Don't make me laugh

The Politico piece today about the GOP and conservatives is laughable. Good for Mike Pence for standing up and saying so.


The whole premise of the piece is that national Republican leaders are embarrassed by Beck, Limbaugh and the Tea Partyers. Quoting, of course, David Brooks, Bob Michel, people like that. As if the national GOP was leading anybody anywhere. Funny how the folks in Washington always think they're calling the shots for the rest of us.


As a new Rasmussen poll shows today (73% of GOP voters say their reps in Congress don't represent the base), it's the grass-roots that are driving the train now. They're as sick of the Republicans as they are of the Democrats. If the Republicans want to get elected, they need to get on board. Not vice versa.

Happiness Did Not Write The White Album

Some thoughts on the Beatles after listening to the mono box all the way through. Pardon me if I state the obvious, but just let me spit it out.

There are really two Beatles: John's Beatles, up through and including Revolver (although Rubber Soul and Revolver are really transitional albums as John gets more and more out of it on drugs), and Paul's Beatles from Sgt. Pepper's to The End (literally).

Paul and, to only a slightly lesser extent, George Martin were always the motor of the Beatles. But John, even as he slipped into a heroin daze during the White Album, was still capable of moments of genius. It's essential to note, however, that it was Paul who, more often than not, elevated John's simple (but brilliant, don't misunderstand me) songwriting with his arrangements and instrumental prowess. It's also important to note that Paul got better and better at his craft over the course of the Beatles; John didn't.

If you don't believe me, look at their solo careers. John's solo material is always very straight-forward guitar-based stuff, very similar arrangements throughout, and, to be honest, pretty bland as he moved through the '70s. While I like his contributions to the Double Fantasy record, I don't think anyone would say that it was particularly challenging. The critical establishment would have beaten McCartney to death if he had come out with "Beautiful Boy." In short, there was no Paul around to say, Hey, let me throw on this guitar solo or let's do the drums this way or how about running some backwards tape loops through the mix.

Not that Paul's solo material was blemish-free. No one is going to put "Morse Moose and the Grey Goose" on their Top 10 list (no one who's not institutionalized, that is), and we all can cite others. But then as the French essayist Henry de Montherlant famously said, "Happiness writes white." (In the interest of full disclosure, I knew the quote but had to Google the source of it.) Other than Linda, though, he always played with top musicians and had something interesting to say arrangement-wise. He didn't force his wife to center-stage either. (Bet no one rushed out to pick up Yoko's new CD.) We Macca fans also know that his lyrics are much better than the music press used to give him credit for.

But lest this come off as my usual slavish pro-McCartney harangue, let me ask you this: Can you imagine how powerful the Beatles would have been if John had been as with it and as competitive with Paul in 1968 and '69 as he was in, say, 1964? Maybe it's pointless to try to improve on the original. Still one can't help but wonder. ...

Was Bush right about Iraq?

Interesting front-page story in The New York Times today about how Iraqis are reaching across religious lines for the first time to promote secular political parties in the upcoming elections.


So let me see if I have this straight: Saddam Hussein is gone, the biggest irritant in the Middle East, and six years later, we have free democratic elections involving secular parties in the heart of the world's most troubled region. Most of that trouble is due to factions of Islam that we have been told forever could never be reconciled. If those elections are successful, which seems highly likely, reform-minded Iranians are sure to take note and be even further emboldened, as will be reformers in other countries in the region.


Several thousand Americans died in the process, which is certainly heartbreaking for the families involved, but that's a calculated risk when you sign up for the military. Particularly in the wake of 9/11. The total number of casualties, meanwhile, is lower than virtually any other military action in U.S. history, and the payoff is that the Middle East has been forced into the 21st Century.


I won't hold my breath waiting for the flood of articles reassessing Bush's decision to invade Iraq.