We have laws to deal with people who defame other people's religion. We have laws to deal with people who try to blow up our citizens. We have due process. We have laws to deal with people who we capture during combat and war, but somehow Guantanamo Bay seems to be outside all that. And perhaps it's being maintained with the view to what people are talking about now, this idea of the "long war," that this is going to go on and on, and perhaps Iran is going to be next.
Billy BraggI think if you're going to make political art, you have to engage at some level. You can't just write about politics, you have to try and be politics as well.
Billy BraggWere it not for the Clash, punk would have been just a sneer, a safety pin and a pair of bondage trousers.
Billy BraggWe've heard so much about the American dream: well, Trump is the American nightmare made flesh. All the things about 'the ugly American' that we worry about and which the Americans see in themselves, it's all of that. This is a politics of egotistical display.
Billy BraggOur neighbors shake their heads And take their valuables inside While my countrymen piss in the fountains To express their national pride.
Billy BraggBritain is a great country. We can more or less say what we like, and we can walk down the street without anyone trying to kill us. I know it's tough for some people, but generally we live in a caring society. We live in a great country, but we're no longer a great power. Part of the problem with some elements of the European debate is that they hanker for the days when we were a great power. Those days are gone, and they went a long time ago.
Billy Bragg