No one’s going to be closing any bridges too soon. If only they put a few bankers behind bars…

The dirty little secret is the educated class believes it’s inviolate. That prison is for inner city denizens, the so-called dregs, and that if you’re wealthy enough and savvy enough you can hire an attorney and get off.

But not in this case.

It’s impossible to go back and reopen the bridge, give the time back to those who were frustrated by lane closures. But this is not about restitution but prevention. How do we reduce bad behavior in the future?

Some deterrents don’t work. Like the death penalty. That’s just an eye for an eye. But put a middle class person in jail and they’re changed for life. Look at the Watergate conspirators, one of the worst offenders, Chuck Colson, became a  preacher. He had a lot of time behind bars to think about his bad behavior. And Dick Nixon may have been pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford, but his reputation was irreparably tarnished and…

We’ve got a government spying on its citizens, and a financial system that continues to wreak havoc on our economy, but we’re complicit in this behavior. We think the best and the brightest are keeping us safe. Funny how the right wingers are all about keeping government out of our business but when it comes to going behind closed doors, into our communications devices, to keep us supposedly secure, they’re all for it.

I remember when jail was anathema, not a badge of honor. Seemingly every rapper has been behind bars, and of course that’s an overstatement, but how have we gotten to the point where we glorify this? Why do these performers find it so hard to do the right thing?

Then again, we revere the outlaws because we ourselves are afraid.

It seems the bad acting musicians, and it’s not only rappers, a bunch of country acts have done time and a few rockers too, are running on instinct, they’re not thinking about it. But these white collar criminals…they know exactly what they’re doing and they act with impunity. And the same right wingers who believe in law and order have crippled the judiciary system to the point where if you’re guilty of bad behavior there’s a good chance you won’t be caught, never mind prosecuted. No taxes, no prosecutors. Funny how it’s all part of the same circle, you can’t take out one element and expect the system to work. Explain to me again how reducing IRS agent head count helps us? Aren’t these the people paid to collect the money?

So now while there’s a camera on every corner, to the point the average citizen can’t commit a crime and get away with it, those at the top of the pyramid are running willy-nilly over the system.

I’ve got no idea if they’ll prosecute Chris Christie, one thing I know for sure is his political career is finished. And the bridge lane closures did it. It was akin to a rap feud. The mayor of Fort Lee wouldn’t endorse him so he had to pay. The only thing missing was the bullets.

But there was evidence, electronic evidence. These nitwits didn’t realize their mobile phones were incriminating devices. Once again, it’s getting very hard to break the law and get away with it, but if you’re committing conceptual crimes the odds of skating are much higher. Next time it’ll all be done via conversation. That’s what they do in Silicon Valley when a deal gets close, they get off e-mail, they go to the landline, because there is no record.

And there’s a huge record of financial bad behavior but no one in charge, no one making decisions, was prosecuted. They said they didn’t know, hid behind layers of management, and counted on their cronies in the government, like Timothy Geithner, to let them be.

Then again, we’ve got a corrupt system. Both political and financial. You can’t make it unless you bend the rules. To the point where Donald Trump is boasting about bending the rules. Which way do we want it, zero tolerance or…

Put a few bankers behind bars and you’d be stunned how financial shenanigans evaporate. Nobody who went to an Ivy League institution wants to take it up the rear end. That’s right, put ’em in with the general population, don’t send ’em to a country club prison.

As for politicians… They do get prosecuted, they do go to jail, the attorney general of Pennsylvania, Kathleen Kane, a Democrat, was just convicted. But, is it the person or the system or both? And can we investigate the system as well as the person? How the hell do you raise the money to run and get elected? Inherently you owe favors.

We’re all guilty. Of being two-faced. We want a pass here and strict tolerance there.

But when you send a message to those in charge, making decisions, that bad behavior won’t be tolerated, it ripples through the whole system. Talk about trickle down…

So, today was a victory for our country. It showed no one is above the law.

But the truth is most movers and shakers believe to the contrary. They fly private, live behind layers of security and have access to the gatekeepers, they can make things go away. We live in a two-tiered society and most of us are on the lower rung when the truth is we’re all in this together.

I don’t want to ruin anybody’s life, I don’t want anybody taken away from their children.

But if they’re gonna put African-Americans behind bars for smoking a little dope, all in an effort to feed the prison industrial complex, then those in charge of creating the system must be incarcerated too.

