Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Come on, man.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Their freedom requires your slavery.

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

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

You are here: Home / Absent Friends / Friday Morning Open Thread: Queen Aretha Will Never Die

Friday Morning Open Thread: Queen Aretha Will Never Die

by | 160 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

She was a religious woman, and her faith was strong in an afterlife where she could forever share her gifts. We will surely miss her, though!

The lyrics of The House That Jack Built were problematic even in 1968, but it was always one of my favorites. Something about Ms. Franklin’s voice acknowledging, in the mirror-image of a contemporaneous hit, that even when you fought righteously to get what you needed, it might not be everything you wanted…
 

… For 17 years, I wrote Aretha dozens of postcards and letters, one every six months, promoting myself as the right collaborator for her memoirs. After working with Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Etta James, I asked each of them to put in a good word for me. When I ghosted Jerry Wexler’s memoirs, I asked him to do the same. They all complied, yet Aretha stayed silent. I befriended her brother Clarence, her sister-in-law Earline, her sisters Erma and Carolyn and her first cousin Brenda. Although I researched Aretha’s life thoroughly, my aim wasn’t a biography, but to work with Aretha herself. I wanted to be her ghost. Of all the great voices, hers was the one I yearned to channel.

And then it happened. Before going to Detroit to research a Motown project, I sent Aretha a postcard — probably my two hundredth — saying I’d love to see her. When she called me at my hotel, I nearly lost it. But I held on, spoke to her for over an hour and convinced her that I was her literary man. We went to work on her book.

Those close to her said she’d never let down her guard. But that didn’t faze me. I’d win over her trust and charm the truth out of her. I didn’t. I found what we wrote — From These Roots (1999) — shallow and void of introspection. During the process, Aretha and I remained civil to another, but she clearly rejected my approach and fashioned the book according to her fantasy of an idyllic life. That was her right. We’re all free to mythologize ourselves any way we please…

Just as she avoided detailing her private struggles, she refused to document her heroic health battle. She stayed firm; she stayed positive; one day she would be healed completely; one day she would open a fashion boutique and a downtown Detroit nightclub; one day she would produce her biopic, telling her story according to her own lights; one day she would conquer her fear of flying and, once again, take Paris by storm.

Her reign would never end. The power of her voice would never diminish. The pure joy of her artistry would last forever.

And it will.

 


 

Zack Stanton, in Politico — “When Aretha Franklin Rocked the National Anthem”:

Five decades ago this month—before “Chicago 1968” became shorthand for mayhem and riots, days ahead of Sen. Abe Ribicoff’s convention-stage denunciation of the police department’s “Gestapo tactics,” and minutes ahead of Mayor Richard J. Daley’s “welcome” speech threatening “law and order in Chicago”—Aretha Franklin opened the Democratic National Convention with a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” that gave birth to days of outrage among older, white traditionalists upset that the 26-year-old black Detroiter hadn’t stuck to what they thought the script of a national anthem performance should be.

“When the Democratic party selected Aretha Franklin to sing … it apparently was not aware that a ‘soul’ version of the anthem is considered bad taste,” wrote the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Paul Jones. “The appearance of Miss Franklin stirred more controversy than even the seating of the [segregated] Georgia delegations.” “Musically, the generation gap was never so wide,” said New York Times critic Jack Gould.

True, Miss Franklin was singing behind the beat of the full military-style band playing the anthem in accompaniment, but this, her manager explained, was not a stylistic choice so much as an unintentional one—they were at one end of the arena and she was on the other, performing without the benefit of an in-ear monitor to hear them…

Today, we take for granted that pop artists can express their political views and for the most part, nobody really bats an eye. That wasn’t always the case, especially for performers of color.

Aretha Franklin was part of the reason that changed…

 


 
via beloved commentor LAMH–

Reader Interactions

160Comments

  1. 1.

    raven

    I’m not all into “this was the real version stuff” but I never knew this.

    Intended by lyricist Hal David to convey a woman’s concern for her man who’s serving in the Vietnam War, “I Say a Little Prayer” was recorded by Dionne Warwick in a 9 April 1966 session. Although Bacharach’s recordings with Warwick typically took no more than three takes (often only taking one), Bacharach did ten takes on “I Say a Little Prayer” and still disliked the completed track, feeling it rushed.

  2. 2.

    raven

    “I Say a Little Prayer” also returned to the Pop R&B Top Ten in the fall of 1968 via a recording by Aretha Franklin taken from her 1968 album Aretha Now. Franklin and background vocalists The Sweet Inspirations were singing the song for fun while rehearsing the songs intended for the album when the viability of their recording “I Say a Little Prayer” became apparent,[4] significantly re-invented from the format of the Dionne Warwick original via the prominence of Clayton Ivey’s piano work. Similar to the history of Warwick’s double-sided hit, the Aretha Franklin version was intended the B-side of the July 1968 single release “The House that Jack Built” but began to accrue its own airplay that August. In October 1968 “I Say a Little Prayer” reached number ten on the Hot 100 and number three on the R&B singles chart.[

  3. 3.

