Blind Joe Death and the soft white underbelly

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In the early 1960's, solo acoustic guitar instrumentals meant one of two things; classical music, or Chet Atkins. That is, until John Fahey arrived.

He began his performance and recording career just in time for what James Taylor refers to as "the great folk scare." He would show up for a gig and start playing. Soon, people in the audience began to wonder when he would sing. He never did, right up to his death a few years ago at the age of 61.

He referred to his music as "American primitive." He wasn't very flashy, but he had a great sense of melody. He used mostly open tunings and would noodle around on a melody. If he came out now it's doubtful that he'd have gotten very far, but at the time he was unique. The style of play came from folk and Peidmont blues, mostly.

As far as his personality goes . . . have you ever seen the show, "House?" Well, think of Dr. House with a guitar. Oh, wait, he already does that. There you go, then. It's been reported that sometimes Fahey would go on stage and say nothing for the whole show. Just play, song to song, and then get up and walk out. Other times, he would stop halfway and go into a long diatribe, often racist and cruel. He would enrage audiences. An A&R guy from one of his record labels said that he was the only artist he ever handled whose record sales actually decreased after he'd visited a town.

He owned his own label for a good part of his career. When he started, no record company would sign him, so he started his own; Takoma. The logo included a description of the company being hidden on the "soft white underbelly of the music industry." In the beginning he sold his records out of the trunk of his car. He rarely sold more than two or three hundred copies, so he'd quickly go back into the studio and record some more.

As was appropriate for the strange, inverted world of John Fahey, his label's biggest success was also its downfall. And, its downfall was his biggest success. Oddly enough for someone as antisocial as Fahey, he mentored a number of like-minded musicians. One of these was a hot young guitarist from Minnesota named Leo Kottke. He played acoustic guitar with all the flash that Fahey lacked. Takoma put out his first album, entitled "6 and 12 string guitar."

By Takoma standards, it was a runaway hit. Fahey soon found himself confronted with thousands of orders for the album. He went to the company that pressed his records and placed the order. Which he had to pay for. Eventually, the initial rush of sales ended and all the stores he'd sent records to began to send back the unsold copies. Which he had to give refunds for. The record wound up costing more than the company made from it.

Kottke went on to sign with other record labels and has an ongoing recording career today. Fahey wound up selling his back catalogue to Fantasy records, which keeps him in print today. He had undoubtably sold more through Fantasy than he ever did on his own, and they have been faithful to keep the sound quality and the insane liner notes.

During lean times Fahey fell back on his record collection. Being widely travelled he picked up tons of old records at yard sales, antique shops, second-hand stores and the like. He was an afficianado of old blues, country, and other folk records. When money was tight he tapped into his closely-guarded network of fellow collectors and sold off large chunks of his stash. His love of old blues records led to his most persistant creation, a mythical bluesman who was given credit for most of his early work named Blind Joe Death.

Blind Joe and the topic of death itself were constants in his ever-evolving music. His later work used his growing interest in sound collage, while staying instrumental and centering around the acoustic guitar. When he died, a lot of his fans in the music industry came out of the woodwork to praise him. It's surprising how influential he turned out to be, affecting everything from folk guitar to Seattle punk.

I could easily recommend any of his albums, most of which are still available. If I were going to pick one, it would be the best-selling records he was ever on, which was a sampler that Takoma put out shortly before its demise. It featured Fahey, along with cuts by fellow American Primitives Leo Kottke and Peter Lang. It was some of Kottke's earliest recordings, dating from before "6 and 12 string." To my ear, the real stand-out performances were the four cuts by Peter Lang, who I understand has re-started his music career after a couple of decades out of the spotlight. And the Fahey cuts were particularly good, too.

John Fahey made the world safe for folk guitar. He was not a genius player or composer, but he was creative and bold, and sometimes that plenty. He opened the door through which such diverse artists as Leo Kottke, Will Ackerman, Michael Hedges, Tommy Emmanuel, and Kaki King have strode through. And even after all the evolution that those artists represent in solo acoustic guitar, you can put on an old Fahey album today and it sounds good. That's not something that can be said of every groundbreaking artist.

The Greenhouse

Last Friday night, 11/7/08, got a chance to play right here in my own 'hood at the Greenhouse restaurant. I can literally see it from where I'm sitting right now.

I occasionally go to their Thursday open mic night, which is run by a very good friend named Sky King. The Greenhouse is one of those places that has changed hands several times. Last year it was The Twig; before that, the Garlic Clove, and when we first moved to Warren 9 years ago it was Paramount Pizza. The Twig went whole hog into live music, and the Greenhouse has been getting into it as well. But it's a small place with a small budget.

The Open Mic works out well for them. If you're on the list, you get your first drink free, which is a good deal imho. The list fills up quickly, and the place stays packed until closing time. It's also one of the better open mics around; not so much because of the quality of the players, but just the atmosphere. You can tell that most of the people that play there only play in their own living room, but it's that love for the music that permeates everything.

Most places, you go to their open mic, you get to see a lot of people who are trying to get a group happening. And that means it's mostly people who aren't quite good enough to be in a working band. Which isn't necessarily bad, but the sad ones are the ones who think they're really good, and they really aren't. And everybody in the room knows it, except for them.

Hanging out on Thursday night at the Greenhouse is just flat-out fun. You haven't lived until you've sung "Good Night, Irene" with Sky. Anyway, I went there to play one evening and the owner came up and said that she'd love to have me come do a Friday night, but she couldn't afford me. It was very flattering, I must say. I assured her that she could afford me just fine. After all, it's a hundred yards from home! And, I love to play.

So we did the handshake and I went down. I got a free dinner, and we put out a tip basket, and it went very well. I've got to say I do like playing solo. More and more I'm treating solo gigs more like concerts; more chatter, and more stuff that I like to play or even wrote myself. It's more personal.

Not that I dislike playing with the band. Jon and Ken are excellent musicians and we have a great time. Band gigs tend to be more about getting people to dance than to listen. But I get to play electric guitar, and that's big-time cool.

The places I play solo are usually pretty small. Actually, the only other place I'm doing solo lately is the Colatina Exit in Bradford, VT, which is also a very nice gig. For PA, all I'm bringing is my powered board and a pair of monitors, which I lay on the floor and point toward the audience. I'm tellin' ya, these are small rooms. No need on bringing my 12's-and-horn mains and putting them up on stands.

So maybe I'll see you at a solo gig sometime soon. I'm playing the Colatina Exit on the 21st, and the Greenhouse the first Friday in December. In between, on the day after Thanksgiving, the Red Hat Band is at the Bridgewater Inn.

And, of course, post-election thoughts

I'll cut right to the chase; I don't have a problem with President Obama. In fact, I am surprised to be able to report that I'm kind of thrilled.

Remember, I'm a child of the sixties. I still get a kick out of telling Lynn that I'm old enough to remember when the liberals were right. Racism didn't end when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclaimation. Nor when Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. And it's not over yet.

If I were in Boston or some other urban area, late at night, walking down the street, with nobody else around, and suddenly noticed a black man walking behind me, I would be scared. And, I would be more scared than I would be if he were white. I admit it. Not because I believe in any real difference between the black man and his white counterpart, but because of the odds. There are more blacks in prison than whites, in spite of their being in the minority. And, because I'm not a city boy.

The change from racist to race-blind is an intellectual decision. It's wrong, I don't want to be wrong, so when I'm on that street and see that man's reflection in a window across the street, I just keep walking. It's too late now anyway. I acknowledge the flash of fear, tamp it down, and just keep moving calmly along. And this is not theoretical. I've done this, and been there. And here I am.

There are certain things I fear from an Obama presidency. And, I might not fear them from, for instance, a Hillary Clinton presidency. The Clintons represent the side of the Democratic party that knows the Republicans are mostly right, but hate them for personal reasons. They know that lower tax rates on the rich stimulates investment, and that raises revenues because you can only tax dollars that move. So, they don't do much about those tax rates. They inch them up a little, but more to manage the rate of inflation than anything else.

