While listening to a few 'oldies' recently, I found some interesting lyrics. There were bits of social commentary tucked away within love songs! I encourage you to click the links and listen before reading the lyrics and my analyses. Then listen a second time.
First up is Just Like Romeo and Juliet by The Reflections. It was released in 1964, the year that a very conservative Republican, Barry Goldwater, was nominated for President. The mood of the country was still somber after JFK's assassination. Not a time for lyrics to stir up class consciousness. Imagine my surprise when I read the words:
Findin' a job tomorrow mornin'
Got a little somethin' I wanna do
Gonna buy (gonna buy) somethin' I could ride in
A-Take my girl (take my girl) datin' at the drive-in
Our love's gonna be written down in history
A-Just like Romeo and Juliet
I'm gonna buy her pretty presents
Just like the ones in a catalog
Gonna show (gonna show) how much I love her
Let her know (let her know) one way or the other
Our love's gonna be written down in history
A-Just like Romeo and Juliet
(Ooh-ooh-oop)
(Dooo, doot, doot, doot, doot, doot, doot, doo-doop)
Just Like Romeo and Juliet
Just Like Romeo and Juliet
Just Like Romeo and Juliet
Just Like Romeo and Juliet
Talk about love and romance
Just wait 'til I get myself straight
I'm gonna put Romeo's fame
Right smack-dab on a date
Ah, all right, now, I'm speculatin'
Wonder what tomorrow's gonna really bring
If I don't (if I don't) find work tomorrow
It's gonna be (gonna be) heartaches 'n' sorrow
Our love's gonna be destroyed like a tragedy
Just like Romeo and Juliet
(Ooh-ooh-oop)
(Dooo, doot, doot, doot, doot, doot, doot, doo-doop)
Just like Romeo and Juliet
A-Just like Romeo and Juliet
A-Just like Romeo and Juliet
(Just like Romeo and Juliet)
(Just like Romeo and Juliet)
(Just like Romeo and Juliet)
(Just like Romeo and Juliet)
The opening lines to any song are of great importance. "Findin' a job tomorrow mornin'" The guy in this song is unemployed. "Gonna buy (gonna buy) somethin' I could ride in" He doesn't even have a car. "I'm gonna buy her pretty presents/Just like the ones in a catalog" Note that he is not in the class that would have seen these "pretty presents" while shopping in a fancy retail store. No. He's only seen them from afar - in a catalog. Finally, the very revealing lyrics, "If I don't (if I don't) find work tomorrow/It's gonna be (gonna be) heartaches 'n' sorrow/Our love's gonna be destroyed like a tragedy/Just like Romeo and Juliet" Up to that point, he dreams of a perfect romance, predicated upon finding a job and buying a car. Absent these materialistic things, his entire world will come crashing down, "(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet." These problems would not be as prevalent in an upper-income group, for whom being without a job and car simultaneously would be highly unlikely.
Next in line for a Bitter Analysis is Five O'Clock World by The Vogues. It was released in 1966. This was not an era conducive to getting songs with social commentary played on Top 40 AM radio. Unless those lyrics merged with a love story:
Up every mornin' just to keep a job
I gotta fight my way through the hustling mob
Sounds of the city poundin' in my brain
While another day goes down the drain
But it's a five o'clock world when the whistle blows
No one owns a piece of my time
And there's a five o'clock me inside my clothes
Thinkin' that the world looks fine, yeah
Tradin' my time for the pay I get
Livin' on money that I ain't made yet
I've been goin' tryin' to make my way
While I live for the end of the day
Cuz it's a five oclock world when the whistle blows
No one owns a piece of my time, and
There's a long-haired girl who waits, I know
To ease my troubled mind, yeah
oh my lady, yeah
oh my lady, yeah
In the shelter of her arms everything's OK
When she talks then the world goes slippin' away
And I know the reason I can still go on
When every other reason is gone,
In my five o'clock world she waits for me
Nothing else matters at all
Cuz every time my baby smiles at me
I know that it's all worthwhile,
yeah oh my lady,
yeah oh my lady, yeah, fade.....
The first four lines are extremely depressing. A normal person dealing with all that on a daily basis might become suicidal. The next four lines show that the real person has to be hidden away under his work mask until he leaves the job site. Once the shackles of the work-a-day world are thrown off, then and only then does " ... the world look fine." Indeed, the only reason he can put up with his job and the related world of work, a/k/a drudgery, is because of his lady love. A sad commentary on a society and culture that devalues a person and his job, and reduces him to a cog in the machine.
