Hag Protests the Nashville-Washington Axis

With the attention Merle Haggard's been getting for his song "That's the News," hardly anyone's mentioning that it isn't the only topical track on his new album, the excellent Like Never Before. One political entry, "Yellow Ribbons," is a tribute to American soldiers; it shouldn't provoke much controversy. But then there's "Lonesome Day":

When the men in black come kickin' in your door
And guitar-playin' outlaws lay spread-eagle on the floor
When our celebrated heroes have been cuffed and locked away
It's gonna be a lonesome day

We laugh at all the crazy things those guitar players said
They talked about the workin' man and the troubled life he led
When everything is perfect, no rebels in the way
It's gonna be a lonesome day

They'll be singing up in heaven while we're living here in hell
Givin' up our liberty and buyin' what they sell
Who's gonna sing the song of freedom when freedom goes away?
It's gonna be a lonesome day

When the big boys with the microphone just up and back away
And they're afraid to say the things they know they ought to say
When the symbol of our freedom like an eagle flies away
It's gonna be a lonesome day