There’s no crying in court. You can let the tears flow but the scales of justice won’t be tipped.

Chalk one up for the good guys today.

Us.

And the winner was…

STURGILL SIMPSON! Who excoriated Nashville and the ACM and CMA for embracing Merle Haggard posthumously when they pushed him aside during his lifetime.

Sturgill Simpson is an outsider.

And people love him for it. Whenever I write about country music I hear his name most, my inbox overflows, he’s got rabid fans, and they’re the ones spreading the word. There’s a fiction that old media still works, radio and print. But print is dying on the vine, the “Wall Street Journal” just laid off staffers and is merging sections and the “New York Times” saw a double-digit decrease in print advertising. Madison Avenue has fled print, because it no longer reaches and converts the public. Advertising may look like a public service, with all the image ads, but it’s really all about the SELL!

And for years Nashville has been about selling out.

I truly wonder if all these entertainers are friends in real life. Watching on television you felt this was a giant high school party thrown by the cool kids professing togetherness before they went to the bathroom and bullied those not in the club.

Not that there weren’t highlights.

Despite the tacky, over-the-top outfits, the CMAs were more genuine than the Grammys, there was less sheen, the music breathed, it evidenced some humanity. But it was all in service to a TV network paying the bills. Whether it be hype for upcoming shows displayed via on-screen bugs or scrolling news info it was clear the musicians were not in control, money was. What does Jennifer Garner have to do with country music? Peyton Manning? As for hosts Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley…it’s time to give someone else a chance. One thing was clear during this 50th anniversary telecast, the new plow over the old. You had hits once and now your power has been usurped. Give someone else a chance.

And playing to the television audience a grit was absent that is key at live shows. When you’re playing to everybody, you’re playing to nobody. Whereas when you’re in the arena for a live show supported by fans the excitement is palpable, when the attendees roar, the performers take it up a notch.

The highlight for me was Eric Church thanking his fans. He sent his new LP to them first and it won Album of the Year. Some things are right in this universe, as opposed to all the acts shilling for Chevy. Does anybody really want a Chevy, other than a Corvette? Isn’t that what you settle for when you can’t afford a Honda, Toyota or Nissan, never mind a Mazda or an Audi? But if Chevy is paying the bills, these court jesters will perform for them. Pretty creepy.

Then again, that’s the era we live in. It’s not that the younger generation is fine with selling out, it’s just that it never lived through an era where people didn’t. Which is why Sturgill Simpson taking a stand is so important.

And I’ve got to laud Kenny Chesney for wearing his t-shirt, albeit a highfalutin’ one. Once upon a time, when music burgeoned, it was about what was inside as opposed to the trappings. Kenny was the only one who came in his regular clothing. He bucked tradition. Kudos.

But there was the Apple Music ad for his new album. That’s what an exclusive will buy you, promotion. But does it even work? Sure, there’s a level of awareness, but we’ve already established word of mouth is king. As for Apple offering three months free… Is there anybody interested who hasn’t already used up their free trial? Who is this appealing to? Certainly not hard core music fans.

And speaking of taking a stand, isn’t it funny how Spotify is more Steve Jobs than Apple Music. It was Jobs who set the iTunes price and wouldn’t budge, wouldn’t accede to the major labels. It’s Spotify that’s fighting the labels to keep a free tier, it wants no part of exclusives. Once again, you stand for something or you stand for nothing.

And nobody in this telecast would stand for anything other than the Dixie Chicks.

I’m stunned they let them back in the building.

My viewpoint is they should have fought back, just like the Republican bulldozers who commit faux pas, like Bill O’Reilly. They should have stayed in country music, continued to make Nashville uncomfortable instead of exiting the format. By bringing Beyonce on stage, by performing with the pop queen, they showed country music to be what it now is, a big tent. Hell, half of the stars rap. Well, maybe not that many, but plenty.

And that’s today’s brouhaha, how the CMAs killed Bey’s publicity. Or not. You can decide.

But the truth is watching this show I felt very uncomfortable. Like we live in a nation divided. Like the south is a completely different country. Enough with the religion, Jesus didn’t help you win that award, the unheralded songwriter on Music Row did. As for Carrie and Brad being tired of politics… They could take a stand, but they won’t, it might hurt their pocket book.

But you know who did take a stand?

