What the hell happened here?
We're used to our classic rock heroes dropping. Credit David Bowie, Glenn Frey and Prince. We were just minding our own business, as were they, and they bit the dust. The Big C got Bowie. Rheumatoid arthritis drugs got Frey. As for Prince... Do we really know who anybody is and what they're up to? A drug addict? Fentanyl? Seems like we only know ourselves.
But we think we know theses musicians.
You've got to understand, the Allman Brothers Band broke when it was only about the music. Sure, Gregg Allman was a dreamboat, but he was not a scene-stealer. And Duane and Dickie seemed to be channeling a higher power and the whole thing was driven forward by Berry, Jaimoe and Butch.
And if you went to a recent Brothers show, and you were privileged to be an insider, you got to sit on stage, right next to that twin drumming powerhouse. And it seemed that Jaimoe was doing his best to keep up, but Butch? He was the engine that kept pushing, and now he's gone.
To the point when he passed and it wasn't big news. This is how far we've come, we expect our heroes to die. But at 69? Cross the threshold into your sixties and you realize that 69 is just not that old. So many of the surviving classic rock musicians, especially the English ones, are in their seventies, many still touring. Once you get into your eighties you're starting to hear the Grim Reaper knocking on your door, but statistically the longer you live the longer you live and now it's de rigueur to be alive in your nineties, and quite functional to boot. So 69?
I don't know how the Allmans survived the death of Duane. Maybe they didn't know what better to do. Look at all the marriages that end with the death of a child, it's hard to pick up and keep on keepin' on. And then they lost Berry and eventually the band imploded, Gregg went on his merry way.
But then they reunited. That's what we've learned along the way. Everybody needs the money. Few can succeed without their brethren. Of course there are exceptions, Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins, but all of them have gotten back together with their bands, the lure of the money is just too great.
But the Allmans said they were done for real. And it's been looking this way. Derek and Susan are invested in their band and Warren always had his own career and Gregg never needed anybody else on the marquee, after all it's his last name that everybody knows, but what about Butch?
This is not the delta bluesmen, ripped-off from day one, doing menial labor until they were rediscovered by the college kids and got a victory lap.
This is not today's heroes, the techies with financial advisors who are not only protected, but have enough assets to provide for their children's children's children.
No, this is musicians.
If you can find a financially savvy musician, he's a bad player. Of course there are exceptions, but not many. You see to create this music you have to have a different viewpoint, live in an alternative universe, that's why classic rock dominated and still gets played, the lunatics took over the asylum, the execs threw their hands in the air and just let the players rule, unlike today, when the business people have a heavy hand in what's released.
Then again, there's so much money at risk. Didn't used to be this way. Today the barrier to entry is nonexistent, it's just that if you do it yourself you can't get noticed. Whereas before, you saw the Beatles on television, you picked up your instrument, you played at school, at parties, at bar mitzvahs, at bars, the bands went through various permutations, you found someone who could write, another who could sing, and if you were lucky you got noticed.
But it was a long hard road getting there. Not like today, where fourteen year olds believe they're deserving of recognition. By time you were signed, you'd lost your virginity backstage had done drugs without names and had sipped enough alcohol to pickle a farm animal. You were experienced. In a way those at home were not. To the point when we saw you on stage...
We looked up to you, you were our heroes.
They're still our heroes. We were stoned in the basement, staring at the album cover, we paid three, four and five dollars to go to the gig, we were in it together, Butch Trucks was FAMOUS! How could he get so low?
Now I'm neither a psychiatrist nor privy to all the facts of Butch's life. But all the news reports said he had financial troubles. And the truth is, if we fans knew this, we'd have given him all our money and come to his house and cooked him dinner, that's how much he meant to us. But it was a different time, today "artists" beg, yesterday they were too proud, they earned their money.
And Butch put together an act that played occasionally, but he was support, it's hard to continue when you're not the singer.
So, you're famous and broke with no income on the horizon and you get depressed and...
Nobody cares about you, certainly not the label, that ripped you off from day one to begin with.
