Estranged Stranger

CATIE CURTIS
Hello, Stranger
Compass 7-4517-2

Catie Curtis is one of those performers we want to adore. She’s effervescent, personable, and talented. On stage she exudes energy and charm, and few walk away unfulfilled. Alas, a reviewer’s job is to call it like it is, not how we’d like it to be; Hello, Stranger is a sub par effort. There are too many musical genres into which merely Curtis dips her toes rather than immersing herself—more of a producer’s album than one that flatters her.

Curtis has been making records in Nashville for a few years now. There is certainly no faulting the production values of her new album, not when talent such as Alison Brown, Darrell Scott, Kenny Malone, and Mary Gauthier come along for the ride. Problems occur, however, as Curtis drifts further from her folk roots. The title track is an A. P. Carter song and much of the record has a country bluegrass tinge. We are asked to believe that Curtis is a country gal, not a Boston-based artist who cut her teeth on urban folk.alt music. And we’re also supposed to accept the premise that all covers are appropriate and cool. But Curtis simply doesn’t have to chops or the ‘tude to cover an angst-laden Richard Thompson song like “Walking on a Wire.” And, if you’re going to dust off something as familiar as “Passing Through” you need to be robust about it, not merely competent.

The tepidness of Curtis’s bluegrass/country/rock personae become glaringly obvious when contrasted to her own compositions. Instead of the quavering tones that we hear on covers, she is smooth, confident, and emotive. And, yes, she skirts the borders of sentimentality on songs such as “Dad’s Yard,” her homage to her father’s Yankee parsimony and warm heart. But that’s the point. Her best repertoire is a mix of the sweet and slightly bitter, not those that are shopworn or bitter. Curtis is at her best as a folk and folk rock artist, not as an Appalachian avatar. I never thought I’d write these lines about Catie Curtis, but the new album feels contrived.--LV

FOR SHAME, SCOTLAND!

The new crimson Scottish flag commemorating shamelessness.

Other than the national tourist board, there’s no bigger booster of Scotland on the planet than yours truly, but let’s call it like it is: the decision to release Lockerbie mastermind Abdel Basset Al-Megrahi is a crime against humanity. Scottish first minister Alex Salmond called Al-Megrahi’s release a humanitarian gesture, given that the convict has terminal prostate cancer and less than three months to live. So where’s the humanitarian gesture for the families of the 270 people who died when Al-Megrahi and his gang of terrorists brought down Pan Am flight 103 in 1988? Are we to cry crocodile tears over Al-Megrahi’s impending death? Not me; the planet is better off without him (and every single one of the Libyans who cheered him).

Al-Megrahi served twenty-one year for mass murder. Let’s contrast his treatment with that of Hitler aid Rudolf Hess. Hess—who thought the war against Britain was a mistake—landed in Scotland in 1941, where he hoped to negotiate a peace settlement between Britain and Germany. Instead, Scots handed him over to British government authorities, and he was imprisoned in Wales for the war’s duration. In the post-World War II Nuremberg trials Hess was given a life sentence for “crimes against peace” and “conspiracy” for helping to develop Germany’s war machine. He died in Spandau Prison in 1987 at the age of 93, and was the only inmate at the time of his demise.

Is a former Nazi’s fate analogous to that of Al-Megrahi? Not really; Al-Megrahi is a convicted mass murder and Hess was not! In fact, Hess was found innocent of crimes against humanity and war crimes. He was also repudiated by the Nazis and was stripped of all ranks and honors for his very attempt to end the conflict with Britain. Hess was in many ways a monster, but he was a humanitarian compared to Al-Megrahi. The full futility and stupidity of Scotland’s decision was revealed when Al-Megrahi received a hero’s welcome in Tripoli. It was an appalling display and ought to give pause to any Western nation considering rapprochement with Libya.

Humanitarian gesture? How about this one? Put Al-Megrahi on an unmanned drone, set off a bomb at 30,000 feet, and give him the same chance for compassion as he gave Pan Am 103 passengers. And make sure that Alex Salmond is on the ground when the pieces begin to fall, holding aloft Scotland’s redesign of the St. Andrew’s Cross flag—its blue background replaced by a field of crimson. For shame, Scotland.--LV

Bigfoot. There's more evidence for him than for a bipartisan.

Democrat: n. a spineless mammal that grovels on its stomach and subsists on hope and crumbs distributed by liberals.

Bipartisan: n. a mythical two-faced beast said to face backward and forward simultaneously. In folklore it is depicted as rational and gentle, but scientists have found no evidence that such a species ever existed.

