Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

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

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

You are here: Home / Music / Music and Postcards – Tonight It’s Elvis!

Music and Postcards – Tonight It’s Elvis!

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Who’s up for some Elvis tonight?   brendancalling put together what looks to be a fun playlist of Elvis to go along with tonight’s postcard thread.  Here’s his playlist:  Balloon Juice Elvis.

We get a bonus Elvis story, too, the length of which might be slipping into Tony Jay territory, though the idiots and assholes in the story are right here in the states!

POSTCARDS / WISCONSIN ELECTION April 4

This time around, postcards are one way we can make a difference.

Addresses are from Voces de la Frontera.  If you want to write postcards, send email to WaterGirl at balloon-juice.com and let us know your nym, which campaign you want to write for and how many addresses you would like to start with.

You can start writing at any time.  Details at the link.

Postcards + Instructions for Wisconsin

Brendan’s Elvis Story

I have no shame about loving Elvis. He’s good rockin’ and was, despite his many flaws and addictions, a pretty decent guy. He always credited Black people with inventing rock-n-roll, publicly saying that Fats Domino was the real King of rock (I’d say it’s Chuck Berry, but I’m not Elvis). 

However, I’m not interested in whatever arguments are to be made about the politics of Elvis (or Elvis’s politics): that’s what the comments section is for. Instead, I’d like to share a personal story: what those of us doing the music thing like to call a Gig From Hell—and yes, it involves Elvis. 

After a few years of living in Nashville, I was finally sort of getting recognized by other musicians as at least a semi-competent colleague. Trading numbers with strangers was just something you did, because who knows when you’d get a good gig, and the callbacks were getting steadier. That’s probably how I got a call from a promoter I’d never met. He needed a bass player to back up an Elvis impersonator. The offer was $300—for me— for two 45-minute sets, plus a per diem, my own hotel room, and transport provided. Leave early on Saturday, get home early on Sunday, about a month to prepare. The catch was that there was no practice scheduled, and the band would have their first (and only) rehearsal during set up at the venue.

I’ve played rockabilly, country, and old rock-n-roll for a long time so I’m pretty familiar with Elvis; even with those red flags, I said yes (what can I say, I needed the money). “They’re consummate pros,” said the promoter, “and as long as you practice the songs at home, everything will go fine.” Later that day, the set list arrived: it was nearly 40 songs. How we were going to cram that many tunes into 90 minutes was a mystery to me, but I got down to work.

I’m pretty familiar with Elvis–oh Brendan, you poor sweet summer child. I soon realized I had perhaps bitten off more than I could chew. Although “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Hound Dog” and other classics were represented in the set, along with a few of his movie songs, the majority of the songs were from Elvis’s Vegas performances: “Hurt”; “Kentucky Rain”; “I Just Can’t Help Believin’”; “My Way”. These are not easy songs where you can just go on autopilot. These are highly arranged numbers, with multiple parts and tricky changes that demand precision. But “in for a penny, in for a pound”, and I like a good challenge. Luckily the promoter had sent an abundance and redundance (is that a word?) of charts: Nashville number system, chord charts, AND sheet music (which I haven’t been able to properly read for years).

Another problem was the timing. I had to spend a week in Canada without practice visiting my kid. When I got back, I was beginning to panic—I was behind the 8-ball and the gig was in 6 days. It’s no exaggeration to say that I barely left my house that week. I worked from home at the time—covering daytime cable TV for Raw Story, but that’s another tale entirely—so the minute I was off one clock, I was on the other, practicing these songs from 4:00 to 6:00 in the afternoon and then again from 8:00-11:00 at night. I practiced to the point where I began to actually LIKE “Kentucky Rain”, especially that brief measure of 3/4 that shows up once in the whole dang song. “The Wonder of You”? That became my JAM—I love that chord progression (the lyrics themselves are insipid). Same with “Hurt”. Say what you will about late-stage Elvis, his band does NOT mess around. Those guys are tighter than—well, I was going to make a reference to Mike Pence’s ass at a gay pride parade, but it just seemed inappropriate. Anyway, the bass lines are AMAZING and the beat is relentless. And speaking of the bass lines, some were so complicated I literally had to retrain myself to read staff notation so I could accurately replicate the more difficult parts [I have to admit I’m damned proud of this.]

