LA Weekly

It's been a rough weekend. I have some severe allergy-induced hack that won't seem to go away or give me any rest, which means, I'm over-tired and overly vulnerable to feelings. So, yes, I watched the Live Earth marathon concert show on CNBC and then switched back and forth between that broadcast and the NBC one. I think the NBC thing was delayed, which would explain why some of the things I saw on CNBC showed up later on NBC. It's either that, or magic. Anyway, not mindblowing lineup of acts, but there were some startling moments and I have to lead with the most: Madonna. Yes, Madonna. It's time we, and by we, I mean I, put aside my prejudices against Madonna's weird English accent and her increaslingly cyborgic body and just praised her like I should. I'm here to say Madonna rocks (am I the first?). She certainly rocked Wembley stadium in London, at which I once attended, and by that I mean drank all day and then rioted, a football match between England and some other country. The year was 1981 and the world was a more friendly place, the kind of place where you could drink all day, fall in with some hooligan-ish types and, well... Ah, but enough reminscing about the good old days. Watching Madonna last night, sleep-deprived and slightly feverish, I was brought to tears, if you can imagine, by her performance. The lady performs. I didn't even know most of the songs she played, but I did know "Ray of Light" which I believe is the title song of an album by the same name (thus making it the title song). She strapped on a Les Paul and jammed it out and rocked completely.

Madonna is amazing. She entered my consciousness that same year, 1981, with two lovely little ditties -- "Borderline" and "Holiday" -- and, as you'd guess, captured the imagination of a 17-year-old boy with her combination of sultriness and innocence. Who would have guessed from those relatively inauspicices beginnings, cute songs as they were, I didn't think of them as much more than pleasant diversions, that a quarter century later Madonna would not only be relevant, but would have become the biggest pop start of our lifetimes. And clearly that's what she is, by just about any measure. She's not just a pop star, she's an icon and now I'm here to say, after seeing her perfrom last night for the first time in ages, she deserves it. It's not fluke, it's no fabrication, it's been earned.

Weirdly, I had several revelations while watching that show, non of which were expected (thus, revelations). The second one involved Dave Matthews. I've always sort of viewed him as a pasty, frat-boyish type of guy who helped usher in a mid-90s jam band revival that kind of blew chunks. But, at least as far as he's concerned, I might have to review that position after having seen him and his band perform "Don't Drink The Water" (I think that's the name of the song). What I saw was this unassuming dude totally go for it in this weird, dark and slightly menacing song. The passion he put into that performance was palpable, and it's a great song, and he was totally lost in the moment -- completley unafraid of how he appeared, how vulnerable he was, and, well, he just went for it, pushign and screaming and selling it like I never would have guessed he was capable. It just goes to show --- something.

Other revelations: Kelly Clarkson isn't half bad. Macy Gray is awesome. Kanye is really good and Bon Jovi doesn't quite suck. At least that bloated, disco-ish looking, fat and shirt unbuttoned to his navel, Richie Samborra doesn't suck at all. Bon Jovi rose to the ocassion and put across a short but inspired set of cheese rock that was perfect for Giants Stadium. The Police, though, playing in Rio De Janeiro kind of blew. And Roger Waters, playing Pink Floyd songs, was as boring as one would guess.

As for TV. Well, I did the trifecta this evening: John From Cincinatti, Entourage and Flight of the Conchords, the new musical comedy on HBO. John is still pretty off, but it might be getting somewhere. Entourage is still entertaining pulp, but Flight of the Conchords rules. If you haven't seen this already, please do yourself a favor and tune in. It's totally hilarious, inventive, weird, completely dry and fun. The song interludes are freakishly amazing and the two stars are wonderful. I hope this show takes because it's the best thing on TV right now.