But Obama is a true believer. He thinks that Jimmy Carter was right, and that everything would have turned around if we'd have kept going that way. Between Eisenhower and Carter, the top tax rate hovered between 80 and 95%, whereas now it's about 35%. Obama and his wing are under some delusion that this not only creates job but increases federal revenues. Want to see the current economic crisis turn into the second great depression? Jack corporate tax rates back up. Ah, the good ol' days.

The other thing I'm afraid of is that he and Nancy Pelosi and their bunch will start to restrict my freedoms. They've made it pretty clear they'd like to see the Fairness doctorine reinstated, which would be a death blow to Rush Limbaugh and maybe even Fox News, depending on how the courts interpret it. This shows one of the big differences between Republicans and Democrats. The Republicans have had years to do something about the obvious left-leaning bias of the mainstream media, and didn't make a move. They let the marketplace decide.

But the True Believers of the left are so convinced they're right, they can't tolerate dissent. So, to prove they're open-minded and loving, they'll try and shut down anybody who disagrees with them. Look what the Ohio Secretary of State tried to do to Joe the Plumber. These people know that Christians and conservatives are their enemy. They just know it!! So nobody can be free until we're not, right?

The other stuff isn't so much inducing fear as it is frustration. Federal entitlement programs will be expanded, which will get billions of taxpayer dollars into the hands of small-time petty thieves who could actually hold jobs if they had any ambition. On the up side, they'll also help a lot of people who need it. If they fill out the forms correctly, that is. The irony is, it's harder for honest people to get help from these programs than dishonest. People who would rather steal from the government than get a job they could easily do are better at filling out forms and jumping through hoops than people who are disabled or otherwise honestly need help.

But this is what the country wants. And I think it would be good to wait and see if it works out. First of all, you've got to admit, Barack Obama is obviously more honest than Bill Clinton. The fear I had about Slick Willie was that he'd sell out the country in a heartbeat if it served his own interests. Obama, on the other hand, at least appears to be more interested in serving his country.

And the simple fact is that sometimes it's time. If you really look at things, the biggest difference between the policies of Ronald Reagan and Herbert Hoover were the fifty years in between their administrations. Hoover got to preside over the stock market crash of '29 and the beginning of the great depression. The regulations imposed in the intervening years helped prevent the abuses that caused them. They also stifled business. So Reagan loosened things up again. Some regs were removed that shouldn't have been, and that gave us the housing bubble. But Clinton and the Dems are the ones to blame, because it was done to open the housing market to the underpriviliged.

Maybe now is the right time for compassionate liberalism. I think if they let their hopes lead instead of their fears it could be pretty good. Good enough to frustrate the hell out of a lot of conservatives that hate Democrats on principle alone. So I plan to give the man a chance.

Some pre-election thoughts

There's a scene in the movie, "Dave," where Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver are sitting and talking. Kline plays a small-time entertainer and businessman who happens to bear a striking resemblence to the sitting President of the United States. He is hired to impersonate the President for a simple walk to the limosine while the big guy stayed upstairs. The big guy ends up having a stroke, and Kline finds himself staying in the chair.

Weaver plays the real President's wife, who quickly figures out what Kline is; a fake. Apparently her relationship with her real husband leaves a lot to be desired, and she finds she gets along much better with the fake. Even though the evil Chief of Staff has kept Kline in place for his own purposes, comes the moment when Kline and Weaver are sitting and talking about the fact that, as long as everyone thinks he's the President, he really is. I forget who says the line, but it goes something like this;

"Let's use all this power to do something good."

That's the trap that Liberals fall into, and that is the power OF power to corrupt. A good person, who honestly wants to do good, to help people, finds themselves with the power of the federal government at their fingertips and the answers all seem obvious. And that's commendable. But, I'm sorry, I can't help but think that sometimes there's a better way.

Here's a simple example. You need a hole in your back yard. You have a nuclear weapon. Problem solved, right? Take it to the next step; you know a million people who need holes, and that nuclear weapon should make a hole plenty big enough for everyone to share.

Now, maybe I'm just a stupid ol' hick, but it seems to me a million shovels would do the same job, and much better.

I have the same point of view when it comes to good works done by the government. Anything the federal government can do, the 50 states can do better. If possible, it can be done even better from the county or community level. I'm all for giving help where it's needed, but real help is better than political help.

This is a debate we have here in New Hampshire all the time. Our property taxes are high, but none of our other taxes are. In fact, we have by far the smallest tax burden of any of the New England states. We also have the best education system, which is the biggest expense of local government. New Hampshire is consistantly in the top three or four in every subject in the country.

I firmly believe the reason for this is that our schools are mostly funded on the local level through property taxes. It makes sense to use property as the tax base, because just about everybody lives somewhere. Even renters have to pay it, because the landlords pass on the expense. Plus, you have the added benefit of getting the bill one, two, or four times a year. It makes for an eye-popping figure that gets people interested in being involved in their local governments.

I can't think of a federal welfare program that couldn't be handled better on the local level. There's a simple logic to this. To fund a school through local taxes sends the money from a) the taxpayer to b) the local tax collector and to c) the local school board. The cost of this transfer is minimal. Now try to imagine how many sets of hands, and well-paid hands by the way, a dollar has to go through to get from the taxpayer to the school via the federal gov't. Same school, same students, teachers, books, etc. Why does the money need to go through so many checkpoints?

Same with public welfare. Or anything else, for that matter. In fact, it's kind of the great dirty secret of Conservatism, that if we cut the federal budget, we'll have to increase the budgets for state and local gov'ts. The people these governments represent will have to decide if they want these programs or not.

Another thing to consider is that the cracks that honest people inevitably fall through will be smaller. As a mailman, I had a pretty good idea of who on my route actually needed help. I also knew who was milking the system. And believe me, it's a lot easier to milk a big system than a small one. That is the conservative's complaint with federal welfare; so much of the money gets stolen and wasted. Plus, there are always people who need help and don't get it. The only way to get to them from Washington is spread the net wider, inviting more theft and waste.

I think I've mentioned this before, but my Dad had what I've always thought was a great idea; pay everyone in cash. Give every worker in the country their gross pay in cash, and then make them walk down a line of people taking so much for federal income tax, so much for social security, and so on. It would make us all think a lot more about where our tax dollars go.

So as much as I admire Barack Obama and anybody else who wants to help those in need, I think it would be better if they just got a shovel and helped somebody in their own neighborhood. And please, Barry, no more about the 'failed' Bush economic policies. They're the reason that your investments have done so well. This current crisis is not a failure of the policy. It's a glitch due to a relaxation of an important restriction. If you're smart, you'll fix that problem and then leave the basic policy untouched. Hey, it worked for Clinton.

Let's face facts, Clinton didn't change much that Reagan and Bush handed him. He'd have been a fool to. I'm old enough to remember how things were under Jimmy Carter. When Reagan cut taxes it stimulated investment and the economy flourished. Except for a few bumps here and there, it's continued to do so. We get through this and it will again. We've had a quarter century of prosperity. If you want to do some good, help that top 1% you hate so much to create some jobs that you can take credit for.

And you- yeah, you! Reading this! Why don't YOU take responsibility for helping the people you want the federal government to help? Tell your selectmen and other local officials that charity begins at home. Write your congressman and tell him, too.

Hey, good idea! I'll get right on it.

Go vote, all right?

Jihad!

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I always thought Ted Herbert invented that word. It appears in the Dune series. If you've never read any of it, it's a sci-fi series. One of those long-ago-and/or-far-away stories. There's a planet that has an essential item. One group owns it, another group wants it, but neither of them have considered the small indigineous population. This small group of locals rise up and take it for themselves. Jihad is that their messianic leader calls their war against the exploiters.

This is not too far from the recent history of the middle East. Everybody knows about the Balfour declaration, directive, whatever, that the British used in 1917 to divide the region into the shape it's in now. In the early '70's, the people who lived there took control of the valuable item that came out of the ground. Or at least, their governments did. The people of the region still live a very poor quality life. The pool of people who are extremely rich because of oil is a little bit bigger than it was before, but it's still very small.

