Yes, it’s still somehow free to subscribe to this nearly daily newsletter! Greg Mitchell is the author of fourteen books and director of four films for PBS since 2022. In a previous life, he was a longtime editor at the legendary Crawdaddy.
Feeling oddly energized by the Saturday night attack, Donald followed the lead of Melania Trump yesterday in demanding that ABC fire Jimmy Kimmel over a joke about the dinner, delivered two days before it. We waited breathlessly for ABC’s response all day and Jimmy’s response last night. Nothing from ABC, but Jimmy fully stuck to his guns, don’t miss:
Ann Telnaes commented:
A few takes on the dinner’s aftermath:
Jon Stewart:
Jack Ohman:
Clay Bennett:
Longtime, now former, Republican Norman Ornstein:
Trump has called the left: - Enemy within - Scum - Terrorists - Vermin - Radical - Lunatics - Demonic - Evil - Fascists - Marxists - Communists - Garbage - The enemy of the people - The enemy within - Treasonous - Animals - Degenerates - Jew haters - Lowlives
Meanwhile, over at Bari Bari bad CBS: She has removed London bureau chief Claire Day following tensions with Weiss over the network’s Middle East coverage. Day, a nearly 25-year CBS veteran, had pushed back on editorial calls with the ultra-pro-Israel Weiss over coverage of Iran and Gaza, sources said.
And from Lucian Truscott IV:
The Secretary of Defense, who calls himself the Secretary of War, treated his friend Kid Rock to a joyride in an Apache helicopter at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Apache helicopters have only two seats, for the pilot and co-pilot, but Hegseth and Kid Rock were given rides in the co-pilots’ seats in two helicopters, apparently so they could go up on their joyrides at the same time and talk to each other through their helmet communications headsets.
That’s what Hegseth did today in the middle of an ongoing war, where a third aircraft carrier just arrived on station in the Arabian Sea. Pentagon figures show that it costs between $5,000 and $5,500 an hour to operate an Apache helicopter….
The last time I checked, Kid Rock was not a government employee, but who knows? Maybe Hegseth appointed him Secretary of the Navy. He needs a new one.
Film Pick
Just announced, my new film will be debuting on PBS nationally on July 1, narrated by Rosanne Cash, with songs by Woody and….Bruce Springsteen.
Music Picks
Please have a go in comments on NYT posting alleged list of our current greatest American songwriters, thankfully unranked. Still plenty to critique. Yes, they left off Canadians Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, but also from the lower 48 folks like Jason Isbell, Jeff Tweedy and Gillian Welch. (Well, no wonder, my ex-Crawdaddy colleague and decades-long NYT music savant Jon Pareles was not even on the judging panel.) Please weigh in with YOUR reactions and picks in Comments. Here’s how they set it up at their newsletter:
Good morning. You know what’s a good way to start a conversation that’s going to last a while? Publish a list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters. The Times just did that.
First, we polled hundreds of pop stars, critics, historians, industry executives, D.J.s, music supervisors and choreographers. They gave us 700 names. (Look at some of their ballots.) Then, during long and often heated conversations, six Times music writers edged the list down to 30 artists.
And now we need to talk about it! There’s much to discuss. Because, sure, Bob Dylan’s on the list, and Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen, too. But Billy Joel didn’t make the cut. Nor did Garth Brooks or Randy Newman. Yes to Stevie Wonder. No to Stevie Nicks. Everyone’s going to have feelings about this. Everyone’s going to cheer for some, bark at others, harrumph in complaint or declare vindication. (I was bummed about Nicks, but the methodology’s sound. Here’s how they did it.)
From Tunes to Toons
Bramhall:
Goris:
The view from abroad on King Charles’ visit:
Anderson:
Brodner on Hegseth:
Duquette:
Photo Finish
From my camera to you, Jazzfest is underway in New Orleans but….every day is a jazz fest in New Orleans.
Does top secret ballroom come with a dick Tracy watch?
Among the missing: Jimmy Webb, Randy Newman, John Hiatt, Dan Penn, Rodney Crowell, Jason Isbell, Jackson Browne, Tom Waits, Rosanne Cash, Jackie DeShannon--not to mention Mike Stoller, Barry Mann, and Jeff Barry.