election day is near
Nov. 3rd, 2014 08:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calimacand John Oliver wants you to focus on your state legislature. After all, he points out, Congress has passed only 185 laws this session, whereas state legislatures have passed "more than 24,000." (Although he does not point out that, since there's 50 of them, that comes out to 480+ per legislature: though productive, not such an overwhelming flood.)
He talks about legislative misbehavior, including some here in California. I knew about Leland Yee and his friend the gangster called Shrimp Boy, but I didn't recall about the assemblyman who was picked up on a live mike at a hearing telling a colleague about his kinky extramarital sex life - with, as it turns out, an energy lobbyist. I looked it up. Of course, he was a conservative "family values" Republican from Orange County. And, of course, he resigned: not for what he did, but for being caught at it. This actually took place about five years ago; here's the story.
Oh, and you see the thing on the second page about the county supervisor saying, "I'm going to do the right thing. I will be seeking the seat"? He won it, and here's what happened later to him.
Also notable in the video, for a totally different reason, is Oliver saying, "Congress is like jazz ... Most people hate it, and anyone who says they don't, are lying." I find that curiously hilarious, considering I was once accused of lying when I said I didn't like most jazz. The idea of lying about your own musical tastes, either way, is very curious, though I've noticed a defensive quality about some jazz fans - including the guy I talked to at the Bing preview, who knew I was a classical reviewer and nevertheless quoted me the line about jazz being America's classical music. What, pray tell, are the likes of Aaron Copland, Steve Reich, Ellen Zwilich, Jennifer Higdon, or, if your tastes run that way, Elliott Carter and Ruth Crawford, then? I didn't say that; I just remarked that there was room for more than one kind of good serious music.
He talks about legislative misbehavior, including some here in California. I knew about Leland Yee and his friend the gangster called Shrimp Boy, but I didn't recall about the assemblyman who was picked up on a live mike at a hearing telling a colleague about his kinky extramarital sex life - with, as it turns out, an energy lobbyist. I looked it up. Of course, he was a conservative "family values" Republican from Orange County. And, of course, he resigned: not for what he did, but for being caught at it. This actually took place about five years ago; here's the story.
Oh, and you see the thing on the second page about the county supervisor saying, "I'm going to do the right thing. I will be seeking the seat"? He won it, and here's what happened later to him.
Also notable in the video, for a totally different reason, is Oliver saying, "Congress is like jazz ... Most people hate it, and anyone who says they don't, are lying." I find that curiously hilarious, considering I was once accused of lying when I said I didn't like most jazz. The idea of lying about your own musical tastes, either way, is very curious, though I've noticed a defensive quality about some jazz fans - including the guy I talked to at the Bing preview, who knew I was a classical reviewer and nevertheless quoted me the line about jazz being America's classical music. What, pray tell, are the likes of Aaron Copland, Steve Reich, Ellen Zwilich, Jennifer Higdon, or, if your tastes run that way, Elliott Carter and Ruth Crawford, then? I didn't say that; I just remarked that there was room for more than one kind of good serious music.