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Please, please do yourselves a favor and look up Keith Olbermann's special commentary on yesterday's (July 3) Countdown in which Mr. Olbermann, American Hero, himself calls on Bush to do the patriotic thing, the thing that even Richard Nixon was patriotic enough to do, and quit when it had finally become all too clear that his services are detrimental to the country. Of course, had Bush even an ounce of self-recognition, this would have been clear to him a long time ago, but his commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence puts in grand relief the degree to which this president has forfeited our democracy to callous politics. As Olbermann said, Bush and Cheney are perilous to our very democracy. Just as when Nixon fired the special prosecutor, Arhcibold Cox, when Cox was digging too deeply into Watergate, now is the time for Congress and us, the citizens, to decide whether we are nation governed by law or by an administration that has cynically viewed itself as above the law. That these guys have seen themselves that way was evident from the start, but a Congress bowed by fear and in the throws of partisan politics had long ago surrendered its duty to hold true the defining principle of our republic -- that no man is above the law and that our citizenry, our soldiers, our wealth and our futures should not be subject to the whims of any man, but should be subject to the rationale of law. As Olbermann said, isn't this what July 4th is meant to celebrate, the fact that we overthrew the rule of man in favor of the rule of law?

If this inexcusable commutation of the rule of law by Bush and Cheney doesn't crystallize Congress and the public to finally hold these guys accountable for the travesty and decades of damage that they've done to our country and the world, then I fear nothing will and we've actually have lost our way, a way that even in the darkest days of Watergate, we found again.

It was spine-tingling to watch Mr. Olberman, American hero, in all his righteous and eloquent indignation call upon these treasonous vipers to summon any shred of decency they might ever have had (I'm willing to suspend disbelief and hold out that Bush might have an ounce somewhere -- I doubt Cheney ever did or ever will) and step down for the good of the country. They won't, of course, because they seem to take a perverse joy in rubbing our noses in our compliance, fear and stupidity when it comes to confronting their many breaches of duty, decency and the spirit and letter of the law, but it's a nice and hopeful thought.

At this point, one is at a loss to explain why these guys haven't been impeached, though one fears the answer is simply fear, cynicism, crass politics and a lack of will. In the end, though, it's up to us, the citizenry to demand accountability and demand better, all around from our president and from our Congress. If we don't, we can only blame ourselves, as we have had only ourselves to blame along time now for this ongoing nightmare.

In the meantime, god bless Keith Olbermann, American Hero.

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You're probably aware by now that Bush, er Cheney, commuted the prison sentence of Scooter Libby, the guy who obstructed justice in the investigation of the Valerie Plame leak. Any further question, idiots who elected these guys twice...and you know who you are.

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I've bagged pretty hard on Mr. Hitchens before -- if not here, then somewhere -- mostly for his hard-to-explain support for the invasion of Iraq. And I was a bit surprised at how much press his new book, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, garnered. I had one of those sort of weirdly jealous things going on where you think: only Christopher Hitchens could get so many people fawning over a book that, from what I've read in reviews and comments, seems to be the most self-evident thesis one could devise. That religion poisons everything is a revelation??? To whom? It didn't feel like a daring intellectual challenge for someone who's as supposedly brilliant as Mr. Hitches to undertake. However, and you knew there was a however coming, the more I've seen of him discussing the topic, the more I appreciate the fresh perspective he's bringing to this topic. It's not that there's any new data or analysis to bring to bear; it's that he's such a skilled and possesed debater that he's able to elevate the debate over the merits of religion to a level beyond hysteria whereas someone like, say I, who would soon be reduced to emotional ad hominens, could never hope to (to me religion is childish, pure and simple, and if there's anything we suffer from in this country, it's infantilism).

I had the pleasure to see Hitchens on Tim Russert's show last night, paired off against Jon Meacham, the editor of Newsweek, who it must just warm your cockles to know is a bible banger. In fairness to Mr. Meacham, he seemed like a rational and measured human being who would prefer if religion and religions stayed out of people's lives, except for those who walk through its doors seeking it in theirs. Of course, he didn't seem to be able to wrap his head around the fact that most religions simply don't and won't do that. Christianity in particular, is a proselytizing religion whose very mission is to permeate and control every aspect of human life -- social, political, sexual... it wants it all. I believe the same hold true for Islam to a large degree (god bless the Jews for not really wanting any new members!). Thus we have these two dominating religions squaring off against each other -- and to some degrees that's just what's happening, whether by desing or circumstance -- in a place on earth where they've been doing just that for centuries.

Anyway, having come from parents who threw off the shackles of their parents crippling Catholicism, I appreciate very much how religion poisons everything and now that I think about it, I'm glad Mr. Hitchens is out there spreading the word, so to speak.

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