And if you even own any publishing, you could wait forever for the money.
And there are no signing shows like for baseball, because unlike sportsmen, we think you're still valid, you can still play.
And then you're gone.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. If the drugs didn't get you, if you survived the madness, you were supposed to live to a ripe old age, to the point where we shrugged and said it was time to die, you'd lived a good life.
But then John Lennon was cut down and George Harrison succumbed to cancer and now there are only two Beatles left and at some point in the future there will be none.
And let's be clear, the Beatles made beaucoup bucks, and the Allman Brothers did too, but they thought the road would go on forever, and when it doesn't, it's positively shocking.
Meanwhile, the show goes on without you. You sit at home and watch the nitwits duetting on the Grammys and all you're left with is your dignity. You did nothing wrong, your only flaw was to outlive your paying audience. That's another thing, you don't want to see these players disappear, but you don't want to go anymore and then you can't go anymore and there's this giant hole inside you... Come on, don't you want one more chance to see Leon Russell?
So the thing about Butch Trucks is he was a serious man, who played like his job was the most important on earth. He was not a show-off, but a supporting cast member, but without a foundation you've got no band. Bands are tenuous things, and the rhythm section is key, just ask Mick about Charlie.
And now, we're going through our lives merrily, albeit obsessed with the shenanigans in Washington, D.C., and our heroes keep dropping like flies. To the point where it's no big deal anymore.
But it is a big deal.
I wish we could provide a safety net for the heroes of yore.
I wish they knew how much we loved them.
I wish Butch Trucks didn't get to such a dark place where he took his own life.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/?utm_source=phplist5724&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Butch+Trucks+Suicide
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz?utm_source=phplist5724&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Butch+Trucks+Suicide
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1&utm_source=phplist5724&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Butch+Trucks+Suicide
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25&utm_source=phplist5724&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Butch+Trucks+Suicide
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25&utm_source=phplist5724&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Butch+Trucks+Suicide
-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --
Friday 3 February 2017
Why We've Got No Protest Music
1. Mariah Carey
Bob Dylan looked up to Woody Guthrie, today's nitwits admire Mariah Carey. That's right, she hit almost three decades ago and dominated the nineties and what was her message? Empty hedonism. Sung by a woman with great pipes. So, that's who today's TV contestants emulate. They figure someone else will write the songs, after all if you know how to sing... Clive and company made all those other victors winners.
2. Income inequality
Everybody's so busy struggling, they don't want to take any steps that might hold them back. Therefore, if you get ahead, you want to stay there. Kinda like Taylor Swift, the biggest star in America, she's been mum about Trump, because she doesn't want to lose any potential fans. And if Swift is mum, what are the odds anybody else is gonna voice a controversial opinion? The best and the brightest avoid music, because they know the odds are long and if you don't make it and haven't been investing in your straight career you're screwed. Only the poor and disadvantaged commit to music, and they see it as a vehicle out of the dumps, not one of self-expression. They want some of that money and lifestyle, and, ironically, those who make it hang with billionaires and emulate them. Our society is dominated by money, not culture. After all, we elected as President a man whose sole calling card is he's supposedly rich. We used to elect big thinkers, no more.
3. No sense of history
Dylan, et al, emerged out of the folk scene, with its long history of standing up for people's rights and protests. There's no folk scene today, there's no sense of history at all. Will kids tomorrow emulate the English bluesmen who emulated the delta bluesmen? Possibly so, but there's no evidence of this yet.
4. Hip-hop culture
Used to be about speaking truth to power, now it's about lifestyle. Hip-hop is the most vibrant music we've got, but it's become self-referential, kinda like metal. You can't understand today's metal unless you listened to decades of it before. As for hip-hop culture... This is dangerous, but I'll wade in. The African-American has been screwed from Day One in America and he sees it as a badge of honor to get his and rip-off the man. So rappers don't turn down corporate endorsements, they don't say no to power, they want to become brands with all that money. And it's understandable, since these same men who run the brands have been screwing them from time immemorial, and the opportunity to take back is hard to turn down. And my inbox will now fill up with missives telling me I don't understand, and maybe I don't, but that proves the point that everybody's afraid of wading in, discussing the issues, especially if they're murky. Funny how Republicans will say the seemingly unpopular, especially Trump, and Democrats are so busy pussyfooting, afraid to piss a single person off, that they end up saying nothing.
