Hello in There, Hello

The usual hot news and political takes and humor, plus music from John Prine, Merle Haggard & Johnny Cash, the first cut from upcoming Rhiannon Giddens album and amazing song from Nick Drake's....mom?

After yesterday’s Vonnegut bonus, we are back with a more normal weekday. Note: Still far too few folks commenting, sharing and subscribing (for free). Just saying. Maybe it’s me.

News & Politics

The Onion: Matt Gaetz Claims Sex Trafficking Allegations Stem from Powerful Enemies in Ms. Bassman’s Geometry Class.” Stephen Colbert: “Matt Gaetz never took COVID-19 seriously because she was a little too old for him.” And: “If you are unfamiliar with Ecstacy—it’s the feeling you get when you hear bad news about Matt Gaetz.”

But Politico this morning: “Gaetz does have one big thing going for him: Our Gary Fineout reports that his district is likely to stand behind him.” And suprise from former Rep. Katie Hill: “Matt and I forged an unlikely friendship in Congress, and he was one of the few colleagues who spoke out after a malicious nude-photo leak upended my life. But if recent reports are true, he engaged in the very practice he defended me from—and should resign immediately.”

Also from Politico this unexpected and vital news: “The Senate parliamentarian’s ruling that the annual budget resolution can be revised to include new reconciliation instructions — think of it as a buy one, get one free to pass sweeping legislation by a simple majority — could have major implications for Biden’s first-year agenda.”

Three months after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, about half of Republicans believe the siege was largely a non-violent protest—or was the work of left-wing activists "trying to make Trump look bad," a new Reuters/Ipsos poll has found.  Six in 10 GOPers also believe the false claim that November's presidential election "was stolen" due to voter fraud. 

Famed attorney Lawrence Tribe with piece in Boston Globe: ”A no-frills lawsuit filed by two Capitol Police officers holds the greatest promise of making Trump pay for directing the violent mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.”

Fox debuted a new “comedy hour” last night at 11 pm with Greg Gutfeld taking on The Daily Show and etc. One problem: There’s never been a successful, or for that matter, funny, right-wing TV comedy show. But say this for Gutfeld—he has long been laughable.

AP source: MLB to relocate All-Star Game to Denver's Coors Field after pulling it from Atlanta over Georgia voting laws. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott informed the Texas Rangers he would no longer throw out the ceremonial first pitch at their home opener last night night: “I will not participate in an event held by MLB, and the State will not seek to host the All-Star Game or any other MLB special events.”

Jimmy Fallon: “The Braves were like, ‘Phew, I can’t believe this had nothing to do with our team name, tomahawk logo or tomahawk chop chant.’”

Meanwhile, the AP is out with data from Public Citizen that major corporations have given more than $50 million to state legislators across the U.S. who supported voting restrictions.

Telecom giant AT&T was the most prolific, donating over $800,000 since 2015 to authors of proposed restrictions, cosponsors of such measures, or those who voted in favor of the bills, the report found. Other top donors during the same period include Comcast, Philip Morris USA, UnitedHealth Group, Walmart, Verizon, General Motors and Pfizer. The Public Citizen report.

Trevor Noah: “This is tough for these corporations. I mean, they must really miss the old days — you know, when they didn’t have to take sides on voting rights or culture wars. You know, they just made diapers out of asbestos and that was that.”

Politico: “Justice Democrats, the left-wing group that recruited Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for Congress, has its eyes set on ousting another Democratic incumbent….[I]t is backing Democrat Odessa Kelly in her campaign against Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper — a Blue Dog Coalition member who has long frustrated liberals.” But despite the hype about some successful challenges from the left, most have ended badly.

Music

One of our faves, Rhiannon Giddens, yesterday announced via Facebook a new album coming this Friday:

It took us six days to record the 12 songs you'll hear on They're Calling Me Home. Recorded at Hellfiurev Studio, a studio on a farm outside of Dublin, we performed everything from my new composition “Avalon” to “Nenna Nenna,” an Italian lullaby Francesco Turrisi used to sing to soothe his daughter as a baby. Our album features our primary instruments—minstrel banjo, accordion, frame drums, viola and cello banjo—accompanied by Celtic traditional musician Emer Mayock on flute, whistle and pipes, and guitarist Niwel Tsumbu, a Congo native who moved to Ireland many years back. We can't wait to share it with you this Friday.

Merle Haggard was born on this date in 1937—and died on same day in 2016. What are the odds? (Well, one in 365.) Here he trots out one of his greatest songs, “Sing Me Back Home”—once covered memorably by Gram Parsons—with Johnny Cash who, like Merle, knew a thing or two about prisons.

Brandi Carlile chatting with Colbert tonight about her new memoir.

The supremely tragic Nick Drake is such a one-off he has always left people wondering where is unique style originated. Only a few years ago we learned of the obviously massive influence of his mom Molly when some of the songs she taped surfaced. The hushed, breathy vocals, lovely if oddly toned music —pure Nick antecedents. Here’s just one sample….

Film

First full trailer for Barry Jenkins’ Underground Railroad series.

Song Pick of the Day

One of earliest John “Singing Mailman” Prine appearances on TV, 1972, “Hello In There.”

“Essential daily newsletter.” — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire

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.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