Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts

Friday, October 25, 2013

Liberal Media Freak-Out Over ACA Website - with Krystal Ball and #EzraKleinMusic

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Cycle Host Krystal Ball on MSNBC - My Transcript
If you've been watching our show, you know that I'm pretty angry about the failures of the effort to begin the health-care program. Washington Post's Matt Miller even told me to 'chill out.' I'm sorry, I can't. I won't chill out. See, here's the problem.
Republicans, of course, have been lying to Americans about the Affordable Care Act, telling them it’s a train wreck, saying this president is a bystander to his own presidency, arguing that the federal government is incompetent and can’t work.
Now they’ve got all kinds of evidence to back up their malicious and destructive claims.
So that's one piece of why, sorry Matt, I can't chill.
But what I'm really angry about here is the fact that for millions, the success of this law is literally a matter of life or death. As outraged as we are when Republicans try to sabotage it, we should be outraged when our own side makes its success materially less likely.
Yes, before you send your tweets, I know that the website is not the entirety of the Affordable Care Act.
But to say it's just a website is just a huge understatement.
This is the first direct experience that millions of Americans will have with Obamacare. This is the critical entry point to President [Barack] Obama’s signature achievement; an achievement that we’ve marched for, and rallied for, and fought Supreme Court cases and elections over.

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I just do not understand how something so mission-critical could have turned out so poorly.
Now look, I'm not trying to engage in hyperbole here. The Affordable Care Act can still work beautifully but we've sure taken a giant risk. An unnecessary risk with such a dismal failure of a roll-out, and there's really no excuse. After all, we are the Party who are supposed to know how to do good government. And to all those states like Texas that we wanted to convince to go forward with the Medicaid Expansion piece, well, good-luck with that now!
Frankly, I'm a little disappointed in my left-leaning friends for not being more honest here. Look, we are not propagandists. We're not like them. We don't insulate ourselves into our own little media bubble, impervious to the reality around us. We are the ones who are supposed to tell it straight even when it's not convenient.
. . . We are not the ones giving comfort to the GOP propagandists. The failing website, which is keeping people from signing up for health care, is what has given them comfort.
. . . It seems to me that everyone who believes in this law, who believes in universal healthcare, everyone who believes in the promise of the Federal Government to do big things ought to be outraged at this manifest incompetence. Just because it's our team who messed things up doesn't mean they should get a pass.

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Washington Post Pundit Ezra Klein on MSNBC's Morning Joe
Watch Video Here
These aren’t glitches, the website, to a first approximation, simply isn’t working. When the Obama Administration calls them 'glitches' I think they are underplaying the problem.
. . . There’s a real management failure here. It isn’t that nobody knew. A lot of reporters, health care reporters, people who were engaged with HHS and CMS, folks like me and a lot of my colleagues, were going to them and saying, ‘We’re hearing bad things out of your testing. We’re hearing you’re not being able to transmit your data the way you need to transmit it.’ Senior White House staff said, ‘No, we’ve been watching this, we’re talking to people, it’s all fine, bugs are getting fixed.’ Somewhere along the management chain the news, the actual truth of what was going on—because it was not unknown—got lost, got spun, got hidden, got obscured, and they know that.
. . . There were things they could have done, and they were not given the information by their own bureaucracy to do it. That is a management failure on them.











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Joan Walsh on Salon
As predictably as night follows day, on Monday the media establishment pivoted away from obsessing about GOP extremism and the party’s alleged “civil war” to the “train wreck” that is, allegedly, the Affordable Care Act.
And liberals helped lead the pivot.
Don’t get me wrong: The problems with Healthcare.gov are real, and disturbing, and must be fixed asap....But excuse me if I believe the president knows that without my telling him.
. . . when liberals rush conscientiously to do that, they only encourage the completely unbalanced and unhinged coverage of whatever the problem may be.



















All In With Chris Hayes Transcript, Oct. 23, 2013
Watch Video Here
EZRA KLEIN: -- And, they are getting your eligibility information through that computer system. That isn`t working. So, those things don`t work. No. Obamacare doesn`t work. And, that`s why this is a really big deal. And, we are reporting it at Wonk Blog and by the way, we are doing the same thing during the shutdown as a very big deal.

CHRIS HAYES: Do you think part of -- so, what`s your response to that?

JOAN WALSH: No. It`s more than just a website. But, I think that -- you know the affordable care act is already helping people. Millions of kids are still on their parents` policies. Millions of us, myself, included, are getting preventive care that we used to have to pay money for without a copay.

