;)
The Conversation -- October 31, 2023
Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: The lockdown of Southern Maine demonstrates that a society that fetishizes guns cannot flourish or even function.
Trump Has Hallowe'en Nightmares. Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump did the social media equivalent of waking up screaming in the night by posting an out-of-the-blue enraged exclamation at 4:24 in the morning. The latest trigger for Trump's rage is the gag order by Federal District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, which Judge Chutkan reinstated Sunday.... Trump wrote at around 1 AM [Tuesday]: 'RADICAL LEFT JUDGE TAKING AWAY MY RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH IN ORDER TO HELP CROOKED JOE BIDEN & HIS THIRD WORLD ELECTION INTERFERENCE SCAM. AS GOOD AS THIS SOUNDS, IT WON'T WORK!' [And so forth.]... Then, suddenly, at 4:24 AM, Trump shouted into the blackness of the social media night sky: 'ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!'"
Marie: Do not accuse me of ignoring all the news of Ron DeSantis' boot fetish, from white high-tops to "top-secret" lifts: ~~~
~~~ Kelby Vera of the Huffington Post: Ron Desantis "walked away [ha ha] from a chance to debunk the theory [that he has lifts in his boots] during an appearance Monday on conservative podcaster Patrick Bet-David's show. DeSantis seemed confused when Bet-David tried to explain the shoe scandal with a viral video, but he refused to put on a pair of very fancy Ferragamo loafers to prove he's 5 feet, 11 inches, as he claims."
~~~~~~~~~~
Cecilia Kang & David Sanger of the New York Times: "President Biden signed a far-reaching executive order on artificial intelligence on Monday, requiring that companies report to the federal government about the risks that their systems could aid countries or terrorists to make weapons of mass destruction. The order also seeks to lessen the dangers of 'deep fakes' that could swing elections or swindle consumers. 'Deep fakes use A.I.-generated audio and video to smear reputations, spread fake news and commit fraud,' Mr. Biden said at the signing of the order at the White House. He described his concern that fraudsters could take three seconds of a person's voice and manipulate its content, turning an innocent comment into something more sinister that would quickly go viral. 'I've watched one of me,' Mr. Biden said, referring to an experiment his staff showed him to make the point that a well-constructed artificial intelligence system could convincingly create a presidential statement that never happened -- and thus touch off a political or national security crisis." ~~~
~~~ Here's the order, via the White House.
Jeff Stein & Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "House Republicans on Monday unveiled a proposal to pay for emergency aid for Israel's war against Hamas by cutting IRS funds aimed at cracking down on rich tax cheats and improving taxpayer service. The legislation, released by the House Rules Committee, calls for approving roughly $14 billion primarily in military aid to Israel and cutting about the same amount from the IRS budget. President Biden has proposed giving Israel roughly the same amount in aid but did not call for offsetting cuts to other parts of the budget.... Biden also called for the Israel aid to be packaged with roughly $60 billion for Ukraine, an approach the GOP bill rejected.... Using the IRS funding to offset the Israel aid might not actually save money: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had estimated in 2022 that the $80 billion IRS expansion would cut the deficit by more than $100 billion by improving collections and enforcement.... Many Senate Democrats, with one notable exception [-- Joe Manchin --], declared the House Republican bill dead on arrival in the upper chamber." MB: So if you protect tax scoffs like our billionaire donor pals, we'll help Israel. AND screw the deficit and fageddaboud Ukraine. ~~~
~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "The White House on Monday issued veto threats against two GOP-led House appropriations bills expected to come up for a vote this week as lawmakers seek to avoid a government shutdown in November. The administration expressed its opposition to two funding bills likely to come up on the House floor in the coming days -- one that would fund the Department of the Interior, Environment and related agencies, and another that would fund the Department of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and related agencies.... In both cases, the White House argued the bills put forward by Republicans in the House undercut an agreement reached by administration officials and GOP lawmakers in May on spending as part of negotiations to raise the debt limit."
Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "House Speaker Mike Johnson's wife [Kelly Johnson] took down the website for her company, Onward Christian Counseling Services, a day after HuffPost pointed to documents on the site that compared homosexuality to bestiality and incest.... A spokesperson for Speaker Johnson did not respond to a request for comment about whether he wrote the bylaws for his wife's company that include the language about bestiality and incest, or if he knows why his wife's website is now inactive." MB: These people would be comical if they weren't so cruel & bigoted. Kelly Johnson has had this site since 2017. If she believed all that crap then, does she believe it now? How come gay sex was "offensive to God" last week when Mike was still a back-bencher, but it isn't anymore now that he is Speaker of the House? Why, you'd almost think the Website was nothing more than a business enterprise and the pretty little White Christianist blogger was more mercenary than God-fearing.
Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "Senate Democrats announced plans Monday to vote to subpoena a pair of wealthy conservatives and a judicial activist who have underwritten or organized lavish travel for some Supreme Court justices.... Senate Judiciary Committee leaders said they would vote as soon as Nov. 9 to authorize subpoenas for information from Texas billionaire Harlan Crow, a close friend and benefactor of Justice Clarence Thomas, and from Leonard Leo, the conservative judicial activist. Senate Democrats do not need the vote of any Republican on the committee to authorize the subpoenas. No separate vote by the full Senate is necessary.... The committee said Monday that it would also vote to issue a subpoena to conservative donor Robin Arkley II. ProPublica reported that Arkley provided Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. with a free fishing trip to Alaska in 2008 that was organized by Leo."
Trump Gags on Gag Order. Rachel Weiner & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "On Thursday, former attorney general William P. Barr made some less-than-flattering comments about Donald Trump. Twice over the weekend, the former president snarled back -- first insulting Barr's appearance in a campaign speech, then calling Barr 'gutless' and 'weak' on social media. But one of those comments came just after a court order barring Trump from going after witnesses -- such as Barr -- who could testify at trial about his attempts to undo the 2020 election results. Minutes before the Truth Social post, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan had reimposed a gag order barring Trump from comments that 'target ... any reasonably foreseeable witness' in the federal case in D.C. charging him with illegal interference in the 2020 election. When he posted about Barr, Trump had not yet been told by his attorneys that the gag order was in effect and was not intending to violate it, according to a campaign aide. A few minutes after the Barr insult, Trump wrote that he had just learned the gag order was reinstated....: (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: If what I heard on MSNBC is true (and I'm not sure of the source but I think it was an expert lawyer), the Trump is still in trouble: although he may or may not have known Judge Chutkan's gag order was back in force when he wrote his twoot,* he has not taken it down.
* Twoot: A "truth," as Trump calls his tweets, uttered by a bratty child from a Long Island borough with a tendency to rhotacization; thus, "tr" sounds like "tw" & "th" sounds like "t."
Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "A 59-year-old supporter of Donald Trump has been arrested for threats against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Tamar Hallerman posted on social media Monday. Arthur Ray Hanson II, of Huntsville, Alabama, was indicted for the threatening voicemails sent related to Trump's racketeering case.... Hanson left one voicemail threatening: 'watch it when you're going to the car at night, when you're going into your house, watch everywhere that you're going' and 'when you charge Trump on that fourth indictment, anytime you're alone, be looking over your shoulder.'"
Presidential Race 2024
Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "At a historic hearing Monday, attorneys for a group of voters argued that ... Donald Trump should not appear on Colorado ballots next year because, they contend, he fomented an insurrection and is barred by the U.S. Constitution from running again. Trump's attorneys disputed those claims and said voters -- not judges -- should decide whether he deserves another term. The first day of the hearing, which is expected to last a week, featured an exhaustive retelling of what happened at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, by a Democratic lawmaker [-- Rep. Eric Swalwell (Calif.) --] who had to evacuate and two police officers [-- Daniel Hodges & Winston Pingeon --] who tried to stop the rioters. Both officers said they feared for their lives, and one described the assault on the Capitol as a 'terrorist attack.'... Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment ... barred people from holding office if they had sworn an oath to the Constitution and then gone on to engage in an insurrection or aided or comforted the nation's enemies." The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I hope somewhere in testimony, the plaintiffs with bring up that "aid & comfort" part of the Amendment, because Trump is still doing that big-time. He publicly mourns insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt (whom an officer shot dead as she tried to enter the House chamber), participates in a January 6 prisoners' choir & repeatedly promises to pardon most of the insurrectionists should he win the presidency*.
No Country for Old Men. Michael Bender & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "On Sunday in Sioux City, Iowa, [Donald] Trump wrongly thanked supporters of Sioux Falls, a South Dakota town about 75 miles away, correcting himself only after being pulled aside onstage and informed of the error. It was strikingly similar to a fictional scene that Mr. Trump acted out earlier this month, pretending to be [President] Biden mistaking Iowa for Idaho and needing an aide to straighten him out.... Aas the 2024 race for the White House heats up, Mr. Trump's increased verbal blunders threaten to undermine one of Republicans' most potent avenues of attack, and the entire point of his onstage pantomime: the argument that Mr. Biden is too old to be president." (Also linked yesterday.)
