Former Socialist, Former Republican, Former Contributor to The American Spectator, Former Resident of Canada, Back in Boston Area After Stints in New York City & Atlanta, Current Mustache Wearer & Aficionado of Baseball, Bowling in All Its Forms, Cats, Music & Healthy Living
The awful truth of the matter is that we will never know what caused COVID. For this there are two reasons.
First, there is the Chinese government. They have not been forthcoming according to FBI Director Christopher Wray (who subscribes to the lab leak theory) as one would expect of a totalitarian state. So long as they remain a totalitarian state then nothing shall change. If the facts do point to a lab leak, I suspect it is likely due to incompetence rather than a sinister plot notwithstanding the low regard for human life the Chinese government holds for their own people.
This brings me to the United States, specifically the aforementioned Republican/Fox News alliance which never met a conspiracy theory it did not embrace. Let's keep in mind this segment of the population cannot bring themselves to admit Joe Biden is President of the United States much less accept the veracity of vaccines or acknowledge that COVID has claimed more than 1 million lives. If we cannot bring ourselves to agree to the most basic of facts then how will we ever know what caused COVID?
Of course this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to look for answers and bring pressure to bear upon the Chinese government. But the results, whatever they might be, will have little meaning to the Republican/Fox News crowd who have no interest in the facts and only want to be told what they want to hear.
Betty Boothroyd, best known for serving as Speaker of the British House of Commons from 1992 to 2000, passed away on Sunday at the age of 93. She remains the only woman who has served in that role in over seven centuries.
While I had seen her on television when I would watch Prime Minister's Questions, I had the chance to see Boothroyd first-hand when I worked as a parliamentary intern in the British House of Commons back in 1995.
When she would enter the Commons, all business would cease. She always had a smile on her face. But when it came time for Prime Minister's Questions, she was all business. Boothroyd did not suffer fools gladly and would put anyone who got out of line in place with a stern, "Order!!!"
First elected as a Labour MP in 1973, Boothroyd commanded respect on all sides of the aisle and comported herself with good humor. I remember Boothroyd being the guest of honor at the annual Parliamentary Beer Club dinner which I attended. The beer of choice that evening was Speakers' Ale. Although I did not meet her in person her presence was a cheerful one and all assembled were more than glad to come to order.
After stepping down as Speaker in 2000, Boothroyd was appointed to the House of Lords as a crossbencher and became known as Baroness Boothroyd and remained an active member of that chamber openly criticizing former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's behavior following Brexit and Partygate. Yet Johnson was among the seven former Prime Ministers who paid tribute to Boothroyd upon learning of her passing. No doubt she would have called him to order from beyond the sky had he not done so. R.I.P.
While better known in his native Canada, Pinsent spent some in Hollywood in the late 1960's and early 1970's appearing in movies such as The Thomas Crown Affair and Blacula as well as TV shows such as It Takes a Thief and Cannon.
However, Pinsent chose to return to Canada to pursue his own projects such as The Rowdyman which was shot in his home province of Newfoundlandand would later play Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor in the TV movie Escape from Iran: The Canadian Caper.
Pinsent would have a recurring role on the Canadian-U.S. TV series Due South and was a regular on The Red Green Show. He would also spoof his serious persona with occasional appearances on This Hour Has 22 Minutes particularly when he dramatically read portions of Justin Bieber's autobiography. Pinsent would also receive acclaim for roles in Hollywood movies such as The Shipping News and Away from Her.
Here is a short excerpt of an interview Pinsent did with the CBC in 1978 discussing his reasoning for leaving Hollywood to return to his home and native land. R.I.P.
Directed by Carlos Flores del Pino and released in 1981 (but shown in the United States for the very first time), The Chilean Charles Bronson tells the story of Fenelón Guajardo, a boxer who won a celebrity lookalike contest on a popular Chilean TV show in 1975. At the time of this contest, Bronson was the biggest box office attraction in the entire world. So walking down the streets of Santiago looking like the spitting image of Charles Bronson at the height of Bronson's fame was a sight to behold.
Fenelon (who preferred to be called Fernando) wants to have an international film career just like Charles Bronson. Towards the end of the movie, Flores del Pino directs a scene envisioned by Fernando for a Chilean Charles Bronson movie. The idea isn't bad, but the execution is absurd. The barfight between the Chilean Charles Bronson and the bad guy somehow ends up in the countryside.
