The babies all got sick and when the doctor wanted money
He [John Henry] said, “I’ll pay you a quarter at a time
That’s the pay for a steel driver on the line.”
— “The Legend of John Henry’s Hammer“, written by Johnny Cash and first appeared on his 1963 album Blood Sweat and Tears
Fear, laced with paranoia, is driving the American response against allowing Syrian refugees into the United States.
President Obama has said he would accept 10,000 refugees, all of them subjected to intense scrutiny before being admitted to the country. France, with a population about one-fifth that of the United States, despite the worst attack on its soil since World War II, will accept 30,000 refugees.
Rolling Stone reporter Jeff Goodell tagged along on President Obama’s recent climate-change themed trip to Alaska. Goodell’s report included an interview with the President. The interview provides a window into central features of Barack Obama’s politics and policies.
Style Over Substance
Did I hear you say that there must be a catch?
Will you walk away from a fool and his money?
If you want it, here it is, come and get it,
But you better hurry cause it’s going fast
– Paul McCartney, “Come and Get it” recorded by Badfinger for the movie The Magic Christian, 1969
Ben Carson is the quiet, almost somnolent, version of Donald Trump. He is, like Trump, a political outsider, but a crafty politician all the same, without the reality TV persona of Donald Trump. Carson seems to share other attributes with “the Donald” though not commonly discussed in the media.
The judge said “Son, what is your alibi?
If you were somewhere else, then you won’t have to die.”
I spoke not a word though it meant my life,
For I had been in the arms of my best friend’s wife
— “Long Black Veil”, written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin, originally recorded by Lefty Frizzel in 1959, later by numerous artists including The Band in 1968
The national news media—and their sidekicks, the cackling pundits—had been asking the same questions the past six months. “Will he? Won’t he? Should he? Shouldn’t he? Can he? Can’t he?”
The “he” is Joe Biden. The vice-president said numerous times he was still thinking about running for president, but hadn’t made up his mind. The Biden question kept the media busy speculating about an issue that even Mr. Biden couldn’t answer, nor should he have been forced to make a commitment in the media’s time frame.
This past week, he decided not to run for the presidency.
She was practiced at the art of deception
I could tell by her blood-stained hands
— Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” from the Rolling Stones’ 1969 album Let it Bleed
CNN and Facebook co-sponsored last week’s Democratic presidential frontrunners’ “debate.” After the event, CNN conducted a poll. “Who won the debate?” it asked. The result: 83% Bernie Sanders; 12% Hillary Clinton.
Facebook also took a poll. “Who do you think won?” Over 79% responded, “Bernie Sanders.”
The CNN editors’ take? “CLINTON’S CONFIDANT SWEEP.”
Slate conducted a poll. “Who won the presidential debate?” asked the magazine. 75% of respondents said Bernie Sanders; 18% gave it to Hillary Clinton.
You say you got a real solution,
Well, you know we’d all love to see the plan, oh yeah …
— John Lennon, 1968
