Snap Impressions: I Survived This Fiscal Chicken Theater (So Where's My Lousy T-Shirt, Already?)

 

"It Could Be Worse, Right?"/
The Reckoner>

There's no ink drying yet on any agreement, but the gatekeepers and scorekeepers aren't letting the grass grow under their feet. America has once again flirted with its bout of Fiscal Chicken Theater -- a/k/a, the brouhaha over the debt ceiling -- and, while it's too early to breathe easily just yet, seems likely to survive, with minimal room to spare. 

Now that the gory details are finally emerging, the only question that seems to grip the punditocracy, and its stenographers in the likes of The New York Times, and The Washington Post, is the elementary one. "Who won? Who lost? Who got served by whom?" the herd collectively thunders.

So goes the "baseball game/horse race/beauty pageant" model of MSM (mainstream media) coverage, as I call it, one that distills everything through a who's-won-who's down narrative, topped off by the predictably sketchy impressions of the players involved.

But what distills also distorts, as we know all too well. "It could have been worse" is the prevailing mantra being trotted out by MSM sages like Dan Pfeiffer: "People on the Left and the Right are unhappy, but that is to be expected. No deal gets the agreement of the Democratic president and the Republican Speaker and is universally praised.”

Perhaps. Possibly. Other outlets, like the New York Times, are casting the tentative deal as no worse than the sort that might emerge during budget negotiations in a Republican-controlled House of Representatives: "The agreement would protect the military and entitlements like Social Security and Medicare from spending cuts imposed on other parts of government.”

I suspect that this anguished Tweet served up on Saturday by Sarah Christopherson, legislative and policy director of Americans for Tax Fairness, a progressive think tank, captures the prevailing progressive mood more aptly:

"Jesus fucking Christ. $10 b from tax enforcement in a big ol gift to rich tax cheats; work requirements & time limits in SNAP & TANF to push poor ppl deeper into poverty; NDD [non-defense discretionary*] cuts of 5% in real dollars. Is there anything the White House didn't cave on?"

Ms. Christopherson is fundamentally accurate on every point. The poor, as they always do, got thrown under the bus; "It's the kidney machines that pay for rockets and guns," as Paul Weller observed in the Jam's 1980 classic, "Going Underground." Forty-odd-years later, it's saddening to see how little has changed since he wrote those lyrics.

And even a five percent spending cut for domestic programs, however small it seems, will have markedly negative consequences for those who depend on them. Wealthy tax dodgers also have reason to celebrate, since any undercutting of resources from already overmatched regulators will surely kneecap the Biden administration's publicly stated quest to make the tax code work for everybody. 

As damaging as these outcomes are, however, they aren't the worst ones. Leading progressives, like Bernie Sanders, repeatedly urged Biden to stand up publicly to his antagonists, notably by invoking language in the 14th Amendment ("The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned"). Doing so, proponents argued, would allow Biden to bypass Congress altogether, and take the debt ceiling club off the table forever, at least, theoretically.

But that notion was always going to be a big ask of Biden, as a conventional politician who came up in a much more conventional era -- when games like Fiscal Chicken Theater simply didn't happen, because nobody envisioned their opposition pulling such a stunt to get their own way, at any cost.

Presumably, the various trial balloons that Biden trotted out publicly against invoking the 14th Amendment (I don't have time; It's an untested theory; It's too wacky to try; The markets wouldn't like it) sounded better than the obvious one he didn't say aloud (I won't do it, because it's never crossed my mind).

Would the high courts that right wingers have spent so much time and money to cherry pick really gone along with their brethren's attempts to blow up the economy over that untested 14th Amendment theory?

We'll never know, because nobody tried it. Certainly not President Biden. But even if they had, it's worth asking, who looks better here? The 99-year-old Granny Doe, faced with losing her Social Security check to pay rent? Or so-called Supreme Court justices scuba diving in Indonesia, thanks to some deep-pocketed patron with an unsettling fetish for Nazi memorabilia?

In the final analysis, this is the problem with orthodox liberals. Decades of legal and political dunking have beaten them down to the point of accepting stalemate as the only option that's worth pursuing. In this mindset, the mere avoidance of disaster is touted as some positive sign that the system works,  however dysfunctional it's become. Sleepwalking through a tired script is preferable to flipping it, because the latter task requires too much effort.

Apparently, nobody feels compelled to remind Biden and his inner circle of Churchill's famous aphorism, uttered after Britain's retreat from Nazi troops on the shores of Dunkirk, in 1940: "Wars are not won by evacuations."

For evidence, look no further than Biden's equally vexing refusal to push for the expansion of a Supreme Court whose uber-right majority is working night and day to hobble his Presidency. 

Would a Republican President, staring down a similar dilemma, stay so committed to such a resolutely passive course? If you believe that, I've got some Florida swampland you can all help me drain.

Until the Democrats make a stronger, more coordinated and disciplined push to unstuff and undo the various penalty boxes that they've been locked in, for decades -- the court captures, the filibusters, the gerrymanders -- their policy wishes will remain largely academic arguments, at best.

