Truth or Dare

That's the question here every day, so check on the latest--plus "The Simpsons" mocks Morrissey as Apple prepares TV series on 1971. Music today from Dylan, the Stones and Townes Van Zandt.

And away we go. Don’t forget to share, comment or subscribe (it’s still free).

Stephen Colbert: “The GOP today is one big game of Truth or Dare—no one dares tell the truth.”

James Corden: “It sounds like an old-time comedian’s routine, doesn’t it? Jeff Bezos is so rich even his boats have got boats….Truth is, Bezos didn’t really need the support yacht, but Amazon did one of these upsells where they go, People who buy this, also buy this.”

Andy Borowitz at The New Yorker imagines: “Kevin McCarthy Forced to Fly to Mar-a-Lago to Sit and Listen to Things Trump Would Have Posted on Facebook.”

Michelle, Not Swell: Michelle Obama last night attempted but failed to avenge her husband’s humiliating defeat last year when he got shut out by Stephen Colbert in a game of wastepaper basket basketball. But at least she made two more shots, on the way to a 7-2 defeat.

Third and long for GOPers? As Liz Cheney prepares for martyrdom today, NY Times reports, “More than 100 Republicans, including some former elected officials, are preparing to release a letter this week threatening to form a third party if the Republican Party does not make certain changes, according to an organizer of the effort. The statement is expected to take aim at former President Donald J. Trump’s stranglehold on Republicans, which signatories to the document have deemed unconscionable.” UPDATE: Yes, Cheney quickly booted by GOP by 9:30 a.m. ET this morning.

Vax Me No Question: There is much chatter today from the right about that NY Yankees coach testing positive after (supposedly) being fully vaccinated, but note new stats showing 99.75% of patients admitted to Cleveland Clinic hospitals for COVID from Jan. 1 to April 13 had not been fully vaccinated. So Axios declares: “It's one of the most vivid illustrations yet — get vaccinated, stay out of the hospital.”

Three Georgia men pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal hate crime charges in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery.

NRA Shot Down: A federal judge dismissed the National Rifle Association’s bankruptcy case Tuesday, leaving the gun “rights” group to face a New York lawsuit that accuses it of financial abuses and aims to put it out of business.

She’s at the Post: The Washington Post yesterday named a dark horse candidate, Sally Buzbee, as its executive editor, marking the first time a woman has been appointed to lead the 143-year-old news organization. Buzbee is currently the AP’s executive editor and senior vice president. She succeeds Martin Baron. Buzbee joins an ever-growing number of women leading newsrooms at CBS News, ABC News, NPR, MSNBC, Reuters, Financial Times, The Guardian, the Economist, POLITICO, HuffPost, BBC, PBS and many more.

Jack Shafer on Buzbee: “Make it your first priority to shake some of those Bezosbucks loose; a billionaire is a terrible thing to waste. If Bezos can afford a $500 million superyacht, he can afford a Times -sized newsroom.”

As we predicted last week: Florida Democratic congresswoman Stephanie Murphy will soon announce a Senate challenge to Marco Rubio, Axios has learned.

Gaetz Crashing: CNN relates, “Federal investigators scrutinizing Rep. Matt Gaetz are seeking the cooperation of a former Capitol Hill intern who was once a girlfriend of the Florida Republican…Investigators could also soon gain the formal cooperation of a second key witness, former Florida county tax collector Joel Greenberg, who is approaching a deadline this week to strike a plea agreement with the government on more than two dozen charges he's facing. The pursuit of the cooperation comes as investigators are nearly finished collecting evidence, one source said.” And new from Daily Beast: “4 Women Say Matt Gaetz’s Wingman Pressured Them to Have Sex.”

That’s why they call it Secret Service? If you missed, from The Guardian:

Two Trump family members got “inappropriately–and perhaps dangerously– close” to agents protecting them while Donald Trump was president, according to a new book on the US Secret Service. Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service, by Wash Post reporter Carol Leonnig, is published next week.

In her new book, she writes that Secret Service agents reported that Vanessa Trump, the wife of the president’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr, “started dating one of the agents who had been assigned to her family.” Vanessa Trump filed for an uncontested divorce in March 2018. Leonnig reports that the agent concerned did not face disciplinary action as neither he nor the agency were official guardians of Vanessa Trump at that point.

Leonnig also writes that Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump’s daughter, broke up with a boyfriend and “began spending an unusual amount of time alone with a Secret Service agent on her detail.” Secret Service leaders, the book says, “became concerned at how close Tiffany appeared to be getting to the tall, dark and handsome agent.” Agents are prohibited from forming personal relationships with those they protect, out of concern that such feelings could cloud their judgment.

