Roger O Green

Music Throwback Saturday: The Snake

“Everybody tells me not to hit back at the lowlifes that go after me for PR–sorry, but I must. It’s my nature.”

From, interestingly, The New Republic:

Is Donald Trump the fabled Snake?

In his speeches, Trump often recites the lyrics of the 1968 Al Wilson song “The Snake,” written by Oscar Brown, Jr. [in 1963]. A variation of the fable “The Scorpion and the Frog,” the song tells the story of a naive woman who takes in a wounded snake, only to be betrayed by the predator who bites her and says, “You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.”

From the point of view of Trump and his supporters, the meaning of the song is this: The United States can’t let in Muslim refugees because they are irrevocably hostile and will turn on those who help them.

But [recently], an old Trump tweet was recirculated that offers a new layer of meaning to his use of the story.

Donald J. Trump

✔

@realDonaldTrump

Everybody tells me not to hit back at the lowlifes that go after me for PR–sorry, but I must. It’s my nature.

11:27 AM – 19 Nov 2012

Obviously, I need to listen to the Donald’s stump speeches more often. Right.

This was Wilson’s biggest hit. The song got to #27 pop, and #32 rhythm & blues, in the summer of 1968 in the US, and a mild hit in the UK some seven years later. If I had heard this song before, I’m not remembering.

Singer/drummer Al Wilson was born in Meridan, MS in 1939, and was a member of a group called The Rollers in the early 1960s. He died of kidney failure in 2008 at the age of 68.

Here are the lyrics to The Snake.

Listen to Al Wilson’s version of The Snake here or here.
***
Trump’s Offer to Christians Is Same Offer Devil Made Christ

Cubs, Cronkite, and Halloween

Wet leaves on wooden inclined plane = nearly horizontal person, somewhat in pain.

I swear I read a number of people who treated the baseball World Series win by the Chicago Cubs as, “Oh, that’s nice,” rather than the astonishing event that it was. Heck, even Arthur wrote about it, not once, but twice. He noted that “Some things transcend all of that, and sport can, for some, be one of those things.”

And the stories I read about fans remembering parents, or grandparents, who loved the Cubs, but never had the joy of seeing them win the National League pennant (last time, 1945), let alone the whole enchilada (1908, 108 years ago; 108, like the number of stitches on a baseball). This was touching, for example.

I was rooting for them, once the New York Mets were quickly eliminated. General Theo Epstein, who got the long-suffering Boston Red Sox fans a pennant in 2004 and 2007, may be a miracle worker.

Apparently, there were a number of people who predicted the Chicago Cubs would win the Series this year.
***
Today would have been the 100th birthday of Walter Cronkite of CBS News. I’ve remembered his natal day since about 1980 when I realized it coincided with the date the hostages in Iran were taken a year before.

So much in the news has changed since his heyday, the 24-hour news cycle, and competing with the TMZs of the world, not to mention Facebook and Twitter as news sources.

I read his autobiography and reviewed it here.
***
Monday, I decided to ride my bike to work. But the front tire was light and failed to inflate, so I stuck it back into the shed, locked the door, turned around, and, as I wrote in Facebook about 45 minutes later:
Wet leaves on wooden inclined plane = nearly horizontal person, somewhat in pain. I’m hobbling to work now…

Managed to hit my head to the right of my left ear, and my left shoulder, and my back (wearing the backpack), and turned my left ankle. It happened so fast, I didn’t have a chance to put out my hand to try to save myself, which, I suppose was a good thing. No lasting damage, but I was sore for a couple of days, especially my back.

Got a very angry IM on Facebook that evening about something I wrote which a person believed was a mischaracterization of their feelings, and was quite possibly friendship ending, which made me both sad and exhausted, as I tried to explain my POV. I had a nice IM exchange from an old friend about something else I had written.

The highlight of the day had to be, when I was handing out Halloween candy, a half dozen College of Saint Rose students Halloween caroling of this Thomas Tallis piece. I even sang along on the repeated section.

That’s when I could still sing because subsequently, I’ve lost my voice; hope I can shake whatever bug is irritating my vocal chords, or my vocal cords.

MOVIE REVIEW: Queen of Katwe

Quuen of Katwe was directed by Mira Nair, who piloted Monsoon Wedding and Mississippi Masala.

Way back in early October, the family went to see the movie Queen of Katwe.

There are poor people in Uganda, but some are worse off than others. The family of Phiona Mutesi (newcomer Madina Nalwanga) is particularly destitute since her father died, with her mother Nakku Harriet (Lupita Nyong’o) trying to hold the family together. School is out of the question, as everyone tries to work on the streets, selling produce or washing car windows.

