Happy Monday!

Before we get to today’s Brew a bit of a head’s up. Stream meetings and travel may make the next few days of the Brew a bit light. Then again, odds are good big news will break and we’ll be blabbing as much as usual.

First today, our heart and prayers remain with the people of Hawaii.

Hawaiian Wildfire Now Deadliest in a Century … Church Miraculously Survives the Blaze

The number of confirmed deaths in the Hawaii wildfires has risen to 93, making the inferno America’s deadliest wildfire in over a century. Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for. In West Maui alone, 2,200 structures were damaged or destroyed.

The town of Lahaina has been virtually leveled. Yet, a bit of light. Miraculously, the historic Maria Lanakila Catholic Church still stands. A video posted on TikTok shows the utter devastation around the church … and the church unsinged.

“For us, it’s like a miracle,” vicar of Maui and Lanai Rev. Terrence Watanabe told Star-Advertiser. “When we saw the news and saw the church steeple rise above the town, it was a great sight to see.”

Damar Hamlin Plays in First NFL Game Since Cardiac Arrest

Also great to see, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin back on the field Saturday in Buffalo in the Bills pre-season opener against the Colts. It was Hamlin’s first NFL game since suffering cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game January 2.  

He made the most of his brief appearance, stuffing a fourth-and-one play with a beautiful blitz. That tackle also marked his first hit in a game, since his collapse. “It for sure felt like a little weight off my shoulders,” Hamlin said of his first tackle.

“It’s a true sign of a young man’s courage and obviously everyone who helped him get to this point,” Coach Sean McDermott said after the game. “I know there was a football game going on out there today, but I mean truly remarkable display of courage and strength and faith. I had a chance to communicate with Damar a little bit last night, and he assured me he was ready to go. So, he trusts his preparation and God.”

Hamlin gave his game jersey to his mom.

Merrick Garland Appoints David Weiss Special Counsel … Now?

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss as Special Counsel in the investigation of Hunter Biden. The same David Weiss who signed off on the ludicrous plea deal for Hunter that blew up when the judge noticed DOJ was trying to secretly give the Biden family bag man immunity from further prosecution. The same Weiss who IRS whistleblowers claim groused about not having the authority Garland was telling Congress under oath he had. The same Weiss who let the political operatives in Biden’s DOJ steamroll and sabotage without a peep efforts to follow the evidence trail pointing directly at one Joe Biden. The same Weiss Congress was about to drag in to testify under oath.

Why him? It certainly looks “shady.” Even CNN’s Jake Tapper is perplexed. Our friends at the Daily Signal explain why in “Sham Special Counsel”

This is like Anheuser-Busch creating a special panel to investigate why their sales have plummeted … and hiring Dylan Mulvaney to head it.

Why is Biden getting away with this? Because he always has. This may sound like a small thing 13-years after the fact, but it’s a gem of an example. You remember former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown? He just revealed in a podcast that in 2010 he threatened to “kick the ****” out of the then-VP Biden for inappropriately touching Brown’s wife Gail at his swearing in. His swearing in. Inside the U.S. Capitol.

“Yeah,” Brown told podcaster Tom Shattuck, “I told him I would kick the ****… uh… I told him to stop,” Brown said. No scandal. No consequence.

Oliver Anthony Explodes With a Protest Song for the Era: “Rich Men North of Richmond”

On rare occasions a song, a performance, an artist bursts forth that defines a moment and shatters the status quo. Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival. The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power.” Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Such a moment came late last week, when a music video from a struggling Virginia farmer named Oliver Anthony dropped, and exploded across social media.

The song is “Rich Men North of Richmond.” (For the geographically challenged Richmond is due south of Washington D.C.)

With the politically-charged electricity, simplicity and turn-of-phrase of a young Dylan, the country grit of a Chris Stapleton and the pained passion of a Kurt Cobain, Anthony lays bare the heart and hurt of tens of millions of Americans. The struggle of working class Americans pushed down into the ground by the indifferent Washington Elite.

You can see the video here. (Warning: The song does contain a few foul words. We’ll have a family friendly version for you tomorrow.)

Anthony opens with the force of Luther nailing his 95 Thesis to the church door.

“I’ve been selling my soul, working all day, overtime hours, for bulls*** pay. So, I can sit out here and waste my life away. Drag back home and drown my troubles away.”

The chorus runs up I-95 to The Swamp.

Livin’ in the new world
With an old soul
These rich men north of Richmond, Lord knows they all
Just wanna have total control
Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do
And they don’t think you know, but I know that you do
‘Cause your dollar ain’t s*** and it’s taxed to no end
‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond  

“Rich Men North of Richmond” has rocketed to number #1 on iTunes. In fact, as of Sunday afternoon, Anthony owns 8 of the top 20 spots on the iTunes chart, including 3 of the top 4.

John Rich is offering to produce an album for him. And the liberal media is already gnashing its teeth.

Rolling Stone Upset at the Song for Taking on Welfare Frauds … and Jeffrey Epstein?

As Gateway Pundit reports, Rolling Stone is upset that “right wing influencers are losing their mind” over the song. (The story is behind a paywall.) The magazine chastises Anthony for taking aim at the “obese milking welfare.”

Well, God, if you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds
Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds

If Eminem rapped that line they’d be calling it genius.

Rolling Stone didn’t bother with the next harrowing couplet.

Young men are puttin’ themselves six feet in the ground
‘Cause all this d*** country does is keep on kickin’ them down.

More curiously, Rolling Stone again seems to be defending pedophilia. After declaring war on Sound of Freedom, the magazine is strangely snippy about a line referencing Jeffrey Epstein.

I wish politicians would look out for miners
And not just minors on an island somewhere

Writes Rolling Stone, “The real head-turner though is an apparent allusion to Jeffrey Epstein’s Caribbean island, where the billionaire and convicted sex offender allegedly introduced underage girls to powerful associates.”

Oliver Anthony has hit a nerve, offering a protest song giving voice to the large swatch of the country betrayed by our leaders.  And Rolling Stone, which once championed artists that challenged the powerful, is taking shots at the song, defending that which it used to loath.

But this is not where our story ends. Wait until you hear about God’s role in this overnight sensation.

Jason Howerton has that in this remarkable thread.  (Again, be warned, the music video contains a couple bad words.)

This song is called "Rich Men North of Richmond." It has been viewed MILLIONS of times.

The artist's name is Oliver Anthony. I just got off the phone with him.

With his permission, I'd like to share the story he told me that moved the deepest parts of my soul…

Thread 🧵 pic.twitter.com/sPb7Iylx3d

— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) August 11, 2023

 

Along The Stream

Ben Johnson offers a thoughtful reflection on the revelation about the young Barack Obama’s homosexual fantasies. “His Heart Has a ‘Hole’ That ‘Needs to Be Filled: Liberal Biographer.”

Stream contributor AnneMarie McLean on the “Teenager Arrested for Reading Bible Near Pride Event.”

 

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and now at TRUTH Social.