Yet I have to keep in mind that this was a low budget movie made over several years. There is one scene where Fernando is talking to several men about his experiences as Chilean Charles Bronson. But they are on a rooftop and they must pace and back and forth. The fact that they must do this detracts from the content of their conversation.
You could have heard a pin drop when the movie concluded. Nothing. Just nothing.
I have not seen this Bronzi films except for clips on Facebook and YouTube. But it is fascinating because Bronzi really does look like Bronson came back from the dead to make new movies.
Bronzi is 72. When his time comes will there be a new Charles Bronson to take his place? If there is a market for those films, then yes. In which case, where will we find him? Indonesia or Indiana? So long as there is bloodlust and a death wish then there will be a need for someone who looks like Charles Bronson.
Emily Kohrs, who served as the forewoman of the special grand jury for Fulton County DA Fani Willis' investigation into defeated, former President Trump's attempts to influence the outcome of the 2020 election in Georgia, is getting a lot of heat for giving media interviews.
While one can take Kohrs to task going public concerning the work of the special grand jury, the media cannot have it both ways. If the statements made by Kohrs in her interviews truly compromise this investigation in any way, then it is the responsibility of the media not to engage Kohrs nor anyone else who served on the special grand jury at this time.
When Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for a "national divorce" between blue states and red states it is secession by any other name and thus inherently anti-American. After all, we are called the United States for a reason.
What strikes me most though is Greene's use of the world divorce when you consider her husband filed for divorce against her last September. That has probably left a mark. Just because Greene is going through a divorce doesn't mean the rest of the country should have to get a divorce along with her. Besides some of us aren't even married.
But if the country does get a divorce, then who gets the kids? I mean take Greene's home state of Georgia. A state capable of electing Greene and Andrew Clyde (he who said the January 6th attacks were "a normal tourist visit") yet equally capable of electing Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. It's not so cut and dry. If there is to be a national divorce it will be acrimonious, not amicable.
The only silver lining that can be found from this nonsense is if Republicans follow Greene's lead on divorce and secession, it will be the kind of thing that will help President Biden win a second term and along with it Democratic control of the House of Representatives.
Defeated, former President Trump will speak at a rally tomorrow in East Palestine, Ohio. This is the village where the Norfolk Southern freight train spilled noxious chemicals nearly three weeks ago and the damage is likely to affect parts of nearby Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
While Trump is hoping his visit will put a spark into his lackluster presidential campaign, I would venture to guess that he will spend a lot more talking about himself than about the people of East Palestine. There is a very good chance Trump will spend more time talking about the 2020 election than he will about the 2023 train derailment. Simply put Trump will likely go off the rails.
It was fifty years ago this month Fanny released their fourth album Mother's Pride. While Mother's Pride is a satisfying album it also leaves me saddened as it would be the last Fanny album to feature the classic lineup of June Millington, Jean Millington, Nickey Barclay and Alice de Buhr.
Before the end of 1973, a physically and spiritually exhausted June Millington left the group. Soon after, de Buhr would depart. It would also be Fanny's last album on the Reprise label.
Fanny's first three albums (Fanny, Charity Ball and Fanny Hill) had been produced by Richard Perry, but the group was seeking a change in musical direction. Initially, there had been discussion about working with Denny Cordell who had produced the likes of The Moody Blues, Procol Harum, Joe Cocker and Leon Russell. Also under consideration was Bernie Taupin, best known as the songwriting partner of Elton John.
But Fanny would ultimately choose Todd Rundgren. He certainly had credentials of his own having produced albums for Ian & Sylvia's band The Great Speckled Bird, The Band and Badfinger. Rundgren would soon be enlisted to produce for Grand Funk Railroad as well as the debut album of The New York Dolls. During the same period, Rundgren would reach his commercial peak of success as a performer in his own right with Something/Anything? which featured his two biggest hits, "I Saw The Light" and "In My Eyes". Fanny and Rundgren had also performed on the same bill on several occasions and had developed a good rapport.