AND in More Important News.... Derek Guy in Politico Magazine: "In the last few weeks, posts mocking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' strangely shaped cowboy boots have racked up millions of views on Twitter and TikTok, with online sleuths trying to determine whether he's wearing height-boosting insoles.... Three top experts in the field say the cowboy boot truthers might be onto something. 'I've dealt with these politicians many times,' says Zephan Parker, the bespoke bootmaker behind Houston's popular Parker Boot Company, which, he says, has made height-increasing cowboy boots for a number of Texan politicians. (No, he won't reveal any names.) 'I've helped them with their lifts. [DeSantis] is wearing lifts; there's no doubt.'"
Another Win for Workers. Tom Krisher of the AP: "The United Auto Workers announced Monday that it reached a tentative deal with General Motors, capping a whirlwind few days in which GM, Ford and Stellantis agreed to generous terms that would end the union's six weeks of targeted strikes, pending approval of the rank and file. The deal UAW President Shawn Fain closed on his 55th birthday is modeled on the ones agreed to with crosstown rivals Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis, and would give workers higher raises than they've received in years. If approved, it would also claw back some concessions the UAW agreed to almost two decades ago, when the automakers were in desperate financial shape. Analysts say Fain's combative stance with the companies paid off for the workers, winning them pay and cost-of-living raises that would top 30% by the time the contracts expire in April 2028. Workers would get an immediate 11% pay bump upon ratification." ~~~
~~~ Jack Ewing & Neal Boudette of the New York Times: "The tentative agreements ... also appeared to be a win for President Biden, who had risked political capital by picketing with striking workers at a G.M. facility in Michigan last month.... The contracts the union negotiated are the latest in a series of prominent victories for organized labor, including Hollywood writers, UPS workers and even some university employees.... [And auto] companies without unions can expect the U.A.W. to deploy the same hardball tactics that Mr. Fain used against Ford, G.M. and Stellantis, including rhetorical attacks on multimillion-dollar executive pay and hourly wages that have failed to keep pace with high inflation." ~~~
~~~ Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "And maybe, just maybe, union victories in 2023 will prove to be a milestone on the way back to a less unequal nation.... Baby boomers like me grew up in a nation that was far less polarized economically than the one we live in today.... For example, chief executives of major corporations were paid 'only' 15 times as much as their average workers, compared with more than 200 times as much as their average workers now.... Unions are a force for greater wage equality; they also help enforce the 'outrage constraint' that used to limit executive compensation.... A revelatory 1991 paper by Claudia Goldin (who just won a richly deserved Nobel) and Robert Margo showed that a relatively equal America emerged not gradually but suddenly, with an abrupt narrowing of income differentials in the 1940s -- what the authors called the Great Compression.... Public approval of unions is at its highest point since 1965...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Mitt Romney is hearing a kind of golden swan song these days as writer McKay Coppins makes the rounds selling a book about Romney, an effort with which Romney cooperated. Romney & Coppins portray Romney as a sort of noble throwback to the good old days when Republicans were honorable fellows who stood for some great American tradition of decency, civility and the work ethic (in contrast, of course, to the vile Donald Trump). But as we serenade Mitt, we should remind ourselves that Mitt made his fortune as a vulture capitalist, buying up, eviscerating & selling off the remains of troubled corporations, shedding thousands of workers along his rampage. Mitt's father, George Romney, before he became governor of Michigan, headed up American Motors. As David Leonhardt of the New York Times wrote in 2017, "A half-century ago, a top automobile executive named George Romney ... turned down several big annual bonuses. He did so, he told his company's board, because he believed that no executive should make more than $225,000 a year (which translates into almost $2 million [in 2017 dollars])."
Aaron Gregg, et al., of the Washington Post: "Walgreens and CVS workers are staging walkouts for three days starting Monday, organizers say, marking the second such job action this month by pharmacy staffs demanding better working conditions in the face of industry retrenchment. Organizers say they hope the job action -- on the heels of an Oct. 9 work stoppage by thousands of Walgreens pharmacists -- will step up pressure on management to address concerns about wages and staffing shortfalls that pharmacy workers say could hurt patients."