By chance, Phiona comes across a group of children learning this odd board game called chess from a teacher, Robert Katende (David Oyelowo). The other kids were not happy to be around the poor, smelly girl, but she came back and showed promise in the game.

This film is based on a real person. At its heart, it is a sports movie, so it has a lot of that drama/disappointment/triumph that you’ve come to expect. Still, it works, and maintains the viewers’ interest, in part because it showed the stratification of life in the country.

There was also drama between the mother and both of her daughters. One does not have to care about chess to cheer for Fiona and her family surviving their disenfranchisement, and becoming empowered, and not just on the chessboard.

The film was directed by Mira Nair, who piloted Monsoon Wedding and Mississippi Masala, and filmed in Uganda. The acting is solid. The authentic local color added to the enjoyment. It was really wonderful to see the real people come out at the end with actors, with Oyelowo and Katende practically twins. And there is a fun coda one ought not to miss.

Unfortunately, despite being a Disney/ESPN movie, despite very positive reviews (93% with critics, 88% with audiences at this writing), Queen of Katwe had a very disappointing box office, not even making back its $15 million costs. Perhaps it will do better on the home market.

Political polarization exhausts me

In deciding to vote for Hillary Clinton, I find myself defending myself from not only the Trump supporters, but the Jill Stein folks.

Arthur, optimistic being that he is, has set out to fix America’s broken politics. And his first recommendation is: “Stop using social media to get political information!”

But I think it’s worse than that. In reading I’m with stupid: The entire 2016 election has been an insult to our intelligence, I realized yet again that we can’t have a real conversation, real consensus about much of anything because we cannot agree on the facts.

Or as the New York Times puts it, Your facts or mine? The political polarization is more acute than ever. And, of course, there are the fake news sites and their ‘B.S. stories’ that are as reliable as a Ouiji board.

Here’s Today’s Electoral Map.

Is Benghazi as noteworthy as portrayed, given that other Presidents have lost diplomats, or was it a smear to derail Hillary’s campaign?

Is it voter fraud or voter suppression we need to worry about? Or both?

The Washington Times says Hillary Clinton laughs as woman removes ‘under God’ from Pledge of Allegiance, yet Snopes explains the actual context of the situation.

The 1975 rape case Hillary was assigned to, which Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway alluded to AGAIN on ABC This Week, has generated many non-truths about Hillary.

Is Hillary in trouble over the last email “scandal,” or is FBI Director Comey trying to sabotage her campaign? Or did he find it necessary to report to Congress based on a previous agreement? And what do they have on Trump? (This Is Not the First Time the FBI Has Interfered with a Presidential Election.)

Were Oregon militia members found not guilty as a result of racial bias or did the government fail to make its case?

Given time, I could come up with dozens more: climate change as a hoax for scientists to get government money, or videos of all the Muslims cheering on 9/11 in New Jersey.

Yet, another optimist, Doug Muder of the Weekly Sift, wonders Why so frustrated, America? He believes that there is common ground among us:
No one wants millions of people to keep living in the United States without legal status
No one wants to keep anticipating the next government shutdown (well, maybe Ted Cruz does…)

I realize why I’m so tired and grumpy this political season. Four years ago, I hardly mentioned Mitt Romney at all, except for how he was doing in the polls. The worst thing I wrote was that he was wishy-washy; in the same post, I named Donald Trump as the person who most needs to give away all his money.

The last time I posted a bunch of links about Trump, someone told me they disagreed with most of them, even the factual ones, such as Trump’s companies destroying or hiding documents in defiance of court orders. That’s fine, since I find virtually all his pro-Trump and anti-Clinton posts spurious, especially when Trump accuses Hillary of the very things he does himself.

I’m afraid I’ve pretty much given up trying to understand Trump supporters. I am in agreement with the New South Wales, Australia upper house, which officially condemned Donald J. Trump as “a revolting slug unfit for office.”

This Quora question intrigued me: “The more left-wingers double down on ‘Trump is dangerous’ and other arguments, the less I believe them. Am I desensitized or just skeptical?” There were about 30 answers, a few of whom identified themselves as conservatives and/or Republicans, and they laid out the case – a case I thought was self-evident, but apparently not – why DJT is singularly unprepared for the office he is seeking. I have about 30 more articles explaining that, but I know that, at this point, they won’t convince anyone.

At the same time, in deciding to vote for Hillary Clinton, I find myself defending myself from not only the Trump supporters, but the Jill Stein folks. A couple of months ago, Mother Jones made the progressive case for Hillary, and I think it’s mostly right.

I do admit there’s a part of me who is voting for her because of a lot of the BS that’s been lodged against her. A friend’s rant addresses this. Also, the fact that she’s a woman plays into the calculation. (Then why not vote for Stein? Because she hasn’t had to deal with anywhere near the level of crap Hillary has.)

