53 thoughts on “Renfro Valley Days”

  1. so here we are like little bluebirds on craig’s shoulder or in a more modern sense like drones circling his head, zika buzzing the news of the day while he enjoys the green, green grass of paradise.

  2. Trump and Taxes
    by Paul Krugman

    So my guess, shared by a number of observers, is that the dirty secret hidden in those returns is that he isn’t as rich as he claims to be. In Trumpworld, the revelation that he’s only worth a couple of billion — maybe even less than a billion — would be utterly humiliating. So he’ll try to tough it out. Of course, if he does, we’ll never know.
    Meanwhile, however, we can look at the candidate’s policy proposals. And what has been going on there is just as revealing, in its own way, as his attempt to dodge scrutiny of his personal finances.
    The story so far: Last fall Mr. Trump suggested that he would break with Republican orthodoxy by raising taxes on the wealthy. But then he unveiled a tax plan that would, in fact, lavish huge tax cuts on the rich. And it would also, according to nonpartisan analyses, cause deficits to explode, adding around $10 trillion to the national debt over a decade.

  3. Beautiful area of Kentucky – thanks for sharing, patd. Mr Crawford is very lucky to have a “place”, so rich in history, to return to & recharge. Funny but while watching the video I immediately thought of Elizabethan England. Neat that those traditions survive. We celebrate Shakespeare this year; wondering if he magically came back to life & went to Renfro Valley how much he would recognize, or at least see as familiar.

    Sending good wishes to Mr Crawford, David & especially his father. Times like these are precious. May every day be sunny & warm, the memories lasting forever.

  4. “Funny but while watching the video I immediately thought of Elizabethan England.”

    sjwny, no wonder you hear the bard. a lot of Appalachians still speak as his players spoke.

    Excerpt on Appalachian English from the documentary film Mountain Talk.

  5. bw, when craig told us about his trip this was the 1st thing that came to my mind. yep, so comforting to see the green, green grass of home.

    good way to start the day with a sing-a-long…. ok, mixers, join in and follow the bouncing ball as we bounce along back country roads with fearless leader.

    https://youtu.be/t5CdDpe87eM

  6. There is a lovely movie, Songcatcher That is set in North Carolina part of Appalachia.  It is a fictionalized version of the capture of the folk music originally from Elizabethan England and kept alive in the backwoods.  A wonderful full soundtrack is available that you can listen to that starts here on You Tube.  This clip from the film is Iris Dement singing Pretty Saro.

     

  7. jamie, thanks for that. here’s another facet of eastern Kentucky.  you might recognize the song from its more recent revival in “justified”… justifiably one of the best tv series imo ever seen.  tried to get the scene when mags Bennett sings soulfully at a funeral but couldn’t find it. this will have to do.

  8. Patd

    Oh I like that one.  Never watched Justified.  Now have to go hunting for the series.

     

  9. You will never leave Harlan Alive, has such an old time  feel to it that it is hard to realize that the writer Darrell Scott was born in 1959

     

    Jack

  10. Jamie, please watch it from beginning.  not one of those that you can just dip into nor just sample.  hang in thru whole series. it’s worth the time.

    if you are an elmore leonard fan, you will love it.  the characters are unusually complex…. no all good nor all evil. several 1st class performances by actors, walter coggins and margo martindale are superb and should get extra praise.  I also loved the lead, timothy olyphant, but not sure whether I was more biased by his looks than by his acting ability.
    loved his hat. it also had character 🙂

  11. patd,

    I hear traces of the Appalachian speech patterns from time to time – certainly hear it at Walmart, even though we are in the flatlands and live in a “city”.  It’s definitely around in the counties to our east where we practice.

     

    April 8 at fivethirtyeight, they published an article explaining why Bernie wasn’t as competitive as he seemed.  At that time Bernie had 42% of the popular votes cast, 46% of the pledged delegates awarded and was 212 delegates behind.  Now he has 43% of the popular vote cast, 45.5% of the pledged delegates awarded, and is 283 pledged delegates behind.  He’s no closer to getting the nomination than he was in Early April, and from a delegate standpoint, he’s further away.  His 538 target has dropped to 92% from 93% over that period. There are 902 pledged delegates left to win.  He needs to win 284 more than Hillary, or 65.5% of the remaining pledged delegates.  His and his followers’ argument that he’s the candidate that can beat trump isn’t very convincing since he FIRST has to beat Clinton to get the nomination, at least as a democrat. At a 45.5% pace so far, with the vast majority of his sweet spot behind him, delusional is the word that comes to mind.