~~~~~~~~~~
Maine. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs & Chelsia Marcius of the New York Times: "The Army Reserve and a Maine sheriff's department were aware of a reservist's deteriorating mental health more than five months before he killed 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, according to records released on Monday. Just six weeks ago, the records show, he had grown increasingly paranoid, punched a friend and said he was going to carry out a shooting spree. But there is no indication in the documents that any law enforcement officials ever made contact with the reservist, Robert R. Card II, 40, who carried out the deadliest mass shooting in America this year and set off a two-day manhunt before he was found dead. The warnings about Mr. Card were far more explicit than Maine officials had publicly acknowledged in the days since the shooting on Oct. 25. They came from Mr. Card's family members -- who believed he was hearing voices -- and his Army Reserve unit in Saco, Maine, and were investigated by the Sheriff's Office in Sagadahoc County, where Mr. Card lived." ~~~
~~~ Mark Berman, et al., of the Washington Post: "The family of the gunman who killed 18 people last week in Maine contacted police with concerns about his mental health and access to guns more than five months before the massacre, according to their local sheriff. In addition to his own relatives, law enforcement officials and government agencies also expressed anxiety about Robert Card and the possible risk he posed to others, long before police say Card gunned people down in a bowling alley and a bar Wednesday in Lewiston." ~~~
~~~ See also CNN story, linked yesterday.
Texas. Patrick Svitek of the Texas Tribune: Texas state "Attorney General Ken Paxton's long-delayed trial on securities fraud charges has been set for April 15. State District Judge Andrea Beall scheduled the trial during a hearing Monday morning in Houston.... Paxton was indicted on the charges over eight years ago, months into his first term as the state's top law enforcement official. The charges stem from accusations that in 2011 he tried to solicit investors in a McKinney technology company without disclosing that it was paying him to promote its stock. Paxton has pleaded not guilty." (Also linked yesterday.)
Virginia. Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post: "Gov. Glenn Youngkin's elections team has admitted in the run-up to pivotal General Assembly elections that it removed nearly 3,400 qualified voters from the state's rolls, far higher than the administration's previous estimate of 270. Elections officials under Youngkin (R) acknowledged what it called the mistaken removal of about 3,400 voters in a news release Friday -- five weeks after early voting began for Nov. 7 General Assembly elections.... The news release claimed that local registrars had already reinstated all but 'approximately 100' of the voters, all of whom had been convicted of felonies, had their voting rights restored and then went on to violate the terms of their probation. The state's computer software had erroneously counted the probation violations as new felonies that disqualified them from voting, administration officials have said.... Democrats say the administration's shifting accounts [of the purge] cast doubt on the intentions and competence of Youngkin, who won the governorship two years ago promising to bring 'election integrity' and business-world management savvy to state government." (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Palestine. The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel categorically dismissed any possibility of a cease-fire in Gaza at a news conference late Monday, as Israeli troops pushed deeper into the territory and appeared to advance on densely populated Gaza City from three directions.... Photos, satellite images and videos verified by The New York Times showed formations of troops and armored vehicles approaching Gaza City and nearby population centers from the north, east and south. Israel has renewed warnings for civilians to move to the southern part of Gaza. At the same time, its forces appeared to have reached Salah Al-Din Road, one of the territory's main north-south arteries. One widely circulated video showed an armored vehicle there firing on a car.... Two senior United Nations officials for humanitarian affairs spoke with urgency before the Security Council, calling for a halt to the fighting and describing a catastrophic situation for Gaza's two million civilians." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I apologize for making a remark that will be offensive to many people, but the first thought that came to my mind as I read about Israel's telling Palestinians to go to South Gaza, then firing on those who did so, was "Nazis urging Jews into the 'showers.'" `~~
~~~ CNN's live updates are here.
Share Article
Reader Comments (29)
Re Virginia elections, a candidate for the (supposedly, but c’mon) nonpartisan school board has been disqualified because there was an error in her address on one page of her petition to get on the ballot.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/10/27/fairfax-school-board-candidate-disqualified/
This AFTER there has been weeks of early voting in a heavily Democratic part of the County. The decision to disqualify will likely be overturned on appeal, but the fuckery will remain. Will make things that much more confusing for voters in that part of the county, and make things that much harder for the election officials there. All part of the plan.
Pete Seeger gives a big thumbs up to unions!
Man, I miss Pete.
Idiot Trump spawn go to court!
And the big question for the Trump spawn: Plead the Fifth or just lie?
My guess is that they’ll just lie. It’s what they do. It’s bred in the bone.
Oh, they could try the usual Trump word salad trick, “Unfair, didn’t do anything wrong, out to get us, blah, blah, blah…” but unlike that hack Trumpy judge in Florida, Judge Engoron is interested in the truth, not in making sure Trump gets off.
