Go 4th and Multiply (Protests)

Plus Mary Oliver, Springsteen and American music, and our usual cartoons.

Yes, it’s still free to subscribe to this nearly daily newsletter! Greg Mitchell is the author of fourteen books and director of five films for PBS since 2022. In a previous life, he was a longtime editor at the legendary Crawdaddy. His latest film “Woody Guthrie and The Ghost of Tom Joad” is now streaming everywhere via PBS.

Ron Filipkowski: “Nothing says good old fashioned 4th of July American patriotism like flying to a speech in a grifted Qatari jet.”

Paul Krugman:

On the eve of America’s 250^th birthday we had confirmation of presidential corruption on a scale Nixon could never have imagined. That’s bad in itself. What’s worse is that nobody believes that there will be any consequences for Trump, his cronies, and their henchmen. In 1974 Republicans joined with Democrats to hold Nixon accountable. This time around they’re fully invested in magnifying Trump’s power and his cult of personality, despite knowing perfectly well who he is and what he is doing.

I am not giving up hope. America is not irretrievably lost. But now, much more than 50 years ago, we are a nation in desperate need of redemption.

Mary Oliver:

Yes, that is the late poet Mary Oliver, also the subject of a new PBS film which we saw in a theater yesterday and coming to American Masters soon. Here is the trailer:

PBS has been touting its rapidly expanded short Bruce Springsteen “Newshour” segment from a couple of weeks back, which will now air as a half hour special tomorrow. But they put it up online last night and no need to wait, here it is. Of course, I appreciate the multiple references to Woody Guthrie and even to his “The Ghost of Tom Joad” and “Grapes of Wrath.” Bruce, as you may have heard, is featured in my own PBS film, which you can watch now here or on an upcoming airing on your local station, “Woody Guthrie and the Ghost of Tom Joad.” Somewhere in there we also see the first Bruce cover ever, in 1975, which we produced at Crawdaddy!

Rolling Stone with a major piece on the film today.

From Tunes to Toons

Barry Blitt captured moment yesterday when these embarrassed gentlemen tried to attend Trump’s speech ignito:

deAdder

Goris:

deAdder again:

Photo Finish

From my camera to you: near our apartment in Greenwich Village, 1985