Micah's Read of the Week, Vol. 4
Willie Nelson, Dame Lillard, A beautiful knockout, and a viral photo you need to see. Plus, we do some politics this week 🙈.
Hello, and welcome to Micah’s Read of the Week.
Did you know Chuck wore #4 for the Rockets? I didn’t.
If you want more information about this newsletter, check out the introduction post here, and the entire archive of previous posts here.
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Did You Know It’s An Election Year?
We often avoid political conversations here and on my podcast, Mind of Micah. Not so this week. Our Monday episode of the pod, (which you can listen to right now) features the return of Micah’s Mailbag, in which I answer one question. Today’s call started like this: “I’m a long time first time. Truthfully, I disagree with everything you say politically.”
Ok then.
On the pod I discuss where we can find some common ground to solve some problems.
Today’s newsletter also features a few political stories and takes from me. If you aren’t interested, just skip down below. We’ve got Willie Nelson stories, Dame Lillard speaking truth, a boxing knockout, and a viral photo you do not want to miss.
Listen to Mind of Micah on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Can we stop doing this, please?
There’s a global pandemic. A looming recession. Raging wildfires. Millions out of work and thousands in cities across America waiting in line for donated food.
To both parties: please stop complaining about things that don’t matter.
The quick back story: Tuesday night at the DNC convention, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made an appearance to second the nomination of Bernie Sanders for president, a formality since he received the second-most delegates. To be clear, her video was not an endorsement of Bernie Sanders in some ongoing contest with Biden, but rather part of standard practice at the convention.
NBC News sent the following (later deleted and amended) tweet:
“In one of the shortest speeches of the DNC, Rep Ocasio-Cortez did not endorse Joe Biden: ‘I hereby second the nomination of Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America.’”
Ok, so this is a bit misleading, but actually factually correct. And good on NBC News for adding an editor’s note later.
Here’s where I SMH. AOC then tweets this:
This isn’t a conspiracy by NBC News. I’ve worked in newsrooms for years. Here’s what probably happened: a social media editor made a simple mistake during a fairly confusing symbolic procedural moment.
No one at NBC News is actively trying to generate “hate-clicks.”
This is not “appalling.”
This tweet did not cause an “incredible amount of damage.”
Obviously, AOC’s tweets went far more viral than a simple tweet from NBC News. In fact, she was trending on twitter Tuesday through Thursday morning. Not Joe Biden, not Bernie Sanders, AOC.
Of course, it didn’t really matter what she said or didn’t say, her appearance (or shortness thereof) became a story. A porterhouse of red meat for both sides.
I’m not just picking on AOC here. It would be easy to say that our lawmakers should be focused on solving our nation’s problems, and ignore twitter completely. Of course, that can’t happen. My biggest issue is the general tone of her complaints. It all comes down to what Texas conservative writer Erica Grieder calls “The Politics of Grievance.”
The right in Texas and across the country has long used this is a powerful tool. Appeal to an aggrieved electorate by blaming others for their problems, either real or perceived. Instead of searching for solutions, it’s easier highlight what’s unfair, and then blame the other side. “The media” has been an easy target going back to Reagan.
AOC is using the same playbook. “Look what the big bad corporate media did to me. I demand you make it right.” Watch the retweets pile up. This isn’t an example of systematic inequities in our society. This isn’t a vast conspiracy against progressives. This is a bad tweet from a social media editor. Get over it.
Of course, it’s hard to be too tough on a freshman house member without much actual governing power, when The Leader of the Free World is focused on America’s biggest issues.
It’s always Shark Week for POTUS.
Two more political reads
The Media’s Biggest Favor to Biden Was to Ignore Him
There’s a good reason why Democrats shut Joe Biden out in 1988 and 2008 when he ran for president, and why he had the sound sense to sit out the 2016 contest. He rambles. He plagiarizes. He flip-flops. Over his long career in Washington, he has become the human embodiment of the political gaffe.
The press has documented Biden’s limitations in such detail that if the presidency were a regular occupation, and Joe’s press clips were job references, his recruiter would dump his application in a waste can without even bothering to send him an insincere note wishing him luck elsewhere. But instead of hammering him and pouring vinegar on his wounds, the press has bestowed “strange new respect” status upon Biden—strange new respect being the clever trope Tom Bethell invented to describe the press corps’ sudden shift from negative to positive coverage of a politician.
The next Lost Cause? The South’s mythology glamorized a noble defeat. Trump backers may do the same.
The original Lost Cause will never be replicated. It articulated a fully developed set of beliefs about slavery, honor and region, grounded in the experiences of a slaveholding republic. Trump and his followers do not have such a coherent ideology, nor do they enjoy the kind of geographical monopoly that the Confederates possessed. But their arguments are animated by some of the same tactics that allowed the Lost Cause to thrive for more than 150 years, which may help Trumpism, too, live on past its political moment. If it succeeds in attracting adherents, they will be a minority. Nevertheless, a small but vocal set of defenders can still shape our politics and our society. We’ve seen it before.
Ok, on to the fun stuff.
Willie Nelson Appreciation Read of the Week
This oral history from Texas Monthly entitled “That’s Just the Way Willie Rolls,” is a fun read.
From singer-songwriter Jeannie Seely:
About ten years ago, I lost my home, my car, and everything in the big flood in Nashville. The Opry was flooded too, so really, I lost two homes, and I ended up being all over the news. The Associated Press came down and talked to me, and so did some TV reporters. They showed my beautiful Martin guitar, just destroyed, on top of a pile of stuff.
One of the first calls I got was from Willie. He said, “Well, I saw on the news that the flood floated your mailbox away. So where do I send my check?”
From Richie Albright, Waylon Jenning’s former drummer:
When Waylon played the Armadillo for the first time, all these hippies and cowboys were just screaming. We had never had a response like that. Waylon turned around and said, “Somebody go get that little redheaded son of a bitch. What’s he got me into?”*
From George Strait:
I played golf with Willie a couple times. The first time was at the tournament he hosted each year with Coach Royal, the Darrell and Willie Invitational. It was at Barton Creek Country Club and it was me, Coach Royal, Willie, and [legendary pro golfer] Chi Chi Rodriguez in a foursome. Willie went first and hit a bad drive, so he immediately took a mulligan—which was funny, because there were no mulligans. But hey, it was his tournament. So, we got to the green and Willie had a really long putt for maybe a six. He asked Chi Chi to give him a read. Chi Chi looked at it from both sides then walked over, picked the ball up, tossed it to Willie, and said, “It’s too hard. You can’t make it.”
Just go read the whole thing. It’ll make you smile.
NBA Quote of the Week
Dame Lillard has been incredible throughout the NBA Bubble. The quote below is his best work yet.
Fam, this is just playing ball. Dametime forever.
Knockout of the Week
Goodnight now.
A short list of things going viral this week
COVID-19, this newsletter, Thom Brennaman, and the photo below.
Where else can I find Micah content?
Podcasts: Mind of Micah, Back Door Cover, Too Much Dip
Twitter: @micahwiener & @producermicah (Why two twitters? It’s a long story)
Instagram: @micahwiener
LinkedIn: @micahwiener