Cher's CHER: THE MEMOIR, PART 1 came out this week. In it she covers her life and it's a really strong read.
That includes the story of her ancestors. That's a problem area for a lot of biographies. The ridiculous John Phillips, for example, wrote at length -- and in a plodding manner -- about his family going back generations. Fortunately, Cher's family was actually of interest.
As was Cher's life before she became Cher world wide star.
I especially enjoyed her recounting when her mother took her to an Elvis concert. Her mother was instrumental in sharpening Cher's singing because she herself was a singer, a very good singer, sang around the home all the time and, as Cher points out, wasn't like the average mother of the time, she actually was aware of the acts young people were into.
Sonny comes along and she becomes a background singer on Phil Spector recordings. This is the period where she gets to know Darlene Love, The Wrecking Crew and many others. Then they're a duo and everyone believes that they'd make a big splash if they went to England. And they did.
I'd heard about the piano that Sonny got when they were down and out with its broken keys but I did not know that Cher has kept that piano and still has it all these years later. She has a great outfit she designed from early in their career as well -- but that's due to her mom who had saved it and gave it to her many years later. She and Sonny had designer Ford Mustangs for the film GOOD TIMES and she notes she'll sometimes see one or the other up for sale an auction.
Think about how our days go and how things cause us to reflect on our past -- and then imagine Cher whose past is all over YOUTUBE. Her sixties guest appearances on TV, then the seventies with THE SONNY & CHER COMEDY HOUR, CHER, THE SONNY & CHER SHOW, guest appearances on THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW and THE BARBARA MCNAIR SHOW and THE FLIP WILSON SHOW. Having hits with "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves," "Dark Lady, "Take Me Home" and other during the seventies while hanging out with Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner and live shows and . . .
It's a live lived and then some and she captures it beautifully.
I was reading it and savoring it and then? I realized I had 100 more pages to go before I was done so I quickly sucked them down in order to write about the book this weekend. I would recommend against that. I would recommend you just enjoy it and savor it.
It is PART 1. Part 2 will presuambly pick up with her moving to NYC and going on Broadway.
Makes me wonder if there will be more than part 2?
If so, I'll be there. I think this would have been a better route for Barbra Streisand to have gone. That book had too many pages and was overwhelming to a lot of readers.
Besides people already noted above, others who pop up in the book include: Michelle Phillips, Cass Elliot, Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Wilson, Kat Jackson, Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Mike Nichols, Francis Ford Coppola, Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, Bob Mackie, Richard Avedon, Gene Simmons, Diana Ross, Bette Midler, Elton John, Raquel Welch, the Jacksons, David Bowie, Ray Charles, Teri Garr, Jimmy Carter and Miss Lillian.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Friday, November 11, 2024. White priv seems to be the only thing they refuse to check as Katrina vanden Heuvel and her merry band of fellow racists lead THE NATION further astry.
Kamala Harris would have been the first woman of any race and the first South Asian person to have been elected president of the most powerful nation in the world. Rather, she lost the election, as well as the popular vote, to Trump, whose coalition transcended racial and gender lines in unprecedented ways as he made notable inroads with people of color and netted a larger share of women’s votes. The nation was provided an opportunity to allow a biracial Black woman to move us forward beyond several years of Trump’s racist, sexist, and toxic style of grievance politics with a broad agenda steeped in hope, concern and access. However, America, particularly the majority of White Americans, said: “No thank you.”
From the minute she was selected as Vice President, Harris immediately found herself in the political fire. Several Republican members of Congress referred to Harris as a “DEI hire,” which is a reference to diversity, equity, and inclusion, but in this instance, an assumption that Harris became the nominee only “because of her ethnic background,” as Republican Representative Glenn Grothman dishonestly declared. Far right wing conservative activist Tom Fitton reveled in fierce neo-birtherism, by inferring that Harris’s Jamaican and South Asian parents resulted in her being unable to run for president.
The former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne “alternative facts” Conway attacked Harris as lazy, commenting , “She does not speak well; she does not work hard; she doesn’t inspire anyone.”
Republican Representative Harriet Hagemen of Wyoming declared, “Intellectually, [she is] just really kind of the bottom of the barrel.” The fact is that the Vice President is more accomplished and likely more intelligent than any of her critics. A September survey from The Associated Press/NORC Research Center showed 38 percent of voters think being a woman hurt Harris’s chances of winning, and only 13 percent of voters said the same about the GOP nominee.
