2024 Derangement Syndrome

 The crossover record has been around, I suppose, since Caruso recorded "Over There" in French and sort-of English to support the Allied effort in World War I.  Singers of his era often incorporated pop songs into their recital programs, and eventually pop singers started to cross over from their side.  The results ranged from gobsmacking (Jan Peerce's "Bluebird of Happiness" must be heard -- once -- to be believed) to worthy of a participation trophy (Streisand is no Kiri Te Kanawa but "Classical Barbra" is very enjoyable).  Why stay in your lane if you can reach a wider audience?  Willie Nelson's "Georgia on My Mind" may be my favorite version, and if you love jazz and Bach you must know the Modern Jazz Quartet's "Blues on Bach."  

So why is crossing over suddenly contentious?  Because everything is.  It's 2024 and the culture wars never experience a cease-fire.  I just heard Beyonce's "Texas Hold-Em" and I liked it.  It doesn't hurt at all that Rhiannon Giddens, who writes operas in her spare time, is on banjo.  I'll bet it's fun to line-dance to this.  What I'm saying, there's something here for everyone to like.

Or not.  Apparently One America News still exists and one of its hosts was complaining that "the lefties...have to seize control over every aspect [of the entertainment industry]."  Cultural commentator John Schneider agreed:  "They've got to make their mark, just like a dog in a dog walk park, where every dog has to mark every tree."  Comparing a woman, especially a successful Black woman, to a dog is the quintessence of Trumpism.  Have you tried listening to the song?  Why deny yourself a few minutes of pleasure just to affirm your politics?  And since when is Beyonce a "leftie"?  I have no idea what her politics are.  She could be as conservative as most rich people.  ("I've got mine and I'm moving to Texas so I don't have to pay taxes on it.")  Or as weary of politics as most of us.

Still a little rusty, Jon Stewart spent his return to the Daily Show on a both-sides monologue about how Trump and Biden are old and need to be pushed out to sea on an ice floe or something.  Then the New York Times made room for Ezra Klein to zero in on Biden and suggest a brokered convention like the one that chose the Illinois upstart Abraham Lincoln.  Yes, 1860.  Of course, Biden has an obvious successor (in 2028) in Kamala Harris, but Klein has bought into the racist, misogynist GOP narrative that she's a terrible politician, deeply unpopular and really not very smart.  So why have her on the ticket at all?  It was Joe Biden himself who cut through the crap yesterday when asked if he'd rather run against Trump or Haley:  "Oh, I don't care."

He wins or we're toast.  Nothing more to it.  Only the future of the world.

The anti-sciencers, the book-burners, the Russian ratfuckers, mass deporters and Christian nationalists are all personified by Trump and must be defeated, and destroyed if possible.  That is all.  Biden kicked Trump's ass once and is the only possible person to do so again.  That is all.  Shut up and do your job or live with the devastating consequences.

Nikki Haley is not a reasonable Trump with better hair.  She is no better at anything.  She agrees with the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos are people.  This is not only mad, it recalls a dark chapter of history, the notorious "three-fifths of a person" which counted the enslaved fractionally but gave Southern states extra clout in the House of Representatives for seventy years.  What is to stop states like Alabama (and there will be more) from including these zygotes in their census figures?  Surely not the Flying Alitos.  Is Haley less corrupt than Trump?  Let her prove it by promising not to pardon him.  Is Haley smarter than Trump?  Sure, what isn't?  Would she compare herself to Alexei Navalny?  No one ever said she was deranged.

Don't take my word, read what they have in mind for us.  Then you may want to explore New Zealand real estate options.

All right, that was hard.  Let's relax by laughing at a couple of clowns.  Tucker Carlson has pried himself away from Moscow, Queen of Cities, but he still doesn't want to go home to Maine, which is understandable.  He arranged to interview Boris Johnson, but BoJo cancelled after the murder of Navalny.  Tucker claims Johnson demanded a million dollars, which he indignantly refused to pay.  Johnson says that's tosh, he agreed to a million-dollar contribution to a charity for Ukrainian veterans.  Johnson then denounced Carlson as "a traitor to journalism" over his Putin kiss-up.  In the Daily Mail yet, which...I just can't.  These two should take their act on the road.

Ed Clark, the executive in charge of Boeing's 737 Max division, is leaving -- quit or fired is not clear.  Probably not connected with the Boeing 757-200 flight which made an emergency landing today after one wing began to disintegrate.  That executive will "quit" tomorrow.

Something to do with women's curling in Calgary.  All right, Kentucky Derby ladies, show us what you've got.