Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

People are weird.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

All hail the time of the bunny!

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Night shift

Night shift

by | 187 Comments

This post is in: 

Whoa, we are way overdue for an open thread. I’ll put some real posts up in a little bit.

Update. Random interesting fact I learned on Johnny Cash’s wiki page after listening to American Routes:

President Nixon became acquainted with Johnny Cash through their mutual friend Billy Graham. On 17 April 1970, at the President’s invitation, the Man in Black gave a concert for an invited audience in the East Room of the White House.

[….]

The appearance became the subject of a press-created controversy after a member of the White House staff —presumably someone from the East Wing’s social office— wrote to Cash’s management asking if he would perform three of the most popular cross-over country music songs of the day: Guy Drake’s “Welfare Cadillac,” Merle Haggard’s “Okie from Muskogee” and Cash’s own “A Boy Named Sue.”

When the requests were passed along to Cash, he said that he would be glad to sing “Sue,” but that the other two songs presented a problem.

Cash demurred that he didn’t know the other two songs, but it sounds as though he was just being polite.

Reader Interactions

187Comments

  5. 5.

    General Stuck

    Whoa, we are way overdue for an open thread.

    fuckin A. I had to hold my bitching about the weather here, for longer than is healthy. Right on the heels of a fairly kick ass winter storm, we got two more in the pipeline, one right after the other. And the second will be the worst of all. I moved to the desert SW for the desert part, and not some winter wonderland to freeze the brass balls of my monkey. And it’s only frickin’ December. We need a Global Warming thread next.

  6. 6.

    Steeplejack

    You rang? I saw the night-owl searchlight symbol against the night sky.

    Looking for a car on the Interwebs. There is a Honda Element at CarMax that may have my name on it.

    Also, Wisconsin-Michigan State on TV in the background. Need to monitor whether my Sparty brother will be gloating or suicidal tomorrow. He takes it way too seriously.

  9. 9.

    lamh35

    Been watching Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade on SyFy. Don’t Care what anyone says, IJ&LC is the best film of the franchise…period…Who dares disagree?

  10. 10.

    John H.

    Can you explain why Cash would be uncomfortable singing the other two songs. I might be too young to be in on this info.

  11. 11.

    Mnemosyne

    Getting ready to head over to G’s office Christmas party. They’ve all been saving up all year for it, so it should be pretty nice. (No, the company didn’t give a dime towards it — it’s all the employees’ own money collected over the course of the year).

    Best part is that it’s at a hotel that’s three blocks from our house, so we don’t even have to pay for parking. Woot!

  14. 14.

    AxelFoley

    @lamh35:

    Been watching Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade on SyFy. Don’t Care what anyone says, IJ&LC is the best film of the franchise…period…Who dares disagree?

    [coughcoughIndianaJonesandtheTempleofDoomisthebestintheseriescoughcough]

  18. 18.

    Nutella

    The Sandusky effort to poison the jury pool continues, with the New York Times printing a creampuff interview. Apparently the reporter never asked him “Did you rape that child?” or “Why did you get naked with children in showers?”. He’s just misunderstood, poor guy.

  20. 20.

    Comrade Mary

    Oops. The link Doug provided contradicts me.

    When the requests were passed along to Cash, he said that he would be glad to sing “Sue,” but that the other two songs presented a problem. That problem wasn’t their lyrics —which, as he later wrote, had become “lightning rods for antihippie and antiblack sentiment”— but the fact that he had no arrangements for them and wouldn’t have time to learn or rehearse them with his band before they had to leave for Washington.
    __
    “The request had come in too late,” he wrote. “If it hadn’t, then the issue might have become the messages, but fortunately I didn’t have to deal with that.”

  23. 23.

    Mnemosyne

    @John H.:

    I Googled since I, too, am too young to recognize the songs. “Welfare Cadillac” is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, though I didn’t realize that conservatives had been pushing that story since well before Reagan was talking about “welfare queens.” “Okie from Muskogee” is hippie-punching.

    I’m not at all surprised that the guy who wrote “Man in Black” wouldn’t touch those songs with a 10-foot pole.

  24. 24.

    Villago Delenda Est

    The thing about Okie from Muskogee is that Haggard later said it was kind of a spoof.

    Of course, naturally, the ultra-square Nixon loved it.