Liberal: n. a harmless mammal known for its ferocious growl, rhetorical flourishes, and bombast. Although its bellow can be fearsome, the liberal poses no threat as it is toothless.


At the time of Barack Obama’s election, optimistic comparisons were made to Abraham Lincoln. Alas, the politician that’s emerging is the next coming of Jimmy Carter. President Obama seems affable enough but, like Carter, he’s too interested in pleasing others and too prone to compromising principles in pursuit of a bipartisanship that only he believes in. Akin also to Carter, Obama shows distressing signs of being a man out of his depth. In fact, he’s acting more like a freshman senator than a president.

Let’s look at the recent record. Facing a hailstorm of criticism from the GOP Right (but I repeat myself), President Obama has retained the seal on interrogation records of terrorist suspects, has backpedaled on gay rights, has compromised on health care reform, and has signaled he may be willing to drop a government option on the latter. Last I looked we were still in Iraq and there are few signs of disengagement, even though the Iraqi government has requested it. There has been no progress on enacting needed business regulation and the bailout plan enriched some of the worst pirates in the financial sector. Unemployment remains high and very little federal money has gone to job creation. Aside from personal style—and the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court-- there has been little to distinguish Obama’s presidency from that of his predecessor. Just this week Obama threw his support behind education legislation that emphasizes standardized testing and other aspects of Bush’s deplorable No Child Left Behind bill.

Like Carter (and Bill Clinton), Obama is steadily drifting to the right. (Lest we forget, it was Jimmy Carter who paved the way for Reagan by boosting defense spending, ratcheting Cold War tensions, and taking a moralist stance on social issues.) And, like Carter, Obama’s getting a free ride from liberals. The latter are “upset” with the president, but they bellow from the sidelines in the foolish belief that Obama is their only hope. What they don’t do is mobilize and hold his feet to the flames. The specter of raving loonies such as Sarah Palin has liberals so scared that they’d rather wring their hands in despair and blame Republicans for failures that ought to be laid at Obama’s door.

Nonsense! The Democrats have a filibuster-proof majority in both houses and the power to enact whatever legislation they wish. The Democrats are not leading, they are merely using the GOP as a bogeyman the way Republicans used to speak of communists during the Cold War. But they’ve little incentive to ruffle feathers that might cost a few of them their comfy seats as long as liberals are quiescent.

Two things need to happen. First, liberals need to get boisterous and disrespectful. They are the last political animals in the country who still think that reason and goodwill can prevail. They can’t worry about whether opposing a black president is racist. (It’s the ultimate paternalism to support someone merely because he is black!) If Obama and other Democrats can’t get with the program, throw their sorry keisters out of office. Form progressive coalitions and run to their left, like the good folks of Burlington, Vermont do. Stop writing checks to the party and start logging complaints on Congressional and White House Websites. Above all, stop being paralyzed by false fear. If it all comes out the same in the wash, does it really matter if a blue-dog Democrat loses to a Republican? Let a few poseurs fall; it might leave the party in the hands of real Democrats.

As for the latter, we’ve not had a real Democrat in the White House since Lyndon Johnson. President Obama should use the real LBJ as his role model rather than chasing bipartisan myths. Don’t tell me we can’t pass health care reform; LBJ faced the much tougher task of getting the Civil Rights Act passed. How’d he do it? He refused to play nice. He cajoled, threatened, and wielded presidential power like a club. LBJ told Congress he’d sign no bills until he had a civil rights bill to sign. He told them he’d cancel the summer recess, that he would use discretionary spending to punish recalcitrant Congressmen, and that the White House would withhold support for Democrats who defied the president. He even let it be known that he couldn’t “guarantee” that a few skeletons wouldn’t slip out of the Congressional closet.

Like the Right, liberals and the president need to get nasty. Like LBJ, they need to kick ass instead of kissing it. Only then will they find themselves with strong teeth and a spine.

INTELLIGENT SPACE SHOT

GLEN PHILLIPS
Secrets of the New Explorers
Umami Music

If you only know Glen Phillips from his days with Toad the Wet Sprocket, you’ve missed some big changes. Secrets of the New Explorers has been called a “folk-pop meets psychedelia” release, but comparisons to electronica and a rave dance hall would be more in order. The music reminded me of Snow Patrol in that the melodies don’t jump at you so much as they ooze out of an aural soup. The cover art evokes 1950s outer space film posters, but the music—though ethereal—is more post-NASA than the age of Sputnik. “Solar Flare” is catchy, yet dreamy—as if was recorded in a zero-gravity chamber. It’s also the perfect arrangement for its subject matter: an intergalactic explorer adrift in the unknown. On “The Spirit of Shackleton” Phillips compares space voyage to Antarctic exploration. In a clever bit of arranging he intertwines electronic blips and beeps with drum loops and beats evocative of earth-bound discos. The CD is just six tracks, but it’s enough to carry its beyond-the-atmosphere musical and lyrical themes.