And yes, obviously, the next generation can't come onstage soon enough, as the gruesome spectacle of California Democrat Dianne Feinstein's ongoing cognitive decline amply demonstrates. Yet one moment of truth surfaced last week, amid reports of Feinstein's apparent inability to recognize her one-time colleague, Vice President Kamala Harris.

According to those reports, a befuddled Feinstein -- on seeing Harris acting in her major role, of presiding over the Senate -- asked her aides, "What's she doing here?"

It's a question that Feinstein, and most of the major players from her political generation. would do well to ask themselves, as well. Because if they ever asked us, they wouldn't like the answer they get. -- The Reckoner

[*Inserted here by yours truly, to fully explain the term, and avoid confusing the reader.]

Midterm 2022 Reflections: Red Ripple, Anyone?

 

<The Gift: LP cover, 1982>

"Get the trans-global express moving

And see our marvelous leaders quiver

They know if that happens

Their lazy days are over

The day the working people rise together...

"We'll all rest much more easy
The responsibility you must bear
When it's your own future in your hands

Maybe a hard one to face up to

But at least you will own yourself!"

The Jam, "Trans-Global Express" (The Gift)

<i.>

The bats are back in the belfry, the red wave fizzed into a red ripple, the Republicans' hostile electoral takeover has crashed and burned, and best of all, I don't have to howl, "The long arc bends, my ass!" That's one way of summing up our now-bygone midterm election ritual, which we'll discuss shortly.

I dreaded that November 8 date more than most, as I was scheduled to report election returns for the Associated Press, a gig that I've held for nearly a decade. If the elephant party was really enjoying a big night, I'd be one of those suckers stuck \watching it. Though I doubted all the "red wave" ballyhoo, like many progressives, I struggled to contain the many anxieties playing tricks with my mind. 

So many unknowns loomed. Had the pollsters somehow missed a hidden appetite for autocracy lingering at the ballot box? With so many nail-biting races predicted, how would the Democratic coalition hold? Would voters buy into the Republican kayfabe about inflation and income, or the mainstream media's narrative that cast Biden as the pinata of the hour?

As it turned out, none of those things happened, and I've honestly never felt more grateful for a particular outcome. The Highwayman's cartoon, published here on the eve of the big day, won't haunt my dreams after all. I won't have to draw on a different Jam song ("Funeral Pyre") for inspiration.

Instead, I'm leading off with lyrics from "Trans-Global Express," one of the keynote songs from The Jam's final studio outing, The Gift (1982), which soared to #1 UK on its March 1982 release, and spent 25 weeks on the charts there. In the US, it peaked at #82, marking the band's second best position (after Sound Affects, which topped out at #72, in 1981).

"Trans-Global Express" outlines a theme that Paul Weller often expressed, as he prepared to wind down The Jam that year. The lyrics call for workers to push back against oppressive political elites for a more equitable world, and gain a stronger say in their own lives. Now 40 years old, "Trans-Global Express" also contains lines that seem eerily prescient for today, as well ("All the things you ain't got no more/Keep us divided with their greed and hate/Keep you struggling to put food on your plate"). Or maybe that's just a nice way of saying, "Same shit, different day," right? 

In any case, Weller felt strongly enough about the "Trans-Global Express" concept to tweak it slightly, as the title of the Jam's final world outing (the Trans-Global Unity Express Tour), and closed side one of the original album with it. Unfortunately, I don't think the production does the song justice.  For the most part, I find it claustrophobic and cluttered, with most of the lyrics lost in the murk of an otherwise fine funk-dub track.

Hell, for years, I didn't even know what the lyrics were, until I researched them online, after being asked to deliver an invocation for my local church. But I figured they'd work a treat, as the opposite of the far right's nostalgic paradise. You know the scenario: some hellish mixture of the 1950s and 1980s, when America made no apologies for kicking ass, with those pesky minorities kept firmly in their place, with the little woman always expected to have a pot of meatloaf humming on the stove, black eye be damned.

As usual, Bernie had it right. 

As usual, the punditocracy missed it. 

What else is new?

"In dreams begin responsibilities." 

<W.B. Yeats>

“By preaching the doctrine that nothing is to be admired except the steel and concrete, one merely makes it a little surer that human beings will have no outlet for their surplus energy except in hatred and leader worship.”

<George Orwell>

<ii.>

As midterm fizzles go, this one proved pretty spectacular, though some faceplants loomed larger than others. Here in Michigan, the entire Republican ticket bottomed out, starting with Tudor Dixon's 10.6% loss to Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who won re-election by nearly 470,000 votes.

Voters dished out the sharpest electoral humiliations to Republicans Kristina Karamo, and Matthew DePerno, two of the creepiest, most unhinged wannabe authoritarians imaginable, whose respective campaigns for Secretary of State and Attorney General focused on one simple premise: "Just give us the levers of power, and we'll beat the hell out of our enemies, real or imagined, with them.""

