Howard Cosell, back in the day when he was alive, and a commentator on boxing matches and Monday Night Football in its initial incarnation, used to say of some athletes that "there's no quit in him." He meant that as a compliment, I'm pretty sure, but often it was applied to some poor soul who was getting the living shit kicked out of him but didn't know enough to say "enough."
I was put in mind of that this week when Sen. Ted Cruz, (R-TX) spent more than 21 hours on the floor of the Senate talking against the Affordable Care Act. Well, that was ostensibly what he was doing; what's more likely is that he was just doing some product placement for the "Cruz 2016 Presidential Campaign" while pandering to the Tea Partiers who form the base of his support.
His appearance became at least partly A Tale of Two Teds when, for reasons known only to him, Cruz included in his appearance a reading of Green Eggs And Ham. Poor Ted Geisel must have been spinning in his grave. The man who commented on environmental degradation in The Lorax, on the folly of the Cold War in The Better Butter Battle, who let his Lefty Flag fly again and again, could hardly be expected to give his blessing to his work being used, in whatever weird and obscure way, by those whose ideals he clearly opposed. At least Springsteen was around to defend himself when the Reagan campaign tried to co-opt "Born In The USA" for their own uses. Dr. Seuss has unfortunately moved on to another plane; who's gonna defend the uses of his legacy, never mind write the book that puts the whole Tea Party vs. Affordable Care battle into perspective?
Affordable Care: It's the law, written by the House, approved by both Houses of Congress, signed into law by the president, upheld by the Tea Party-packed Supreme Court. It's over, they lost, it's time to move on, right? Well, apparently there's no quit in those folks. They still characterize it as a "bill," they threaten to shut down the government if it's not de-funded or at least postponed. I thought that Ed Markey (D-MA), the Senate's newest member, elected to fill John Kerry's seat when Kerry became Secretary of State, got off the best line: "It's like a city suing to cancel the World Series because their team didn't make it in."
First they debate an empty chair at their convention, then they read Dr. Seuss to repeal an existing law. And Cruz is supposed to be one of the bright hopes: a handsome (in that heavy-lidded, Bob Mitchum/Elvis Presley mode) Latino, gonna bridge the gap and take the R's to another demographic. Oy; since there doesn't seem to be any quit--or shame--in them, I'll try to put it there this week, Tuesday from noon till two on wool.fm. Here's the playlist:
Debaser Pixies
Teddy The Toad Count Basie
Teddy Boy Paul McCartney
What A Shame Steely Dan
What A Shame Mose Allison
We Oughta Be Ashamed Johnny Cash/Elvis Costello
Shameful Winterpills
Shameless Billy Joel
Shame, Shame, Shame Danny Kalb
Shame On You Indigo Girls
Shame The Motels
Low Down Dirty Shame Pinetop Perkins
It's A Shame About Him Jesse Winchester
It's A Shame Crash Test Dummies
It's A Shame Bruce Springsteen
It's A Plain Shame Peter Frampton
It's A Crying Shame Etta James
For Shame Of Doing Wrong Richard & Linda Thompson
Cryin' Shame Lyle Lovett
Ain't That A Shame Cheap Trick
Ain't That A Shame Moby Grape
Ain't That A Shame Fats Domino
Ain't No Shame Rory Block
Sea Cruise Jerry Lee Lewis
Cruise Control Mose Allison
Midnite Cruiser Steely Dan
Burning Down The House Talking Heads
Isn't It A Shame Phoebe Snow
Shame, Shame, Shame Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Bet it won't work.
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