Category: To update

Here is how to know when progressive activists have no idea what they are talking about: when they start talking about starting a new “left” party. Continue reading

I’m not going to link to a recent op-ed by Richard Cohen that reeks with racism. I don’t want him to get any more clicks for it. Twenty five years ago, Richard Cohen was a powerful liberal voice. Now, to quote a phrase, I often have to repress a gag reflex when I read him. It’s sad. One could argue that this snafu is just a poor choice of words. I suspect he meant “old-fashioned” or “traditional” views and that he wasn’t identifying his own views with those who hold “conventional” views. But the deeper issue is his denial that those who hold those views are, in fact racists. The conventional view in this country on most matters until very recently, and certainly the “old-fashioned” or “traditional” view on most matters, reflected a deep-seated racism. Racism is as central to American thinking as our belief in liberty and equality. The… Continue reading

No one sounds like Pharaoh Sanders. And he hasn’t lost that big rough but tender sound. (He’s to the tenor what Howlin Wolf is to singers.) He played a bunch of his great tunes and some standards. Although he seemed pretty tired at the end (he’s doesn’t have Sonny Rollins’ super-human energy) he was on stage for over two hours and was consistently inventive and powerful. He has what looks like a very arthritic hip (like Sonny) but when he danced or led the audience in singing or clapping to the rhythmic pieces that ended the concert he seemed to shed 20 of his 72 years. There’s always been a strong spiritual element to his music—one that draws on many traditions—and the last 30 minutes of the concert were a kind of first church of jazz. It was thrilling! Continue reading