The reason I bring this up is because of a conversation I avoided getting into over the last weekend. It almost became a debate between two friends over the election. My friend appears to have simplified a complex issue to a single, simple solution; Barak Obama means peace. There was no point in entering into this discussion. It becomes two people shouting slogans at each other, and that is not productive.

This friend has this addy, so here's my side, as if they were listening. I'll start with my slogans. The invasion of Iraq was a good idea. George W. Bush is a good President. History will NOT compare him to Neville Chamberlain.

Whew! That sure felt good. I guess I can stop there, right? After all, as long as I shout my slogans, I've done enough, right? Oh, you want to know HOW I can be so insane. Well, all right. Since you're a friend.

Y'see, it seems that the poor, downtrodden people of the Middle East are sick of it. Their own governments don't care about them, and the people who provide those governments with the billions they build their palaces with don't seem to care either. As oppressed people inevitably do, pockets of them have become radicalized. They've begun to fight back. Their own governments have too tight a grip on things at home, but hey! It's actually easier to hit the people writing the big checks anyway. Let's fly some jets into their skyscrapers!

Now, let's face facts. If they do that often enough, it could hurt this country. No, really. I honestly think that there are people who think it's all right to let downtrodden people do anything they like. Who knows? Maybe this country is so corrupt that it deserves to die.

And . . . I think that's where I'll leave it. The premise is, this country deserves to die. The world will be better off without a United States of America.

Live music

Hi. A little update on live performances. Got asked to be a last-minute fill in for the monthly poetry reading at the Moultonboro public library, and found myself the opening act for a very talented young man who calls himself Redbeard Bullrider. He gave me his card, but then I had to ride home in the rain, so all the printing washed off. Still, he has a website of some sort, and if it's half as good as he is live it's more than worth the google search. He's not only very gifted, but was gracious enough to help me with a song. Thanks, Red.

The centerpiece of my performance was the CD, Rough Edges. I had nine copies with me and came home with only one. Four were paid for, two were traded for books of poetry, and the last two took my word that I wasn't interested in charging for them. Which is cool, by the way. And, if you have one, and the link has led you here, search the blog for references to "Rough Edges" to find the liner notes for the CD.

Anyway, that was all on Tuesday, August 5. On Friday, the 8th - which was also my wife, Lynn's 39th birthday - I played with the band at Bluesology. The band goes under the semi-poor name of The Red Hat Band, which relates to the red fedora I wear on stage. We never have thought of a proper name, and that is how people refer to us, so we're making the most of it.

The down side of that is that it makes it appear to be my band. It is not. It is a pretty equal collaberation between myself on guitar, Ken Anderson on drums, and Jonathan Sindorf on bass. We all sing, and we all pick material. For the most part we're classic rock, but we've been known to blur the edges pretty badly, even resorting to original material when pressed.

Which reminds me, there's an interesting gig coming up in the fall. More about that later. To see The Red Hat Band, come to the 4-wheeler annual pig roast in Warren NH on Sept. 13, or the Bridgewater Inn in Bridgewater NH on Sept. 19.

Global Warming and Four-Buck Gas

It's going to wind up being one of the driving issues of this election year, that much is certain. As such, I want to pitch in my $.02 on the topic, as I don't hear anybody else taking my particular stand.

I'm sure some of you have noticed that the price of gasoline has gone up considerably in the last couple of years. You also would not be alone in noting that this coincides with the take-over of Congress by the Democratic party. No less than former Vice-President Al Gore has stated that he'd like to see it be five dollars a gallon. The other day on Imus In The Morning, NY Times columnist Tom Friedman said that there should be a federal mandate keeping the price at no less than four dollars.

These wise, accomplished people have a good reason to believe this. With the price of gas sky-high, there is a strong movement to find an alternative to fossil fuels. Many alternatives that have already been discovered are now more cost effective than when gas was $1.50. T. Boone Pickens is making waves by suggesting a combination of wind, solar, and natural gas to wean ourselves off foreign oil. All these choices were too expensive a couple of years ago.

Get it?

Besides the reliance on foreign powers, the other big disadvantage to fossil fuels is that they're dirty. Nobody's suggesting coal as an alternative, because it's even dirtier than oil. It's no big secret that this is the motivation of the left for wanting expensive gas in order to drive the move to alternative fuels. Yes, expensive fuel may be crippling our economy, but it's for the long-term good. Not that anyone expects Barack Obama to put it like that out on the campaign trail, but it's still the truth.

There are many on the right who have added this to the pile of great sins being committed by the left. There is a firm belief among many conservatives that there is no such thing as global warming, and that any amount of pollution can be absorbed by the environment. Those people should sit in a running car in a closed garage for a couple of hours and see what they think then.

The simple fact is, whether or not pollution causes warming, cooling, or whatever, it's not good to shovel dirt into the air and water. That's a no-brainer. It would be good to have an alternative to fossil fuels for that reason, if for no other.

As for dependence on foreign powers, remember for a moment that we are the biggest customers for the Saudis and their friends in OPEC. The less of their oil we buy, the less influence we have over them. After nobody's buying their oil any more, they go back to being poor. The average person there is anyway, but the royalty will join them. They've brought it on themselves. After all, the people who own the ground the oil comes out of have to be the ones getting the $140 a barrel. I have little sympathy for them. I reserve it for their people, who will benefit more by following Iraq to freedom than staying with their rich rulers into more bondage.

The biggest problem I have with the liberal position, that expensive gas is good, is that it is not good for most of the country. The average schmuck who drives to work and heats with oil is getting screwed. All that wind and solar power may replace oil for producing electricity, but our light bills won't go down either. Most of the monetary benefit will be felt by factories, skyscrapers, and other high-volume users.

Ironically, the left has come up with a solution that will most benefit the richest 1% of the populace. The rest of us will see what used to be disposable income, if we had any, eaten up by energy costs for a fuel we will have no replacement for. That may be the greatest irony of all. They are promoting the idea of clean alternative fuel to the general public, and for the most part we're all for it as long as it won't break us financially. Every time gas goes up, another diesel Rabbit gets converted to run on fryolater grease.

But the people who could make the most use of wind and solar power resist the switch if the price of oil remains cheap. It is because of their stubbornness that we are forced to put up with these crippling prices, and that's the simple truth. There will be no widespread alternative to gasoline for another century, unless the internal combustion engine itself becomes obsolete.

So which lousy alternative will we choose in November? High energy prices, or continued pollution? I would love it if any of you out there would leave your thoughts in the comments section, even if you think I'm totally off the rails. All I ask is that you be nice, and please be brave enough to leave your name.

Good gig at Bluesology 7/11/08

Hi.

Well, the Red Hat Band played last night at Bluesology, the club at the Lodge at Belmont, home of the famous dog track. It's a great club, with very good acoustics, and it's been a real pleasure to play there.

We did our standard thing of classic rock covers and it went over really well. We did a lot of our favorites; Walk Away Renee, Sultans of Swing, Some Kind Of Wonderful. Plus, we're adding some new tunes to the mix; Soak Up The Sun, You Wreck Me, and Ken's really beautiful version of Wicked Games. At one point the audience was getting so into it that they cleared a bunch of tables and put them off to the side to make a dance floor. Get down with your bad selves, so to speak.

Big thanks to Jewel Fox, a good friend of the band and one of Ken's drum students, who sat in on three tunes. This allows Ken to play some guitar. Jewel is really coming along well, and she sounded great.

Our next gig is again at Bluesology on 8/8, which is also my wife's birthday. Help me talk her into coming, would you?

Also, if you email me regarding this blog, please put something about Peter Pan in the subject line. My email address is set for exclusive, because I get so much spam. I want to make sure I don't delete you along with all the offers for cheap Viagra.

Great Rock and Roll Moments

There are moments in rock and roll that we keep coming back to. You hear a song start on the radio, and you anticipate the little moment's arrival. It's a personal thing, but I think it's safe to say that everybody's got their favorite ones. Below, I offer some examples. Feel free to leave your own favorites in the comments section.