From Steve Brodner at his Substack:

Taking us for a ride: Uber, Lyft to Provide Free Rides to Covid-19 Vaccine Sites Until July 4.

Can GOP election laws be stopped? The NY Times reports, “The Senate Rules Committee, divided evenly between Democrats and Republicans, is expected to deadlock on a final vote on a bill considered a top legislative priority for some Senate liberals. That outcome would complicate a steep path forward. If enacted, the bill would effectively override Republican-drafted laws emerging in states like Georgia and Florida that raise barriers to vote.”

Going Nuclear: “Decision on Minuteman to shape U.S. nuclear policy for decades.” AP:

For 50 years the Minuteman missile has been armed and ready, day and night, for nuclear war on a moment’s notice. It has never been launched into combat from its underground silo, but this year it became the prime target in a wider political battle over the condition and cost of the nation’s nuclear arsenal. Minuteman was not intended to last half a century, so it’s overdue to be replaced or refurbished. Some see this as a moment to push for scrapping it altogether, abandoning one leg of the traditional nuclear ‘triad’ — weapons that can be launched from land, sea and air. Most in Congress favor keeping the land-based leg by replacing Minuteman with a new missile; President Joe Biden’s position is not yet clear.

Music

Great fun, so here is most of the Rolling Stone report, and see song below:

The Simpsons have released a song from their recent episode spoofing Morrissey, “Everyone Is Horrid Except Me (And Possibly You),” as an official single. The episode, dubbed “Panic on the Streets of Springfield,” aired in April and centered around Lisa becoming enamored with a brooding, militant vegan British musician named Quilloughby (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch), who used to front a band called the Snuffs. Quilloughby at first appears as an imaginary friend to Lisa, prompting her to adopt a more world-weary and sardonic demeanor; but after Lisa goes to see the real Quilloughby and the Snuffs in concert, she’s shocked to find he’s become a boorish, meat-eating xenophobe.

Several spoof songs were scattered throughout the episode, co-written by Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie. They included “Everyone Is Horrid Except Me (And Possibly You)” — which is available on all major streaming services and credited to Quilloughby — as well as “Hamburger Homicide” (a nod to the Smiths’ “Meat Is Murder”) and “How Late Is Then?” (a nod to “How Soon Is Now?”).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, “Panic on the Streets of Springfield,” drew the ire of Morrissey after it aired. First the musician’s manager, Peter Katsis, criticized The Simpsons on Facebook for “trying to capitalize on cheap controversy and expounding on vicious rumors.” Morrissey later issued a statement of his own, saying he would have tried to mount a lawsuit against the show if it weren’t too expensive….”In a world obsessed with Hate Laws, there are none that protect me.”

On this day in 1963: Bob Dylan walked out of rehearsals for the high-rated Ed Sullivan show after being told he couldn't perform his song 'Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues' because it mocked the military and racism. CBS officials asked Dylan to substitute another song, but Bob reportedly said: “No, this is what I want to do. If I can't play my song, I'd rather not appear on the show.” Here is what he would have sung:

1972: The Rolling Stones released the double-lp Exile On Main Street, which drew mixed reviews at the time but now considered by many one of the greatest albums ever. “All Down the Line” live that year, below.

Film/TV

Going on 50: Sick of the 50th anniversary tributes yet? Well, get ready for the most ambitious yet, coming to Apple+ in two weeks. It’s an 8-parter titled 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything—a claim that could be made for numerous other years, of course. (Although it was the year I revived Crawdaddy, beginning my eight years there.) Of course, it will have plenty of star power, what with the key roles played that year by The Who, Marvin Gaye, George Harrison, Joni, Elton, Carole King and on and on. It also covers the counterculture, Vietnam, politics and social upheaval. Trailer here:

Rudy, Don’t Take Your Gums to Town: A new doc from Rolling Stone Films and MRC Non-Fiction will examine the life and career of Rudy Giuliani. The doc is slated for a 2022 release and will be directed by Oscar nominee Zach Heinzerling (the fine Cutie and the Boxer) and Emmy winner Gabrielle Schonder (The NRA: Under Fire). The film will be based on Seth Hettena’s May 2020 feature on Giuliani for Rolling Stone,“What Happened to America’s Mayor?”

Song Pick of the Day

We’ve probably had far too little of the late great Townes Van Zandt in this space so to help remedy that—here he does one of his typically upbeat (ha, ha) tunes, “Rake.” He would be gone six years later.

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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.Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.