It Was Congress
A.K.A. "Swamp Jellyfish"
TODAY'S RAMBLINGS
1 Minute Read
Hello Hump Day, and if you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know I have periodically blamed different things or people, for our country’s problems.
Well, and my birth too, but I pale in comparison to the rest.
It Was:
The Money (its corrosive influence on life)
David Plouffe (my misguided belief he’d help VP Harris defeat Dear Leader)
The Guns (how they ruin things)
The Cars (and how they do, too)
Allen Dulles (the most influential man of the 20th century?)
The Warren Commission (the beginning of the end of trusting government)
ExxonMobil (that led the way in climate change denial)
The U.S. Senate (we could have easily avoided Trump’s second term)
It Wasn’t Just Jack Welch (documenting the outsized influence of Bechtel)
St. Patrick’s Day (why my, and so many others’, birthdays are in December)
Jack Welch (when capitalism went wrong)
The Department of Defense (why our exit from Afghanistan was so bad)
That is my long-winded - shocker - introduction to a simple concept, and one that we all used to love. The concept?
The United States Constitution
Remember that thing? Because a review will reveal the genius framers of the document were very aware of the dangers of an autocrat like Dear Leader getting power. So they came up with a cool idea: Checks and Balances, A.K.A. as The Separation of Powers.
There are a LOT of things Congress could and should be doing. I had perplexity.ai work up a summary of what’s in the Constitution on the subject - it’s here if you want to do a deep-dive.
Suffice to say, it is CONGRESS that is supposed to set tariffs. It is CONGRESS that approves treaties with other countries. It is CONGRESS that declares and approves war.
And yes, it is Congress that can impeach and remove a President from office, but see above, “It Was the U.S. Senate.”
Imagine if Congress were doing (or had done) its job?
But they’re afraid of Dear Leader, and have no backbones.
Like spineless jellyfish, in a swamp.
FROM THE UNWASHED MASSES
Feedback on my Dead & Company take on Monday came in hot and heavy. First up is Byron Browne IV, who attended all 3 SF shows live.
Agree . . . they really are a cover band. In fact, the SF Chronicle and other publications always describe songs as "Grateful Dead covers" when they put out the set list. I think the band understands that as well, which is why they don't call themselves the Grateful Dead.
I don't think you need to worry about them replacing Peart . . . who would want to try and live up to that standard?
While he’s correct with his last point, he missed the one I made in my blog. It would be one thing if Bob Weir and Mickey Hart grabbed John Mayer and the other guys, and headed out on the road as Kingfish, RatDog, Furthur, or The Other Ones - band names Weir has used already.
But using the band name Dead & Company, the Grateful Dead iconography, and having it all sanctioned by the owners of “The Grateful Dead” might be taking it too far?
It is to Arthur, a recovering Deadhead, who tempers his vitriol with solutions.
I've listened to the Golden Gate Park shows, and some of the Sphere shows, and I have to agree with your friend: they sound like a cover band, and a poor one at that. Everything I've heard is completely uninspired, and Weir's voice is shot, and the rest of the band sounds half asleep.
The only incarnations by Dead members that I care for were The Other Ones:
Also Phil and Friends, https://archive.org/details/paf2006-07-09.dsbd.phillesh.net.75724.sbeok.flac16/pf20060709-d1t01.flac
The best GD cover band I've ever personally seen is Dark Star Orchestra, https://archive.org/details/dso2025-05-27/08)+Playing+In+The+Band.flac
That, my friends, is a Grateful Dead/Dead & Company take from an unquestioned authority on the subject.
But I still bet Arthur would have liked a Sphere show in person.
Thank you for reading this newsletter.
KLUF
OMG perfect - this Killer album from returning champs R.E.M. features a song called Bang and Blame!