I will guarantee you will find something here you will totally disagree with. You may find something here you will somewhat agree with. I love getting a bunch of different points of view so at least it will open up more questions. Hopefully more questions leads to more awareness.
Ed
fromBob Lefsetz <bob@lefsetz.com>
toedrlopez@gmail.com
dateTue, Sep 16, 2008 at 9:36 AM
subjectEndless Palin
hide details Sep 16 (1 day ago) Reply
In the sixties, it was hard to find a music fan who wasn't a Democrat. Well, music that lived on FM, that was made for people who needed it to live like a baby needs milk.
But something happened in the eighties. All those left wing boomers wanted their piece and voted Republican, to keep that money they were making. Their brothers and sisters were no longer as important as themselves. Suddenly, it was legitimate to be young and Republican.
This was quite a head-turner for those of us who grew up in the sixties and the resultant seventies. Didn't the Allman Brothers help get Jimmy Carter elected? Wasn't everybody who played music a Democrat?
No longer, if it was ever true.
But what I take from this debate is that if you're making music for everybody, you're an imbecile with no backbone. Because, as you can tell from below, we are not an homogenous society. People are passionate about politics... When was the last time the public at large was passionate about music?
Maybe at the advent of MTV. When music video was fresh and new. But then so much money was being made, exacerbated by the CD revolution, that acts could no longer do what they wanted, they needed to be controlled, the world was the marketplace... And now passion is gone.
Other than nearly-ancient Rage Against The Machine and James McMurtry, who's putting his beliefs on the line today? If you want a passionate audience, you've got to have an edge, you've got to stand for something.
That's how the Republican base feels about Sarah Palin. They're energized. How are you going to energize people about your music?
By taking a stand.
Arguably, Obama lost momentum when he moved to the center. I certainly lost passion when he started talking about drilling for oil. Huh? That's inane! You've got a Texas oil man pontificating about wind and the Democratic candidate for President is talking about drilling?
I don't think there is a center. I think there are two extremes, and an unknown, uncontrollable middle.
But a President rules the entire country, is the President of all the people, like it or not. But a band never achieves this paradigm... EVER! There are people who hate Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney too, never mind the ditzy, dancing divas of today. But at least Bruce's fans will passionately defend him. They're keeping him alive in ticket sales, even though his best work is long behind him.
Fuck the cologne. Fuck the clothing line. Be a real individual. Someone people can identify with. I know who Sarah Palin is. I know that John McCain is an expedient liar who will do anything to get elected, if there's a core, it's invisible. Joe Biden smiles so fakely I could never vote for him in a primary. As for Barack? I was a Hillary man. But he made me a believer, by referencing Google, by speaking English as if he truly lived in today's United States. But he's lost that edge.
True, McCain can die in office. But this election is about the Presidency. Obama can be defined by the Republicans or he can reach down deep inside and air his inner beliefs as opposed to triangulating, embracing the policy that doomed Hillary.
We're sick of calculation.
And that's Sarah Palin's appeal. She's hungry, she wants it, she doesn't care what's in her past, she's going for it. Whereas Obama is running with fearful eyes, one hand tied behind his back.
I always revered the rock stars who didn't give a shit what I thought. Who were true to themselves. Who made great music from their hearts. Like Jimmy Page.
But I can't believe in Jimmy Page any longer because of that lame Olympics performance. You've got to stand for something. You can't do what's expedient. You can't calculate how many eyeballs, how many impressions you're going to get, but whether your action is going to please the core, motivate the core and increase it.
I'm positively frightened how many people are buying the right wing bullshit, who truly have no problem electing Sarah Palin VP, never mind that tired old man who's only true credential is being incarcerated. It's Barack Obama's election to win. And like a football team playing defense, trying to run out the clock, he's one Hail Mary pass away from losing.
McCain took a risk. He had to. Obama's been playing it safe. We don't want safe music and we don't want safe thinkers. We want people willing to take a stand and believe in it.
Screw the handlers, let Obama loose. Let's see who the real guy is.
Otherwise Democrats have no chance of winning.
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So, for the first time in an inordinately long time, America gets in one of its VP candidates, a real leader who has taken over the reins of a state and aggressively LEADS, yet doesn't have the requisite pedigree of educational attainment found in a Bush, Kennedy, Clinton, or Carter. And what do the doomsday leftists do?
Why, they take the road usually traveled, of course, in taking her to task for graduating from a state school and not an Ivy League one. And in the process, impugning her academic credentials in such a way as to harshly suggest that she's not "intelligent enough" to hold public office in the second highest position in our government.
