It would be hard to find anything that reeked more of putrid bullshit than the reports we keep seeing that Democrats are treating the Coronavirus in a partisan manner.
Leaving aside the fact that had Hillary Clinton won the Presidency in 2016 and bungled the response to the Coronavirus as badly as Donald Trump has (she wouldn't have) republicans would be absolutely crucifying her, it isn't partisan to point out that Donald Trump completely botched the response to a very real threat to American's health and their economic well being. It isn't partisan to point out that Donald Trump has a history of lying and that he's lying about the virus being a hoax. It isn't partisan to point out that Mike Pence has no medical training and has already fucked up a health threat (HIV) when he was governor of Indiana. And it's certainly not partisan to ask for more money to again help against a very real threat to the nation.
No, what it is, is good government. What it is, is caring about the American people. What it is, is keeping Americans safe.
And that's what good political parties do, which is something that republicans neither understand nor care to ever become.
When I first read that 38% of Americans will not buy Corona beer under any circumstances because they think it causes Coronavirus, my first thought was how close that is to the 40% of Americans who support Donald Trump (my second thought was anti-vaxxers, because fucking idiots).
We really need to come up with a word that's stronger than stupid to describe these morons, because stupid doesn't even come close to describing the level of idiocy it takes to believe such bullshit.
Because of (mostly) Joan Jett and (a little) Lita Ford, I was familiar with The Runaways by name...and thanks to No Thanks! The 70's Punk Rebellion I am now familiar with their most successful tune, which becomes the second entry from that album to join the exalted (or not) ranks of Friday Night Jukebox... The Runaways formed in 1975 in Los Angeles, and while their time together may have been short, they certainly made their mark. Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Cherie Currie, Sandy West, and Jackie Fox would be the most famous incarnation of the band (there were a few replacements along the way) that would last until 1979. During that time they released four studio albums, 1 live album, and in the years since, have released 8 compilation albums. Their standing as the first all girl metal band is firmly entrenched, though the band had very little commercial success outside of Japan (Japan absolutely adored this week's featured tune and gave them a Beatlesque welcome to The Land of the Rising Sun--so many cool kids in Japan!). After their break-up, Joan Jett had a great deal of success with several top ten hits, and eventually was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. Lita Ford had a top ten hit with a duet with, of all people, Ozzy Osbourne. The other members remained in music or left the music industry for other careers (Fox became a lawyer). Sadly, Sandy West passed away in 2006 from complications from lung cancer. Their influence on female bands and artists (including the Go-Go's Courtney Love, the Donnas, and White Flag), as well as on the punk and alternative movements, is widely acknowledged.
"Cherry Bomb" was released as a single in 1976 from the Runaways quite aptly named debut LPThe Runaways. Neither the album nor the single had much commercial success, though the single did make it to #106 (with a bullet!) on Billboard's "Bubbling Under" (the Hot 100) chart.
"Cherry Bomb" was originally written by Joan Jett as a vehicle for Cherie Curie to audition for the band's lead vocalist (the band didn't know the song Curie actually wanted to do--oh the joys of youth). The song is your basic "I'm not Mommy and Daddy's little girl anymore" tune (none of The Runaways were out of their teens when the song was released), and Curie sings it with all the exuberance you would hope for from a liberated teen. Ford (lead guitar) and Jett (rhythm guitar) play off each other well and produce a staccato effect (with help from West on drums) that gives "Cherry Bomb" the bad ass feel that the song's protagonist is projecting. And when you throw in a catchy as all hell chorus, replete with a head banging stutter, we have a winner. In the end it's a stellar piece of youthful exuberance, made all the more powerful by the fact that it's an all female rock band from a time when women were fighting like hell to be accepted into virtually every male dominated profession in America, including rock and roll musicians...and The Runaways succeeded quite nicely.
While Elizabeth Warren was the clear winner of this past week's Democratic debate in Nevada, the best moment of the night may very well have been when Bernie Sanders reminded Mike Bloomberg that for all his bluster, he wasn't the only one who had made all his money--he'd had plenty of help from his workers along the way, most of whom were paid a smidgen of what he was.
There's a certain arrogance to men of wealth and power that all of that wealth and power is of their own making...and it's what leads to stagnant wages and the growing inequality that is slowly but surely destroying this country.
And the sooner we put an end to this bullshit, the better for all of us.