By 1970, radio had changed forever. Stations known as "underground FM" had sprouted up, whose mission was to reject the restrictive boundaries of the Top 40 AM outlets. Gone forever was the two to three minute record length 'rule'. Gone forever was the need to hide socially and politically charged lyrics. John Lennon wrote a dark song that is still controversial today. "Working Class Hero" appeared on his first album after leaving the Beatles in 1970, and must be included in any grouping of songs with a working class theme. No analysis, bitter or otherwise, is necessary:
As soon as you're born they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
When they've tortured and scared you for 20 odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career
When you can't really function you're so full of fear
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and classless and free
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
There's room at the top they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
If you want to be a hero well just follow me
If you want to be a hero well just follow me
A hearty 'thank you' goes out to the songwriters who crafted their words to create powerful pictures and weave intricate tapestries. As with all pictures, their beauty and interpretation is in the eye of the beholder. I'm anxious to hear your decipherment of these songs, or any others you feel that fit into this category.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Examples of Obama's Bipartisanship
At a June 17 fundraising event in San Antonio, Texas, John McCain was asked to give some examples of Barack Obama reaching across the aisle in order to generate bipartisanship. McCain could not come up with a single example.
So, in the spirit of jogging McCain's memory on this issue, I present the following:
Obama's bipartisan efforts while in the Illinois Senate:
- Gained bipartisan support in the Illinois Senate for legislation that reformed both ethics and health care laws.
- Co-chaired the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.
- Supported Republican Governor George Ryan's payday loan store regulations.
- Supported Republican Governor George Ryan's predatory mortgage lending regulations aimed at averting home foreclosures.
- Sponsored legislation to monitor racial profiling, which received such strong bipartisan support, it passed unanimously.
- Sponsored legislation making Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations, which received such strong bipartisan support, it passed unanimously.
Obama's bipartisan efforts while in the U.S. Senate:
- Co-sponsored the "Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act" which had been introduced by Republican Senator John McCain.
- Partnered with Republican Senator Richard Lugar and successfully introduced two initiatives bearing his name. "Lugar–Obama" expanded the Nunn–Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles and anti-personnel mines.
- Partnered with Republican Senator Tom Coburn, Democratic Senator Tom Carper, and Republican Senator John McCain on the "Coburn-Obama Transparency Act" which requires the full disclosure of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2007 on a website maintained by the Office of Management and Budget. It passed unanimously.
- Sponsored the "Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act". It received such strong bipartisan support, that it passed the Senate by unanimous consent. Its passage by the House of Representatives was led by Republican Representative Chris Smith. Republican President George W. Bush signed it into law.
- Sponsored the "Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007" which strengthened public disclosure requirements concerning lobbying activity and funding, placed more restrictions on gifts for members of Congress and their staff, and provided for mandatory disclosure of earmarks in expenditure bills. With great bipartisan support, the bill passed the Senate 96-2 (2 not voting), and passed the House 411-8 (13 not voting).
- Co-sponsored, with Republican Senator John McCain, Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln, Republican Senator Susan Collins, and Independent Senator Joe Lieberman, a bill that would put a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. that contribute to global warming.
- Co-authored, with Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, a provision requiring a comprehensive nuclear threat reduction plan. The provision required the President to submit to Congress a comprehensive plan for ensuring that all nuclear weapons and weapons-usable material at sites around the world are secure by 2012 from terrorist threats.
Let's hope that the American people have sharper memories than the presumptive Republican nominee.
So, in the spirit of jogging McCain's memory on this issue, I present the following:
Obama's bipartisan efforts while in the Illinois Senate:
- Gained bipartisan support in the Illinois Senate for legislation that reformed both ethics and health care laws.
- Co-chaired the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.
- Supported Republican Governor George Ryan's payday loan store regulations.
- Supported Republican Governor George Ryan's predatory mortgage lending regulations aimed at averting home foreclosures.
- Sponsored legislation to monitor racial profiling, which received such strong bipartisan support, it passed unanimously.
- Sponsored legislation making Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations, which received such strong bipartisan support, it passed unanimously.
Obama's bipartisan efforts while in the U.S. Senate:
- Co-sponsored the "Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act" which had been introduced by Republican Senator John McCain.
- Partnered with Republican Senator Richard Lugar and successfully introduced two initiatives bearing his name. "Lugar–Obama" expanded the Nunn–Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles and anti-personnel mines.
- Partnered with Republican Senator Tom Coburn, Democratic Senator Tom Carper, and Republican Senator John McCain on the "Coburn-Obama Transparency Act" which requires the full disclosure of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2007 on a website maintained by the Office of Management and Budget. It passed unanimously.
- Sponsored the "Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act". It received such strong bipartisan support, that it passed the Senate by unanimous consent. Its passage by the House of Representatives was led by Republican Representative Chris Smith. Republican President George W. Bush signed it into law.