Warning: If you buy this online get it from the artist Website . There are online pirates trying to pass this off as a rare release. It ought to cost you around eight bucks, not thirty-five or more!

Should Lunatics Be at Liberty with Guns?

Why does this make me feel like freedom is under seige?


News item: Anti-Obama protesters in New Hampshire and Arizona took to the street with firearms visible. Two brandished assault rifles. No laws were broken because state laws allow people to walk around in public with weapons.

Have New Hampshire and Arizonan lawmakers lost their collective minds!? Boy, do I feel secure knowing that some idiot with the IQ of a fern was able to get a license to carry a gun on the streets of Concord and Phoenix. I’m pretty sure these folks won’t protect America from terrorists and criminals; they’d have to be able to spell those words first.

A person who would show up at a presidential rally with a gun has a personal death wish. What will happen next is as predictable as a sunrise. The irresponsible commentators at Fox News—like former drug addict Rush Limbaugh—and leaders of the NRA (Nazi Rifle Association) will hail these people as heroes of freedom. Copycat protesters will appear at future Obama appearances and one of them—no doubt inflamed by Fox or the NRA—will make a menacing gesture with his weapon. The Secret Service will drop him like a bad date and we’ll have another preventable gun casualty to add to growing list. Of course, the deceased’s estate will sue the government and lose. (No one has ever won a wrongful death suit against the Secret Service). And, of course, Fox News, the NRA, and Internet conspiracy nuts will accuse Obama of having personally ordered the man’s murder. (One of the latter will probably reveal that the dead man had Obama’s “real” Kenyan birth certificate.”)

Is it an assault on the second amendment to say that it’s a bad idea to carry guns on the street? Is it unreasonable to think that those without the capacity for reason ought not to be allowed to have assault rifles? Can’t we at least agree that nobody’s precious freedoms would be jeopardized if we made it a federal law to disallow guns at a presidential rally? Before you say “no,” consider a few names: Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy. (Americans have gunned down a whopping 9% of their presidents!)

Several protesters spoke of “exercising their freedoms.” Horse manure!! Their actions were little more than variants of a Ku Klux Klan cross burning. Obama was in town to speak about health-care reform, not the second amendment. What purpose did carrying a gun have other than to signal racist discontent with being governed by a black man? What message was sent other than an assassination threat?

Spare me the freedom malarkey. Like too many Americans, the protesters conflated freedom and liberty. Freedom, in political terms, is a synonym for civil liberty, not for absolute liberty. It stems from the type of liberty—freedom from foreign or arbitrary rule—secured during the American Revolution. Anti-government protesters insisting on their “rights” don’t get it that without the government they have no rights. Government is (or should be) the guarantor of freedom, not its enemy. But freedom is not the kind of “liberty” marked by having no external restraints. Unless government imposes limitations on freedom it cannot guarantee any rights. The anarchist freedom sought by those who think they can do as they wish is the type of liberty whose noun form is “libertine,” a person who is morally profligate and possesses weak internal controls.

Let us make no mistake, those parading around with assault rifles were not advocates of freedom; they were libertines. They are also walking advertisements for those who argue for the second amendment’s repeal. If that ever happens, don’t blame Obama; cast the accusing finger at those whose recklessness made a mockery of freedom.--LV

Do You Really Want to Prevent Socialism?

Who knew that Chairman Karl was in charge?

My goodness, you’d think that Karl Marx had risen from the dead to hear all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the specter of national health care. I’ve seen earnest, obese, white guys­—and that’s generally their profile—showing up at town meetings to tell their white, male Congressmen—and that’s usually their profile as well—that they “don’t want America to become socialist.”

I hate to break the news, but America already is socialist in many respects. Can we take a look at a calendar, folks? The Cold War has been over for more than decade. Nobody is talking about making the United States into the former Soviet Union. (For the record, the USSR was an autocratic oligarchy, not a haven for socialism.) Socialism may be the least understood term of our time. (Even the dictionary defines it improperly.) It could mean the abolition of private property, but that’s simply one variant; it’s a catchall term like “religion” that describes a broad category of belief. Any activity that involves public (as opposed to private) ownership of goods and services is socialist. That ownership can—as in does in the USA and Western democracies in general—come in the form of tax-supported enterprises. The sole difference between the USA and other democracies is the degree of socialism we support. Imagine a world without it. Want to be socialism-free? Let’s start with these:

1. No public education of any sort. Phoenix and I have no kids, so why should we pay for those who do? Let parents send their kids to private schools or home school them. Can’t afford it? Well, you should have thought about that before you decided to have kids, shouldn’t you? Why should we pay for your reckless behavior?

