“Open Weekend” and “Entertainment Weekend” will be available this Friday [April 6, 2018].
Regular blog entry topics will resume next Monday [April 9, 2018].
This thread, for any loose posting of comments, is good for seven [7] days.
Note:
This coming Wednesday [April 4, 2018] will be the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. The date of his death, in Memphis Tennessee, was April 4, 1968. I will not be having a thread on that day. (I had a thread on what was his birthday: Progressives Chat — ‘Martin Luther King, Jr. Day’.) I just wanted to mention this, not only because of it being that milestone but sad anniversary, but it will also get mentioned elsewhere. So, this is more a reminder that it is coming up this very week.
I want to wish everyone a Good FridayandHappy Easter!
A thread will be made available on Monday [April 2, 2018] which is good for the whole week. What I mean is, you can post for up to seven days following the blog entry’s thread. But, I will not be posting blog entry topics. I will have weekend-themed threads on Friday [April 6, 2018].
I have made this decision with consideration of the holiday. When I was growing up, our school system made Thursday, the day prior to Good Friday, our last day. We would have the entire week of Easter off. And then we would return to school that next Monday. I am also keeping in mind a little Spring Break opportunity for us adults.
Last Sunday [March 25, 2018] officially marked the six-month anniversary of Progressives Chat. On Monday [March 26, 2018], my blog entry was about the fact that I have stopped participating and commenting at a person’s blog site. (One that was supposed to be progressive but, when you get right down to it, is fine with the corporate Democratic Party Establishment.) This now has me thinking: What if Progressives Chat was a blog site “for those who more likely voted the 2016 Democratic nomination for president of the United States not to Bernie Sanders but to Hillary Clinton”? What would belong on the sidebar Recommendations list for The Establishment’sProgressives Chat? I am thinking it would be inconceivable to not list: MSNBC, CNN, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, The New Republic, The Daily Beast, and Mother Jones. But, I think I could reserve Recommendations room for discussion forums Democratic Underground and Daily Kos. I would also like to make room for what I think is everyone’s favorite—The Daily Banter. (I like to call it The Democratic Party Establishment Banter. My Establishment’s imaginative thinking would be that it is generally honest and politically astute—making it a Recommendations must!) My current Recommendations list, for Progressives Chat, number 21. In the previous paragraph, I have mentioned for The Establishment’s a total of 10. Would readers mind offering more suggestions? You may also single out individuals. (If this doesn’t appeal to you, please consider this an early April Fools’ Day exercise. Everyone is allowed to have some fun.) Note: Next week is Easter. Monday, April 2, 2018 will be an “Open Week” thread. I am going to use this period as one that is a holiday break. So, I am giving myself a break from coming up with a topic for a new blog entry. This will still make accessing Progressives Chat, and allowing commenting with whatever may come to one’s mind, available for all readers.
From 2011 to 2017, I was posting comments on one particular blog site that was supposedly on progressive politics.
I no longer do this.
My departure from the site was with my last post in December 2017. I did not state that I was leaving. With the benefit of Christmas just days away, and that New Year’s Day 2018 was approaching, I simply stated that that was my last post for the year 2017. And I wished everyone a healthy, happy, safe holiday period. In other words: I timed it with the holiday period as some sort of personal break. And I left without giving an impression that I would not return in 2018.
Three months into 2018, I decided, from time to time, I would go ahead and check blog site for any topic of interest. But, that I would not comment. And I have not commented. This past Saturday [March 24, 2018], I looked over some blog entries. I came across at least two people having commented on my absence. One was made earlier a couple weeks ago. Another was made in early-February.
My departure from that blog site is my decision. It is not coming from some prior, ugly confrontation. It comes from the realization that it was time for me to leave.
I reached the conclusion that, while a number of those participants would like to consider themselves progressives, they are very much in line with the corporatism and neoliberalism of the Democratic Party Establishment.
Among the sources other participating commenters liked to link were from Washington Monthly, MSNBC (and particularly Joy Ann Reid), Milt Shook, and BPICampus[.com]. (Looking at the blog site, prior to posting this entry, I notice the blog author’s Recommendations includes Mother Jones. I was not paying attention enough to notice this before. Mother Jones has become what it is now—garbage.)
One linked article was this: Washington Monthly — ‘If a Blue Wave Materializes, Be Prepared For a Big Tent Democratic Party’. A commenter mentioned me, stating that I would not approve. Of course I don’t. The Democrats’ Big Tent Party is a bullshit narrative; or, as a phrase which springs to mind, it is for the birds. The premise of a Big Tent Party is a coalition of voters loyal to the political party, who have diverse backgrounds, but that it is okay for them to not have a shared ideology—a shared agenda. But, in U.S. politics, it is often necessary to read between the lines. For this Democratic Party, a “Big Tent Party” is packaging. But, ultimately, it is making sure the corporatists and neoliberals, and they are also warmongers, keep control of how the party operates. This includes their controlling, however successfully, just who may win in primaries in very key areas of power—most especially with the presidency.