5. Hip-hop culture 2
It dominates, especially on streaming services. If only there was an embraceable anthem, akin to those of NWA and Public Enemy of yesteryear. I remember during the Rodney King riots realizing everything Ice-T said was right. But now that Trump's in office and white man power is at its zenith, I can't point to one hip-hop song that nails it. But, even if there was one, would I even know it? The truth is 40% of the public will never listen to hip-hop, never ever. Yet hip-hop is even bigger on streaming services than in sales, quite the conundrum.
6. The music is made by Europeans
Max Martin, DJ Snake, music has become international and too many of the hits are made by people not rooted to American soil, whose first language is not English. And on one hand, this is fantastic, music is living in the now, but on the other, there are no boots on the ground that want to send a narrow, American-focused message the same way studios don't want to make comedies because they don't play well overseas.
7. No singability
I knew every lick of "Blowin' In The Wind" long before I knew who Bob Dylan was. Because we sang the song at summer camp, around the fire, along with those of Peter, Paul & Mary and Joan Baez and... We are making no new standards, certainly none that everybody can sing along to. There's no melody and no harmony. We used to sit around and sing Beatle songs, playing the chords on our guitars. I haven't seen a group of kids sitting around playing today's music...ever!
8. Niche rules
Protest music is inherently broad, it appeals to everybody. But the only artist who fits this paradigm today is Adele and her last album was a disappointment. She's got a great voice and you can sing along to the songs. Should we be following this paradigm? I'd say so. But Adele learned how to sing in school and nobody knows how to play an instrument anymore.
9. Money
It comes first, it's top of mind, not only do you want cash, you want nothing to hold you back from getting it. So, you pull your punches.
10. Gotcha society
Country artists believe if they speak their truth and it's not red state/right wing they'll be blackballed. Meanwhile, who is the "they" that control this country, that know what's going on? Looks to me like media is out of touch, Lady Gaga is being trumpeted but she's got the stiffest album of the year. In the old days she'd be poked fun at as a has-been, but the mainstream media and the NFL are in thrall to the usual suspects who pump misinformation which makes you wonder if a protest song could even be heard.
SOLUTIONS
1. A song
In an era where most of the hits are written by professionals, these professionals are the ones who must write protest anthems. And the truth is, if they write hits, singers will line up to sing them. Don't forget, the unheralded Barry McGuire sang P.F. Sloan's "Eve Of Destruction." Do not depend on the artists to serendipitously come up with a hit. This is not the seventies, when the stars wrote their own material, the songs are written by committee, first we must infect the committee.
2. Anthems are necessary
How many times can we sing "We Shall Overcome" and "This Land Is Your Land"? There's a huge vacuum waiting to be filled. Write and record a protest hit, and you'll own the airwaves, as well as the marches and rallies.
3. Melody
Beats rule but they don't translate very well. If it can't be taught to elementary school kids, if I'm not humming it in my head, if we can't break into a verse at the sporting event, we've got a nonstarter.
4. Truth, not anti
It's not about putting Trump down, but speaking for the disadvantaged, and the left wing will not regain power until it connects with the disadvantaged. A protest song that talks about the lack of jobs and the foibles of corporations and the elite will unite the great mass of Americans against them, and that's what we need. We need middle class leaders speaking up compassionately for the disadvantaged.
MORE RULES
Singable chorus. Which comes early in the song
Short verses. Which express both frustration and speak to the plight of the working person.
Don't worry about offending. Just by speaking your truth you're gonna piss off somebody. Don't let that hold you back. Great art has historically made people uncomfortable.
