Election night with the master

By Michael Fraase

Wednesday, 05 November 2008 11:37AM CDT

Section: Politics

Bob Dylan 2008Bob Dylan played the University of Minnesota last night for the first time ever. While the front-of-house sound was a mixed bag—the guitars were clear as a bell; Dylan’s vocals were incredibly mushy—it was an historic, yet vaguely predictable night.

Dylan’s shows are usually either spectacular or spectacularly lackluster. The US election night show was more erratic than John McCain’s campaign. Chalk it up to constantly different arrangements for the old chestnuts, I suppose. The mushy vocals were attributable to a crooner with a croak and bad microphone selection. But Masters of War, It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding), and Blowin’ In The Wind were exceptionally well done.

Last summer, Dylan told the Times of London, “We’ve got this guy out there now who is redefining the nature of politics from the ground up: Barack Obama. He’s redefining what a politician is, so we’ll have to see how things play out. Am I hopeful? Yes, I’m hopeful that things might change. You should always take the best from the past, leave the worst back there and go forward into the future.“ So you just had to know this show was going to be a political statement.

The setlist was carefully selected for US election night:

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Holding my nose once again

By Michael Fraase

Tuesday, 04 November 2008 11:51AM CDT

Section: Politics

Hold your noseLong ago, when I became a member of the Green party—having never previously been a member of a political party—I promised myself I’d never hold my nose and vote against my conscience ever again. I haven’t, and, frankly, that hasn’t worked out so well.

So this year, I’m finding myself holding my nose again. I’ll be voting for Barack Obama—and that’s not an endorsement—with anything but enthusiasm. Obama is a moderate-right centrist, not the leftist portrayed by the right and the corporate media. Moreover he’s a politician, and while certainly deft, not an especially atypical one. Don’t believe it? Here’s a simple example: Obama supports universal health insurance, not universal health care. Need another? Do the math on Obama’s “wealth redistribution” plans.

I took a vacation day because this is a historic event. Historic not solely because of the first bi-racial candidate for president but mostly because this is the year that the citizenry starts voting again. For the first time in a long time more people will vote this year than don’t. That’s worth celebrating, I suppose, in an ineffably dark and vaguely depressing way.

But tonight—tonight is also historic in that it’s the first time Bob Dylan plays at the University of Minnesota. I’ll be spending the evening in Northrop Auditorium, main floor section 5, row 35 on the edge of my seat. And that’s definitely something to celebrate.

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Obama administration media transparency? Don’t count on it

By Michael Fraase

Thursday, 16 October 2008 07:25AM CDT

Section: Politics

Making sausageIf you thought the Obama administration would bring a refreshing new level of transparency—including transparency with the media—well, I guess you were wrong. Count me among the many.

Liza Mundy, writing for Slate, outlines the difficulties she encountered with the Obama campaign in getting access to sources for a book about Michelle Obama.

Mundy approached Michelle Obama’s relatives—both close and fairly distant—to have them “walk [her] through what they knew of her life” only to have the Obama campaign instruct the potential sources not to talk to long-form print authors.

It’s common practice during the political silly season to have campaigns instruct everyone to check in before talking to the media about anything. But keep in mind that this stonewalling by the Obama campaign comes after Michelle Obama told Michelle Powell and Jodi Kantor, writing for the New York Times, “I will walk anyone through my life. Come on, let’s go.“

Here’s Mundy on why we should care:

“Why should you care about one writer’s shaggy-dog story? In one sense, none of this is tragic; every reporter knows that being denied access to the usual contacts means you dig harder and turn up new voices. But you should care if you are expecting an Obama presidency to achieve new levels of transparency. Obama, if elected, may well bring many changes to Washington, but unusually open access to the media—and, by extension, the public—is not necessarily going to be one of them.“

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