The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again

Now, when I talk about moments, I don't mean songs. I mean little thing within songs that elevate them. They make us remember the song, and pull us back for another listen time and time again. We might not even notice that it's happening. In this example, we definitely notice it. This has got to be the definitive "moment" of all rock and roll.

First, we need to put it into context. The song, and the "Who's Next" album, were released in 1971. Live rock was in an overkill mode, with shows becoming more and more elaborate all the time. Kind of like tailfins in the '50s. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Yes, the big acts were travelling with semi's full of props, sets, and special effects.

Amidst all this, one of the biggest draws of the day was The Who. It was kind of embarrassing, really, because except for a laser show later in the '70s they kept things pretty simple. If you've ever seen them, you'd know why. They put on quite a show just standing there and playing. Well . . . not exactly just standing there. Except for bassist John Entwhistle, of course. The other three, Keith Moon, Roger Daltry, and Pete Townshend, are remembered as some of the most dynamic performers in music history. Even now, with only two surviving members and both in their 60s, Daltry and Townshend can throw down with the best of them.

It is to Daltry's everlasting chagrin that he had to share a stage with Townshend. It wasn't enough that Pete wrote most of the songs, he was also the ultimate stage presence. In any other group nobody would remember anybody but lead singer Roger Daltry, but in The Who he was always second banana to the skinny guitarist with the big nose.

This song and its "moment" are the one single, solitary time that Roger ever got to upstage Pete. It happens at the end of the instrumental break. The synthesizer noodles around, Moon brings in scattered drum fills, it builds up to a peak, and all of a sudden Daltry lets go a shriek from the deep, dark recesses of his gut. It is primal and cathartic. No one else could do it. Daltry can't even do it any more. It's a throat-ripping howl that sends chills up and down your spine the thousandth time you hear it.

That is what a "moment" is.

Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run

To me, this is The Boss' best album. In fact, it's one of two or three that I even like. I'm not real big on Bruce, but this record kicks ass. This song has a really nice moment, again at the end of the instrumental break. The band tumbles down the chromatic scale from root to root, Baaahhm, Baaahhm, Bahm bahm, bam bam ba-ba-ba-ba b-b-b-b b-Baaaaahhhhmmm.... The band rumbles on a I chord for a few seconds, and somewhere in the background, The Boss checks in . . .

"One, two, three, four,
Highways jammed with broken heroes in a last-chance power-drive!"

Oh, MAN!! It picks you up out of your seat.

"Everybody's out on the road tonight, but there's no place left to hide."

Bruce Springsteen - Jungleland

Last cut on the same album, and in my humble opinion his greatest song. A nine-minute mini-opera set in the mean streets of some nearly-nameless Jersey burg.

"The Rangers had a home-coming
In Harlem late last night
And the Magic Rat drove his sleek machine
Over the Jersey state line"

It builds, swirls, swims and rolls through the deep New Jersey night, special but not much different from any other night here. It slowly climbs to a peak, and then the music drops away like a roller coaster. From a driving 4:4 rocker, it bottoms out into a 2:4 dirge, nearly silent but still firm. And gliding over the top comes one, single, clear note from the saxophone of Clarence Clemmons.

Yeah, I know, The Big Man doesn't hold a candle to the great sax players like Coltrane, Rollins, and Parker. But with that one, singing, sweet note he makes the others sound like Kenny G. The note, and the sweet, simple legato line that follows it come straight from the heart and hover like your stomach on that roller coaster. When the guitar finally comes back in you realize you haven't drawn a breath in a while.

Eddie Money - Two Tickets To Paradise

Nope, don't care much for Eddie Money. Or this song, to be honest. He's like a poor-man's Springsteen, a John Cougar Mellencamp wannabe. I've seen him live, years and years ago, opening for Santana at Boston Garden. He was all right, I guess. The secret of his success apparently was the guitar player, Jimmy Lyons, who co-wrote most of the songs and led the band. They split up after a while, but eventually got back together. Last I knew they were still on the road endlessly regurgitating their three hits.

This was probably the best one. Catchy little tune, and they actually delivered it like they meant it. I've got to admit, if I'm not paying attention I actually get into it a little. Especially after the last verse, and just before the final chorus. The band executes the final turn-around and the piano player does four rapid-fire sweeps down the keyboard. Those things where you just lay the flat of your hand on the keys and run it from top to bottom. It's that moment of unbridled passion that elevates this song above the mundane.

George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me

Is there a lamer human being on the planet than George Michael? If so, it may be Elton John. To be fair, I actually like both of these artists. I've been a fan of Elton John's since he came out. Great songwriter, and a completely unique singer. As for Michael, I don't care much for his own recordings, but he can work magic with other people's material. You should hear what he did singing Queen at Freddie Mercury's tribute concert. Awesome pipes; just a reprehensable human being.

This recording is a live cover of one of Elton's hits from the 70's. George sings the first verse solo, and then introduces Elton. He takes the second verse, and Michael does counterpoint in the background. At the end of the verse, they harmonize on "Oooohhh," and on into the chorus. That "oh" is the moment. Chills, baby.

Dave Edmunds - I Hear You Knocking

Dave Edmunds is a weird duck. Simultaneously retro and progressive. Prog-a-billy. This song is a perfect example. It sounds like it was recorded at Sun studios on a single microphone. It bumps and lurches along like a school bus driving down a set of railroad tracks. The instruments all pound the one and three. The beautiful moment is, I think, just before the final verse. The bus bumps to a halt on the one. A beat, just one single beat, of silence. Then, on the three, one V7 chord on the piano. Just the piano. Bang, with a wince of the 7 note. Beauty.

Paul McCartney - Smile Away

This one's one of my favorites, from one of my favorite albums. Ram, 1971. Second album after he left the Beatles. First song is Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, which is definitely one of those love-it-or-hate-it songs. I happen to love it. The fade-out fades straight into the opening of Smile Away, which is one of Paul's goofy nonsense songs.

It's got a funky, rocking little beat propping up some throw-away who-gives-a-f*&$ lyrics. In the background, Linda and somebody are singing what sounds like "Don't-know-how-to-do-it" over and over. It bops, and bops, and bops, and bops along until just before the final verse Linda changes the background to Yaaaaahhh, yah-yah-yah-yah-yah-yah-yah, be-Dump be-Dummm. It's just enough to push it over the top. Great stuff.

Foghat - Slow Ride

This one harkens back to the original example. Foghat is one of the great underrated bands in rock history. They are the '65 Chevy Impala of rock and roll. Now, in the new century, a '65 Impala looks pretty cool. Back then, it was just another family car. Dig out your long-unheard copy of Fool For The City or Rock And Roll Outlaws and give it a spin. They were surprisingly sophisticated, although we didn't appreciate it at the time. After all, the seventies were the time of progressive rock, and sophisticated meant you rearranged Wagner for a four-piece band. If they came out now, they'd be huge. And, like AC-DC, every album sounds basically the same. They started off great and stayed that way.

Slow Ride was far from their greatest song, but it probably had their greatest moment. Rod Price was one of the great slide players in rock, and Lonesome Dave Prevrett (sic) was a singer of surprising range and emotion. Slow Ride is a bawdy little ditty that bumps and grinds seductively along. Da-dump (thump) da-Da-dump (thump) da-Da-dump (thump) da-Do-n-Dooo, all the way through the last verse. In the instrumental break it builds in speed and intensity until you think the top of your head is going to come off. It goes and goes and goes and then comes to a screeching halt. Then, Lonesome Dave pulls one from the bottom of his toes.

"Ssslooow rriiiiide!"

Followed by the greatest crash-and-burn ending ever. It's beautiful, and brutal, and delicious.

Dave and Rod have departed this mortal coil, but the music lives on. It is this moment, and the ones above, and the ones like them, that are the reason that rock and roll is so great. It takes from every kind of music that came before it and after it, and boils it down to its essence. Then it is placed into the hands of a passionate person who hopefully has learned to play their instrument well enough to translate that passion into music and timbre.

Of course, I've forgotten a few thousand good examples of these moments. Feel free to share your favorites.

Bike Week

Going to the Weirs during bike week is kind of like going to the fair. Except you bring your own ride. And, it's definitely geared toward grownups.

