Mudsongs : The Music of David Morreale

February 19, 2008, 1:05 pm

Hey all,

I haven't written a political rant in a long while. I figured folks who knew my music knew my politics... I'm not really shy about sharing my views.

But, lately some stuff has gone down that has me as freaked out as Election 2000 when the Supreme Court decided to get into Electoral Politics and picked a president for us.

The Democratic Party is leaning towards ignoring the voter's choice and nominating a candidate via counting the votes of "superdelegates" above the votes of the people.

I'm tired of not having my voice heard. I'm tired of living in a country I was always told was fair and open and honest.

Now, even the Democratic Party is willing to hand the nomination to someone who can buy the most superdelegates instead of to the candidate who won the popular vote!

I'm so tired of watching this democracy get hi-jacked by the parties.

I'm tired of watching Bushes and Clintons feasting on the corpse they're making of America. I'm tired of not being heard.

And I'll say this. If Hillary Clinton secures the nomination for the presidency by stealing it away from the will of the people, then I will actively campaign against her. I will NEVER stand idly by again and watch this country I love be ridiculed and spit upon by lying, cheating politicians.

She's tried so much underhanded stuff... Example?

ALL the Democratic candidates agreed not to run in Florida. She ran and held a victory party there and, despite agreeing ahead of time that those delegates in the Florida Primaries would not be counted, she is now petitioning to have them counted on the "every vote should count" tip. I wonder if she'd be so eager for every vote to be counted if she'd lost there?

Hillary, you've lost tens of thousands of votes if you win the nomination via superdelegates voting against the popular vote.

Man,I'm pissed.

February 4, 2008, 3:11 am

Well, I have to say I'm pleased to announce that we ran out of copies of "From The Dirt!" We had some good sales of this CD and now we've had to order another pressing from the plant! Life is great!

October 26, 2007, 9:49 am

So, it's Friday morning. Tomorrow I'm officiating for my brother-in-law and his almost wife, but for the moment the preparations (for me anyway) have slowed down and I find myself sitting on the couch with cup of coffee (Zeke's "Tell-Tale Dark," which is the finest coffee I've ever tasted) listening to the beautiful CD from Hugh McGown... listen, sip, marvel at Hugh's genius, sip, repeat...
It occurs to me that I have the 150th Anniversary edition of The Atlantic Magazine and the focus of the issue is "The Future of The American Idea" and since I'm always looking for some torch in the darkness, some hope that we're doing more than teetering on the very brink of absolute disaster, morally, physically, financially, and environmentally, I pick it up and start reading and the very first thing I read is this by George F. Will...

"It has been often said that any idea is dangerous if it is a person´s only idea. Talk about "the" American idea is dangerous because it often is a precursor to, and an excuse for, the missionary impulse that sleeps lightly, when it sleeps at all, in many Americans. After all, if the essence of America can be distilled to a single idea, it must be supremely important, and there might be a moral imperative to export it."

Cazart! Good Lord, that's what I've been aiming at , quite ineffectually, for years. The very idea that we are "special" is outrageous because, despite American ridicule of the French, Germans, Italians, etc. (even I've made fun of the French...) the fact is that ain't nobody in Europe struggling under th eyoke of slavery. We have no lock on "Freedom" and our arrogance in this country turns us into Imperialist conquerors who are willing to do the unthinkable in support of our "moral imperative to export [The American Idea."

Now before anybody gets pissed, understand that I love what this country can be. I love the ideas and ideals that this country was founded upon because, even though Jefferson wrote of our inalienable right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" while at the same time owning slaves, the Constitution was written openly enough to allow room for the Martin Luther King Jr's and others to come along and change the face of our nation for the better.

I love this country. But I love the world even more. I love this country ike an adult. Critical of our failings, celebrating our triumphs, eager to change what needs changing and loving what we do that is right.

So there. I'm scared but hopeful. Scared because I'm afraid that we've become a nation with a singular idea centered on American Superiority, and yet hopeful that our innate goodness will come to the fore and start rebulding our reputation by doing what we know to be the right thing in the world. To feed the hungry, and clothe the poor. To help the citizens of our own country and others to climb from poverty. To truly respect the rights of others. To understand that Manifest Destiny was a murderous idea whose time is past.

Peace.

October 23, 2007, 11:21 pm

Hey y'all.

I swore I'd not be back at NERFA this year, 'cause there's so much going on around the house right now. We have a Great Dane who is going into surgery next week for a torn up ACL, we're still renovating this house, my writing has been spotty, and frankly, I'm only just learning how to wash dishes, so Alison is into keeping me around...

BUT!

I've been nominated by Mary Post of www.3degreesorless.com to play in the Folk?Dj showcase the night before the conference officially begins, so I'm going!

Hell, when folks actually ask me to come and play, I'm gon' go and play.

My my my, this crow sure do taste fine. Like chicken, only more so.

October 23, 2007, 11:10 pm