There’s a Balkans-type war headed to the USA. It doesn’t have as much to do with ethnic cleansing as it does with ideological cleansing. They want to kill us all. They may couch their hatred in euphemism, but if you read what I have, they’re ready to start shooting people. Those crazy fucks who screamed “KILL HIM” at Sarah Palin rallies in ’08 weren’t kidding.

I’ve been reading a lot of reaction to the SCOTUS decision on Obamacare and the wingnuts are talking about locking and loading. I know many of you are weak and don’t want to “stoop to their level,” but they’re going to bring it. If you care about your families, you need to be prepared. You may think I’m crazy, but just read some of the more radical wingnut sites. They’re preparing.

I wish I could say I believe I won’t live to see it, but if Obama is re-elected (and I surely hope he is), they may not be able to contain themselves, and they may start shooting politicians, pundits and other people they don’t like. If you don’t believe that can happen, keep in mind the first shot has already been fired, into the brain of Dr. George Tiller. If you don’t think they’re like ants or cockroaches, you’re delusional.

I know many of you will report this, try to get me banned, all that crap and you may succeed, but you need to think about your families and your future. At my age, there’s a fair chance I might not see it but most of you are younger than me, and the chances are you WILL see it. It’s going to get ugly and you can either prepare for it or be bulldozed by it.

I will not be bulldozed. See you at the range.

The Wisconsin election told me everything I needed to know about this election year.

Obama is doomed and so are we. I’m no fan of Obama, I think he’s a pussy and a coward. Oh, sure, he got bin Laden, but when it comes to dealing with the repukes, he’s a fucking pussy. He’s as afraid of Rush Limbaugh as the repukes are. Between ’08 and ’10, he had a chance to stand on their necks, and punch the life out of them, and instead he embarked on an ill-fated, cowardly and destructive path of “bi-partisanship.”

He Obi wan Bama, you can’t negotiate with people don’t want to negotiate. They want to destroy you, they want to destroy everything in their path that works against the oligarchy.

What the FUCK were you thinking?

Romney is going to win. The ‘pukes are going to control both the House and the Senate, they’re going to pack the SCOTUS with their ideologues of Oligarchy and I will go to my grave, living in a feudal society, where there are no worker safety laws, where abortion is illegal, where vast numbers of people starve to death and where assholes like Rush Limbaugh get their every wish granted.

I wish I wasn’t such a chickenshit. I SHOULD kill myself today.

When are the Democrats (aside from Alan Grayson) going to grow a pair? The Shirley Sherrod fiasco points up just how pathetic and reactionary the Obama administrationis. Every time Faux Noize does one of their hatchet jobs, the administration and the party in general fold like a circus tent.

When are the Democrats going to stand up and say "fuck you, we’re not reacting to your bullshit any more,"?

Sadly, my guess is never. The Democrats are so petrified by the teabaggers they’re willing to sell out any progressive action to keep them happy, even though they have as much chance of getting a single teabagger vote as I have of becoming Shirley McLaine.

The country is divided, polarized, in way not seen since the Civil War. But we might as well embrace the division and use it to our advantage. The teabaggers are NOT a majority and while they may make a lot of noise, they’re as toothless as a 20-year-old cat.

Tell the teabaggers to fuck off and die. That’s what I did.

I have been very disappointed in Firedog Lake’s lack of reaction to to the devastating floods in Nashville. I know the Gulf Oil Spill and other stories are sexier than the Nashville floods, but I get a sense of schadenfreude in the indifference I see here.

Whether we like or agree with the prevailing politics of the region matters not. These people need our help and I’d like to think we are big enough to help with the same energy, enthusiasm and commitment as we did the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

I am a musician and am friends with a number of musicians in Nashville. Some are semi-famous, some are sidemen you’ve probably seen or heard with various artists, but never knew their names. Some are session players whose miraculously wonderful playing you’ve heard on the radio, in the movies, on television in both TV shows and advertising. Some are with us politically, others maybe not so much.

Many of these musicians have been wiped out in the flooding of downtown Nashville. Many kept most of their gear at a place called SoundCheck, which had as much as five feet of water in it over the past week. In news stories, the famous and their losses are well-chronicled. Vince Gill is said to have lost as much as $5 million worth of guitars, almost every guitar he owns, including pre-WWII Martin acoustic guitars and ’50s-era Fenders and Gibsons. Many are simply irreplaceable. Brad Paisley and Keith Urban have lost all their stage gear.

But I’m more concerned with the musician like me, who could no more afford to replace their gear than I could pay for cancer treatment. Believe me, insurance companies will be denying claims for lost gear for the next five years in the aftermath of these floods. Many pickers will be ruined. They have lost the tools of their trade. I can tell you, being a sideman in a big star’s band can make you a living but only a select few ever get even marginally rich at it. Most do not.

I’d like to help them and I’d like to think you do, too. To that end, I’m organizing a benefit blues show in Silicon Valley, hosted by a local band, the Dan Goghs and me. We’re billing it as a "Super Jam and Benefit for Nashville Musicians."