You're doing it for society, not for yourself. Narcissism is passe. You're providing a service.
CONCLUSION
It's individuals who are leading the revolution, there are no heroes, none on the landscape I can see. Hillary lost and the Dems went into hiding. I wish I had confidence the artists would step up, but pissed-off protesters showing up in public spaces seems about as much as we're gonna get. But what are they gonna sing?
Bob Dylan looked up to Woody Guthrie, today's nitwits admire Mariah Carey. That's right, she hit almost three decades ago and dominated the nineties and what was her message? Empty hedonism. Sung by a woman with great pipes. So, that's who today's TV contestants emulate. They figure someone else will write the songs, after all if you know how to sing... Clive and company made all those other victors winners.
2. Income inequality
Everybody's so busy struggling, they don't want to take any steps that might hold them back. Therefore, if you get ahead, you want to stay there. Kinda like Taylor Swift, the biggest star in America, she's been mum about Trump, because she doesn't want to lose any potential fans. And if Swift is mum, what are the odds anybody else is gonna voice a controversial opinion? The best and the brightest avoid music, because they know the odds are long and if you don't make it and haven't been investing in your straight career you're screwed. Only the poor and disadvantaged commit to music, and they see it as a vehicle out of the dumps, not one of self-expression. They want some of that money and lifestyle, and, ironically, those who make it hang with billionaires and emulate them. Our society is dominated by money, not culture. After all, we elected as President a man whose sole calling card is he's supposedly rich. We used to elect big thinkers, no more.
3. No sense of history
Dylan, et al, emerged out of the folk scene, with its long history of standing up for people's rights and protests. There's no folk scene today, there's no sense of history at all. Will kids tomorrow emulate the English bluesmen who emulated the delta bluesmen? Possibly so, but there's no evidence of this yet.
4. Hip-hop culture
Used to be about speaking truth to power, now it's about lifestyle. Hip-hop is the most vibrant music we've got, but it's become self-referential, kinda like metal. You can't understand today's metal unless you listened to decades of it before. As for hip-hop culture... This is dangerous, but I'll wade in. The African-American has been screwed from Day One in America and he sees it as a badge of honor to get his and rip-off the man. So rappers don't turn down corporate endorsements, they don't say no to power, they want to become brands with all that money. And it's understandable, since these same men who run the brands have been screwing them from time immemorial, and the opportunity to take back is hard to turn down. And my inbox will now fill up with missives telling me I don't understand, and maybe I don't, but that proves the point that everybody's afraid of wading in, discussing the issues, especially if they're murky. Funny how Republicans will say the seemingly unpopular, especially Trump, and Democrats are so busy pussyfooting, afraid to piss a single person off, that they end up saying nothing.
5. Hip-hop culture 2
It dominates, especially on streaming services. If only there was an embraceable anthem, akin to those of NWA and Public Enemy of yesteryear. I remember during the Rodney King riots realizing everything Ice-T said was right. But now that Trump's in office and white man power is at its zenith, I can't point to one hip-hop song that nails it. But, even if there was one, would I even know it? The truth is 40% of the public will never listen to hip-hop, never ever. Yet hip-hop is even bigger on streaming services than in sales, quite the conundrum.
6. The music is made by Europeans
Max Martin, DJ Snake, music has become international and too many of the hits are made by people not rooted to American soil, whose first language is not English. And on one hand, this is fantastic, music is living in the now, but on the other, there are no boots on the ground that want to send a narrow, American-focused message the same way studios don't want to make comedies because they don't play well overseas.
7. No singability
I knew every lick of "Blowin' In The Wind" long before I knew who Bob Dylan was. Because we sang the song at summer camp, around the fire, along with those of Peter, Paul & Mary and Joan Baez and... We are making no new standards, certainly none that everybody can sing along to. There's no melody and no harmony. We used to sit around and sing Beatle songs, playing the chords on our guitars. I haven't seen a group of kids sitting around playing today's music...ever!