By Friday, even though I still needed some of the charts, I was pretty much ready to go. We had received the itinerary earlier in the week, which called for a 5:00 AM van call, due to the six hour trip to the venue. Once there, we would set up immediately, and have our one rehearsal, which would cover everything.

That’s when the drummer called to discuss sharing the driving. 

Now, to be honest, I don’t remember when the arrangement went from “transport provided” to “van provided for you to drive yourselves,” but that had already become fait accompli. Like I said, I should have noted the red flags. Anyway, after making introductions, he quickly offered a proposal.

“Here’s my thinking,” he said. “If we leave at 5:00, by the time we get there we’ll have to get to work right away setting up and we’ll be EXHAUSTED.”

“Instead, I’d like to suggest we leave at 3:00 AM,” he went on. “That way we can crash out at the hotel, take a shower, maybe eat something…”

I wasn’t too thrilled about getting up that early, but it DID make some sense. So I agreed, even though my girlfriend was landing in Nashville at 10:00 pm that night. Thinking that by the time we got home from the airport/unpacked/settled in, I’d be getting maybe 2-3 hours of sleep, I decided just to stay up all night. I remarked to the drummer that I’d been working really hard on the songs, and was excited to play.

“Me too,” he said. “Although I had some difficulty with the charts.”

“Yeah, some of them weren’t in the right key or didn’t match up with the recording,” I agreed. “But I was able to get everything straight.”

“My main problem was I didn’t understand some of the terms,” the drummer said. “Like, what’s a ‘coda’? I had to look that up on Google. Eventually I just gave up.” He sighed. “I figure I’ll just play a beat, and lay out on the hard parts. ‘When in doubt, lay out’, right?” Meanwhile, I was sitting on the other side of the phone wide-eyed and jaw-dropped. He doesn’t know what a coda is? I thought, as I mentally began running through the charts. [A coda, for those of you who aren’t trained musicians, is a concluding section that’s distinct from the rest of the song—a good example is Duane Allman’s guitar theme at the end of Clapton’s “Layla.” It’s not an obscure term by any means. Certainly not to someone the promoter had described as “a consummate pro.”]

“Um… have you checked out some of these songs?” I asked him. “I… I don’t know if laying out will work.”

“Aw, we’ll figure it out, no worries. Anyway, see you at 3:00!”

There was no time to nap. I spent the rest of the day practicing, running to the local big-box store tto pick up a binder and sheet protectors for the charts, obtaining a music stand from a friend, packing. I shot by the airport to get my girl, dropped by the old Prince’s Hot Chicken off of Dickerson Pike for a late night nosh, and headed to the meet up. By this time, I should mention, it was raining.

Outside the house was some guy I didn’t recognize, looking more than a little irritated. I don’t think he ever gave me his name. “Are you the bass player? The van should be here in a minute,” he said. “But I need you to come into my house, because I have some… concerns.” He sounded exactly like the oncologist telling my family my mom wasn’t going to make it.

So I went in, and we sat down. That’s when the unnamed musician—a keyboard/guitar player, if I’m remembering this right— told me that he too was concerned about the drummer, but that the more pressing concern was the van. “The hood doesn’t open and there’s no spare tire,” he said. “And not only that, there are no registration papers. So if something happens… we’re kinda screwed.” By this time it was past 3:00 and said van had not yet arrived. “I’ve been trying to call the promoter all night, but he’s not answering his phone,” he added, scowling.

Just then we heard the van pull into the driveway. I stepped outside, and looked in the back window: there, like a pile of garbage, was a whole mess of equipment. Drum cases, a mixing board, cables, speakers, all in disarray, thrown in there indiscriminately. The drummer kindly pointed out the obvious, that we’d have to pull everything out and reload it to get in the keyboards and my bass equipment. There was no room on the remaining bench seat either, so no one was going to catch a few Z’s en route. And now it was 3:30.

The keyboard/guitar player, meanwhile, had finally reached the promoter and they were arguing intensely about the van. “I don’t want to drive down in this, it’s unacceptable,” I could hear him saying. “What if we get pulled over? What if there’s a breakdown? Yes I know— Yes but— No, I don’t want to —”

I leaned against the van. Looked at my phone: 3:45 AM. Looked at the massive pile of heavy equipment that would have to be removed and repacked, in the rain.

I’d been awake for nearly 24 hours.

The drummer didn’t know what a coda was.

The angry keyboard guy was arguing with the promoter over the unregistered potential deathtrap we were supposed to use for a 12 hour round trip. When we’d been promised a driver.