I can remember back in '64 or '65 riding home from a Saturday night at the races in Loudon with my folks. We hopped in the car and turned on the radio and immediately learned that it would be a good idea to make a detour from our regular route. There was a riot in progress at the Weirs, on the edge of Lake Winnepesauke in Laconia, NH. It was being led by a large contingent of the Hell's Angels motorcycle club. Governor John King had called out the NH National Guard to help the Laconia PD bring order, and they arrived in armored troop carriers.

The Guard and the Police rolled over the drunk-and-disorderly bikers like a truck. The authorities suffered zero casualties. The same could not be said for the bikers.

The centerpiece of Bike Week is a motorcycle race, which is now sanctioned by the AMA and held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It's possible that as many as 3 to 5 % of the people coming to Bike Week actually attend the race. The rest are here . . . well, mainly because the rest are here.

It's a chance for the locals, who deal with tourists year-round, to act like tourists themselves. They get to walk around and gawk at the bikes and bikers. The place to do this is the Weirs. You can see motorcycles all over New Hampshire during this time, but there is no greater concentration of them then at the Weirs. And the best part is that most of the vendors are from out of town, so we locals can take a day off and just watch.

This year, 2008, is the 85th annual race. In the mid-1960's the race moved from wherever it was held before to Bryar Motorsport Park, a road course that also hosted sports car races, etc. One prominent feature of BMP was a knoll that overlooked the track that came to be known as Animal Hill. This was where the hardest partying took place. In the early '90's, Bob Bahre, owner of Maine's Oxford Plains Speedway, bought the track and converted it to a one-mile oval that now hosts NASCAR and the like. There is a road course, where the motorcycle race still is held, but Animal Hill is gone.

The best time to hit the Weirs is early in the week. By Friday the real crazies, the former occupants of Animal Hill, are arriving in force. The alcohol begins to flow in earnest, and it starts getting a little dangerous. On Tuesday or Wednesday, most of the bikes are expensive Harleys owned by lawyers and dentists. The well-behaved brothers and cousins of the Angels of '65.

And yes, it is definitely geared to adults. The central theme of bike week is "F--- you." It's everywhere. I never realized that there were so many ways to phrase this simple, arrogant statement of defiance. And all of them can be emblazoned on a t-shirt, ball cap, bumper sticker, tattoo, or whatever you like.

I rode to the Weirs on my Yamaha 750 on a Wednesday. I made the mistake of not getting there until about 11 am, but was lucky enough to find parking reasonably close for only five bucks. On a good Wednesday it's possible to get there early enough to park among the herd in the middle of the main street. Not only is that free, but you have the thrill of being among hundreds of really cool bikes.

The first time I rode there on my own putt, I had a 400cc Honda with a milk crate bungee-corded to the back of the seat. As I climbed off my humble little rat-bike, parked among all the chrome-plated American iron, I noticed I was being watched by two particularly heavy, hairy, leather-clad gentlemen on the sidewalk.

"It's not the bike, it's the man," I said, staring them right in the eye. They nodded, smiled, and let me live.

Bike Week is oriented around American motorcycles, and Harley-Davidsons in particular. I once saw a neat little tableau at the Weirs. One guy was standing on the sidewalk, dressed head-to-toe in Harley logo clothing from his boots to his do-rag. His friend - I assume they were friends - was sitting astride a shiny Yamaha Royal Star, a full-dress Electra-Glide knockoff. The Harley guy was merciless in his derision of his friend's 'rice-burner.' Finally, he said the magic words:

"A real man rides a Harley-Davidson," he said.

The friend gave him a sour look and said, "A real man . . . does as he damn well pleases."

Translation: F--- you. Amen, brother.

I had a great-uncle who rode a motorcycle. This was back in the day when the only bikes available were Harley-Davidsons and Indians. The Harleys were more reliable, but the Indians were faster. Uncle Earnest rode an Indian, and the New Hampshire State Police rode Harleys. He liked riding real fast, so he knew from personal experience just how fast the Harleys of the NH Highway Patrol were. Finally came the day when two troopers rolled up to his home. He thought they were there to arrest him. Instead, they asked if he would like to join up. He said he would, under one condition; that he get to use his own bike. From that day on, the New Hampshire State Police were all-Harley, but one.

My Uncle Jim Parris always had a full-dress cruiser, usually a Harley Electra-Glide. There were a few years during the late 60's when he gave it up. People were so scared of the Hells Angels and their ilk that it became difficult for the average Joe to ride in peace. Now, the Average Joe IS bike week. It's become an event for the upper middle class, who have enough money to buy the bike and can take off enough time to enjoy it.

When going to the Weirs, I try to blend in. A little mid-week bad-ass. A little. I wore a black t-shirt with a Fender Telecaster on the chest, and a hat with the Unites States Postal Service logo on it. Don't tread on me. I got a pretty good deal on a new jacket, saw a lot of cool bikes, dropped some words of encouragement on a few Christian biker ministries, and listened to a couple of good bands. Not a bad afternoon, all in all.

Bike Week dominates the whole state of New Hampshire. It used to be Motorcycle Weekend, but now is two weekends and the week in between, and is dribbling over into the weeks on either end. It is reviled by many, but makes so much money for the state that it is accepted and even encouraged. The sound of rumbling motorcycles can be heard everywhere.

Last year, on the Monday after bike week, we were at work at the Moultonboro post office right off route 25. Suddenly, one of the clerks stopped and said, "Hey, wait! Hear that?"

We all stopped. "I don't hear anything," somebody finally said.

The clerk smiled. "Yea-a-ah," she said.

Translation: F--- you. Amen, sister.

Quick update

Hi.

Just a quick update on things in general. Now that the NH primary has come and gone, I'll be concentrating on music again, I suppose.

You may note a new link, for another blog called IDIC. This is one by a couple of friends of mine from Frontier Fleet. Both are conservatives, and both Americans, but with markedly different points of view. East and West coast, high and low tech, young and old, but both very good and quite insightful writers. Check them out.

I'm in a band once again, playing with old friends Jonathan Sindorf and Ken Anderson (bass and drums respecively). We've been playing at the Bridgewater Inn in Bridgewater, NH mostly, with the odd thing at the Country Cow (Plymouth) and occasional private parties. Check us out at the Country Cow, just off exit 26 of I-93 in Plymouth on June 6. Also, at the Bridgewater Inn on May 16.

I've also been playing occasionally as a solo, mostly at the Colatina Exit in Bradford, VT. Great Italian food. Check them out. No upcoming bookings there, but I'll keep you posted.

On the down side, one of my all-time favorite music venues will be closing at the end of May. The Middle Earth Music Hall in Bradford, VT is in its final month, so click the link to their website while it still takes you somewhere and pick a show to go to. You won't regret it.

That's all for now.

Saturday before NH Primary

Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello . . .

Dirt Track NH is actually getting some attention, but I'm yet to get any comments at all from this blog. Except for the interview with Reggie Mantle, of course, but that's understandable. FYI, sometime in the near future there'll be an interview with Jughead Jones! I've still got editing to do, but it was a great time, if a little tense.

Anyway, it's the Saturday night before the 2008 New Hampshire Presidential Primary, and I would be remiss in my duties as a sharer of deep thought if I let it pass without saying something. It's also turning out to be a pretty exciting contest, in spite of a dearth of candidates. Oh, there are names on the ballot, but JEEZ!

I'm a registered Independent, as is my lovely wife, Lynn, so we're getting mail and phone calls from EVERYONE! Lynn's seriously thinking about taking a Democratic ballot, but I'm pretty sure I'm taking a Republican one. As I write this, I'm watching a 24-hour news channel - I refuse to say which one - and the fallout from the Iowa caucuses is still falling. Obama won handily for the Dems, with Edwards second and Queen Hillary an embarassing third. On the Reps side, Huckabee beat Romney by about 10 points.

So, from a STILL undecided NH Independent (and aren't we all, really?) here are my thoughts on most of the major candidates. And, to make it all on the up-and-up, I'll list everything alphabetically. But first, my thoughts on some of the major issues of the day.