    Pogonip

    ?? I don’t get it. What is “ problematic” about “The House That Jack Built”? The song seems to me to tell a straightforward story. Could someone please explain?

  11. 11.

    JGabriel

    raven:

    They called off the stupid fucking military parade.

    Makes me wonder if the Pentagon thinks Trump is going down sooner rather than later …

  12. 12.

    Brachiator

    @raven: I didn’t know they had called off the parade. This is really good news.

    And although it has not been observed as much here in the US, Europe has had many events marking the last year of World War 1, and leading up to this.

    The parade was scheduled for the day before the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War. French President Emmanuel Macron is holding a gathering of world leaders in Paris on November 11 to celebrate the anniversary.

  14. 14.

    Schlemazel

    I am actually glad to read the bit from the biographer. They replayed Fresh Air’s 1991 interview with her last night and I found it flat and dull. Her answers we short and not illuminating at all. The overall impression, to me, was of someone who felt they were too important to be do the interview. Now knowing that she was that guarded I can believe that was the issue with the talk.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    What an anodyne headline.

    A New Film Compares Democrats to Nazis and Trump to Lincoln. At This Screening, It Was a Hit.

    I’ll let the reader guess which nonenemy of the American people this is from.

  18. 18.

    Aleta

    Walter Chaw @mangiotto

    Trump’s proposed military parade, if it costs $90m, could fix Flint’s water crisis almost twice. Money is a progressive illness. I have never known a rich person who did not want to be richer. It’s disgusting. Shame.

    They were worried about the criticism of conservatives pre-election ?
    Campaign donors were saying “He’s an idiot. Stop calling.” ?
    On 2nd thought they realized why not privatize the parade and put Jared in charge?

  19. 19.

    Aleta

    @Aleta:
    They’d jacked up the hotel prices for the weekend sky high but bookings were way down, puncturing a primary purpose? Even his ego listens to his money lust business acumen.

  20. 20.

    OzarkHillbilly

    It was some time after 8pm when Angela Smith’s teenage daughter contacted her with an urgent request.

    Bria, 17, wanted to leave home the next morning to join a weeks-long national bus tour for gun violence prevention. The bus, filled with student survivors of the school shooting six months ago in Parkland, Florida, was leaving Milwaukee very early the next morning. Could she go?

    “We don’t know those people!” was Smith’s first reaction, concerned at how much the fury and the venom of America’s gun debate might tear at her youngest child’s spirit. She was also worried whether Bria would be safe if she traveled with the Parkland activists, who had become the most revered and reviled group of teenagers in America.

    But Bria had also grown up in inner-city Milwaukee, the child of two black pastors. Their neighborhood had its challenges, but, her mother said: “This is our world. We know this. She had not seen the true dark ugly of our nation. She had not been in, I’ll be honest, white America, in the countryside of it, or where it’s pretty much 99.9% white.”

    She said: “Our fear was that she would encounter racism in ways that she’s never had to before.”

    Bria, like many young black activists, had originally found some of the reaction to the Parkland shooting frustrating, even hurtful. There had been an outpouring of nationwide support for the wealthy suburban students dealing with the trauma of gun violence. After some of the students began organizing, Oprah and George Clooney had written $500,000 checks to support their new movement. These celebrities had not rushed to write a check to support Black Lives Matter, or to support the the generations of black and brown Americans who had organized against gun violence in their communities.

    “As a person of color, you feel like your voice is always overlooked,” Bria said. “Why don’t they care about us in inner cities, that deal with everyday gun violence?”

    Bria said: “[It was] like we couldn’t be a part of that conversation.”

    A longish read, but worth it

  25. 25.

    Amir Khalid

    @Lapassionara:
    The US should definitely be invited to the centenary of the WWI armistice, because it did play a role in that war. There would be an international incident if it weren’t. Sadly, that means inviting the POTUS in office, Donald Jackass Trump, which can’t be helped.

  26. 26.

    Paul T

    “Though classic rock draws its inspiration and most of its heroes from the ’60s, it is, of course, a construction of the ’70s. It was invented by prepunk/predisco radio programmers who knew that before they could totally commodify ’60s culture they’d have to rework it–that is, selectively distort it till it threatened no one. Three crucial elements got shortchanged in the process: black people, politics, and Pop-with-a-capital-P, Pop in the Andy Warhol sense. Not that rock’s chronic inability to come to terms with any of the three didn’t make the betrayals easier. Even when Motown and Stax-Volt were getting respect, the soul artist was an exoticized Other, and in the wake of Black Power and James Brown’s “Mother Popcorn,” any African-American who didn’t fly his or her freak flag high got frozen out of “progressive” radio.”

    Robert Christgau on why the “classic rock” stations we all listened to stopped playing Aretha when the format was invented. And eliminated from the playlist every black person not named Jimi and most women. I was shocked to hear the “classic rock” stations on Sirius XM playing her music yesterday, since they never had before.

