Welcome To Tony Palmeri's Media Rants! I am a professor of Communication Studies at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. I use this blog to try to promote critical thinking about mainstream media, establishment politics, and popular culture.
Like millions of his fans, I am still in shock at the passing of the great Jeff Beck. Especially for baby boomers, Beck was the epitome of the Rock Star; the essence of COOL, kind of like The Fonz of guitar players. Along with his contemporaries Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck defined the classic rock guitar sound and the guitar player image. He had an uncanny ability to adapt his style to a variety of genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rockabilly, jazz, reggae, techno, classical and more. He wrote many influential tunes, but when he chose to cover someone else's music he always found a way to give the song new life.
Below are ten of my personal Beck favorites, organized chronologically:
*Groundbreaking Guitar Style: "Shapes of Things" (1966). Rock historians all agree that The Yardbirds were one of the most important bands of all time, as they laid down the foundation for what became "hard rock." Beck's playing on The Yardbirds' "Shapes of Things." which is one of the earliest examples of the feedback sound that became the trademark of guitar giants like Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page, expanded the possibilities of the instrument for an entire generation.
*Reveling in Ravel: "Beck's Bolero" (1966). One of the most influential instrumental tunes of the classic rock era, an opus that actually has members of the Who (Keith Moon) and what would become half of Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones) playing on it. My guess is that the French composer Joseph Maurice Ravel (died 1937) would have been intrigued by this treatment of his famous score. Maybe he and Beck are discussing it right now in some alternative universe. The version below is from Beck's 1968 album "Truth."
*Jam Master Jeff: "Rice Pudding" (1969). Beck recorded two albums with vocalist Rod Stewart in the late 1960s as the Jeff Beck Group, "Truth" and "Beck-Ola". Stewart claims that this band was actually the biggest influence on what became the wildly successful Led Zeppelin. I think that that is probably true, though ironically the influence is most clearly shown in the sprawling, raucous instrumental "Rice Pudding." The tune is exactly the kind of jam that found an audience largely due to the risk taking and general excellence of early FM radio.
*Wonderful Cover of a Signature Stevie Wonder Tune: "Superstition." (1973). After the break up of the Jeff Beck Group, Beck experimented with a "super group" formation. He recruited drummer/vocalist Carmine Appice and bassist Tim Bogert, both formerly of the legendary Vanilla Fudge, to record an album with him. The resulting "Beck, Bogert, Appice" album is a minor classic, even though Beck had suggested over the years that the album was a bit of a sell out in that he was aiming for commercial success. I think every song on the album is amazing, but the cover of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" is a rare and intoxicating example of a metal/soul hybrid.
*Not Quite Jazz, Part I: "Freeway Jam" (1975). In the mid-1970s Jeff Beck recorded and released two mostly instrumental albums ("Blow by Blow" in 1975 and "Wired" in 1976) that I think have mistakenly been called "jazz" by generations of music fans and critics. Oh there are certainly jazz elements in each, but there's much more going on. In fact I would argue that these records represent a jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock hybrid that was unprecedented for the time and remains unique.
*Not Quite Jazz, Part II: "Blue Wind" (1976). Beck always had a way of bringing out the best in other musicians. On the album "Wired," he seemed to liberate legendary composers/instrumentalists Jan Hammer and Narada Michael Walden from pure jazz, working with them to create a more soulful version of jazz-rock. I love the live version of "Blue Wind" performed at the Hollywood Bowl in 2016 at a concert celebrating Beck's 50th year in music.
*Spiritualizing MTV: "People Get Ready" (1985). By 1985 Music Television was dominated by Michael Jackson, electro-pop, and misogynistic garbage. Ironically, two old school rockers (Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart) added some spirit to the channel with an amazing version of the Impressions's 1965 Civil Rights era hit "People Get Ready." No one will ever top Curtis Mayfield's original vocals on that track, but Stewart actually comes close. Meanwhile the video introduced a new generation to Jeff Beck's soulful guitar playing.
*Techno Vibe: "What Mama Said."(1999). In 1999 Beck released his first album of original music in ten years, "Who Else!" On it he collaborated with the great Jennifer Batten, a superior guitarist in her own right who played on Michael Jackson's world tours in the 1980s. The album calls to mind "Blow by Blow" and "Wired," but it has a techno edge to it not found in those earlier records.
*Showin' 'Em How It's Done: "Behind the Veil" (2007). The Crossroads Guitar Festival was founded by Eric Clapton to provide a space for showcasing the greatest guitar players in the world. Jeff Beck's 2007 appearance featuring bassist Tal Wilkenfeld remains as one of the most mesmerizing performances in the history of the festival.