Millions are getting help through Medicaid and millions more would be helped through Medicaid except for republican governors. So, there are a  lot of great things going on. And, there also a lot of people frustrated but hanging in there because they desperately need health insurance.

So, they`re going to get it. It may be a complete disaster down the road. But we are not there yet. And, I guess, Ezra, what I would say to you is you are a wonderful reporter. I read you every day. I probably read close to every word you write.

(To Klein) But, it was your tone and I think what people trust about you is your sobriety. People think you`re a liberal, that`s because reality has a well known liberal bias. But, you know, you do your job and I appreciate that. I just felt like, you know, live blogging your attempt to reach somebody on the phone and complaining about the lack of hold music kind of crossed over.

KLEIN: No.
WALSH: This is a little bit.

KLEIN: But, this is really important, right? Because -- I hope that I got a reputation from the readership of being sober about these things. I think it`s really important to keep your head about you when these things are going on. When I called the system, it`s because president was saying call the system that day. And, the system dropped the call twice because it was so overwhelmed.

 I am trying through this reportage to convince people to persuade them something has really gone wrong here. Now -- You know, Chris, I don`t think there is anybody that wasn`t literally writing the law that wrote much more about this law in the construction phase in its legislative phase and through Wonkblog and its implementation phase and we have a Wonkblog.

I mean, we have been sort of covering this all every step of the way. And, so the reason we are covering this with the aggression that we are is that something real is going on here. We never said the law is doomed, but I think what we kind of found in our reporting, they think if this is fixed by thanksgiving, it`s probably pretty much OK.

But, these are not small problems. And, they`re not at the moment by the way OK problems. These are not things that the Obama administration should be given a pass on. Not least because they didn`t know they were happening. And, so one thing that I think is important about our role in the kind of informational ecosystem is something that went wrong for the
Obama Administration is they didn`t know. There was a breakdown between their bureaucracy and them.

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Friday, April 12, 2013

"Accidental Racist" Song a Failure to Communicate

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Racism has been on my mind. Last year, we had some really powerful movies deal with it really well. We had Django [Unchained] and Lincoln, and the media deals with it all the time, and I thought maybe it would be an interesting conversation between country music and rap music to deal with this subject between two individuals in a loving and understanding way.
~ Country Singer Brad Paisley on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno

The song wasn’t perfect. You can’t fit 300 or 400 years of history into a three or four minute song.
Ultimately, I can’t defend the song, but I can clarify my intentions. I in no way would ever compare the history of the Confederate flag with a do-rag. However, when you think about a kid like Trayvon Martin and you think about some of the things that happen in society based on clothing, when you put it in this proper context, it makes sense.
~ LL Cool J to Jay Leno







"Accidental Racist" Lyrics Via The Wrap

Paisley:

To the man that waited on me at the Starbucks down on Main, I hope you understand
When I put on that t-shirt, the only thing I meant to say is I'm a Skynyrd fan
The red flag on my chest somehow is like the elephant in the corner of the south
And I just walked him right in the room
Just a proud rebel son with an 'ol can of worms
Lookin' like I got a lot to learn but from my point of view

I'm just a white man comin' to you from the southland
Tryin' to understand what it's like not to be
I'm proud of where I'm from but not everything we've done
And it ain't like you and me can re-write history
Our generation didn't start this nation
We're still pickin' up the pieces, walkin' on eggshells, fightin' over yesterday
And caught between southern pride and southern blame

They called it Reconstruction, fixed the buildings, dried some tears
We're still siftin' through the rubble after a hundred-fifty years
I try to put myself in your shoes and that's a good place to begin
But it ain't like I can walk a mile in someone else's skin

'Cause I'm a white man livin' in the southland
Just like you I'm more than what you see
I'm proud of where I'm from but not everything we've done
And it ain't like you and me can re-write history
Our generation didn't start this nation
And we're still paying for the mistakes
That a bunch of folks made long before we came
And caught between southern pride and southern blame

Cool J:

Dear Mr. White Man, I wish you understood
What the world is really like when you're livin' in the hood
Just because my pants are saggin' doesn't mean I'm up to no good
You should try to get to know me, I really wish you would
Now my chains are gold but I'm still misunderstood
I wasn't there when Sherman's March turned the south into firewood
I want you to get paid but be a slave I never could
Feel like a new fangled Django, dodgin' invisible white hoods
So when I see that white cowboy hat, I'm thinkin' it's not all good
I guess we're both guilty of judgin' the cover not the book
I'd love to buy you a beer, conversate and clear the air
But I see that red flag and I think you wish I wasn't here