  27. 27.

    Skepticat

    Interesting that the king (Elvis) and the queen (Aretha) died on the same day of the year four decades apart.

  28. 28.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Amir Khalid: They don’t have to invite trump to represent the US (he is incapable of representing anyone other than himself anyway), they could just invite all the other living US presidents. That would be OK with me.

  30. 30.

    lamh36

    Good morning!

    Gospel R&B, Soul Pop…and Jazz Standards! Aretha could sing it all!!

    Etta James once recalled listening to Franklin’s version of Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael’s standard “Skylark.” In the second verse, Franklin jumps an octave. “I had to scratch my head and ask myself, How the fuck did that bitch do that? I remember running into Sarah Vaughan, who always intimidated me. Sarah said, ‘Have you heard of this Aretha Franklin girl?’ I said, ‘You heard her do ‘Skylark,’ didn’t you?’ Sarah said, ‘Yes, I did, and I’m never singing that song again.’ ”

    “Skylark,” from “Laughing on the Outside,” in 1963.

    Aretha Franklin-Skylark youtu.be/jHYDafTrpMU via @YouTube

    Here’s the entire article…and YES you can hear that octave jump!!

    Aretha Franklin: A Legacy in Music
    David Remnick
    https://www.newyorker.com/culture/postscript/aretha-franklin-a-legacy-in-music

  31. 31.

    TS (the original)

    @Amir Khalid: It is to be hoped the GOP will have just suffered a major election defeat – and the rest of the world will be well aware of this fact.

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Paul T: the answer to the question, “Why don’t you listen to classic rock, Tom?” All the bad rock that never should have been committed to vinyl in the first place played ad nauseum.

  34. 34.

    Platonailedit

    Is the 3rd rate US msm even playing up the unprecedented revolt by the ex-natsec chiefs and ex military chiefs? Or are they still obsessed with the thug’s day to day doings or worse, giving him a pass?

  35. 35.

    Platonailedit

    Hundreds of Google employees have written to the company to protest against plans to launch a “censored search engine” in China.

    They said the project raised “urgent moral and ethical questions” and urged the firm to be more transparent.

    “Currently we do not have the information required to make ethically-informed decisions about our work,” they added.

    Google, which has never spoken publicly about the plans, declined to comment.

    In their letter, which was shared with various media organisations, they also argue it would violate the “don’t be evil” clause in Google’s code of conduct.

    “We urgently need more transparency, a seat at the table, and a commitment to clear and open processes: Google employees need to know what we’re building,” the letter said.

    It is not the first time Google employees have spoken out against the company’s decisions.

    In April, thousands of staff criticised its work on a US military programme developing artificial intelligence for drones.

  36. 36.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Platonailedit: Lead story on CNN.com last night, and at the top of my Google News feed, was headlined “Architect of bin Laden raid issues stunning rebuke of Trump.”

  39. 39.

    Betty Cracker

    @Quinerly: It’s all part of the Trump bamboozle, this insistence that someone must produce a tape to prove his guilt. Of course he’s a hateful bigot — we have all the evidence we need. Of course his campaign worked with Russia to swing the election — there’s a ton of evidence already in the public record. Of course he obstructed justice — he confessed to Lester Holt on camera!

    He wants a new standard applied to himself: not guilty of racism unless he’s on tape saying the n-word. Not guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States unless he’s on tape saying “Vlad, run a psy-ops campaign to rig the election in my favor.” Not guilty of obstruction of justice unless he’s on tape saying, “I fired Comey to obstruct justice.”

    Well, fuck that noise. He’s not special. He doesn’t get a customized “burden of proof” model that applies only to him.

  40. 40.

    Mike J

    @rikyrah: Apparently not just postponed now:

    NBCWashington @nbcwashington
    Just In: President Donald Trump says he’s canceled the D.C. military parade he’d pushed for, blaming city politicians for jacking up the price.

  44. 44.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Heh:

    Greetings, pop pickers – and you are cordially welcomed to an exciting new Lost in showbiz series. It is entitled You’re Wetting Your Pants About What Now?, and aims to showcase the pettier preoccupations of the far right/radical right/whatever the free-speech snowflakes are demanding to be called this week. Now, you’d think these guys have a lot of big things to talk about. The clash of civilisations. The White House putsch. The fact you can’t say anything any more, even though they literally just said whatever it was. But it’s amazing how often the leading lights of wingnuttery become obsessed with sensationally trivial things.

    …………………

    But back to You’re Wetting Your Pants About What Now? Guess what this week’s big-wedge issue on the far right is. Is it some notional attack by “antifa” (ie anyone who disagrees with them)? Is it the hundreds of US news organisations opposing Donald Trump’s attacks on the press? No! It’s who might or might not play a pretend person in a movie. James Bond, to be precise, which in its current iteration is essentially a franchise about a man who has to have sex with as many beautiful women as he can in the world’s leading spa hotels. It’s like the Condé Nast Traveller version of Pokémon Go. But sexy, and with GCHQ top notes. And when the actor gets interviewed about it afterwards, they have to come off like the job’s slightly more gruelling than the Shackleton expedition.

