AOC's Trauma, Greene's New Deal

Plus: A Questlove movie and music from Diana Krall, Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett, and Stevie Wonder.

Sen. Mitch McConnell last night said the views of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Q-GA) are “loony lies” and a "cancer" for the Republican Party—shortly after the man he defended for (over) four years, Donald Trump, backed her 100% in a phone call. Democrats, meanwhile, threatened to force her off her committee posts. In more tuneful news below, we find Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, Questlove’s new soulful film, and Diana Krall’s amazing Joni Mitchell cover. Then maybe subscribe—it’s free!

Politics/Media

Stephen Colbert on Biden/Harris: “Joe-Mala, as no one calls them.” And on Trump’s lawyers abandoning him: “Rats fleeing a sinking…rat.”

You may have read about AOC’s chilling revelations last night about the Capitol insurrection, her earlier sexual assault and more, but if not: here’s a report, here’s part of it in a two-minute video, and another shorter one. This morning she wrote: “Thanks for making the space for me, and hope we can all make space for others to tell their stories in the weeks to come. And to those who wish to paper over their misdeeds by rushing us to all ‘move on’—we can move on when the individuals responsible are held to account.”

Ronan Farrow today at The New Yorker unmasks the Capitol riot’s “Bullhorn Lady.” Mother of eight who came under the sway of Rudy G and Alex Jones. “She declined to comment on some of her conduct—including smashing windows and shouting orders to fellow-rioters—that could carry criminal charges. ‘Listen, if somebody doesn’t help and direct people, then do more people die?’ she said.” Then she realized she better call her attorney….This is saying a lot but Axios today with piece on what it calls “the craziest meeting” of all in the Trump White House, when four conspiracy nuts were welcomed one day back in December.

For the record, Guy Fawkes (above), unlike some of the Capitol Hill mob, did not get off easy. He was questioned and tortured for a few days in November 1605 and confessed to wanting to blow up the House of Lords. Immediately before his execution, Fawkes fell from the scaffold where he was to be hanged and broke his neck, thus avoiding (at least) the pain of being drawn and quartered. (Cartoon by Paul Noth, The New Yorker).

When it was reported last night that Dolly Parton turned down Trump’s offer of a Medal of Freedom twice many assumed she was taking a moral stand. Actually, she says, it was only because her husband was ill the first time, and the second time it was due to ”the Covid.” Now she’s not sure she’d accept one from Biden because it would look “political.”

Love this much-needed column by longtime media watcher and pal Margaret Sullivan, ripping the claims that overdue accountability = “cancel culture.” And adds:

It would help if journalists pushed back more effectively. CNN’s Pamela Brown gave a master class in her devastating interview with Madison Cawthorn, a Republican congressman from North Carolina. By the end, he had no defense left for his election denialism.

But, even if that sort of pushback becomes the norm, news organizations should be wary of handing these charlatans a megaphone. You can call that cancel culture if you want. I call it responsibility.

You probably heard about Evan Rachel Wood’s new and credible claims of being abused by onetime partner Marilyn Manson, so here is a follow (more trouble for him), along with being dropped by his record label and from a new series as an actor. Call us not shocked, since the freak once threatened, in print, to bash her head in.

Yes, Rochester, N.Y., cops cuffed and pepper-sprayed a kid, age 9, and now there’s body-cam footage. Perps now suspended.

The “GameStop” crisis is already heading to Hollywood, courtesy of the Winklevoss twins and the writer whose book inspired The Social Network.

Admire very much Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a deep thinker, and even met him once via his old NYC friend Peter Knobler, but had to wonder when I saw the headline for his piece just out at the NYT: “We Should Let Some N.B.A. Players Jump the Vaccine Queue.” But wait, there’s the problem of widespread resistance by blacks to getting vaccinated:

In 1956, Elvis Presley received his polio vaccine on television, launching a highly effective vaccination campaign that by 1960 had reduced annual occurrences of polio by 90 percent. Health policy professionals suggest that public health campaigns using celebrities should focus on celebrities who are influential in particular communities in order to build trust.