  28. 28.

    General Stuck

    President Nixon became acquainted with Johnny Cash through their mutual friend Billy Graham. On 17 April 1970, at the President’s invitation, the Man in Black gave a concert for an invited audience in the East Room of the White House.


    At least he didn’t pull an Elvis     and show up at the WH on a whim. Asking Nixon to deputize him as a ‘federal agent at large” whatever that was, to fight the drug war hippy scourge. Those were heady days, and you just didn’t know what would happen next.

  29. 29.

    AA+ Bonds

    Nixon was the first Republican President without a soul, meaning that Eisenhower was the last Republican President with one.

  32. 32.

    CaseyL

    @lamh35: It’s hard to choose between that one and the first Indiana Jones movie. However, we can certainly agree that the second movie was “meh,” and that the fourth one was an abomination in the eyes of the cinema gods.

    I’ve got the winter doldrums pretty bad. Being jobless makes it worse, as I get to stay home a lot. (Amazing, the changes the Web has made to job-hunting: one may send ones resumes and cover letters out to all points of the compass without ever actually leaving the sofa.)

    My two kitties came into my life in May 2008, so we’ve been together about 3 1/2 years. Altogether, I’ve been unemployed for almost 1 1/2 years of that time. They get Mom to pay attention to them and be at their beck and call much more than most kitties do. It’s funny that what sucks for me is good news for them… at least, as long as the cat food fund remains robust.

  33. 33.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Immma going to bed shortly, and I am going to be wearing jammies. That tells you all you need to know about the temps in NC right now.

  34. 34.

    Linda

    @John H:

    The other 2 songs are full of political content: the Haggard song, a response to 60s counterculture in which he is proud to be opposed to anti-war, drug culture, and the “Welfare Cadillac” song which paints welfare recipients as chislers. While I don’t know about Cash being particularly political, he aligned himself with the underdogs in society, as his Man in Black song attests. I didn’t hear about his request to the Haggard song, but I had heard about not singing “Welfare Cadillac,” and from all accounts he just wasn’t feeling it.

  35. 35.

    AA+ Bonds

    Cash was a shrewd operator. There is no doubt in my mind that he was driven to curse aloud by a request that he play two songs by other artists to appear as though he endorsed Nixon’s point of view. Then he calmed down and offered a white lie as explanation (no pun intended).

    This gives you an idea of the birth of the current model of Republican strategy, which happened in Nixon’s White House – the “Silent Majority” bid, telling white Americans, hey, it’s cool, I know all these blacks are getting uppity but you can still be a stealth Kluxer and the White House is right there with you

  36. 36.

    Suffern ACE

    @lamh35: You don’t scare me. Raiders is on the Olympus of the best action movies of all time. Last Crusade is mainly a water sprite.

  39. 39.

    Steeplejack

    @John H.:

    It could be as simple as that Cash didn’t want to sing someone else’s material. It would be similarly tactless for the current White House to have Beyoncé perform and ask her to throw in songs by Rihanna and Lady Gaga.

    Or it could be that Cash didn’t like the anti-DFH subtext of the other two songs. But the explanation above is reason enough.

  40. 40.

    Quincy

    Gus Johnson and Charles Davis. Davis is the one who says stupid things. Johnson just gets overexcited calling the play-by-play.

    And the Badgers really need Ball to avoid getting concussed this time around.

    Wow, I looked away for a moment before posting the answer to the announcer question and the thread filled up quick.

  43. 43.

    DougJ

    @John H.:

    “Okie” is a tongue-in-cheek dig at hippies that became a rallying cry for Real Murkins despite being clearly tongue-in-cheek. “Welfare Cadillac” is, well, as you can guess, strapping young bucks buying caddies on Uncle Sam’s dime.

  45. 45.

    The Dangerman

    @Rob Wolfe:

    Watching the Huckabee Forum. Holy Shit these AG’s are insane.

    Which explains why they are on the Huckabee Forum.

    I’ve been watching (kinda) and, gotta say, they’ve been tougher questioners than the debate moderators; Perry was wandering far afield of the question asked and they called bullshit on him.

    Romney should get skewered.

  47. 47.

    lamh35

    @AxelFoley: love Temple of Doom, Hate, hate, hate Kate Capshaw and streotypical Asian kid though.