KATY PERRY! She’s been in the trenches for Hillary Clinton since day one. And even though I wavered and went over to Bernie I came back. Because I’m sick of the right wing vilifying Hillary. It’s a social media scrum. And the way you win is to stay in the game, unlike Taylor Swift who was K.O.’ed by Kanye and Kim and turned tail never to return, Clinton has stayed in the game. Is she imperfect, sure…BUT SO ARE YOU!

You see we have to take a stand, we cannot hang back. Read Frank Rich in the new issue of “New York.” He posits there will be consequences for those who did not stand up to Trump.

There are consequences for those who play the game, refusing to do what’s right.

There’s a lot right in Nashville right now. The records are made with real instruments, the songs are singable and they’re about subjects people can relate to. That’s the essence of country music, but not only country, BUT ALL MUSIC!

But we’ve gotten so far from the garden.

The CMA performances slid right off of me. They didn’t have gravitas. There was too much stunting, too many duets. But a lot of these numbers, when it’s just me and I hear them streaming through the headphones…

Unfortunately, Dierks Bentley sang to hard drive, but if “Different For Girls” doesn’t ring true to you, you’re probably a groper.

There’s truth in that song. It resonates.

There was very little truth in last night’s show.

But some of the songs keep me alive.

You’re building a resume, a body of work. You only answer to yourself. And when you look inward and reveal your truth people are drawn to you. Which is why it’s so important to avoid doing what’s expedient, going along to get along. Especially in art. The hacks come and go, the legends live on.

And Merle Haggard, although six feet under, will live longer in the culture than almost any winner tonight.

The first thing I remember knowing
Was a lonesome whistle blowing

Lonesome. Sometimes I feel that way so much I could cry, and do. Remember when songs penetrated your soul? That’s why people clamor for Jason Isbell, he’s trying to get it right. You need to try and get it right.

And a young ‘un’s dream of growing up to ride
On a freight train leaving town

Now everybody just stays where they was born and goes nowhere. Used to be you wanted to get out of Dodge, have new experiences. Today the acts base themselves in Nashville and fly home after many gigs. And the audience never ventures above the Mason-Dixon Line.

But music can take you far away.

And Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” was carried by the wind all the way to San Francisco, where the Grateful Dead covered it on their legendary live album commonly known as “Skull and Roses.”

That’s music history for you right there.

Play a little less to the crowd and a little more to yourself.

That’s when people embrace you, that’s when you become a big star.

Too many of tonight’s stars were small.

But Sturgill Simpson, who was not even nominated, is quite big.

You can be big too.

Sturgill Simpson on Merle Haggard

“New York Times Co. Reports an Advertising Drop, Though Digital Results Grew”

Frank Rich: “Trump’s Appeasers – Charles Lindbergh was a national hero, then a fascist sympathizer. History will be just as brutal to more than a few current Republican leaders”

“Mama Tried”

What a game!

It had everything, a rain delay, a comeback and extra innings.

And it ended at 12:45 AM on the east coast and the younger generation that no longer plays would have been hooked if it had only seen it.

Baseball was everything growing up. I played Little League where you either made the team or you didn’t, you played or you were cut, and trophies only went to the winners. In an era when blacks were disadvantaged, women were denigrated and little light was shone upon the foibles of the famous people.

But we believed.

It was a simpler time. We wanted to be Mickey Mantle. Somehow, we believed Moose Skowron could be our best friend. We wanted to see Rocky Colavito come to bat, never mind Al Kaline. Baseball was the National Pastime. Until football came along and stole everybody’s heart with a violent game played against a clock.

Remember the George Carlin routine? Baseball was pastoral, we had no idea when it might end, it might go on FOREVER!

And now the season does.

There were 162 games because there were ten teams instead of eight.

But these extra layers of playoffs, they were about TV cash and raising the hopes of the wannabes. Whereas way back when, you rode it out for the pennant and then the World Series was played the first week of October. We shouldn’t be playing baseball in November, but that’s what the money demands.

But despite all that, tonight’s game was an epic finish that not only rekindled your belief in the game, but America too.

The most valuable player was a Jewish egghead who never took the field. Theo Epstein reversed the curse in Boston and then brought a championship to Chicago. Most sports are jockocracies wherein if you didn’t play, you don’t get a voice. To the point where the commentators are all has-been oldsters who won’t talk trash unless they’ve got a personal beef. It’s a closed system. You’re either inside or outside, and that just sucks.