Incumbent Jocelyn Benson crushed Karamo by a 13-point margin, while incumbent Dana Nessel made do with a smaller margin (7.6%), that reflected a bitter, hard-fought campaign, as her victory statement suggested: "For all the LGBTQ kids out there who were demonized, and whose lives were weaponized by sad and broken adults during this election cycle: You are good enough. Your lives and stories matter. God loves you just as you are. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise." 

Trump had endorsed them both, of course. Still, I'm glad that neither Karamo nor DePerno will get a shot at engineering an electoral victory out of thin air for the man who elevated them to prominence. Nor will DePerno get to enforce an archaic 1931 law that criminalizes abortion, which also fell by the wayside, after Proposal 22-3 passed by a 13.3-point margin.

Women here regained their reproductive freedom, and other significant protections, such as freedom from prosecution, in case of miscarriages. Michigan's story mirrored similar measures that passed in California, Kentucky, Montana, and Vermont. The results came as a sharp retort to the Supreme Court's call to let state voters decide on what they viewed as right.

Michigan Republicans also lost their 40-year hammerlock on the State House and Senate, too -- an outcome that lifted Democrats to power in unlikely places. For example, Joey Andrews became the first Democrat to represent his Southwest Michigan district since 1964, when Floyd Mattheeussen rode the Lyndon Johnson landslide to a one-term tenure in Congress. Hopefully, Andrews will get to stick around a bit longer than that.

Nationally speaking, just one of Trump's gubernatorial picks won, in Nevada. Most of his Senate picks also tanked, with the notable exception of JD Vance, in Ohio. Even then, Vance had to campaign hard for his five- to six-point victory margin, while his unassuming counterpart, Mike DeWine, romped to a 25-point re-election win as Governor. You know it's a weird night when that happens, but there you go.

By and large, Trump's cadre of election deniers also flamed out at the ballot box. I'm gratified that the bug-eyed likes of Doug Mastriano (Pennsylvania) and Mark Finchem (Arizona), or cooler counterparts, like Kari Lake (Arizona), and Jim Marchant (Nevada), won't get to try their hand at turning our democracy into a far right hellscape. 

In the end, the Democratic coalition held together and then some, driven by outsized turnouts among young, Latino and independent voters, something the pundits never saw coming, either. As Obama's former campaign manager, David Plouffe, succinctly put it: "This should teach us a lesson, that voters always have the last word." Quite!

<Promo Poster, 1982:

Featuring the individual shots
of (L-R) drummer Rick Buckler, bassist Bruce Foxton,
and guitarist/frontman Paul Weller,
that showed them in running poses
(hence, the red, green and yellow shades
selected for the original album cover).>

<iii.>

So what should we make of all this, exactly? For me, the biggest takeaway is the canyon-sized gap between all breathless predictions of a Democratic rout, and how Election Night actually played out. That had been the mainstream media's prevailing narrative until June, when the Supreme Court's dunking of Roe v. Wade -- followed by the eagerness of GOP-dominated state legislatures to pile on, with so-called "trigger laws" -- suddenly made it seem unthinkable.

The narrative changed again this fall, when these types of headlines began carpet bombing my inbox: "Dems Are Suddenly Playing Defense On Abortion" (10/21)."Democrats Aim to Hold the Line Against Heavy Midterm Losses" (11/4). "Democrats Warn of Massive GOP Turnout In November" (9/23). "Democrats Worry They're Being Overshadowed In Arizona Governor's Race" (10/15). "Did The Democrats Peak Too Early?" (10/7). "Inflation Shifts Midterm Momentum Back To GOP" (9/30). "The State That Could Doom Democrats' Senate Chances" (9/27).

And those were just the headlines that I kept in my email! But just imagine the effects on an undecided voter who hadn't paid much attention. Had you read any of these headlines, you might have decided the whole shebang was already over, and stayed home. Thank God it didn't play out that way.

The same goes for a similar onslaught during those final weeks of negative poll stories, that showed mostly Democratic candidates in some dire strait or other. The problem? Much of the sourcing came from Republican-affiliated polling firms, like Trafalgar or Rasmussen, whose numbers have always raised eyebrows. Or should have raised more eyebrows, in this case.

In the end, Michael Moore -- whose predictions of a "blue tsunami" drew howls of laughter around the Beltway -- turned out to be the most accurate forecaster of 'em all (aside from Plouffe, perhaps). But, as he pointed out (see below), anyone outside the Beltway Bubble could have foreseen the outcome, if they'd applied a little common sense:

"We were lied to for months by the pundits and pollsters and the media. Voters had not ‘moved on’ from the Supreme Court’s decision to debase and humiliate women by taking federal control over their reproductive organs. Crime was not at the forefront of the voters ‘simple’ minds. Neither was the price of milk. It was their democracy that they came to fight for yesterday.”