COMPETENCE: I think this is an important thing to think about when choosing a President. In my lifetime I've seen every president from Eisenhower to Bush 43, and it looks like a pretty difficult job. I've seen people take the job that had the best ideas and intentions, but simply were in over their head they day they got there. Think Jimmy Carter. Was there ever a nicer man? I believe he honestly did what he thought was the best for everybody, but nothing went right for him. The economy tanked, the middle east went in the toilet, and when he left we were in the 444th - and last - day of the Iran hostage crisis.

On the other hand, for all his problems and general bad attitude, Richard Nixon was imminently competent. Yeah, he tried to clothesline his opposition in the '72 election and had the secret enemies list and acted like a despot, but when it came down to the day-to-day business of running the country, he could do the job. He was a master politician, which means he was a juggler of ideas and people and managed to almost always keep all the balls in the air. He ended the Vietnam war, and even got us out on our own terms. He negotiated the SALT 1 and 2 treaties with Breshnev, which is the most anyone's done to date about nuclear proliferation. And, he opened China. Even when faced with a major inflation problem, he tried to solve it with his Phase 1 and Phase 2 price controls. They didn't work, but they were inspired ideas that had never been tried before.

The most amazing thing about Nixon is that he built his reputation on being a far-right-wing anti-communist, but as president did more for more liberal causes than Kennedy and Johnson put together. I remember a scene from near the end of Oliver Stone's movie bio, where Nixon is weeping, and says to Kissinger; "I gave them everything they wanted. Why do they still hate me?"

Good question. Personally, I think Nixon was a better president than Carter, because he was competent. In my lifetime, I would rank Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton the highest in this catagory. The lowest would be Johnson (and I liked him), Carter, and Clinton.

GAS PRICES: Is there anybody, outside of a few conservative talk-show hosts, that don't believe that the price of gas is decided by the companies together? If the free market were truly in charge here, it would be going down. It's a mature industry. Plus, it's not like there's not a plethora of sources for the stuff. We all know that the Arabs and Venezuelans and Mexicans and everybody else get together to set the price, which has nothing to do with the cost of production.

There is one fact that should be considered; the money we spend on oil is the only tangible influence we have on the middle east. We're their biggest customer. The more we become energy independent, the less influence we will have there.

It also suggests that the oil companies have too much influence on our government, because we should be negotiating a better price with some of the providers. If we could cut a deal with Saudi Arabia, then Venezuela would have to drop their price to sell to us. The dirty secret that too many highly-placed conservatives don't want to address is the huge influence that oil companies have over them.

In the end, it is imperative that we DO come up with a viable alternative to oil. For both the short and long terms. Not just for our national security, but for the future of the race and the planet. Have you ever realized that most modern energy sources involved burning something? Whether it's oil, or wood, or coal, or the oxidization of plutonium, most modern energy sources leave a residue that is very hard to recycle. Maybe it's time to look back, to the days when wind and water powered the engine of industry and transportation.

Because industry and transportation will continue. It is what differentiates the most powerful countries from the poorest. It is also, especially in the case of transportation, what a free people do. We make things and go places. America produces the pollution it does because we all travel, wherever we want, whenever we want. We are a car culture. If you follow the logic of most liberal environmental policies, they would inevitably restrict that car culture. Think about that next time you want to go somewhere.

The fact is that on this day, at the store down the street, the price of regular is over three dollars a gallon. There is nobody running for President who is going to be able to change that. It will change when the oil companies and the producers wish it to change. Which means, either we will do something to please them, or to intimidate them. All the Democrats will stroke the providers and piss off the companies. All the Republicans will do the other. And we won't be rid of either. Alternative energy can get rid of them both. Then, the middle east can go back to what they were before 1900; poor.

HEALTH CARE: Do I think there should be a Government program that will provide health insurance for everybody? No. It's too easy to abuse. I personally think most government programs should be done from the state or local level. If the State of New Hampshire wanted to consider a state-run health insurance plan for those who could prove they can't afford any other kind, I'd consider backing it if it were written wisely.

The problem with anything like this - and by that, I include Social Security, Medicare, etc. - is that it's so easy to abuse. Granted, publicly available free health insurance would be a heck of a lot better than a totally socialistic health care system. I can remember watching a debate on C-SPAN between the leaders of the five major Canadian parties back in the '90's. Even the most conservative didn't dare suggest the possibility of privatizing health care, they just promised that they'd run it better. Once it's in, we're stuck with it.

The fact is that we have the best health care system in the world. Presidents of other countries come here when they have major health problems. Most of the advanced drugs, technologies, techniques, etc. in the field of health care come from here. Yes, some doctors, hospitals, and maybe even some nurses and orderlies are overpaid and abuse their power. I suppose socialized medicine would cure that, the way that shooting a dog would rid it of fleas.

I simply think that the free market has way more potential for fixing problems than the federal government. As for people who don't have insurance, we should tread lightly and carefully, because some of those people CAN afford to have it. They're just waiting to see if there's a hand-out in the offing.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: The thing to remember in this phrase is that it includes two words, the first of which is ILLEGAL. We have immigration LAWS, which should either be enforced, or changed. PERIOD. If we're going to have borders, and regulate who can and cannot cross them, then we should do whatever it takes to enforce those regulations. Walls. Troops. Whatever. As for the people who came here illegally, they should be made to leave. Tough job. Gonna take a long time. Better start NOW.

Some on the far left are trying to recast this argument as one about immigration. I have nothing against people trying to come to this country. There are legal ways to do it. Use them. If you snuck in, no visa or passport, go home. Don't go to our hospitals, ask for a hand-out, or put your kids in my kids' school. GO HOME. Get a passport and a visa and drive or walk up to the border. Smile, show your paperwork, and welcome to the US of A. Call ahead, and I'll bring some sandwiches.

IRAQ: How long have people been begging God for someone to do something about the Middle East? Well, George W. Bush is finally, FINALLY doing something. And it's very good thing that we, as a nation, are trying to do. It is important that we win, not just for us, or the Iraqis, but for the rest of the middle east and for the world.

That thing is, bring a Democratically elected Republic to the middle east. Some people say that this form of government won't work in the Muslim world. They said that about Japan after World War 2. They were wrong then, and they're wrong now. As Winston Churchill once said, "Democracy is the worst form of government . . . except for all the others." Democracy CAN work in the Muslim world, just like it worked in the Buddhist/Shinto world, the Catholic world, the Protesant world, and anywhere else, because it is governing at the direct endorsement of the governed. We have a major revolution every four years, and a minor one in between. We, the people, overthrow our own government on a regular basis. This keeps us from, so far at least, getting stuck with a Hitler or Saddam Hussein because of a couple of bad days.

The United States is an ongoing experiment in this form of government. In 1776, it had never been tried. Some really intelligent people decided that it was time. So far, it's worked out pretty well. For all the problems, possibility and reality of corruption, unfairness, it's still the closest thing to a Heaven on earth that has ever existed on this world. Maybe Haliburton is running the version of it that exists in Iraq right now - and maybe they aren't - but as soon as we take our hands off it the people of Iraq can change it. Democracy works. We've got it, let's export it.

And just a quick aside on this whole "weapons of mass destruction" complaint. First of all, that was one of 14 reasons to go in, all of which were valid. And, everybody everybody EVERYBODY believed he had them. Then, thanks to the UN's dithering, we gave him fourteen months to get rid of them, which he did, in Syria. What they did with them, God only knows. President Bush can't say that, though, because we have to maintain the illusion that we're nominally allied with Syria. And that's the way it is.

WAR ON TERRORISM: It's simple. There are people in this world who have banded together against us, the USA, because we are infidels who, in their opinion, wrongly influence the world. They wish us dead. We have to stop them. Not out of hate, but because they won't stop unless we MAKE them stop. That's another reason why I support the war in Iraq; because Saddam's Iraq was a safe haven for these people.

The real question is, does America deserve to survive? If you think not, then you should join Al Qaeda. They are the strongest force currently trying to destroy us. If, on the other hand, you DO believe America deserves to survive, then you shouldn't get in the way of the people that are trying to stop our enemies from destroying us.