*Getting Back to the Roots: ""Live in the Dark" (2016). In 2016 Beck recorded an energetic, socially conscious set of tunes with indie British rockers Rosie Bones and Carmen Vandenburg. The album "Loud Hailer" is actually one of his greatest accomplishments, showing truly how you are never too old to rock and roll.
This post was just a small taste of Jeff Beck. Search his catalogue and you will not be disappointed. Thanks for the memories and inspiration Jeff, and rest in peace.
Welcome to the 2022 Tony Awards for excellence in media. Just as I was finishing up this post, the news reported on the death of the legendary Barbara Walters. While she was a bit too establisment friendly for my taste, there is no doubt that she helped shatter the glass ceiling for women broadcast journalists. She always seemed fully engaged with her interviewees, a quality that influenced me greatly over the years when I've had the opportunity to interview people on television, radio, podcasts, and even in this blog. I'd like to dedicate this year's Tony Awards to the late Barbara Walters.
Barbara Walters' 1977 interview of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin featured the engaged style that has impacted generations of journalists.
People often ask me how I decide what media to recognize for Tony awards. The answer is that I operate from no strict set of criteria, but I am generally drawn to:
insightful works that shed light on some important public issue.
creative works that deserve a wider audience.
informative works that provide eye-opening education on a difficult topic.
courageous works that speak truth to power OR that speak truth to the powerless.
humorous works that skillfully provoke laughter and thought at the same time.
local works that promote community and civic engagement.
It's important to recognize excellence in media for a few reasons. First, recognition helps increase the chances that those honored will produce even more. Media producers are human, and like all of us they respond to positive reinforcement.
Second, it's become too easy to trash modern media in an overly simplistic, vulgar fashion that makes it sound like EVERYTHING is now nothing more than clickbait or hyperpartisan trash or otherwise compromised. Wallowing in that negativity makes it easier to justify not supporting ANY media, which is unfortunate because most of the great work being done today will not survive without grassroots support.
Finally and most important, it's no secret that our society is in a civic crisis that is the result--at least in part--of the population being chronically underinformed, misinformed, and/or disinformed. By recognizing and sharing quality works, we are doing at least SOMETHING to help rectify the civic crisis.
And now without any further adieu, here are the 2022 Tony Award recipients for excellence in media.
*Song of the Year: Neil Young and Crazy Horse, "Love Earth." At the age of 77, Neil Young shows no signs of slowing down as a singer/songwriter or activist. Early in the year Young got into a well publicized spat with Spotify over the company's choice to platform Covid misinformation, so he left the streaming service. Late in the year he released a new album with Crazy Horse called "World Record." Produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, the album is classic Young and Crazy Horse, filled with provocative doses of personal and planetary insights, whistle worthy melodies, and an occasional soaring guitar.
The song "Love Earth" pretty much sums up Young's philosophy of life:
Love Earth, we can bring the seasons back Love Earth, a place where all the children can live Love Earth, can you imagine that? Love Earth, your love comes back to you So I’m calling out, I’m calling out to you
One YouTube viewer/listener left this comment: "In everyone's lifetime, there are maybe 4 or 5 songs that feel like an invisible hand reaching into their body and caressing their soul. This is one of them." I'm not sure I would go that far, but compared to what wins Grammy, MTV and VMA awards these days, the song rates very high.
*American Glasnost Award For Outstanding Historical Reporting: "More Than 1,800 Congressman Once Enslaved Black People. This is Who They Were, and How They Shaped the Nation" by Julie Zauzmer Weil, Adrian Blanco, and Leo Dominguez in the Washington Post. "Glasnost" was the Mikhail Gorbachev era policy in the former Soviet Union that encouraged openness and transparency about the historical wrongs of the government. The United States has never had an offical Glasnost; in fact attempts to tell the truth about our past usually get met with fierce pushback, including attempts to prevent school children from hearing the truth.
The first woman to serve in the United States Senate, Rebecca Felton of Georgia, was appointed to the position by the governor in 1922 after the unexpected death of incumbent Thomas Watson. Felton was an outspoken white supremacist who with her husband owned slaves before the Civil War. The Washington Post report is filled with stories like Felton's that need to be more widely taught in schools.
The Washington Post investigative report (registration required) on the extent to which members of Congress exploited and profited from slavery is must reading. The report destroys the myth that Congressional slave holders were only from the south. As the report notes, "enslavers in Congressrepresented 40 states, including not just the South butevery state in New England, much of the Midwest, and many Western states."
*Best Coverage of Donald Trump's 2024 Campaign Annoucement: "Trump, Who as President Fomented an Insurrection, Says He is Running Again" by Isaac Arnsdorf and Michael Scherer in the Washington Post. If political journalism in America had any collective integrity, then literally EVERY report on the Trump '24 campaign would paraphrase Arnsdorf and Scherer's introductory and concluding paragraphs in their November 15th, 2022 story on Trump's announcement.
