Saturday, September 21, 2024

California Dreamin': The True Story of the Mamas and the Papas



Kamala Harris is going to be our next president.  

And I'd be writing about that but it's my turn at doing the book review.  

I picked my book because of my wife.  I like and read a lot of fiction.  She likes books about music -- music criticism, books about certain musical eras, biographies of musical artists, etc.  

In the years we've been together, I've never known her to not finish a book.  Then came Papa John.  This was a book by John Phillips and Jim Jerome.  And Jim Jerome.  I add that because my wife kept going to Wikipedia to figure out when the hell the book was going to get interesting and she discovered that Crapapedia (as Ava and C.I. dubbed it long, long ago) credited the book solely to John Phillips.

He wrote it like the drug addict he was -- according to my wife -- meandering and dull.

She couldn't believe that someone who had been part of the musical scene in the sixties would write such a dull book and spend over 100 pages on his very dull life before The Mamas and the Papas.

At one point,, she finally gave up.  And then she read Michelle Phillips' California Dreamin': The True Story of the Mamas and the Papas which she loved and begged me to read as well.

The things we do for love . . . the things we do for love.

But seriously, Michelle's book was a joy to read.  

She does write about life before the Mamas and the Papas but her life -- unlike John's -- actually was interesting.  Moving to Mexico as a child, being part of the San Francisco scene during the age of Lenny Bruce.  These stories are so much more interesting that John and whatever crush he pretends not to have at the military academy.  

And then she meets John and together with future screenwriter Marshall Brickman they become a musical group and then Denny Doherty comes into orbit and, the first time she ever took LSD, Cass Elliot.

John, Michelle, Denny and Cass -- the Mamas and the Papas.  They become a folk rock group -- they are pioneering folk rock artists.  They are a huge success -- 16 of their 17 singles make Billboard's top 100 on the pop chart -- the one that didn't?  "Go Where You Wanna Go" -- their first single which was only out briefly because "California Dreanin'" was quickly released and "Go Where You Wanna Go" was pulled.  Of the 16 songs that did chart, ten went top forty, six of the ten went top ten.

They had 'one' number one.  "Monday, Monday" -- that's what Crapapedia tells you.  I was talking about the book with C.I. and she explained the group has two number ones.  I'm going to save that for when I discuss the book with Ava and C.I.

Don't e-mail before then to say that's wrong.  It's not.  

And don't say "Monday Monday" is their biggest hit because it's not -- although it is recognized as a number one hit.

Michelle writes about John waking her up in the middle of the night when writing songs -- like when he 'wrote' "Autumn Leaves." That's a Nat King Cole song.  He was impressed with what he'd written and it was left to Michelle to explain to him that the song already existed.  One night, he was writing what became "California Dreamin'" and he was stuck.  So he woke her up and they wrote it together.  Not a big surprise, it was her story.  He was from the east.  She was the California kid.



They are the hippies.  They are rock.  And they're one of the biggest groups in music.  Michelle's married to John.  Cass has had a crush on Denny for years -- predates them being in the band together.  Michelle and Denny end up having an affair while the four of them live together in the same house.  John forgives Denny but never really Michelle.

At one point, while John's sleeping with Mia Farrow and a singer in a Motown group (I don't advance hateful dogs who lie and try to tear apart others -- this piece of trash spread lies about Diana Ross for years and was the main source for and egged on of Call Her Miss Ross -- a book the author taken in by the liar now disowns) among many others when Michelle has an affair with Gene Clark of The Byrds.  John and Denny are living in a bachelor pad during this time period.  But Michelle gets fired for it.

Cass is pissed at Michelle still for having slept with Denny and tells her she wouldn't piss on her if she was on fire.  Michelle confronts them and tells them she'll bury them all.

And, indeed, she will end up the last living Mama and Papa.

But John's convinced that he's the group and that they can survive without Michelle.  They don't.  They bring in the witch who left Jan of Jan & Dean after the accident that nearly killed him.  Audiences boo her and John's forced to invite Michelle back.

