Unless you live under a rock, you probably have heard of the hip-hop/rap musical "Hamilton" by Lin-Manuel Miranda and the oft-forgotten Jeremy Carter that open on Broadway a few years ago. It was an instant hit and rightfully so. The show is based on the biography of Alexander Hamilton by historian Ron Chernow and a very detailed, dense read. The show has been so popular that tickets in NY were not only hard to come by, but have become so outrageously expensive that only the very wealthy can afford to see it. To the credit of the producers who jacked the price up to over $800 in January, they assuage their guilt by offering free tickets to public school students and teachers. Frankly, anything that gets anyone interested in our national history is okay by me.And they did manage to help pressure the Treasury Department to keep Hamilton on the $10 bill. Treasury changed their minds and decided that slave-owner Andrew Jackson should be replaced by Harriet Tubman.
I finally had the opportunity to see "Hamilton" this weekend in Chicago. I won't bore you with a review, but it was worth going to Chicago to see it. I would never have paid NYC ticket prices to see it, partly because I could never afford it and partly because I am always skeptical of over-the-top popularity of any show. It was entertaining. Let's just leave it at that.
Now on to other stuff.
The big question is will the Senate vote to approve Neil Gorsuch as our next Supreme Court Justice with 60 votes? Will the Democrats filibuster as promised because it shoulda' been Obama's nominee Merrick Garland? Will the Republican execute Harry Reid's "nuclear option", and then vote to approve Gorsuch with 51 votes? We all wait breathlessly for the outcome! I am not really understanding why the Dems are choosing this as their "Waterloo". As always, Dems are short-sighted in that if they manage to force McConnell into the nuclear option, they will not only lose the filibuster, but get Gorsuch anyway. And then next time, they risk having Trump nominate someone they really won't like who will be approved without the ability to challenge. Justice Kennedy is 80 years old and Justice Ginsburg is 84 yrs old. The Dems only hope is impeachment, but then they forget that VP Pence takes over, not Clinton.
Any comments or other issues?
I finally had the opportunity to see "Hamilton" this weekend in Chicago. I won't bore you with a review, but it was worth going to Chicago to see it. I would never have paid NYC ticket prices to see it, partly because I could never afford it and partly because I am always skeptical of over-the-top popularity of any show. It was entertaining. Let's just leave it at that.
Now on to other stuff.
The big question is will the Senate vote to approve Neil Gorsuch as our next Supreme Court Justice with 60 votes? Will the Democrats filibuster as promised because it shoulda' been Obama's nominee Merrick Garland? Will the Republican execute Harry Reid's "nuclear option", and then vote to approve Gorsuch with 51 votes? We all wait breathlessly for the outcome! I am not really understanding why the Dems are choosing this as their "Waterloo". As always, Dems are short-sighted in that if they manage to force McConnell into the nuclear option, they will not only lose the filibuster, but get Gorsuch anyway. And then next time, they risk having Trump nominate someone they really won't like who will be approved without the ability to challenge. Justice Kennedy is 80 years old and Justice Ginsburg is 84 yrs old. The Dems only hope is impeachment, but then they forget that VP Pence takes over, not Clinton.
Any comments or other issues?
21 comments:
I think that I will pass on seeing hip-hop Hamilton
In the era of wave elections 'willing to work with the opposition' is written on many a political tombstone. It's only sensible to work with the opposition on the ever diminishing list of nonpartisan issues and the SC rules on everything.
The hope of the Democrats is not impeachment but reacquiring enough of the legislature to block judicial nominees.
Bev, Hamilton is wildly popular at my daughter's middle school... the freaks. ;)
I think Gorsuch... gesundheit... gets through. The Dems will probably force the GOP to go nuclear, but they are mistaken if they think the public cares.
Some interesting news the past couple days...
It looks like O'Reilly is doomed. I can't say I care (the man's an ass), but I find it amazing that this environment existed at FOX without anyone calling anyone on it. FOX has become a real embarrassment.
Trump derangement continues unabated. This week has been full of nastiness aimed at his kids and gleeful promises to arrest all of his associates (they frenzy should reach the death camps level around December). Tons of hypocrisy too. Even when he does what the deranged claim he should, they freak out. That just proves their opinions are worthless in the public debate. No surprise.
I am starting to worry about a war with North Korea (and everyone). China seems to be getting worried about it too and is trying to calm North Korea unsuccessfully.
Pepsi el-crappoed the bed by trying to exploit the issues of the perpetually aggrieved to sell sodas. Bad move. Those people hate corporations... hate soda... hate 16 oz containers... and hate that their issues gets exploited by anyone but them!!! Kendell Jenner seems to be taking the heat for Pepsi, as if she wrote and directed the ad. Idiots. Anyways, look for Kendell to very soon recall that she was molested by a bully because of her eating disorder when she was a fat child with body issues.