Introductory Paragraph:
Donald Trump, the twice-impeached former president who refused to concede defeat and inspired a failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election culminating in a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, officially declared . . . that he is running to retake the White House in 2024.
*Best Revival: Creem Magazine.If you came of age in the 1960s or 1970s and were a rock and roll fan, then most likely Creem Magazine took up space in your head. Based in Detroit, the original magazine circulated from 1969-1980, with its high point the early 1970s when legendary music critic Lester Bangs served as editor. The magazine was known for its irreverence, humor, and celebration of this thing called "rock culture."
In 2022 JJ Kramer, the son of Creem founder Barry Kramer, relaunced the magazine with a website, oversized print edition (released quarterly), and weekly newsletter. I subscribed to the oversized print edition, and was impressed at the attempt to rekindle the old energy. The print edition includes lots of great photography, information about old and new bands, and stories for all generations of rock fans.
I keep my print edition of the new Creem Magazine with my Beatles' Yellow Submarine lunch box. I mean where else would you keep it?
Will the print edition of Creem survive the digital era? Probably not, but I plan to enjoy it while it's around.
*Twitter Thread of the Year: Michael Harriot on the Jerry Jones Photo. Jerry Jones is the billionaire owner of the Dallas Cowboys football team. In 2022 the Washington Post unearthed a photo of the young Jerry Jones, taken on September 9, 1957. In the photo, the 14-year-old Jones is part of a group of white students trying to prevent six Black students from trying to enter North Little Rock High School. Jones and his buddies prevented the Black students from reaching the top of the stairs.
Jones admitted that it was in fact him in the photo, but claimed ignorance of what it portrays. And while the national press did not sweep the photo and its implications under the rug, the attention given to it--and the consequences for Jones personally--was minimal compared to what happens whenever an athlete of color does or says something controversial. (think Colin Kaepernick or Kyrie Irving).
Michael Harriot showed one of the good uses of Twitter: using it as a space to challenge mainstream media minimizing of the bad acts of certain powerful people.
Michael Harriot, senior writer for theroot.com, got tired watching mainstream pundits find ways to rationalize Jones' actions and came with an insightful thread that got to the root (no pun intended) of the problem. Here are some excerpts:
The point is not that Jerry Jones was a violent segregationist. The point is that he can watch something like this and never MENTION IT FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. The point is not that Jones has never hired a Black head coach . . .
It's about how people can rationalize racism with fantastical excuses that have no basis in logic or reality.
Jones not knowing what was going on that day is as unbelievable as the CEO of a company with an 80% Black workforce saying "I can't find a qualified shift leader."
And the crazy thing is, PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE IT . . .
But this isn't about 1 day 65 years ago.
It's about NOW. It's about WHY this inequality persists.
But I truly understand why some people ALWAYS seem to land on the side of defending whiteness: I even understand WHY some people will stand and watch and do nothing.
We are all just trying to reach the top of that stairs.
*Best Elon Must Explainer: Alan Macleod's "Elon Musk is Not a Renegade Outsider--He's a Massive Pentagon Contractor" in Mint Press News. Speaking of Twitter, one of the most depressing stories of 2022 was the purchase of the platform by a billionaire who appeared to be most interested in using it to work out his midlife crisis before an audience of billions. That billionaire, Elon Musk, presents himself in public as some kind of Deep State critic. He would have us believe that he is somehow standing up for the right of little guys and little gals to exercise unlimited free speech without fear of cancellation. His hypocrisy on the free speech front has been exposed.
If Mr. Musk actually follows through on the directive from his unscientific poll, that will only give him more time to do what he does best: figure out ways to get money from taxpayers.
While most people are now aware of Mr. Musk's hypocrisy and managerial incomptence, his actual participation in the swamp culture that he decries remains largely unknown. That's why Alan Macleod's reporting deserves wider exposure. He shows how Musk's public image is largely a fraud; the tech "genius" has received billions of dollars in government contracts, tax breaks and subsidies. According to Macleod, Musk "is not a crusading rebel challenging the establisment: he is an integral part of it."
*Best Political Substack: Heather Cox Richardson's "Letters From an American." Heather Cox Richardson is a Professor of History at Boston College. She's an excellent example of how scholars can use the independent publishing Substack platform to communicate with engaged citizens in a scholarly yet accessible manner. Letters From An American is one of the most useful sources I consult, as Professor Cox Richardson writes about history in a way that helps make sense of current events. That's something I've tried to do on occasion with this blog, but without nearly the amound of wisdom and eloquence found in Letters From an American. Her piece on the Biden Administration and Congress' actions in response to the dispute between raiload workers and management is a great example of how she elucidates current public policy by expertly linking it to policy decisions made in the past.