The claim that sexism and racism are present in the race was amplified last month as Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) said he thinks they “still exist” in U.S. politics, citing the presidential race as an example. I think it is an issue with a lot of different voters across this country, and it’s something that our country — you know, we’ve come a long way as in terms of women’s suffrage,” The Florida Democrat said in an interview. “We’ve come a long way in terms of making sure of equity in this country, but there’s still a lot of this bigotry in this country in terms of sexism, in terms of racism. And we still have to work at getting over that.” “Those things are still here,” he continued. “They still exist in a lot of communities, and we still have a lot of work to do here.”
Being candid, there are two, perhaps, the major reasons why Kamala Harris did not prevail, no matter how effective a campaign she ran: racism and sexism. For the second time this century, Americans rejected a woman to lead the nation. If they weren’t ready to trust a woman for the job, they were even more apprehensive to trust a woman of color. The truth is that no honest person can dismiss the fact that being a woman of color has been a political handicap for Harris. Many Americans have never been comfortable with Black women in leadership positions.
It is not accidental that we have had only two Black women elected to the US Senate: Kamala Harris and Carol Mosley Braun of Illinois. Laphonza Butler was appointed by California Senator Gavin Newsom. Just last week, two states, my home state of Delaware, elected Lisa Blunt Rochester and Maryland selected Angela Alsobrooks, two Black women, as senators bringing the total number of Black women who have served in the US senate to five.
At first, the NFL supported Kaepernick taking a knee. But then, in September 2017, Donald Trump gave a speech in Huntsville, Alabama, saying, “Get that son of a bitch off the field,” and claimed Kaepernick’s protest was anti-American. MAGA forces attacked Kaepernick, arguing that his protest insulted the National Anthem and the military.
Kaepernick never played in the NFL again.
The same people who attacked Kaepernick and LeBron James—telling Black athletes to “shut up and dribble”—are now encouraging NFL players to do Donald Trump’s idiotic YMCA dance. A propaganda campaign is underway to turn the NFL and all professional sports into a political arm of Trump. This is straight out of the fascist playbook.
Let’s not forget that Donald Trump encouraged people on January 6 to use the American flag as a weapon to assault police officers. Trump sells American flags with his name printed on them. He even replaced the National Anthem with the “January 6 Choir Song” during the election. All the while, the media gave Trump a total pass, even encouraging his propaganda at professional sports events.
Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to submit or cave to the threats he faced in 2017—and in the years since—reminds me that heroes can rise from unlikely places. It also reminds me that resistance to authoritarian forces is not guaranteed. Kaepernick potentially lost hundreds of millions of dollars for standing up for what he believed in. Will others today be willing to make the same type of sacrifice, or has the idol worship of billionaires who exploit people become the fluorescent light drawing us in like mosquitoes to a zapper?
Far from the nonsense of THE NATION magazine, in the real world, Senator Cory Booker issued the following:
Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced legislation aimed at promoting ethical conduct and accountability for ethics violations within the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. Representative Daniel Goldman (D-NY-10) introduced companion legislation in the House earlier this year.
Numerous allegations of ethical improprieties and undisclosed conflicts of interests and gifts, along with refusals to recuse by Supreme Court justices have eroded the public’s trust in the Court and increased demand for more transparency and accountability in the nation’s highest court.
The Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act is a critical first step towards improving ethical standards among the justices and holding justices accountable when they commit ethics violations. Specifically, the bill would establish two new offices within the Supreme Court:
- An Office of Ethics Counsel that would provide regular ethics training and advise justices on ethics issues, including disclosing gifts and deciding when to recuse from cases.
- An Office of Investigative Counsel that would investigate potential instances of ethical impropriety by justices and report the findings to Congress.
“There is no reason that the Justices who sit on the highest court in the country should be held to ethical standards that are lower than those of any employee in our federal government,” said Senator Booker. “There’s a crisis of confidence in the Supreme Court. Public trust in the institution is at its lowest point in decades as a result of alleged ethical lapses and conflicts of interest. By creating a mechanism to investigate and hold justices accountable for ethics violations and establishing an Ethics Counsel to provide consistent advice on issues like recusal, gifts, and disclosures, this bill is a critical step towards restoring the credibility of the Court in the eyes of the public.”
