The Day After

Most cheer Chauvin verdict--but not right-wingers. Plus a Springsteen protest of earlier cop killing and more music from Brandi Carlile & Rufus Wainwright, the Beatles, Bonnie Raitt and Sandy Denny.

Today’s music and commentary. Don’t forget to share, comment or subscribe (it’s still free)….

News & Politics

The Onion: “Depressed Police Officer Reminds Self That Chauvin Verdict Not Representative Of System At Large.”

There have been only seven murder convictions of officers for fatal police shootings since 2005, according to Philip Stinson of Bowling Green State University. That suggests the chances of a killing by the police leading to a murder conviction are about one in 2,000.

It’s not over till it’s over: The remaining officers (Lane, Thao, and Kueng) charged in the death of George Floyd will be tried together starting August 23.

Right-wingers, of course, hit Chauvin verdict. Matt Walsh: “George Floyd’s death will go down as the most consequential drug overdose in history.” Cassandra Fairbanks of Gateway Pundit: “Poor Chauvin. This is awful. He is a political prisoner.” Tucker Carlson said the verdict was nothing more than the jurors calling out, “Please don’t hurt us!” Marjorie Taylor Greene: “D.C. is completely dead tonight. People stayed in and were scared to go out because of fear of riots. Police are everywhere and have riot gear. BLM is the strongest terrorist threat in our county.” And Alan Dershowitz via Newsmax: “I think it should be reversed on appeal….I have no confidence that this verdict was produced by due process and the rule of law, rather than the influence of the crowd.”

Blake Bailey, who has drawn so much publicity this month for his new Philip Roth bio, has now been dropped by his agency after claims of long-standing sex abuse and “grooming” of young students.

George W. Bush, war criminal who lied U.S. into invading Iraq, yesterday complained about media and social media: “What's really troubling is how much misinformation there is and the capacity of people to spread all kinds of untruth.”

Kevin McCarthy moved to censure Maxine Waters but has never called for same re: Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Boebert, Brooks, Cawthorn or the 139 House GOPers (including himself) who backed sedition. And all Republicans voted to back the Waters move.

Born to run: Former governor and still Springsteen fan boy, Chris Christie, is seriously considering running for president in 2024, three people familiar with his thinking tell Axios.

Mad men across the water: Plans for a European soccer Super League have collapsed. Manchester City withdrew from the project, and within hours, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool all signaled they, too, would exit the multibillion-dollar plan, which announced it was kaput a few hours ago.

From the great Steve Brodner:

Apple introduced the long-awaited AirTags trackers yesterday. They use Apple's Find My app to keep tabs on physical objects, like keys and backpacks.

Reporters Without Borders is out with its 2021 World Press Freedom Index. The U.S. rank improved by one spot: It’s now 44th in the world. Meanwhile, Finland, for the fourth consecutive year, was named the happiest country in the world by the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network. USA: #14.

“Dan Bongino isn’t just taking over where Rush Limbaugh left off — he’s building a conservative media universe.” Wash Post: “He was the fulminating, one-man conglomerate presiding over a mini-empire of words that included a booming website, a highly rated podcast, a regular Fox News gig, a Facebook page that routinely registered an astonishing slice of the top 10 shared posts, best-selling books, and a thriving YouTube channel.

Music

Bonnie Raitt and the Indigo Girls are among the voices featured on “No More Pipeline Blues (On this Land Where We Belong),” out on Earth Day (April 22nd). It supports the fight against Minnesota’s “Line 3” tar sands oil pipeline, which cuts through more than 200 bodies of water, including the Mississippi River. Bonnie says:

With the climate crisis beyond its tipping point, the movement to stop these destructive and unnecessary fossil fuel pipelines is crucial and deserves more attention than it’s getting. We can join the worldwide shift to developing renewables, ensuring the protection of our environment, the creation of thousands of jobs, and lessening the risk and trauma to both Native communities and the whole Great Lakes region.

On this date in 1967: The Beatles completed sessions for Sgt. Pepper’s. The final recordings were a short section of gibberish which would follow “A Day in the Life” in the run-out groove. Here’s isolated vocals on that track and some of the gibberish.

On this day in 1976: Women Against Violence Against Women called for a boycott of all Warner albums because of the promo campaign for the Stones’ new album Black and Blue. It was being promoted with an ad campaign that depicted the model Anita Russell, bruised and bound, under the phrase “I'm Black and Blue from the Rolling Stones —and I love it!”

And on this sad date in1978, Sandy Denny died at the of 31, likely due to a fall. Linda Thompson, no slouch, today: “The best. The funniest. The most generous of people.” For something completely different: Sandy’s vivid guesting on Led Zep’s “Battle of Evermore.” And then her haunting, obscure, “The Music Weaver.” Here are Brandi Carlile and Rufus Wainwright, below, paying tribute not long ago with her signature song, “Who Knows Where the Times Goes.”

Film/TV

Some are asking: Why is Stephen Soderbergh directing the Oscars broadcast? To me it makes sense. There will be plenty of Sex (women in low-cut dresses), Lies (that these were really the best films of the year), and Videotape (pre-recorded numbers and film clips).

Tribeca announced its lineup for this June’s festival which (to me) seems largely uninspiring. Includes several music docs, none of which are appealing to me (and I suspect many others)—Rick James? A-ha? A$AP Rocky? Well, at least there’s Morgan Neville’s Roadrunner, about the life of Anthony Bourdain.

Song Pick of the Day

Bruce with his tale of a previous police killing, “41 Shots,” this one in New York. It drew protests from police at the time.

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

“Incisive and enjoyable every day.” — Ron Brownstein, The Atlantic

“Always worth reading.” — Frank Rich, New York magazine, Veep and Succession

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. His new film, Atomic Cover-up, just had its world premiere and is drawing extraordinary acclaim. 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.