Professor Heather Cox Richardson is a public intellectual in the best sense: she explains the historical forces impacting current events in a way that is engaging and accessible.
The remaining awards go to Wisconsin based media.
*Wisconsin Focused Investigative Report of the Year: Natalie Eilbert's "As Domestic Violence in Wisconsin Surges, Shelters Unable to Keep Up With Need." Ms. Eilbert writes for the Green Bay Press Gazette, which is part of the USA Today Network (Gannett) in Wisconsin. The article (unfortunately hidden behind a paywall) compiles and interprets data from a number of sources to reach a disturbing concludsion: "What is clear is that Wisconsin has a domestic violence problem unlike just about anywhere in the country." Disturbing data from the story:
--Wisconsin was ranked No. 8 in women killed by men in 2020.
--Wisconsin had 17% of all domestic violence deaths in 2021.
--Not since the Great recession have domestic violence cases been so high, which may indicate economic strains in one of the root causes.
Poet and journalist Natalie Eilbert: "What is clear is that Wisconsin has a domestic violence problem unlike just about anywhere in the country."
The story also reveals a shockingly high number of domestic violence deaths in the state are the result of gun violence, in part due to the "boyfriend loophole" which keeps guns in the hands of physically abusive, threatening partners because they are not married to their victims.
Stories like this should create a sense of urgency in the state government to do something to address the problem. Don't hold your breath waiting for the most gerrymandered legislature in the nation to do anything.
Natalie Eilbert is an award-winning poet and journalist. Her forthcoming book of poetry and reporting called Overland elaborates on the theme of violence against women and a number of other imperative topics.
*Local Television Feature of the Year: Small Towns With Jeff Alexander. Finally, FINALLY, a media depiction of small town folks that does not portray them all as gun obsessed, liberal hating Trump toadies. WBAY-TV reporter Jeff Alexander and videojournalist Michael Bergman spent the year profiling small town residents who display inspiring humanity. My favorite feature in the series was the story of Iraq War veteran James Overesch, whose nature photography is not only spectacular for us to look at, but for him is a way of healing the scars of war. James' website can be found here.
Small Towns with Jeff Alexander is a rare example of mainstream media covering small town folks in a way that defies the conventional stereotypes.
*Best New Wisconsin Substack: Mike McCabe's "More Verb Than Noun." I've been a fan of Mike McCabe since his days of leading the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Post-WDC he's been involved in a number of grassroots organizations, ran a spirited campaign for governor in 2018, and published two books. Whenever I am in doubt about how to frame an issue facing the state, I look to see how Mike is framing it and that usually guides me in the right direction. Here is Mike's rationale for More Verb Than Noun:
The blog is named for what its author has been saying for years . . . that democracy is more verb than noun, which is to say deeds we do more so than a possession we have. If we don’t do it, we won’t have it. Same goes for morality. It’s been said that God is shorthand for good. More an act of doing and a way of living than a person, place or thing. Love is like that too. It’s not something we can keep as a pet or store in the attic, it’s a way of being treated and treating others. Again, more verb than noun.
Mike McCabe's "More Verb Than Noun" substack explores issues related to how we do this thing called democracy.
*Watchdog of the Year: Wisconsin Watch. Wisconsin Watch is the news outlet of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. Journalists with Wisconsin Watch published 60 stories in 2022, every single one of which upheld the organization's mission to "Protect the vulnerable. Expose wrongdoing. Explore solutions." My favorite was probably "Democracy on the Ballot," a multi part series showing the real threats to democracy in Wisconsin. To see all 60 stories, click here.
Dee Hall is Managing Editor of Wisconsin Watch. One of Wisconsin's premier investigative journalists, Hall has helped make Wisconsin Watch into a key player in the effort to hold the powerful accountable.
*Best Midterm Election Coverage: Dan Shafer's The Recombobulation Area. Dan Shafer is an award-winning Milwaukee based journalist. His "Recombobulation Area" substack is chock full of well researched reporting and opinion on all things political in Wisconsin. I found his coverage of the midterm elections to be an invaluable source of information that helped me see through the hyperpartisan crap I was seeing in the mainstream news.
Shafer sent out 97 newsletters in 2022, which is pretty amazing even for someone who dedicates full-time hours to the task. Check out Dan's summary of 2022 and please consider subsribing.
Dan Shafer "recombobulates" Wisconsin news in a way that's refereshing for anyone trying to get a grasp of what is truly going on in the state.