In reading through people's comments concerning Elizabeth Warren's most impressive performance in the Democratic debate last evening, someone asked where this Elizabeth Warren was in the previous debates, and I couldn't help but wonder if her performance was so solid because there was an actual adversary in the debate. Warren didn't spend much time last night criticizing Biden, Sanders, Buttigieg, or Klobuchar (though she did question some of their proposals) because she knows that any of them would be a massive improvement over Trump, but Bloomberg...not so much.
Though I fear it may be too little, too late, it's certainly something to consider--if she could emasculate Bloomberg, who is loathsome but not as bad as Trump, just imagine what she could do to the orange shit gibbon in the Presidential debates this fall....
I noted last week how easy it is to forget that rock and roll can sometimes be a lot of fun, but it's equally as easy to forget just how powerful it can be...as this week's song surely attests.
Peter Gabriel has had a long and successful career, beginning with his work as the lead singer for Genesis in 1967, and continuing on with his solo work from his departure from Genesis in 1975 to the present day. As a solo artist, Gabriel has released nine albums, six of which hit the top ten in his native U.K., but only three of which have done the same here in the States. He's also recorded four soundtracks, six live albums, and six compilation albums. He's only had one single here in the U.S. to hit the top ten ("Sledgehammer"), but it went all the way to #1. He's had three top ten singles in England. For his career, Gabriel has won three Brit Awards, six Grammy Awards, 13 MTV Music Video Awards (the record), and been elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame both as a member of Genesis (2010) and as a solo artist (2014). In addition to a highly successful music career, Gabriel has supported numerous political causes and humanitarian concerns including human rights, animal rights, anti-war, and left leaning politicians, as well as being a leading advocate for world music. There's actually a lot more, but I only have a paragraph....
"Biko" was released in 1980 on his third album, the ever so inventively titled, Peter Gabriel(more on that later). It was never released as a single in the United States, but did hit #38 on the British charts.
Fun Fact: Gabriel's first four albums were all titled...Peter Gabriel. To differentiate them, they are referred to either as 1,2,3, or 4, or else by their album's cover picture Car, Scratch, Melt, or Security. Fortunately for Gabriel, clever LP titles are not a requirement for rock and roll success.
For those not familiar, "Biko" is a eulogy for Steve Biko, an anti-apartheid activist who was beat to death while in the custody of South African state security services for his political activities on September 12, 1977. Over 20,000 people attended his funeral, and his death was a catalyst for many of the struggles to come in South Africa. While there are parts of the song that almost read like a newspaper article, in the end, all you need is to listen to Gabriel chant Biko's name with the triumphant drums echoing the strength and power of one man--it's a call to arms and a rousing exaltation of the man and his aspirations for black South Africans. Gabriel uses lyrics from South African songs that were played at Biko's funeral, and to me it gives the song an almost hymnal quality. In the end, Gabriel's paean for Steve Biko is an inspiring tribute to a man who gave his life for racial justice, and is a plea to all of our better angels.
While many are rightfully reminding Donald Trump that he is not a king (Trump also thinks he's good in bed but many a woman has let us know that he's a sixty second man...), I can't be the only one who rolled their eyes when he tweeted about a New York Times article and highlighted a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson...knowing that Trump has no fucking clue who Emerson was and probably thinks Emerson is in Boris Johnson's cabinet.
If it weren't so sad we'd be laughing in the aisles.
A couple of years back I was browsing through our local library's music selection and came across a four CD collections called No Thanks! The 70's Punk Rebellion. Featuring 100 songs by 75 different artists, the collection captured my fancy for the next year (highly recommend it). Over the coming years (yes, years) numerous songs from the set will be featured here, but I chose this week's first because, frankly, over the last ten years I cannot think of a tune that I enjoyed more (the first year I heard it, it was my #1 most listened to song on Spotify)...and it was fitting that it was originally released about the time my musical adventures began because it reminded me of exactly why I've devoted so much of my life to those adventures.
There probably is one, but I can't think of another band that had the kind of influence The Modern Lovers did and yet only released one album. Led by Jonathan Richman (the original incarnation also featured David Robinson who would go on to fame with the Cars, and Jerry Harrison who would eventually help to form The Talking Heads), the band began in 1970, recorded most of the songs that would make their history in 1971 and 1972, broke up in 1974, regrouped in 1976 (and released the album that contained the aforementioned songs from '71 and '72), and broke up for good in 1988. The only constant in the band was Richman, who would go on to release 8 more albums as Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, and 17 solo albums, though Richman turned away from rock and roll and mostly performs folk music with acoustic instruments these days. The band also released three live albums. They are considered forerunners of the punk, new wave, alternative, and indie movements, and their songs have been covered by Iggy Pop, David Bowie, the Sex Pistols, and Joan Jett. Oh, and they're from Massachusetts....