N.B.A. players, 81.1 percent of whom are Black, appeal to the under-35 and African-American demographics….so when they and other influential N.B.A. athletes publicly get their shots, they will contribute to convincing Black and under-35 skeptics that the vaccines are safe and necessary. Other role models might be necessary to reach other populations that are reluctant to get vaccinated, like those in rural areas of the country.

Music

You may have heard by now the sad news about Tony Bennett, at 94, is afflicted with Alzheimer’s. Tony and I go way back. The first adult record I was given as a kid—at about age 5—was Tony’s version, on a 78, of Hank Williams’ immortal “Cold, Cold Heart.” Later, as a young teen, despite my rock ‘n roll leanings, I loved “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” and “I Wanna Be Around” and bought two or three of his albums (a major purchase for a kid then), and remained at least a distant fan ever since. Here’s a major piece from AARP on Tony’s current battle. Big-hearted Lady Gaga, who had worked with him so memorably in the past, recently recorded an album with him. Their duet above is from a few years in the past.

Too little notice in the past couple days to the passing of Hilton Valentine, 77, lead guitarist for the slightly underrated The Animals. Eric Burdon wrote on hearing of his death, "The opening of ‘Rising Sun’ will never sound the same!... You didn't just play it, you lived it! Heartbroken by the sudden news of Hilton's passing. We had great times together, Geordie lad. From the North Shields to the entire world...Rock In Peace.” Above: One of the most hallowed openings and guitar parts in rock ‘n roll history, courtesy of the man himself. He also made many of us feel as teens that “we gotta get out of this place.”

Film/TV

It was known, not really accurately, as “The Black Woodstock,” but slipped pretty much from memories and written accounts. Now a new doc that just debuted at Sundance brings it all back. It’s Questlove’s Summer of Soul. Stars of the 1969 concerts in New York City, against a background of recent urban rioting, included Stevie Wonder, Sly & the Family Stone, the Staples, Nina Simone, B.B. King, Mahalia Jackson, David Ruffin, and on and on—and here’s an excerpt from The Guardian review.

The shows, officially called the Harlem Culture festival, were a revelation. They were marvelously programmed to highlight different avenues of black music, from Motown pop to jazz to Afrobeat to gospel to psychedelic funk. The performers were all thrilled to play in the heart of Harlem, and witnesses reported that they’d never seen such a large gathering of black people in one spot before. The NYPD presence was minimized, and Black Panthers provided security for the talent.

Here’s a clip of Stevie in that period with my favorite of his early hits, the dynamic “I Was Made to Love Her,” with an incredible live vocal—no lip-sync, Jack.

We previewed here a couple of days ago the upcoming movie about the murder of Fred Hampton, Judas and the Black Messiah. Now here’s Democracy Now on new documents that show J. Edgar Hoover and FBI were even more involved than known, plus an interview with director Shaka King. As I’ve noted, J. Edgar is played by the beloved former U.S. President Martin Sheen….

Hal Holbrook, known by some mainly as Mark Twain but by most of us, perhaps, as, Deep Throat, has died at 95.

We finished watching the fourth and final season of one of our favorite streamers, Call My Agent from France, and will write more soon but here’s an FT piece for now.

Song Pick of the Day

One of the greatest covers of Joni Mitchell ever, from Diana Krall, especially in her live-in-Paris version. Debate continues over the identity of the “you.” I am firmly in the Leonard Cohen camp, given the Canada references and the poetic way “you” speaks here, but Joni may well have combined a couple of lovers.

Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books, including the bestseller The Tunnels (on escapes under the Berlin Wall), the current The Beginning or the End (on MGM’s wild atomic bomb movie), and The Campaign of the Century (on Upton Sinclair’s left-wing race for governor of California), which was recently picked by the Wall St. Journal as one of five greatest books ever about an election. For nearly all of the 1970s he was the #2 editor at the legendary Crawdaddy. Later he served as longtime editor of Editor & Publisher magazine. He recently co-produced a film about Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and now has written and directed his first feature, Atomic Cover-up, which will have its American premiere at a festival this spring.