2. Get rid of the military. It’s the ultimate socialist program. I’m a Quaker, hence a pacifist, so paying taxes to support the military is a violation of my freedom. No terrorist has ever bothered me. Besides, under the second amendment we all have the right to bear arms and form “well regulated” militias. We’re shirking our duty when we use taxes to hire mercenaries to do our fighting for us.

3. Can the cops. Use your second amendment right to protect your person, home, and property. Don’t dial 911 and ask tax-supported law enforcement to solve your problems for you. If someone makes off with your BMW, well you should have been more careful.

4. Why do we need intelligence agencies? While we’re on the subject of protection, do we really need an FBI or a CIA? Let’s be brutally frank. If these agencies ran according to the merit system that conservatives wish to impose on teachers, most agents would’ve been out jobs years ago. How come the FBI and police detectives can’t break up a drug ring when everyone in town knows who runs it? As for the CIA and military intelligence, don’t get me started. Forget finding Osama bin Laden; they couldn’t find cholesterol in a can of Spam!

5. Hoses not fire departments. Why do we have to pay for a fire department when our house has never caught on fire and we have insurance in case it does? Buy a garden hose—it’s much cheaper than the local fire department. We think fire engines are red to symbolize the communists who operate them!

6. Pay to go. All town, county, state, and interstate roads and highways are supported by public money. Ditto bridges, tunnels, and many subway, train, and bus lines. Let the private sector maintain the entire lot and let the free market determine what it costs to use them. For thousands of years people seldom left their own villages and, when they did, they knew they’d have to pay tolls to do so. We say, ante up or stay home.

7. Let them starve and suffer. Let’s get rid of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. For decades conservatives have decried these programs as ones that were never meant to be depended upon. Okay, so let’s apply harsh medicine. Although tens of millions do rely on these, cut the cords. If Gramps has to eat cat food, well he should have saved more money, right? And if Grandma breaks her hip and has no private medical insurance, let her family pick up the tab. As for all the indigent, mentally ill, and physically incapable folks who can’t tend to themselves, who are we to tamper with nature? Let the Darwinian imperative winnow out the weak.

8. Price chopper. I could go on in this vein, but instead let me simply list other tax-supported “socialist” activities that could be cut: the post office, FDIC, subsidized student loans, Fannie Mae, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, NASA, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Interstate Commerce Commission, county extension offices, your local parks and recreation department, the Coast Guard, municipal beaches, the Federal Reserve, air traffic controllers, the National Parks System, state parks, INS, all government offices and officials, most mental health and social services….
This is just a short list. But if this is the world you want, as Jean-Luc Picard would say, make it so. We’ll just put up signs along the border (with private money of course) warning: “Welcome to America. You’re on your own.” Better dead than red, eh?

Too Absorbed for My Own Good

This morning Phoenix opened a magazine and there was an insert with a single sheet of a Viva paper towel. The accompanying advertisement promised that though Viva we would “Savor all that Life Has to Offer.” As you can imagine, we were excited beyond words. And that was the problem!

Phoenix carefully placed the genie-like scrap on the kitchen counter. Our minds began to race. What was it that we had not been experiencing in our lives that was within Viva’s power to grant? Sudden fame? Untold wealth? A self-cleaning house? Unspeakable sensual pleasure? The security of knowing that no tartar was building up on our cat’s teeth? I think I’m also speaking for Phoenix when I say that Viva’s promise was a special family moment for us. Just to think that all of human experience would suddenly be ours to savor….

Alas, the weight of unlimited bliss proved overwhelming. The toast popped up, I buttered it, and brought it to the counter. I grabbed the honey jar, which was sticky, and left a ring on the counter. Without a thought I grabbed the Viva talisman, wiped up the honey, and placed the sticky jar atop it. In a single thoughtless instant I broke the spell. When I lifted the jar, the Viva towel proved unable to grant a task as simple as telling me where I left my car keys—the path to savoring all of life was considerably beyond its means.

So now I sit at my computer and blog, my mind troubled by what I have lost. I could be lying on a Tahitian beach with naked and nubile women fanning me with palm fronds. Instead I’m in my study pondering deep questions such as “Who are the morons who write ad copy drivel?”--LV