The rain grew steadier. No rehearsal. No sleep. I thought about the countless hours I’d spent learning these cheesy Vegas showstoppers, re-learning staff notation, and rewriting incorrect charts. All that work.

“Kentucky Rain” began playing maddeningly through my head. Kentucky rain keeps pouring doooooooown/ and up ahead’s another tooooooooown that I’ll go walking through/with the rain in my shoes…

And in fact, I HAD just stepped in a puddle, and now my right foot was soaking wet and cold.

I am not one to back out on a gig, but I had seen enough. Without saying a word, I got in my truck, gave my sleeping girlfriend a quick peck on the cheek and said “to Hell with this, we’re going home.”



And that’s just what we did.

And with that, let’s have some Elvis. Let’s have some cool young Elvis, some movie Elvis, some bloated Vegas Elvis, some bands that influenced Elvis, some cool bands influenced by Elvis, and my favorite Elvis of all—his recently re-mastered Stax recordings. We’ll hear some jump blues from the likes of Wynonie Harris and Roy Brown, get a taste of the original rockers The Treniers, discover some bands like the Cramps, Andrea and Mud, and J.D. McPherson, and of course lots of the poor kid from Tupelo. I made a point in this setlist of duplicating some tunes: for example, I’m not going to play Elvis’s version of “Hound Dog” without playing Big Mama Thornton’s version first—that’s where he got it from, after all, and she deserves her credit. Same with “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” and others. I grouped the “Elvis covers/influenced by Elvis” bands together. I’m in one of those videos (won’t tell you which) but please do check out the Royal Hounds and Andrea and Mud. 

But we’ll start with a little Gillian Welch and David Rawlings before we go for that deep dive. Hope y’all enjoy.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

113Comments

  1. 1.

    Mousebumples

    I’m here and writing and watching some Milwaukee Basketball for inspiration.

    • Now – Marquette vs Xavier (Big East tourney championship)
    • Next – Bucks vs Warriors

    Who else is here?

  5. 5.

    delphinium

    @Mousebumples: Mailed off my first batch of cards yesterday and finished a second batch. Almost finished with third batch tonight. Will be ready for mailing on Monday.

  7. 7.

    Another Scott

    Great story. Being able to tell a great story later is probably the biggest reason people are willing to go through pain like that – up to a point!

    :-)

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  8. 8.

    brendancalling

    @Baud: I didn’t see it. I’m sure it’s pretty OK. Probably got some stuff right, some stuff wrong. Movies, amirite?

  14. 14.

    Mousebumples

    @delphinium: Awesome news!

    @BlueGuitarist: Yay, thanks!

    I haven’t mailed mine yet, but probably making a post office run on Monday. Getting some mailing labels delivered tomorrow, so I can print out the part about going to MYVOTE.WI.GOV, vs needing to write that on 100+ postcards.

    I thought I had some old ones tucked away somewhere, but can’t seem to find them, so… New ones incoming. 😊

  19. 19.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Baud: ​

    There’s a name Austin Butler I’ve been hearing that I never heard before. Apparently he’s the star of the Elvis movie. It may be on the Oscar list.

    It’s called, oddly enough, Elvis.

    Edit: Yes. A quick glance at the Oscar site shows me it’s up for Best Actor and Best Picture. Probably others.

  20. 20.

    brendancalling

    @Baud: I gotta check that out.

    Speaking of hip hop, the history of that genre’s start in the Bronx is dramatized in “The Get Down” on Netflix. It’s got some corny parts, and would be better as a play IMO, but it’s still really good. The kiddo and I are enjoying it a lot.

  22. 22.

    brendancalling

    I’m hoping y’all are enjoying the bands Elvis covered in his early years. He really did play what he grew up on, at least at first.

  23. 23.

    Mousebumples

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Yup. Just in case someone has moved, we’re not addressing them to specific voters. (I’ve gotten postcards for GOTV for the previous homeowner – unsurprisingly, she hasn’t voted in awhile since she moved out of state)

    I’ve been addressing mine to Valued Voter. But similar sentiments are fine too!

  24. 24.

    delphinium

    @brendancalling: There is also a recent PBS series, Fight the Power, that goes thru the history of hip hop. Thought the first couple episodes were very good, the last two were okay.