    Anyway, news that Idris Elba is back in favour for the role is turning out to be one of the major plotlines in the twatosphere this week. Not only has Katie Hopkins made a video about it – more on that later – but American white supremacist Richard Spencer has devoted a lengthy and thundering tweetstorm (tweetsturm?) to it.

  46. 46.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Aretha, the Queen of shade:

    Pressed by the Wall Street Journal to give a lightning round of opinions on her successors, Franklin called Adele and Alicia Keys various iterations of “good” and “young.” And how about Swift? A straight-faced Franklin could only muster these words: “Great gowns, beautiful gowns.”

  47. 47.

    Chyron HR

    @chris:

    Shitgibbon tweets about the parade and blames local politicians for the… postponement.

    Not sure if lying or just stupid.

    Attachment: squintingfuturamaman.jpg

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    Good morning, jackals.

    Sadder at the loss of Aretha today than yesterday, because I really did not know much about her at all, other than her hits that got radio play and her public self. What a remarkable woman.

  49. 49.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Agreed but there was never any guarantee that would work forever and IMO it works less and less as time goes on.

    We won’t need a single shocking incident on tape – there are thousands of smaller ones. The cumulative weight is starting to bury him. While it is true that it’s hard to attack him on these different areas and incidents it is also true that it’s harder for him to defend as the number and scope of the scandals grow. More and more it isn’t “Trump Policy” that people object to- it’s the person. The whole package. He can’t change what he is and that’s what’s being defined.

    Hires this bad don’t get better, they only get worse. He’s worse than they day he took office and it isn’t turning around, nor will it. It just isn’t in him to be better.

  50. 50.

    pka

    @Pogonip: I didn’t know HTJB was problematic and don’t think I have ever found wiki entries useful either. Political refs are often generational.

  53. 53.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Today’s nominee for Stupidest White Person in the World: Tucker Carlson.

    “I’m totally opposed to illegal immigration. I think our legal immigration should be lower because the country is getting too volatile. Those are my sincere views,” Carlson said. “Should I be allowed to eat Mexican food?”

    Acevedo said that cultures should share and that Mexicans should share their food and culture with Americans.

    “What do you mean, ‘their food?’ It’s American food! It’s American food!” Carlson said. “What do you think, you own tacos now, or something?” I feel like [I own them] they’re an American food and I’m going to keep eating them even though I agree with Jeff Sessions.”

    Acevedo was stunned and said again that we should all celebrate each other’s cultures.

    “What do you mean each other’s cultures? It’s an American food, it’s an American food—you’re not going to appropriate my culture,” Carlson said. “I’m from San Diego, man. Those are my tacos. Mine!”

  54. 54.

    The Midnight Lurker

    Yesterday, after the sticker shock of the orange menace’s massive mid-term loss parade, a lot of people mobilized, especially veteran’s groups. The resulting backlash was something to behold. Congratulations to everyone who screamed at the top of their voice. We actually were heard.
    Take a deep breath, Juicers, because I want you to start screaming about Kavanaugh, because he’s going to wind up costing us a lot more than 92 million.
    In a thread-related thought, FOX News put up a very unflattering recent photo of Ms. Franklin (looks like it was taken at a red carpet thing). Then, they used a photo of a young Patti LaBelle as a young Aretha Franklin. This is NOT a ‘simple mistake’! It is deliberately cruel! These people make me sick.
    How can anyone hate Aretha Franklin?

  55. 55.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Manu Raju @ mkraju
    Ryan’s super PAC quietly drops nearly $10M in attack ads on Dems in August, opting not to wait til after Labor Day and trying to force Ds to spend money early. The group has already raised $100M for cycle as its majority is increasingly at risk. The latest

    Matthew Yglesias
    Billionaires really really like the current governing regime and want it to continue.

    Near Tanden
    Friends, if a 100,000 of us give a $100 or a million give $10 to Congressional candidates- we can match this superpac funded by a bunch of billionaires who got a tax cut we have to pay for. I’m giving today to AmyMcGrathKY Please share this tweet, give today. Let’s do this.

  56. 56.

    chris

    @chris: Shade.

    Yup, I’m Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, the local politician who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad). https://t.co/vqC3d8FLqx— MurielBowser (@MurielBowser) 17 August 2018

  57. 57.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @OzarkHillbilly: It’s an American food, it’s an American food—you’re not going to appropriate my culture,” Carlson said. “I’m from San Diego, man

    Birdseye frozen green beans

    ETA: or is it Swanson? Frozen Swiss Steak TeeVee Dinners? with scalloped potatoes and peach cobbler. All in their own foil slot. I think that’s the cuisine of Tucker’s people.

  58. 58.

    Platonailedit

    @Kay:

    pundtwits’ prediction that he will ‘grow into the presidency’ did not happen and will never happen. The thug only diminished himself more and more and thereby diminished the post of presidency more and more. It will take years to clean up after this thug.

