Looking forward to the Allison Krauss/Robert Plant segment, as I almost bought that album, but then did not because I wanted to hear some first (then never did). On another note, CBS Sunday Morning has the obligatory piece on race, which featured this gem:
But his race is an issue for some Americans.
“I don’t want to say I’m prejudiced or anything, but for one, I’m not going to, I don’t want to vote for a colored man to be our president,” said one voter.
In the video, you could almost see in his eyes as he said it the recognition that the first part of the sentence, in which he asserted that he is not prejudiced, did not make any sense when attached to the second half of the sentence. As a general rule, when someone states “I don’t want to sound like XXXXXX but,” you can bet they are about to sound like what they are trying to convince themselves they are not.
At any rate, should be a good show.
4tehlulz
Dude’s such an old school racist that he used a slur that went out of style by 1968.
Well, at least he’s learned that he can’t say he’s prejudiced anymore…..
Mr Furious
Buy that album.
Conservatively Liberal
People like that disgust me. The worst part is that they think that they are better than the people that they despise. These are the idiots with the low brow and sloped foreheads, the backwards idiots who fear anyone who is not like them (white).
I wonder what morons like this one are going to do once the whites are a minority in the country. Piss their pants and call for mommy?
Scum. That is all they are. Scum.
Chris
I don’t know your taste in music, but my belief is that anything with T Bone Burnett as producer is a safe buy. Plus, Plant’s voice works suprisingly well on the material and with the harmonies. And, the band is smoking, with Buddy Miller and Marc Ribot on guitar.
With the Intertubes these days, you can always preview music with last.fm or youtube, its amazing whats out there.
ambboogie
I saw and thought the same thing, John.
Dude was prejudiced as the day is long, but just didn’t want to own it.
I don’t mean to sound like an angry black woman… but grrrrr. *fistbump*
Comrade Incertus
@Mr Furious: Seconded. It’s terrific, even though Krauss ought to be out front on it more than she is.
The segment just now on historic homes was interesting, but I don’t get the fainting spells over renting out Wharton’s house for weddings and such.
boonagain
I first became aware of Alison Kraus when she sang on the O Brother soundtrack(produced by TBone Burnett). Her song played over the baptism scene was so haunting that I’ve been a fan ever since,.
MattF
Yes, yes to just about anything with Alison Krauss. Plant/Krauss is an inspired combination, the magic mix of musicality and force.
fuddmain
Here’s Krauss with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O’Connor: Slumber My Darling. Beautiful doesn’t do it justice.
dbrown
Race is never an issue in America – that is, if you are white, living in the high middle class or wealthy (of course, most middle class earn $5 million or more) and no nonwhites (isn’t that a double negative?) are living around you. Of course, if someone claims race matters, then they are creating both class and race warfare.
RH Potfry
John!
It’s sort of like when you say, "Now you all know how much I hate George Bush, but…" and follow it up with a logical, thoughtful, non-partisan reflection that you know goes against the liberal dogma, and might cause a bit of a revolt among your…how should we say this….less-tolerant readership.
We all find comfort and protection in caveats, eh?
cleek
i’m a big Krauss fan, and a big Zep fan. but the combination didn’t really work for me. i thought it was kinda… boring. the songs aren’t great, the pairing doesn’t gel, and the gimmick got old after the first few bars.
YMMV
Krista
Yeah, that always irks me too. He isn’t just a bigot, he’s a chickenshit bigot, who doesn’t want to be disliked or taken to task for his abhorrent views.
Too many excuses are made for bigotry, I find, especially when the bigot is over a certain age. To which I say "bullshit." We have seen many examples of very elderly people who are open-minded and who have a "live and let live" attitude towards things. So, to my mind, having been raised "in a different time" is really no excuse for closing one’s mind and clinging to outmoded and hurtful ideas.