  31. 31.

    sab

    When I was about 12 my next door neighbor in Florida was 16. She wore the coolest ’60s clothes, skin tight capri pants and short little midriff revealing tops, often with lacy trim. She wanted to be Ann Margaret.

    She ( neighbor) loved Elvis. Now I cannot think of Elvis without thinking of her.

    Sort of a travesty of the guy, but his Colonel set it up

    ETA I thought the neighbor was the coolest girl ever and I hoped to grow up to be just like her. That was when aI was twelve. When I was sixteen  it was what I thinking?

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Are you using the script for the Spanish postcards?  The message came from Voces, and was translated by Voces.

    Spanish

    La Corte Suprema de Wisconsin decide casos que pueden cambiar su vida, pero en esta elección usted decide quién se sienta en la Corte. La justicia es importante para todos, y la jueza Janet Protasiewicz defenderá la justicia para personas como nosotros. Por favor, vote por ella el 4 de Abril o antes.

    For greeting or salutations in Spanish, “esteemed voter” would be “votante estimado” — “esteemed voters” (plural) would be “votantes estimados”

    .

    English translation:

    The Wisconsin Supreme Court decides cases that can change your life, but in this election you decide who sits on the Court. Justice matters for everyone, and Judge Janet Protasiewicz will stand for justice for people like us. Please vote on or before April 4.

  39. 39.

    brendancalling

    @delphinium: my hip hop knowledge is sparse. What I like, I REALLY like. But my knowledge is sparse. Lots of 80s stuff—Public Enemy, NWA, KRS-1, De La Soul.

    I very much like Ice-T’s metal/punk project Body Count. “No Lives Matter” (not to be confused with the douchey right-wing white guy “rap”) is a fucking triumph. That whole album is great.

  41. 41.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Mousebumples:

    @WaterGirl: Yes, I’m using the script WaterGirl sent me in email but there was nothing in the email about salutations. Just went back to the email and confirmed that.

    “Estimado” is typical for a formal letter I think, so do you think that works for both the address and as a salutation on the message?

    Also I’m pretty sure April is not capitalized in Spanish. Not sure about Corte Suprema so I left that. But stuff like that was why I asked if it was written by a native speaker.

  42. 42.

    delphinium

    @WaterGirl: Wanted to get them done since I probably won’t be able to do any next week. Plus, being in NY, wanted to make sure there was enough time to get them mailed out/delivered before early voting started. : )

  45. 45.

    delphinium

    @brendancalling: ​
    Speaking of metal, that Motorhead cover of Blue Suede Shoes was interesting. And saw there were a couple songs from Chris Isaak-got to see him and his band in concert many years ago-phenomenal show.

  47. 47.

    Mousebumples

    @WaterGirl: looks great! Awesome work!

    @BlueGuitarist: I have these too. Janet’s name gets kinda long, especially for the squiggly blank spot, but they’re great cards!

    @delphinium: Getting postcards out before early voting starts is great, but we probably have another 2 weeks to mail before the election, if you find time later this month. Regardless, thanks for your efforts!

  48. 48.

    brendancalling

    Another thing I like about Elvis is how much he loves opera. As a kid he had to have heard Mario Lanza and Enrico Caruso on the radio. It totally shows in so many of his songs. “Now or Never”, for example, is based on the melody to “O Sole Mio.”

  51. 51.

    brendancalling

    @delphinium: Motörhead is one of my favorite bands. Lemmy—hallowed be his name—got to see the Beatles as a boy, was a roadie for Hendrix, and got kicked out of Hawkwind before starting Motörhead. He loved rockabilly and 50s rock and classic country. He wrote good songs, and although they get classified as metal, Lemmy always said they were just a rock n roll band.

  52. 52.

    brendancalling

    Who caught a very young Freddie Fender doing “Jailhouse Rock” in Spanish? Elvis, and rockabilly in general, is HUGE in Mexico.

  56. 56.

    raven

    Elvis was eager to get involved with the White House’s anti-drug campaigns. “I have done an in-depth study of drug abuse and Communist brainwashing techniques and I am right in the middle of the whole thing where I can and will do the most good,” he writes.

    What Elvis really wanted was a special badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs to add to his personal collection of police badges. Jerry Schilling, a close friend of Elvis who joined the visit to Washington, later described the King’s penchant for flashy signals of authority in a conversation with the Nixon Presidential Library: “It was kind of a James Bond thing to him as well, but with a lot of respect for it.”

  58. 58.

