Rocking in the Free World

Why is Biden kicking former pot smokers out of the White House? Well, you can get high in your home with music today from Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, and Labelle—plus that banned Beatles cover.

And now today’s menu of hot takes, cartoons, music and videos, but don’t forget to share or comment or subscribe—it’s still free!

News & Politics

The Onion: “Georgia Lawmakers Warn Stricter Gun Regulation Could Cause Mass Shooters To Move To Other States.”

Stephen Colbert: “Krispy Kreme is offering free donuts every day to anyone who’s been vaccinated. Which is great news for anyone who got the shot but still has a death wish.”

Biden finally faces the press today, at 1:15 ET. Can’t believe it will be gaffe-free. What’s the over/under on that? Reportedly he has been preparing almost as if it’s a debate with practice sessions and etc. An unnamed White House reporter told Politico: “I’m obsessed with whether the president will call on Fox News’ Peter Doocy, who tormented Biden during the campaign with constant questions about his son Hunter. Does Biden want to enter the Fox thunderdome, or does he play it safe with the milder networks?”

More fun: Zuckerberg, Pichai and Dorsey testifying on the Hill for first time since Jan. 6 and will get heated questions on what they didn’t do leading up to that.

Headline of the Day from media writer Eric Boehlert’s Press Run newsletter: “Fox's Maria Bartiromo lied about Covid for a year — her producer just died from it.”

New Morning Consult poll: Support for a “public option” is very high: 68% of respondents said they strongly or somewhat support giving Americans the option of a government-run health care program — as opposed to just 18% who were opposed. Even 56% fifty-six percent of Republican respondents favor a public option. There’s also overwhelming support for allowing Dreamers to gain citizenship, with 62% in favor and another 16% who said they should be given legal status but not full citizenship.

Politico: Trump’s done with Twitter: There’s not a chance in hell he gets back on. “The 45th president loves attention. But he also holds grudges.”

On this date in 1969, John and Yoko began their “bed-in” at an Amsterdam hotel and invited the world's press and some celebs (plus Crawdaddy founder Paul Williams) into their hotel room every day, to talk about promoting world peace.

From the great Steve Brodner at his Substack:

Hunter gets captured by the…WTF? Bizarre story here, on what happened in 2018 after Hunter Biden’s daughter-in-law threw his pistol away in the trash behind a store across from a school—and the Secret Service got involved.

Meanwhile, Sam Stein at Politico:

“My son, like a lot of people, like a lot of people you know at home, had a drug problem,” Biden said during the presidential debates. “He’s overtaken it. He’s fixed it. He’s worked on it, and I’m proud of him.”

I couldn’t help but think of Hunter Biden when news came out, via The Daily Beast, that “White House staffers have been suspended, asked to resign, or placed in a remote work program due to past marijuana use.” The president’s son is writing a book detailing his battles with addiction. Joe Biden praised him for it, saying he “hopes others might see themselves in his journey and find hope.”

How could someone who says that also punish young White House staffers for using drugs in their past? What hope did the president offer to them?

Music

The Library of Congress announced yesterday its latest additions to its fabled “registry” of most important recordings. Always eclectic, the choices this year included classical and opera selections, as well as this range: Kermit the Frog’s “Rainbow Connection,” Jackson Browne’s “Late for the Sky,” and Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration.” Also Louis Armstrong’s 1930s version of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

Most people think it was a standard long before then but actually it wasn’t until the late-1930s when Satchmo elevated the regional/New Orleans standard into an enduring classic. Below we find Bruce Springsteen (with Patti) performing it in a slower, quieter, vein during his Seeger Sessions tour. And below that another registry pick this year: Labelle’s “Lady Marmalade,” which owed so much to the production by another New Orleans genius, Allen Toussaint. And we all know what the song’s about, don’t we?

On this date in 1966, one of the most controversial (and costly) album covers ever was shot in London. Those clean-cut Beatles posed in lab coats with butchered cuts of meat—and mutilated dolls—for the cover of their next hits-filled album, Yesterday and Today. Copies were sent to deejays and reviewers, but hostile reaction led Capitol to recall 750,000 copies from distributors—known as “Operation Retrieve”—to replace the cover, at a cost of $250,000. The photographer would claim that the butcher shot was intended to be part of a conceptual “triptych” on the perils surrounding pop fame and appear in a much smaller size on the back cover—but the group (led by Paul) wanted it on the front and large, allegedly as a protest against the Vietnam war. Here are other images from the original “meaty” photo-shoot you may have never seen.

Film

Belatedly jumping into my 2020 Best Film list this week was Quo Vadis, Aida, on a translator’s fight for her family during the Srebrenica massacre, and with an incredible performance by Jasna Đuričić. It’s also up for the Oscar for best international film. Here’s the trailer.

Oliver Darcy of CNN: “Nomadland took best picture Wednesday evening at the Producers Guild Awards, historically one of the most reliable Oscar bellwethers. On the TV side, The Crown won the outstanding drama series prize, Schitt's Creek won for best comedy and The Queen's Gambit won for limited series.”

Yes, there’s a new doc about the first well-known all-female rock group, Fanny, back in the ‘70s. They like to point out that they made five albums and the famous Go Gos only three….

Song Pick of the Day

A sentiment for any day—rocking in the free world—and one of great tunes of past decades, here Neil Young at a Nelson Mandela tribute, acoustic (but he always makes noise).