- Sponsored the "Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007" which strengthened public disclosure requirements concerning lobbying activity and funding, placed more restrictions on gifts for members of Congress and their staff, and provided for mandatory disclosure of earmarks in expenditure bills. With great bipartisan support, the bill passed the Senate 96-2 (2 not voting), and passed the House 411-8 (13 not voting).
- Co-sponsored, with Republican Senator John McCain, Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln, Republican Senator Susan Collins, and Independent Senator Joe Lieberman, a bill that would put a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. that contribute to global warming.
- Co-authored, with Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, a provision requiring a comprehensive nuclear threat reduction plan. The provision required the President to submit to Congress a comprehensive plan for ensuring that all nuclear weapons and weapons-usable material at sites around the world are secure by 2012 from terrorist threats.
Let's hope that the American people have sharper memories than the presumptive Republican nominee.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Memo to McCain: I am NOT your friend!
Have you noticed John McCain's tendency to inject the phrase 'my friends' liberally (pun intended) throughout his speeches? To quote them in text would bore you to tears, so I encourage you to listen to this clip
Why does he do it? Has the king no advisors willing to tell him that he has no clothes? Here are some thoughts that spring to mind every time I hear McCain's "my friends" mantra:
1. insincere
2. trite
3. banal
4. desperate
5. artificial
6. repetitive
7. irritating
8. insipid
9. platitudinous
10. boring
11. disingenuous (I'll do anything to work that word into a conversation)
12. meretricious
13. never had a real friend
Oh yes, and he attaches that pasted-on phony smile at the same time. Does he really believe that we cannot see through this facade? The not-so-subliminal message he sends is that his words cannot be fully trusted. Granted, most politicians tend towards the insincere and self-serving. So why does McCain insist on driving this fact home in every speech?
Good grief, Charlie Brown, I've just experienced an epiphany! Just as the 1984 Democratic Party presidential candidate Walter Mondale repeated in his speeches that he would be an honest politician and admit that he planned to raise our taxes (editors note: Mondale only carried his home state of Minnesota), so McCain's 'straight-talk express' is training (pun again intended) us to closely read between his lines and parse every word to find out what he is actually saying. Sounds like fun, kids!
Maybe Minnesota will again buck the trend and give McCain a victory in that state, annointing him President of Minnesota. Further memo to McCain: it gets mighty chilly up north. Oh, what's that...you haven't visited Minnesota in over two years? And you expect to be President?
Why does he do it? Has the king no advisors willing to tell him that he has no clothes? Here are some thoughts that spring to mind every time I hear McCain's "my friends" mantra:
1. insincere
2. trite
3. banal
4. desperate
5. artificial
6. repetitive
7. irritating
8. insipid
9. platitudinous
10. boring
11. disingenuous (I'll do anything to work that word into a conversation)
12. meretricious
13. never had a real friend
Oh yes, and he attaches that pasted-on phony smile at the same time. Does he really believe that we cannot see through this facade? The not-so-subliminal message he sends is that his words cannot be fully trusted. Granted, most politicians tend towards the insincere and self-serving. So why does McCain insist on driving this fact home in every speech?
Good grief, Charlie Brown, I've just experienced an epiphany! Just as the 1984 Democratic Party presidential candidate Walter Mondale repeated in his speeches that he would be an honest politician and admit that he planned to raise our taxes (editors note: Mondale only carried his home state of Minnesota), so McCain's 'straight-talk express' is training (pun again intended) us to closely read between his lines and parse every word to find out what he is actually saying. Sounds like fun, kids!
Maybe Minnesota will again buck the trend and give McCain a victory in that state, annointing him President of Minnesota. Further memo to McCain: it gets mighty chilly up north. Oh, what's that...you haven't visited Minnesota in over two years? And you expect to be President?
Friday, June 6, 2008
A Gutsy Call
The lead story on the New York Times website for June 6, 2008, entitled, "2 Leaders Ousted From Air Force in Atomic Errors", states, in part, "The Air Force’s senior civilian official and its highest-ranking general were ousted by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Thursday after an inquiry into the mishandling of nuclear weapons and components found systemic problems in the Air Force. The Air Force secretary, Michael W. Wynne, and the service’s chief of staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, were forced to resign after the inquiry found that the latest in a series of incidents reflected “a pattern of poor performance” in securing sensitive military components, Mr. Gates said at a Pentagon briefing."
Two incidents were the primary reasons for the firings:
- In the autumn of 2006, four fuses, used to send electronic signals to the component that initiates a nuclear weapon's trigger process, were delivered in error to Taiwan, where they were placed into storage. The shipment was supposed to be helicopter batteries.