  12. Boy, a barn dance looks like fun.  Sure can see the family resemblance between Craig & Lair, too.

  13. They are renaming some schools in the Houston area; they were named for Confederate leaders.

  14. Jamie,

    “justified” caveat before you go off to rent/buy: it is violent, vulgar at times, some gratuitous sex, tends to promote drinking (‘specially pappy van winkle bourbon) and finds humor in very odd places.

  15. wonkette:
    he’s not paranoid if they’re all out to get him
    Donald Trump Goes Back To The ’70s With His Exciting New Enemies List!

     

  16. You guys do know that Craig hates the British monarchy…  don’t cha?  Seeing some of you compare his beloved Kentucky accents to Elizabethan speech will give him nightmares…  🙂

     

  17. esquire: Stephen Colbert Explains the Bullsh*t Behind Donald Trump’s Meeting with Paul Ryan

    We’re all pawns

    “That was the whole point,” Colbert said in his opening monologue, “For them to get together, us not to see it, and then nothing happened. It was pure theater.”

  18. Renee, best to say Shakespearean I guess, to avoid offending our gracious host. 😉

  19. a sing-a-long with drumpf  [with apologies to don ho]:

    tiny fingers
    in a bind
    tiny troubles
    income tax time

    cooking  my books
    makes me look fine
    warms me all over
    not gonna do time.

  20. I doubt if there is criminal behavior but likely it shows he is all hair no bank account

    and of course a zillion conflicts of interest

  21. msnbc  NOW the Trump is their guy  right up there in his butt with Chris Christie

  22. Pogo,

    The last I heard, this blog was not the Hillary Clinton Fan Club and we are allowed to express our opinions.  I know that most of the bloggers are real big Hillary fans.  So be it.  The Hillary fans have a very thin skin if they cannot take criticism of their precious  candidate.  BlueINDallas said nothing to solicit such a brutal attack.  Why not just put a sock in it and grin and bear it.

    Here is a Hillary good point that she never talks about:
    The Details of Hillary Clinton’s Capital Gains Tax Proposal.

    XR is correct, “War and Wall Street are Clinton’s weakest points.”  “Hillary is that rare combination, even in our grotesque political landscape, of a smooth-talking neoliberal with the worst tendencies of a warrior-neoconservative.”

    If Hillary is so great why don’t people like her?  Truly the election of the lesser of two evils. It is the Independents that will swing the election.  Remember Democrats like to protest, not vote, per Barney Frank.

    Poll: Trump, Clinton score historic unfavorable ratings

    Washington (CNN) — Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton register net negative ratings in double digits, indicating the front-runners for each party’s presidential nominations are viewed negatively at historic levels, according to a new CBS/New York Times poll.

    That makes Trump and Clinton viewed more unfavorably than any front-runner for either party since 1984, when CBS began polling voters on the question.

    On the Republican side, Trump scores a net negative of -33, with a favorable rating of 24% compared to 57% of voters who view him unfavorably. On the Democratic side, Clinton fares only slightly better with a net negative of -21, registering a 31% favorable rating and a 52% unfavorable rating, according to the poll.

    The previous highest unfavorable rating since 1984 actually belongs to another Clinton — former President Bill Clinton, who in 1992 had a net negative rating of -17.

    Most have low opinions of the two political parties as a whole as well — though the Republican Party is viewed far less favorably than the Democratic Party.

    Just 28% hold a favorable opinion of the Republican Party, compared to 46% of voters who view the Democratic Party favorably. Overall, 66% of Americans have a negative view of the GOP, which CBS says matches the lowest rating ever recorded in CBS polling.

  23. McConnell: Election year “not an excuse not to do our work”

     

    so, mitch, what about scotus?

  24. msnbc interviewed women in North Carolina to say they think Trump is right about Clinton being n enabler  have to work really hard

    how come you didn’t do the interviews in New York City

     

    MSNBC  fantasists  for Trump

  25. Trump  there is no there there   he has announced he could anything anytime   –he has no core values

  26. the media has done nothing to factually cover trump

    he is only viable because people have no idea that he is a pathological liar

  27. Patd

    I have Amazon Prime so I’ll be able to binge watch Justified if I get hooked on it.

