Hate Wins (Again)

I’m beyond angry. I’m having an existential crisis. I literally don’t know how to move forward.

I barely slept last night.

I remember four years ago, after President Biden won the last presidential election, people were dancing in the streets of New York City. Last night it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

This is about more than mere policy differences. While we can disagree on policy, what we are about to witness will be catastrophic. Trump already told us what he would do in his Project 2025 blueprint and he’s been telling us throughout the campaign. Deport millions of illegal immigrants (and perhaps some legal immigrants who merely “look” illegal). Destroy the climate. Ban abortion. Leave NATO. Kill Obamacare.

We’re already seeing the damage and he hasn’t even taken office yet. Two hurricanes in Florida in one week. Texas women dying because they can’t receive necessary healthcare.

Sure Trump voters will tell you they were motivated by “the economy” (despite the fact that the American economy is currently the envy of the world, according to no less than The Economist) and immigration (whose bipartisan bill Trump torpedoed), but I believe there was also an undercurrent of racism, misogyny and transphobia. Not to mention a cohort of young men who voted for Trump because they think he’s a “tough guy” and are resentful that women now outnumber men in colleges and universities and are making more money.

I can’t get past the fact that we all watched Trump try to overturn a free and fair election. That in itself should be disqualifying. Everything else is beside the point. And yet a majority of Americans still voted for him.

In spite of the hateful rhetoric we saw and heard at his Madison Square Garden rally and have seen and heard throughout his campaign, they still voted for him.

I blame Mitch McConnell, whose craven need to maintain a Republican majority in the Senate led him to not vote to impeach Trump when he had the chance, even after explicitly blaming Trump for January 6 on the floor of the Senate.

I blame Merrick Garland for dragging his feet in prosecuting Trump, because Democrats were worried about appearing “partisan,” whereas Trump and his fellow Republicans had no such qualms. Trump and his Republican sycophants stepped on every norm that had previously existed and, in some cases, actually broke the law.

There was a brief moment after January 6 when it seemed like saner heads might prevail, starting with McConnell’s speech on the Senate floor. But it ended when Kevin McCarthy, after similarly blaming Trump for January 6, went down to Mar a Lago to kiss Trump’s ring.

I’m done trying to reason with the Trump cultists. These people are immune to facts.

There was a thread by David Roberts on Twitter that I felt expressed my feelings perfectly (I’ve been debating whether or not I should stay on Twitter, which has become a cesspool of right-wing hate and misinformation since Elon Musk took over, but that’s a whole other conversation), so I’m reprinting it here in its entirety:

I'm glad I don't have to write an endorsement piece, because I really wouldn't know how to go about it. Ever since 2015, when Trump descended the escalator, I have had the same feeling, which I've never quite seen articulated, so I will briefly try:

It's basically this: Trump is so obviously, manifestly repugnant -- his words, his gestures, his behavior, his history -- that it strikes me like a tsunami. It's a kind of total, perfect, seamless repugnance that I've never witnessed before in my life. Which means ...

... pointing out some particular piece of the repugnance & arguing against it feels ... surreal, I guess. "He has regularly sexually assaulted women, almost certainly raped a few, and ... I think that's bad."

... if you think rape is bad, you will already oppose Trump. If you don't, what could I possibly say to reach you? I don't understand your moral universe, your basic precepts. We are different in a way so fundamental that I literally don't know how to speak to you.

It's the same with all of it. I could point to some obvious bit of repugnance -- "I think it's bad to cheat every small business you interact with." -- but ... it's obvious. You've surely seen it yourself. And it doesn't matter to you. So how is me pointing it out going to help?

You see what I'm getting at? I feel like there's nothing I can say about Trump that isn't obvious, that isn't well-understood public knowledge. If you still support him at this point, you clearly don't *care* about all that stuff. And if you don't care about all that stuff ...

... then ... what do you care about? How does your brain operate? What does morality mean to you? What language could possibly reach you? What could cause you to care? I genuinely don't know. It's like when you're trying to speak w/ someone who doesn't speak your language ...

... and you respond by just repeating yourself, louder. "HE'S A CAREER CRIMINAL WITH 34 FELONY CONVICTIONS." It's pointless. They *heard* you. They just don't understand, don't care. You're assuming they share the premise "criminal rapists are bad," but they don't.