8. Niche rules
Protest music is inherently broad, it appeals to everybody. But the only artist who fits this paradigm today is Adele and her last album was a disappointment. She's got a great voice and you can sing along to the songs. Should we be following this paradigm? I'd say so. But Adele learned how to sing in school and nobody knows how to play an instrument anymore.
9. Money
It comes first, it's top of mind, not only do you want cash, you want nothing to hold you back from getting it. So, you pull your punches.
10. Gotcha society
Country artists believe if they speak their truth and it's not red state/right wing they'll be blackballed. Meanwhile, who is the "they" that control this country, that know what's going on? Looks to me like media is out of touch, Lady Gaga is being trumpeted but she's got the stiffest album of the year. In the old days she'd be poked fun at as a has-been, but the mainstream media and the NFL are in thrall to the usual suspects who pump misinformation which makes you wonder if a protest song could even be heard.
SOLUTIONS
1. A song
In an era where most of the hits are written by professionals, these professionals are the ones who must write protest anthems. And the truth is, if they write hits, singers will line up to sing them. Don't forget, the unheralded Barry McGuire sang P.F. Sloan's "Eve Of Destruction." Do not depend on the artists to serendipitously come up with a hit. This is not the seventies, when the stars wrote their own material, the songs are written by committee, first we must infect the committee.
2. Anthems are necessary
How many times can we sing "We Shall Overcome" and "This Land Is Your Land"? There's a huge vacuum waiting to be filled. Write and record a protest hit, and you'll own the airwaves, as well as the marches and rallies.
3. Melody
Beats rule but they don't translate very well. If it can't be taught to elementary school kids, if I'm not humming it in my head, if we can't break into a verse at the sporting event, we've got a nonstarter.
4. Truth, not anti
It's not about putting Trump down, but speaking for the disadvantaged, and the left wing will not regain power until it connects with the disadvantaged. A protest song that talks about the lack of jobs and the foibles of corporations and the elite will unite the great mass of Americans against them, and that's what we need. We need middle class leaders speaking up compassionately for the disadvantaged.
MORE RULES
Singable chorus. Which comes early in the song
Short verses. Which express both frustration and speak to the plight of the working person.
Don't worry about offending. Just by speaking your truth you're gonna piss off somebody. Don't let that hold you back. Great art has historically made people uncomfortable.
You're doing it for society, not for yourself. Narcissism is passe. You're providing a service.
CONCLUSION
It's individuals who are leading the revolution, there are no heroes, none on the landscape I can see. Hillary lost and the Dems went into hiding. I wish I had confidence the artists would step up, but pissed-off protesters showing up in public spaces seems about as much as we're gonna get. But what are they gonna sing?
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/?utm_source=phplist5723&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Why+We%27ve+Got+No+Protest+Music
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz?utm_source=phplist5723&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Why+We%27ve+Got+No+Protest+Music
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1&utm_source=phplist5723&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Why+We%27ve+Got+No+Protest+Music
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25&utm_source=phplist5723&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Why+We%27ve+Got+No+Protest+Music
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25&utm_source=phplist5723&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Why+We%27ve+Got+No+Protest+Music
-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --
Sunday 29 January 2017
LAX
Trump was not prepared for this.
But neither was I.
After spending five days on my back, sick as a dog, I landed in Los Angeles, the land of winter heat and thick air, and...
There was no limo driver.
I'm busy b.s.'ing with Tempkins, who's planning to go to the Westin, lord only knows how that turned out, and Felice is getting frustrated. But I tell her we landed forty five minutes early, that's why the driver wasn't there.
That's not why the driver was absent. He couldn't get anywhere near the airport. Because, you see, they were protesting Trump's immigration policy at the Bradley Terminal.
Thank god we didn't take the driver's advice, when he called in and told us to get a cab to where he was on 98th Street... Not because I'm afraid of the neighborhood, to which a degree I am, but because there were no cabs!
I pulled out my phone.
Used to be in times of crisis you turned on the television.
On the news apps?
Nothing.