When I read women are not to have authority over men, that’ll tweak me in HRC’s favor. She is now a 69-year-old woman, and there’s inherent sexism/ageism from people dealing with her over that fact, even though her primary opponent is older.

There appears to be a phenomenon called Hillary Hatred Derangement Syndrome, and oddly, it makes me MORE inclined to support her. If, for instance, she curses in private, but not in public, that’s not proving she’s not “genuine”, merely publicly polite. But if Trump says the words of a disgusting thug in public, well, he’s more “real,” rather than the vulgarian I find him to be.

I believe that Bernie Sanders, who I voted for in the primary, has pushed the Democratic party platform to the left of what it would have been otherwise, on issues from college tuition to the TPP. A Hillary presidency would be easier to push for a progressive agenda, at least domestically, than a scattershot Trump administration.

But I do think Donald Trump WAS correct about Hillary Clinton, once upon a time.

I’m voting for her because I’d like to see Trump buried in a landslide. I don’t see it happening anymore. But, for this old poli sci major, I’ve nothing more to say before election day, except that one should vote, and not just for President.

Oh, here’s an offer for FREE Progressive Christian Voter’s Guide.

Q is for Quiz thing

Rode in the back of police car?

I’m much more prone to do one of those quiz things when I’ve gone three or four days without blogging, which happens periodically when I am away at a conference or the computer doesn’t work.

This is a way to ease back into the blogging habit, the rhythm.

From Facebook, where one is supposed to put an X if you have done it, but I found that boring. It’s called Bucket List, which I REALLY thought was inane.

But still, I play along. “You’ll be surprised at the responses.” Yeah, right.

Fired a Gun – my grandfather’s rifle, when I was about seven. Knocked me on my keister.
Been Married – more than once.
Fell in love – more than once.
Gone on a blind date – I don’t believe so.
Skipped school- in 12th grade, to go to some antiwar demonstration. In college? Several times in the latter period.

Watched someone give birth – the Wife gave birth to the Daughter.
Watched someone die – my mother. And I hadn’t realized it.
Been to Canada – several times, most recently in 2011.
Ridden in an ambulance – just once, when I was 19.
Been to Hawaii – no. And I was invited. 1995.

Been to Europe – no, and I want to.
Been to Las Vegas – no, but I’m not hankering to do so.
Been to Washington D.C. – several times, most recently in 1998, I think.
Been to Nashville – yes, for a conference.
Visited Florida – at least twice, Orlando and Miami, both for conferences.

Visited Mexico – at least twice.
Seen Grand Canyon in person – no, and I’d like to.
Flown in a HELICOPTER – no.
Partied so hard you puked – yes. But it’s not hard partying, it’s changing liquors.
Been on a cruise – no.

Served on a jury – no. Called at least four times, appeared twice, went through voir dire once.
Been in a movie – no.
Danced in the rain – of course.
Been to Los Angeles – no. Anaheim is as close as I’ve gotten.
Been to New York City – MANY times, most recently in 2013.

Played in a band …in high school – I was a percussionist for one concert. Found it extremely difficult to wait for 30 or 40 measures, not seeing where everyone was.
Sang karaoke – never, actually.
Made prank phone calls – No, and I find doing so really annoying.
Laughed so much you cried – sure.
Caught a snowflake on your tongue – of course.

Had children – one.
Had a pet – several, but a large gap from my 20s to my 60s.
Been sledding on big hill – sure
Been downhill skiing – no.
Been water skiing – no.

Rode on a motorcycle – on the back, once or twice.
Traveled to all 50 states- only 30.
Jumped out of a plane – no.
Been to a drive-in movie – yes, as a child.
Rode an elephant …at the circus– no.

Rode a Horse – yes. First time: June 9, 1976.
Been on TV – locally several times. Twice nationally.
Been in the newspaper – many times.
Stayed in the Hospital – at least twice.
Donated blood – about 150 times.

Gotten a piercing – no.
Gotten a tattoo – no
Driven a stick shift vehicle – tried mightily, but no.
Driven over 100 mph – no.
Been scuba diving – no.

Lived on your own – for years.
Rode in the back of police car – yes.
Got a speeding ticket – no.
Broken a bone – yes, a rib.
Gotten stitches – a few times.
Traveled Alone – yes, for a couple of weeks in 1998 most recently.

Here’s another: Every answer must start with the last letter of your previous answer. “It’s fun. Who doesn’t love a game of Scattergories? Come on! Try it!!!”
Name – Roger
Animal – Rhino
Girl’s name – Olive
Color – Ecru
Movie – Until the End of the World
Something you wear – Denim
Drink – Mead
Food – Dill pickles
Item in the bathroom – Soap
Place – Poland
Reason to be late – Drinking

ABC Wednesday – Round 19