Paisley and Cool J (Cool J in parentheses):

I'm just a white man
(If you don't judge my do-rag)
Comin' to you from the southland
(I won't judge your red flag)
Tryin' to understand what it's like not to be
I'm proud of where I'm from
(If you don't judge my gold chains)
But not everything we've done
(I'll forget the iron chains)
It ain't like you and me can re-write history
(Can't re-write history baby)

Oh, Dixieland
(The relationship between the Mason-Dixon needs some fixin')
I hope you understand what this is all about
(Quite frankly I'm a black Yankee but I've been thinkin' about this lately)
I'm a son of the new south
(The past is the past, you feel me)
And I just want to make things right
(Let bygones be bygones)
Where all that's left is southern pride
(RIP Robert E. Lee but I've gotta thank Abraham Lincoln for freeing me, know what I mean)
It's real, it's real
It's truth

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The "Accidental Racist" we can work on. It's the "Intentional Racist" we need to eradicate.
~ Raptor2U on Huff Post

Those lyrics are impossible. I cannot believe this song actually exists!
Who the heck thought it was a good idea. . .complaining about how hard racism is. . .for white men? Ooof. I'm incredibly disappointed that LL Cool J chose to participate.
~ Horrible Pourable on Huff Post

They both get to wear the "I'm with stupid" t-shirt.
~ WinkandaNod on Huff Post

I think the purpose of this song is to get people talking. We don't talk to each other because of too much history and uncomfortable situations. We also don't want to listen...I appreciate Brad and LL for at least trying.
~ KimPeach on Huff Post

The performers call for racism to magically heal itself through major chords and willpower. It’s The Secret by way of Tinkerbell.
Paisley doesn’t want to talk to the coffeeshop guy about racism any more than LL wants to talk to white folks about mandatory minimums or systemic disparities in educational outcomes. They each want to know that ‘We’re cool, right bro?’ without actually engaging the ugly substance and legacy of American history. “Accidental Racist” deserves every ounce of clowning it gets...
~ Alan Pyke on Think Progress

Brad Paisley: “We’re still pickin’ up the pieces, walkin’ on eggshells, fightin’ over yesterday”
Nothing says “walkin’ on eggshells” quite like entering a Starbucks with a giant symbol of the institutionalized enslavement of human beings emblazoned on your chest. I wonder what he’d wear if he wasn’t so concerned with politeness!
~ Funny or Die, "The 11 Worst Lines from Accidental Racist"

As Dolly Parton once said (well, I heard her say it at a concert) "What do you get when you mix country and rap? CRAP!"
~ Simone F. on Think Progress

The members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were not racist. However, It was disappointing to learn that they decided to keep the confederate flag after their fans threw a fit.
~ Stacie B. on Think Progress

Whatever the reason, the song itself is a lyrical disgrace filled with awkward non-apologies and faux-pensiveness over the history of racism in the south.
~ Bobby Finger on Hairpin

My only objection to the song, and to the surrounding controversy, is that Brad Paisley says he is merely giving a the "Southern white man's point of view."
Mr. Paisley is from West Virginia, and as someone who was born and raised in Georgia, I resent that he considers himself Southern.
~ Class of '98, Atlanta on New York Times

To claim, as Paisley does, that wearing a confederate flag is actually about being a Lynard Skynyrd fan so we should ignore the dominant meaning, is silly. You can’t wear a swastika and say, “Oh don’t be upset–I’m thinking of the way the Chinese used it before it was appropriated by the Nazis.” That’s not how symbols work.
. . . I wonder if LL was drugged when he wrote and recorded the lyrics, “If you don’t judge my gold chains, I’ll forget the iron chain.” How could he have not recognized that as a possibly career-ending moment that would offend almost all of his fans to the core? He follows with other references to amnesia about a multi-century atrocity that still has a deep impact on America. Let bygones be bygones?
. . . I hope to never hear this horrible song again.
~ Touré on Time Magazine

But does this character exist? When people wear the Confederate flag, are they really surprised or concerned with who might be affected?
"They want to be able to carry the wounds of the Civil War but not the baggage," is how a source in the Nashville music industry described it to me. "They want to hold on to the trappings of the Confederacy but not be held responsible for everything they symbolize. And they're tired of having people make them feel bad for it I don't know if they are so much concerned about racism as they are about being seen as racist."
The lifelong Southerners I spoke to about this said that anyone wearing the flag as an adult in 2013 is fully aware of how it's viewed by others and has made the decision that they're okay with that.
~ Summer Anne Burton on BuzzFeed

