Danny Doom’s Booze Cabinet

“What I find interesting, and grotesque, is the assumption that millions of Americans can be easily duped into murdering their fellow Americans.”

That’s Jonah Goldberg, complete right-wing tool of the National Review who often writes things and then backtracks on them, trying to explain what he meant. He has to do that because he often makes no sense. The statement above is a reference to a Bette Midler comment–yeah, he’s really digging deep here–about Glenn Beck. Holy shit! Bette Midler said something about Glenn Beck?!? Yeah, she thinks Beck is scary and compares him to Rwandan genocide instigators, or something. Silly. Stupid. But he doesn’t see the irony? Or the signs at the tea parties? So I wrote to him, quoting back his words above. Then:

Me: You may want to tell that to the teabaggin’ folks who fear that Obama is the second coming of Hitler. That’s Beck’s crowd, yes?

Jonah’s response was a link to his Liberal Fascism blog. Ugh. Talk about ponderous. And disingenuous. “While the stench of eugenics and euthanasia do not quite sting the nostrils yet…” goes one deep thought. Guy wrote a whole book about how liberals are the real fascists, not conservatives. Or something. You can read what he sent to me right here: Liberal Fascism

After wading through the muck, I responded: “so that’s a concession, right?”

Goldberg: “Well, it’s an admission that anyone who thinks Obama is the next hitler is wrong, as I’ve said before.”

Me: So when does your book “Conservative Fascism” come out?

And that’s where the conversation ended.

Just reading about Van Morrison’s performance of “Astral Weeks” (listening to it now–genius!) and how he played songs before and then a mini-medley after. “Anti-climactic” in the reviewer’s eyes, that final piece, which I can understand. I saw Bruce play “Born to Run” last week and he did a similar thing, playing a full set before, then the album, and then in true Springsteen fashion going off and playing another 13 songs or so.

Let me just say that hearing “Born to Run” in its entirety, in exact sequence, was amazing. A great album, every song a classic, and performed perfectly. “Meeting Across the River” was especially cool, such a moody and interesting song that isn’t heard much and probably not performed much if at all in concert. Awesome.

After the last notes of “Jungleland” Bruce barely paused to consider the weight of this moment and shifted gears, going into “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day,” which is a song from a recent album (most recent?) and whoa, the shock I felt was huge. Really, Bossman? You’re gonna follow up that masterpiece with this?

There were a few more good songs (“Promised Land,” Badlands”) but as far as I was concerned the concert was over after “Born to Run.” I wished he had either started the concert out with it and then took a break and come back with the second set, or ended with it. The comparison just kills it, putting a lightweight tune after such heaviness and going from there. And the request section, where fans shouted out for old 50′s tunes like “Da Doo Ron Ron” and “Rockin’ Robin”? Uh uh. No. We already felt like the youngest folks there but this was like being in a lame-o suburban 60-something nightmare! Not for me.

I am sad to report that we actually left before he played the set-closing “Rosalita,” which may be my favorite of all Bruce tunes. It just didn’t seem like he was going there, and it was Sunday night and well, no excuses, but we thought we’d get a jump on the suburbanites and fly outta there. I never do that, for shows, for Cubs games, never leave early! But it happened. Oh well. Arena rock kinda kills me after a while, numbs the brain.

In a classy way, of course.

A great article over here by Roger Ebert on the good old days drinking at O’Rourke’s Pub. Makes you wanna drink, if you ask me. But I’m just on cough syrup tonight. It’s been like that this week.

We regulars knew each other. We dated each other. We slept with each other. We went to Greek Town together, with Al presiding at the head of a long table. We met on Saturday mornings at Oxford’s for “recovery drunch,” spelled with a d.

The 1968 Days of Rage demonstrations passed nearby, and Jimmy Breslin and Norman Mailer came in. We watched the moon landing and the protests after Martin Luther King was killed. We sang, laughed and cried. We rehearsed the same stories over and over. I said we knew each other. We knew who we said we were, who we wanted to appear to be, and who O’Rourke’s thought we were, and that was knowing each other well enough.

Speaking of drinking, I was stopped at a light tonight and saw a guy on Fullerton with a boot on his car floor it. He dragged the car down the street and around a corner in a smoky, screechy mess, it was hilarious.

Another shot, coming home from Michigan under apocalyptic skies.

I can’t seem to find any video of it but Bill Clinton was great in an interview with Dave Letterman last night (the clip at the site has only a couple minutes of it). The Obama interview you can see anywhere–and that was a good one too–but this one seems to have fallen under the radar just one night later. If I find it, or a transcript or something I’ll post it. But let me just say that Letterman continues to have the most interesting and substantive interviews of any news network when he has guests like these on. Only Jon Stewart comes close, but his are so short that they can’t sustain themselves.