Krista
And Alison Krauss has such a beautiful voice. I think that she has the most effortlessly pure and clear voice that the world has heard since Karen Carpenter passed away.
ppcli
However, it is worth adding a dissenting note on this topic. Two things do give me hope that after the apparently oncoming crash-burn of this election is over, a decent Republican party may finally reconstitute itself from the ashes. One is the (enormous) number of lifelong Republicans I’ve spoken to who have simply had enough and are voting Obama. The other is the number (not small) of people I’ve spoken to who support McCain (on grounds like abortion that they take to be non-negotiable) but who have told me sincerely that if Obama is elected it will nonetheless make them proud that the U.S. has elected a black man as president.
.
I should add that I don’t want the talk of an oncoming hard rain falling on the Republicans to weaken anyone’s sense of urgency. We need every vote to make sure that the margin is so large that even Diebold and Scalia can’t take this one away. Make sure you vote, bring everyone you know to the polling place with you, and keep donating if you can!
justme
Indeed. I find myself saying, "Not to be a dick, but…" often enough, and lo and behold…
Comrade Stuck
Sweet Jesus, Rick Davis is one lying SOB. These people have absolutely no compunction in saying anything if it helps them win. Axelrod held his ground though on FNS. The Mccainiacs have nothing but smears and shouting down the gale force political winds blowing smack into their two-faces.
I used to not like Allison Krause when she sang with that forced squeaky mouse voice. She is first rate now just singing naturally, and has become one of the best Americana songwriters ever.
gbear
I bought the vinyl version of this album but I’m in agreement w/kleek. I’m a huge Alison Krauss fan and I was looking forward to Plant in a folk setting, but this record is a three-way battle between Krauss, Plant, and T-Bone Burnett to see who can be the most cautiously tasteful. Plant and Krauss both sound like they want to be the background singer. The sound of this record is more environmental than immediate and it doesn’t have any great songs. The soundtrack to A Mighty Wind has more energy and sounds only slightly less parodic at points.
On the buy it, burn it, trash it scale, I give it a burn it.
Paddy O'Shea
Sarah Palin roundly booed at Philadelphia Flyers game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXNetpeu_mk
Michael Demmons
I’ll second that.
gbear
Buy more guns and beer and then park themselves in front of the TV for the rest of their lives.
Comrade Stuck
Maybe, with a lot of time. But the situation now has the GOP power structure almost completely dominated and controlled by southern ideology, and their ideas about how America should be goes back a long time and is likely imprinted, to a degree, in their DNA.
And given they have the numbers to maintain wingnut control of the GOP, I don’t see re- integration with the fed up moderates for some time, if at all. And this, of course, is good news for democrats and progressives!! And the Constitution.
dslak
@gbear: I’m reminded of something funny that happened when I was visiting a friend in San Francisco. We were listening to some local right-wing station giving advice on what you should do if you’re surrounded by people who aren’t white.
The advice was essentially, "act normal, and they probably won’t hurt you." As far as advice goes, that’s probably alright, but I can’t imagine that it would assuage the fears of anyone who actually dreads being the lone white person in a room.
The Grand Panjandrum
@gbear:
I like guns and beer but my problem is that after enough of those two my TV ends up being target practice. I should probably by some Sony and Best Buy stock.
Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)
If you get a chance, check out Allison Krauss’ version of Robert Plant’s "Big Log", from her brother Victor Krauss’ album "Far From Enough". It’s weak-in-the-knees beautiful. I’ve got the Krauss/Plant album; it’s OK, but a bit too languid for my tastes.
I missed the Krauss/Plant segment this morning, somehow getting distracted by some other shiny object. Dammit.
Downpuppy
They play the Krauss/Plant songs all the time on CMT Pure/Wide Open Country. As said above, Meh.
The real sock knocker there has been Elizabeth Cook, especially her cover of Sunday Morning.
Other than that, its a question of BR5-49 vs Derailers.
Graeme
Basically it’s the same at a few jobs I’ve had. As soon as someone says, "We’re all adults here" you know you’re about to be treated like a child.
vaux-rien
The sound of this record is more environmental than immediate and it doesn’t have any great songs. The soundtrack to A Mighty Wind has more energy and sounds only slightly less parodic at points.
Well, there are a handful of good to great songs on the A Mighty Wind soundtrack and IMO a couple on the Krauss/Plant album. I had the Krauss/Plant and Fairport Convention versions of "Gone Gone Gone" come up back to back on my ipod and they both help up well, "Fortune Teller" is pretty good too.
It’s sort of a novelty, Krauss has done much better stuff and while it’s maybe the best thing Plant’s done in 25 or 30 years he’s not great at it. In a similar vein Levon Helm’s "Dirt Farmer" album from last year was much better.
Notorious P.A.T.
Speaking of race, I’m wondering: why was a black reporter ejected from a McCain rally? Can anyone think of a reason why this would happen?
Link
Why do we need a Republican party? What good did it ever do? I say, destroy the Republican party, then liberals can vote Green Party and moderates & conservatives can have the Democrats.
rishathra
This is what my teachers told me. They basically said "but=’ignore everything I’ve said up until that word’ " and I’ve been verifying it every day since.
They also said that if you want people to hear BOTH parts of your sentence, use "and" instead.
El Cid
I think it’s interesting that people have been trained that "being a racist" is awful and bad and serious but "thinking people from some other racial background is bad or inferior to my own" is entirely different.
I think people have somehow created a mental definition of what something "racist" is like, perhaps full screaming Klan guy on Jerry Springer, whereas ‘normal people’ can hold views which are literally and openly defined as technically racist.
Saying racist stuff = OK
Being racist = BAD
???
gex
Man, this thread is giving me serious whiplash. Alison Krauss comments interspersed with political comments. I need to lie down now.
dj spellchecka
my two cents about plant/krauss… skip the album but don’t miss the various concert videos at youtube…. especially "the battle of evermore" and the "in the mood/maddy groves" medley….
Birdzilla
I dont watch SUNDAY MORNING its the usial liberal lies and half truths you get from the cBS news
Conservatively Liberal
Ok Birdzilla, what did you do with the real BIRDZILLA? You are just phoning this in and the difference is really noticeable.
We want our unhinged, part-bird part-Godzilla squawker back!
/sniff
mnmom
One thing that has been astounding me in these Palin hate-fests is that so many people are willing to go on camera and show themselves for the horrible hateful bigots they are.
Isn’t there any shame anymore? (Maybe with Palin and McCain as their candidate of choice, no shame equals no honor and no ethical code.)
grendelkhan
"I’m not racist…" is to the beginning of a sentence what "… and some of my best friends are black" is to the end of one.
HRA
The moment someone says "I don’t want" or "I am not" I have already determined they are exactly it. My English II professor constantly admonished anyone using "but" in writing or speaking.
Today I had my monthly family dinner at my house. Someone was channel surfing and stopped at C-Span where Joe Biden was speaking at a rally in Scranton with Hillary and his wife at his side. A relative began asking questions about Obama. "He isn’t all African American, is he? He sort of looks like he isn’t" "Is he a Christian?" GG almost 2 years have gone by with Obama in the news and this woman has been living where?!! (sarcasm) Yes, I did answer her and threw in some more info that by my estimation she did appreciate. One relative picked up Obama’s book Dreams of My Father out of my bookcase and flipped through it. I told him he could borrow it. He declined. A friend of a relative took a razzing on how he is smitten with Palin and he said he was not smitten. He was a bit aggitated He left early.
I may be expecting too much from this short family poll. I thought they were more learned. I do know I can’t be complacent over the current polls. It’s my own nerves that make me this way and not what I have written above.
LIL Q
I bought the cd months ago and haven’t listened to it much. There are several good songs on it. Gone, gone gone. But for the most part, it’s a little dull although some of the songs at the end of the cd are a little better.