(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To The Last Post Of The Week From The Blog's Favourite Living Canadian)
The most heartbreaking part of the entire week was what happened when John Lewis, who happens to be the bravest living American, jumped into the increasingly pointless rhetorical slanging match that is the Democratic presidential nominating campaign. Lewis is a staunch supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton and good on him for that. In voicing that support, however, he seemed to cast doubt on the veracity of Bernie Sanders's claim to have been involved in the civil rights movement back in the day.
"I never saw him. I never met him," Lewis said. "I was chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee for three years, from 1963 to 1966. I was involved with the sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, the March on Washington, the march from Selma to Montgomery and directed (the) voter education project for six years. But I met Hillary Clinton. I met President (Bill) Clinton."
Naturally, this prompted a breathless overreaction from Sanders supporters, especially online and in the Twittersphere. Jesus, people, settle down. There are good reasons to criticize what Lewis said. He "didn't see" Sanders at events? So what? I don't think Dr. King ever met Viola Liuzzo or James Chaney either. And I choose to interpret that last sentence as a misunderstanding. There is no reason to believe either Clinton was there at the time, either. But this is an argument nobody wants to have so what say we don't have it, OK?
There was a little politics verite at the debate on Thursday night. Some of the folks from Milwaukee's "Fight For 15" got into the Wisconsin-Milwaukee student union as far as the inside of the press filing room to plead their case as loudly as they could. Their new cry, tailored for the primary season, is, "If you want our vote, come get our vote." It is a very effective one.
"They were trying to get to those candidates to tell them, you want our vote, if you're running for president or dogcatcher, you come get our vote and that means a $15 minimum wage and the right to organize a union," said Kendell Fells, who organized the protest. "Some of these people are cooking food all day and can't even afford what's on the menu."
You want our vote?
Come get our vote.
This is a pretty basic demand for anyone from anywhere in the country, I'd say.
Weekly WWOZ Pick To Click: Tough call because Mardi Gras was on Tuesday, but we'll go with, "Take The Lord With You" by Sister Gertrude Morgan. And yeah, I pretty much still love New Orleans.
Weekly Visit To The Pathe Archives: Here's Mardi Gras in 1935, with a Brit narrator who definitely is suffering from bon temps deprivation. History is so cool.
We now inaugurate a new semi-regular weekly feature of the last post of the week. Y'all have become a great batch of commentin' bastids, so it's time we give you a place where you can be honored. The shebeen therefore inaugurates the Top Commenter Of The Week Award, which will be given to the commenter who submits the comment most in keeping with the general spirit of the shebeen. There, of course, will be no actual prize, let alone renumeration of any kind, but the winner will receive a certain amount of Beckhams, the unit of praise and exchange hereabouts named after the late celebrity beagle owned by the invaluable TBogg, king of snark. Our inaugural winner is William Smith of the University of Virginia, who pointed out that the voice of Heidi Cruz…
"… is like listening to your neighbor's kid learn how to play the bagpipe."
It is the use of "bagpipe" that makes it a winner. A grant of 81.7 Beckhams to you, old son!
Yes, the Wonkbabby is beyond the cuteness horizon. Yes, I am a sap for such things. Whatsit to yez?
That livestream audio of the end of the squatting in the bird sanctuary was either the most compelling thing I ever heard, or a precise measure of how completely screwed we are as a culture. Or both.
However, this video of Carrier employees in Indianapolis discovering the glories of free trade and of the global economy is the best viewing of the week, or a precise measure of how screwed we are as a nation. Or both.
Is it a good day for dinosaur news? It's always a good day for dinosaur news!
It's called the "Muppet Fish" and it once called Colorado home 92 million years ago.
The Muppet Fish! Let's cook it and eat it!
Many of our usual semi-regular weekly features will return next week as the campaign—and the shebeen—moves down to the home office of American sedition to observe and report on the imminent Republican bloodbath. Be well and play nice, ya bastids. Stay above the snake-line because, remember, there are Beckhams riding on this now.
Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has three children.