Oh, and Ann Hathaway doesn't know why everybody hated her a few years ago, but it's ok f*ckers, she's prepared to ignore it now.
I've never understood the appeal of O'Reilly. Lots of people have told me they like him because he doesn't take a party-line on every single issue, and I see that. However, he seems to only step out of line in order to remain consistently on the wrong side of everything.
Frankly, I wouldn't be shocked in Ginsberg has 30 more years in her. She just seems to be of that wiry, deathless sort.
Andrew, Trump Derangement Syndrome should reach death camp levels by December? I'll say by July 4th. We'll be deluged with stories of "real" patriots etc,etc, ad nauseum. And tryanmax 'm with you. I quit watching O'Reilly the morning after the 2010 congressional election. The election was essentially a referendum on Obamacare and the dems lost control of the House of Representatives. Dennis Miller was set to be on O'Reilly and I was watching to see what he had to say. Miller's a witty and insightful guy and I wanted to hear his take on the election results. The interview went something like this;
O'Reilly "MILLEEEEEERRRR" What do think about last nights election results?"
Miller - "Well,Bill I-
O'Reilly "HERE"ES WHAT I THINK MILLER blah yada blah, etc. It went like that for the whole segment and I'm not embellishing, Dennis never finished a whole sentence. Bill's an ass.
GypsyTyger
O'Reilly seemed past his expiration date awhile ago, long before he started "Killing ______" books. Then again, I've been chopping FNC shows from my DirecTV queue ever since Gutfeld exited RedEye (which I think wouldn't have been cancelled had they chosen TV's Andy Levy as GG's successor), and Andrea Tanteros started morphing into Outnumbered's version of O'Reilly, snottily shouting down anyone who disagreed with her.
Re. Hamilton, I was more inclined to see it before they bullied VP-elect Pence post-season. I'll take FX's sadly cancelled Sex & Drugs & Rock & Doll's parody of it anyway: https://youtu.be/5AAFAL9dyYQ
Hey, don't get me wrong, Hamilton is worth the price of a not very expensive ticket. the cast was great! Actually Wayne Brady played Aaron Burr and I was thrilled. Love him! It ahs great music (that can get monotonous/tedious) that speaks to students, the choreography is wonderful, and the other production values are top-notch. But...it was not THAT fabulous that I walked away with a song in my heart dancing down the street. Btw, I expect there will be movie/musical that will come out it...I can just feel it coming.
My one big gripe is they kept referring to Hamilton as a poor "immigrant". He was neither.
Oh dear they finally got Bill O'Reilly! MSNBC must be thrilled that they are taking down Fox News so easily. Now they can spin their narrative anyway they want with no one to stop them. HAIL MSNBC!
I am/was no fan of O'Reilly though I did watch him in the Obamacare "debates". He came of the scene for me during the Clinton impeachment hearings, so the irony is well ironic. I don't care, but this is one of those moments that always baffles me. If he et al. were so egregiously sexual harassing/assaulting female co-workers why didn't anyone say anything before now? I am really getting tired of it. It's politically motivated anyway...
See, this is why Mike Pence doesn't dine alone with women not his wife or attend parties with alcohol without her too. It is all fun and games until the accusations and lawsuits start flying and it's "Your word against mine".
Oh, I think that the Republicans have gone "nuclear"...maybe.
There's probably a reason you don't see Ruth Bader Ginsberg out in the sunlight....
I would love to see Hamilton, one of my favorite historical characters.
As to the Dims.....Nuke'em till they glow...
OT: Don Rickles passed away to day at the age of 90. He was truly one of kind and one of my favorite comedians.
Don Rickles at Reagan's Inauguration
A friend of mine is a limo driver in Atlantic City, he said Rickles was the nicest, sweetest, and gentlest person he ever met in 30 years as a driver.
Don Rickles is someone I will miss. RIP
GypsyTyger, The moment I said December, I thought, "Uh, way too long. Some already need straight jackets."
On O'Reilly, I always took him for just being a smug cynic who used his position as host to bully his guests. He never struck me as insightful or clever or even principled. I couldn't even honestly tell you if he's left or right in the real world.
tryanmax and Critch, I'm liking the vampire theory. LOL!
Critch - Of course Rickles was the nicest person. Everyone KNEW he was joking. No real jerk would get away with his kind of humor and last as long as he did in a brutal Vegas environment. The Mob woulda' takin' him out years ago. I am sure he was generous to a fault too.
Oh, by the way, Trump has just ordered and launched missiles on Syria just in case anyone was watching...
I support the Syria strike (which seeks to deter the use of chemical weapons) and hope things play out the way Trump wants them to. As I've said before, international relations is kind of like herding cats.
Its almost certainly cheaper for Syria to use conventional bombs than chemical weapons, so the use of chemical weapons in such a high profile manner was Syria and its backer Russia testing Trump.
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