*Best Oshkosh News Site: Miles Maguire's Oshkosh Examiner. This is Miles' 6th consecutive Tony award for excellence in journalism. There simply is no news source in Oshkosh that covers local news with as much depth and clarity as The Oshkosh Examiner. In 2022 Miles added "The Other Side," an engaging debate on difficult, divisive issues between retired UW Oshkosh professors Tom Herzing and Barry Perlman. I'm sure in the future he will provide space for even more voices.
Miles Maguire continues to produce some of the most in-depth reporting on local reporting in the city of Oshkosh.
A subscription to the Oshkosh Examiner is only $5 per month. It's hard to see how Miles can continue to produce the volume of material he does without more support from the community. To subscribe, go here.
Be sure to check out the Oshkosh Examiner to get Miles Maguire's take on the top stories of 2022.
There you have it: another year of Tony Award winners. Disagree with any of my choices? Cool. Write up your own!
Congratulations to all recipients and Happy New Year to all!
To the great detriment of my mental health and overall well being, I follow midterm elections very closely. This year was especially taxing on me because my dad was ill and my spouse Lori Palmeri was running for Wisconsin's 54th assembly district seat. Dad passed in late October. As for Lori, her race turned out to be highly contentious. Thanks to the Wisconsin Republican Party the state's legislative districts are among the most gerrymandered in the nation, leaving no more than a dozen (out of 99) assembly districts that can be called truly competitive. The 54th happens to be one of them, and so I had to watch defamatory attacks on Lori featuring partisan ferocity usually reserved for candidates running for US Senate, Governor, or President. Thanks to her hard work knocking on doors and the support of dozens of spirited volunteers, she won the race. But as a sign of how fucked up our politics have become, her opponent never called to offer congratulations and told the Oshkosh Examiner that he lost not because of his own shortcomings or that maybe all the nastiness backfired, but because the voters apparently "want to hire a criminal." Class act right there. [Note: Lori's alleged "criminal" past was thoroughly vetted by local media. People of good faith understood that her story of surviving a childhood and young adulthood filled with abuse that nearly killed her was in fact a story of great courage and character. Only bad faith actors, like the partisan hacks who produced the attack ads, would conclude that Lori's past should define her as "criminal."].
Clearly Lori's race was painful for me because of my personal connection to it. But like millions of Americans, I found the ENTIRE midterm election season painful. Part of the pain was a product of the establishment media's reliance on tired, stale, demobilizing templates to frame coverage of the races. Reliance on tired templates is a feature of lazy journalism, something I commented on in a piece written during the 2018 midterm cycle: To put it bluntly, political journalism in Wisconsin--by which I mean the reporting and editorializing produced by the establishment, corporate media that reaches the largest number of readers/viewers/listeners--does not cover elections in our state in a way that provides meaningful information and commentary capable of provoking increased voter participation. In a word, the quality of journalism concerning elections in Wisconsin is LAZY. (It's also vapid, scandal obsessed, and privileges "insider" views--but those are all byproducts of the laziness.).
What I described four years ago has become, by any measure, substantially worse. Here are some of the most painful templates of the most recent campaign season.
*The Hack Template: The Hack Template refers to the tendency of establishment media to treat purely partisan attacks as if they are legitimate contributions to campaign discourse. In 2016 Donald Trump became a master of manipulating this tendency of the press; screeds against "Low Energy Jeb" or "Little Marco" would end up as feature segments on the talking head shows and get commented on by so-called "serious" pundits. The schtick caught on: It's not an exaggeration to say that competive elections have now become little more than expensive exercises in trolling.
The Fourth Estate should be the firewall preventing the trolls from polluting campaign discourse. Yet mainstream Wisconsin journalism rarely reports on candidates without making as part of the story some cheap-shot trolling by the opponent. Especially in a social media era in which false or misleading information gets shared across multiple platforms instantly, one would think that ethical, rigorous journalism requires vetting attacks before publishing them. That does not happen in mainstream Wisconsin journalism, probably out of fear of offending the political king and queen makers in Madison. Meanwhile the television stations are more than happy to broadcast horrific troll ads for the right price. It's really pathetic and outrageous.
*The Will S/he Drop Out of the Race Template: This is a template that is doing substantial harm to the Democratic Party. I trace it to the presidential primaries of 2016, when Bernie Sanders faced enormous pressure from Party operatives to drop out of the race before all states had held their respective primaries or caucuses. Since then it has become somewhat of an article of faith among establishment Democrats that candidates who "don't have a shot" at winning (presumably because they do not have high poll numbers, do not have huge personal fortunes, or have not successfully tapped into the wealthy donor base) should just drop out.
2022 Democratic candidates for US Senate invited to debate: Mandela Barnes, Sarah Godlewski, Alex Lasry, Tom Nelson, Steven Olikara. Only Olikara, who could not break double digits in the polls, stayed in the race until election day.