I agree with Moore's other key observation, that Democrats should stop adopting a defensive crouch as their default stance. Yes, to nobody's great surprise, Trump has announced a third White House run in 2024 -- underwhelming results, or not -- because he has no Plan B, beyond trying to avoid getting fitted for an orange jumpsuit. (At least it'll match his makeup, if it happens.)

But Trump won't always be on the ballot to juice turnout, as Moore points out: "They may be trying to gin up the vote through fear – ‘This is going to happen so you’d better get your butts to polls’. They may think it’s noble, but I don’t think it’s noble at all."

Yet that sort of appeal may not work so well against up-and-comers like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whose 20-point re-election victory gave the GOP one of its few bright spots on Election Night. DeSantis shares many of the qualities that Trump rode to success in 2016, but make the former President an increasing liability for 2024 -- the same brittle defensiveness, blinkered, grievance-fueled governance, outsized authoritarian instincts, and willingness to push his base's darkest, most primal buttons.

Unlike Trump, however, DeSantis seems far smarter and disciplined, without any of the baggage, which will require a different approach to fend off. The type of freeze-dried machine politics that backfired in New York -- where Republicans gained new unforeseen openings, after the courts tossed out a Democratically-tilted electoral map -- don't strike me as the right answer.

John Fetterman's successful Senate campaign in Pennsylvania offers a better way forward. Unlike many of his cohorts, Fetterman leaned into economic issues, like the $15 an hour minimum wage, and the need to pry healthcare away from the profit mongers. He went on the offensive from the start, and never let up. Through creative use of social media, Fetterman kept his TV doctor opponent, Mehmet Oz, constantly off balance, and scrambling to play catchup.

Most importantly, though, Fetterman defined himself as someone actually worth voting for: "I'm proud of what we ran on. Protecting a woman's right to choose, raising our wage, fighting for the union way of life, healthcare as a fundamental human right." I'm positive that posture played a critical part in lifting him over the finish line, instead of simply casting himself as the lesser, blander evil (Mainstream Democrat 101), or larger than life, "I alone can fix it" authoritarian messiah (Textbook Republican 101).

Even so, the most inspired campaigns in the world won't mean anything, unless progressives continue pushing for basic structural reforms -- like an end to gerrymandering -- that would make the system more responsive than it is now. Michigan's midterms, for example, marked the first districts redrawn by an independent citizen's commission that voters approved in 2018.

While the results weren't deemed ideal by Democrats or Republicans, they still created a more level playing field than observers had seen in decades -- forcing both parties to actually compete for the voters they desired, rather than cherry-picking them from some artificially crafted boundaries designed to keep the status quo forever. 

As I've joked to my friends, any map that ticks off Detroit Democrats and West Michigan Republicans can't be a bad thing. Without it, though, Michigan Democrats wouldn't have broken the logjam that prevented them from advancing their signature priorities. Now that they finally have, Whitmer and her allies should try doing exactly that. Showing people that government actually works is the best defense against extremism.

While there will always be some people who get some illicit thrill from marching around in camo drag, that doesn't mean the majority will join them, especially if their lot improves -- whether it means restoring the child tax credit, or passing the $15 an hour minimum wage. Combine those outcomes with an electoral and judicial system finally freed from its current dysfunction, and manipulation, and maybe then, we'll bring home some version of the Trans-Global Express, and the ideals that it represents. All aboard! --The Reckoner

Links To Go (Raise A Glass
To The Republic, As It Still Stands):

Lucid: Instead Of A Red Wave, The Midterms

Produced A Wave Of Firsts In American Politics:
https://lucid.substack.com/p/instead-of-a-red-wave-the-midterms

New York Times: Abortion On The Ballot:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-abortion.html

The Guardian: "I Never Doubted It":
Why Film-maker Michael Moore Forecast "Blue Tsunami"...:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/14/us-midterms-film-maker-michael-moore-blue-tsunami

The Huffington Post: How John Fetterman's

"Punk Rock" Campaign Defeated Mehmet Oz:
https://news.yahoo.com/john-fetterman-punk-rock-campaign-104505922.html

Yahoo News: Five Myths That The 2022 Midterms Demolished:
https://news.yahoo.com/5-myths-that-the-2022-midterms-demolished-215620892.html

Yahoo News: What Voters Told Republicans In The Midterms:
https://news.yahoo.com/what-voters-told-republicans-in-the-midterm-elections-212302560.html

My Corona Diary (Take XXXV): It's 2022 Already. Feel Any Different Yet?

 

<"Here's Looking At You, Kid..."/

The Reckoner>

<i.>

Here's a rhetorical question that sums up New Year's Day perfectly for me. One of my Facebook friends asked, "Why do we celebrate merely making it from one end of the calendar to another?" It's a fitting one, especially when you consider how rough the last couple years have been -- from the onset of COVID-19, to the inevitable economic convulsions that accompanied it, and the twilight of the Trump era, as its Dear Leader plotted to hang onto the power that he saw slipping from his grasp (even though 84 million people told him so last November).

