Kansas City Playlist: Taco Bell Liberty After MAGA La Migra Raid

A tough truism. 

Liberty, MO seems just a bit more bleak after a recent immigration raid. 

I'm sure their strip malls and truck stops are lovely. 

But now there's not any place to eat a decent taco without risking the feds bursting through the door and rounding everybody up. 

Here's a bit more reaction amid rampant confusion and a bit of regret from SOME of the populace . . .

Liberty family speaks out after Homeland Security removes 12 employees from restaurant

Late Friday morning, patrons of El Potro Mexican Cafe and Cantina in Liberty, Missouri began posting video and images of Federal agents inside the restaurant.

This post isn't supposed to be partisan. We believe that EVERYONE is entitled to blather on about their boring beliefs that are either based on inherited stereotypes or misinformed during their blissful college-years when casual sex was more readily accessible.

Tonight we merely want to serve this truism . . . 

Narc'ing on Mexican restaurants might feel satisfying but the end result seems like a bland, lifeless existence wherein customers must choke down Taco Bell and hope their sense of self-satisfaction flavors the sketchy fare and overpowers so much bitterness. 

Again . . .

Regarding the creeper suspect that might have precipitated this raid . . . NOBODY is crying for that alleged jerk.

However . . . 

It's FAIR to question the efficacy of raiding Mexican restaurants worked mostly by Central Americans and shutting down one of the few decent dining options in a town with a stagnant population that hasn't seen any real significant economic growth since the 1980s.  

Moreover . . .

TKC ISN'T AN ECONOMIST BUT WE'RE UNCERTAIN IF EVERYBODY FORCED TO EAT AT TACO BELL IS GONNA TURN AROUND AN AMERICAN ECONOMY THAT CONTINUES TO SPIRAL DOWNWARD!!!

I'm willing to listen to any explanation that accurately offers evidence of this awkward dawn of a new American golden age. 

Seriously . . . 

Trade wars and thinning the lower-end consumer base haven't EVER produced a financial benefit in the always shaky global economy which mostly functions on expanding & growing market share.  It's just hard to get more with less . . . For better or worse, capitalism is hard-wired for growth at any cost and without much respect to borders, politics and/or human rights. 

But, we understand . . . Macroeconomics is boring. It's ALSO kinda depressing to realize the likelihood that so many illegal immigrants flooded the U.S. with very little resistance because corporations are struggling to turn a profit and gain competitive advantage against burgeoning markets in China and India with populations that dwarf North America.

It's really fun to argue about tacos, elections, politics and culture war but the only REAL existential question is how to keep the dollar as the world's reserve currency and avoid the inevitable disaster and collapse of civilization when that eventually changes. 

Hint: Money to power war machines which serve to annihilate mostly poor people in faraway places is REALLY what maintains the status quo. 

Meanwhile, the American political discourse is mostly comprised of inconsequential creeps who mistakenly think they've attained the moral high ground because they're trending on social media amid the constant struggle to keep everyone from thinking about the very ugly mechanics of contemporary life on Earth. 

Again, this is depressing and the only point of this playlist is for www.TonysKansasCity.com to embrace taco time by way of authentic cuisine OR Taco Bell . . . Whatever way you can get it . . .

Because our playlist is ALWAYS a place for nostalgia . . . We start by sharing a fun Taco Bell advert from the 90s and remembering the bygone sense of harmless absurdity which often defied earnest Boomer inclinations. 

Also . . . Despite a bit of Taco Bell hateration in this post, the "Enchirto" was actually pretty good and filling for only 99 cents . . Even if was probably made of cardboard. 

This Gen-X classic from Beck has a committed but smallish cult following. We won't try to explain the 1994 track "Satan Gave Me A Taco" because that's a long forgotten tradition of suburban JoCo house parties.

A campy hip-hop track from Migos spices up our playlist tonight and hopefully reminds readers not to take everything so seriously as this tune mixes Spanglish with a fun beat, tales of good times along with a lust for life and good food.

Taco Truck by Lana Del Rey is apropos for this playlist, the bridge and current economic harsh times because she built her career by pretending to be Latina yet the song is appropriately haunting, ethereal and gives us a glance into the mind of a white lady living in the post-modern era after culture stopped meaning anything at all.

Finally, as always, we conclude with memories of a long ago time in American history . . . 

Some folks might think that the near fanatical love for tacos is a recent consumerist affectation BUT in 1947 Dorris Day and her tune "Tacos, Enchiladas & Beans" offered a preview of how middle-class white ladies would cultivate a love for all things South Of The Border. Double bonus points for anybody who has endured a burlesque show ukulele cover of this otherwise fun song  . . .

As always, thanks for reading this week and have a safe & fun Saturday night.