Unfortunately the mainstream media adopted "will s/he drop out" as a template for campaign coverage. In the 2020 presidential primaries, all of the so-called "moderate" candidates (Buttigieg, Klobuchar, and others) spent the final months of their campaigns mostly commenting on whether or not they would stay in the race. Eventually they all bowed out to "clear the moderate lane" for Joe Biden.
In Wisconsin in 2022, there were a number of talented candidates running for US Senate on the Democratic side (Mandela Barnes, Tom Nelson, Sarah Godlewski, and Alex Lasry were the most prominent). For some reason, the Party establishment in Washington immediately latched on to Barnes as the preferred candidate. By primary election day every major candidate had dropped out except Barnes. The lack of a truly competitive primary ended up seriously hurting the Barnes campaign, as it reinforced the illusion that the Lt. Governor had already locked up support among constituencies that Democrats have to do well with to beat the GOP in a close statewide election. Tragically, voter turnout in Milwaukee in November was down substantially from 2018. It's pure conjecture on my part, but I firmly believe that if the primary candidates had remained in the race, that would have mobilized a higher primary vote in Milwaukee (and other areas of the state), which would have ultimately benefited Barnes in November. (Note that Evers/Barnes won the 2018 election in spite of the fact that few of the primary challengers dropped out before primary election day.).
*The "Some People Think the Ads Are Racist" Template: Senator Ron Johnson and his campaign flacks insisted with a straight face that their ads run against Mandela Barnes were primarily about highlighting differences between the candidates on the issues of crime and the economy. To me that sounded as if D.W. Griffith, maker of the most racist film in history ("The Birth of a Nation") had said that the film was about different perspectives on how to rebuild the south after the Civil War. A film critic writing about Griffith's film who did not acknowledge its portrayal of the KKK as virtuous heroes and African-Americans as predatory buffoons, or could only muster up a tepid "some people say the film is racist," would be rightly castigated as incompetent or perhaps racist him or herself.
Even though the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published photo evidence of the GOP's willful darkening of Mandela Barnes' skin tone, the racist nature of the ad campaign was still framed mostly as an accusation made by Democratic partisans.
Establishment journalists in Wisconsin were not comfortable calling out the blatant racism in Johnson's ads. Take the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which headlined a story by two of their most prominent political writers like this: "Supporters of Mandela Barnes accuse Republicans of airing racist ads in Senate race with Ron Johnson." "Supporters accuse" implies that the racism in the ads is somehow up for debate. This in spite of the fact that the most prominent of the ads linked Barnes to three women of color (AOC, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib) seen on the screen while Barnes is labeled "different" and then "dangerous." Other ads show a person committing a crime circled in red while Barnes' name is on the screen in an obvious attempt to link the two. And of course some of the ads darkened Barnes's skin in a way designed to make him appear more threatening to a certain type of White voter. No one denies that Mandela Barnes' positions on crime or any issue are legitimate topics for campaign ads. But the aesthetic of these ads were despicable in their deployment of subtle and overt racism.The ads actually reminded me of the late Senator Jesse Helms' "Hands" ad run against his African-American opponent Harvey Gantt. Helms and his cronies insisted the ad was merely about the candidates' positions on racial quotas. But clearly it was a racist attempt to frighten White voters in North Carolina.
*The "Wave" Template: Is it finally time to retire the "wave" metaphor when discussing midterm elections? In 2022 the wave template, which dominated establishment media coverage of the election season for months, never seemed to have any basis in reality. While polls were showing that Democrats would lose seats (as is the norm for the Party that controls the White House), never did any reliable poll suggest a blowout. In fact the idea of a "red wave" seemed to come primarily from the Republican Party itself. For reasons that are not clear, the establishment media took a GOP talking point (i.e. "2022 is going to be a Red Wave year") and made it one of the dominant framings of the campaign season.
Even if there had been a Red Wave, the volatility of the electorate this decade could easily give us a "Blue Wave" in 2026 or 2030. It's long past time to retire the Wave metaphor.
*The High Stakes Debate Template: In theory, debates between candidates competing for votes should be a valuable part of the election season--perhaps THE most valuable. A real debate provides engaged voters with clear evidence of whether or not candidates have a compelling message, can communicate their thoughts coherently, and (especially in the this era of Trump-endorsed candidates) are grounded in objective reality.
Mainstream media enjoy promoting candidate debates as some kind of "high stakes" event that will make or break the election. Debates are framed as boxing matches, in which candidates aim to score a "knockout blow." Consequently, the debates become nothing more than an extension of the trolling found in the candidate ads and other campaign communications. In fact in this social media age, the main function of the debates is to produce "viral moments," which are usually clips of a candidate saying something profoundly stupid, or making an odd nonverbal gesture, or "owning" his or her opponent. If the Kennedy-Nixon debates occurred in a social media age, Nixon's 5 o'clock shadow would have had 90 million shares by midnight.