The hits keep coming.


That's one of their biggest hits.  In fact, it's a bigger hit than "Monday Monday."  It went to number two one week, yes.  "Monday, Monday" went to number one for a week.  But "Dedicated To The One I Love" was the bigger hit.  Again, we'll discuss it at Third in the book discussion.

"Creeque Alley" -- another song written by Michelle & John -- was another top ten hit.  

Michelle co-wrote six songs the band recorded and she wrote a seventh song by herself that the band recorded.  She notes that she couldn't understand why Cass -- who had the talent to -- never wrote a song with John.  It was due to the tensions.  Read John's book and that's clear as is his jealousy of Cass.  

Cass ends up pregnant and Michelle ends up pregnant and that's part of the rebirth of their friendship.  Also the fact that Cass is encouraging Michelle not to ever be John's doormat.  Michelle notes how Cass was liberated at a time when few were.

Michelle writes a lively and joyful book.  She doesn't call out her brief replacement (I will) and she finds so many wonderful and fun memories to share.  It's a great book and one I strongly recommend if you're interested in the time period or interested in music in general or a fan of the group.

You'll learn about the first rock music festival -- Monterey Pop -- which Lou Adler and Michelle and John put together.  You'll learn about the fun they had on the road and in their own plane.  

 
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, September 20, 2024. Oprah hosts a powerful townhall for Kamala Harris, Donald Trump's best buds Mark Robinson and Robert Kennedy Junior are both caught in scandals of their own making.





Yesterday in Michigan, Democratic Party presidential nominee Kamala Harris sat down with Oprah Winfrey and hundreds of others.  Betty's dubbed it "Oprah's townhall for Kamala" and it was strong and powerful.  

There was joy and hope throughout the conversation.  Meryl Streep, participating via ZOOM, brought up a key issue: We do our work, we vote, we get out the vote and then what?  What happens when Donald Trump refuses to abide by the vote?  What happens on January 6th?  7th?  8th?

Kamala explained that not only were there legal preparations in place, there were also Americans.  A natural revulsion had set in to January 6th and the country wouldn't stand for a repeat of 2020.

And the revulsion is felt not just by Democrats.  Independents and Republicans feel it as well -- as do non-political people.  That's why Republicans are endorsing her for president.

It's not about signing off on every one of her policy proposals or even on one policy proposal in some cases.  It's about saving our country and protecting our democracy.  And it's about coming together as a people and working together for a greater good. "Unite For America" was the name of the event for that reason.


A powerful moment was when they addressed Donald Trump's appointment of three liars to the Supreme Court and the overturning of ROE V WADE.  "I want you to know," Shanette Williams declared speaking about her daughter Amber Nicole Thurman, "that Amber was not a statistic."  Ebony Davis and Fredreka Schouten (CNN) report:

             A discussion of reproductive rights included Hadley Duvall, an abortion rights advocate who was raped and impregnated by her stepfather when she was 12 – as well as members of the family of Amber Nicole Thurman, a Georgia mother who ProPublica reported died in 2022 from a treatable infection due to delays to her medical care stemming from the state’s restrictive abortion law.

Shanette, Thurman’s mother, spoke publicly about the case for the first time during Thursday’s livestream, saying, “Initially, I did not want the public to know my pain.”

“I wanted to go through in silence, but I realized that it was selfish. I want you to know, Amber was not a statistic, she was loved by a family, a strong family,” she added.

Harris, who is set to travel to Georgia on Friday to deliver remarks on women’s reproductive rights, apologized to Thurman’s family.

“I’m just so sorry,” the vice president said. “And the courage that you all have shown is extraordinary, because also you just learned about how it is that she died. … And Amber’s mom shared with me that the word over and over again in her mind, is preventable. Preventable. That word keeps coming to her.”

 

Abené Clayton and Lois Beckett (GUARDIAN) also note that section of the conversation:


Also in attendance were the mother and sisters of Amber Nicole Thurman, a woman who died after failing to receive prompt medical care in 2022 when she experienced complications from taking abortion pills, just weeks after Georgia’s abortion ban went into effect. A recent report deemed her the first “preventable” death to be confirmed as a result of Georgia’s ban.