  59. 59.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    In my job I’m always amazed at how clearly and thoroughly I have to SHOW things. “Can’t you SEE this? LOOK at this!”

    But people have to be shown. And boy is he showing. His ass is hanging out. Every day in ways large and small he shows us who he is and it ain’t pretty. His supporters are right now clinging to the notion that there is some private, better, “inner” Trump that he can and will call forth, but there isn’t. They have to invent a special, secret Trump that only they see.

  61. 61.

    The Midnight Lurker

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The GOP is spending money on attack ads like drunken sailors down here in Texas, especially in the O’Roarke/Cruz race. Nothing we can do about it except spend money. They’ve got the downward trajectory and we’ve got the upwards. Can’t let them change that.

  64. 64.

    Kay

    @Platonailedit:

    But pundits stopped saying that eventually and the same will be true of the vast majority of the public, eventually.

    Not because of some “gamechanger” but because of something much more persuasive and solid- the cumulative daily weight of the evidence. When it becomes clear it will be ATTRIBUTED to a gamechanger but that’s looking at the effect and then plugging in the cause.

  65. 65.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay: The only thing that they see, and it’s all they care about, is that he pisses off the Libs.

  68. 68.

    MomSense

    Hey jackals, I’ve decided to start a business with a good friend. It’s kind of fun because we will take cast away fabrics (clothing, sheets, towels, etc.) that are not in good enough shape to wear again or donate to a place like Goodwill and turn them into some really cool things. I’ve come up with a clever and surprising name and a business idea that would actually do some good in the world. I know nothing about doing a business plan but fortunately the cost of starting is less than $50 – not including our time.

    I figure if I’m going to be awake with trumpsomnia, I might as well do something creative with that time. We’ve got to make a bunch of product before we can do much else.

    Anyway, wish me luck or a jackal style fuck you.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    @MomSense: That’s so great. Do we get to know what kind of cool things you will be making, or is that top secret until you make everything official?

  76. 76.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @MomSense: Anyway, wish me luck or a jackal style fuck you.

    Good fucking luck!

    Or good luck fucking. Whom am I to judge?

  80. 80.

    Roger Moore

    @Betty Cracker:

    It’s all part of the Trump bamboozle, this insistence that someone must produce a tape to prove his guilt.

    The real problem is that the media is more than happy to go along. In their world, Trump never lies. He makes untrue statements, asserts things without evidence, and reasserts previously debunked claims. He never says anything racist; he’s always using racially charged language or being racially insensitive. The media is bending over backward to give him the benefit of the doubt in a way I’ve never seen them do for any other politician, and, FSM willing, they will never do for any other politician again.

  83. 83.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Roger Moore: I believe it was Holder who said we are a nation of cowards when it comes to discussing race, and this may apply to our political media more than any other sector. We mustn’t play the race card! So birtherism is “racially tinged”, and “foodstamp president” may be racially charged, and Joe Wilson yelling out “You lie!” in the middle of the fucking SOTU is perceived by some to be perhaps racially motivated. Defining racism down to using That Word is the ultimate example of what Jamelle Bouie (again, I believe) said about too many whites and racism: It’s bad manners, but that’s all it is. And trump has benefitted from that, but he didn’t invent it.

    ETA: and on birtherism: There’s a talking point among NeverTrump Rs to say liberals created trump by playing the race card against that upstanding and totally not-racist Willard Romney, who was never asked to show his birth certificate ha ha ha! Besides that forgotten (by Chuck Todd) moment, he brought trump in to make robocalls for WWC neighborhoods in PA and MI, not in spite of birtherism, but because of it

  86. 86.

    gene108

    @The Midnight Lurker:

    They started doing this in my Congressional race, NJ-3. They throwing basically outright lies against Andy Kim , because he is now tied in the polls with incumbent Tom MacArthur.

    It is the tried and true Republican tactic of go negative early and define your opponent.

    MacArthur is independently wealthy. He can pour millions of his own money into the race, if push came to shove.

    Andy needs to be careful about how he spends his money. He can’t outspend MacArthur and Republicans PACs.

  87. 87.

    MomSense

    @WaterGirl:

    It’s secret for now because I want to secure the name – which I think is wicked clever and ties into the donation part of the business idea.

  88. 88.

    Quinerly

    @Juju: probably a little over a week. Out of here and back in St. Louis before Labor Day weekend. Hope you and your family have been well.

  89. 89.

    gene108

    @MomSense:

    donation part of the business idea.

    If you need worn out clothes, let me know. I tend to wear clothes till they approach thread bare.

  91. 91.

    Spanky

    @MomSense: Good luck and fuck you too!

    I’m thinking of starting a business post-retirement, and I too have no idea how to go about it. Lead on!

  92. 92.

    Lapassionara

    @OzarkHillbilly: And this buffoon gets paid to make these stupid statements.