Because of this rapport, Fanny had hoped Rundgren would give them more input into mixing the album. Instead, upon their first recording session, Rundgren laid down the law. As June Millington recounts in her 2015 autobiography, Land of a Thousand Bridges: Island Girl in a Rock n' Roll World:
Todd got down on the floor hands behind neck, crossed one leg over a knee casually on that dirty rug, and grinned up at us as we gathered in a circle around his head. Imagine it: he looking up for all the world as if on a day at the beach, while we stared at this rock-anointed semi-god. And made this pronouncement: "Ok, you're the artists and I'm the producer, right? [silent nods] And I'm the producer because I know more than you do. That means you have to do what I tell you."
What was this, the 4th grade? And the thing is, we all stared down at him, uttering not a word. I think at that moment we were beaten, that was the end.
Unfortunately, there are moments where one can hear this defeat and it only reinforces the sadness I feel when I listen to Mother's Pride. Nevertheless, Mother's Pride does offer some satisfying moments just not nearly enough.
Mother's Pride opens with a cover of Randy Newman's "Last Night I Had a Dream" with Nickey Barclay on lead vocals. Barclay's vocals are gritty as is her piano playing, but Rundgren overproduces the track nearly drowning her out. Rundgren's touch gets lighter on the next two tracks - "Long Way Home" and "Old Hat". "Long Way Home" is one of June Millington's finest compositions and its lyrics reflect her weariness with life with Fanny (I don't wanna die of a broken heart as dreamers often will/Heaven help the people who try so hard when living is all uphill). "Old Hat" had been recorded the previous year by a U.K. band called Uncle Dog with Barclay was friendly. I am particularly fond of its opening line, "Found an old hat on the ground/You know it fit me."
The next two songs on Mother's Pride are Barclay compositions "Solid Gold" and "Is It Really You?". "Solid Gold" is one of two songs in the Fanny canon where de Buhr takes the lead vocal. She had done so previously with "Rock Bottom Blues" on Fanny Hill. Two years later, Keith Moon would cover the song on his lone solo album Two Sides of the Moon with Barclay playing keyboard. Copious amounts of alcohol were consumed by de Buhr when she sang the song. No doubt the same was true for Moonie. My favorite lyric in "Is It Really You?" is "But it don't seem right/No, it don't seem right". What doesn't seem right is yet another case of Rundgren's ham-handed overproduction.
Side one of Mother's Pride ends with "All Mine", a mid-tempo song co-written by the Millington sisters. "All Mine" has the distinction of being the only Fanny song to feature male backup vocalists. Here Rundgren falls into the trap of using a sax solo where a guitar solo by June would have been much better. Richard Perry made the same error using horns on "First Time in a Long Time" on Fanny Hill.
Side two of Mother's Pride begins with back-to-back June Millington songs - "Summer Song" and "Polecat Blues". It has been said that Fanny didn't write songs with hooks, but "Summer Song" has a radio friendly hook and ought to have been heard on every radio on both sides of the Atlantic in the summer of '73. "Polecat Blues" is a New Orleans style ditty featuring a solid back beat from de Buhr and a piano waltz from Barclay. I have no doubt this would have been a fun song to play live to which I can attest as I have heard "Polecat Blues" when June was holding her weekly livestreams during the pandemic. June's vocal on "Polecat Blues" is livelier when heard live than on record.
"Beside Myself" represents the only songwriting collaboration between Jean Millington and Nickey Barclay and, outside of "Summer Song", it is the highlight of Mother's Pride. It is a gut-wrenching ballad featuring plaintive vocals by Jean (I'm just beside myself; I don’t know what to say/You fill my head with lies and I want to believe you) augmented by June's strongest guitar solo on Mother's Pride. One can only imagine what other compositions Jean and Nickey could have conjured up had Fanny stayed together longer.
Following "Beside Myself" are back-to-back compositions by Barclay - "Regular Guy" and "I Need You Need Me". The two songs are like day and night. "Regular Guy" is gentle, acoustic guitar driven ballad while "I Need You Need Me" is a hard driving, cosmic rocker. The penultimate song on Mother's Pride is "Feelings" which marks the second and final songwriting collaboration between June Millington and Nickey Barclay. Fanny's two main songwriters had previously joined forces on "I Just Realized" from their eponymous debut album three years earlier. Coming in at just under two minutes, "Feelings" features a cacophony of flutes which accompany June's vocals.