Her family blamed Donald Trump and his supreme court picks for her death. “They just let her die because of some stupid abortion ban. They treated her like she was just another number,” Thurman’s older sister said of the medical professionals she had turned to for help.

“You’re looking at a mother who is broken,” Thurman’s mother said, through tears. “It’s the worst pain that a parent could ever feel. I want you all to know that Amber was not a statistic. She was loved by a strong family and we would have done whatever to get our baby the help that she needed. Women around the world need to know that this was preventable.”


Another powerful moment took place when the issue of school shootings took place.  Kamala spoke about how she'd been addressing college students and tech school students this year and would ask, at the start, for a show of hands to determine how many had participated in an active shooting drill?  She noted that this wasn't normal and shouldn't be treated as though it was.  She spoke of growing up with fire drills and, because she grew up in California, earthquake drills.  But shooting drills?

Ebony Davis and Fredreka Schouten (CNN) report:

Harris and the livestream audience also heard from 15-year-old Natalie Griffith, a student from Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, who was shot twice during a campus attack earlier this month.

Natalie, who had a cast on her left arm, was joined by her parents, Marilda and Doug, who demanded more action. “We have a job, that job is to protect our children,” an impassioned Marilda Griffith said. “We have to stop it.”

Harris, who discussed owning a gun during her recent debate with Trump, reiterated Thursday that she believes it is a “false choice” to suggest someone is either in favor of the Second Amendment or wants to take everyone’s guns away.     


Aaron Navarro (CBS NEWS) types:

The parents of Natalie Griffith, a 15-year-old injured in the deadly Apalachee High School shooting earlier this month in Winder, Georgia, spoke. Griffith's mother, Marilda, made an emotional plea for a "change to be made" to address gun violence. Her father, Doug — who noted that he was not a registered Democrat — called for metal detectors to be placed inside schools. 

Harris did not explicitly say if she agreed with the call for metal detectors, but said "we just need to apply common sense." She repeated her calls for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks. When Winfrey made note of Harris being a gun owner, as she revealed in prior campaigns and repeated in her debate with Trump, Harris said that "if somebody breaks into my house, they're getting shot."

 

Doug?  Doug's response -- messed up by Aaron Navarro -- was that this was a common sense issue.  Kamala, when she spoke of that, noted her agreement with Doug that this was basic and common sense.  I don't know whether she thinks metal detectors are part of that approach or not but it does Doug a disservice for CBS to report it that way.  And Doug's argument there was that metal detectors weren't always in courthouses but we have them there now, they weren't always in airports but we have them now.  

Marilda Griffith spoke about getting a call at work asking if she'd heard about the shooting at her daughter's school.  She hadn't.  She spoke of how her heart dropped, how she had to rush out of work, how she was praying the whole time and then she can't get near the school and has to walk a few miles to get there because it's blocked off.  And the whole time she's living in fear that her daughter's dead.


FOX 5 ATLANTA notes:


Natalie, still wearing bandages, was accompanied on either side by her parents, Doug and Marilda. She was visibly fighting back emotions as she described being injured in the school shooting.  

"Oprah, before that thing, that video, I was very happy, I still am very happy to be here and to tell my story to tell what happened because it was a terrible thing," she said. "And it should have not... um..." The teen trailed off in emotion and reflection.  

Natalie was in an algebra class when the shooting started. She was shot twice.  

She pointed to the spots on her arm and wrist where she was shot. She was also grazed across the chest.  

"I've had intruder drills and fire drills and stuff," the teen said, but added that they had not yet had one at Apalachee that year. She said she wasn't even sure where to go when it happened.  


