Sarcastic and political singer-songwriter James McMurtry came up under the wing of John Mellencamp in the late 1980’s, and like his mentor, his last couple records have steadily lobbed little lyrical bombs at the likes of Bush and Cheney. “We Can’t Make It Here” gave a voice to middle America’s unemployment woes in 2005, and its more recent counterpart, “Cheney’s Toy,” moves on to Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Somehow, he’s still enjoying a strong run on Americana radio; given the demographic stereotypes of that market, that either says something strong about his music or something depressing about everything else. Maybe it’s both.

James McMurtry - Cheney’s Toy