Anyway, Clinton…so smart. Great to hear him talk. And Dave! Still the one.

The view driving in from Michigan a few weeks back.

Not celebrating the Cubs so much as hoisting a beer to Cody’s, the fine establishment where we watched the Bears Debacle last week. Coincidentally, we also watched the Bears Superbowl Debacle there too a few years back. Oh well. Times are tough. The season of our discontent. We’re due for changes. I’m listening to the Lips new album “Embryonic” and it’s pretty damn cool. I don’t hear a single!

Nine months in and the extremists’ reaction to Obama is as if he has enacted all of his agenda and changed the course of American history. Now, that’s kind of what we elected him for, but I certainly didn’t expect it all to happen in less than a year. And for sure, it is taking some time. You can feel the impatience on the left.

But does he deserve all of this right-wing nuttery so early on? Of course not. He hasn’t earned it. He may, and if he does I’d say that the liberals and progressives will be happy. But he’s never going to make the kooks happy. I mean, imagine if Bush had even pretended to listen to all of us who protested against the war in Iraq. Imagine that all of those good points that were being made before the war were taken into consideration. But they weren’t, we all know that.

We were ignored, quite proudly, by the patriots in charge and their media brethren. It’s still a little hard to believe that such an atmosphere existed, but you know it did, even past the 2004 election. And now, proven right by the stupidity and incompetence of the war, we are rewarded with…more right-wing wackiness.

A reader at Andrew Sullivan makes a salient point regarding earnings and time served:

The heaviest hitters in the Republican party, and in the conservative media have loudly and proudly called for Obama’s failure. Liberals who even softly criticized Bush were roundly shamed and called terrorist-loving-America-haters. George W. Bush, despite the controversial beginning of his presidency, was given the chance – - no, in fact, after 9/11, he was given all the unopposed freedom in the world to succeed or fail based upon his own decisions and his own performance. Bush EARNED his hatred.

Obama has not had that luxury.

It’s that “liberal media” once again controlling and defining the conversation, pandering to the 20%’ers. This is what happens when we treat politics like a reality television show.

“In Obama’s America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering, ‘Yay, right on, right on, right on, right on.”

- Rush Limbaugh

The right, in its radio and tv shows, has carefully planted the seed of post-racial irony, branding any critics of Obama immune to charges of racism. Of course all critics of Obama aren’t racist, that’s silly. But this was a meme set forward even before he was elected, that anyone who disagrees with Obama will be called a racist by his supporters. So what to do? There are some racist people who say racist things, as Limbaugh did. See what happens when you elect a black man? White kids are now getting beat up, in Obama’s America, as opposed to before! What do you think he’s saying?

But yes, this is race-baiting at the highest professional level–he’s good at it–and responding to it is to give Limbaugh exactly what he wants: the chance to say “see, they’re calling me a racist, just because I criticized Obama!” Logic won’t work with these people; it is, in fact, the enemy. We can point to signs and words and actions of the Obama opponents and easily see racism, but how to combat it? I have no idea. But for what it’s worth, I agree with what Jimmy Carter had to say, even if the White House doesn’t (or can’t admit it):

“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he’s African-American.”

- Former President Jimmy Carter

Not all, but yes, a large portion. The birth certificate nuts, the Muslim association nuts, the desire to keep Obama away from your children at school…the blatant lack of respect during the speech last week, some of the things written on signs at the protests…yeah, there’s some racism there. It seems kind of obvious. But there I go, pointing it out. So I must be a racist too, yep. Against stupid white people.

Words can’t do it justice! Simply…unbelievable.

UPDATE:

Meanwhile, Drudge race-baits: “White Student Beaten On School Bus; Crowd Cheers.” This is a movement that is just showing off now! Why wouldn’t we want to put them back in power?

So many ways to say the same basic thing about these protests:

If Fox News, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh were truly opposed to expanded government power, where were they when George Bush and Dick Cheney were expanding federal power in virtually every realm, driving up the national debt to unprecedented proportions, destroying middle-class economic security in order to benefit the wealthiest, and generally ensuring government intrusion into every aspect of people’s lives?  They were supporting it and cheering it on.  That’s what gives the lie to their pretense of “small-government” rhetoric.

- Glenn Greenwald

As Bill Maher said, please Mr. Obama, “stand up for the 70 percent of Americans who aren’t crazy.” I still think it’s 20% crazy, but I’m an optimist. But yes, please. It has been less than a year since Obama was elected, quite convincingly. All of those people didn’t vote for him to do nothing.

Change. Hope. And all of that stuff. Time to ignore the nuts and do it.

One more thing from Sullivan as I catch up on all the madness:

Congrats to the tea-partiers for the impressive crowds in DC today. One wonders where these people were when Bush was massively increasing debt, spending like LBJ, detaining citizens without charges and torturing them, and nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan?

- Andrew Sullivan