Mother's Pride concludes on a positive note with Barclay's "I'm Satisfied". Fanny truly sounds as unified on this song as The Beatles did on "The End" on Abbey Road. But we all know what happened to The Fab Four. While Fanny did not immediately break-up they would not be the same without June Millington and Alice de Buhr. While "I'm Satisfied" fills me with satisfaction, it also fills me with sadness.
Despite all their credentials, neither Richard Perry nor Todd Rundgren captured Fanny the way they sounded on stage with any consistency. Perhaps this was too tall a task for any producer they would have chosen up to and including George Martin. But what's done is done and none of it changes Fanny's status as rock 'n roll pioneers. Whatever tears may have been shed, if it is satisfaction enough for Fanny then it is satisfaction enough for me.
Actor/comedian Richard Belzer, best known for his portrayal of Detective John Munch on Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: SVU as well as in guest appearances in several other series, passed away this morning at his home in France. The news was broken by his old friend Laraine Newman of Saturday Night Live fame. The two knew each other while Belzer worked as an off-air warmup comedian during SNL's early days. She did not elaborate on the cause of death. Belzer was 78.
Originally a standup comic, the thin, wiry Belzer was an unlikely candidate as a TV cop. But Belzer's world weary cynicism, propensity towards conspiracy theories and one-liners won audiences over first on Homicide: Life on the Street and then more notably on Law & Order: SVU. Detective Munch would appear in eight other TV series including Law & Order, Law & Order: Trial by Jury,The Wire, The X-Files, 30 Rock, Arrested Development, The Beat and Jimmy Kimmel! Live. Belzer also voiced Detective Munch in animated form on American Dad. Belzer portrayed Detective Munch in form or another for nearly a quarter century before retiring from acting in 2016.
This past Wednesday evening, I had the privilege of seeing and hearing Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith perform at City Winery in Boston. This marked his first public performance in the United States since 2015.
It also marked Sexsmith's first performance in the Boston area in a decade when he played at the now defunct T.T. the Bear's in Cambridge. Sexsmith was genuinely surprised at how many people turned out to see him. He made a point of telling the audience that he asked to make Boston the first stop of his U.S. tour because if he made any mistakes then there would be hardly anyone around to notice as his Boston concerts had always been sparsely attended.
In the early part of the show, however, Sexsmith noticed problems with the feedback on his guitar and he made a point of asking his wife Colleen Hixenbaugh (a musician in her own right) to find a new battery for his amp. After she retrieved the amp and installed it, Sexsmith quipped, "My wife wants me to succeed." The way in which he deadpanned that sentence made it absolutely hilarious.
Sexsmith repeatedly apologized for the technical problems, but he need not have done so. He is a songwriter's songwriter and his catalogue of songs stretching back more than three decades is well worth the price of admission. Among the highlights of the evening were "Pretty Little Cemetry", "Lebanon, Tennessee", "Gold in Them Hills", "In a Flash" and "Whatever It Takes" along with three songs from his new album The Vivian Line ("What I Had in Mind", When Our Love Was New" and "Diamond Wave").
This was my fourth time seeing Sexsmith in concert but first time since August 2001. Sexsmith first came to my attention on a 1995 tribute album to Harry Nilsson called For The Love of Harry: Everyone Sings Nilsson. The highlight of this album was Sexsmith's cover of "Good Old Desk."
The first time I saw Sexsmith in concert was at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa in 1999. Sexsmith made a point of telling the audience he was taking requests. I immediately shouted, "Good Old Desk". He retorted, "It has to be a song I wrote." But this did not deter me. He gave in and I soon realized why he did not want to play the song - he forgot the lyrics. Fortunately, I was there to shout the next verse, "Such a comfort to know," and the show went on.
Sexsmith would play "Good Old Desk" for me the following year at a club in Somerville known as Lily's (which is now a Brazilian restaurant called Samba Bar and Grille) a few months after I moved to Boston. However, when I renewed the request at an outdoor concert at the Greek Festival in Toronto in August 2001, Sexsmith said, "I don't know that song."
We have been in sporadic communication first on Twitter and now on Facebook over the past several years and I warned him that I would be requesting "Good Old Desk" from the front row. When I summoned up the courage to make the request he told me, "I'll have to do it from muscle memory." I told him I'd be here if he needed me.
