Joni Mitchell's Album Covers, Ranked

#289: "I’m a painter first. I sing my sorrow and I paint my joy."

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You'll need to click this link (thanks, Paste) to view the album covers, themselves.

A few comments:

* I'm in the same "don't try to smile" boat as Joni.  It's brave, of course, when your livelihood depends on attracting attention.

* I bought Court and Spark soon after it came out (my former roommate had played it quite a bit).  Plus, I've heard her most famous work on the radio.  And, eventually, I'll listen to her newer material.

* My instinct, for some reason, is to fall for the portraiture, (top ten, with one exception).

Countdown:

#19: The Hissing of Summer Lawns

#18: Don Juan's Reckless Daughter

#17: Mingus

#16: Shine

#15: Dog Eat Dog

#14: Night Ride Home

#13: Chalk Mark In A Rainstorm

#12: Turbulent Indigo

#11: Both Sides Now

#10: Ladies of The Canyon

#9: Song To A Seagull

#8: Court and Spark

#7: Clouds

#6: Blue

#5: Taming The Tiger

#4: Wild Things Run Fast

#3: Travelogue

#2: For The Roses

#1: Hejira

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My Top 55 Rock & Roll Artists List (the Mighty 55) has Joni ranked #10.

 

A Year Of Ample Apples

#288: Truly Delicious

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Here we have Ashmead's Kernel (so sweet!) and Grimes Golden (crispy, and tasty too) apples.  No spraying, mind you, so I quarter them and remove anything untoward.  Banner year could be from all the wood ash I've spread under the trees.

 

And here we have what we thought were Calville Blanc apples (reputed to be from the time of Louis XIV); an apple whose vitamin C content is greater than found in an orange--often used in pies.  But, uncertainty reigns as this photo shows something quite different.  Perhaps the nursery who sold us our tree had too many of something else.  Still, a great tasting, fine looking apple.  

A Constitutional Convention...Now?

#287:  The Modern ConCon Equivalent

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Alex Voltaire, on Twitter, drew my attention to Larry Sabato's proposal for a Constitutional Convention to improve American governance.  Sabato's 23 suggestions strike me as worth discussing, but with our modern internet, a virtual version would be much more likely.  Step #1: set up a wiki discussion forum to entertain suggested constitutional changes, record expert and popular opinion on those changes, and do so for an indefinite number of years.  Eventually, the logical approaches to problems, and the arguments for and against, would emerge and solidify.  The most popular ideas could then be adopted by one or more political parties, and make their way through the ratification process.

As for Sabato's ideas, here's my take (in green, with letter grades):

Congress

Expand the Senate to 136 members to have it be more representative. His plan would give the ten most populous states two additional senators each, and give the next fifteen most populous states one additional senator, and would give the District of Columbia one senator.

Very unlikely to pass, though this is perhaps a half-way point between big and little states' interests. B

Appoint all former presidents and vice presidents to the new office of "National Senator" to serve national interests instead of state interests, bring presidential experience to the Senate.

A reasonable idea if ex-presidents were willing. A-

Mandate non-partisan redistricting for House elections to enhance electoral competition and lessen the influence of gerrymandering.

Artificial Intelligence can do this objectively. A

Lengthen the terms of representatives from two years to three years, and set Senate terms to coincide with all presidential elections, so the entire House and Senate would be elected at the same time as the President.

While coinciding elections is good, a single presidential term for six years?  B+, C+

Expand the size of the House of Representatives to approximately 1,000 members from the current total of 435, so House members can be closer to their constituents, and to level the playing field in House elections.

Yes, though unlikely.  Would lower the power of a vote in Wyoming vs. California. A-

Establish term limits in the House and Senate to restore the Founders' principle of frequent rotation in office.

Arguments for are obvious.  Against: lobbyists and office staff know more than those elected. C

Add a Balanced Budget Amendment to encourage fiscal fairness to future generations.

Hello loooong recessions.  Must allow for emergency and counter-cyclical spending. D

Create a Continuity of Government procedure to provide for the replacement of senators and representatives in the event of extensive deaths or incapacitation as may happen as a result of a major disaster such as a large scale nuclear attack.

Probably needed. A

Presidency

Establish a new six-year, one-time presidential term with the option for the President to seek three additional years if approved by a referendum of the American people.

Ruins "lengthen the terms" idea, above. C-  

Limit some presidential war-making powers and expand Congress' oversight of war-making.

Sure, though current oversight is not being exercised.  Would this be any different? A-

Give the president a line-item veto.

The ability to override the veto might best be lowered. B+

Allow men and women not born in the United States to run for president or vice president after having been a citizen for 20 years.

Yes.  A

Supreme Court

Eliminate lifetime tenure for federal judges in favor of non-renewable 15-year terms for all federal judges.