And the teams are a rainbow coalition of ethnicities. It’s a white supremacist’s nightmare, not only are there various colors, but immigrants too! And somehow they all get along, they come together as a team, they’ve got a common goal, victory!

What is the common goal in America today? The telecast was riddled with political ads that made one wince. Duplicitous candidates utilizing subterfuge to try and win. Whereas the baseball players had shaggy haircuts, some tattoos, and had to play by their wits, there was little time for thinking, you had to make decisions.

And we can second-guess Joe Maddon’s until springtime. Why did he pull the starting pitcher? But this is not the digital world, where we expect it to work right out of the box, this is humanity, where you make mistakes and they have consequences.

The bad throws!

I’ll argue that way back when the players were better prepared. I don’t remember this many errors at the end of the season. But it kept one paying attention, you had no idea what would transpire.

Like the comeback.

That’s why baseball is the best, it’s never over until it’s over. I was debating getting off the couch, calling it a night, it looked like a blowout, but then the aforementioned pitcher was replaced, the Indians scored and when it looked like they couldn’t come back, THEY DID!

And for a minute there, it looked like they’d come back in the 10th.

Bob Costas says sports are a metaphor for life, and that’s tonight’s lesson… Not only that you shouldn’t give up, but you should continue to play the game because anything can happen. Sometimes you’ve just got to show up, the other person will screw up. Sometimes you have to step up to the plate and create your own destiny.

As much as they’re doing their best to screw up baseball they can’t screw up the game. That’s what’s so fascinating and heartwarming. This is not football, where every year they’re tweaking the rules and it’s hard to catch up. This is not football wherein a subjective judgment, i.e. pass interference, can determine championships. This is just a bunch of guys on a field contesting each other, via their skills and their intellect. Sure, baseball players now pump iron, but the Cubs’ 10th inning pitcher looked like he’d get beaten up in high school, he was a veritable stringbean!

And after throwing a bunch of strikes he could no longer find the plate. The pressure! That’s what success is all about, handling the pressure!

So right now you’ve got a cadre of thrilled baby boomers with their minds blown that this series went to seven, the Cubs came back from a 3-1 deficit, and Chicago earned its first ring in 108 years.

And you’ve got a younger generation that’s shrugging its shoulders if it’s paying attention at all.

Sure, back in the sixties the games were during the day, we were in school, we’d implore our teacher to turn them on. But now they start at 8 PM and are almost guaranteed to go until midnight on the east coast… How did we lose our way?

That’s right, we as a nation have lost our way. Because we put money first and foremost. It erodes all our institutions, it undermines our culture, it makes heroes of zeros. Come on, would anybody be listening to Donald Trump if he wasn’t rich?

But maybe you’re a Trump supporter… You’re gonna vote for him, and when he hopefully loses, you’re gonna say the election was rigged.

But nobody is saying the World Series was rigged. Everybody believes it was fought fair and square. Sure, there were some injustices, but that’s life, perfection is nonexistent.

We can learn from baseball. Not only do you have to run onto the field and play, if you lose, you have to get ready for another day.

If this were politics they’d be screaming about the rain delay, saying it caused the pitchers to go cold and the playing field to get wet.

But nobody did.

One team ultimately ran onto the field in pure joy, disbelieving their long nightmare was over. That after almost a year of effort, never mind seasons previous, they’d triumphed.

The other team was glum, disillusioned.

But the Indians are not going to quit. They’re going to lick their wounds and show up next spring to contest again.

Show up and contest, it’s all we can do.

Just when I think I’ve seen it all, that I’m too jaded, a baseball game reminds me that despite preparation, we’ve got no idea what the future holds. And despite mistakes, we too can still triumph.

Puts a smile on my face and joy in my heart.

I hope you saw it.

Hasn’t he got enough money?

Then again, maybe he’s not only exclusive to Apple, maybe you can hear his new album “Cosmic Hallelujah” via Amazon, but I doubt it and researching it is too hard, these acts don’t realize Apple and Amazon’s streaming services are narrow silos whose contents are invisible to those who do not pay, it’s like putting on a show where most people can’t go and there are no reviews, what’s the point of that?