Arizona Democratic candidate for Governor Katie Hobbs (left) refused to debate her Republican opponent Kari Lake, claiming that Ms. Lake was only interested in "spectacle." Given that Hobbs won the election, we can probably expect more candidates in the future to refrain from debating.
Even though today's political debates are largely a sham, I still find it unfortunate when candidates refuse to participate in them in the probably naive hope that we might be treated to some substance. It's especially troubling when Republican candidates refuse to debate not out of any concern with promoting troll culture, but because they think the League of Women Voters and other debate sponsoring organizations are part of some liberal conspiracy.
Arizona's Katie Hobbs, the Democratic candiate for governor who ultimately won the election, refused to debate her opponent, former TV broadcaster Kari Lake. While I believe Hobbs should have debated, her reasons for not doing so were at least rooted in opposition to troll culture. She said that a debate with her opponent would be fruitless because "Kari Lake . . . has shown that she is not interested in any kind of substantive conversation, she's only interested in creating a spectacle." For anyone who watched Lake's primary and general election campaigning, it's hard to disagree with Hobbs. (Note: As I write in late November, Lake still refuses to concede, confirming what she said in the campaign about how a loss for her could only mean that cheating took place. Does that sound like someone who deserves to be invited to a serious debate? I think not.)
Mainstream media need to stop promoting debates as if they are literal fights. That kind of "high stakes" framing encourages the kind of spectacle Hobbs refused to participate in.
*The Horse Race Template: The horse race template is like the curmudgeonly great-grandfather of all the others mentioned. It conceives of election coverage as an insider baseball affair filled with nonstop coverage of polls, campaign strategy, and "moments." It enables and empowers the Steve Bannons of the world, who infamously said that the way to deal with media is to "flood the zone with shit." Indeed, the Bannon shit strategy is why so many pundits anticipated the "Red Wave." Mainstream media gave credence to and reported on junk polls (i.e. "shit") that suggested a Republican landslide. Media hungry for horse races ate it up, like Secretariat grazing on grass planted in manure compost. (Read NYU journalism prof Jay Rosen's 2018 thread on the citizens' agenda for an alternative.).
In conclusion, maybe American politics is so inherently awful that it will inevitably produce pain for anyone who dares to monitor it. But this post really is not about politics as much as journalism. Political journalists have choices in how to cover campaigns, but consistently make choices that enhance the pain. Some will argue that the coverage templates I am describing are merely a product of the commercial pressures faced by modern mainstream media. But if that is true, what evidence is there that these templates actually increase rates of viewership, readership, or listenership? None that I am aware of. If anything, these templates are furthering the decline of political journalism. That's tragic, because we've never needed fresh, principled, rigorous political journalism more than we need it now.
My dad passed away on October 23 at the age of 93. Music icon Jerry Lee Lewis died almost a week later and in our celebrity obsessed culture he will get more attention. But when it came to being a husband, father, and son, Frank Palmeri was the real Rock Star. You can see his obit here.
Father Frank was all about family, food, and frugality. The sacrifices that he made for his family--which included working long hours to help pay for his kids' private school education and caregiving for many years for his elderly parents--were acts of love done without expectation of payback or praise. After retiring from the shoe repair business he learned his way around the kitchen and became an amazing cook, and was especially extraordinary at Italian cuisine. He experienced great joy from the act of preparing meals for others; it was his method of gift giving. (If you watch Stanley Tucci's excellent "Searching For Italy" program on CNN, you'll see that my dad's penchant for seeing food as a gift is a profoundly Italian way of imagining the proper relationship of people to meals.). And as for frugality, my dad was legendary for holding on to his limited possessions until they absolutely had to be replaced. I always chuckled when he insisted that his more than 50-year-old suit was "brand new" because he had only worn it a few times. By contributing little to the landfills and being satisfied with what most of us would call a minimalist lifestyle, Frank Palmeri was "green" before it became chic.
Frank Palmeri was able to feed a small army with just a small charcoal grill. Preparing meals gave him joy and was his main form of gift giving.
At this point you must be in the mood for music. I've always been a fan of tribute songs. When someone close to me--or someone not close to me but whom I admired--passes, I find myself thinking of these songs. Here are the top 10 I find myself coming back to often. This time I dedicate them to my old man.
#10: "My Old Man" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. The late Ian Dury was one of the true originals of the British New Wave rock movement of the 1970s, a brilliant lyricist whose albums oozed irreverence, snark, and satire. I've always loved "My Old Man" because Dury's description of his dad as a proud and gritty working class dude immediately reminded me of my own.
