Neil Innes 1944-2019

I know of Innes mostly through the Bonzo Dog Band. They mixed comedy with music that was obviously English with a rock influence. They reminded me of the Mothers of Invention.

Monty Python writer and actor Neil Innes has died at age 75, his agent has confirmed. https://t.co/zUygt0qBVf
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 30, 2019

If it's true that the great Neil Innes had sadly passed away, please let me raise a glass to the man. Forever a fan of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. Allow me to share a favourite clip of them in action (with a bonkers Innes guitar solo too). RIP Neil. https://t.co/wojCBk7GPY
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) December 30, 2019

Utterly dismayed to hear about Neil Innes. Right out of the blue…

A very sweet man, much too nice for his own good

Lovely writer and performer. When he worked with Python on our stage show, I listened every night to "How sweet to be an Idiot" on the tannoy

Very sad…..
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) December 30, 2019

Wes Freed

Wes Freed has done many terrific covers for Drive-By Truckers albums and their concert posters. A new book of his art is available from his web site wesfreed.com

The secrets of Drive-By Truckers’ trippy album covers. #WesFreed 🤘

https://t.co/qxxDYEgVbw
— Drive-By Truckers (@drivebytruckers) December 20, 2019

Friday's @SnakeHandlers Dispatch highlights the great artwork of Wes Freed, best known for his work with @drivebytruckers. This interview reveals Freed's inimitable journey. https://t.co/JCsQGG4hJg pic.twitter.com/hoJs7PKFyW
— James Calemine (@JamesCalemine) September 13, 2019

Trump supports Russia

He believes Putin’s lies about the 2016 election and opposes efforts to deter more Russian election interference.

Trump administration moves to oppose bill meant to deter Russian aggression and election interference https://t.co/MmQgE0ohbT pic.twitter.com/y5jDiSPbsn
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 19, 2019

Trump explains why he believes Ukraine, not Russia, messed with the 2016 election: “Because Putin told me.” Okay, then. It must be true. https://t.co/1uZfaKrm0w
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) December 20, 2019

THIS is why they must be subpoenaed. They will talk on background but too cowardly to speak under oath/ https://t.co/27Pr5EoqJD
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) December 19, 2019

Everyone agreed with the Senate bill meant to counter Russian aggression — except the Trump administration, which turned out 22 pages of objections to the legislation, calling it "unnecessary." ⁦@SangerNYT⁩ https://t.co/gxNXDNruaT
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) December 19, 2019

Icymi, exclu: The Trump administration is quietly fighting an effort – led by Lindsey Graham – to level new sanctions against Russia.
They sent the Hill a 22-p letter arguing against the sanctions, which we published here:https://t.co/N964IVvAbQ
— Betsy Woodruff Swan (@woodruffbets) December 19, 2019

Why send impeachment articles to a rigged Senate trial?

Democrats are right to consider not sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate because McConnell has made it clear that the trial will be a sham.

.@WhipClyburn said Dems will wait “as long as it takes” to send over impeachment. “It looks like the prosecutors are getting cold feet,” McConnell said. To the contrary, the prosecutors are getting smart: They realize there is no need to play a rigged game.https://t.co/B8lPM3Sx8r
— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) December 19, 2019

"Under the rules, the House can apparently just sit on the articles—not refer them to the Senate, not appoint managers. And that’s exactly what House Dems should do," argues Dean Obeidallah. https://t.co/o5h9UvIXjC
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 18, 2019

What's the argument that Senate Republicans will be frustrated by this? That they can't acquit Trump? https://t.co/iTr9pv2sDz
— Philip Bump (@pbump) December 18, 2019

If @rgoodlaw sees no strong argument against my proposal to impeach but then withhold the Articles of Impeachment, there are unlikely to be any. https://t.co/n0mIDH1i2S
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) December 18, 2019

Growing support for the idea of impeaching today but withholding the articles from the Senate until a meaningful trial can be conducted:https://t.co/dk41hKpYDg
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) December 18, 2019

Moscow Mitch McConnell just rejected having witnesses with vital information like John Bolton and Mick Mulvaney testify in Senate trial of Trump. The Senate trial is so RIGGED House Democrats should impeach Trump and NOT send over articles to the Senate!
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) December 17, 2019

"It frankly is about time Democrats learned to exercise power in the gray areas where no clear precedent exists, a place where Republicans have operated with impunity." https://t.co/wbKuiWEoGh
— Susan Kristol (@SusanKristol) December 19, 2019

