Midnight Meme Of The Day

by Noah

Yes, Trump has a mouth. That's painfully obvious. For once, he's not lying. But, oh, Trump does have an organ alright. In fact, that organ is in his mouth. Unfortunately, it belongs to Vladimir Putin.

Why Is He Still President? Elton John, Eminem And Tom Steyer Want To Know

Today Tom Steyer started running his new Impeach Trump minute-long TV ad. It's good one, based on Putin-Gate. He debuted it at the California Democratic Convention in San Diego yesterday. Guess what... people loved it. "We need to stand for our principles," he said on the convention floor, "that means confronting the man who has no principles: Donald Trump." You know who agrees? Eminem... who was interviewed by Elton John in the new issue of Interview magazine.

Sir Elton: Let’s talk about “The Storm,” which is an example of someone actually getting off their ass and saying something, and it reverberating through the world. What you said was pretty much what most musicians, I assume-- apart from some country artists-- are probably thinking themselves. You seemed to have needed to get that out of your system.

Em: It’s something that I’m definitely very passionate about. If I’m not passionate about it, I can’t write it. I can’t fake it.

Sir: Let me ask you, was that totally off the cuff or did you write all that down and memorize it?

Em: I wrote it. The original idea was for me to go to the BET Awards and do it acapella onstage. I went home that same day and wrote it all, but then at the last minute, plans got switched around and we filmed it in Detroit.

Sir: I think it worked out better that way.

Em: One of the things we were trying to mimic was Public Enemy’s “You’re Gonna Get Yours” cover. I don’t know if anybody got that, but that’s kind of the feel that we were going for. My main concern was trying to get the message out and also memorize all the words. I have a hard time memorizing stuff. I’m always in the process of writing a new song, so trying to learn a new one takes a minute.

Sir: The people on set with you, had they heard it before you started filming?

Em: Nah, nobody had heard it.

Sir: It needed to be said. I’ve been coming to America since 1970, and it’s like my second home, but I’ve never felt such a divided country, ever. I didn’t think it would get to this point, and it breaks my heart.

Em: It was about having the right to stand up to oppression. I mean, that’s exactly what the people in the military and the people who have given their lives for this country have fought for-- for everybody to have a voice and to protest injustices and speak out against shit that’s wrong. We’re not trying to disrespect the military, we’re not trying to disrespect the flag, we’re not trying to disrespect our country. But shit is going on that we want to make you aware of. We have a president who does not care about everybody in our country; he is not the president for all of us, he is the president for some of us. He knows what he’s doing.

Sir: Everything that he does is deliberate.

Em: As long as he’s got his base, he does not give a fuck about anybody else in America. But guess what? There’s more of us than there are of them. I still feel like America is the greatest country to live in. This is my opinion. But we have issues that we need to work on and we need to do better.

Señor Trumpanzee's Speech This Morning Didn't Go Over That Well

My pal Roland texted me moments after Trump got up in front of the UN and he appeared relieved (and duped): "He sounds as normal as any American president." Another minute or two passed before his next text: "He's out of his mind, going crazy in front of the UN... attacking everyone." Let's see... what's the population of North Korea that he threatened to "totally destroy?" Ah, yes... 25.37 million, most of whom are the victims of the fascist state there. "Hey Roland, I don't remember any other American president-- or even any Brits-- quoting Elton John before. You?" By the end of the speech Roland was relieved Trump didn't take off his shoe and start banging it it on the lectern but he did end our text conversation as he entered his classroom in Compton by sending me this message: "Whatever else you might think of Trump, you have to admit he's stupid and he's very dangerous."

She packed my bags last night, preflight
Zero hour, nine a.m.
And I'm gonna be high
As a kite by then

I miss the earth so much
I miss my wife
It's lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight

And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no no no
I'm a rocket man
Rocket man
Burnin' out this fuse
Up here alone

And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no no no
I'm a rocket man
Rocket man
Burnin' out this fuse
Up here alone

Mars ain't the kind of place
To raise your kids
In fact, it's cold as hell
And there's no one there to raise them
If you did

And all this science
I don't understand
It's just my job
Five days a week
A rocket man
Rocket Man

And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Ah, no no no...
I'm a rocket man
Rocket man
Burnin' out this fuse
Up here alone

And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Ah, no no no...
I'm a rocket man
Rocket man
Burnin' out this fuse
Up here alone

Eric Bauman is the chairman of the California Democratic Party. He has a way with words: "Donald Trump’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly should terrify every American. It’s clear that the peace and safety of the world is caught up between two crazy men locked in a contest to see whose rockets are bigger and shoot farther. The neocons cheering on Trump’s reckless bluster should keep in mind the fact that tens of thousands of American soldiers stationed in South Korea and hundreds of thousands of innocent Korean citizens could be killed in the opening moments of the war Donald Trump just threatened-- just as they should remember that a war between two nuclear powers could easily spill out of control and kill hundreds of millions of people. For the safety and security of the world, Congress must act to constrain Trump’s ability to drag us into a long, bloody war over his pathetic, macho posturing."