“Our nation’s highest court continues to face an unprecedented crisis of legitimacy, in part because there is no enforceable code of ethics nor accountability as required of all other federal judges,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “I am thrilled that Senator Booker is leading the charge in the Senate to pass my ‘Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act.’ This legislation is a sorely needed step to hold Supreme Court Justices accountable and restore Americans’ faith in the Court.”
“Americans should be able to have faith in the integrity of the highest court in the land, but the justices rely on each other for ethical guidance, and have no one checking their work,” said Senator Hirono. “This legislation will help to address these issues by establishing offices to provide professional advice to justices on ethical matters and to investigate complaints made against them or their spouses. The American people should be able to trust that justices arrive at decisions fairly and objectively, and the Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act will help to hold the highest court in the land to the highest level of ethical accountability.”
“The Supreme Court’s lack of enforceable ethical standards degrade and detract from its credibility and trust. This measure takes an important step forward in making the Supreme Court more accountable to the American people by establishing internal offices to advise justices on ethical issues and investigate potential wrongdoing. Basic transparency and accountability—along with an enforceable code of ethics—is urgently needed to restore sinking public confidence in the Court,” said Senator Blumenthal.
“It’s no surprise that repeated allegations of Justices accepting lavish paid vacations and other conflicts of interest have decimated public trust in our nation’s most powerful court. Since the Court has decided to disregard its ethical obligations, Congress must step in to hold Justices accountable,” said Senator Welch. “This legislation is a necessary step toward increasing transparency and accountability in the Supreme Court and restoring public trust in this vital democratic institution.”
This legislation is endorsed by the following organizations: Fix the Court, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Accountable.US, End Citizens United (ECU), Project on Government Oversight (POGO), P Street, Court Accountability, and Demand Justice.
The Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Peter Welch (D-VT).
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
Let's close with this from GLAAD:
A resolution proposed by Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina misgenders transgender women and targets Rep.-elect Sarah McBride of Delaware, who is set to become the first out transgender member of Congress.
The resolution seeks to ban transgender women from using female restrooms inside the Capitol, barring both House members and employees from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex [sic].” “Biological sex” is not an accurate nor a scientific term, but is used by opponents of transgender people to dehumanize them and deny their equal access to society.
Rep.-elect McBride responded in a statement and on Twitter/X: “This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing. We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars. Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible and that’s what I’m focused on,” she added.
There is no data of any kind to support the claim that inclusive bathrooms undermine anyone’s safety. Thousands of school districts around the country allow transgender students to use facilities based on their gender identity. These policies make schools more safe by ensuring privacy and safety for all students. Charlotte Clymer, trans writer and DC-based advocate, noted, “It remains very unclear how this rule would be enforced, and when Rep. Mace was asked that exact question last night, she refused to offer anything in the way of a direct answer.”
“What I find most interesting about all this is that trans women have been using women’s restrooms in the Capitol and the House and Senate office buildings and the White House and the Pentagon for many years now, including during all four years of the Trump Administration,” Clymer continued. “Under Donald Trump’s leadership, trans women were permitted to use women’s restrooms in federal buildings in D.C. and there was never any issue.”
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis responded: “Every member of Congress is elected to represent their constituents and states, and it should go without saying that they deserve the same rights and respect as every other member of Congress, including from their colleagues. The people of Delaware have spoken and have chosen an outstanding public servant to work on concerns they care the most about, including the cost of health care, child care, and housing. Everyone in Congress might try focusing on solutions to improve people’s lives and leading with kindness, and see what progress you might make for every American.”
Rep. Mace’s claims that she supports protecting women and girls conflict with her public stance with her own colleagues accused of rape and assault. Rep. Mace has endorsed the nomination of her former House colleague Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, despite accusations that Gaetz had sex with underage girls, showed photos of women he had sex with to colleagues on the House floor, and accusations that Gaetz participated in sex trafficking. Mace also refused to speak out against president-elect Donald Trump even after he was found liable for raping E. Jean Carroll, has been credibly accused of sexual assault by more than a dozen women, and has admitted to forcing himself on women.
The following sites updated:
