A Republican Looks at Republicans

This article by a former Republican congressional staffer has been making the rounds. Who am I to stand in its way? H/t Atrios.

This constant drizzle of "there the two parties go again!" stories out of the news bureaus, combined with the hazy confusion of low-information voters, means that the long-term Republican strategy of undermining confidence in our democratic institutions has reaped electoral dividends. The United States has nearly the lowest voter participation among Western democracies; this, again, is a consequence of the decline of trust in government institutions - if government is a racket and both parties are the same, why vote? And if the uninvolved middle declines to vote, it increases the electoral clout of a minority that is constantly being whipped into a lather by three hours daily of Rush Limbaugh or Fox News. There were only 44 million Republican voters in the 2010 mid-term elections, but they effectively canceled the political results of the election of President Obama by 69 million voters.

George C. Scott Watches the Jack and Jill Trailer

Brilliant. H/t Digby.

Mike Bloomfield - My Labors

A live version I'd never heard before from 1975, with Nick Gravenites singing his own composition. The reggae arrangement makes this notably different from the original 1969 studio recording.

Nick Drake - Day is Done

In a Nick Drake mood.

The Temptations - Papa was a Rollin' Stone

For the third of September.

Sting - You Can Close Your Eyes

The world's best-known lutenist (although not the world's best lutenist) does a James Taylor cover.

Beethoven Symphony No.7, second movement (Andante con moto) - Carlos Kleiber, conductor