    @Suffern ACE: @CaseyL: I’d def chose Raiders above Temple, but obviously NOT above Last Crusade. In fact, ’bout the only reason I watch the last installment if for Karen Allen. IMHO, K. Allen was hands down the best of the “Indie Girls” (ala Bond Girls, are should I say Bond “Women”)

    Barring a great “Indie Girl” I just love the interaction between Sean Connery and Harrison Ford. It seemed genuinely father/son-ish…lol

  49. 49.

    AA+ Bonds

    I have to agree about Merle, the opening line alone of “Okie from Muskogee” establishes it as a self-aware joke

  52. 52.

    Linda Featheringill

    @CaseyL:

    It’s funny that what sucks for me is good news for them… at least, as long as the cat food fund remains robust.

    Reminds me of Beau, hungry, blind in one eye, back quarters that actually didn’t work [although he had no urinary or bowel problems]. Poor kitty. He was obviously hungry but wouldn’t eat dry food even if I softened it with liquids. I found that he really, really liked canned food but could only consume a small amount at a time. The weather was hot and of course we didn’t have air conditioning. So I couldn’t just leave food out for him. Fortunately for him, I was unemployed at the time and so I got up and fed him every 4 hours for three weeks. He filled out. Back legs eventually worked somewhat. He was a sweet and loyal friend. He lived with me for 17 years.

  53. 53.

    David Koch

    New Iowa poll, taken before Herb Caen dropped out, has Gingrich leading with 25% to Paul’s 18% and Mitten’s 16%. Caen had 8%.

    Go Newt, Go!

  54. 54.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I’m always happy to hear good things about Johnny Cash

    @The Dangerman:

    Romney should get skewered.

    How they treat Romney, I imagine, would be a pretty good barometer of where the national party stands on Romney v Gingrich. I wonder if any feelers are out to try and get Mitch Daniels in the race. Is it really too late when the money is limitless?

  56. 56.

    (another) Josh

    Yeah, dunno whether Cash took a stand on the war; but he had established in a couple of Sixties records that he was pro-labor and pro-American Indian; and he was friendly with many DFHs. And he was a Democrat.

  58. 58.

    Disgruntled Lurker

    The appearance became the subject of a press-created controversy after a member of the White House staff —presumably someone from the East Wing’s social office— wrote to Cash’s management asking if he would perform three of the most popular cross-over country music songs of the day: Guy Drake’s “Welfare Cadillac,” Merle Haggard’s “Okie from Muskogee” and Cash’s own “A Boy Named Sue.”

    They later asked Bob Dylan if he wouldn’t mind stopping by and doing some Eagles covers.

  59. 59.

    Southern Beale

    I met Johnny Cash once, a couple years before he died. I was supposed to be doing an interview but I was so tongue-tied I basically muttered and mumbled the whole time. June could tell I was star struck and was the sweetest thing.

  62. 62.

    Raven

    Merle has these great lyrics in the seldom heard “Proud of What I am”.

    I never travel in a hurry, ‘Cause I got nobody waitin’ for me anywhere.
    Home is anywhere I’m livin’,
    If it’s sleepin’ on some vacant bench in City Square,
    Or if I’m workin’ on some road gang,
    Or just livin’ off the fat of our great land.
    I never been nobody’s idol, But at least I got a title,
    And I Take Alot Of Pride In What I Am.

  64. 64.

    eemom

    @Linda:

    yeah, I think Man In Black tells you all you need to know about what Cash really thought.

    LIke so many songs from that era, so painfully relevant today that those 40 years might just as well never have passed.

    Some love for John Prine too plz. Sam Stone, Flag Decal, and so many others.

  66. 66.

    Gozer

    Just got a new phone after having an iPhone for the last 5 years.

    Luv my Galaxy s2 and it even works with my ako account.

  67. 67.

    JGabriel

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    The thing about Okie from Muskogee is that Haggard later said it was kind of a spoof.

    Yeah, I don’t buy that. Here’s a video of Merle performing in ’68. Whether or not he’s sincere or spoof is besides the point: he’s clearly performing it for an audience that thinks he’s sincere, and giving them the performance they want.