How..."elitist" of you. Why it would bother so many of you is precisely the reason why I would have to go the other way in supporting this newbie to the scene. I gather that my not being "blue-blooded" enough for the Democratic "societal page" of VP candidates will not, from this day forth, leave me in good stead? Pity.
And while some will call her, "dangerous." She is far from it. In this case, she is us, and we are her. For once, we have a candidate that comes "from the people," instead of being brought up for the first 25 years of their life being selectively groomed to "move" into the political process.
Furthermore, I would rather she didn't possess the "Brahman" background of the vast majority of our political leaders. Instead, of extolling their highly limited capacity to actually understand a given "common man's" problems, when in fact they are not at all well-versed in those problems that beset our middle-class as well as those in the lower economic strata - perhaps we could get someone NOT from the political "ruling class" who could possibly lead by example in a more "down-to-earth" and utilitarian manner than we're currently used to.
This does not, however, mean that I wish on our Republic that Sam, the local auto mechanic with the 8th grade education, becomes a future candidate for this office. But, in retrospect, in seeing who we've brought to the political fore in the past - perhaps just once it would be nice to have someone who doesn't shop for arugula at the Whole Foods store in Chicago...
VanO
Midwest Music, Ltd
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Kip Schaumloffel:
Enough with the convenient hypocritical decrying of Sarah Palin. The fact is the dems once chose an inexperienced governor from Georgia named Jimmy Carter to be president, and I don't hear them citing the complete failure he was as a reason to be vigilant about Sarah Palin.
Politics are poison man. I do not want a socialist nation, and that is how I perceive the choice for our leadership. A disguised platform of socialist agendas v. Capitalism.
My main frustration with the Palin/McCain ticket is their inability to recognize that abortion has no place in politics nor the supreme court...and they should stop being sheep on the issue. The dems ought to do the same.
The world is a mess...and not because of one president that goes by W. Give me one person who you've listed willing to put their knowledge of foreign affairs and developmental economics to the test of constructive debate with me. No conspiracy and/or political emotion, and an understanding that diplomatic initiatives are not always, if ever pure. It's a very tough game that requires the constitution to force hands and expose other agendas to create objectivity. It's what's allowed to go unchecked under the table that makes for big problems down the road.
Appeasement has been a centuries old tale of continued failure and exacerbation.
Your blog has become a circle-jerk of successful music business people thinking they understand something of which they are not privy to the facts. Scary. If they spent this much energy trying to fight and resolve the mishandling of the music business, I'd be overjoyed.
Like I said before...let's see a little more depth and understanding of the privilege our flawed nation has provided. Whiny, idiocratic naivete is lame.
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This baseball Dad in a red state knows that the "143" days number that 2 people mentioned regarding Obama's experience is an incorrect discredited number circulated by Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus, whose other claim to fame is suggesting on cable tv that Obama explain his parents thinking in 1961 when they chose his name.
Steve Kiviat
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I'm sure almost everybody wanting Obama as President also got down on their knees for Bill Clinton. What did he get us? DMCA. The Telecommunications Act of 1996. He accelerated radio consolidation and turned FM into the vast wasteland it is today. They don't play any new product and thus stores have no new product to sell and so nothing gets sold.
The Democratic Congress run by Pelosi and Reid is now bending over for the RIAA. The RIAA can now play cop and lawyer with impunity. Too many Dems turn their head and cough about this and yet still complain endlessly about the FBI being able to look at library records or how Sarah Palin maybe didn't want some book in the Wasilla library. Give me a fucking break.
The Democrats used to be a party with balls. Now they have dropped the ball and will take any money offered to them. Obama is neck deep in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac scandals by having Franklin Raines and Jim A. Johnson (past heads of those organizations) as his financial advisers. Who took some of the most money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lobbyists in the past few years? Obama.
I don't like McCain, but Obama is dirty and surrounding by crooks. I don't care if he's black and had a D behind his name. I'll NEVER VOTE FOR HIM.
Al Gibson
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McCain picked the wrong Palin.
Now had it been MICHAEL Palin, then I'd have hope for this world.
Chris McKenna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf1y9s73Nos
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Dave Alan:
In the words of Jim Carrey.... "Nonsense Poopy Pants"
Sarah IS a breath of fresh air and someone you can actually believe in who will fight for YOU. While I was thrilled that Obama beat the socks off of Hillary (she would have destroyed us all), he's still not the best candidate for the job this time round. While there's always going to be problems in both parties, I cannot help but come to the same conclusion.... over and over again:
Democrats are just plain silly (and so are some of my fellow musicians).
