We say it alot when a musician dies. He was a legend. He was a visionary. He changed the game etc, etc, etc. And although Neil Peart was all of those things…he was still able to fly below the radar for many people. I wasn't a big Rush fan although they appeared during the time when I was listening to music constantly and playing it on the radio. I was into Steely Dan, CSNY, Bob Dylan and the other singer-songwriters of the 70.s. My heavy rock pals were mostly into Led Zep, Sabbath and Deep Purple although one of them was in the audience when Rush played the Wausau Newman gym in 1977. It still boggles my mind that a national band with three albums out would play a dinky venue like the Newman gym but if you watch the fascinating documentary on the band you would learn that even at that point Rush was in danger of breaking up. That tour was a way to keep plugging along. They would play anywhere to keep the dream alive. And they continued to build their audience. An audience (mostly male) that worshipped this band like no other. How do you describe Rush? As Gene Simmons of Kiss says in the doc, What is a Rush show? It's Rush.” And it's true…no band was like them. And a big part of that allure were the contributions of Neil Peart. Not only his sublime and explosive drumming that propelled the songs forward and kept time but also, in the confines of a trio, were melodic and game changing. Ask any drummer for a list of their favorite drummers and I guarantee you that Peart will be in the Top 3. But he also wrote most of the lyrics to songs that became anthems for a generation of alienated youth. They ranged from mystic to deeply literary…especially for a genre of music that, in many cases, didn't embrace depth or subtlety. You couldn't really pigeon hole this band into any one category and that allowed them to prosper through all the industry changes of the last 40 years. Their tours still sold out until health reasons forced them off the road. I have come to the Rush table over the last few years, going back and listening to a alot of music I ignored when it was new. I will never know the pleasure that fans of the band got as they reveled in every new Lp or tour as they happened, but hearing the music now will have to be enough…since we won't be getting any more. For those of us of a certain age, the deaths of our musical heroes are becoming more common place. And it only promises to get worse. So, as I've said before…get out and see them now. you never know when it will be the last time.
Fans of Fargo…rejoice…season 4 is here…
Old Town Road…Packers Style!
The Green Bay Packers are headed to the NFC Championship game after holding off the Seahawks on Sunday. Can we just enjoy that for a moment before we read all the experts saying the team has noc chance against the 49ers. We only have to look to a couple of days ago when the Tennessee Titans upset Baltimore to see that anything can happen in one game. If you said back in September that the Packers would be struggling at times but would be playing in the NFC title game…everybody would have been on board.
In the win over Portland on Saturday night Giannis had his double-double in nine minutes!
At this point, it appears the #Brewers will have at least 4 platoons on offense.
1B-Smoak/Healy/Braun
3B-Sogard/Gyorko/Healy
C-Narvaez/Pina
LF-Braun/Garcia
Cain might need one in CF depending on his rest need
Things to piss you off today.
Trump claims to have sent American troops to Saudi Arabia in exchange for $1 million. Sounds like another of his bullshit claims but if it isnt, how abhorrent is it that the President is turning the American military into mercenaries. If I was a a national reporter the first question I would ask is what “bank” this million dollars was deposited into and who has access to it. Read the story
here
Trump signs bill that helps polluters and then gives ceremonial pen to Dow Chemical chief. Read it
here
I'm sure Ben, Sean, John Muir, Rush and the rest of the right wing squawk machine will trumpet
this news
from the rooftops today. Oh, who am I kidding.
So weird how people who absolutely hate this woman and who have spent literally decades spreading lies and conspiracy theories about her, can't — even with the full might of the Trump government behind them — find one single actionable thing she actually did wrong.
https://twitter.com/HuffPost/status/1215728768947…
“The 2 year investigation into Hillary Clinton by the Trump DOJ., that promised to, “Lock her up!” has concluded with…
Nothing.