Scoop: Lawyers close to Trump are exploring whether Pelosi’s decision to temporarily withhold articles of impeachment from the Senate could mean that the president hasn’t actually been impeached.
The case is largely rhetorical, but could provide WH and Senate Republicans leverage
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) December 19, 2019

Why do we need more pretrial assurances than in 1999? Because neither Trent Lott nor Tom Daschle did what McConnell has done: pledged to violate his oath of impartiality by letting the defense call the shots. https://t.co/c0NJe1r9mg
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) December 20, 2019

Trump’s terrible comments on John Dingell

Trump attacks a dead man again. Trump is a terrible person. Most Republicans won’t condemn these despicable comments.

A response from Rep. Debbie Dingell’s office after the president’s attack tonight. https://t.co/rvO5kgzJ93 pic.twitter.com/WD46Lzg3Si
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) December 19, 2019

John Dingell served our country in World War II. He was the longest-serving Member of the House in history, was instrumental in passing Medicare, Civil Rights, Clean Air Act, & more. @realDonaldTrump is not fit to carry Mr. Dingell’s boots. How dare Trump disparage his memory.
— Paul Begala (@PaulBegala) December 19, 2019

Trump made fun of a widow tonight at his Rally in Battle Creek, MI. The woman was Rep Debbie Dingell who lost her husband last year. He was a loved and respected Congressman. Trump mocks his death implying he may be looking up from Hell. Then pretend cries acting like he’s Debbie pic.twitter.com/wje7J1xqyX
— Mystery Solvent (@MysterySolvent) December 19, 2019

Debbie Dingell has managed her public grief with all the grace in the world, but her pain has been visible. She wears her husband’s rings around her neck on a chain. She‘s teared up in front of reporters. It’s devastating to think that anyone would choose to make that pain worse. https://t.co/WWThpdIzZQ
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) December 19, 2019

As he was getting impeached, Trump ridiculed a dead congressman who was an iconic figure in the House https://t.co/THqqCJnbZA
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 19, 2019

He mocks a widow- imitating her supposedly thanking Trump after her husband’s death – & then “jokingly” says that Rep. Dingell is in hell now. This isn’t normal, it’s not even human. Ask every @GOP defender to respond to this, please. Make them defend the indefensible. https://t.co/XytloELfma
— Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) December 19, 2019

Stories covering Trump's insult of John Dingell need to mention that this is a pattern.

In June, Trump seemed to imply that he was happy that McCain was dead and had gone on to "far less green pastures."

Those comments were made at a faith conference. https://t.co/qkiUMgpKtn
— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) December 19, 2019

Does the president really believe that simply lowering a flag for a deceased lawmaker should have protected him from a vote for impeachment? Trump’s expectations of loyalty & support for relatively insignificant actions are illuminating … https://t.co/YiPN2jc2x1
— Eugene Scott (@Eugene_Scott) December 19, 2019

Trump rhetoric infects the press. Rep. Dingell did not “hit back.” She expressed her grief over the President of the United States cruelly criticizing her recently deceased husband. https://t.co/87NCG8QqSu
— John Warner (@biblioracle) December 19, 2019

Correct. Not even a consideration for him. https://t.co/Q8MZtFYUwu
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) December 19, 2019

The "counter-puncher” metaphor also posits Trump as the victim because when he’s “counterpunching” he’s supposedly defending himself from attack when in fact he’s being a bully. https://t.co/OoHSa4vEm9
— Touré (@Toure) December 19, 2019

We have enabled him. He has been allowed to prosper while constantly saying things like this. He has rarely been held accountable. That’s one reason impeachment matters. https://t.co/SY7HFtfyKU
— Matt Lewis (@mattklewis) December 19, 2019

Roy Loney 1946-2019

Roy Loney of the @FlaminGroovies, R.I.P. Details here. https://t.co/AWVsSd9yzb
— UltimateClassicRock (@UltClassicRock) December 15, 2019

I must admit that I did not know much about the Flamin’ Groovies during their creative peak in the 1960s and 1970s. I only started listening to their old music in the last few years, prompted by “I’m Drowing” which made an appearance on a Rhino anthology. They were from San Francisco but they sure did not sound like other San Francisco bands like Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. The Flamin’ Groovies were more like power pop.