    Mousebumples

    @delphinium: I appreciate all the help with turnout, so you’re very welcome! I’m so behind on reading threads, but these threads are way more fun when there are a bunch of us chatting back and forth, so I try to post reminders as time allows.

    Same time on Tuesdays & Saturdays! Though the time change my wreak havoc with kiddo bedtimes next week, so I might be on later than usual…

  63. 63.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: Oh yea, I saw him at the Georgia Theater right after the first Gulf War started and he did “George Buch, Sadam Hooksien. . .you ain’t a nuthin. . .

  66. 66.

    kalakal

    The strangest band I’ve ever seen was Dread Zeppelin – Led Zep songs done Reggae style with, and this was the stroke of genius, an Elvis impersonator on vocals. It gets old pretty fast but it was hilarious, at least to begin with

  67. 67.

    WaterGirl

    With about 2 weeks left to write postcards…

    We have handed out 905 Jodi addresses, and we have only have only 48 “Jodi” addresses left to hand out!  

    Once those are gone, we will start handing out those addresses for postcards to those folks about the Supreme Court.  With a one-line note somewhere reminding them to vote for Jodi, too.

  71. 71.

    BlueGuitarist

    Some years ago someone from Memphis told me about the First Presleyterian Church:

    “the Lord hath a hunk, a hunk of burning love for they that believeth in him”

  76. 76.

    Mousebumples

    @WaterGirl: Thanks for the updates! Can you do the total math for me? And if you have the numbers handy, how many did we do for the primary last month?

  77. 77.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: Sleeping better with the gabapentin  but this week’s spinal injection gave me serious insomnia. I’m on my way to the rack now.

  78. 78.

    WaterGirl

    @Mousebumples:

    With 2 weeks to go, it looks like 3,870 so far for the upcoming election on April 4.

    We handed out maybe 700 or so for the primary.

    A few Indivisible groups are in the process of figuring out how many addresses they will want, so I have some hope that we’ll have more writers.

  82. 82.

    BlueGuitarist

    @brendancalling:

    In a quick look didn’t find evidence but once heard that Brandon could sing.

    thanks for putting together the playlist!

    Some classic Scotty Moore guitar

  85. 85.

    oatler

    @raven:

    There’s a Guy Peelaert painting of Elvis in a drug squad uniform smashing his way into the young Bill and Hilary’s dorm room.

  86. 86.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: My little Henry hated the gabapentin so much – when he had his ACL surgery – that he broke his ankle fighting it when we gave it to him.

    Of course, I’m pretty sure yours doesn’t come in a hot-pink disgusting liquid the has to be administered with a syringe. :-)

  87. 87.

    NotMax

    Guy behind the fan-produced Star Trek Phase II (later known as <Star Trek: New Voyages) project IRL works as an Elvis impersonator. In the early episodes he played Kirk, wearing a barely modified Elvis Presley wig which, frankly, looked ludicrous and was only inflicted on the audience for a mercifully short while. >Example.

    The fellow who eventually replaced him in the captain’s chair was also a much better actor.
    ;)

  89. 89.

    Mousebumples

    @WaterGirl: Wow, that’s awesome! 🤩

    I’d be curious to hear (after the election is fine) people’s thoughts about writing in advance to mail later. I’m not sure “how long” I’d be comfortable writing and stockpiling (and feeling confident I wouldn’t misplace any!)…

    In Wisconsin related news, Ben Wikler is running for another term as party chair. 🎉 I feel so lucky to have him leading things in my state.

  90. 90.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: That makes sense about the THC. Sorry to hear that CBD did nothing.

    I have CBD chocolate squares that I take sometimes at bedtime.  One makes some difference.

    IF I take 2 of them at bedtime, though, I am out in a small number of minutes, and sleep for hours before I wake up.

  93. 93.

    Kristine

    @WaterGirl: Oh wow–Gaby’s gabapentin comes in a capsule. Liquids suck.

    She hated the tramadol–the taste is so horrible that she would spit, drool and hack. One of the techs at the vet’s office said her dog vomited every time she gave it to him. I finally bought some empty gelatin capsules–I cut the tablet in half and stuff it into the capsule. Solved that problem.

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    @Kristine: Gabby must weigh more than 11 pounds.

    (Pretty sure that goes for Raven, too!)

    You can’t get a pill or a capsule with a low enough dosage for that weight, so it’s gotta be liquid.  Ugh.

