

And if HE told it... So, I think, 98% of Americans don't know who Noam Chomsky is; 1% of them know him and appreciate him; 1%, that is the bosses, the brain-dead Republicans, the military hierarchy and all the other crap, shiver as they hear his name, 'cos they know that if the other 98% open their eyes and listen to Noam Chomsky or people like him, they would have a hard hard life.

Well, I thank you all, but I think this thread is going a bit too far, so maybe it's better if we start new ones.
I'd just answer Callie. Well, it's a bit difficult to find "folksinger" in Italy now, or songs about modern immigration, but here's something.
Modena City Ramblers, named after the more famous Dublin City Ramblers, are a rock-folk Italian group, obviously they're from the city of Modena.
They play a lot of folk and workers' songs (have a look at what I said in the last message of the thread about "Bella Ciao" some weeks ago) and they don't shame at all for being lefties. Here's a small song of their own from their last album, well it's not Woody Guthrie, but that's it.


ETNICA DANZA

Gira in alto e gira in basso
Tunisino, turco o russo
Prendi bene il ritmo e allunga il passo
Punta più in alto
Anfibio sull'asfalto
Respiro trattenuto quando passi la frontiera
Non farti incastrare
Continua a camminare
Quando c'è la pula taglia l'angolo e scompari
Hai solo una vita
Gioca la tua partita
Prendi il tempo, prendi l'attimo e salta! E salta!

Allora balla balla sull'etnica danza (gira e sèlta)
Balla balla sull'etnica danza (gira e sèlta, gira e sèlta)

Marocchino, nigeriana
Comunista o musulmana
Albanese o curdo stai in campana
Belle gambe o lingua sciolta
Pugno che scaravolta
Gioca le tue carte, non fartele strappare
Hai solo una vita
Gioca la tua partita
Prendi il tempo, prendi l'attimo e salta! E salta!


That what they say in a note:
A millennium is closing, between cries, shots, migrations, noise of shoes and boats crossing borders that are getting less and less solid. And we salute it with an ethnic dance, a little hymn to the great multiracial melting in which languages, colors, sweaty legs and unrestful souls join.

Rough translation for the song:
Turn up, turn down
From Tunisia, Turk or Russian
Get the rithm well and quicken your step
Aim higher
Boot on the asphalt
Hold your breath when you cross the border
Don't let them cheat you
Keep walking
When there are cops turn round the corner and disappear
You got only a life
Play your game
Catch the rythm, catch the moment and jump! And jump!

So dance dance the ethnic dance (turn and jump)
Dance dance the ethnic dance (turn and jump, turn and jump)

Moroccan, Nigerian
Communist or Muslim
Albanese or Kurd keep your eyes open
Nice legs or fast tongue
Fist that can spin you round
Play your cards, don't let them be teared


Well, that's what I found.
See you all on some other thread, maybe one on immigration. (You'll forgive me for the wounds I gave to English language)
Ciao a tutti
fedele

P.S. Let's all wear a Mudcat T-shirt when we go to demonstrations and rallies! So we'll recognize each other, maybe watching TV. I'll do that.

"Workers of all countries, unite!!!"