Sunday, August 19, 2007

“Share the Wealth”: Huey Long Talks to the Nation

Huey Long first came to national attention as governor of Louisiana in 1928 and U.S. Senator in 1930. He ruled Louisiana as a virtual dictator, but he also initiated massive public works programs, improved public education and public health, and even established some restrictions on corporate power in the state.


Huey P Long was a colorful character, and one whose story I sort of knew but didn't really, so when Nick mentioned him in a comment on Louisiana's politics, I decided to go look him up. I really liked that "established some restrictions on corporate power" when I read it, so I took a few minutes to listen to the speech. Turns out the guy was, among other sorta kinda neo-Marxist leanings, an even more ardent redistributionist than I am. Way cool.

5 comments:

Steve Bates said...

Long (ahem) after his death, Huey even got an opera written about him.

hipparchia said...

whoo wee!

Steve Bates said...

"whoo wee!" indeed! Is Denmark close to Louisiana? :)

An even better question: why does the YouTube listing include "Sonny Terry" in the keywords?

Sonny Boy Terry (harmonica) performs so often in Houston that I thought he lived here. Oops... turns out he does. (BEWARE possibly really loud volume in the auto-play on the site. The mouse wheel seems to work the volume. Don't get me started about nonstandard interfaces.) Stella, a serious blues aficionado, is a real fan of Sonny Boy Terry. But he wasn't on the video, and neither was the old-timer Sonny Terry (also harmonica); maybe they're referring to a third Sonny Terry.

hipparchia said...

i dunno, 'bout like harpsichords in houston, ah spose.

thanks for that link [and the warning]. i think i'd seen him mentioned on your blog before.

youtube search for sonny terry. not sure if that answers your question, except that several of the videos look like sonny terry tributes, or "in the style of" sonny terry.

ellroon said...

Hipparchia, I have tagged you. Many apologies if you do not play this game...