I had to go to Twitter, where the feed was blowing up, #LAX, it was all there to see, frustration, gas being poured on fire, and I was catching up as the sirens started to scream, the gumballs swirled, and suddenly I felt like I was in Europe during the last century, when workers went on strike and brought cities to a crawl.
They brought LAX to a crawl.
But I wasn't frustrated, I didn't care how long it took to get out, made me proud to be an American, made me feel we can beat this jerk, because we've got the majority on our side. And just like we found out every family has a gay member, however closeted, it turns out every family has a foreign relative or has been here relatively briefly and who knew there would be such a spontaneous reaction to the ban?
And spontaneous is the key. Trump could brush aside the Women's March, it was planned and foreseen. But shutting down airports? I don't think anybody in the Cabinet pictured that. Then again, when was the last time these people flew commercial anyway?
So what to do?
After waiting forever for our bags, it is LAX, after all, like hillbillies we started strolling for the exits. And it was so crowded on the sidewalks that we realized we might as well walk in the street, there were no cars at all. Nobody at LAX could be picked up!
And nobody could be dropped off!
In the other direction were the huddled masses walking in, having abandoned their rides, not wanting to miss their flights.
But it was not pandemonium, everybody was cool, this is how you give the middle finger to the powers-that-be.
Turns out Trump didn't think his policy through. And when he says how few people were actually denied entrance who's gonna believe him, after the inauguration fiasco, everything he says, especially when it comes to statistics, is false.
But the public was mad as hell, and they couldn't take it anymore. And you may not have been at the airport but soon you're gonna be inconvenienced too. Because as President Dodo institutes his policies the public is gonna rise up again and again and again.
We haven't had this spirit here since 1969. When the public had enough of the Vietnam War. You may not have been alive back then, but a great majority was for the war before it was against it. Unlike politicians, the public can change its mind. And on Twitter you're seeing the regret, the people who voted for Trump and are now reconsidering.
That's what's great about history. You cannot see what is coming. We thought Trump would be toppled by truth in newspapers, but really it's gonna be you and me, standing up to the man.
So we're walking out of the airport. The lines for the taxis look like you'll get out by Tuesday. As for Uber... Not such a great solution when you can't get in. And what Uber driver would attempt to anyway. Made me glad that in this instance we had a car.
Which we eventually met two terminals away. And after being picked up we started to see...
Traffic. Empty roads on the way out, gridlock on the way in. Funny how so few can impact the lives of so many. Which is kind of how we got into this mess in the first place, Trump believing he could run herd with his minority over the majority.
Call it people power. Pushback that was not anticipated. We kept hearing the Republicans control Congress as well as the White House, soon the Supreme Court too. And that's very depressing.
But tonight I'm optimistic.
Because it's you and me, baby. United we stand, Delta and Southwest too, and when we're together there's no stopping us.
It's democracy in action.
You can't keep the will of the people down.
And the people have spoken and are continuing to speak.
Just because you squeaked to a victory by playing to a slice of America's public inciting their biases and fears, that does not mean you have a mandate to trample our rights.
There was no plan folks. This bad businessman who has been kept alive by banks as he raped and pillaged in Atlantic City and around the world has been shooting from the hip. Whereas great leaders weigh and plan and...
Do everything Trump won't do.
Johnny came marching home tonight.
And he's gonna keep on marching until truth, justice and the American way are restored!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/?utm_source=phplist5722&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=LAX
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz?utm_source=phplist5722&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=LAX
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1&utm_source=phplist5722&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=LAX
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25&utm_source=phplist5722&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=LAX
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25&utm_source=phplist5722&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=LAX
-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --
But neither was I.
After spending five days on my back, sick as a dog, I landed in Los Angeles, the land of winter heat and thick air, and...
There was no limo driver.
I'm busy b.s.'ing with Tempkins, who's planning to go to the Westin, lord only knows how that turned out, and Felice is getting frustrated. But I tell her we landed forty five minutes early, that's why the driver wasn't there.