Since my departure from commenting on that blog site, there have been more threads and comments on the Trump presidency. They are fully on board with Russiagate. In fact, I was singled out, because I had previously posted articles written by Glenn Greenwald, because the commenter doing it said that Greenwald was not a progressive. So, this person, posted the following: NY Magazine — ‘How Glenn Greenwald Made the Russia Scandal Disappear’.
These are examples why it was the right decision, for me, to leave. This was even more clear to me when the author of the blog site wrote about the 17 U.S. Senate Democrats who voted to repeal the Dodd–Frank bill in February. The blog author expressed disgust of those Senate Democrats. The author also noted that 2016 vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s running mate, should never be on another presidential/vice-presidential ticket. (Same goes with all those other Senate Democrats.) But, ultimately, the author figures those applicable Senate Democrats, whose seats are on the 2018 midterm elections schedule, should not be primaried. Had I still been active, and responded, I would have written: Yes—they should all be primaried. And so should those on the schedules for 2020 and 2022—covering all three U.S. Senate classes. For any of them who get re-nominated, they should not win re-election. In fact, I will deny re-nominations to my two Michigan U.S. senators and, if re-nominated, also my general-election votes to Debbie Stabenow [2018] and Gary Peters [2020]. And, should President Donald Trump win re-election, which I am currently predicting will happen, he will again carry Michigan—and, given the presidential/senatorial, same-party coattails outcomes (a first-ever 100-percent rate of the applicable states from 2016!), that would make unseating Gary Peters ripe for the opportunity in 2020. These U.S. senators are all damaging not only to the Democratic Party but also to the nation.
In the past, I was not as politically aware as I am now. That is why I was present at that site for so long. And I certainly did not have this blog site. But, then again, Jimmy Dore turned out to be correct: A lot of people on the left (truly or not so truly on the left) went to sleep while the presidency was in the Democratic column specifically with President Barack Obama. So, Donald Trump won the presidency, in a Republican pickup, in 2016. And that year’s election became exposure to a lot of factions within the Democratic Party. So, now, I perceive that blog site to not be about progressive politics. I don’t believe the people there are actual progressives. Perhaps, from time to time, there will be a blog entry for me to read, which I would have previously commented. But, still, I choose to not comment; to not participate. For the most part, I take that blog site as Conforming Democratic Party Politics.
My departure is good. I did not leave under bad circumstances. I asserted myself in disagreements. I argued them. I did this respectfully. And people there knew I was not on board with them. That is why one person knew me well enough to understand I would not buy into that Washington Monthly report on a “Big Tent Democratic Party.”
Departure.
Yes—it happened, for me, because I knew the time had arrived.
This is good.
At some point during the second half of 2017, and definitely after this was uploaded to YouTube in June, I posted the following video from The Jimmy Dore Show:
I want to alert readers to the one-year anniversary of this excellent piece written by investigative journalist and Consortium News editor Robert Parry.
Parry, who died this past January at age 68, touched on a lot which has turned out to be accurate. I think it is worth sharing.
(Note: I added Consortium News to the sidebar “Recommendations” list.)
Caught up in the frenzy to delegitimize Donald Trump by blaming his victory on Russian meddling, national Democrats are finishing the transformation of their party from one that was relatively supportive of peace to one pushing for war, including a confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.
This “trading places” moment was obvious in watching the belligerent tone of Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee on Monday [March 20, 2017] as they impugned the patriotism of any Trump adviser who may have communicated with anyone connected to Russia.
Ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff [D–California #28] acknowledged that there was no hard evidence of any Trump–Russia cabal, but he pressed ahead with what he called “circumstantial evidence of collusion,” a kind of guilt-by-association conspiracy theory that made him look like a mild-mannered version of Joe McCarthy.
My reaction, on Election Night 2016, was that the Democrats blew it with nominating Hillary Clinton. That is because, as I looked at the exit polls from the Rust Belt trio of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan—particularly with a focus on the gender vote from each (which put all three initially in tossup mode)—I could tell that Donald Trump’s path to victory was with his Republican pickups of all three. And, well, after it happened, I thought to myself, “While I did not want Donald Trump to be president of the United States, I also did not want Hillary Clinton to be president of the United States.” Now, I think: “It is not good Donald Trump is president. But, it is good Hillary Clinton is not president.” Side Note: Sunday [March 25, 2018] marks the six-month anniversary of Progressives Chat. It launched [Monday,] September 25, 2017 here: Progressives Chat — ‘Day One’. The weekend leading into that first official day was this preview: Progressives Chat — ‘OPEN’. That time flew by. I’m glad for this blog. And for the people here. I don’t know how long it will last. I will continue to appreciate it while it does. Thank you, everyone, and particularly cathyx, who helped guide me with the creation of this site (for example, with how to do the layout). Progressives Chat is my first blog. And now for this Open Weekend [OW]…
The fourth and last installment of my birthday salutes to music artists, and for this month of March 2018, goes to my favorite female singer.