Alas, Sexsmith did not play "Good Old Desk". It didn't bother me because it was clear to me that Sexsmith was nervous throughout the performance with the guitar troubles fresh on his mind the last thing that he wanted to do was forget the lyrics. I said as much to him after show. "Oh, shit!!! I forgot. I made a mental note but there were so many other requests."
Sexsmith added that he last played "Good Old Desk" at City Winery in New York in 2014 accompanied by a barbershop quartet. That would have been a sight and sound to behold. "Next time," he promised.
Hopefully, next time won't be 20 years between concerts.
To most contemporary baseball fans, McCarver is best remembered for his years in the broadcast booth particularly with the New York Mets as well as with FOX where he was partnered with Joe Buck. In 2012, McCarver was inducted into the broadcasters' wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame when he was honored with the Ford C. Frick Award. After stepping down from FOX after the 2013 season, McCarver occasionally did color commentary for the St. Louis Cardinals where he spent the bulk of his playing career.
Indeed, McCarver had a solid big-league career and is among the few players in MLB history to have played in four different decades beginning in 1959 with the Cardinals at the age of 17. McCarver earned two World Series rings with the Redbirds in 1964 and 1967. In 1967, McCarver finished runner up in NL MVP voting to teammate Orlando Cepeda. The previous season, McCarver became the first catcher to lead the league in triples when he swatted 13 of them in 1966.
Aside from two stints each with the Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies, McCarver also briefly played for both the Montreal Expos and the Boston Red Sox. McCarver's career lasted as long as it did in large part because of his capacity as Steve Carlton's personal catcher while with the Phillies. The two had been teammates with the Cardinals where McCarver also forged a strong relationship with Bob Gibson. In 21 big league seasons, McCarver collected 1501 hits for a lifetime batting average of .271 with 97 HR and 645 RBIs.
I leave you with McCarver's "grand slam single" which he hit on the U.S. Bicentennial on July 4, 1976. McCarver hit a grand slam HR for the Phillies but was called out when he passed teammate Garry Maddox thus being credited for a 3-run single. R.I.P.
Welch, of course, will be best remembered for her physical beauty. Some might call a superficial quality for which to be remembered, but the cold fact is that we human beings like what is aesthetically pleasing. And once one gazed upon Raquel Welch, especially the male of the species, one would forever remember myself included.
My first memory of Welch was when she appeared on The Muppet Show in 1978. There was a running gag that she was going to change her image. Of course, she did nothing of the sort. Until tonight, I had not seen any part of this episode in over 40 years and yet I remembered it as if no time had passed.
Remarkably, her beauty remained as she aged, and could command a room with her mere presence as she did at The Emmys a decade ago. Raquel Welch possessed the qualities of a goddess but is mortal just like the rest of us. R.I.P.
Philadelphia sports fans have denied a championship parade once more as the Eagles fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII as the Chiefs capture their second Super Bowl title in four years. It hurts all the more as the Eagles had a 10-point lead at the half and were leading the game going into the 4th quarter.
This also marks the second time this has happened in exactly 99 days. On November 5, 2022, the Houston Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies to clinch the World Series in six games.
Could Philly sports fans have their hearts broken yet again this year? While the Philadelphia Flyers are not contending this season in the NHL, the Philadelphia 76ers own the third best record in the NBA' Eastern Conference and are likely to be playoff bound. Although the 76ers could make the third time a charm let us not forget that things often have happen in three.
From where I sit, it demonstrates how meaningless Irving's apology was in the first place. When Irving did apologize, he denied that he harbored anti-Semitic sentiments and thus took no responsibility for his actions. There''s no sense in apologizing if you don't mean it.
With the apology now off the record, what remains on record is "comedian" Dave Chappelle's defense of Irving's behavior. So long as Chappelle's defense remains on the record as does the defense of NBA players and executives then Irving's anti-Semitism will have been given aid and comfort and will become entrenched among a critical mass of Americans. If societal attitudes towards Jews grow more hostile it will inevitably result in laws being passed against Jews just for being Jews and that will be Kyrie Irving's legacy.
I knew I had to see it. How often does one have a movie which simultaneously appeals to baby boomer women and young male football fans? While all four actresses are still active, appearing in a film with Tom Brady would give them a good chance to top the box office again and they came close during its opening weekend. With the Super Bowl taking place tomorrow it could hit number one this weekend.
