SUGGESTED READING LIST ~ NOV 6, 2016

*** QUOTE OF THE DAY ***

November 6, 2016

“The left needs to acknowledge what the right has long known: that it’s a fiction to think we can move on beyond the brawl of the 1990s without settling it — and settling it requires helping Mrs. Clinton triumph once and for all against the calumnies that were created to define her. It would be a mistake to think that Mrs. Clinton, the imperfect politician, is not the right standard-bearer for this fight. She was nominated to her role not last July at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, but in 1992, when her husband destroyed the myth of Republican invincibility and Hillary Clinton was anointed the feminine face of evil.”

- Susan Faludi, in the New York Times Sunday Review

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1. Look, I realize former Pink Floyd front-man Roger Waters is a bit of a character. I know this. And I know that his albums, as albums, can be somewhat overstuffed, overwrought and overthought. However, nestled in among all that glorious excess are a number of bright, gleaming gems. I would like to highlight one here for you now: the emotionally brutalist, pseudo-Blues ode to the eternal Battle of the Sexes, "Sexual Revolution", from his first (and most reviled) post-Floyd offering, The Pros And Cons of Hitch-Hiking. I recommend paying attention to two elements, here. First, the paradoxical economy of the instrumentation compared to the intensity of the vocals, which creates a very interesting effect. Second, Eric Clapton's astonishing, effects-free guitar work. Personally, I think this song qualifies as an unappreciated classic, fully deserving of the accolade: GREAT.

2. Folks, nobody will be happier than yours truly when the day comes that I don't have to pay address this Apocalyptic race for the White House, but I wanted to call your attention to this particular bit of nastiness because I think it encapsulates everything I hate about the so-called conservative movement in America. I'll let Deadspin's Tim Burke explain...

Yesterday a Trump protester interrupted the president’s appearance at a Hillary Clinton rally in North Carolina, prompting Obama to quiet down a rowdy crowd and urge it to respect the man’s right to free speech. That’s a radical difference from the Trump approach already, but the GOP nominee saw things differently—accusing Obama of “screaming” at the protester and that the whole scene was a “disgrace.” 

Watch the video, and you make the call!

It doesn't require an overabundance of insight to imagine what Trump probably really wanted to say at that moment, but I'll spare you my own suspicions on that count.

3. Let's end this edition of the DDD's Suggested Reading List with something positive... something life-affirming and beautiful. And let that be in the form of this primitively animated but philosophically sophisticated episode of The Big Lez Show, the best thing to come from Down Under since Vegemite, or TimTam, or whatever other hackneyed, Ozzy cliche'd product that you can think of. The rest of this series is well worth watching, too, even though the first few episodes make South Park look like Disney's Fantasia by comparison. Enjoy!