"Roadrunner" was released as a single in 1976 from their debut, and only, album, the ever so cleverly titled, The Modern Lovers.While neither the single nor the album came anywhere near charting, "Roadrunner" ranked #274 (and should have been much higher) on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time, and the album was ranked #381 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time.
Fun Fact: The Modern Lovers have another song on the above compilation called "Pablo Picasso" in which they rhyme "Picasso" with "asshole." Why that gives me such glee is a wonder, but it is the little things in life sometimes, ain't it?
It's easy to forget that in the end, for all its merits, rock and roll is a lot of fun--and that's more or less the premise of "Roadrunner." A paean to Massachusetts, rock and roll, and driving at night with the (AM) radio on, the song's exuberance is a celebration of enjoying the moment...with the radio on. I've tried and tried to come up with an adjective for Richman's vocals, but the best I could do was droll...but it works so well within the song that that's all that really matters. The song is also a tribue to the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray" (Richman was heavily influenced by VU). From Harrison's swirling keyboards, to the driving drums and the thunderous guitars, with Richman's witty repartee as he extols driving around Boston while listening to music, until he asks the band to join in and the band chants "Radio on!" around Richman's vocals you know you are in the midst of utter brilliance. It's a lovingly strange song for a lovingly strange time (Richman reportedly wrote it 1970 at the age of 19--there ought to be a law outlawing greatness at the age of 19). And to think I missed it for forty years--but believe you me, I've been making up for lost time ever since I first heard it.
Lyric Sheet: "Roadrunner once/Roadrunner twice/I'm in love with rock and roll and I'll be out all night..."
My wife had a doctor's appointment today and the TV was tuned into Donald Trump addressing the nation (I made the office staff change the channel) after the republican cover-up of his impeachment, and as I watched what little I did I saw republicans cheering for him and I couldn't help but be reminded of the sheeple who pledged fealty to Adolph Hitler.
On the bright side, though, if it works out for us like it worked out for Germany, in fifty or sixty years after our infrastructure and economy have been utterly destroyed we'll actually be a nation that welcomes immigrants, has an economy that works for all, pays for college tuition, and spends hundreds of billions less on defense....
I'm not sure how much more pathetic it could get, but hearing that Rush Limbaugh, a noted racist, woman hater, gay basher, out and out liar, and hate filled cretin received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from noted racist, woman hater, gay basher, out and out liar, and hate filled cretin Donald Trump should be enough to have every one who's ever received one send it back to the White House, C.O.D.
For fuck's sake, who are republicans giving one to next, child molesters?
I've noted before and I'm sure I'll note again that I haven't agreed with everything Nancy Pelosi has done, but her tearing of Donald Trump's State of the Union Speech on live TV may very well turn out to be a nation saving moment:
It doesn't give legitimacy to an illegitimate President--Pelosi's action call into question everything that Trump said in his State of the Union address as well as everything he has done in his Presidency.
Importantly, it takes the story away from Trump's address and turns it into why she did it--allowing us to question Trump's talking points.
As a Democrat, how can you not watch that and be fired up--especially in light of the utter disaster that was the Iowa caucus this week?
In the end, it was a master stroke from a master politician, showing Donald Trump to be the lame brained loser that he is.
While it's far from perfect, for traditional media, they deserve a lot of credit for trying to educate Americans about just how bad income inequality is:
It's amazing how many people don't realize just how fucked up our economic system is, and just how little 80% of American has compared to the wealthiest. My only complaint would be when the loser who talked about how people who earned their millions wouldn't like a wealth tax...but the reporter failed to note that the vast majority of wealth in America is inherited. Just because your Mom and Dad had sex and produced you doesn't mean it was earned.
By the way, when Trump tells his cult how a vote for any Democratic candidate will be a vote for radical socialism, I yelled "Bring it on, mother fuckers!"
The average American gets paid just enough so he doesn't quit his job, and works just hard enough so he doesn't get fired.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." Source unknown
Uncle emaycee Wants You For the Coming Class War! Enlist today....
Capitalism: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you can exploit his labor, become filthy rich, and keep the poor bastard living paycheck to paycheck for the rest of his life.