Although 80 for Brady is based on a true story, the movie bears little resemblance to it. The real 80 for Brady gang never went to Super Bowl LI, have never met Brady nor have any of its members written erotic fan fiction about Rob Gronkowski. Nor for that matter did Lily Tomlin light a fire under Brady to help lead the Patriots back from a 25-point deficit in the 3rd quarter against the Atlanta Falcons. Yet it is kind of sweet to see Brady and Tomlin have a moment in the locker room following the comeback. It's not an image which immediately comes to mind yet 80 for Brady co-writers Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins conjured it up and it works wonders.
Above all else 80 for Brady is a love letter to Boston (and for that matter New England). Aside from exterior shots of Boston, the film shows Brady replacing an injured Drew Bledsoe in Week 2 of the 2001 season against the New York Jets and leading the Pats to their first of six Super Bowl titles culminating in the Pats' improbable comeback against the Falcons. I was here for nearly all of it. Needless to say, I don't think 80 for Brady will find much of an audience in Atlanta. As I can tell you from firsthand experience this is still a fresh wound in Georgia.
Yet it makes me all the gladder that I am back up here in Boston (plus Cambridge and Somerville). I remember watching Fever Pitch on TV while I was in New York during the pandemic and seeing all those exterior shots of Back Bay and the North End reminded me of how much I missed it. Even though I would find employment in Atlanta, I would have taken less money to come back up here. When I watched a shot of the Mass Ave Bridge in 80 for Brady instead of having a sense of longing it gave me a sense of comfort that I can now walk across it anytime I like. Perhaps even tomorrow.
I would love to hear Colau tell us why she believes Russia's invasion of Ukraine is less egregious than Israel's alleged mistreatment of Palestinians.
I would love to hear Colau tell us why she believes China's subjugation of Uyghur Muslims doesn't rise to the level of Israel's alleged mistreatment of Palestinians.
But we will not hear any such explanations from Colau because there is no explanation she could possibly give. That Colau sees fit to sever ties with a city in Israel over human rights while turning a blind eye to human rights violations in Russia, China, Cuba and in Gaza itself can only mean one thing. Notwithstanding her claims to the contrary, Colau's decision is motivated by hatred and malice towards Jews. In short, Colau is guilty of anti-Semitism.
Bacharach enjoyed lengthy songwriting partnerships with Hal David and later with Carole Bayer-Sager (who was his third wife). He composed songs recorded by everyone from Nat King Cole, Marty Robbins, Marlene Dietrich, The Shirelles, The Beatles, Jerry Butler, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, Gene Pitney, Jackie DeShannon, Love, The Walker Brothers, Aretha Franklin, Herb Alpert, Neil Diamond, Naked Eyes, Ronnie Milsap to Michael McDonald and Patti LaBelle.
Of the thousands of artists who recorded Bacharach's songs, none is more closely associated with him than Dionne Warwick who recorded "Walk on By", "Say A Little Prayer", "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?", "A House is Not a Home", "Message to Michael" and "That's What Friends Are For" with Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder.
Bacharach could rightfully occupy an entire chapter of The Great American Songbook. Yet for all of Bacharach's contributions to the music, he was seldom in the spotlight. A rare exception was when he made a cameo in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me playing the piano singing a few bars of "What The World Needs Now is Love". That was all he needed to make a lasting impression. R.I.P.
Tonight, I watched both President Biden's SOTU address and the Republican response given by newly elected Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
For starters, President Biden might have not said it directly, but he is running for re-election. If there were any Democrats wavering about Biden in the wake of the classified docs affair or about his age in general, they are not wavering now as Biden gave an address which was both forceful and compassionate.
Perhaps the best moment of his speech was when he addressed the parents of Tyre Nichols. While the circumstances were different, Biden understands the grief of losing a child and what it means to suffer. He also pointedly reminded those assembled that he nor most white parents in this country never have to talk to their children about what to do if they are stopped by the police because of the color of their skin. While it's true the police who murdered Nichols were also black there does exist a fundamental lack of respect by police towards African-Americans merely going about their business. Even one is speeding whilst going about one's business this does not warrant being beaten to death in the streets.