Facebook will help Trump by letting political ads contain lies

I rarely use Facebook because of the harm they are doing to our elections. Also, Zuckerberg met with Trump recently. I guess he’ll let Trump’s campaign post lies in return for not breaking Facebook up or some deal like that.

Facebook board member and billionaire investor Peter Thiel has reportedly extended his influence over CEO Mark Zuckerberg and was key in the controversial decision to continue accepting political ads ahead of the 2020 election and to not fact-check them. https://t.co/CTar3SEWNG
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) December 18, 2019

Republican billionaire Peter Thiel, a member of Facebook's board, has convinced Zuckerberg to stand by his decision to allow politicians to lie in Facebook

Thiel, Zuckberberg and Trump had dinner at the White House in Octoberhttps://t.co/hn2Dn2NGTg
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) December 17, 2019

"An explosive new study reveals that political misinformation is running rampant on Facebook as the 2020 election approaches… The study found that most negative misinformation (62%) was about Democrats or liberals…" https://t.co/b5AXLOFYIe
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 6, 2019

Think your Thanksgiving was rough? Imagine having to explain to family members that your company isn’t responsible for destroying democracy. Story w/ ⁦@MikeIsaac⁩ on how FB made a chat bot to help their employees get their angry uncle off their back. https://t.co/MiEB46cfVc
— Sheera Frenkel (@sheeraf) December 2, 2019

[Stammering, stumbling] "Uh no; I mean, I don't think that that's …. that's … I think some of the stuff that people talk about or think gets discussed in discussions are not really …. how that works. [Voice speeds up] I also want to respect that it was a private dinner." https://t.co/Lrpayq8fnS
— David Frum (@davidfrum) December 2, 2019

Facebook says that a post from QAnon supporter Danielle Stella, a congressional candidate running against Ilhan Omar, that calls for Omar to be hung "doesn't violate our Community Standards." She was suspended last night on Twitter for the same post. https://t.co/EGs0Jh4JbH pic.twitter.com/mPgU9cYqm7
— Alex Kaplan (@AlKapDC) November 27, 2019

1. The Trump campaign is blanketing Facebook today w/a claim that has been debunked by its official fact-checking partners.

If a non-candidate tried to run this ad it would be taken down

But because Facebook exempts candidates from fact-checking, users are being misinformed pic.twitter.com/1LPSp0zby2
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 26, 2019

Stunning story that shows how Facebook worked overtime for Trump — crafting digital strategy, creating custom code, and experimenting with different ways to maximize pro-Donald content. https://t.co/1EhbK1js8Z
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) November 23, 2019

The top 10 "impeachment" @Facebook posts over the past 24 hours in terms of # of interactions come from:

1. Donald J Trump
2. Fox News
3. Fox News
4. Donald J Trump
5. Fox News
6. Daily Wire
7. Daily Wire
8. Fox News
9. Donald J. Trump
10. Fox News https://t.co/bLyPf9xheN
— Will Ragland (@citizenwillis) November 21, 2019

This is deeply concerning for reasons that have nothing to do Russia or Democratic ad spend https://t.co/NtDXYxnoMe
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) November 21, 2019

>> @b_fung: "Facebook has become a fertile breeding ground for disinformation about Congress's impeachment inquiry, according to a new report by the civil society group Avaaz." https://t.co/SaOjNC8yUP
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 6, 2019

Why does Mark Zuckerberg refuse to hold Donald Trump to the same standards he would a toothpaste company? https://t.co/iymKG4goeE
— Slate (@Slate) October 31, 2019

.⁦@MikeIsaac⁩ obtained a letter signed by hundreds of Facebook employees protesting the company’s decision to allow politicians to lie in ads https://t.co/Juusd4EHL5
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) October 28, 2019

my latest—let’s just be honest abt what’s going on ; https://t.co/xDf9qyJrlT
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) October 27, 2019

Facebook is deleting pro-vaccine information from health departments and medical providers, while letting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories stay up. https://t.co/GeefeAy4h5
— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) October 26, 2019

Facebook lists Breitbart as a “trusted” news source?! https://t.co/PPvmJzlsQ1
— Jennifer Cohn (@jennycohn1) October 25, 2019

Trump judges update 12/18/19

They just keep forcing through conservative judges after having blocked Obama nominees.

The Senate confirmed 13 new judges this week.

Donald Trump has now picked 185 judges:

—133 district court judges
—50 circuit court judges
—2 Supreme Court justices

That’s more than 1/5th of the federal bench.