    I wish she had said, “you know, you are right. San Diego used to be part of Mexico, so our culture really is your culture.”

  94. 94.

    debbie

    @Kay:
    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Yes, they’re all about the joy in pissing others off (like the glee Rand Paul must have felt when his leaves blew into his neighbor’s yard). The only thing that will change Trump supporters’ minds is when the economic pain of his policies sets in.

    I am appalled at his statement that the military should decline a raise to prove they’re patriots. When the hell has Trump ever declined anything for the good of everyone else?

  97. 97.

    debbie

    @MomSense:

    I love it! Someone around here made mittens out of bits of cast-off sweaters (complete with buttons) a while back and they were very cool. Best of luck!

  98. 98.

    Kay

    MurielBowser
    @MurielBowser
    Follow Follow @MurielBowser
    More MurielBowser Retweeted Donald J. Trump
    Yup, I’m Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, the local politician who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad).

    Wonderful response. I know it isn’t as gratifying as yelling at him but this is probably effective. He hates to be made fun of.

    It was true for the Bushies too. What pissed them off more than anything else was attacking their competence. Everyone on the Right tell themselves they’re super duper managers. They cannot bear to be ridiculed on that.

  99. 99.

    MomSense

    @gene108:

    Oooh, cool. I’m not sure how to collect things from far distances yet. That’s the idea, though. The average person throws away 70 pounds of clothing and textiles every year – 1/5 of our solid waste in this country. Then you have all the resources and pollution that go along with manufacturing all of the disposable textiles.

  100. 100.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @debbie:

    The only thing that will change Trump supporters’ minds is when the economic pain of his policies sets in.

    Even then only if it hurts them as much or more than black and brown people.

  103. 103.

    Aleta

    We’re getting a ready made shed delivered today. It’s nice looking, made by an Amish company and all wood. Been waiting for delivery because part of the trip is by boat, and soon after we bought the shed the boat was replaced by one that is 6″ too narrow. After 3 months we were about to call it off, but got a call yesterday that they’d worked out a way and it is coming today. We need this shed, and also my partner is in love with it because it had been painted a very nice dusty blue, his favorite color. Once he is set on something all caution (as to avoiding excess charges or where is the best place for it (electricity, access, the land) is thrown to the wind if it means a delay. Meanwhile I’m slow to figure these things out (inexperienced) but have enough experience by now to know that it costs me later if I don’t try.

    Ah well, just as I am writing this my partner came home to say it unexpectedly is not coming after all. For some reason we don’t know yet the measurements were inaccurate. Maybe the packing, or some overhang that wasn’t taken into account by someone? Don’t know yet. Oh well.

  106. 106.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Homeland Security @ DHSgov
    If something doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not. “If You See Something, Say Something®” encourages you to stand up and #ProtectYourEveryDay by reporting suspicious activity to local authorities. #WhyISeeSay

    If something doesn’t feel right…

    Jeepers, wait till Kirstjen hears about the trump tower meeting, “Russia, if you’re listening…..”, “We LOOOOVE Wikileaks!”, the hidden tax returns, the appearance of money-laundering, the two hour unsupervised meeting with a former KGB agent….

  109. 109.

    rikyrah

    I wasn’t really ready to discuss this yesterday. But, let’s think about if it’s true.
    Hell what if it’s only 100.
    What if it’s only 50.

    She was literally the modern version of the Spook Who Sat By The Door

    They didn’t take her seriously. So, she used that to make herself invisible, while being visible. That’s the height of Black Professional Sensibilities.

    The Hill (@thehill) Tweeted:
    JUST IN: Omarosa believed to have as many as 200 tapes: report https://t.co/LTM8EKvXKI https://t.co/fak4nvEXkS https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1030276292288151552?s=17

  112. 112.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @gene108: Reminds me of the venerable Adlai Stevenson quote: “I will make a bargain with the Republicans. If they will stop telling lies about Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.” Only in this day&age that’s a bad bargain. Replace the second “stop” with “keep” & I’m on board.

  115. 115.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    Lack of self-awareness. Complete and total lack. The worst. What’s Trump’s support among the military going to be after this? The military, being an All-Volunteer Force, is very self-selecting for wingnut Republicans.

  118. 118.

    debbie

    @japa21:

    Apparently, he said it “jokingly” when he announced the pay raise. One thing I know is that the man doesn’t make a joke without some sort of demeaning element to it. I can’t imagine he’d turn down any sort of benefit himself.

    Snopes.com

  121. 121.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @The Midnight Lurker:

    Nothing we can do about it except spend money.

    Bullshit. Money is no substitute for personal contact. OUTWORK THEM. Spend just enough money to maintain a presence in the media. Get your voters registered & to the polls in November.

    1978. One-term member of the House of Delegates (lower house of the MD state legislature) running in the primary to replace the retiring State Senator. Next to no $$$. I think I walked the entire district 3 times knocking on doors & distributing leaflets – alongsice our candidate. Meanwhile the big cash was with our main opponent, the local Democratic organization’s hand-picked successor, Majority Leader of the same HoD – who couldn’t be bothered to hit the pavement. Guess what? We crushed the golden boy – in fact came within a couple of percentage points of an absolute majority in a 3-man race. Words to campaign by!