    ETA: Haggard may have changed his story about the song after aligning himself with the “outlaw country” scene in the 70’s, but the idea that Okie… was intended as a spoof when it first came out seems far-fetched to me.

    .

  69. 69.

    AA+ Bonds

    Dave Weigel is talking about Buddy Roemer again as a dark horse because Dave Weigel has nothing better to do with his time until Andrew Breitbart feeds him another “story”, at which point it will mysteriously find its way to the Balloon Juice front page

  70. 70.

    burnspbesq

    @Steeplejack:

    Also, Wisconsin-Michigan State on TV in the background.

    In which the winner is granted the right to be mauled by Oregon in the Rose Bowl, with all that entails, and the loser is granted the right to be home for Christmas, because it will already have played in a meaningless bowl game.

  73. 73.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Southern Beale: I think Ron Paul is very sincere in all of his madness. Nutty as he may be, to have stood against the Iraq War and all the related post-9/11 Bush madness was not the act of a political opportunism.

  74. 74.

    Linnaeus

    @burnspbesq:

    In which the winner is granted the right to be mauled by Oregon in the Rose Bowl

    I wouldn’t be so sure. Oregon was also supposed to maul Ohio State in the 2010 Rose Bowl, and lost that game. MSU has a solid defense and Wisconsin’s O-line is huge.

  76. 76.

    burnspbesq

    @David Koch:

    New Iowa poll, taken before Herb Caen dropped out

    If Freud were here, he would most likely say that your inadvertent reference to a curmudgeonly San Francisco columnist proves something. What that something might be …

  79. 79.

    Jebediah

    My big plan for the evening is to go for a long-ish walk, at the end of which will be a bluegrass show. Only question is whether or not I shoot some smoke down my neck before I leave the house.

  86. 86.

    burnspbesq

    @Linnaeus:

    This year’s Oregon team is better than two years ago. Better QB, better receivers, better linebackers. The Ducks two losses are to the two best teams in college football.

    Yes, I said that. USC is better than Bama.

  89. 89.

    Jebediah

    @eemom:

    Some love for John Prine too plz

    Man, do I love John Prine! I really, really like his post-cancer voice – I like a little individuality or quirk or whatever in a singer, and of course the songs are treasures.

  91. 91.

    Linnaeus

    @burnspbesq:

    Yes, they are a better team this year. They should be favored in the Rose Bowl. I just don’t think it will be an easy win for Oregon. They lucked out in getting to play UCLA instead of USC in the Pac-12 championship. Not their fault, of course, but…

  100. 100.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Raven: What a great response, and the only rational explanation for such a nonsensical comment. Thanks for that dawg.

  103. 103.

    eemom

    @Jebediah:

    totally agree. That album where he re-did all his old songs — name escapes me at the moment, but it came out in 2005 or so — is pure gold.

  104. 104.

    J. Michael Neal

    Gophers outshoot North Dakota 14-4 in the second, but still can’t put the puck in. Some very good goaltending by a kid I’ve never seen before, plus some bad bounces. I still like our chances, but the longer this thing is scoreless, the more nervous I get.

  105. 105.

    burnspbesq

    @Raven:

    Really? Bama’s secondary can’t cover Woods or Lee, and its front seven can’t get consistent pressure on Barkley against a line that has three future first round draft picks. It’ll be 60-50, because Bama will be able to run on USC’s undersized outside linebackers, but USC will make just enough stops to win.

  107. 107.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @eemom: True that it’s infinitely better than OccupyDougJ’s choices. Or did he forget to sign in as a troll for that comment?

  110. 110.

    Anoniminous

    @General Stuck:

    Don’t bitch, we need the moisture.

    Meanwhile here is a Chinese Communist Youth Song to cheer you up.

    (I’ve noticed Chinese Communist Youth songs have been, somehow, overlooked in previous Open Threads and it is high time that lack was filled.)

  111. 111.

    burnspbesq

    Anyone here subscribe to MOG? If yes, how good is it as a music-discovery tool (as opposed to feeding you what you already know you like)?

  116. 116.

    Raven

    Hey, anybody have any experience with LED xmas lights? I bought one roll for big bucks and it’s not nearly enough. Before I buy more I need to know if they burn as often as the old style?

  121. 121.

    eemom

    @Steeplejack:

    no, not bullshit at all. That subconscious shit is real, and actually quite interesting. Harrison of all people had no reason to steal anything.