Marilda noted that her daughter was wounded but she was alive; however, some students and teachers were killed in the shooting. In terms of national outlets,  Erica L. Green (NEW YORK TIMES) does a strong job covering this exchange: 


Also in the crowd at the forum, held outside Detroit, was Natalie Griffith, a 15-year-old student who was shot twice in algebra class by a classmate during a campus attack on Sept. 4 at Apalachee High School, also in Georgia. Her mother, Marilda Griffith, sobbed telling the story of how that day unfolded.

“The whole world needs to hear that we women, that have our children — we have a job,” Ms. Griffith said. “That job is to protect our children. That job is to protect our nation.”

Ms. Harris agreed, citing the “bone-chilling” sight of a sea of students raising their hands when, on tours across the country, she asks if they have participated in active-shooter drills. 


There were many other strong moments.  Stream it if you haven't already.  This morning, WIRED has posted a Kamala video.



Let's move across the aisle now to find out what's going on in the world of MAGA.  Here's Ronny Chieng on THE DAILY SHOW last night.




Yes, Moms for Bigotry and Donald Trump suffered a big loss yesterday when their dream boat Mark Robinson got exposed for the liar he is.  Alex Bollinger (LGBTQ NATION) explained yesterday:


Rumors have been spreading today that Republican North Carolina gubernatorial candidate and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson – known for his bombastically extreme anti-LGBTQ+ statements – is dropping out of the 2024 gubernatorial election less than 50 days before Election Day because a CNN story with numerous new accusations is about to be published.
Those accusations include him allegedly peeping in women’s locker rooms when he was a student at North Carolina A&T State University, saying he wanted to own slaves, and saying in online forums that he enjoyed pornography featuring transgender models, according to North Carolina journalist Bryan Anderson.
[. . .]
The Carolina Journal reported earlier today that unnamed sources told them that Robinson is being pressured by campaign staff and the Trump-Vance campaign to drop out of the election due to a scandal “that involves activity on adult websites in the 2000s.” The paper notes that today is the last day candidates are allowed to withdraw from the election under North Carolina law but that it’s too late for his name to not appear on ballots.

Instead of doing the right thing and stepping aside so that another bigot could be found to run in his place, Robinson elected to pull his long standing ploy: Deny, deny, deny. 


Robinson's past antisemitic comments have drawn scrutiny and condemnation.[16][47] Prior to running for lieutenant governor, he frequently made Facebook posts that invoked antisemitic stereotypes and downplayed the harms of Nazism.[48][49] He claimed that the Marvel movie Black Panther was "created by an agnostic Jew and put to film by satanic Marxists" that was "only created to pull the shekels out of your Schvartze pockets" (using a Yiddish word for "black people").[14][13] Robinson also appeared at an interview with fringe pastor Sean Moon, who claimed that he planned to become "king of the United States"; in the interview, Moon claimed that the Rothschild family was one of the "four horsemen of the apocalypse" and promoted the antisemitic conspiracy theory of a cabal of Jewish "international bankers" that rule every country's central bank. Robinson endorsed Moon's claim as "exactly right".[47] Robinson's statements, as well as his refusal to apologize for or retract them, drew much concern from the leaders of North Carolina's Jewish community,[16] as well as criticism from the Jewish Democratic Council of America and the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC).[48] Robinson declined to publicly apologize for any of his remarks, although he said he privately apologized to local Jewish leaders in a meeting in 2021.[48] In 2022, Robinson said that his Facebook post about Black Panther was "the only time I've ever apologized for anything I put on Facebook" and said "I knew the truth of what I was trying to say, but I should have chosen different words."[35]

In October 2023, after Hamas attacked Israel, Robinson said he supported Israel and, when asked about his past antisemitic comments, said "I've never been antisemitic...There have been some Facebook posts that were poorly worded on my part, did not convey my real sentiments, and I have addressed those issues and moved on from those issues."[50] When asked if he apologized, Robinson said, "I apologize for the word — not necessarily for the content, but we apologize for the wording."[50] Robinson's opponents in the gubernatorial election questioned the sincerity of the apology and called his prior statements hate speech and antisemitism.[8][50]

