Saturday evening tunes: Deep in my heart

Two things happened last week and they cross over: We lost Pete Seeger (who did not name names) at 95, and we discovered – with less sense of surprise than one might wish – the record of the soon-to-be House Majority Whip (an apt job title, as it turns out) as an associate of Klan Grand Wizards, white supremacist organizations, and SPLC-certified hate groups.

Pete Seeger didn't write this song – we'll never know exactly who did – but he taught it to generations since taking it up in 1947, and it became the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. It's a song about outlasting the likes of the Majority Whip and his ilk. It is therefore a song of almost unlimited optimism. I like to think that every time someone sings it, Rep. Steve Scalise (R – of course, Louisiana – ditto) feels a sharp pain he can't quite locate. Click on the video again and again.

Seeger's the tall skinny fellow standing to your left.