I'll agree that there is corruption in our government. Democrats say it's all on the Republican side, and vice versa. Both are right. At the end of the day, where else would you want to live? If, by the miracle of the internet, somebody from another country is reading this, there has to be at least some small part of you that wishes you were here. This isn't a cut on Europe or Russia or Japan or anywhere else. It is a simple statement of fact. We are the movers and shakers of the world. The poorest Americans are better off than the middle class of a lot of countries. Without us, your lives will change, and not for the better. If Al Qaeda or anybody else takes us out, you will suffer for it. Please, for your own sakes as well as ours, help us win this thing.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY:

This is not the Democratic party I grew up with. My wife is 14 years younger than me, and raised by conservative Republicans. I like joking with her that I'm old enough to remember when the liberals were right. You know, back when the issues were Vietnam and civil rights. Whatever happened to those people?

I recently read a book on the history of the Whig party, and I was amazed by how little things have changed from the 1840's. Politicians do the same dirty tricks; they're just better equipped now. The Whigs came from the remnants of the Federalists, along with the Democratic Republicans who didn't like Andrew Jackson. They were bound together less by ideals than by opposition to Jackson. That's how todays Democrats look to one who remembers Kennedy, Humphrey and McCarthy and has read a lot about FDR, Truman, and Adlai Stevenson.

Clinton, Hillary Rodham: Is there anyone who actually believes a word this person says? I'm sorry, but let's face facts; right now, this whole election is about her. 80% of the electorate has already decided what they think of her, and the main reason for holding the election is to find out which way most of them will go. We either love her, or hate her. The ones who are undecided may very well decide the outcome of the 2008 election IF she gets the nomination.

Disclaimer: I listen to many different sources for my news. I firmly believe that every news source is biased, because that is simply human nature. So, I listen to NPR, watch CNN and Fox, and also listen to conservative - and liberal, when I can find it - talk radio. I say that because I want to tell you that I heard this on Rush Limbaugh. Supposedly, Hillary's senior thesis in college was about Saul D. Alinsky. Mr. Alinsky proposed that there should be revolutionaries that sneak in the back door and change the system from inside. This suggests that Hillary is one of those. (I would refer the gentle reader to a book published around 1980 called "The Aquarian Conspiracy.") This, from a former Goldwater Girl. FYI, here's a link to the MSNBC story on the topic:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17388372/

With all due respects to Mr. Alinsky, if that's true, and if she wins, she's going to have to filter everything she wants to do through the democratically-elected congress, and the Supreme Court that was left in place by her predecessors. Don't worry, she can only do so much damage. We're America. We've put up with worse than her.

I see her as Bill Clinton with a mean streak. You may have noticed above that I ranked Bill Clinton among both the most- and least-competent presidents. That's because he really did nothing. He leaned a bit to the left, but not enough to derail the healthy economy that Reagan and Bush built. Still, it would have been nice to have someone with vision in charge. I think Hillary has vision, and she's yet to reveal it. She spouts the platitudes she thinks people want to hear, but she has a secret agenda. Her '93 health care plan revealed part of it. I believe she's a socialist, but she can only do so much.

Edwards, John: This guy should be made to watch tapes of his own stump speeches. I get the impression he's never heard anything that he himself has said. Listen up, people; he's a trial lawyer. That's how he made his money, and he's got plenty of it. He's a rich fat cat who made his money off the misery of others. His answer to everything is to surround himself with victims, and then promise to use the power of the Presidency to get back at the people who have made these victims miserable.

Obama, Barak: Nice kid. Come back when you're not so wet behind the ears. Oh, he won Iowa, and is tied with Hillary in NH? Shit, he may win. Y'know, he's a little too free with the public purse, and he sounds like a warmed-over Hubert Humphrey in his stump speeches. Even Jack Kennedy knew that if you cut taxes for the rich, they invest. Don't kill American business and send us back to the Carter years, please.

In all seriousness, the thing I'm keeping an eye peeled for is his handlers. He's a kid, as far as politicians go. He has liberal ideals, and that's not altogether bad, because I honestly believes he cares about people and thinks he's on the right track. He's enough of an idealist to be . . . acceptable, I suppose. BUT, he will need a lot of help. There are a lot of strings between the fingers of the President, and he doesn't realize yet just how many. If his handlers are crooks, then he'll be another US Grant/Warren G. Harding/Jimmy Carter. If they're people motivated by a clear vision of how the world should be, he could be the liberal George W. Bush. Which means he'll try and do idealistic things. So look out.

Richardson, Bill: Governor of New Mexico. No chance. I've heard he's strong on controlling the borders, and the gun people like him. My wife, Lynn, is seriously considering voting for him. Or Obama, just to tweak Hillary. Imus likes him too, but I think he's still backing McCain. To his credit, he's probably got the best ideas, but he's got no chance. If Iraq's an issue for you, he's promised to have our troops home within 6 months of his inauguration.

REPUBLICAN PARTY:

The Republican party has also changed. The party that nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower had a wing that followed Coolidge's dictum; the business of America is business. What's good for General Motors is good for the country. Then you had the populist wing, which was a lot more electable after the Great Depression. That wing was probably a remnant of the party that nominated Lincoln.

Barry Goldwater changed things, by codifying some new ideas on conservatism. The big business wing became the right wing. Barry may or may not have made a good president, but Ronald Reagan put a lot of his ideas to work, and work they did.

Back in '88 Newsweek printed a list of some of the subdivisions of the major parties. The one I most identified with was "God-and-country Democrats." In a nutshell, I have a social conscience, but it leads me to vote Republican. I come from New-Deal-Dem stock, and my ideals and values haven't really changed, but as time goes by I see the Republicans as having the better way.

Basically, everybody wants the same things, and all politicians promise them. Peace, prosperity, security, equality, and liberty. Gone are the days when a ruler could just decide to declare war on a whim, raise an army, and go get a whole bunch of innocent people killed. You don't like Bush? Read some European history.

Also gone are the days when one group could overtly insist on better treatment than another. I can actually remember when the public debate included topics like, were black people as good as white? Were they worthy to eat in our resturants, ride our busses, or date our girls? I know there are still people who think in such narrow terms, but they keep it to themselves.

Anyone who considers themselves a conservative in 2008 should ask themself if they could have been one in, say, 1964? 1929? 1860? Would you have thought that schools, etc. should be segregated? That big business should be allowed to manipulate the national economy, no matter what the outcome? That some people should be kept as slaves? I used to be a liberal, but guess what? We won! Progress happens.

Giuliani, Rudy: I keep coming back to this guy. I think Hillary would shred him, but we might not have to worry about that. Let's face it, the guy's got mob connections, he's been married three times, I disagree with a lot of his social positions, and his own kids aren't going to vote for him. But I might. I like his ideas on reducing the size of the federal government, and nobody else has ever paid more than lip service to the concept.

He's proven himself capable of making tough, unpopular decisions and seeing them through. Sometimes people forget that everybody in New York hated him until 9/11. He did completely turn that city around, though, in spite of all the opposition. He uprooted a lot of deeply entrenched corruption while he was there. I think the beltway dreads this man. I wish he was pro-life, but the Supreme Court's in pretty good shape.

Huckabee, Mike: Congrats on winning Iowa, Mike. You may be the guy that keeps me from voting for Romney. Not that I'm going to vote for you.

Don't get me wrong, now. I appreciate the fact that he is up front about his faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. There are two simple reasons I'm not voting for him. One is that I simply disagree with a lot of his stands. He's doing that populist thing, which means he's promising that Government will solve their problems. Government does a lot more to cause problems. Shoot, you take away his talk about his faith, and he sounds like John Edwards. Plus he's pretty weak on border security, and he doesn't really believe in the Bush doctorine.

The other reason is that competence thing. I just don't think he's got what it takes to do the job well. He'll be bound to his handlers, like Obama, and there's too many times that this simply hasn't worked out. I think he'd wind up a Republican Jimmy Carter. Mike, you're in over your head. Go home.