- On August 31, 2007, a B-52 bomber was accidentally loaded with six live nuclear weapons and flown from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Each missile carried a W80-1 warhead with a blast force of 150 kilotons of TNT. During the loading process, they were thought to be Cruise missiles. The nukes had been stored with conventional missiles. A single sheet of 8.5 X 11 inch paper was used to identify the live nukes. The nukes were missing for 36 hours.
Let's look at the fuse debacle. Was there no one responsible for compiling and verifying a shipping manifest prior to the items being shipped? And what of the receiving end? I assume someone had to sign for the shipment verifying that the items had been received. Were the 'responsible' individuals drunk, or high? Maybe they missed the briefing on how to do their jobs. Gross incompetence at both ends.
The accidental nuke shipment is even more egregious. If the following oft-quoted statement on nuclear shipping regulations is true, it should have been impossible for this error. "Under (Standard Operating Procedures), combat planes with combat-ready nuclear weapons can only be flown on the authority of the Commander in Chief, the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the National Military Command Authority." However, the devil is in the details. It appears that the shipment was the result of human error, not malicious intent. To prevent this from recurring, (1) Don't intermingle nukes with conventional missiles in storage, (2) CLEARLY mark the nukes in a distinctive manner so that, should intermingling occur in the future, the nukes would be easily distinguished from other missiles, and (3) Implement regular inspections of missile storage areas and periodic surprise inspections by high-ranking officers.
These incidents would be distressing enough in the best of times. But we are currently battling terrorism around the globe. Our country's security is of paramount importance. What if one of our enemies had acquired one of these devices? Why has the implementation of nuclear shipping procedures become so lax? The USA is the world's greatest superpower. Let's live up to that reputation at all levels of our government and military.
Secretary Gates and President Bush are to be commended for these firings. It took guts to make this call. It would have been much easier to discipline only those individuals involved at the ground level. And they too should be punished. But by chopping heads at the top, reverberations will be felt throughout all levels of the armed forces. This will hopefully tighten up military procedures upon which our country's safety depends.
Perhaps former Air Force secretary Michael Wynne and former chief of staff General T. Michael Moseley can get hired at entry-level positions at the U.S. Postal Service, United Parcel Service or FedEx, and learn about proper delivery procedures.
Two incidents were the primary reasons for the firings:
- In the autumn of 2006, four fuses, used to send electronic signals to the component that initiates a nuclear weapon's trigger process, were delivered in error to Taiwan, where they were placed into storage. The shipment was supposed to be helicopter batteries.
- On August 31, 2007, a B-52 bomber was accidentally loaded with six live nuclear weapons and flown from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Each missile carried a W80-1 warhead with a blast force of 150 kilotons of TNT. During the loading process, they were thought to be Cruise missiles. The nukes had been stored with conventional missiles. A single sheet of 8.5 X 11 inch paper was used to identify the live nukes. The nukes were missing for 36 hours.
Let's look at the fuse debacle. Was there no one responsible for compiling and verifying a shipping manifest prior to the items being shipped? And what of the receiving end? I assume someone had to sign for the shipment verifying that the items had been received. Were the 'responsible' individuals drunk, or high? Maybe they missed the briefing on how to do their jobs. Gross incompetence at both ends.
The accidental nuke shipment is even more egregious. If the following oft-quoted statement on nuclear shipping regulations is true, it should have been impossible for this error. "Under (Standard Operating Procedures), combat planes with combat-ready nuclear weapons can only be flown on the authority of the Commander in Chief, the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the National Military Command Authority." However, the devil is in the details. It appears that the shipment was the result of human error, not malicious intent. To prevent this from recurring, (1) Don't intermingle nukes with conventional missiles in storage, (2) CLEARLY mark the nukes in a distinctive manner so that, should intermingling occur in the future, the nukes would be easily distinguished from other missiles, and (3) Implement regular inspections of missile storage areas and periodic surprise inspections by high-ranking officers.
These incidents would be distressing enough in the best of times. But we are currently battling terrorism around the globe. Our country's security is of paramount importance. What if one of our enemies had acquired one of these devices? Why has the implementation of nuclear shipping procedures become so lax? The USA is the world's greatest superpower. Let's live up to that reputation at all levels of our government and military.
Secretary Gates and President Bush are to be commended for these firings. It took guts to make this call. It would have been much easier to discipline only those individuals involved at the ground level. And they too should be punished. But by chopping heads at the top, reverberations will be felt throughout all levels of the armed forces. This will hopefully tighten up military procedures upon which our country's safety depends.
Perhaps former Air Force secretary Michael Wynne and former chief of staff General T. Michael Moseley can get hired at entry-level positions at the U.S. Postal Service, United Parcel Service or FedEx, and learn about proper delivery procedures.
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