I also liked how Biden killed the Republicans with kindness whether it was praising Mitch McConnell (who looked like he wanted to hide under his seat) to how much he was looking forward to seeing Republican Congressmen at the ground-breaking ceremonies for infrastructure projects they voted against. The Republicans did themselves very few favors tonight.
Republicans did themselves no favors by repeatedly calling President Biden a liar when he truthfully spoke of GOP proposals to cut Medicare and Social Security. Marjorie Taylor Greene did herself no favors by calling President Biden a liar while wearing a fur coat which made her look like Cruella DeVille. Republicans did themselves no favors by shouting "the border" while President Biden was addressing a man whose daughter died of a fentanyl overdose at the age of 20.
Republicans really did themselves no favor by choosing Sarah Huckabee Sanders to give the GOP response. Sanders began the response by claiming she did not believe much of what President Biden said. Considering that she spent two years shoveling defeated, former President Trump's bullshit down our throats, her opening salvo was a hollow one.
Equally hollow was her claims that President Biden had been captured by a woke, left-wing mob and that the choice was between normal and crazy. If Sanders thinks Marjorie Taylor Greene heckling the President while wearing a fur coat is normal, then her views of normality are not rooted in reality.
It's also hard to take Sanders extolling the virtues of the Little Rock Nine seriously when her views on education do not permit the teaching of what happened to the Little Rock Nine in the first place. I very much doubt Sanders would be capable of speaking to the parents of Tyre Nichols in the way President Biden did.
Despite her claims that she represents a new generation of Republican leadership, Sanders is at heart still a spokesperson for Donald Trump and Trumpism with all the cruelty that comes with it.
If Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the best that Republicans can do then I like President Biden's chances in 2024.
The former leader of the Pakistani military came to power when he overthrew Nawaz Sharif in a coup in 1999. He was ostensibly an ally in the War on Terror following the attacks of September 11, 2001. However, Musharraf repeatedly denied Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan when it was exactly where he had been all along.
But when I think of Musharraf, I think of his cruelty towards former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto following her assassination in December 2007. In an interview with 60 Minutes in February 2008, Musharraf blamed Bhutto for her own assassination."For standing up outside the car, I think it was she to blame alone -- nobody else. Responsibility is hers," said Musharraf as if the people who detonated the bomb and fired the bullets and, above all else, ordered her assassination bear no responsibility. Musharraf resigned his office later that year to avoid impeachment and went into exile.
Under the new regime, South Carolina would hold its primary on February 3, 2024, with both New Hampshire and Nevada holding their primaries three days later. Primaries in Georgia and Michigan would also be moved up.
President Biden first proposed these changes back in December. Yes, South Carolina has a significant African-American vote which Iowa and New Hampshire do not have. But make no mistake. Biden is making South Carolina the first primary state because it propelled him to the Democratic nomination in 2020 (in no small part due to longtime SC Congressman Jim Clyburn). It is also worth noting that DNC Chair Jaime Harrison is also from the Palmetto State having unsuccessfully challenged Lindsey Graham for his Senate seat in 2020.
Needless to say, Democrats in Iowa and New Hampshire aren't too happy. I'm not so concerned about the blowback in Iowa. First, their 2020 caucus was a total debacle. Second, Iowa has been trending towards Republicans with Donald Trump winning the state handily in both 2016 and 2020.
However, New Hampshire is a different matter. While Biden carried NH in 2020 by nearly 7.5%, Trump lost it to Hillary Clinton in 2016 by only 0.4%. They are a fiercely independent people with a great deal of pride. New Hampshire has held the first primary in every presidential election since 1920. There is also the tradition of midnight voting in Dixville Notch, population 4. While some might consider this ritual silly and outmoded, New Hampshire's status as the first in the nation primary is a central part of the Granite State's very identity. To be stripped of it could cost President Biden the Granite State in 2024 and with it the White House.
Now it's true that New Hampshire has only four electoral college votes. But for all of Biden's affection for South Carolina, Trump carried it by nearly 12 points in 2020. I don't see Biden getting those 9 electoral college votes in 2024 especially if either Nikki Haley or Tim Scott are on the GOP ticket. Either way Democrats have no chance of winning those electoral college votes in South Carolina.