That's not why the driver was absent. He couldn't get anywhere near the airport. Because, you see, they were protesting Trump's immigration policy at the Bradley Terminal.
Thank god we didn't take the driver's advice, when he called in and told us to get a cab to where he was on 98th Street... Not because I'm afraid of the neighborhood, to which a degree I am, but because there were no cabs!
I pulled out my phone.
Used to be in times of crisis you turned on the television.
On the news apps?
Nothing.
I had to go to Twitter, where the feed was blowing up, #LAX, it was all there to see, frustration, gas being poured on fire, and I was catching up as the sirens started to scream, the gumballs swirled, and suddenly I felt like I was in Europe during the last century, when workers went on strike and brought cities to a crawl.
They brought LAX to a crawl.
But I wasn't frustrated, I didn't care how long it took to get out, made me proud to be an American, made me feel we can beat this jerk, because we've got the majority on our side. And just like we found out every family has a gay member, however closeted, it turns out every family has a foreign relative or has been here relatively briefly and who knew there would be such a spontaneous reaction to the ban?
And spontaneous is the key. Trump could brush aside the Women's March, it was planned and foreseen. But shutting down airports? I don't think anybody in the Cabinet pictured that. Then again, when was the last time these people flew commercial anyway?
So what to do?
After waiting forever for our bags, it is LAX, after all, like hillbillies we started strolling for the exits. And it was so crowded on the sidewalks that we realized we might as well walk in the street, there were no cars at all. Nobody at LAX could be picked up!
And nobody could be dropped off!
In the other direction were the huddled masses walking in, having abandoned their rides, not wanting to miss their flights.
But it was not pandemonium, everybody was cool, this is how you give the middle finger to the powers-that-be.
Turns out Trump didn't think his policy through. And when he says how few people were actually denied entrance who's gonna believe him, after the inauguration fiasco, everything he says, especially when it comes to statistics, is false.
But the public was mad as hell, and they couldn't take it anymore. And you may not have been at the airport but soon you're gonna be inconvenienced too. Because as President Dodo institutes his policies the public is gonna rise up again and again and again.
We haven't had this spirit here since 1969. When the public had enough of the Vietnam War. You may not have been alive back then, but a great majority was for the war before it was against it. Unlike politicians, the public can change its mind. And on Twitter you're seeing the regret, the people who voted for Trump and are now reconsidering.
That's what's great about history. You cannot see what is coming. We thought Trump would be toppled by truth in newspapers, but really it's gonna be you and me, standing up to the man.
So we're walking out of the airport. The lines for the taxis look like you'll get out by Tuesday. As for Uber... Not such a great solution when you can't get in. And what Uber driver would attempt to anyway. Made me glad that in this instance we had a car.
Which we eventually met two terminals away. And after being picked up we started to see...
Traffic. Empty roads on the way out, gridlock on the way in. Funny how so few can impact the lives of so many. Which is kind of how we got into this mess in the first place, Trump believing he could run herd with his minority over the majority.
Call it people power. Pushback that was not anticipated. We kept hearing the Republicans control Congress as well as the White House, soon the Supreme Court too. And that's very depressing.
But tonight I'm optimistic.
Because it's you and me, baby. United we stand, Delta and Southwest too, and when we're together there's no stopping us.
It's democracy in action.
You can't keep the will of the people down.
And the people have spoken and are continuing to speak.
Just because you squeaked to a victory by playing to a slice of America's public inciting their biases and fears, that does not mean you have a mandate to trample our rights.
There was no plan folks. This bad businessman who has been kept alive by banks as he raped and pillaged in Atlantic City and around the world has been shooting from the hip. Whereas great leaders weigh and plan and...
Do everything Trump won't do.
Johnny came marching home tonight.
And he's gonna keep on marching until truth, justice and the American way are restored!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/?utm_source=phplist5722&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=LAX
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz?utm_source=phplist5722&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=LAX
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1&utm_source=phplist5722&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=LAX
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25&utm_source=phplist5722&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=LAX
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25&utm_source=phplist5722&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=LAX
-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)