    I told them NO on gabapentin for Henry when he had his tooth pulled a few weeks ago, so they found something else he could take.

  95. 95.

    WaterGirl

    @Kristine: That was really smart of you to do that with the capsules for the tramadol.

    My Bailey hated tramadol; he was on that for arthritis.  It wasn’t the taste, but he HATED the way it made him feel.

    So we put him on Adquan shots instead, and they were like a miracle.

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    Speaking of bedtime, I have been waking up really early so I am getting tired early.  So I am heading for bed even though it’s only 9 o’clock!

    Mr. Bear wakes Henry and then Henry makes a fuss about being stuck in the crate because the other kids are running around the bedroom.

    I don’t really stand a chance in the morning once that happens.

  97. 97.

    Kristine

    @WaterGirl: I remembered my trained (26 years in Big Pharma, mostly on the tablet/capsule side).

    Poor Henry. I don’t understand why vet drug companies don’t do more to mask bad tasting drugs and improve dosage forms. Metronidazole was another problem, an uncoated tablet with a foul taste. All my dogs hated it.

    Gaby also gets cold laser treatments for her arthritis. They really seem to help. She did get the Adequan series as well–I should check and see if she needs further treatment.

  99. 99.

    WaterGirl

    @Kristine: With Bailey, they said to come back for boosters when Bailey seemed to be more stiff or in pain again.

    The adequan and at least a short walk every day made a world of difference.

  103. 103.

    prostratedragon

    @raven: ​ (As I was trying to say when commenting issues on my phone broke out) Hunh, I must have misconstrued something. All to the good!

  104. 104.

    trollhattan

    Trump telegraphed who his most dangerous rival was, by going after Biden’s son. Kevin McCarthy is now telegraphing who the Republicans really do not want coming into the Senate.

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Republican delegates gathered in Sacramento on Saturday that Rep. Adam Schiff “should never” be elected Senator in California. McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, speaking to the California Republican Party Spring 2023 Organizing Convention, used his time at the podium to call out prominent California Democrats like 2024 Senate candidate Schiff, D-Burbank, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Dublin, and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
    He accused Schiff and Swalwell of lying “time and time again” during their tenure on the House Intelligence Committee, which oversees the FBI, the CIA, and other national security agencies. “I promised before I was elected, if I was fortunate enough to become Speaker, we would change the Intel Committee from the ‘impeachment committee’ to what it’s supposed to be,” McCarthy said at the convention. Schiff and Swalwell “dropped the ball” as committee members, he said. McCarthy did not explain Saturday what Schiff allegedly lied about. In the past he has accused Schiff of lying when he claimed he did not know the whistleblower who had first-hand knowledge that Trump tried to get Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden.
    https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article273020905.html#storylink=cpy

    The McCarthy bump for Adam.

  107. 107.

    Mousebumples

    @WaterGirl: I think 2 years? Maybe? I think 2019 is when he first took on the role?

    And I’m trailing off here, too. Got the last 5 for Jodi I wanted to get written. Addresses will be tomorrow’s project.

    Thanks for the team work/camaraderie, everyone!

  109. 109.

    mvr

    @WaterGirl: Actually we got several takers a few nights or so ago so I threw in all of my match last night since we were at $100 when I offered and at $305 when I threw in my match.  (I was unable to see how many people made those contributsiont but since I checked a bunch I knew at least 6 people had.) Since I’m late to this thread it looks like several more folks threw in even more.  That was what I hoped to start so all is good!

    Thank you to one and all.

  110. 110.

    mvr

    @raven: ​
      Got Gabapentin for another condition 5 years ago, but it has certainly helped with waking in the middle of the night and being unable to get back to sleep. When I first got it I was like _ I can’t do my job with this stuff. So I was told to take it at night. Interestingly, I can now do my job with it – no fuzzy feeling in the morning – and all is good.

  113. 113.

    J R in WV

    @brendancalling: ​

    Elvis, and rockabilly in general, is HUGE in Mexico.

    The only time Wife and I were in Mexico was to take a cruise around Baja for whale watching and assorted desert hiking and snorkeling. On board the tiny ship (something like 60 guests IIRC) some evenings they had local musicians from a small fishing town in the bar to perform.

    Not long into the performance, which was very well done, I realized that these small town country performers were covering southern rockabilly tunes translated into Mexican vernacular. Was a fabulous show. Thanks for educating me, and reminding me of that great trip ~!~

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