Flogging Molly Flogging Michigan at the Rothbury Music Festival

I’m kicking back for the moment here at the 2009 Rothbury Music Festival in Rothbury, Michigan, waiting for super masher Girl Talk to come on stage at 2 a.m. and close the first full day of this remarkable festival. If you’re too cool to make plans and sittin’ around this holiday weekend, my recommendation is to grab your basic camping gearing, pack lots of loose change for the two-day ticket price, and drive over here in the morning. This world-class Michigan music event – in its second year – should not be missed if at all possible. Join me in partying like it's 1969, but without the free booze, drugs, and sex.

The crowd here – something like 30,000 strong? – was described to me as the children and grandchildren of Woodstock. And by the looks of it, I agree: socially-conscious, youthful, easy-going, doo-rags, a few dreads, and lots of tattoos – plus great taste in music. Okay, I don’t quite fit the demographic – tattoo embellishment never needed – but having grown up in The Nasty, I’m still down wit-it. Still, at my age, I have the small weekend goals of (1) having fun, (2) covering the event as a blogger, and (3) getting home on Monday with my dignity. I’ll take two out of three if I can convince a crowd to make an old man happy and just once body surf him across the crowd. That would make a great video posting, dignity be damned.

Good Golly, Flogging Molly

I already know one of my highlights of the weekend will be the performance of the Irish band, Flogging Molly. They are known to many for their high-energy Celtic-rock. They were know to me, personally, as the band listed on the obnoxious green t-shirt worn often by my bud, Lansing activist Chris Singer. I’ve got to say, the praise heaped on this band by Chris was well-deserved..

Flogging Molly took the stage mid-day and lit up the crowd with an impressive 90-minute set, songs familiar to everyone except me. The crowd and the band traded on the energy of the moment. The mosh pit in front was sizeable and a few people – no old guys – surfed across the crowd. I walked away determined to download all their music and you may soon see me wearing a green obnoxious Flogging Molly t-shirt (not).

Hangin' Backstage with Flogging Molly

That’s it for now. Looking at the clock, Girl Talk goes on stage in 90 more minutes. I’ll be there, camera and Red Bull in hand.

-- Rico Thomas Rico

Revenge of the EV1

Looking at General Motors, I shook my head with amazement.  How, I wondered, could a company that has the ability to hire the best and brightest people from around the globe perform so badly?  Why are they building big, gas-guzzling vehicles when gas prices are escalating and when the trend – as evidenced by the foreign competition – is clearly moving toward smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles?  Why? Why? Why?

I asked all these questions circa 1976 while still in high school.

Through more than thirty years these same questions have echoed in my mind.  Even when bad signs or indicators popped into our public consciousness, people continued to believe that the auto industry would continue here in Michigan, especially with the Big Three ingrained in our economy.

Ahhh, there were plenty of warning signs.  Here are just a few:

= Bluestone and Harrison published The Deindustrialization of America in 1982.  But how many in the general public read that book?

= Michael Moore released “Roger and Me” in 1989.  Did the rest of the country simply think this documentary was propaganda?

= President Bill Clinton escorted NAFTA through Congress and signed it into law in 1994.  Steadily over time, did people really notice they were getting the slow SHAFTA from NAFTA?

These signs and many more existed over the 30-year period.  All of us who witnessed the auto industry’s collapse – directly and indirectly – will only be left with those memories.  In the end, it will be our duty and responsibility to tell the story.  The truthful story.  From all its varying angles.

Hot Iron, Hotter Attitude

I got a phone call a few weeks ago from a buddy.  As happens these days, the conversation turned to the state of the economy.  My buddy explained with great conviction how the union workers in Michigan killed our auto industry with their high pay and fringe benefits.

Deep breath.  Pause.  Deep breath.

Let me get this viewpoint straight:

= People like my father, a proud union member and person, who poured hot iron for GM for 33 years, drove the company into the ground?

= My father and his union cohorts decided to continue building gas-guzzling vehicles with the GM nameplate through the whole period when mileage-efficient cars were gaining in popularity?

= My father and the unionists killed and destroyed the GM electric car, the EV1, even though it was affordable, functional, and ready for mass production in an oil-dependent auto market?

What else were the workers responsible for?  Ripping off the Enron customers? Running multi-billion dollar Ponzi schemes?  Fabricating illegal wars so Halliburton could get more military contracts?

Trust me, my dear buddy, if my father had been in charge of GM, the company would still be alive and well, and the only people out of work and money would be the corporate cluster f*cks who were so willing to sell us all out for their own personal, private gain.