I'm guessing that when Señor Trumpanzee spouted that "If the righteous many don’t confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph," we were all thinking the same thing about who the wicked few are. Unfortunately many were also interpreting this in a different way from what Trumpanzee meant it to mean: "The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy. It has turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos." And everyone shuddered when the orange baboon said the world faces "great peril."

The Guardian's Jerusalem correspondent, Peter Beaumont, told his readers that Netanyahu "could have written the section on Iran so closely does it ally with his own views on the threat posed by Tehran." Netanyahu: "In my more than 30 years at the UN, I have never heard such a brave and clear speech. President Trump told the truth about the world’s lurking dangers, and called for them to be addressed with fortitude, to ensure the future of mankind."

I asked a friend of mine who's part of France's delegation to the UN what kind of reaction Trump's rant was getting there. He told me most people expected Trump to brag about his electoral victory over Clinton. He also said he won a bet with a diplomat from Chad about whether Trump would criticize Russia and another bet with a diplomat from India about whether or not Trump would demand Mexico pay for his wall. The Venezuelan foreign minister:

I'm sure Paul Ryan will claim to be delighted with Trump's rant. But he progressive opponent in Wisconsin, Randy Bryce was anything but delighted: "I couldn’t believe what I heard come out of Donald Trump’s mouth this morning. In front of the assembled United Nations delegates he threatened to annihilate North Korea while referring to their leader as 'rocket man.' I fully understand that North Korea is an issue, but, to antagonize them in such a high school manner is outrageous. He also went on to slam an agreement that we have entered into with Iran while snubbing them as well. This isn’t leadership-- this is being a bully. This is how to make America hated. If we don’t take back Congress in 2018, we very well may see ourselves being considered as a rogue nation."

Doug Applegate, Ted Lieu, Randy Bryce

Last night Ted Lieu hosted an event for his Manhattan Beach constituents and invited Randy and to be his guest. This morning he and Randy were obviously on the same page about the UN rant. Ted: "President Trump’s speech to the United Nations will be remembered not for rallying the international community around our common challenges, but instead for threatening another nation with annihilation. Let us be clear: the issue is not whether the U.S. is capable of destroying North Korea, but rather whether we are willing to allow South Korea, Japan, and potentially Guam to be destroyed in the process-- along with hundreds of thousands of American lives. Name-calling and brash rhetoric make America neither great nor safe. I am also disappointed that President Trump failed to include a single mention of climate change, which poses an existential threat to America and the world."

Matt Cartwright (D-PA) is one of the few progressive Democrats who represents a district Trump won in. He told us he joins "with most Americans in believing that military action is a very last resort, and must be entertained only after all diplomatic efforts have failed. Saber-rattling and name-calling do not count as diplomacy. The United States should be looking for ways to de-escalate this conflict, not turn it into a nuclear crisis. We should be turning our energies toward lining up international support for more crippling sanctions, not impairing our own credibility with Twitter rants. We should be thinking about how to give this dictator a path to a face-saving retraction of his nuclear ambitions, not provoking him with loudmouth schoolyard taunts. I am thinking of the hundreds of thousands of American citizens in that region, and I do not like where this is going."

After reading his teleprompter speech Bannon didn't write for him, he casually told reporters, "I think the United Nations has great, great potential."

If You Cooperate With Trump, Your Grandchildren Might Ask Why-- Or Maybe A Judge Will

Elton, back when he was "straight" in the 1970s

Elton John's just a couple years older than I am. I met him when we were both in our 20s. It was before he was famous, let alone Sir Elton. And it was before he had come out of the closet. Everyone around him knew-- or thought-- he was gay but he was still trying to cover it up as a part of his career strategy. Empty Sky had been released in the U.K. but no one in the U.S. had ever heard it. (It came out in the U.S. about 6 years later after his career was already taking off in a significant way. I met Elton in London, at the home of a mutual friend, He was just trying to climb the ladder. I was living in Amsterdam at the time and some of my friends liked his debut album and the song "Skyline Pigeon," which didn't do much for me-- although I remember thinking he had some potential. I was more impressed with another unknown I met at the same house and who was also trying to get a career going, David Bowie.