The Squawker and I kicked off 2022 in low-key fashion. Amid ominous rumblings of a heavy snowstorm gripping the Midwest, with four to eight inches expected for our area, we ordered an extra large pizza (delivered), and watch the usual barrage of special programs targeted at unwilling shut ins like ourselves. 

Hence, we opted for gentler, quirkier fare during the day, like a marathon of "Crikey! It's The Irwins." Seeing Australia's first family of animal rescue in the cavernously hollow space of their massive zoo was truly surreal, as Steve Irwin's widow, Terri, recounted the challenges of struggling to feed 1,200 animals when the COVID-19 bomb dropped. "Definitely not an experience for the faint-hearted," I told myself.

Our choices got progressively quirkier and darker as the night wore on. I caught the first half of a "Columbo" howcatchem I've seen before, I think -- "Publish Or Perish," featuring Jack Cassidy one of the oiliest, most slippery villains ever to grace the show. 

More commonly identified these days as David Cassidy's/Keith Partirdge's late father, Jack really got around '70s TV, typically playing a heel who's there to get his comeuppance -- but few people played those roles with such zest and relish. (Or, as his Wikipedia bio describes it: "His frequent professional persona was an urbane, witty, confident egotist with a dramatic flair." That's a fair description, I think.)

I wrapped up the night with "Disappeared: Finding Andrea," a four-part look at the disappearance of Andrea Knabel, a single mother of two who -- wait for it -- often volunteered to look for missing persons. "How surreal is that?" I asked Squawker. "How safe can anybody feel, when the finder of missing persons goes missing?"

The Squawker let out a short, sharp sigh, and leaned forward on the couch, where an art project needed closer attention. "I can't believe we're starting three years of this." I didn't have to guess what that last word meant. "I'm waiting till spring, and then, I'm living my life. I can't deal take anymore of this."

It's 2022 already. Feel any different yet? I thought so.

<Setting Sons/The Jam:
Front Cover (1979)*

Meet me on the wastelands - later this day

We'll sit and talk and hold hands maybe

For there's not much else 

to do in this drab and colorless place...

We'll sit amongst the rubber tires

Amongst the discarded bric-a-brac

People have no use for - 

amongst the smoldering embers of yesterday...

<"Wasteland">

<ii.>

It's been awhile since I've referenced a song here from Paul Weller, or the Jam, that band that cast him as a "spokesman for a generation," or something along those lines (not that he encouraged that label, which he publicly disdained). But I find his lyrics as relevant as ever, and "Wasteland" certainly qualifies, even if it's not as mentioned as often as the "biggies" in their back catalog (like "Away From The Numbers," "In The City," "Start!," or "That's Entertainment," for example).

"Wasteland" itself has led something of a checkered existence, closing out side one of the UK edition of Setting Sons (Polydor Records: 1979), the album on which it appeared, but then, shifted to the closing position on side two for the Canadian and US versions. That strikes me as a better idea than the UK version ending with a cover of Martha & The Vandellas' "Heatwave." 

I have no issues with "Heatwave," per se. However, closing on such a bouncy, upbeat note seems a little jarring, especially after the listener has absorbed songs about enforced unemployment ("Smithers-Jones," bassist Bruce Foxton's brilliant songwriting cameo), social apathy ("Burning Sky"), the breakup of friendships ("Thick As Thieves"), the loneliness of suburbia ("Private Hell"), and the tolls of classism ("The Eton Rifles") and war ("Little Boy Soldiers"). So 

Setting Sons marked the Jam's fourth album, one that cemented its position as critical and commercial favorites -- entering the UK charts at #4 on its November 1979 release. "Making that album was an intense business, as we concentrated a lot more on the sound and the arrangements of the songs, and we seemed to do many more takes than we were used to," drummer Rick Buckler observes in his memoir, That's Entertainment: My Life In The Jam (2015). "By the end of the recordings, there were boxes of tapes around the wall of the control room."

"Wasteland" certainly reflects that brief, one that I'd call "the sound of ambitious maturity," perhaps. Start with the title, which reminds me of T.S. Eliot's 434-line epic poem, "The Waste Land." I doubt that Weller intended it that way, since he didn't express enthusiasm for Eliot's work in interviews (unlike, say, George Orwell). 

But the association is hard to escape, anyway, and the theme certainly fits -- of "the decline of the old certainties that had previously held Western society together," according to enotes.com. "This has caused society to break up, and there's to be no going back. All that's left to do is to salvage broken cultural fragments from a vanished past."

That dark and doleful mood dogs the nameless protagonists, "The ones overshadowed by the monolith monstrosities called council homes," who are  caught in some dramatic social catastrophe that's not their fault, and not of their own making, but one they feel powerless to change ("For to be caught smiling is to acknowledge life/A brave but useless show of compassion/And that is forbidden in this drab and colorless world").

It's 2022. Feel any different yet? I thought so.