The new batch fits the trend: young conservatives, mostly 40s/50s.
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) December 20, 2019

While the House has been focused on impeachment, the Senate just advanced TEN of Trump's judges.

Only Dems to vote for LESS THAN HALF:

Mazie Hirono: 0/10
Kirsten Gillibrand: 2/10
Ed Markey: 2/10
Brian Schatz: 3/10
Chuck Schumer: 3/10
Jeff Merkley: 4/10
Ron Wyden: 4/10
— Jonathan "Boo and Vote" Cohn (@JonathanCohn) December 19, 2019

While the rest of Washington focused on impeachment proceedings, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell forced a deal with Democrats to expedite 11 federal district judge nominations https://t.co/zbyyf6dcOi
— CNN (@CNN) December 18, 2019

Why do they support Trump? It’s about the judges. McConnell held seats open for years during the Obama administration, hoping for this opportunity. Democrats need to wise up about the courts as an issue in Presidential/Senate races. https://t.co/t5PP6O82zF
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) December 18, 2019

Pres. Trump and Senate Majority Leader McConnell have seated a 174 federal judges in just 3 years and they're on track to seat more – shaping the courts for years to come. https://t.co/00YuGvOoiU
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 17, 2019

BREAKING: As the House prepares to vote on impeachment this week, @senatemajldr just moved forward on THIRTEEN more of Trump’s judicial nominees, including three who refused to say that #BrownvBoard was correctly decided.

If confirmed by the Senate, they will serve for life. pic.twitter.com/o0QeEIETVh
— Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) December 16, 2019

Trump has made the federal courts whiter and more male. Nearly two-thirds of his judicial nominees have been white men, more than twice their share of the U.S. population. Trump has not nominated a single African American appellate judge. https://t.co/82bYnWmmbo
— Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) December 16, 2019

Trump tells his Fox town hall that partly thanks to McConnell Obama left him 142 judicial vacancies (104) and that usually you're left 0 and if you get even 1 you're lucky (not even close to true). https://t.co/VGz6lbgnGt pic.twitter.com/Hc8C42bxGr
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 5, 2020

Wild Honey – The Beach Boys (1967)

Wild Honey was the Beach Boys album after Smiley Smile which had the singles “Good Vibrations” and “Heroes and Villains”. Wild Honey is less ambitious but still had two great singles – “Wild Honey” and “Darlin'” (although lyrics to “Darlin'” are clichés sometimes). I have also included their cover of Stevie Wonder’s “I Was Made to Love Her”. Carl Wilson has the lead vocal on all three songs and pushes the limits of his voice.

On this day in 1967, the Beach Boys released Wild Honey, their 13th studio album. The low-fi sound included a slightly-detuned piano, which Brian said made it sound “more like a twelve-string guitar, to get a more mellow sound – I loved what it did to the sound of the record.” pic.twitter.com/UnIj436KHR
— Brian Wilson (@BrianWilsonLive) December 18, 2019

Georgia voter suppression

Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin, Arizona, Texas…The list goes on. Wherever Republicans control the legislature, they pass suppression laws aimed at young and minority voters. We will keep fighting in court, but in 2020 #VoteDemocrat. https://t.co/UxeZt0AqEb
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) December 14, 2019

Incredible @ajc story measuring the impact of closing polling places in Georgia. "Precinct closures and longer distances likely prevented an estimated 54,000 to 85,000 voters from casting ballots on Election Day last year." https://t.co/wGxxmRSXSK pic.twitter.com/cChend96QI
— Sam Levine (@srl) December 13, 2019

Here’s the thing: poll closures was only ONE limitation for GA voters. This does not account for 4-5 hour lines, rejected absentee ballots, uncured provisional ballots, and faulty voting machines. The election was stolen. Invest in voter protection NOW. https://t.co/7AhuDNX05C
— Hillary Holley (@HillaryHolley4) December 14, 2019

"This election is about who counts in the state." Our Daily episode last year was prescient https://t.co/yIwPmZRfKs
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) December 13, 2019

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp must now answer for why he (as secretary of state) & election board members rigged the 2018 election in ways that targeted low-income people & minorities, in order to deprive them of their right to vote.

A: It guaranteed his win.https://t.co/zvZEhhmOcl
— Wes Jordan✌💙 (@wesley_jordan) December 11, 2019