The show goes from 6-10 pm, Saturday May 22 at Netos Market and Grill, 1313 Franklin Street, Santa Clara, CA

Local blues luminaries will be donating their talent to the effort and I encourage all Bay Area Pups to come out and help us help the musicians in Nashville. All proceeds will go to the American Federation of Musicians Local 257′s Nashville Musicians Relief Fund. You can also make a direct donation if you like, they take PayPal.

I’d love to see a showing of Pups at the show. I’ll be playing and my beautiful and talented better half will be working the donation table. All donations are voluntary and I can promise you without hesitation, you will be shaking your asses to some great music.

As an extra added incentive, every pup who shows up, introduces themselves to me and makes a donation of any size, will get a free download of my album "Time For a New Dance Floor." It’s a couple years old now, but Pup leader Suzanne will tell you she likes as well as Pup Newtonuser.

So please, whether you come to the show or just make a direct donation, help those who are hurting bad right now…show them progressives have big hearts and let’s help keep our cultural heritage from being washed away in the flood.

Thanks for reading.

Senator Menendez,

I have no interest in sugar-coating anything either, so I’ll lay this out for you in plain language:

I’m tired of this bullshit.

For the past year, President Obama and the rest of you, with the single exception of Rep. Alan Grayson, have broken my heart. I was in Mexico the day BO was inaugurated, and for the first time in a long time, I felt hope. So, it seemed, did the Mexican people I saw, cheering "viva Obama!" They were all tuned to CNN watching the inaugural coverage.

Now I just feel duped. Swindled. Conned…AGAIN.

I voted for Barack Hussein Obama, not Barack W. Bush, which is EXACTLY what we’ve gotten in the past year.

When we’re out of Iraq, out of Afghanistan, out of Gitmo, have single-payer on the table again and Mr. Obama and the rest of you Democrats have told the insurance companies and the banks to take their bonuses and shove them up their asses, I’ll vote again.

Right now I feel like I’m witnessing the final sentence in Orwell’s "Animal Farm,"

"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."

As of this moment, I see NO difference between the Democrats and the Republicans.

With all due respect,

Thatguy

Here is the problem as I see it.

It’s not the sex, it’s the hypocrisy.

The republican party has, for 30 years, been the party of the evangelical movement. They’ve been quick to condemn anything that doesn’t fall into their bigoted, narrow-minded view of what is "moral," and anyone who doesn’t adhere to their belief in and desire for a right-wing theocracy is a GOD DAMNED LIBERAL. They want the bible used as the basis for making public policy, despite the fact the bible is:

• A work of fiction.
• Clearly in violation of the First Amendment section about "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…"

The republicans are also hypocritical in another way: They say they want the government out of people’s lives…except when it comes to matters pertaining to the bedroom. Then they want to government in there in spades, and anyone who points out the obvious hypocrisy in that is loudly proclaimed as a GOD-DAMN LIBERAL.

The word liberal has been turned into a perjorative by the right wing, and I tell you this, you can throw that word at my feet, I’ll pick it up and wear it as a badge of honor. Liberals enacted the child-labor laws in this Read the rest of this entry →

I’ve read a lot of posts here complaining about "the media," and how evil it is. It’s easy to blame the media. You don’t have to accept any personal responsibility for anything when you have a good horse to flog, like the media.

Except for one little factor: you’re the reason "the media" shows what it shows, says what it says and does what it does. Not you, individually, but "we" as a culture. We are to blame.

The media is a reactive institution. It is rarely proactive, except in the cases of "opinion" media like Rush Limbaugh or Ed Schultz (notice my bipartisanship here!). The media is in business to do one thing, and one thing only: make money.

Here’s how it works: the media makes money from advertisers. Advertisers pay for eyeballs. The more eyeballs, particularly in the coveted 18-54 male demographic, the better. They rarely care within reason (or not so much), about what content attracts the eyeballs, unless someone (or rather a large, mainstream group of someones), threatens a boycott. They just want them. The more eyeballs a given TV show, newspaper story or website-based story gets, or ears a radio show gets, the more the network, tv/radio station Read the rest of this entry →

Well it’s been a week since we got back and so I guess it’s time I wrote this before the memory fades any more. This is going to be “stream of consciousness,” to some extent.

Yes, one last time, it was THE Delbert McClinton Sandy Beaches Cruise. I can hardly express what it means to me to go on it – it’s like a pilgrim going to the Wailing Wall, the Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām, the Vatican or some other sacred shrine.

For unlike some, this ol’ secular codger’s religion is music…and yes, the music that touches MY soul. Might not touch yours but this is MY tale. Delbert has inspired me for most of my adult life. He’s also, through his collaborations, made me aware of others who’ve lit my nose hairs on fire.

Day one. Man, last night I played the last gig with a band that ultimately didn’t suit me. Got home around 12 and spent time finishing up the packing, which included two guitars, capos, slides, extra strings, picks, floor tuner, dvds for the video camera, battery charger for the video batteries, batteries for the still camera. Whew, god DAYAM, glad that’s done. OH SHIT, can’t forget CDs, some folks Read the rest of this entry →