But Biden could lose those four electoral college votes in NH and with it the election if they also lost states like Georgia (16), Arizona (11) and Nevada (6). That would tie the electoral college at 269-269 and throw the election to the House of Representatives. This would mean a Republican President be it Trump or someone else.
New Hampshire state law requires it to hold the first primary in the nation. But should they hold this primary before South Carolina then the DNC could sanction them by not recognizing their delegates at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. This is a self-inflicted wound Democrats can ill-afford especially with election denialism running high among Republicans. One can only hope a compromise of some sort can be worked out to save face for all parties concerned.
While I understand Biden's gratitude towards South Carolina picking a fight with New Hampshire could end up putting Trump back into the White House. Long story short. President Biden shouldn't take NH for granted. Or in this case for granite.
I had predicted that Bibi would flat out defy the court order and keep Deri in cabinet. The only explanation I can give is that Netanyahu had to go through the motions of abiding by the court's ruling before introducing new legislation bringing Deri back with the proviso that it would not be subject to judicial review.
But there appears to a wrinkle in Bibi's plan as several Likud MKs have threatened to block the bill restoring Deri to cabinet. Mind you, Likud's objections are not out of principle in preserving Israeli democracy. Likud wants Netanyahu to add two of its members to cabinet in exchange for bringing Deri back. I suspect that Bibi will go along with that plan.
Assuming this comes to pass then undoubtedly there will be another challenge to the High Court and with it the potential for a constitutional crisis which is exactly what Netanyahu and his coalition partners want with the objective of weakening Israeli democracy while embracing authoritarianism.
When Kevin McCarthy his intentions to remove Omar (as well as California Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell) from their committee assignments, I made my thoughts known on the subject. Then as now I have mixed feelings about it. There is no question that Omar harbor anti-Semitic views. Yet it's hard to take Republicans seriously objecting to Omar's anti-Semitism when they are perfectly happy to give committee assignments to anti-Semites like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar who like to pal around with Holocaust deniers. And why single out Omar among Democrats when Rashida Tlaib is every bit as anti-Semitic?
But most of my ambiguity centers around how stripping Greene and Gosar of their committee assignments augmented their standing rather than diminished it. I suspect the same will happen with Omar. She proclaimed, “My voice will get louder and stronger, and my leadership will be celebrated around the world, as it has been.” As much contempt as I have for her, she's probably right.
But because Omar has a D in front of her name, her anti-Semitism is acceptable to them and their allies just as the anti-Semitism of Greene and Gosar is acceptable to Republicans and their allies. As such I trust neither party when it comes to anti-Semitism.
Since Republicans have embraced Trumpism, I cannot vote for them unless they are explicitly anti-Trump (i.e. Liz Cheney). In the wake of the pandemic, I supported Democrats in 2020 and 2022. While I am prepared another ballot for President Biden so long as Democrats at large insist on championing Omar and wantonly ignoring her anti-Semitism I cannot in good conscience continue to support them on a consistent basis. If a candidate wants me to be for them then that candidate has to be for me and my fellow Jews. As Rabbi Hillel said, "If I am not for myself then who is for me?"
I have three thoughts I'd like to share about Haley's White House bid.
First, while Haley is the first Republican to formally challenge defeated, former President Trump for the party's nomination, I expect the field to get very crowded very quick. Indeed, Haley might not be the only Republican from the Palmetto state with a presidential announcement. South Carolina GOP Senator Tim Scott is planning to head to Iowa later this month which is stimulating speculation about his own White House ambitions. If they are both in the race, I think Scott will generate far more excitement than Haley would. He's certainly done so among his GOP Senate colleagues.
Second, a crowded GOP primary will see hopefuls target each other instead of Trump. Should Florida Governor Ron DeSantis get in the race then they will aim their barbs at him. They are going to avoid going after Trump because they can ill-afford to alienate his base.
Third, as for Haley, she doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning the Republican nomination and she knows it. In the space of less than 100 days after the January 6th attacks, she went from wanting Trump out of public life to saying she would support him and not run if he did. Now it appears she's running. All of which makes her comes across as a phony. Honestly, Haley isn't running for President. Rather, she's running to be Trump's VP. But I don't think Trump sees her as loyal in the way he sees someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene. This isn't deterring her but Haley seems determined to learn the hard way.