But if they take the nickel, the judge can assume a certain level of culpability since it’s a civil trial (a civil trial focusing on an uncivil crook and his crooked spawn).
Rock, anyone? Hard place too?
If Clarence Thomas’ boss, Harlan Crow shows up for that subpoena will he insist on replacing the Bible with his autographed copy of “Mein Kampf” when the swear him in? I’m
Israelis and Palestinians alike are paying dearly for Bibi’s indolence and arrogance.
Very much like our situation with Dubya, a “leader” who touts his abilities to keep people safe was asleep at the switch, even though both were warned. In Bibi’s case, the warnings appeared to be much more definitive.
But now that he has in large measure allowed the Hamas attack, or at least ignored warnings of its imminence, Bibi cannot afford anything less than near annihilation of the Gazan population. It’s an age old problem. How do you go about completely destroying a group that could be anywhere at any time? It’s not like they’re walking around with signs saying “I’m with Hamas”.
Israel’s determination to do so is understandable, especially after such a horrific and savage attack on civilians, but we tried this in Iraq. The Russians tried it in Afghanistan. The Nazis tried it in the Soviet Union. The Romans tried it in Germania, and later in Britain.
There’s nothing for it. Netanyahu was caught napping, worried about himself. And now everyone else has to pay for his fuck up.
Same as it ever was.
Interesting post mortem on the fall and fall of the half pence.
The writer makes some good points not only about little mikey and his party, but he also directs our attention to pence’s peculiar impotence as a mover and shaker:
“Many give him high marks for his public speaking talents [Christ, I never heard anyone say that…wonder what they were smoking, and can I get some, please?]. I absolutely don’t. Admittedly, I already know that I am about to disagree with him before he makes a sound. But that’s part of the task at hand in political speech: to move people.
Try to recall a time he did that. Ever. There’s not a moment when he moved a crowd from hostile to simply opposed; from opposed to interested in listening more; or, from neutral to agreeable. On his own side of the aisle, he only succeeded at choosing a narrative he already knew his audience would applaud. As a political writer and communication consultant present in Indiana for almost his entire career, I can attest that I’ve never heard anyone say, ‘You really should have heard that Pence speech last night!’”
Ha-ha. Ain’t that the truth?
Home to mother, mikey. Don’t let the screen door hit you in the ass on the way out.
A thoughtful column about American's favorite fetish:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/31/opinion/maine-mass-shooting-rifles-freedom.html
And if you don't believe it, just look at the magazine display at your local grocery.
Akhilleus,
Thanks for the Seeger. Have always loved him and his music, not to mention his politics.
This old "Union Maid" rendition presents an interesting look into a past that some of us are old enough to remember a little uncomfortably. Those young peoples' suited buttoned-down look, all sitting in polite rows....and some of those lyrics?
How about the message to young women which suggests being a wife isn't hard if you're married to a man with a union card.
A definite period piece. And a define delight.
Speaker Johnson not only splits the aid for Israel, Ukraine, and the South Pacific into separate packages, he wants to "offset" the Israeli aid by raiding already appropriated funds for the IRS. I'm surprised he didn't demand a 10% tax cut for the top bracket as well.
What a time to play games and pick a fight.
Ken,
I’m pretty sure Pete updated those lyrics. I heard him a bunch of times, the last in the early 90s. He sang this song then and I don’t recall that verse about “get yourself a man with a union card” at that last concert.
According to my Seeger biography, “How can I keep from singing: Pete Seeger”, Pete and Woody Guthrie wrote the song together one night in Oklahoma. That last line was added by a member of the Almanac Singers, a group Pete and Woody sang with occasionally. It was certainly from a different era, but in the original lyrics, that Pete and Woody write, it’s the woman, the Maid, who has the union card.
I always admired Pete for sticking to his guns. His ideals weren’t adjusted according to the prevailing winds. He just kept going.
Bobby Lee,
There’s never a time when demagogues and supporters of treason like Johnson won’t put others in danger if they can score political points.
Here are Billy Bragg, et al., with revised lyrics to "Union Maid." Their lyrics include Angela Davis.
I saw her this weekend on Skip Gates' show "Finding Your Roots," and she was extremely surprised to find out she was a Mayflower descendant. Skip didn't mention it on the show, but her ancestor William Brewster became the leader of the Plymouth Colony, not just one of the Pilgrims. (My own Mayflower ancestor got sick & died in the boat while it was sitting in a harbor off Cape Cod, but his wife & children came over later. I was pleased to see that Davis' ancestor was a bigger shot than mine.)