In September 2024, CNN reported that Robinson had allegedly used antisemitic slurs on various porn forums from 2008-2012.[17]

Holocaust denial

In March 2023, more of Robinson's past social-media statements emerged, including Facebook posts appearing to call the figure of 6 million Jews perishing in the Holocaust into question;[49] for example, Robinson wrote: "this foolishness about Hitler disarming MILLIONS of Jews and then marching them off to concentration camps is a bunch of hogwash,"[7] and "There is a REASON the liberal media fills the airwaves with programs about the NAZI and the '6 million Jews' they murdered."[49] Both Democrats and Republicans criticized Robinson's statements.[48][7]



He's trashed the LGBTQ+ community repeatedly and especially transgender people but he gets off watching transgender porn.

Everything he's publicly railed against?  He's a fake ass.  Not unlike JD Vance who rails against LGBTQ+ people and drag queens while wearing more eyeliner than anyone since the Cleopatra look took off in the early sixties.  JD Vance also pretends to be deeply religious but how could someone deeply religious convert to a faith without his wife and children -- a religion that leaves them behind.  Like the founder of Moms For Bigotry Bridget Ziegler who was actually getting in bed with women (sometimes bringing her husband along although the woman's texts we've seen make it clear that she and Bridget had a stronger bond with Bridget's husband), Mark Robinson preached hate and attacked while secretly living the life he railed against.

He's a fake, he's a liar and he's misled supporters.  Instead of taking one for the team, he's decided he can lie his way out of this.   Megan Lebowitz (NBC NEWS) reports:
 

Less than 24 hours after CNN published a bombshell report on comments that it said Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina, made on a pornographic website, the Democratic National Committee unveiled new advertisements linking him to former President Donald Trump.

The DNC plans to launch a new digital advertisement and nearly a dozen billboards highlighting how Trump has praised Robinson, who is North Carolina's lieutenant governor, according to a source familiar with the matter and a news release by DNC regional press secretary Kenny Palmer. NBC News was the first to report the new ad push.

By linking Trump to Robinson, Democrats hope to cut into Trump's support in the state, which a Democratic presidential candidate has not won since 2008.



Robinson is linked not to just to Donald Trump but to MAGA itself.  As Elaine noted last night:

I don't think anyone considers Marjorie Taylor Greene a good judge of anything.  However, let me note this video.  The man involved is, according to MTG, "a man of high character."




Here's MEDIA MATTERS on Mark Robinson:


Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson is reportedly facing calls to drop out of his race due to an impending bombshell story that could torpedo his candidacy. Some of Robinson's biggest supporters have been prominent right-wing media figures, including people Donald Trump Jr., Dan Bongingo, and Charlie Kirk. 

Robinson is a right-wing commentator who became lieutenant governor of North Carolina in January 2021. He has a history of toxic remarks, including about women and LGBTQ people. 

Media Matters previously uncovered that Robinson claimed in 2018 that Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby were victims of a left-wing “plot” to destroy them for their “so-called sexual crimes.” Robinson also called on his followers to “stand up against” the supposed “plot to build up a climate of fear, to shut people's mouths.” Media Matters also reported that he said mass shootings are “karma” for allowing abortion.

Despite his well-known history of extremist remarks, Robinson has gotten support from numerous Republicans. That list includes former President Donald Trump, who endorsed him by claiming he’s “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

Since Robinson began running for governor last year, numerous right-wing media figures have endorsed him with strong praise. Here is a look at those remarks prior to today's reporting about Republicans urging him to leave the race.

Donald Trump Jr. said “we need more” people like Robinson who are “not afraid to say” what they’re thinking. During his Rumble show, Trump Jr. said that he likes Robinson and he’s a “good guy, funny guy, not afraid to say what he is thinking, which I think we need more of.” 

Eric Trump: “Amazing, amazing, amazing guy. Amazing guy. … Mark is a wonderful person, a wonderful guy. A person I’ve gotten to know very, very well. And I think not only are we going to win the state, I think he’s going to win the state.” 


 MAGA is shorthand for?  Liar.


