The 1970’s were a great time to be a music fan. Yeah, I know the 1960’s can make an argument and I know I’m biased for coming of age in the decade but for me the 1970’s had everything that a music fans could want. From Hard rock to disco…the cream of singer-songwriter LPs….outlaw country….some of the greatest pop music ever recorded….great bands of every kind…..punk and new wave….and the genre bending sound that was called Jazz-Fusion. Yeah, I know that for many folks, Jazz fusion was dissonant on their ears. And some of it was. But when it was put in the hands of musical prodigies…something magical happened. Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, Jean-Luc Ponty and…Chick Corea. Corea who died last week, was a composer and keyboard player who played with Miles Davis in the late 60’s. In the early 70’s he formed a band called Return to Forever which melded jazz and rock along with other musical genres into a pleasing stew for those who embraced it. Albums like Light As a Feather and Romantic Warrior were classics and featured not only the stylings of Corea but also stellar players like Stanley Clarke on bass, Lenny White on drums, Joe Farrell on woodwinds and later a youngster named Al Di Meola on guitar who wowed fans with his fluid playing. I was fortunate to have some older classmates in high school who turned me on to jazz-fusion early and allowed me to consume great quantities of it when I got to UWSP and the student radio station with it’s vast stacks of vinyl. If you aren’t familiar with Corea’s work…take a listen….
I’ll be at Mosinee tonight for a first round boys basketball tournament game as Wausau East faces Mosinee at 7pm on AM1390 & FM93.9 and podcast at everythinglumberjacks.com
The Bucks miss Jrue Holiday who is out in quaurantine. They have dropped 3 in a row and will host Toronto tonight.
I finished up the Denzel Washington thriller, The Little Things, on HBO Max. Solid…and a great twist at the end to leave you thinking when the screen went black.
Nest up will be the movie Judas and The Black Messiah, the story of the FBI infiltration of the Black Panthers in the late 60’s-early 70’s…
Reading the new Pat Cornwell Spin, which feature her new main character Captain Chase. Its the second book of the series as she gives Kay Scarpetta a rest
Covers Of The Day (from some of the nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame)
Iron Maiden cover Jethro Tull
Rage Against The Machine cover Bob Dylan
Devo covers The Rolling Stones
Kate Bush covers Elton John
Todd Rundgren covers The Beatles
Author Jonathan Rauch examines how Trump and Congressional Republicans have changed the Constitution without bothering with passing those pesky amendments
Post-impeachment, we can say this: Trump’s presidency has amended the Constitution. Not formally, of course, but informally…which matters just as much. Here are the five Trump amendments. 1/9
1. “No president shall be removed from office for treason, bribery, or any other crime or misdemeanor provided a partisan minority of the Senate will protect him (which is always). Impeachment is thus a nullity and presidents can expect impunity.” 2/9
2. “Congressional oversight shall be optional. No congressional subpoena or investigative demand shall be binding on a president who chooses to ignore it.” 3/9
3. “Congressional appropriations shall be suggestions. The president may choose whether or not to conform with congressional spending laws, and Congress shall have no recourse should a president declare that his own priorities supersede Congress’s express will.” 4/9
4. “The president shall have authority to make appointments as he sees fit, without the advice and consent of the Senate, provided he deems his appointees to be acting, temporary, or otherwise exempt from the ordinary confirmation process.” 5/9
5. “The president shall have unconstrained authority to dangle and issue pardons for the purpose of obstructing justice, tampering with witnesses, and forestalling investigations. There is nothing anyone can do about this (see Amendment 1 above).” 6/9
Let’s count our blessings. Had Trump won a second term, he’d have put through a 6th amendment: “The president may ignore or violate court orders.” 7/9
Still, the existing Trump amendments give the president WAY more discretion and impunity than the Founders intended. After Trump, we’re more dependent than ever on the president’s character to prevent a quasi-monarchy. 8/9
And more than ever, there’s a howling void at the center of the Constitution…one called Congress. 9/9
Quotes of The Day
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