The Sad Irony

Michigan is left with this sad irony:

= The earliest mass transit and trolley systems were deliberately killed – mainly by the auto companies themselves – in favor of automobile production and jobs. 

= Politicians – including some prominent Senate and House Democrats who remain in office today – made careers out of shielding the auto companies from legislatively-mandated mileage standards in the name of protecting auto jobs. 

= The state legislature refused – and still refuses – to pass auto inspection and emission standards all in the name of protecting auto jobs.

= The corporate press failed its public responsibility in order not to pressure, scrutinize, or challenge the direction or decisions of the corporate auto giants.

= GM literally crushed out of existence a road-ready electric car in favor of gas-guzzling vehicles.

The ironic result is a state with no mass transit system, no adequate mileage-efficient vehicles, no way to get polluting cars off the roads, no financially-healthy newspaper watchdogs, no electric car… and no thriving auto industry with plentiful jobs.

The Revenge

I ascribe all this to the revenge of the EV1.  You can see it, hear it, and feel it any time a politician, a policymaker, a reporter, or a corporate official feigns the need to build an electric car, or electric-hybrid, or the need to invent and build a good vehicle battery.  The electric vehicle was deliberately and consciously rejected to the long-term detriment of the public good – a truth that must be told as we sift through the ruins and history of the auto industry.

-- Rico Thomas Rico

P.S. Read my earlier piece on the electric car here.

Arlen Specter Resurrected

The political reaction was immediate as the news flashed over Twitter on Tuesday: “Dems have 60…Dems have 60!”

Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senator Arlen Specter switched political parties, from Republican to Democrat. The storyline focused on the filibuster-proof 60-vote majority now held by Senate Democrats. Some claim it is a seismic change for the American political landscape. Is it, really?

Most of the political chatter I saw and heard on TV and radio focused on the impact Specter’s switch will have on the Republican Party. The storyline was the Republican Party needs to regroup and reinvent itself to stay relevant on the national political stage. Ok, but in my book the real story was about the Democratic Party. Specifically, the Democratic Party’s strong push to the right which was made more pronounced during Bill Clinton’s presidency.

I was thinking about Arlen Specter lately, believe it or not. As I followed political news along the way, I was variously bemused and concerned that the corporate media, mostly, was consistently describing Specter as a “moderate” Republican. Arlen Specter, a moderate? The hard-core law-and-order Republican Arlen Specter who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980 at the beginning of the Reagan conservative “revolution”? No thanks.

Has anyone noticed how Democrats and Republicans are so easily interchangeable? Republican Specter becomes a Democrat in a blink. Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman campaigned last fall for the Republican presidential ticket (and could switch parties tomorrow). Along that same vein, Hillary Clinton supporters, upon their candidate finishing second for the party nomination, very publicly announced their defection to the John McCain presidential campaign. How can politicos support Hillary Clinton one day, then John McCain the next, with no qualms?

Now with the current Congress, you hear about “Blue Dog Democrats” acting as the voice and protectorate of the conservative viewpoint from within the majority Democratic Party. Dems control Congress, yes, but the Blue Dogs are there to make sure the “liberal” agenda doesn’t get out of control. Who invited them to the party?

The political flip-flop changes above are just a few examples. Look about our fine peninsula here in Michigan and you can find a similar interchange. For Earth Day this year, three former Michigan Governors came out in favor of an expanded nuclear power infrastructure for Michigan. The former Governors supporting this concept were William Milliken, James Blanchard, and John Engler. What’s wrong with this picture? I’m just surprised that Blanchard had a mind-meld with Engler, on nuclear power of all things. And Milliken’s pro-environment reputation took a negative hit on this one, too. Only the nuclear power industry scored a victory with the help of 2 Republicans and 1 Democrat, or 2 Democrats and 1 Republican, depending on how you categorize Milliken.

Our political discourse in this country needs to include, up front, the topic of America’s political duopoly and its impact on public policy. This blog will most likely return to this topic throughout 2009. Certainly, there won't be any shortage of material.

-- Rico Thomas Rico

Wrongful Convictions Expert Explains Paredes Case

The nationally respected wrongful convictions expert Paul Ciolino held a press conference on Wednesday, December 3, 2008, to explain the case of Efren Paredes, Jr. Ciolino's press conference was a lead-in to the commutation hearing for Paredes on Thursday, December 4th. Below is the opening portion of Ciolino's presentation. I will continue to report on this case as it proceeds through the process, including an upcoming report on my observations of the dramatic, intense nine-hour hearing on Thursday.

-- Rico Thomas Rico

Wrongful Convictions Expert, Paul Ciolino
on the Efren Paredes, Jr. Case