Download: “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” (excerpt) – Wolves in the Throne Room

“The extra cuts [California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger] made today took nearly $80 million that pays for workers who help abused and neglected children; $50 million from Healthy Families, which provides healthcare to children in low-income families; $50 million from services for developmentally delayed children under age 3; $16 million from domestic-violence programs; $6.3 million from services for the elderly; and $6.2 million from parks.” — Los Angeles Times, July 29, 2009

“Schwarzenegger reclined deeply in his chair, lighted an eight-inch cigar and declared himself ‘perfectly fine,’ despite the fiscal debacle and personal heartsickness all around him. ‘Someone else might walk out of here every day depressed, but I don’t walk out of here depressed,’ Schwarzenegger said. Whatever happens, ‘I will sit down in my Jacuzzi tonight,’ he said. ‘I’m going to lay back with a stogie.'” — New York Times Sunday Magazine, July 5, 2009

Punishing the weakest members of any society—poor, sick children—in a time of economic turmoil is simply immoral.

Californians should think deeply about what they have allowed to happen. Maybe this excerpt from a song on Wolves in the Throne Room’s Black Cascade, released earlier this year through Southern Lord Records of Los Angeles, will give them guidance and strength.