To listen to him these days, is to be in the presence of greatness.
That's so obvious to me. But I belong to a very small club apparently. At least right now.
In the early 80s, before I knew C.I., I caught her on TV on a talk show where people were noting albums. And a man said COURT & SPARK was Joni's best album ever and the best album ever. C.I., when her turn came, agreed COURT & SPARK was a great album but in terms of honesty and art, BLUE was Joni's finest album so far. The man who made the original claim erupted and talked over the next guest who was trying to weigh in, he insisted that what C.I. said was stupid and that all these critics' polls recently had come out placed COURT & SPARK in the 50 greatest albums of all time and not BLUE. C.I. remained calm and just replied something like, "Well everything's not always obvious in real time."
The man was right about the polls. As late as 1984, you would find music critics who downgraded and downplayed BLUE and insisted COURT & SPARK was the masterpiece. C&S is a great album -- even greater if you've done coke -- it and HOTEL CALIFORNIA were true products of their decade, with the music perfectly capturing that glassy cocaine high -- but it's not BLUE. And while COURT & SPARK is a classic, it is not the classic that BLUE finally is recognized as being.
ELDORA is Chase's fourth classic album in a row. He's been on a streak of late that few performers ever catch. Like Joni, Stevie Wonder and Prince, he's become a must listen to artist if you're in the know. THE ALBUM came out in 2021 and was shocking -- he wasn't just a hit songwriter, he was actually a musical artist who could move you. 2023's I HATE COWBOYS & ALL DOGS GO TO HELL continued the trend and worked as an ode to his late father. Last year's GO DOWN SWINGIN was perfection and now we have the 12 tracks of ELDORA.
"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Protests have taken place in multiple US cities after a woman was shot dead by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis.
Federal officials said Renee Nicole Good, 37, had tried to run over immigration agents with her car and that the officer had been acting in self defence.
The city's mayor, however, said the agent who shot her had acted recklessly, with other local officials saying Good had simply been "caring for her neighbours" when she was shot at close range.
A classmate of Minneapolis shooting victim Renee Good has paid tribute to her, a day after she was killed by an ICE agent.
Willo Schubarth and Good, then named Renee Ganger, attended Colorado’s Coronado High School together and were in the same graduating class, CNN affiliate KRDO reported.
Laying flowers at the site where she was killed, Schubarth told KRDO that Good was one of the first people to reach out to him when he joined the school.
Vice President JD Vance said today that Renee Nicole Good — a 37-year-old queer mother of three who recently murdered by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis — was part of a “larger, sinister left-wing movement that has spread across our country,” NOTUS reported.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also repeated the exact same language during a press briefing today. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has accused Good of “domestic terrorism.” Good’s mother said her daughter had never protested against ICE agents.
In a social media post, the president called Good “a professional agitator” who “viciously ran over the ICE officer.” He blamed the shooting on the “Radical Left.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the administration’s version of events “bulls**t.”
Analysis of multiple videos showing Good’s murder (conducted by The New York Times and The Washington Post) showed that the agent was not in the path of Good’s vehicle.
Murray: “It is unquestionably an act of war to invade a foreign nation, kidnap a foreign leader, even a dictator, and leave dozens of bodies—including civilians—behind…This is the United States Congress. And we have a constitutional role to be a check on the President. Only Congress can declare war. And Congress did not authorize the use of force against Venezuela.”
ICYMI: Senator Murray Responds to Trump’s Illegal Military Operation, Address to the Nation
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s full floor speech***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, took to the Senate floor to denounce President Trump’s brazen act of war in Venezuela and slam the Trump administration for instigating regime change and military strikes in Venezuela without any legitimate justification, consultation with Congress, or any kind of long-term strategy to deal with the fallout.
Following her vote to advance a War Powers Resolution she cosponsored, S.J.Res.98—that would block the use of the U.S. Armed Forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress—Senator Murray urged her colleagues in Congress to assert their Constitutional role over the power to declare war and press forward to restrain Trump’s war-mongering and make sure he cannot put American boots on the ground without the approval of the American people and their representatives in Congress.
Today’s successful vote to advance this War Powers Resolution sets up further debate and amendments ahead of a vote on final passage, likely next week.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered on the Senate floor today, are below:
“I am beyond outraged that President Trump would commit such a brazen act of war as he has done in Venezuela—with absolutely no notice—except to the oil companies they told and newspapers they leaked it to, no consultation with Congress, no legitimate justification for these unauthorized strikes, nor any kind of serious long-term strategy.
“It is unquestionably an act of war to invade a foreign nation, kidnap a foreign leader, even a dictator, and leave dozens of bodies—including civilians—behind.
“Would my colleagues still nod their heads and go along with it if a country tried to do this to American leaders? Of course not. So, we should stop playing dumb.
“Trump can’t just say magic words and pretend this wasn’t a major military operation.
“This is the United States Congress. And we have a constitutional role to be a check on the President. Only Congress can declare war. And Congress did not authorize the use of force against Venezuela.
“Now, I opposed the war in Iraq from the outset—and the parallels to what President Trump has kicked off in Venezuela are glaring. And I absolutely will not support any large-scale military conflict in Venezuela or a dangerous and expensive occupation.
“We have a President ignoring the problems he has caused in our own country, all to start a war no one asked for, with no legitimate justification, no concern for the servicemembers who are being put in harm’s way, and absolutely no long-term strategy.
“Seriously—the only thing that was clear after the briefing yesterday is that Trump has no serious plan. First, Trump was ‘just bombing alleged drug boats.’ Then, Trump was ‘just seizing oil shipments.’ And the next thing you know, this Administration is sending the military to abduct a foreign leader.
“So, I have to ask—what is next? And where is next? How far is this going to go? Because it is clear that this is not over.
“Not when Trump keeps saying we will run the country. What is Trump’s plan to ‘run’ Venezuela exactly? How long are we going to be there? How many of our people is he going to send? Who is even in charge? And how are we paying for this?
“There are no serious answers. The only thing we do know is why Trump is doing this—for oil. Because this clearly is not about ending tyranny and establishing a democracy, since Trump outright dismissed any possibility of helping the opposition party to build a true democracy.
“And it’s clearly not about drug trafficking—after all, not even a month before this, President Trump pardoned the former President of Honduras who was convicted of the same crime.
“But the real reason, it’s so painfully obvious this was always about the oil, why? Well, it’s pretty simple: Trump keeps saying it! He literally said, and I quote, ‘the difference between Iraq and this is that Bush didn’t keep the oil. We’re going to keep the oil.’ That was the President.
“Is this America First? Of course not! It’s Big Oil barons first. It is billionaires first. It is Trump first. First to rake in profits mind you—not first to put themselves in harm’s way.
“You can bet, when Trump says he’s not worried about boots on the ground—it’s because he’s not talking about his boots. He’s not talking about his kids—he is talking about yours.
“Congress cannot stand by and shrug our shoulders. We have a Constitutional responsibility here.
“It is important that a majority of Senators voted to rein in this President’s reckless actions. But if we want to put an end to this war-mongering—we need to keep pressing until we have a veto proof majority.
“Today’s vote is not the end of the line. So, I urge all my colleagues to join us in asserting our authority and continuing to send President Trump a simple message: no American boots on the ground. No trading blood for oil. No war.”
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Tiny but fat JD Vance6 hours ago
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The vanity and dementia of Donald Chump6 hours ago
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They murdered Renee6 hours ago
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Creamy White Chicken Enchilada6 hours ago
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Nut job Naomi Wolf get even worse6 hours ago
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