A

Grant Congress the power to set a mandatory retirement age for all federal judges.

B

Expand the size of the Supreme Court from 9 to 12 to be more representative.

This should probably be an odd number.  Perhaps 13, the number of Federal District Courts.  B+

Give federal judges guaranteed cost of living increases so pay is never an issue.

Is this as urgent as the rest? B

Politics

Write a new constitutional article specifically for the politics of the American system.

Vague hand waving?  C+

Adopt a regional, staggered lottery system, over four months, for presidential party nominations to avoid the destructive front-loading of primaries.

Isn't this a party decision?  B-

Keep the Electoral College, as the previously suggested House and Senate reforms would preserve the benefits of the College while minimizing the chances a president will win without a majority of the popular vote.

Little chance of abolishing, anyway. NA

Reform campaign financing by preventing wealthy candidates from financing their campaigns. Mandate partial public financing for House and Senate campaigns to lessen the impact of lobbyists and fundraisers.

Sure.  A

Adopt an automatic registration system for all qualified American citizens to guarantee that their right to vote is not abridged by bureaucratic requirements.

Absolutely.  A+

Universal national service

Create a constitutional requirement that all able-bodied young Americans devote at least two years of their lives in service to the country.

Older people love this.  But disrupting young lives?  One size fits all?  If voluntary, sure.  D+ 

National constitutional convention

Convene a new constitutional convention using the state-based mechanism left to Americans by the framers in the current constitution.

Hard to do.  NA

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Black type quoted from Wikipedia

Make The Senate Filibuster Actually Work

 #286: I Flesh Out My Proposal

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In an article appearing in the Atlantic magazine a week ago, prominent Washington think-tanker, Norm Ornstein, suggests that reforming the Senate filibuster could be as easy as flipping it from a requirement that 60 senators be present, and agree to end debate on a given matter, to a requisite 41 senators or more, present, voting to prolong debate.  He believes that many older members wouldn't be able to maintain a presence (nearby, if not at their desks) for more than a day or so, making 41 senators effectively 42-44 or so, and the filibuster much less widely used (those conducting one would find it very time consuming), thus allowing congress to be productive again.

I've read much of the twitter chatter that accompanied his article, and found there were only two or three significant objections:

1. That any change could be undone in the future by the opposition party.

2. That the precedent for virtual Senate voting has been set (due to Covid) and may mean allowing members to vote from a distance in the future, defeating the intent of Ornstein's idea.

3. That we should simply "end the filibuster already".

All of which brings my own proposal to the fore: Eliminate the filibuster conditionally, based on Science.  A scientific body giving a thumbs up to legislation combating Climate Change, for example, would reduce the necessary vote margin from 60 to 50.  This of course assumes Democrats won't, in 2021, have 50 votes to abolish the filibuster altogether (2-3 Democratic senators have said the filibuster is too valuable a tool to jettison), meaning a conditional filibuster may be better than nothing.

My idea is based on the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) which, since 1974, has provided congress with a non-partisan analysis of what proposed legislation will cost.  A similar entity, call it the Congressional Science Examiner, would sketch out the impact of proposed legislation, and indicate whether that legislation was based on the best scientific information available.  If so, a thumbs up.  If not, improvements could be suggested.  Like the CBO, the CSE would employ non-partisan, professional scientists whose tenure would last through multiple administrations.  And, as with the CBO, the CSE's director would be appointed by the heads of the relevant House and Senate committees (for example, the House committee on Science, Space and Technology and the Senate's committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, or some such mix), plus a mediator, who'd be an extra member from academia/a science lab, leading a given analysis team, and would be chosen by all qualified applicants voting amongst themselves.

As for Ornstein's 60-40 reversal, sure, I'm for it.  It might even prove popular enough to be kept intact once the opposition party again controls the Senate.  After all, the party on the outs when the reform occurred isn't likely to make it easier for obstructors once they take control.

The real need, however, will arise if the Senate is divided 51/49, 52/48, or 53/47 D/R in 2021.  Even with Ornstein's flip, next to nothing would be accomplished legislatively, unless there were enough votes to simply eliminate the filibuster.  If not, absolute gridlock, and a dangerous frustration.   That's when the science-based, conditional filibuster would make the most sense.  

As for the fate of a science-based panel once the opposition eventually recaptures control?   Who can argue with the best science and not appear foolish and/or corrupt?

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January '21 Update:

With its two Georgia Senate wins, the Democrats have 50+1 control in that body.  But, their 50th vote for Climate Change legislation (their least enthusiastic member), West Virginia's Sen. Joe Manchin, isn't a likely 'yes', since it would lead right into an accelerated end to coal as a major fuel (though, what about with remediation dollars flowing to West Virginia?)  In any event, the more likely 50th vote would almost certainly be Mitt Romney (R - Utah) or Susan Collins (R - Maine), with perhaps both needed if another Democrat joined Manchin.  