They lie.  They attack others because it helps them lie.  And when it all comes out and they could help their bigoted team, they instead refuse to step aside and instead make it all about themselves.  










Donald and his boys can't work together because they hate each other and, most of all, they hate themselves.


Did someone say Junior?

Another MAGA boi takes a hit.  Khaleda Rahman (NEWSWEEK) reports that, through a spokesperson, Junior is denying an entanglement.  They do love to lie, don't they?  Aaron Johnson (RADAR) notes:

The star political reporter at the center of the love triangle involving one-time presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy and his Curb Your Enthusiasm star wife Cheryl Hines copped to an inappropriate relationship — but has insisted it was all an online fling.

In declaring the relationship was never physical, New York magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi, 31, admitted that "the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal" in a statement issued late Thursday night.



Nuzzi said in a statement to The New York Times on Thursday, without elaborating on the exact nature of their relationship, that "some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal" earlier this year.

She said that despite having covered the subject previously she did not report on him directly during this time.

"The relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict. I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I’ve disappointed, especially my colleagues at New York," she said.

NBC News reached out to Nuzzi overnight for comment.

While neither Nuzzi or New York Magazine named the reporting subject, both CNN and the New York Times have reported that it was Kennedy.


The truth always tends to come out and Donald hangs with a lot of creeps and liars because they remind him of himself.  You gotta wonder though, is it really worth it for Junior?  He had a level of respect until recently.  

When he declared Sirhan Sirhan was not the killer of his father, even people who thought the assertion was insanity made a point to listen to Junior because they regarded him with some level of respect.  No longer.  In Junior's mind right now, he's probably got a new conspiracy theory going -- this one where the CIA took him out as an authentic voice, that it was all The Agency's doing.  Of course, that would mean the first person he'd have to rethink was his own daughter-in-law and he'd have to wonder did she really leave the CIA?  

While he goes crazy ass trying to harness some nut job theory onto this latest disgrace, let's keep it simple.  A lot of stuff he did, a lot of us looked the other way.  We felt sorry for him in some cases.  But then nut job proved he was not deserving of sympathy and that he'd destroy our country.

That's why, for example, Ava and I noted on August 28th:

A mutual friend of Junior's had told us earlier in the week about the call that was put in.  Was he making a mistake if he endorsed Donald Trump?  Yes, the friend told him.  


"It was so different from the call a decade ago," he explained.  "That time it was him asking if he should marry Cheryl [Hines] and my yes answer got a lot more push back."


Indeed.


Junior raised the issue of Cheryl's name value (not as high as he wanted) and her "horse face" and the dangling boob that was smaller than the other and -- Well, let's leave it there.  We don't want to be unnecessarily cruel.  Besides we had to jog his memory on the fourth complaint Junior had about Cheryl, he'd forgotten.


We hadn't because Junior made four calls that time, to four trusted friends, who'd repeated the story over the years.  Three of them didn't think the marriage would last five years and that Junior would leave her.  Fortunately for Cheryl, with her, he just cheats and, but "she gives him time, [he] makes it back home." That was from another man he called about whether or not he should marry Cheryl.  When we found out he'd called at least one about both (whether to marry Cheryl, whether to endorse Donald), we decided to check and see if he'd called all four.

Junior's used the campaign to cat around -- there have been multiple women he's had entanglements with over the last 18 months.  And don't feel sorry for Cheryl.  She could have left him when he endorsed Donald and announced he'd be taking a job in a Trump administration.  If she'd have walked then, the story would have been that politics busted up their happy marriage.  Instead, the world's finding out differently.  She chose to be a doormat.  She was aware he was cheating . And she kept taking him back and looking the other way.

She had no love for her country -- that would have led her to rebuke his choice of embracing Donald Trump.  But she also had no self-respect.

Now the world sees what a charade the marriage was and how a desperate and pathetic Cheryl was willing to do anything -- and endure anything -- to stay married to him.

And, for the record, Junior, we're not done with you yet.  There are more leaks to come.




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