  122. 122.

    Roger Moore

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    I also think racism is deeply wrapped up with our ideas of class. There seems to be a deeply embedded idea that racism is predominantly a disease of the poor and lower class. We’re much more willing to consider racism as an explanation for Tea Partiers displaying posters of Obama dressed as a witch doctor than we are for Donald Trump’s birtherism.

    And this naturally extends to institutions as well as individuals. When the media makes excuses for Trump’s racism, we tend to assume it’s because they have some deeper, convoluted motive for wanting to see Republicans in charge. It couldn’t possibly be because major media figures are a bunch of bigots who agree with Trump on immigration. When wealthy Republican donors are happy to support Trumpism, we assume it’s because they’re after tax breaks. We rarely consider that maybe the Koch Brothers, the Mercers, Sheldon Adelson, et. al. are just as bigoted as Trump is and are just as happy as WWC voters to see him give up on dog whistles and be an out and proud racist. It’s a peculiar blind spot.

  125. 125.

    rikyrah

    @debbie:
    Come on, now.
    That story never made any sense.
    There is a poster here, and I agree with them- that azz whooping was way too personal to be about landscaping.
    Uh uh??

  127. 127.

    Aleta

    @debbie: we are proudly giving our troops the biggest pay increase in a decade. And I know you don’t want it because you’re very patriotic. You’ll say, just save the money. We’re going to pay down debt.

    He’s done this before. I hate that he acts like (and actually believes) it’s his money. And that he dangles it in front of them like a jokey sadist when it’s something they badly need, especially if they’re away from families stressed by coping with bills and solo child care, and in any case is probably already eaten up by increased cost of living, past bills and credit card fees.

    He and his publicity team say it’s a joke to tease about money. It’s not a joke to people who worry about debt.

  131. 131.

    The Midnight Lurker

    @Uncle Cosmo: I hear you. But the simple fact is that where I am we just don’t have the manpower. Now that school is back, volunteers may become more plentiful, but if we wait until that happens, we might loose our very narrow advantage.
    The republicans are turbo charging their attack ads. They are spreading lies and anger faster than we can get out the truth. Hanging onto the money until the eleventh hour might not be the best strategy at this point.
    I too was around in 78′. Trust me on this – it’s waaaay different now. I don’t care how positive people are on websites (and that’s great – be positive) about our numbers – it’s just still too Goddamn close. And here in Texas, on the ground, it’s down to street fighting. Block by block. House by house.
    Speaking of which — gotta go fight the fight.
    Guys, whatever you’re doing – do more! We can still lose this thing.
    And call your reps and tell them that you want Kavanaugh under a microscope now!
    Peace.

  138. 138.

    germy

    Wait. Clive’s in charge of Aretha’s tribute? Well. Hope y’all enjoy Ed Sheeran and Alicia Keys’ pitchy cover of “Respect.”
    — Jamie is a very clean, thoroughbred white girl. (@thewayoftheid) August 16, 2018

  139. 139.

    Platonailedit

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The best comment there.

    We are both destroyed a little and yet saved every single day by the total incompetency of this administration and everyone that surrounds it.

  140. 140.

    jonas

    @OzarkHillbilly: Gustavo Arellano’s great book on the history of Mexican food in the US opens with a great story of him debating the racist asshole GOP congressman Tom Tancredo on immigration and before the debate, the sponsor invites them all out for Mexican food, which Tancredo is thrilled about because it’s his “favorite.”

    I assume any taco ordered by Carlson will in the future have a certain percentage of saliva and who knows what else in it.

  142. 142.

    montanareddog

    @OzarkHillbilly: Ah. You discovered the marvelous Ms Hyde? 3 Grauniad columns a week skewering sports personalities, politicians and z-list showbiz characters. She puts the knife in with great aplomb like our very own Ms Cracker

  145. 145.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Platonailedit: I’ve seen reports that he got in an argument with a group of Vietnam vets, insisting that what was being dropped on VN in Apocalypse Now was Agent Orange, and not napalm. He wouldn’t let it go.

    Who can forget Robert Duvall, with the Ride of the Valkyries blaring, intoning “I love the smell of Agent Orange in the morning!”

  146. 146.

    ellie

    Hi everyone! I wanted to say thank you to everyone who included article links; I love reading them.
    I had the opportunity to donate a pair of mugs and pillowcases from my Etsy shop to the Colorado Beagle Rescue for an online auction that will be going live 8/18-8/25. The link is app.bidcoz.com/coloradobeaglerescue/2018auction#. I just looked through the list and there are a lot of great items, so Bid for the Beagles!

  148. 148.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Swanson? Frozen Swiss Steak TeeVee Dinners? with scalloped potatoes and peach cobbler. All in their own foil slot. I think that’s the cuisine of Tucker’s people.