Meet me later but we'll have to hold hands
Tumble and fall (tumble and falling)
Like our lives (like our lives)
Exactly like our lives

<"Wasteland": Closing lines>

<iii.>

In the end, all that's left for the narrator is to invite his companion -- friend, loved one, or co-conspirator, who knows? -- to somehow look beyond the bleakness of their surroundings ("The holy Coca-Cola tins, the punctured footballs"), and hark back to better times long, long gone, as the song suggests, though there are no guarantees, even of seizing that moment ("We'll sit and probably hold hands"). 

The dominant impression is one of sodden resignation, reinforced by a recorder that floats above the band's signature Who-like power trio thunder. It's an unusual choice, but a great choice, one that manages to make "Wasteland" feel lilting and menacing at the same time. It's a suitable counterpoint to the dour observations that Weller's dishing out, such as: "We'll smile, but only for seconds."

Sounds like what we're going through now, doesn't it? No matter where you cast your eye around the landscape, the fog of uncertainty feels hard to shake -- such as our local hospital, where some two dozen nurses walked off the job last month, or so I heard. Our local church services have abruptly gone back to online-only, after several congregants tested positive for COVID, and forced them into quarantine at home.

I myself dodged a bullet of sorts a couple weeks ago, when I was invited to cover a fair dealing with small cities' infrastructure problems. Long story short, I didn't end up going. I later found out, through the grapevine, that one of the organizers tested came down with COVID.

That news, in turn, forced several people I knew to get themselves tested. Fortunately, nobody reported any ill effects, but the whole business left me redoubling my vows to keep my public distance, both figuratively, and literally.

The big picture news doesn't feel any better. Last month, if you don't already know, Congress approved the final version of our national defense budget. As usual, they did it late at night, when fewer people would pay attention (presumably). As usual, only 51 Democrats, mostly pro-peace progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, voted against it. 

As usual, the final figure ($777.7 billion) wound up way above the initial estimate ($752 billion) that President Biden proposed. (In contrast, Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, spent $740 billion.) "Meanwhile," as progressive Senate candidate Erica Smith notes, "a bill that would dramatically upgrade our climate change response, expand our healthcare system, and build more than one million affordable housing units, is left for dead in the Senate."

Why? Well, essentially, because reactionary greed creeps like Senator Joe Manchin ("D"-WV) don't like it. They'll think you, oh, I don't know. Hoover it up your nose, or something, the same place where they stick that COVID testing swab. 

That's doubtful, but the absurdity of such a premise tempts me to joke: "Look at the bright side, folks. At least they've let us know where we really stand, in the greater scheme of things."

It's 2022 already. Feeling any different yet? Me neither, but I'm ready to pull "Wasteland" back out again, for another few spins. It's at the end of a cassette tape, but you know what? Something tells me, I'd better make the effort. --The Reckoner

Links To Go (Hurry, Hurry,
Before The Wasteland Gets Dark):

Al Jazeera: Biden Signs
Enormous US Military Budget Into Law:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/27/biden-signs-enormous-us-military-budget-into-law

Down WIth Tyranny: Guest Post:
Erica Smith: Re-Evaluating Defense:
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/do-you-want-congress-to-re-direct-funds-towards-domestic-priorities-instead-of-war-vote-for-that

The Jam: Wasteland (Lyric Video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRvXfVEKgdw

Vox.com: Why The US 
Is Paying More For The Military...:
https://www.vox.com/22840615/us-defense-spending-increase-afghanistan-withdrawal

One Last Blast Of Jam Trivia...

(*Setting Sons's front cover is an Andrew Douglas photo of Benajmin Clemens' 1919 bronze sculpture, The St. Johns Ambulance Bearers, which the band found in keeping with the themes they were exploring, according to Buckler. Yet that choice came with a slight hitch, as he notes: "Sadly, that bronze sculpture has been in long-term storage for many years, so nobody has been able to see it for a long time." Guess that fits the current mood, too, doesn't it?)

Guest Review/Interview: Chairman Ralph: Bristol Boys Make More Noise: Mods, Power Pop, Scooter Boys: 1979-87

BRISTOL BOYS MAKE MORE NOISE:

MODS, POWER POP, SCOOTER BOYS: 1979-87

(Bristol Archive Records: www.bristolarchiverecords.com,

AVAILABLE APRIL 1) 

Like many buzzwords, the definition of Mod depends on who coins it. If you lived in London, you could plug into a readymade subculture – whether you caught the Who in their '60s prime, or the unfairly-overlooked late '70s/early '80s “second wavers” (like the Chords, for instance) – and connect the dots. So firmly had the late Pete Meaden's now-famous definition (“clean living under difficult circumstances”) imprinted itself on the UK's psyche. 



So what did you do, then, if you lived far from the madding capitol crowd, and its oh-so-cool aura? One answer lies in Bristol Music Archive's latest compilation, BRISTOL BOYS MAKE MORE NOISE: MODS, POWER POP, SCOOTER BOYS: 1979-87, featuring 21 underdog nuggets that fell short of wider exposure (either appearing on small 7-inch single runs – or previously unreleased – that ain't limited man, that's incarcerated!). Further reinforcement will come with a novel, TO BE SOMEONE: BRISTOL MOD 1979-85, by Michael W. Salter, which Bristol Archive Records and Tangent Books will co-publish later this year. 

