REVEALED - KOCHS BIRTHED MODERN PROGRESSIVES
A stash of shredded documents rescued from the garbage outside of Fred Koch's pool boy's mobile home, meticulously reconstructed by an Eagle Scout from Norman, Oklahoma for his Current Events merit badge, reveals that the Koch family has been funding the progressive movement within the Democratic Party for decades. Their successes on behalf of the Republican agenda have been stunning, resulting in the election of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush. Here's what the documents reveal:
1. Nixon had become a political punchline. Ignored by Eisenhower, beaten by an upstart Kennedy, beaten again for the governorship of California two years later, the idea that Nixon could be elected President was ludicrous...until Koch-funded progressives branded Humphrey a turncoat and turned the Democratic convention in Chicago into a Marx Brothers movie. A wounded Humphrey and a fragmented Democratic Party never recovered. Enter President Nixon.
2. Reagan defeated the guy who defeated Nixon to be elected governor of California and chose to be inaugurated at 10 minutes past midnight on the advice of Nancy's astrologer. (No, I didn't make that up.) In 1976, Regan lost the hard-fought Republican nomination to the incumbent, albeit by appointment, President Gerald Ford. Ford then lost the election to Jimmy Carter. Did the Democrats learn the lesson that a political party loses when the incumbent President is challenged? Nope. Koch-funded progressives Jerry Brown and Ted Kennedy took on President Carter with Kennedy taking his insurgency all the way to the convention. Kennedy lost the nomination but, surprising no one, a wounded Carter and a fragmented Democratic Party never recovered. Enter President Reagan.
3. Bill Clinton was a charismatic good ol' boy from Arkansas, loved by everyone, warts and all. (The exact placement of those warts is NOT a subject for conversation.) Al Gore had all of the charisma of a damp sponge but he had been at Bill's side for eight years and his earnest nerdiness did have a certain charm. Enter Koch-funded wonkinator Ralph Nader. Nader challenged Gore for the title of Dude Least Likely to Get Laid on Prom Night and his smears of Gore as Republican Lite, combined with his ability to siphon off the votes of fellow nerds, wounded Gore sufficiently that the fragmented Democratic Party never recovered. Enter President Bush.
Now I'm supposed to believe that a wounded Hillary Clinton and a fragmented Democratic Party leading to the election of Donald Trump was facilitated by tens of millions of dollars raised on behalf of Bernie Sanders from young, unmarried activists with crushing college loan debt who are living in their parents' basements? Not likely. Follow the money. The Kochs strike again!
(It's called satire. If you haven't figured that out by now, you need to buy a book, find a beach, and chill.)
WHAT'S WITH DONALD TRUMP?
OK. Pay attention. There will be a quiz.
The Trumping of the Republican Party is primarily the result of two American political events.
The first was the election of Ronald Reagan. You remember Reagan? Trees cause more pollution than automobiles? Ketchup is a vegetable? Those may sound silly to you today but Reagan was The Great Communicator. The disconnect between rhetoric and reality became irrelevant.
I repeat in case you missed it. In American politics, the disconnect between rhetoric and reality is irrelevant.
Thus, Reagan was able to preside over a huge increase in federal spending, a huge increase in federal debt, and still claim that Big Government was the problem and that tax cuts would balance the budget. Thus, Trump could say that he would build a wall on the Mexican border, that the Mexicans would pay for it, and nobody in his audience laughed.
The second political event leading to the Trumping of the Republicans was the election of that Kenyan-born Muslim, Barack Obama. Obama's election confronted a vast swath of Americans with the shocking truth that being born with white skin, having a closet full of rifles, and holding a world view that failed to consider anything happening beyond your own little cul-de-sac was not going to cut it any more. And it was Obama's fault - Obama and everyone who looked like him.
That the next refugee allowed on our shores might grow up to be President was no longer a point of American pride. The next refugee was probably not going to be white.
Yes, folks. Trump represents the worst of America. And in a primary election in the United States, winners are decided by those voters that show up. Since only the most rabid, highly motivated voters tend to show up in the primaries, the winners are the ones willing to feed the beast.
Beware. The fringe right wing of politics with which Europe is so familiar and against which Europe is constantly on guard has invaded America with a vengeance. I have decided to leave the United States and live in France for a reason. And it's not about the wine and the cheese.
Well, not just about the wine and the cheese...
THE BLEND #10 (Broadcast 24/4/2016) - PLAYLIST
Broadcast 24/4/2016
Host:
Ira
Engineer:
Wayne Allen
In The
Mood – The Glenn Miller Orchestra – Les Plus Grand Moments Du Jazz
It Ain’t
Necessarily So – Aretha Franklin – Les Plus Grand Moments Du Jazz
Blue Moon – Lionel Hampton – Les Plus Grand Moments Du
Jazz
//
Take Five
– Dave Brubeck – Les Plus Grand Moments Du Jazz
Ligia – Getz/Gilberto – Les Plus Grand Moments Du Jazz
//
If Ever
You Should Leave – Ella Fitzgerald – Jazz & Blues Series
I Want to
Be Happy – Ella Fitzgerald – Jazz & Blues Series
Hallelujah!