    Fucker’s stepmother was an heiress of the Swanson frozen foods business, so I’d think they could afford an upgrade to the Hungry Man dinners.

    And the little prick is not “from San Diego” – he lived in La Jolla, land of white privilege and brunch, for a short time as a kid before going to boarding school in Newport, RI. He probably never had a taco before age 40. All bullshit, all the time.

  149. 149.

    Mnemosyne

    @Comrade Colette Collaboratrice:

    I still say that anyone who lived or lives in a city or county with a Spanish name has to STFU FOREVER about how Spanish-speaking people are “taking over.” Dumbass, they were there long before your asshole European ancestors showed up!

  150. 150.

    Miss Bianca

    @rikyrah: Someone – was it lamh? – was speculating about the possibility that Omarosa actually went *undercover* in the Trump White House to collect all the receipts. While I can’t quite buy the idea of Omarosa as an “undercover sister”, I sure *love* the thought of it!

  152. 152.

    J R in WV

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    ETA: or is it Swanson? Frozen Swiss Steak TeeVee Dinners? with scalloped potatoes and peach cobbler. All in their own foil slot. I think that’s the cuisine of Tucker’s people.

    Don’t forget the artificially colored gelatin with shredded vegetables floating in it for a salad, and a differently colored gelatin with canned fruit in it for dessert. Ummm. Not since my aunts made that for summer picnics in the 1950s, state of the art food for the ’50s.

    Never again!

  153. 153.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Mnemosyne:

    Dumbass, they were there long before your asshole European ancestors showed up!

    And speaking their own languages long before the first Spanish-speaking stranger ever showed up.

  154. 154.

    J R in WV

    I just want to say a few things about Aretha Franklin. I grew up with music. My grandma could pick out a new song by ear on her piano, and played rag time songs like the “Maple Leaf Rag”, which I never learned to do. My father started the first FM radio station in the state, and played classical music – in WV. He was also a member of the Community Music association, which brought touring musicians to town every winter season, from the Red Army Chorus through chamber orchestras and pianists.

    Aretha was part of the background music for my whole life, and much of the better part of that music. I’m not much interested in the lives of the stars, who the members of a band I enjoy are, things like that. So when I saw Aretha play the piano at the Kennedy Center for Carole King, and do it so very well, I learned something.

    Over the past couple of weeks I have learned a lot about Ms Franklin, all of it good. I’ve listened to things picked out by critics who believed her music was great and wanted to show us exactly why it was so great. Frequently the recordings aren’t that great… technology at the Fillmore in 1971 was not that good, nor the lighting, nor the camera work in B&W. But the sheer genius shines through.

    Other performers who are famous said things like “I heard her do one of the songs I do – I’ll never sing it again, ever…” because it was amazing, and they could not do what Aretha did with the song. That’s a paraphrase, I couldn’t find that page to quote it. I think it may have been Sarah Vaughn, certainly someone of that caliber.

    She sang that aria filling in for the famous tenor, had done it before, but a different arrangement, in a different key, with a very different set of musicians, listened to a recording i
    n her dressing room twice, said “I can do that” and went out on live TV and nailed it.

    I’ve cried so many times from the beauty of her songs. Music of certain types often enables me to cry with joy. Aretha does that for me. She will live forever in the world of great music. I’m glad she was able to have things that gave her joy, the hats, furs, jewelry, orchestras to accompany her, recording stars to work with, the crowds who loved her.

    Evidently she was very private, but in her music, she bared her soul to her listeners, and it was good. She will live forever in the world of great music. Thank you, Aretha, for your gift to humanity!

  155. 155.

    karen marie

    @chris: But, wait, I thought Trump made America Great Again. If that’s true, why does he have to go to France, of all places, to see a fucking parade?

  156. 156.

    sgrAstar

    @MomSense: hey, MomSense. I started a business with some friends that has been super-successful. Not an mba. The library is your friend- there are tons of books about business plans and starting up. Strongly recommend. Learn that stuff and it’ll save you a lot of grief. When you get to the point that you need to open up lines of credit, you have to speak the banks’ language. I’m very excited for you! Starting your own business is incredibly fun…also exhausting, terrifying, exhilarating. Good luck.

  157. 157.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne: Of course, a lot of the early Spanish speaking people here were also European ancestors, but I think I know what you mean.

  158. 158.

    Elizabelle

    @J R in WV: Lovely post. I am glad there is so much music by Aretha to catch up with!

    She and Billie Holliday are among the immortals.

  159. 159.

    maeve

    @NotMax:

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist

    and peach cobbler

    So old can remember Swanson TV dinners from before they added the dessert slot.

    Ditto – we used to get the fried chicken ones when we had a babysitter over dinnertime. Still remember those mashed potatoes enhanced by that slight taste of aluminum.

  160. 160.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    Let’s just say I doubt that Tucker Carlson is descended from the Californios, much less any native populations that were here before Junipero Serra.

Comments are closed.