<The Rimshots: Skylarking at rehearsal, 1980

Left to right: Doug Poole, Mike Darby>

[Photo courtesy of Mike Darby, Bristol Archive Records]

“Bristol’s always been an amazing city for producing great bands. Whether it be any subculture (Punk, Mod, Ska, Reggae, Goth, Dark Wave, Rock, Metal), you can always find a great band that fitted the genre,” notes Mike Darby – who staked out his contribution as lead singer of the Rimshots, and now runs Bristol Archive Records. “Mod was quite small I would say in Bristol, Power Pop bands were much more commonplace. But the Power Pop bands were all influenced by the progression from punk into New Wave and then post punk (White shirts, thin black ties, skinny jeans).”

Phil Olerenshaw, drummer of Thin Air – also featured here – heartily seconds those sentiments “The great thing is, that there were dozens of bands gigging in Bristol at the time, and it was a really creative time. The Rimshots were the flagship for ska/bluebeat, and we were certainly grateful to them for giving us a lot of support slots in the early days,” Olerenshaw recalls. “Both bands fitted together well, and had a decent fan base. The Ska 'thing' actually only lasted 12-18 months in terms of fashion, and inevitably we all moved on in different directions.

“Personally, I always enjoyed the 'Arty' Bristol bands like Sneak Preview, The Hybrids, Creature Beat and The Controls. These bands were very clever musically, with plenty of social commentary, and catchy melodies. They were all gigging regularly at a number of venues, and it was easy to get to know their material. The other great thing to mention is that a lot of the bands supported each other, and it was very common to see faces from other bands in the crowd. There was none of the 'rivalry' bollocks that existed elsewhere. That's how it should be.”

Playing in a local band had one other side benefit – the chance to open for your musical heroes. In the Rimshots' case, that meant 2-Tone bands like the Selecter, the Specials, and the English Beat. Of the Rimshots' latter opening slot, Darby recalls: “An amazing experience. The Beat had just blown up HUGE, so the place was packed, nearly 1,500. The whole building was jumping, the dance floor used to be like a trampoline.

“My lasting memory was asking Saxa to sign a copy of one of their 7-inch singles for me. He politely refused, saying that no musician would do this for another, we were all the same. I quickly changed approach and asked if he could do it for my younger brother, which of course he was delighted to do – I have still have that treasured 7” vinyl.”

Thin Air's initial peak – supporting the Jam, at the Locarno – coincided with the horror of John Lennon's murder, (December 8, 1980), as Olerenshaw vivdly recalls all too well: “He was assassinated in the early hours of the morning (UK time), so the whole crowd, and indeed the bands, were in a state of numbness by the time of the gig that evening.” The Jam's singer-guitarist, Paul Weller, responded by dedicating “Start” – which nods melodically to the Beatles' “Taxman” – in Lennon's memory.

“For the gig itself, I remember coming on stage in darkness with the lights down, while the intro music played, and seeing pairs of eyes literally everywhere (there were 3,000 people watching!),” Olerenshaw says. “I remember the silence for a couple of seconds when our first song ended, followed by a huge roar! Finally, I recall Paul Weller telling us to go back for an encore, when we'd finished, because we'd 'gone down' really well, and the crowd were calling for us. 


“We also got the best seats in the house to watch the Jam themselves, who were at the 'top of their game' at the time, and had been number 1 in the charts with their album, Sound Affects, and both singles ('Going Underground' and 'Start'). Finally I remember signing autographs, giving away drumsticks, and getting home at 2 a.m., with school the next day!!” 

<The Rimshots: Live 'N' Direct,
Trinity Hall, 1980:
Left to right: Richard Bentley, Mike Darby,
Simon Heathfield, Mike Furzman.>
[Photo courtesy of Mike Darby, Bristol Archive Records]

With all those memories still ringing vividly in their holders' minds, how do we start examining this thing called Bristol Mod? In this case,start with the opening blast of “Too Young Girl” (The ATs: 1980), which combines all the essential ingredients – a smart call and response vocal hook, a rousing chorus and a raveup that would do the Who or the Yardbirds proud – into a rumbling Mod-Pop recipe. Various Artists pull off the same trick on their contribution, “Weekends” – released on their own label, in 1981 – whose length (an epic 5:09) shouldn't put you off, especially after you hear the extended coda that kicks in halfway through, and lifts the song to a whole 'nother level.

As this disc makes plain, the line between its main genres – Mod, power pop and ska – is razor thin, one that Bristol's finest relished blurring, and often to glorious effect. For examples, check out “A Thousand Burning Voices” (Thin Air: 1982, previously unreleased), whose anthemic blast offers a tantalizing glimpse into what might have been – had the proverbial “suits” resisted the temptation to break rock 'n' roll's Unwritten 11th Commandment (Thou Shalt Not Mess With What's Already Good).