Kenny’s been working it. There’s press everywhere, he did a town hall on No Shoes Radio, his SiriusXM station, but you can’t stream the album on Spotify… Talk about noise Kenny, by time your LP arrives on the green service there’ll be something new, you’ve got to strike when the iron is hot, while the looky-loos still care, and Kenny you need them to fill your stadium gigs.

Furthermore, you know when the LP goes wide Spotify’s gonna bury it, no matter what they say. Steve Jobs was the king of retaliation, it’s in the DNA of his company, you expect Spotify to play nice? I don’t think so.

And Troy Carter said at the “Wall Street Journal”‘s D Conference last week that Spotify would never get rid of its free tier, because some people will never pay. There you have it. Spotify’s the new radio, and people listened to the radio and bought concert tickets and merch from time immemorial.

But the dirty little secret is right now streaming is anemic for country acts. Just like with CDs, sales plummeted in country last. So even if you’re on Spotify it’s not really hurting you. And does it hurt you anyway?

What game is Kenny Chesney playing here? We’re already off Lady Gaga, she’s in the rearview mirror. Imagine if her new album weren’t on Spotify, when she came to the service no one would listen!

But Kenny thinks country will never change, that it will still be radio driven, that he’ll whip out his tracks one by one, they’ll run them to number one and there will be partying in the streets.

No.

That game is on its way to extinction. Just look at pop. Where the tracks break on streaming services first and radio picks up the crumbs. Actually, we saw this movie once before, thirty years ago, with MTV. Suddenly, the tail was wagging the dog, radio had to play what MTV did, and when it did not, the station’s ratings took a nosedive.

Funny how Kenny will take a stand on this but not anything else. His vaunted single “Noise”… Come on Kenny, who are you for, Hillary or the Donald, you can tell us, but you won’t, you’re too much of a wimp. Imagine the classic rock acts refusing to say. They had backbones, they cared, you don’t.

What does Kenny Chesney stand for?

Relaxing on the beach. That’s where we are these days folks. Escapism is everything. And you wonder why music no longer drives the culture.

I just can’t understand how acts can be so fan unfriendly. They pay fealty to those footing the bill again and again and then screw them. Not only with exclusives on streaming, but ticketing too.

It’s a rip-off culture. Ready to be disrupted. Just like food. McDonald’s cruised along for years, then fast casual came along and it turned out people would rather pay a few bucks extra for something really good.

When the revolution comes, and it will, acts like Kenny Chesney will be buried by those speaking the truth.

Someone’s gonna come along and lay their heart bare and turn country music upside down. Do you really think this bro thing is forever?

What kind of bizarre world do we live in where the distributor is hipper than the artist? That’s right, Spotify is more forward thinking than Kenny Chesney and more beloved. Records come and go, Spotify remains. Remember that, no act is bigger than the streaming service, it lived for years without the Beatles and grew quite nicely. Distribution is bigger than your act, how come Kenny Chesney doesn’t know that?

In movies and TV they want you to buy multiple streaming services. Think of a movie and you can’t see it, not unless you pay someone you’re not already subscribing to, and chances are they don’t have it either.

But in music we fought that war. Everything’s in one place for one low price, sorta.

As for those rearguard people still hating on Spotify… I guess you hate Uber too. You’re still using a typewriter instead of a computer. When I look at the “Billboard” chart I laugh, how inaccurate can you be? Sales are a de minimis part of the picture and the fact that streaming one damn song enough counts as an album is insane, kinda like saying if I masturbated a hundred times it’s equivalent to sexual intercourse. Because that’s what the “Billboard” chart is, masturbation. A scoreboard for an industry so out of touch it can’t handle the truth.

The truth is streaming already won. And you’re competing with the history of recorded music. It’s tough out there, to gain attention, to be streamed. You don’t want to fight with one hand tied behind  your back.

Total streams is the only metric that matters. When “Billboard” wakes up and says this god knows.

So, Kenny gets more press when his record goes number one.

But that’s only for a week. Then what? What’s gonna drive people to stream after the publicity dies down?

Kenny Chesney thinks he’s setting the world on fire, but the truth is he’s in his basement with a can of Sterno, roasting weenies that no one can eat.

That’s the road to success?

Shame on you, you’re furthering country’s stance as the most ignorant format.

Be a leader. Use your pulpit for good. Shame other country acts to embrace streaming.

But no, you’d rather get an award on a TV show and be all shucks about it.

Makes me vomit.