And so, if you're that far apart -- if you do not share basic, fundamental moral precepts, if you live in different moral universes -- how can you communicate? Literally, what do you say?

So I could write the 5000th piece once again listing Trump's sins -- "He's explicitly said he loves dictators & wants to be one!" -- but they've all been listed a million times. His supporters don't care. And I wouldn't know what to write to make someone care or be decent.

That's where I've been ever since 2015: feeling like language is pointless. Like the reality I inhabit is so far from the reality Trump supporters inhabit that discourse between us is impossible, or at least futile. The divide is unbridgeable.

This is a genuinely depressing & unsettling place to be for someone whose whole *life* is words, who was raised & trained to believe that language can, with care & attention, bridge any gap, excavate & find commonalities among any people, no matter how far apart.

Anyway. I just wanted to get that feeling down. Maybe some of you feel it too. In the meantime, my grand manifesto against electing Trump amounts to this: [points at Trump]

Comics Love Kamala 3 NEXT SATURDAY (11/2) at 9pm at Pangea

I'm doing it again next NEXT SATURDAY (11/2). Because this is the most important election of our lifetime and every vote counts.

Tickets are $10 in advance ($15 at the door) plus a $20 minimum. Advance tickets are available here: https://cur8.com/23871/project/126690

I hope you'll join me and this great lineup of comedians.

We're not going back.

Paul

Comics Love Kamala 2 THIS SATURDAY (10/12) at 9pm at Pangea

If you're a regular reader this blog, you may know that I'm also a comedian. In fact, I've been producing a monthly stand-up comedy show called Eat Drink Laugh at Pangea in the East Village of New York City for two-and-a-half years.

This Saturday, October 12 at 9pm, I'm hosting a very special stand-up comedy benefit for Kamala Harris. Tickets are $10 in advance ($15 at the door) plus a $20 minimum. Advance tickets are available here: https://cur8.com/23871/project/125486

I hope you'll join me and this great lineup of comedians.

Paul

Yacht Rock Revue at Pier 17

At a certain point, the music alternately known as “adult contemporary” or “easy listening” got rebranded, for some inexplicable reason, as “yacht rock.” I discovered this by accident as I was watching PBS one evening and saw a concert by Yacht Rock Revue, a band that mainly covers songs from the late ’70s and early ’80s. I was impressed by their ability to replicate the musical and vocal arrangements of some of my favorite songs and there was a certain kitschy charm to their Huk-a-Poo shirts, hip-hugger bell bottoms and aviator sunglasses.

When I saw them perform tonight at Pier 17, Nicholas Niespodziani, one of their singers, had a cold, which is unfortunate because he has a good voice and sang most of the songs in the PBS concert. Luckily, they have several other singers (most notably Peter Olson) who were able to fill in.

I don’t know if they have a deep repertoire for emergencies like this or they had to rejigger their set list at the last minute, but there were still a few songs I recognized from their PBS show. One stand-out was Sade’s “Smooth Operator.” Kourtney Jackson does great justice to Sade’s vocals and the saxophone player, David B. Freeman, nailed the sax part. Freeman was also featured on another showstopper, Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street.” The even performed ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down,” which was great since I missed ELO when they played at Madison Square Garden this week. (I suppose “yacht rock” is a loose organizing principal. Some of their songs might qualify as “classic rock.”)

Yacht Rock Revue may be the world’s best cover band. They do have a few original songs but, as they say, just play the hits—or, in this case, other people’s hits.

A Gap Salesperson Explains Global Trade to Me

I just had a very detailed discussion about tariffs, global trade, the economy and America vs. China with a salesperson at the Gap!

It all started when I wanted to buy a belt.

When I walked into the Gap store on Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District, the salesperson explained that they didn’t have very many belts and they wouldn’t be getting any more in until November. He said I could go to the Gap flagship store in Times Square and, furthermore, they were converting the Flatiron location into a “Gap Factory” store. (It sounds like an outlet store but it basically just means they’d be selling cheaper merchandise.) I explained to him that I was a longtime Gap customer, but that recently I found that their prices had gone up while their quality had gone down and that’s why I now shopped at Men’s Wearhouse. (I’m also no longer a teenager.)

