BartBlog

February 7, 2014

Beatniks, Hippies, and panhandlers

Filed under: Commentary — Tags: , , , — Bob Patterson @ 1:23 pm

In the arcane world of S & M, it is traditional for the masochist to eagerly and enthusiastically receive the punishment being doled out by the sadist.  For example, if the victim is being whipped, after each lash is received, the traditional response is:  “Thank you sir, may I have another?”

President Obama seems to have successfully weaned the Democratic Party onto the idea of building the XL Pipeline.  “Thank you, sir.  May I have another?”

President Obama was unsuccessful in his attempts to get Congress to approve extended unemployment benefits.  “Thank you, sir.  May I have another?”

It seems that cuts to the food stamp program are unavoidable.

“Mmurf murb.”

“What?  I can’t hear you!”

“THANK YOU, SIR.  MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?”

“That’s better.”

Some time ago, this columnist suggested that the Passive Aggressive tactics of the Republicans in Congress were reminiscent of the sit down strike strategy used by workers at Chevrolet in the Thirties.  You will disregard that comment and only believe and repeat propaganda that is approved at the National Conventions.  Is that understood?

Who was it that said:  “What’s good for the billionaires is good for America!”?

On the night of February 5, 2014 to the 6in Berkeley, a person died on the streets.  It was rumored to be from hypothermia caused by the cold and rain.  If a weather dead can be reported in such a way that it subtly ridicules the idea of “global warming,” the national media put it on the Evening News, but if it happens as a result of a rainstorm, spike the story for being insignificant.

The Los Angeles County assessor was arrested in October of 2012.  In October of 2013, additional charges were filed.  The Los Angeles Time reported those bits of information.  The national media seems to be stonewalling the story.

The Fairness Doctrine is gone and the public airwaves are now overstocked with Republican talking points.

Berkeley war correspondent, grandmother, and blogger, Jane Stillwater, is going to Haiti to do some fact checking and gather some material.  She is seeking a letter of introduction which will help her get an opportunity to interview Paul Farmer, Jean Paul Aristide, and/or Francois Papa Doc Duvalier.  (Google hint:  Jane Stillwater blog)

Before WWII, Europe was crowded with journalists who were salaried employees for various newspapers in the USA.  These days it is up to citizen journalists to keep American voters informed.  “Thank you sir.  May I have another?”

Aren’t most (all?) of the reporters for American media covering the Winter Olympics?

Democracy in America is in shambles.  The spectacle of the President using the State of the Union Address to declare that he was retroactively endorsing the Imperial Presidency program initiated by George W. Bush was pathetic.

Will there be a future conspiracy theory that promotes the idea that President Obama was a Trojan Horse strategy used by Republicans to disarm the Democratic Party’s animosity aimed at the Bush Dynasty?  If Obama adopts every one of George W. Bush’s policies, what’s the use of continuing the snide remarks about the Bush Dynasty?

If the Dynasty resentment vanishes, what’s to prevent a JEB bandwagon in 2016?

What good does it do for the World’s Laziest Journalist to do all the grumbling?

One particular website has been an example of American Cultural Imperialism.  Did a column critical of that elitist attitude cause a change?  We noticed recently that they ran an ad proclaiming that they were now a portal to the radio stations of the World.  Does that mean that folks who are tired of Republican talking points can use that site to listen to Triple J, Skyrock, and/or Radio Caroline?  Maybe we can do some extensive fact checking and write an entire column about this new widow of opportunity for radio fans.

Isn’t there a goodly number of trucking music fans in America who might get some enjoyment out of hearing Australian trucking songs?

Is it ironical (or just an example of poignancy?) that while Republican ideology has become dominant on radio, Democratic Party programs (such as Gay Marriage and Medicinal marijuana) are proliferating at a rapid rate on the state level?

If capitalism works like the conservatives say it does, how long will it take before Top Forty music radio programming makes a comeback?

What if Casey Kasem’s Top Forty countdown becomes more popular online than Uncle Rushbo?   Won’t radio programmer wunderkinds want to play what sells?

Has any online source for radio programming registered the XERB.com domain name?  How hard can it be to find a gravely voiced disk jockey to become Wolfman 2.0?  World wide access would make “coast to coast, border to border, wall to wall and treetop tall” seem chintzy in comparison.

With just a skosh under three years to go, folks are going to get more than a wee bit fed up with “Thank you sir. May I have another?” fanatical enthusiasm for Obama and his capitalist masters.

While reading “Counter Culture through the Ages from Abraham to Acid House” (by Ken Goffman [AKA R. U. Serius] and Dan Joy) we noticed that while the conservatives have been exerting their influence on the media, the lack of news coverage of any current counter culture trend is rather unsettling.  Where is the counterculture action happening these days?  How many times in a Western movie did the statement “I don’t hear anything” evoke a “That’s what worries me!” response?

Back in the Sixties, boys and girls, the reporters for main stream media used to sneak hippie sentiments into back of the book trend spotting stories.  This fellow Hunter S. Thompson shaved his head while running for sheriff and then called his opponent with a G. I. haircut “the guy with the long hair.”

Is it still the case that “we don’t grow our hair long and shaggy, like the hippies out in San Francisco do”?  Can we get back to you next week on that question?  Does the Haight attract more tourists than North Beach?  Would today’s kids rather be a hippie or a beatnik?

Recently the New York Times ran a front page story that made the assertion that franchise restaurants across the USA were struggling, but that posh upscale eateries were thriving.

If Mario Savio were attending UCB this year would he be driving a flashy Ferrari?

In 1965 weren’t the students protesting rising tuition costs?  Didn’t Prop 13 use a claim that homeowners would save hundreds of tax dollars to get them to pass a measure which saved businesses thousands (ultimately millions?) of dollars?  Didn’t Prop 13 pave the way for bankers to reap massive profits from student loans?

[Note from the Photo editor:  Is it sadistic to run a photo of a very exotic Ferrari with a column about how tough times are?]

The aforementioned history of the Counterculture informs readers (on page 232) that:  “Seeing no hope for positive change, the hipster had no desire to confront the repressive political apparatus and was barely even interested in offending ‘straight’ conformists.”

Now the disk jockey will play Lord Buckley’s “The Nazz,” Stan Freberg’s “Green Christmas,” and Jeff Bridges and the Abiders’ song “She Lay her whip down.”  We have to go find a used copy of a book called “Screw the Roses.”  Have a “needles and pins” type week.

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