Olerenshaw cites “Voices” as an example of singer-guitarist Paul Sandrone's newfound maturity as a songwriter: “We learnt the song in a day (during the school holidays) and it evolved into a clever song with excellent dynamics, having a reflective, acoustic verse, and then it launches into a euphoric punchy chorus. Personally, I loved the way that the tempo goes from half-time in the verse, to standard-time in the bridge , and then double-time in the chorus which makes the song 'take off'. The harmonies on that song were also pretty spectacular and the Beach Boys influence was very evident! It's a clever song, about love and self doubt...and it became popular in the live set.”

This being the '80s – and the twin spectres of yuppie drones and Margaret Thatcher's aggressive monetarism ravaging the British landscape – it's hardly surprising that a fair slice of social commentary runs through the proceedings here. Choice examples include the Rimshots' “I Was Wrong” (1980), and its deadpan sendup of looking for work that doesn't remotely promise any idea of fulfillment ("My mum said I would get a very good job/I went down to Bristol to get a job/I was wrong"), and the Cass Carnaby Five's “November Rain” (1985), a propulsive look at the isolation of urban life (“He looks out of his window, hoping for more than he's seen before/Just another day in November rain”). And, in “Fleet Street,” the Review gives the fourth estate a sound kicking, though the lyrics are a bit hard to make out (I'll have to give that track another shot and try again, I suppose).

Other chordsmiths chose to work the lovelorn angle, such as Huw Gower – the biggest name here, who went on to the Records (and also played on bills with the Jam, incidentally). He turns is a moody, but shimmering slice of pop in “She's Still A Mystery” (1981), which laments that perennially unavailable “girl who knocks you off your feet.” In a fairer world, this song – buoyed by a swirling, insistent guitar and keyboard line – should have snagged a smash hit for its composer. Then again, rock isn't a meritocracy, or else compilations like this one wouldn't be necessary, right?

At the same time, it's also worth remembering that other styles coexisted comfortably under the Mod umbrella – with R&B, soul and ska providing the musical common denominator. Power pop and rock weren't the only flavors of the day – though, in some cases, it meant going back to home base and turning a genre on its head. That's what the Newbeats do on “Somebody's Girl,” whose double-tracked vocals, shimmering guitars and telegrammatic lyrics (“I want to hold her tight through the night”) could slot comfortably in the Merseybeat file (albeit -- released in 1985). By contrast, the Untouchables confidently mine the R&B angle on “Keep Your Distance” (1980) , which barrels along a prominent harmonica hook and solo that would give Lew Lewis a run for his money.

Other outfits preferred to fly the ska banner, as exemplified by Sky High's “Maryanne,” which drives its romantic discontent home with a hefty dose of horns and organ. The CD ends with a pair of live tracks from Blue Riverside, who also show a definite '60s-ish influence. For my money, “Experiments In Colour” is the stronger performance – though both tracks boast plenty of rip-roaring guitar to pull you along. (These bands always had good guitarists, which is only one reason that I – being a musician myself – appreciate this particular sub-genre.)

To untrained ears, ending with these two tracks seems like a curious choice – since the fidelity isn't immaculate – but I'd much rather hear a basement show captured in all its gritty glory than a dull performance recorded immaculately. If nothing else, Mod is about rowdiness, sweat and passion, which is why the Blue Riverside tracks provide an apt exclamation point. Compilations are often hit or miss affairs – depending on who's included, or excluded – but that's not the case here.

Obviously, it helps to have a theme, but there's plenty of strong material on offer (I just listed the ones that caught my attention first) – which is why you should pick up this release, and give it time on your shelf. In short, MODS stands up as a timely reminder of an era that casts a strong ripple effect on today's culture, as Darby explains: “The Mod scene has never really gone away and it’s still fairly big to this day with the following bands having reformed and still out gigging, some to huge crowds – The Specials, The Selecter, Madness, The Beat (three versions), Bad Manners, the Chords, Secret Affair, The Purple Hearts and new mod bands that have just appeared, like The Spitfires.”

“I think it's simply a great era to celebrate,” agrees Olerenshaw. “Mod and Ska has stood the test of time, and to this day, a lot of football grounds play stuff like 'The Liquidator' and 'Double Barrel' before matches. It's the ultimate feelgood music, and I think it will always be popular!” <Chairman Ralph>

FURTHER INFORMATION
BRISTOL ARCHIVE RECORDS:http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com/ 

BRISTOL ARCHIVE BANDCAMP PAGE:
http://bristolarchiverecords.bandcamp.com/ 

RIMSHOTS DISCOGRAPHY:
http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com/bands/Rimshots.html 

THIN AIR DISCOGRAPHY:
http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com/bands/Thin_Air.html

[reprinted by permission of: http://www.chairmanralph.com/communiques/]