The salesperson went on to say that that was the trend in the clothing industry in general: more merchandise at cheaper quality. (Think Shein and Temu.)

I told him that there was a story in the New York Times that day about how President Biden was imposing more tariffs on China, which was surprising to me because I had just tweeted that those costs are passed on to the American consumer after the last presidential debate. A recent story on the PBS News Hour said that tariffs don’t really work because not that many jobs are saved and prices still go up.

The salesperson compared what’s happening in the clothing industry to what was happening in the auto industry. He said that in the future we’d all have to buy electric cars and unless we imposed tariffs on China, they’d take over the auto industry (as they’ve already done with the clothing industry). Furthermore, he went on to compare both these industries to the real estate industry, which he claimed China was also taking over, and that ultimately the goal was to make the dollar obsolete because China only wanted to trade in gold. (He emphasized that it was the Chinese government that was at fault, not the Chinese people.)

I’m not an economist, but a lot of what he said made sense to me.

All I know is that if I want to buy a belt, I now have to go to Times Square.

UPDATE: Success! (See photo above.) 

Querelle, Music in the Films of Luca Gaudagnino

Last night I saw Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1982 film adaptation of Jean Genet’s novel Querelle at Anthology Film Archives in the East Village. I saw it when it came out, but I had hardly any recollection of it, aside from Jeanne Moreau singing “Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves.” Not only does it still hold up, but it’s quite shocking even by (or especially by) today’s standards. It’s basically a Tom of Finland drawing come to life. I think it might be the most erotic film I’ve ever seen, even though there’s no explicit sex or nudity.

The night before, while I was channel surfing, I happened to catch Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash on cable, which I had also seen in theaters when it was originally released in 2015. I was particularly struck by a scene where Ralph Fiennes starts dancing to the Rolling Stones’ “Emotional Rescue.” The only words I can use to describe it are pure, unbridled joy.

I’ve always found music criticism to be lacking. How can you convey in words what a song is like? You have to hear it (and, in this case, see it). So here it is:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=623d9vZqF-4

I also remembered music playing a pivotal role in another of Guadagnino’s movies, Call Me By Your Name. In this instance, it’s Armie Hammer’s character dancing to the Psychedelic Furs’ “Love My Way.” Again, the feeling is pure, unbridled joy.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq_e88Gp8Bs

On a side note, when I went to see the Psychedelic Furs (twice) last year, it really pissed me off that they replaced the xylophone part in this song with a keyboard. So here it is as it was originally recorded:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LGD9i718kBU

Stray Cats at Pier 17

I remember the first time I saw the first Stray Cats (UK) album at Bleecker Bob’s. (It was an import; they were still relatively unknown in the United States.) It was one of the only times I bought an album just because of its cover. (Remember albums? Remember cover art?)

In the middle of the new wave ’80s, with its synthesizer “hair bands,” these guys carved their own musical path, doing rockabilly, a style that harked back to the ’50s. With his pouty good looks and pompadour to die for, lead vocalist/guitarist Brian Setzer was a natural for the then-nascent MTV. No one was more surprised than I was when they became a hit in America. What was even more shocking was that these guys from Long Island (my hometown!) had gone to London to make a name for themselves. And yet it made perfect sense that these hyper-stylish guys would go to hyper-style conscious England, where it was easier to get a hit record than the US.

They came out of the gate with a number of strong songs: “Stray Cat Strut,” “Rock This Town,” “Runaway Boys” and “Rumble in Brighton” (from their first US album, Built for Speed), as well as “(She’s) Sexy + 17” (from their second US album, Rant n’ Rave with the Stray Cats). Then they basically disappeared. (Anyone remember the Brian Setzer Orchestra?)

But tonight at Pier 17 in New York City, they came roaring back to life, musicianship fully in tow (and they all still have their fabulous hair, damn it!). It’s amazing how much sound these guys get from just a guitar, bass and drums. (Drummer Slim Jim Phantom doesn’t even use a full drum kit, just a snare and cymbal!)

So Setzer and bassist Lee Rocker (who traded a “Long Island, NY” baseball jacket), along with Phantom (who wore a “Massapequa” T-shirt) brought it all back home.