Robert Mueller’s 2 year investigation of Trump resulted in 199 criminal counts against 37 people or entities, 6 of whom are currently in prison.”-Dana Gould
Quotes Of The Day
“Last night on Fox News, President Trump said that Saudi Arabia deposited $1 billion in a bank account in exchange for assistance from the U.S. military. Trump needs to say exactly where this money is and what it’s paying for or admit he was lying.”-Judd Legum
“How is it possible that the President can announce we're using U.S. troops as mercenaries, and yet absolutely no further information is available on the details of this arrangement?”-Susan Simpson
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/12158363061623726…
Show this thread
“Dear @realDonaldTrump: I served on active duty in the United States military. We are not mercenaries. We are not bargaining chips. We don’t deploy for money.Our troops exist to protect the Constitution and the national security of the United States. Get it?”-Ted Lieu
#SaturdayThoughtshttps://twitter.com/justinamash/status/1216054398138376192
“If there’s anything the founders hated more than a standing army it was mercenaries, professional soldiers paid to serve a foreign power. I’m betting our soldiers don’t like it much either.”-Richard Stengel
https://twitter.com/acyn/status/121583630616237260…
“Just so we're clear, Trump is now openly flaunting that he's operating the military as a mercenary force and that he's hung a price tag on the lives of American soldiers.I know so much of what Trump does is forgotten, but this is obscenely dangerous and troubling.”-Jared Yates Sexton
“Millions of Americans are 100% ok being lied to by the President.
Millions.
That’s an epidemic.”-Andy Lassner
https://twitter.com/rgoodlaw/status/1215989643528…
“The median wage in the United States hasn't gone up in over 40 years.”-Mikel Jollet
https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/121566044781647…
“My 2020 focus is taking control of the Senate. McConnell is a mortal threat to our democracy and we must end his reign of terror. He blocks legislation. He breaks norms. The Supreme Court is vital- we are in danger of losing Roe, and rights and protections fought for decades.”-Amy Siskind
“Gotta say, nobody in Washington has ever been better at not doing something, no matter what, than @senatemajldr. He’s stood like a stone in a thousand schoolhouse doors, the #HenryClay and #LBJ of “no.” He’s told himself that this will make him a Madisonian hero in history. Nope.”-Howard Fineman
“The Corruption & Criminality of this President is so voluminous it feels overwhelming. But we can never let his barrage of Lies, his Ignorance & Incompetence wear US down. For Democracy & the State of our Union, we must keep our Eyes on the Prize.”-Rob Reiner
“I am beholden to Trump for inspiring me, with his daily pronouncements, to live long enough to vote for someone qualified to be our nation's next President!,”-Carl Reiner
“Rae and Joseph Kushner escaped the horrors of the Holocaust by immigrating to the U.S. Now their grandson defends President Trump’s contention that refugees are a danger to the country.-New Yorker Magazine
“When Nixon tried to claim executive privilege over the recordings that would eventually show the smoking gun that he coordinated the cover-up of Watergate, the Supreme Court not only ruled against Nixon’s executive privilege claim, they ruled against it UNANIMOUSLY. “-Brian Tyler Cohen
https://twitter.com/amoneyresists/status/121583972…
“Defense secretary says he “didn’t see” evidence of Trump’s claim of four embassies under threat from Iran”-Rolling Stone
“The president obviously lied about 4 (!) embassies. No media outlet should accept at face value anything he says. Pelosi, along with reopening investig to subpoena Bolton should consider an article based on fraudulent grounds for initiating hostilities.”-Jennifer Rubin
“There were some imminent attacks” is the 2020 version of “he has weapons of mass destruction.” We can be excused for believing Colin & Condi, but history will NOT forgive us for buying ANYTHING this admin has to say. Let’s not be stupid, gullible & self-destructive, MMMKay?”-Pam Keith
“To the brave, long-suffering people of Iran: I've stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency, and my Administration will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage.”-Donald Trump
“You never stood with the people of Iran. You literally banned them from America from the very beginning of your presidency. You sanctioned them so severely it killed cancer patients who couldn’t get access to medicine. And now you claim solidarity? Incomprehensible hypocrisy.”-Qasim Rashid
“These are, in today's Republican party, spineless politicians rotten to the core without virtue, without any level of human integrity, devoid of self respect… Without courage and without the moral compass to recognize their own malevolence” – @DavidJollyFL w/ @NicolleDWallace
From a report in the Wall Street Journal
“BREAKING: Trump privately said one reason he had the Iranian General killed was to ensure some Republican Senators would support him in the upcoming impeachment trial. Trump is a disgrace and a danger to us all. The Senate must remove him, and then he should be thrown in prison.”-Scott Dworkin
“Please any trump supporter, feel free to tell me trumps abilities. Besides, insults, lies, fraud, adultery, cowardice, a vocabulary of a three year old, delusion, sociopathic personality. Come on… anything?”-American Veteran
“Regardless of the outcome, I cannot stress enough how insane it is that we send all of our candidates for president to Iowa for a year, a f*cking year, to talk to everyone in Iowa, as if that was some sort of normal way to pick a nominee to run for president.”-David Rothschild
