Iris Dement: "Wasteland Of The Free". This was written and recorded during the Bush Presidency, but is perhaps even more relevant now. This song got her excommunicated from the Far Right Radical Evangelical community.
Iris was born in Arkansas into a Pentecostal family, which moved to Orange County in S. California when she was three years old. She has deep roots in Gospel, Hillbilly, and Folk, and was a frequent collaborator with her close friend John Prine.
Iris has made quite a few albums, all fantastic. This song is from her The Way I Should album. There is a video of the song viewable on YouTube. She’s my favorite living songwriter. I learned of her through Merle Haggard, who recorded her masterpiece song "No Time To Cry". His version is good, hers devastating.