My old man was fairly handsome He smoked too many cigs Lived in one room in Victoria He was tidy in his digs
#9: "All Those Years Ago" by George Harrison. This and the next two songs have a connection to John Lennon, my favorite rock star of all time. John's bandmate George wrote a touching tribute for his friend that has a spiritual vibe we can all send to the departed in our own lives.
Deep in the darkest night I send out a prayer to you Now in the world of light Where the spirit free of lies And all else that we despised
#8: "Empty Garden" by Elton John. One of the most touching songs ever written. Elton was talking about John Lennon, but all of us know of "a gardener like that no one can replace."
Who lived here? He must have been a gardener that cared a lot Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop And we are so amazed, we're crippled and we're dazed A gardener like that one no one can replace
#6: "I'll Be Missing You" by P. Diddy and Faith Evans. Diddy's 1997 paean to his hip hop soul mate Christopher Wallace (aka The Notorious B.I.G) beautifully samples "Every Breath You Take" by the Police. All of the songs on this list relate to different stages of grief; Diddy's is about that initial state of shock when we still have not quite accepted that our loved one is gone.
It's kinda hard with you not around (yeah) Know you in Heaven smilin' down Watchin' us while we pray for you Every day we pray for you 'Til the day we meet again
#5: "Carry on Jon" by Blackmore's Night. Jon Lord of Deep Purple was one of the great keyboard players in rock history, creating a unique sound for Purple that helped distinguish them from other blues-based metal bands. His former bandmate Ritchie Blackmore, a guitar god in his own right, paid tribute by writing and recording a beautiful instrumental. The melody and instrumentation sparks memories of the best Lord/Blackmore jams of the early Deep Purple days.
#4: "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton. Written after the tragic, accidental death of Clapton's 4-year-old son Conor, "Tears in heaven" is a penetrating expression of grief that balances the debilitating impact of sorrow with a hope for strength to carry on.
Would you know my name? If I saw you in heaven Would it be the same? If I saw you in heaven
I must be strong And carry on 'Cause I know I don't belong Here in heaven
#3: "Miss You C." by Nils Lofgren. Long time guitar player in Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band (and before that a short stint in Neil Young's Crazy Horse), Nils Lofgren wrote and recorded a tribute for soul great Ray Charles called "Miss You Ray." After the death of the legendary E-Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons, Nils rewrote it as "Miss You C." It's a touching tune with a great line for those of us missing our dads:
I miss you Dad, your gentle spirit way Still life is grand, I owe so much to you
#2: "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. The song that expresses in the most direct, simple way possible what all of us feel when we think of our departed loved ones: How I wish you were here.
How I wish, how I wish you were here We're just two lost souls Swimming in a fish bowl Year after year Running over the same old ground What have we found? The same old fears Wish you were here
#1: "No Time To Cry" by Iris DeMent. One of my all-time favorite songs. Alternative country artist Iris DeMent has a way of plucking the heart strings in ways that few artists can match. "No Time To Cry" explores how difficult it is for us "grown ups" to experience true grief.
My father died a year ago today, The rooster started crowing when they carried Dad away There beside my mother, in the living room, I stood With my brothers and my sisters knowing Dad was gone for good
Well, I stayed at home just long enough to lay him in the ground And then I caught a plane to do a show up north in Detroit town Because I'm older now and I've got no time to cry
I've got no time to look back, I've got no time to see The pieces of my heart that have been ripped away from me And if the feeling starts to coming, I've learned to stop 'em fast Cause I don't know, if I let them go, they might not want to pass And there's just so many people trying to get me on the phone And there's bills to pay, and songs to play, and a house to make a home I guess I'm older now and I've got no time to cry
I can still remember when I was a girl But so many things have changed so much here in my world I remember sitting on the front porch when an ambulance went by And just listening to those sirens I would breakdown and cry
But now I'm walking and I'm talking doing just what I'm supposed to do Working overtime to make sure that I don't come unglued I guess I'm older now and I've got no time to cry
I've got no time to look back, I've got no time to see The pieces of my heart that have been ripped away from me And if the feeling starts to coming, I've learned to stop 'em fast Cause I don't know, if I let them go, they might not want to pass And there's just so many people trying to get me on the phone And there's bills to pay, and songs to play, and a house to make a home I guess I'm older now and I've got no time to cry
Now I sit down on the sofa and I watch the evening news There's a half a dozen tragedies from which to pick and choose The baby that was missing was found in a ditch today And there's bombs a-flying and people dying not so far away I'll take a beer from the 'frigerator and go sit out in the yard And with a cold one in my hand I'm gonna bite down and swallow hard Because I'm older now and I've got no time to cry
