"To the musicians I was saying, here's a new bag. Here's a new direction. Here's one that represents the people, not just Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Bach, Strauss or Mantovani....It was a revolution that became a universal sound, and it's still universal today."
-James Brown
They say important deaths always come in threes. This past week saw the passing of James Brown, Gerald Ford, and Saddam Hussein.
I got to see James Brown for free at the end of a SAP laptop swap contract I had before getting hired back on at Aristocrat. It was a good, if short, show and the Godfather of Soul had as much energy into this paid corporate event as anything else he had done I imagine. He just couldn't endure for as long as he used to. That's alright, the beer was free and the show was rocking.
Gerald Ford was the first president I remember. Not really memorable, but not loathed in my family like Nixon was.
Problem is that he turned out to be a snake in cahoots with Nixon. All I've heard this week is how he "saved the country" when he pardoned Nixon. I'm beginning to think otherwise. I think all he saved was the GOP. Look at it this way. Without the pardon, Tricky Dick likely goes to prison. Hence, no Reagan, no Bush I in all likelihood.
No Iran-Contra. No Bush II. No Cheney disgracing the office of Vice President. No Rumsfeld ignoring and sacrifing the military. No Iraq. No Condi. No a lot of very bad things. No ill will towards the US by like 75% of the planet. No "legal" torture or wiretapping.
Rest in peace Gerald Ford. I don't think even in your worst nightmares imagined you would bring this upon this nation. But you did and I hope the blame is passed from you to those who committed evil for evil's sake.
Finally, there's Saddam Hussein. A rat, a dictator, a mass murderer. A comic figure found in a hole in the ground looking like a post-modern Rip Van Winkle. A stage actor discracing two war crimes trials with his shenanigans.
A puppet for the GOP that could not be controlled. Now executed by yet another Iraqi government propped up by the Republicans. A right bastard to the end. You won't be missed.
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