When Your Song came out, he started getting famous, really famous. And then Tiny Dancer came out a couple years later and-- at least in Amsterdam-- he became a household name. He was a star. Hey I met that guy when he was just a kid! Honky Cat and Rocket Man were so massive that I can't even think of my years in Amsterdam without those songs playing in my mind. He was still pretending to be straight though, even getting married to a woman so people wouldn't think (know) he was gay. In 1976 he claimed to be bisexual. And that was big news. And it didn't hurt his career at all. In fact, just the opposite. He and his "wife," Renate Blauel, were divorced in 1988, the year Candle in the Wind was so huge that no one who liked "alternative music" could ever listen to him any more for fear of grooving to the same tune as their grandmother.

Scaramucci smooches a president

Anthony Scaramucci, a crooked bankster and Fox News personality is a Trumpist and a member of the presidential transition team executive committee and a vice chair of the presidential inaugural committee. Scaramucci claims that Trump "will be the first American president in U.S. history that enters the White House with a pro-gay rights stance and that having Elton play at the big inaugural concert on the Mall "shows our commitment to gay rights."

John, who referred to Trump as "a barbarian" during the election and supported Clinton, had his spokesperson tell CNN yesterday that Scaramucci was making it up. "He will NOT be performing at Trump’s Inauguration!" Scaramucci says Elton has been pressured to change his mind but an Elton source says Scaramucci may have dreamed about it but it wasn't ever something that Elton John was going to do.

Yesterday Gaius asked the question How Much Democratic Cooperation Is Collaboration? If you haven't read it yet, please do. At a time when patriots all across our country are working out what resistance is, sooner or later every American-- not just Berniecrats-- is likely to have to figure out what collaboration with the monster is all about for them. Elton John certainly made the right decision. We all must... until this nightmare is over.

Resist! Resist! Resist! Resist! Do not collaborate! Stick together and help each other. Stay hydrated. Stay calm. Remember: most voters did not vote for Trump.

Most Musicians Are Canceling Arizona Concerts-- But Not Elton John

Oink

So, my impressionable friend Irwing is in college and one of his classes gets addressed by a La Raza activist who goes ape-shit on Arizona's racist anti-immigration law, SB-1070, and tells the kids how whitey will never accept them and all. Irwing, who is descended from Mexican immigrants, decides to rediscover some kind of heritage and asks me to come with him to the beautiful Getty Villa in Malibu to see a new exhibition, The Aztec Pantheon and the Art of Empire. We did that yesterday. The Getty Villa is gorgeous-- almost worth the drive-- but the exhibition was kind of mediocre and Irwing didn't look that inspired. I was able to reinterpret the La Raza guy's rant for him in a more classic Marxist way about how the wealthy use the divide and conquer tactic to keep working people at each others' throats so as not to disturb a status quo that guarantees their own economic and social dominance. And we talked about practical steps we can take to undermine the racist politicians in Arizona who are behind SB-1070.

A couple weeks ago I was all excited because Los Lobos canceled their Arizona concert. John Amato at Crooks and Liars and I have been encouraging musicians to do that. The guys even made a statement about why they had made the decision: "We support the boycott of Arizona. The new law will inevitably lead to unfair racial profiling and possible abuse of people who just happen to look Latino. As a result, in good conscience, we could not see ourselves performing in Arizona. We regret the inconvenience this may have caused ... Talking Stick Resort and our fans, but we feel strongly that it is the right thing to do."

Other artists who have joined suit include Cypress Hill, Pitbull, Rage Against the Machine, Kanye West, Sonic Youth, Carlos Santana, Willie Nelson, Joe Satriani, Tenacious D, Shakira, Massive Attack and Hall & Oates (who were supposed to play at a July 2nd Diamondbacks game). Rage's Zack de la Rocha was organized an Arizona sound strike.

“Fans of our music, our stories, our films and our words can be pulled over and harassed every day because they are brown or black, or for the way they speak, or for the music they listen to,” de la Rocha said. “People who are poor like some of us used to be could be forced to live in a constant state of fear while just doing what they can to find work and survive. This law opens the door for them to be shaked down, or even worse, detained and deported while just trying to travel home from school, from home to work, or when they just roll out with their friends.”

The law-- SB 1070-- takes “racial profiling... to a whole new low,” the singer went on. “When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, they arrested her. As a result, people got together and said we are not going to ride the bus until they change the law... What if we got together, signed a collective letter saying, ‘We're not going to ride the bus,’ saying we are not going to comply. We are not going to play in Arizona.”

This week, when Hall and Oates announced the were canceling their show in Phoenix they made it clear they weren't boycotting the Diamondbacks... just Arizona-- and the team said they understood why the band had made the decision.

"In addition to our personal convictions, we are standing in solidarity with the music community in our boycott of performing in Arizona at this time. We would like to emphasize that this has nothing to do with the management of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have been professional and cooperative throughout our dealings with them. This is our response to a very specific action of the state."

One artist unlikely to back out of a big payday is Elton John. Many have been urging him to do so but after the openly gay piano player took a million dollars from homophobic bridegroom Rush Limbaugh last week to play his wedding, no one seriously thought John would give up his show on July 21 at Tucson's Convention Center Arena.

Meanwhile, the Mormon chief of police in Salt Lake City joined other police chiefs in coming out strongly against racist laws like SB-1070, including Utah's similar SB-81.

It's official: Beltway Creeps have no shame (but a lot of convenient "scheduling conflicts")

Sir Elton and the Piano Man face2face --

uh-oh, watch out for Beltway Creeps!

by Ken

Oh man, you just can't take your eyes off these Beltway Creeps, not for a second!

Okay, as you undoubtedly know, piano-rockers Sir Elton John and Billy Joel really enjoy performing together. They've had huge success with their Face2Face concert tours, and are currently in the midst of the first since 2003.

(No Beltway Creeps yet. Just wait, they're coming!)

One of the stops on the current tour, this coming Saturday, July 11, in fact, is in Washington, D.C., at Nationals Park.

(Uh-oh, did you feel that chill? I think that was the icy breath of Beltway Creeps creeping up on us.)

Now presumably anybody can buy tickets, and that applies to group sales as well. So if, say, a person wanted to hold a fund-raiser based on Saturday's event, and if that person puts up his/her cash, the tickets are turned over, and everybody's happy.

Now enter the Beltway Creeps. Presumably those rules we were just talking about -- all that applies to Beltway Creeps just like people. And among the foot-stomping fans at Nationals Park Saturday will be paying guests of Illinois Rep. John Shimkus and longtime DWT fave Ohio Rep. "Mean Jean" Schmidt. That's right, the Queen of Mean herself!

They'll both be squeezing moolah out of their fat-cat benefactors to see, um, Elton John? Wait, wait, that can't be right, can it? There must be some mistake.

Oh, but it is! We have it on the authority of The Party Blog, part of the Sunlight Foundation's Party Time project.

YOU DIDN'T KNOW THERE'S A PARTY TIME PROJECT?

Frankly, neither did we. But somebody's got to keep an eye on these creeps, no? Party Time's "remit" (as they say in British spy shows):

Sunshine's Party Time is a project to track parties for members of Congress or congressional candidates that happen all year round in Washington, D.C. and beyond.

We also post information we receive about parties where members of Congress are expected to participate -- such as convention or inaugural parties.

Since we don't hear about all the parties, you can also tell us if you know where the party is and we don't.

At this point, let's turn the floor over to The Party Blog (I'm telling you, you're going to love this):

ANTI-GAY RIGHTS REPS USE ELTON JOHN TO RAISE CASH

At least two members of the House of Representatives -- both of whom are on record opposing gay rights -- will be hosting fundraisers at the upcoming Billy Joel/Elton John “Face2Face” concert at Nationals Park on July 11.

In July 2006, Reps. John Shimkus (R-IL) [right] and Jean Schmidt (R-OH) both voted to define marriage in the Constitution as a one man-one woman affair, according to ontheissues.org and the Human Rights Campaign.

In November 2007, both representatives voted against a measure aimed at prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. And in June 2008, they co-sponsored a bill to amend the Constitution to prevent same sex couples from marrying. Shimkus voted to ban gay adoptions in DC in July 1999. (Ontheissues records of these votes can be found here and here).

Sir Elton John has been a vocal advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and for global gay rights (see his foundation here, and attempts to raise public awareness here).

This isn’t Shimkus’ first Elton fundraiser. In 2005 the Kentucky Democrat reported:

“A spokesman for Shimkus, Steve Tomaszewski, said his boss’s fund-raiser at the Elton John concert was neither an endorsement of the singer’s politics nor a betrayal of Shimkus’ stand on gay marriage. Shimkus won’t attend himself, however, because of a scheduling conflict, Tomaszewski said.”

Tomaszewski confirmed Thursday to Party Time that the congressman will most likely not be attending the fundraiser on July 11 either. Rep. Schmidt’s director of communications would only agree to answer questions by email, and has not yet responded to Party Time.

And speaking of the Piano Man, one wonders how those intrepid Defenders of Marriage, Schedule-Conflict Steve and Mean Jean, responded to last month's news, Billy Joel splits from third wife:

Billy Joel and his wife, Katie Lee Joel, are getting a divorce, according to The New Jersey Star-Ledger. The 60-year-old rock star and his 27-year-old wife have been married for five years.

The couple released a statement saying the decision to split "is a result of much thoughtful consideration."

The marriage was Joel's third. He previously was married to Christie Brinkley and, before that, to his business manager.

Katie Lee Joel was described by the Star-Ledger as a cookbook author, socialite and fashion show habitue who hosted the first season of Bravo's "Top Chef."

If you want to see which of the Creeps is partying, check here. And if you've got party tips, here's the Sunlight Foundation's contact page.

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