Chaka Khan turns 65 on March 23, 2018.
Born Yvette Marie Stevens, on March 23, 1953, in Chicago, Illinois, and in a bohemian household and raised in the area of Hyde Park, Chaka Khan’s music career dates back to the early-1970s when she was the lead singer of the R&B and funk group Rufus.
Her siblings are Taka Boom, of The Undisputed Truth and The Glass Family, and Mark Stevens, of The Jamaica Boys.
Chaka Khan got her name when she was a member of the Black Panthers. The name Chaka means “woman of fire.”
The winner of ten Grammy Awards, over the span of four consecutive decades (1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s), and with over 20 nominations, Chaka Khan was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.
The following are ten personally selected favorites in music. I divided them from separate periods of her recording career. The first five are from when she was with Rufus. The next five are from a solo Chaka Khan.
The first from Rufus is “Tell Me Something Good,” written by Stevie Wonder, which won them the 1974 Grammy for R&B Duo or Group Vocal Performance. The last with the group was the final chart, “Ain’t Nobody,” written by Rufus keyboardist David “Hawk” Wolinski, which won them their second Grammy for R&B Duo or Group Vocal Performance for 1983. (On March 14 was Quincy Jones’s 85th birthday. Khan worked with him numerous times. Jones produced the group’s 1979 R&B/disco-themed album Masterjam, with its standout “Do You Love What You Feel,” not included among the below videos.) I will note the third song, 1975’s “Sweet Thing,” was co-written by Khan with Rufus guitarist Tony Maiden.
The next group are from a solo Chaka Khan. She started branching out during her period with Rufus with 1978’s “I’m Every Woman,” written by spouses Nickolas Ashford (1941–2011) and Valerie Simpson, and later covered by Whitney Houston (1963–2012) with the motion picture and its soundtrack The Bodyguard (1992), winner of the 1993 Grammy for Album of the Year. Chaka Khan’s biggest solo hit was 1984’s “I Feel For You,” written by the late great Prince (in the year of his smash LP and film Purple Rain), which won her that year’s Grammy for R&B Female Vocal Performance. (It also won Prince, who wrote it in the late-1970s, the Grammy for R&B Song.)
Here are a couple videos in which Chaka Khan is interviewed. The first interview is from 1976. She is on The Mike Douglas Show. Mike Douglas asks Chaka Khan, then 22 (but 23 that year), about her success with Rufus and whether she anticipates leaving the group. The second interview is from 2014. Chaka Khan, then 61, was asked by Wendy Williams, on The Wendy Williams Show, about personal matters including aging and a recent stint in rehab.
In the third (of four) entries saluting the milestone birthdays of music artists I greatly appreciate, it turns out March 22, 2018 marks the 75th birthday of a R&B and jazz musician and guitarist.
George Benson was born March 22, 1943 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has been married to his wife, Johnnie Lee, since 1965 and with whom he has seven children. He is a Jehovah’s Witness.
His career dating back to the 1950s, and a former child prodigy, Benson’s most popular period came during the second half of the 1970s and through the first half of the 1980s. (The below section of music has the first five from the 1970s and the last five from the 1980s.) “This Masquerade” won Benson the 1976 Grammy in the top category Record of the Year. (Written by Leon Russell, who was nominated for Song of the Year, “This Masquerade” came from Breezin’, whose title track is featured below, which was nominated for Album of Year.) From that point forward, Benson won nine more Grammys for numerous recordings so commonly associated with him: “On Broadway” (1978; so memorably featured at the beginning of Bob Fosse’s 1979 film All That Jazz), his 1980 album Give Me the Night (with the title track and the LP produced by, as saluted here last week, Quincy Jones), and more modest successes from his albums like In Your Eyes (1983) and 20/20 (1984).
In the meantime, here ten five personal favorites (of mine) from the music of George Benson:
Here are two videos: The first is part of a 1996 interview with Larry King, then with CNN, talking with George Benson about keeping jazz fresh. The second is a brief clip, from 2016, of George Benson in a short thank-you speech as he is honored with the Jazz Walk of Fame from Kansas City, Missouri. (I originally had an interview clip of Tavis Smiley and George Benson. That was taken down at YouTube.)