McCain, John: If he gets the nomination, I'll have no problem with voting for him. I think he may be the most capable candidate of either party. He will do the job expertly. I do have some serious differences with him, though. I think he's too soft on illegal immigration. I also think he'll be a little too free with the public purse.

He will strongly prosecute the war on terror, though. He will also get things done. He is probably the most capable of crossing the lines on the floor and getting people to work together. I also think he will be the most comfortable working with foreign powers. Plus, he will not be subject to his handlers. He's a leader.

Paul, Ron: No, really. Oh, okay.

Truthfully, he's got some halfway decent ideas and raises some salient points. He's right that the special interests have far too much influence over our government. I like that he thinks we should balance the federal budget, every time. In the end, I think he's pure-d-wrong about Iraq. He talks like 9/11 never happened. He's casting the Bush administration in the role of evil conquerors, and I'm sorry, but that's not the deal. There is no way on God's green earth that I would vote for this man.

Romney, Mitt: Up to last week, my most respected political confidants on the right side of the aisle were all undecided, but this man was their second choice. And, their wives were voting for him, and that's it. As of now, my wife has rejoined the ranks of the undecided, but she was trying to talk me into Mitt for the last month.

I think he'd make a pretty good president, actually. I actually find his candor regarding his changes of heart on some issues - or, as they're commonly known, flip-flops - refreshing. I especially liked his explanation in a debate regarding why he changed his stand on abortion. He said that he was for it, until the first time he had to sign a bill that allowed it. And he found he couldn't do it. He admits to being human. I'd like to see a little more of that, instead of a bunch of juggling to prove that yes was really no. I find the words "oops, sorry," from a politician to feel like a breath of fresh air.

One quick note, on the outside chance that somebody from the National media ever sees this. New Hampshire Democrats identify with their counterparts in Massachusetts, but NH Republicans consider Mass. Republicans to be just another kind of Democrats. Being from our immediate Southern neighbor is not to Mitt's advantage. And, Curt Schilling has already endorsed John McCain.

Thompson, Fred: I'm seriously tempted to vote for this guy. In a lot of ways, I like him the best. He's ignored NH, though, and will likely leave with no delegates. That didn't affect me in 2000 or 1996, when I voted for Alan Keyes. I was making a statement. Fred's hoping for a good showing on Super Tuesday. So far, that strategy's never worked. It sank Al Gore in 1988, and Jerry Brown in 1976. Fred and Rudi may find that the question is already decided, and they're left out.

As far as his stands on the issues, Fred is the John McCain that I can agree with. He's a good old-fashioned Goldwater/Reagan conservative, and I've got to tell you, it works. Confession: I was raised by FDR-New Deal liberals, but the Democratic party left me. I got out of the service just before the Carter administration and watched how the country changed under Reagan, and I'm a believer. So is Fred. But, like Reagan and George W., I also suspect he'd let the Federal Government keep growing.

GEORGE W. BUSH:

Might as well talk about him. After all, he's the fellow all these other people are anxious to replace. Good luck to them.

I think he's been an excellent president. A man of action and decision. He has, once and for all, proven the dictum of the beltway; if you want to make enemies, do something. Most politicians spend their time desperately trying NOT to do something. It's like a dance, with a lot of movement, and a lot of noise, that keeps the status quo in place. After all, things are pretty good as they are, right? Let's create the illusion of activity and call it progress.

I think that Bush spends way too much money, and that he's probably in the pocket of big oil. But, when we needed action, he provided it. He showed the UN for the dithering do-nothings that they really are and began a process that, one way or the other, will result in change. Either we will continue his work and all be the better for it, or we'll back up and the people who suffered under the status quo will continue to rise up against us.

I believe that history will be very kind to Mr. Bush. One thing it will not do is compare him to Neville Chamberlain.

TWO PEOPLE I WISH WOULD RUN:

Jerry Brown: Former Governor of California, son of Pat Brown, former Governor of California. This is the guy that Mitt Romney reminds me of when Mitt's explaining why he changed his mind. Brown had this gift as well. When California agriculture was falling victim to the gypsy moth, he refused to spray for environmental reasons. When it became clear that the people wanted it, he threw up his hands and led the charge.

He ran for the Democratic nomination in 1976 and again in 1992. In '76 he started too late, and Jimmy Carter got the jump and the nomination. Our loss. In '92 he was a dark horse that was given no chance. But he hung in there, won the Maine primary and a couple of small caucuses, and when the circus got to New York there was only him and Clinton standing.

I watched Clinton beat him, in a one-on-one debate on Phil Donohue's show. Brown is a visionary, and he would lean forward, practically rubbing his hands while describing what he perceived to be the reasons to vote for him. Clinton sat back, relaxed, and agreed with almost everything he said. The way it came off was, Brown looked like a lunatic while Clinton was polished and controlled.

The big difference is, Clinton didn't really do anything. Brown would. Check out the work he's doing as mayor of Oakland, California. Or did as Governor. He has visionary ideas on mass transit that could actually make them an acceptable alternative for people who travel by car. Granted, I certainly don't agree with all of his ideas, but he has so many that there's plenty of good ones.

Condoleeza Rice: The current Secretary of State, and a damned good one. She is brilliant. I have to admit, I don't know what any of her stands are, except for the assumption that she's in favor of President Bush's foreign policy. One thing is for sure, she's very intelligent, highly accomplished, and a super hard worker. She is the most travelled SecState in history. She has negotiated successfully with the leaders of nations where a black woman normally isn't allowed to show her face, much less represent their government in sensitive negotiations.

She is also living proof of the liberal bias of most of the American media. Remember all the acolades when Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House? Where were they when Bush named the first black woman SecState? It would have been big news if Bill Clinton had named her to the post. But he didn't. Most of his cabinet was white men.

. . . and finally . . . The President we need now:

Everybody likes invoking the names of great Presidents past. Truman, FDR, Lincoln; all great. The Republicans like calling on the spirit of Ronald Reagan. Another good choice. On tonight's debate, John Edwards compared himself to Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican. In your dreams, John. Here's three of my favorites, who don't get mentioned often enough:

Andrew Jackson: I'll grant you, he was cruel to the Indians and owned slaves, but as far as running the government he was one of the best. He had the courage of his convictions right down to the bone. He took on the Bank of the United States and its president, Nicholas Biddle, in a fight that threatened to ruin the American economy. The bank ruled the economy, and Biddle thought he ran the country. Jackson refused to re-sign the bank's charter, which came up every five years. He thought it was too much power in one man's hands.

Biddle proved him right by immediately calling in all its loans on businesses and farms. By the time he got through squeezing, public opinion was firmly behind Jackson. I think about this every time I hear anything coming out of the Federal Reserve. People thank Bill Clinton for the good economy of the 90's. They should thank Allan Greenspan, and then thank God that Greenspan liked Clinton. He didn't like George H. W. Bush, and so he engineered a little recession in time for the '92 election. It's amazing what you can do over the short-term with a little adjustment to the prime interest rate. Yeah, a little of Ol' Hickory would be nice.

John McCain strikes me as the candidate that has this kind of moral strength, and possibly Fred Thompson and Rudi Giuliani.

Grover Cleveland: This man made his reputation as a reformer while Governor of New York. Under his administration, the size of the federal government actually shrunk. It may have been the last time, to date. He ticked off so many people with his unwavering frugality he got beat out of a second term. His replacement, Benjamin Harrison, was so incompetent that Cleveland got reelected the next time around.

Rudy Guliani's simple but effective plan for reducing the size of the federal government reminds me of Grover.

Woodrow Wilson: Wilson was the whole package; a visionary who could stand on the ground and get things done. If the allies who won the First World War had followed his 14 points, we might well have avoided the Second World War. As it went, France and England insisted on cruel retribution in the old-fashioned style, and the League of Nations went the way of the Articles of Confederation. He was a man ahead of his time.

I think Jerry Brown could be that kind of president.

If you're lucky, that'll be all I have to say on politics for a very long time. Pop the champagne, and don't forget to vote. And while you're at it, lie to the pollsters at every opportunity.