Reconsidering "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"

 #285: A 51-year-old Classic

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A recent celebration, in Nashville, of The Last Waltz, The Band's final concert and acclaimed film from 1976, featured altered lyrics to "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".

I read about this year's celebratory event in Rolling Stone online, the day after; then, several days later, read a Salon article questioning the song's meaning: was it in any way pro-Confederate?  

My reading of the article's comments section underscored several insights the article's author had missed.  For example, that the lyrics are: "Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she said to me: 'Virgil, quick come see, there goes the Robert E. Lee'", referring to a steamboat on the Mississippi years after the war. 

Another example: that the character who narrates the verses, Virgil Caine, is a likely reference to the biblical Cain, who slew his brother Abel.

These points got me thinking about what the author refers to as the song's one ambiguous line: “They should never have taken the very best” He suggests that this 'they' "...could refer to either the Confederate war machine or the Union army".  As with all high art, ambiguity can be used to include all sides in a single whole.  In this case, the Confederate perspective is obvious.  The Union view comes into focus once we acknowledge the inherent immorality of slavery and its bent economy.  

Thus, "They should never have taken the very best", once split into four parts, becomes:

"They should never have" (a simple definition of slavery)

"taken" (appropriation)

"the very" (or, thievery)

"best" 

In other words, the notion that slavery is the best we can do is absurd, and thus, slaves should never have been stolen, and the system can't possibly be considered 'best'--a proposition both Blacks, and also poor whites (who had to compete in a rigged system) agreed with to varying degrees.

Several other wonderful references:

* the chorus includes "...and all the bells were ringing" (right, the belles now figuratively wore rings, a reference to the impending end of rape as a commonplace--literally, and again, figuratively, as slavery was rape writ large).

* "I don't mind chopping wood, and I don't care if the money's no good..." a possible reference to President Lincoln, who was known as The Railsplitter, combined with the acknowledgement that even the great Lincoln toiled for a living (since the setting is 1870, the "money's no good" reference can't be to Confederate currency).  If so, "They should never have taken the very best", which follows "I don't mind...", points, additionally, to Lincoln (great art, as mentioned earlier, packs many different meanings into a singular expression).

* And finally, who did the biblical Cain murder?  The answer: Abe L.  

Brother against brother, as in the war between the states; there really couldn't be a better metaphor for our Civil War.  Which is why the song is a classic.  Its lyrics are intentional and state the war's outcome in a nutshell: Slaves should never have been taken, stolen, to be used as beasts.

Even better, the songwriter shows us where he stands by alluding to his own name, Robbie Robertson, in that climatic statement that brings on the song's chorus: "But they should never have taken the very best." 

Jerry Garcia, 25 Years On

#284:  I Rejigger Rolling Stones Top 50 Garcia Songs

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This will be an ongoing project, but with the 25th anniversary of Garcia's passing last month, here is the Rolling Stone list, with my preliminary changes (in green):

#50  He’s Gone

#49  New Speedway Boogie (to #28)

#48  Doin’ That Rag

#47  Might As Well

#46  Brokedown Palace

#45  Standing On The Moon

#44  The Golden Road

#43  Terrapin Station

#42  Shakendown Street

#41  Here Comes Sunshine

#40  So Many Roads

#39  Ramble On Rose (to #11)

#38  Black Muddy River (removed)

#37  They Love Each Other

#36  Rubin and Cherise

#35  Loser

#34  Run For The Roses

#33  Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo

#32  Help On The Way/Slipknot!

#31  High Time

#30  Days Between

#29  Black Peter

#28  Ship of Fools (removed)

#27  Mountains of the Moon

#26  Deal

#25  China Cat Sunflower (to #5)

#24  Tennessee Jed

#23  China Doll (removed)

#22  Dire Wolf

#21  Casey Jones

#20  Althea

#19  Mission In The Rain

#18  The Wheel

#17  That’s It For The Other One

#16  U.S. Blues

#15  Bird Song

#14  Touch of Grey

#13  Brown-Eyed Women (to #4)

#12  Stella Blue

#11  Franklin’s Tower  (to #39)

#10  Scarlet Begonias

#9  Sugaree

#8  St. Stephen/The Eleven

#7  Wharf Rat

#6  Bertha

#5  Ripple (to #25)

#4  Friend of the Devil (to #13)

#3  Eyes Of The World

#2  Dark Star

#1  Uncle John’s Band

Unlisted

To Lay Me Down (to #49)

Cumberland Blues (to #38) 

Truckin (to #23)