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Enough about the experience issue, its driving me nuts. Bob, you are totally right, first of all to be talking about Obama, Biden, McCain, and disgrace of a Choice, Palin (I'm Pro-Choice all the way but that was a bad choice on McCain's part), music is so politically driven throughout history, its only the non-artistic airheads that don't see a parallel. I saw some readers posting about Obama and Palin's experience in office, GET IT TOGETHER PEOPLE, if you needed EXPERIENCE being in office to get elected to an office then we would have had Strom Thurmond ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strom_Thurmond ) as the president for the last 60 years!
Its like the labels, we need someone in charge who gets it, gets that the world is going to change whether we like it or not, and that WE are the ones have to keep up it. Obama isn't totally from the generation that understands that the most, but non of those kids are out of middle school, and you can be president until your 35 anyway. At least Obama knows how to read his email.
McCain is claiming that he got experience form the Senate and Military School (by the way his wiki page is a disgrace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain ). Palin went to 5 schools in 6 years and graduated with a journalism major. Compared to Obama( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama )? Who worked his way through school and ended up with a HARVARD LAW DEGREE. If Palin and McCain's education were a pond, Obama's would be Mt. Everest, its not even in the same category.
We are talking about experience, yeah they all have their times in office, but the only thing I'm looking at is their education, thats the real qualifying factor, and Harvard is NOT the same as Harvard Law, he didn't get there with nepotism, Obama worked his ASS off! The president's job is to protect the constitution, well Obama spent four years feverishly studying the constitution at one of the toughest places to do so, and he graduated Magna Cum Laude ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_honors ). AND WE ARE TALKING ABOUT WHO WE WANT TO HAVE A BEER WITH?????
Jake Saxon
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Brandon Steinhorn:
at the end of the day, obama is an empty suit bought and paid for by special interest groups. he is not change. especially when he picks joe biden as his running mate.
i am registered democrat who will be voting for mccain in the fall. mainly because i do not want a democratic president and a democratic congress together. but i also like sarah because so much hate is being dumped on her.
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Bruce Eaton asks "you ever hang out with someone like Joe Biden?".
Well, yes, actually. He's second to last in the senate in terms of wealth, taking on virtually no income boyond his government pay, with the exception of a modest amount made for teaching constitutional law at Widener University. As a single parent (after his wife and daughter's tragic death in a car accident) he traveled via train (not plane, helicopter, Audi or limo) between DC and his home in Delaware each night to raise his sons, one of whom is in the national guard, headed to Iraq. He is catholic, and has doubted. His wife is a english teacher, making $66k.
So, a catholic single parent who travels to work via train and is (relatively) un-weathly, as compared to most everybody else we entrust to run our country? Yes, Bruce... i do think i've hung out with a few people like that. My neighbors. The guys at my chuch. The woman in the next office over. They all sound pretty similar to Biden.
At the very least, all of us can keep track of how many houses we own.
A moose hunting beauty queen though...
- Andrew Stone
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We live in a racist, redneck and violent country. If Barack Obama walked out on the democratic convention stage with 5 kids and one was an unwed pregnant teenage daughter.....do you think the right-wingers and white independent voters would flock to him and Michele because they felt like they were just like them? Close your eyes and imagine the reaction.
Philip Steir
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Don't be afraid ... but it's really moving towards a McCain - Palin landslide ... it's not even gonna be close.
And it McCain running against Obama, not Palin.
If you look at all the real straw polls, the entire country just doesn't buy the "Change" Obama is promising and if a democratic congress can't get a thing done in 2-years ... adding democratic president would even be worse.
I honestly believe McCain will create a bipartisan Congress, and then things will start to change around America. Don't be surprised is Obama and Biden are given prominent positions or a cabinet posts as well.
Joe Cantafio
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Rose Marshack:
Bob:
SARAH PALIN IS A MUSLIM!
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Rob Wiles:
Bob, now that your newsletter has morphed into political spam (natch), has it ever occurred to libtards like you and this philip barrett person that people might actually just LIKE Sarah Palin and find her to be an appealing politician??
...And/or, alternately, they don't like/see right through Obama?
When you write about music, you provide a refreshing and unique perspective. When you write about politics (especially your monumental misread of Sarah Palin), you sound just any other half witted left wing blog.
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Phil Herring:
The fact remains that people SHOULD be scared of Palin. With McCain being 73 years old, it's scary to think that the next-of-kin is Palin. Potentially, an inexperienced Alaskan senator who appoints her friends rather than those with experience could be leading this country. Plus, in this day in age, I can't see electing someone who doesn't even know how to Google his own name. That'd be like electing a candidate in 1972 who didn't know how to dial his/her own phone number. It just doesn't make sense.
Also, you CAN'T hide things anymore. The fact that Palin's soon-to-be son-in-law's MySpace featured such eloquent statements such as "I'm a redneck" and "If you fuck with me, I'll kick yo' ass" only exemplifies what so many people are sick of. They can hide behind their "family values" all they want but we have the evidence that shows these two kids are NOT ready to be parents.
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Sarah Palin is a very clever diversion by the Republican Party to keep the focus away from John McCain. She is the governor of a state with the population of Charlotte. Alaska is a bar that was given statehood. Do you know who her biggest fans are? Men over 60! That's right, men by an overwhelming majority. I guess women are just smarter than that.
Chris Brooks
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Michael Fremer:
My friend Chris is a great guy but he's clueless:
1. Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
2. Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.
3. If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4
years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving othe Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
4. If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.
5. If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/15/122356/840/535/599497
I've been tracking this for a few days. The Palin bounce is ending. Her unfavorables are rising as her favorables are falling.
I've been saying the same thing as Philip Barrett did is his opening paragraph. The vast majority of Republican voters are scared their personal security, financial and physical, is slipping away. The best response is to vote for the status quo and find something or someone to blame.
Steven Birenberg
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AL KOOPER:
Basically, no one of the four is REALLY qualified to clean up the mess they would inherit from the last eight years. I believe the mess is so thick it may take at least four terms to clean our government out and start "clean" if such a thing is possible in DC today. So what we face is voting for the least dangerous as opposed to the most qualified. That's why I can't even look at McCain or Palin. We need human understanding, patience and peace. The Dems are the closest to that I believe at this point. I keep going back to that clip of McCain saying he voted almost 90% for Bush's policies and dicktatorship.
And two things...
The original lipstick pig quote was spoken by McCain FIRST
And does Ms. Palin realize that her daughter's ill-advised marriage will be TOTALLY chaperoned by live-in Secret Servicemen ???? What a way to turn 18 in today's Amerika.
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The main reason she is such a big factor is because Grandpa Munster is 72 years old and has already had cancer.
We've known this woman for 2 weeks and her husband has been subpoenaed, she's been caught lying multiple times on a variety of fronts (and she does it with such ease that it's terrifying), she's impeding a bi-partisan investigation, reports from her state reek of cronyism, someone not willing to listen to ideas other then theirs...The list goes on and on.
As for managing a budget, I've known brand managers who have managed bigger budgets than she has in Alaska. Has anyone even bothered to look at the fact that her husband, clearly a mensa candidate in the making, sits in on government meetings and clearly is part of her decision making process?
Scary...very very scary
Eric Cohen
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Toby Mamis:
re: Eric Beck:
Wow, did you miss the whole Vietnam War evaluation? He did not spend five and a half years "on the rack" to defend our right to "do so" (free speech, not "spew hatred," by the way) -- that war had NOTHING TO DO WITH DEFENDING THE UNITED STATES IN ANY WAY. It was a misguided Cold War attempt to battle "the commies" on their turf. Vietnam posed no threat to the USA. It was a colonial war that the French had already lost.
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Lloyd Robins:
Sarah Palin has struck a chord with Americans for two reasons. First, she's a fresh face, the kind of person you'd love to have over at a barbeque and pop open a bottle of wine or a beer. People are tired of all the politician bullshit, and politicians who don't know the price of gas or how to use a computer. Why then doesn't Obama fit the bill? Outside of big cities, no one wants to hear about his change that is going to hit us in the wallet. Screw your mass transit, equal chance at education for inner city kids, and global warming crap. Want to know what we want? Illegal alien kids out of our overcrowded schools and a world where people speak English. THAT'S THE CHANGE WE WANT! Spare your uppity Harvard education from me (btw, I do have a UC education and the Ivy League doesn't impress me). We remember your pastor and his "God Damn America."
Lastly, Sarah's got the balls that McCain doesn't have, that Obama doesn't have, that Arnold definitely doesn't have (no doubt shriveled by 'roids) and that McCain's "safe" VP candidates (Ridge and Lieberman) sure didn't have.
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John Brodey:
The crux of it is that the people Gov. Palin appeals to are NOT issue oriented. They believe in the Cult of Personality. Likeability and relatability are what drive their votes. They don't trust Congress but they trust their neighbor and that's who they'd prefer run the country. They don't want someone smarter and more worldly.
It's not a new undercurrent and Nixon was probably the last guy no one liked much who got elected anyway.
That process is now reaching its natural conclusion and with a possible McCain/Palin win, America will have it's Chauncey Gardner a heartbeat away from the Presidency. It's the story of the less talented, common man who dared to dream and despite overwhelming odds, took on the power elite and WON...it's, it's, The Miracle on Ice!!!
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