5 Feet of Fury

Happy Hard Hat Riot Day!

“Uh-huh,” indeed.

The Clash at their blowhardiest — who actually had a lot of cheek singing about “turning rebellion into money” — still managed to get closer to the truth:

If Adolph Hitler flew in today/
They’d send a limousine anyway

It’s harder for me to celebrate Hard Hat Riot Day now that I’ve actually been to NYC and stood where it all happened.

I went for the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

I bum-rushed a Troother.

I tripped a “God Hates Fags” hag.

I cried.

Everybody else, local and tourist, just seemed to be wandering around like robots, not giving a shit about anything.

The Hard Hat Riot wouldn’t happen today.

Now locals hand out sandwiches to protesting hippies during Occupy, instead of punching them out.

Cops and construction workers aren’t working class anymore.

“An Air Force brochure on sexual assault advises potential victims not to fight off their attackers.”

If Altamont was the real end of the Sixties, maybe the Hard Hat Riot marked the birth of the “Reagan Democrat” but also, ironically, the start of American decline.

Only lookin’ for fun…