  141. 141.

    Raven

    @Nerull: I guess I wasn’t sure if “burning out” is what traditional xmas lights do that make random sections of lights on a long string go out.

  144. 144.

    The Dangerman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    How they treat Romney, I imagine, would be a pretty good barometer of where the national party stands on Romney v Gingrich.

    Well, after waiting for Romney at the end, there was no skewering; looking back at Newt, who started the program, and his treatment, well, they may have been tougher on him than Romney. Certainly, from my view from the cheap seats, Romney got a bit of a pass in this one.

    Also, since it’s Championship Saturday, for those wondering about the mindset of UCLA athletics, this crossed my path this evening:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjsLuLG2gXo

  145. 145.

    Steeplejack

    @Raven:

    It sounds like Jake Holmes has more of a case than the Chiffons. There’s (apparently) a direct connection between Holmes and Jimmy Page, which wasn’t argued in the Harrison case.

    Is this your friend? How did the suit turn out?

  148. 148.

    Punchy

    Why can my kid be completely bulletproof in a noisy restaurant, sleeping soundly through myriad noises, smells, and jostles, but upon arriving home to peace and quiet, she explodes in fits of tears and sobs?

  151. 151.

    J. Michael Neal

    Shit. North Dakota gets a lucky bounce that prevents the tying goal from going in by inches and then put it into an empty net from 190 feet. Sometimes you’re snakebit.

  152. 152.

    Suffern ACE

    @The Dangerman: Yeah, they are AGs and three of the candidates (Newt and Perry) have made it very clear that they don’t respect the court system. I think it was Perry who basically said he’d fire judges that disagreed with him and try to limit their terms (har har har) and Newt says he is going to defund the 9th circuit (har har har). They may be conservative AGs, but they aren’t going to really be enthused about backing candidates who want to mess around with the authority of the courts as an independent and co-equal branch.

  162. 162.

    eemom

    also, Hotel California, mocked as it is, is still a pretty good tune. After all, our very own Cole saw fit to make “you can check out any time you like” one of the taglines.

    Come to think of it — where IS Cole?

  163. 163.

    Steeplejack

    @burnspbesq:

    I love Bruce Hornsby, but Henley’s voice is perfect for that song.

    My Hornsby needs are slaked by “The Way It Is.” An obvious choice, but sometimes obvious is good. And it has some “We are the 99%” resonance.

    “New York Minute” is a great song.

  169. 169.

    Corner Stone

    @Punchy: Wait until they are 5 and start solving for X and you have no idea why, or what the fuck is going on. That is way more disturbing.

  175. 175.

    Corner Stone

    @Raven: Talk about boring. I would’ve liked Oregon or OK St. vs. LSU.
    Who the hell wants to see another 12 – 9 Championship game?

  179. 179.

    Nerull

    That hit on the punter has got to be the dumbest penalty I’ve seen in ages. What were they thinking? They might have won without that mistake.

  180. 180.

    Capn America

    Can somebody explain to me why Cash had a song called “Ship Those N***ers back to Africa”? Was it tongue in cheek like Okie from Muskogee, did he mean it, or did he sing it because somebody else wrote it for him and he had no choice?

  181. 181.

    RadioOne

    I don’t think Merle Haggard ever intended “Okie from Muskogee” to be ironic. But I also don’t think he ever anticipated the culture wars and how they would affect the political landscape in the United States.

    It’s still one of the great country songs of the 60’s.

  184. 184.

    Lojasmo

    @Jebediah:

    I would have brought one for the walk. Of course, depending on your state, it could spell trouble. Here in MN simple possession is a petty misdemeanor.

  185. 185.

    arclite

    @DougJ:

    “Welfare Cadillac” is, well, as you can guess, strapping young bucks buying caddies on Uncle Sam’s dime.

    I don’t know why, but any sentence with “strapping young bucks” in it cracks me up.

  186. 186.

    Jebediah

    @Lojasmo:
    I’m in So Cal… I think it is just a ticket now. I did bring one for the walk home, but chickened out on lighting it up – it wasn’t late enough, too many people out and about. And I didn’t really need one for the walk there – even with two detours on the way, I was still very lit up when I got there. The show was pretty great.

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