The Confederate flag is a banner of hate, plain and simple. People need to do their research before they go around waving it around. And this is coming from a southern white male that was born and raised in Alabama.
~ Judd H. on BuzzFeed

I'm really upset with LL Cool J in this situation. Doesn't he realize what that flag represented to our ancestors? Pure hate. People in the south can be proud and display where they came from without this flag. This song is a cop out.
~ JoannaJ2 on BuzzFeed

. . . early in the song Paisley laments being judged for wearing a T-shirt that features a Confederate flag. He says he's not racist, he's just a "proud rebel son" and Lynyrd Skynyrd fan.
Here's what Paisley fails to realize - the very thing that is a symbol of pride for him is a symbol of oppression for others. The Confederate flag represents a movement that aimed to keep my ancestors in servitude. If that flag flew over our nation's capital today I wouldn't be allowed to read, let alone express myself in this column.
Do I think Paisley is racist? Not at all. But the symbol on his chest is. So yeah, I'm offended.
LL is just as offensive, reciting rhymes like this:
"If you don't judge my gold chains, I'll forget the iron chains," and "If you don't judge my do-rag, I won't judge your red flag."
In a song that hopes to erase stereotypes, LL is essentially glorifying them. Of all the metaphors he could have been used, why did LL go with gold chains and do-rags, the very images blacks have been trying to overcome for decades?
~ Edward Bowser on AL.com

David Graham on The Atlantic
But this is exactly how not to write a song about the Confederate flag. To see the right way, you've got to go back 20 years to the Bottle Rockets. They've got as much southern cred as Paisley -- the band is from Festus, Missouri, they're as likely to have steel guitar on their records as he is, and they write songs about trailer parks, $1000 cars, and Loretta Lynn. In other words, this isn't like Ontario-born Neil Young blasting backward racists in "Southern Man" (though he was right, too, no matter how it infuriated Lynyrd Skynyrd) -- it's a critique from within. Here's how songwriter Brian Henneman handled it in 1993:


Here's the first verse:
Look, here comes another one, 4-wheel drive
Look there in the window, man, sakes alive!
That good ol' boy's waving the stars and bars.
It's a red, white, and blue flag, but it ain't ours.
And the chorus:
Wave that flag high, wave it high,
Do you know what it means, do you know why?
Maybe bein' a rebel ain't no big deal
But if somebody owned your ass, how would you feel?

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Sunday, August 19, 2012

Rock Star Rage Against Ryan

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Representative Paul D. Ryan strolls the halls of Capitol Hill with the anarchist band Rage Against the Machine pounding through his earbuds.
~ The New York Times

Rage Against The Machine Singer Tom Morello, via Rolling Stone
Paul Ryan's love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades.

. . . I wonder what Ryan's favorite Rage song is? Is it the one where we condemn the genocide of Native Americans? The one lambasting American imperialism? Our cover of "F*** the Police"? Or is it the one where we call on the people to seize the means of production? So many excellent choices to jam out to at Young Republican meetings!

Don't mistake me, I clearly see that Ryan has a whole lotta "rage" in him: A rage against women, a rage against immigrants, a rage against workers, a rage against gays, a rage against the poor, a rage against the environment. Basically the only thing he's not raging against is the privileged elite he's groveling in front of for campaign contributions.

You see, the super rich must rationalize having more than they could ever spend while millions of children in the U.S. go to bed hungry every night. So, when they look themselves in the mirror, they convince themselves that "Those people are undeserving. They're . . . lesser."




























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Monday, August 13, 2012

NBC Really Loves Their Monkey

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Another stumble in NBC's near perfect show of incompetence in the Olympic games, as it cut away from Ray Davies singing Waterloo Sunset to air Animal Practice, which is "a show about a fictional animal dr" according to a disgruntled tweet from Glee star Kevin McHale.
NBC cut out Kate Bush, The Who, and Muse, causing #NBCfail to trend worldwide.
The New Statesman

NBC Halts Olympics for Monkey Show
~ Headline in the St. Louis Tribune

Is NBC's Animal Practice the Most-Hated Show on Television?
Headline on Forbes

I don’t think NBC has ever run full pilots inside the Olympics before, which hopefully will drive a lot of attention. If we have 30 million viewers or 25 million viewers pouring into one of these previews, we’d be thrilled.
~ NBC entertainment head Bob Greenblatt, apparently clueless that fans would be furious if NBC screwed up once again.

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