– Ella Fitzgerald – Jazz & Blues Series
//
God Bless
the Child – Billie Holiday – Ken Burns Jazz
How Long
– Jimmie Witherspoon – Ain’t Nobody’s Business
A Change
is Gonna Come – Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
//
Wade in
the River of Jordan – Delaney & Bonnie – D&B Together
Sanctified
Blues – Satan & Adam – Living on the River
Gather by
the River – Davell Crawford – Our New Orleans Benefit
//
Down by
the Riverside – Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee – East Coast Blues
Yes We
Can Can – Allen Toussaint – Our New Orleans Benefit
Where
We’ll Never Grow Old – Anne Hills & Cindy Mangsen – Never Grow Old
//
The
Housewife’s Lament – Anne Hills & Cindy Mangsen – Never Grow Old
//
No Love
Today – Chris Smither – Drive You Home
I Went to
the Mardi Gras – Snooks Eaglin – Soul’s Edge
Levee
Town – Sonny Landreth – Levee Town
//
Weasel
and the White Boys Cool – Rickie Lee Jones – Rickie Lee Jones
Hey Pocky
A-Way – The Meters – Go Marching In
Iko Iko –
The Dixie Cups – Go Marching In
//
Zydeco
Gris-Gris – Beausoleil – Bayou Dance Party
Zydeco
Sont Pas Sales – David Doucet – Bayou Dance Party
Think It
Over One More Time – Buckwheat Zydeco – Bayou Dance Party
//
Get a
Better One – Chris Smither – Drive You Home
THE BLEND #9 (Broadcast Week of 11/4/2016) - PLAYLIST
The
Blend #9
Broadcast
Week of 11/4/2016
Host:
Ira
Engineer:
Wayne Allen
For:
ex-patradio.fr
Do Your
Duty
Nobody
Knows You When You’re Down and Out – Best of the Blues: Bessie Smith
//
Unemployment
Stomp
Rider
Rider Blues – Big Bill Broonzy: Whiskey and Good Time Blues
//
Boot That
Thing
Henry
Ford Blues – Roosevelt Sykes – “44” Blues
//
C. C.
Rider
Worried
Life Blues – Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee – East Coast Blues
//
Kingfish
Blues
Love with
a Feeling – Tampa Red – The Guitar Wizard
//
My Babe
Juke
Boom Boom,
Out Goes the Light – Little Walter – Best of the Blues: Little Walter
//
The Sky
is Crying
One Way
Out – Elmore James – Best of the Blues: Elmore James
//
If Walls
Could Talk
Things I
Used to Do – Little Milton – Stand By Me
//
All Night
Long
That Evening
Train – T-Bone Walker – Best of the Blues: T-Bone Walker
//
See Lime
Woman
It’s Cold
Out Here – Nina Simone – Best of the Blues: Nina Simone
//
Big Fine
Girl
See See
Rider – Jimmy Witherspoon – Ain’t Nobody’s Business
//
Son of a
Preacher Man
Honky
Tonk Woman – Ike and Tina Turner – Live in Paris 1971
//
I Wonder
Who’s Kissing Her Now
Someday
C. C.
Rider – Ray Charles – Best of the Blues: Ray Charles
//
You Don’t
Love Me
Freedom –
Luther Allison – Best of the Blues: Luther Allison
THE BLEND #8 (Broadcast Week of 11/4/2016) - PLAYLIST
The
Blend #8
Broadcast: Week of April 11, 2016
Host:
Ira
Engineer:
Wayne Allen
For:
ex-patradio.fr
Stupid
Texas Song – Austin Lounge Lizards – Employee of the Month
Texas Top
Hand – Don Walser – Texas Top Hand
My Kind
of Day in Padre – Gary P. Nunn et al – Totally Guacamole
//
The Dogs
They Really Miss You – Austin Lounge Lizards – Employee of the Month
Big Blue
Diamonds – Don Walser – Texas Top Hand
Can’t Get
the Hell Out of Texas – Gary P. Nunn et al – Totally Guacamole
//
I Need Me
(A Whole Lot More Than I Need You) – Miss Leslie – Wrong Is What I Do Best
There’s
Two of Us Not Talking Here – Miss Leslie – Wrong Is What I Do Best
//
Love and
Texaco – Gretchen Peters – Gretchen Peters
Offshore
Blues – Roy Carrier – Zydeco Soul
Roughneck
– Johnny Cash – Blood, Sweat and Tears
//
Jungle
Swing – Teddy Morgan
What It
Takes – Angela Strehli
I’m
Leaving You – Kim Wilson
Antones’s
20th Anniversary
//
Mean Town
Blues – Johnny Winter – Blues Masters, Vol 15 – Slide Guitar Classics
Two
Trains Running – Ervin Charles and Long John Hunter – Lone Star Shootout
You’ll
Love a Good Thing – Barbara Lynn - #1 R&B Hits: 1960 - 1964
//
Why Oh
Why – Joe Houston
I Want to
Shout About It – W.C. Clark
It’s Been
a Mistake – Tutu Jones
Texas Blues Party
//
Claim
Jumper – Johnny Copeland
Texas
Cadillac – Bnois King and Smoking Joe Kubek
Blues For
Carol – Clarence Holliman
Texas Blues Guitar
//
T-Bone
Shuffle – T-Bone Walker – The Very Best of T-Bone Walker
Please
Send Me Someone to Love – Percy Mayfield – Blues Masters, Vol 3: Texas Blues
Frosty –
Albert Collins – Truckin’ with Albert Collins
Catch Up
with the Blues – Johnny Copeland – Catch Up with the Blues
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