What would happen if I went to a local merchant that I do business
with and said to him that your plate glass window is going to be very
expensive to replace if you don't contribute to my charity, but I'll
still be shopping here after you replace that window.
There's a word for that but I just can't think of it right now.
Anyway, that's what "Bootsie" DeSantis is doing in Florida since
his donors aren't donoring much lately.
He tells them that anybody who expects to do business with the state
of Florida must start donating to his campaign fund, or else they
won't be doing business in the future.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2023/20/28/desantis-turns-to-companies-that-deal-with-the-state-to-help-boost-campaign-funds/
?share=endoenotcn83hnuteubt
A critical chapter in the rush to the nation's further fragmentation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2023/homeschooling-growth-data-by-district/
Seth Meyers on TFG's latest flubs.
The IRS money the GOP wants to take includes "Republicans are looking at defunding a free digital tax filing system that's under development by the IRS to instead help pay for weapons for Israel"
Woody and Pete wrote the "Union Maid" lyric, but the music was a bit older. The popular tune "Red Wing" provided the melody, and in turn "Red Wing" used a melody penned in the mid-19th century.
And, of course, there was a bawdy lyrics version of "Red Wing" which Oscar Brand included in his repertoire, but we'll have none of that here, hear?
Here is a post about Claudia Goldin and some her work that was mentioned in the Krugman piece.
@Patrick: Gosh, that's politically incorrect in every sense, but at least there's a poetic denouement (again, in more than one sense).
It's always the IRS for the wingers. Years ago they were convinced the IRS went after "nonprofit" groups of wingers. Lefties attempted to tell them it was not JUST the wingers-- but seriously, wingers are always more likely to be dishonest, so maybe there were more winger fraudulent groups... So they whined and cried about what victims they always are... Now, when an effort is being made to improve the system which is slow, underfunded, understaffed, etc, they are snatching the money to buy weapons for Israel. It is fascinating how consistently the wingers are s***s all around. At the same time, they don't want to know that taxes fund everything, and they are thrilled when everything means more money for them. Hail the 1%, always the victims, poor things...
Back during my American folk song period, I had a bunch of Folkways records of Oscar Brand singing obscure Colonial and Revolutionary era folk songs, and three or four of his books. Not sure how I missed the X rated stuff. Just goes to show that NSFW material has been around, pretty much forever. There may have been clay tablets found along the Tigris collecting lyrics for non PC Sumerian songs.
Many years ago, I read a great Sci-Fi short story called “First Contact” by Murray Leinster, a master from the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction (Ken, I’m sure you know this story).
The plot involves a first meeting between a ship from Earth and an alien vessel. Neither side is sure they can trust the other, but a rapport strikes up between a crew member of each ship. The two figure out a way to communicate. After a solution is reached, the captain of the human ship expresses hope that everything will turn out okay. “How do you know?” asked another officer. The captain says “Those two guys are swapping dirty jokes”.
Hmm…was that crewman’s name Oscar Brand? Can’t remember.
Akhilleus,
I do, and thanks for the day's ear worm.. Pete, then thanks to Marie, Billy Brag.
And thanks also to Patrick for the song's history. Can't get enough of that history stuff, tho' by my calculation history began in 1946.
Thanks, Ak. I've never heard of Oscar Brand, but my late wife must've because she used to recite lyrics from "Seven Old Ladies Locked in the Lavatory".
I don't know about his other stuff, but they may tamer than John Valby's "Ya-Ya" and other ditties.
AK,
For an undoubtably true account of alien encounters and communication, nothing can match Kate McKinnon's farewell performance on https://youtu.be/Q4uyI03p8_0?feature=shared
Sorry, missed the link
@unwashed: We are often surprised after our spouses or other loved ones die by what little -- or sometimes big -- things we learn about them. So there was your wife over the years singing a song and today you learned her likely source. My thanks to your late wife for her contribution to today's Comments, and to you for sharing them. BTW, as a child I learned to sing "Oh, dear, what can the matter be?" in its earlier & decidedly less humorous traditional English version.
D,
Wow. Just…wow. Gives a new wrinkle to the concept of close encounters.
Unwashed,
I vaguely recall variations on the song from the second link, not stuff you tend to break out as a singalong at the family barbecues. “Okay kids, all together now…”
Unwashed,
So many in the extended RC community I wish I had the chance to know even better. Sounds like your late wife would have been one of them.
Thanks for sharing that small part of your and her memory.