     

  28. Pee update from the TX GOP Convention:  Lt. Gov. Damn Patrick is now saying that Obama is threatening to deprive poor students of hot lunches (by pulling federal funds) because Texans don’t  want girls & boys to shower together.  Wait! Shower? What happened to peeing?  

  29. The media double standard – hold Trump to the same standard of truthiness

    and the reason nothing sticks to him is because assholes like Haprin and the rest of the fantasists playing at news don’t do anything to hold him to any kind of standard

  30. Dallas, if those Tex rippers think it will starve poor kids, for sure they will prevent boys and girls from showering together.

  31. PIT – I don’t take stuff here too personally, even if it was meant that way.  I figure that it’s none of my business what anyone thinks of me, and, it’s their burden to bear. 🙂

    I continue to think Bernie is the only candidate to who can bring positive changes, rather than keeping this country stuck in the muck, which Hillary and her cronies would surely do.

  32. Xrep – Yes, but they get to use the poor children as pawns in their bathroom battle. They get to look like they care about them.

  33. If Dems kept demanding that Deadbeat produce his tax forms, the mainspring noise media would eventually catch on to that.

    I think the brownnewser media just want to make hay (ADVERTISING) before revealing that Deadbeat is a Deadbeat and a serial husband/bankrupt/liar. And, that he is only a millionaire.

    That is, unless they are backing Deadbeat to the bitter end. I doubt that.

     

  34. PiT, brutal attack?  Hardly.  You and Blue are free to express away but understand that in regurgitating bernie talking points that I can read at Red State you are likely weakening the Democratic nominee, making the prospect of a trump presidency more likely.  If it’s that or the edification that comes from criticizing Hillary you’re after, then you will have the self satisfaction that comes with that.  Criticisms of Hillary for some other purpose, whatever it might be, in my opinion are just gratuitous BS.  You may have a different view, and that’s fine.  You’re free to make your points, and I’m free to point out my take on them.  Blue whined about criticisms of Bernie and pouted when Hillary was running up wins in primaries. She has made a habit of taking unsubstantiated pot shots without linking to her sources and has been called out on it.  She responded saying she couldn’t link on her phone – frankly, I don’t buy that, I do it all the time and I’m pretty much an old fart.  State an opinion, but if you don’t back it up it’s that and nothing more, and frankly, you do provide links and I find many of them informative (although a 7 week old article about a poll done before that that has been covered extensively on every news channel isn’t particularly informative and doesn’t add much to the discussion considering that the two most disliked candidates have won the most votes in their respective parties). If responding to unsourced opinion stated as if it is fact and based on something other than just opinion is thin skinned, I guess I am. But I still want to see what the opinion is based on.

    At this point in the campaign I’m being practical and goal driven, not emotional.  I want a democrat in the white house to appoint judges and SCOTUS justices and I don’t give a crap about what anyone thinks or says about Clinton so long as its ultimate effect is to keep trump out of the White House. In November the choice will be the Democrat (and it ain’t going to be bernie) and trump. Anything that makes a trump presidency more likely pisses me off.

  35. Dallas, don’t Texas Dems have the guts to demand what rippers smoke to get their bathroom/shower/hot lunch delusions ?

    Texans need their Dems to display the Spirit of Molly, the Spirit of Sam Houston, the Spirit of Davey Crockett, and the Spirit of LBJ. Kick the crazies’ butts, and keep kicking through 2020 !

  36. I do not recall any pouting nor whining about Bernie.  In fact, I congratulated Hillary supporters on a close one; a win is a win.  But, if that’s how it was perceived…everyone has a filter through which they see the world and, again, that’s their burden to bear.

    I doubt that my comments about her here are the thing that will undermine her campaign.

     

    . The federal funds are now being referred to as “30 pieces of silver” to play to the Lt. Gov’s base…now he is bringing up not being able to pray in public schools.

     

  37. Using kids as pawns, or holding their health and well-being hostage is perverted.  Texas Dems ought to call it what it is, just damned perverted. grrrrrrrr

  38. The only time Republicans involve government voluntarily if they want to regulate private behavior.

    How childish and immature – well that is one point of unification in the Republican party

  39. I just saw Barry Bennett on Chris Hayes show. Is it just me or is that guy an absolute freaking idiot?. He’s one of those black is white, Up Is Down and kind of guys. Or is it just me?

  40. At this point in the campaign I’m being practical and goal driven, not emotional.  I want a democrat in the white house to appoint judges and SCOTUS justices and I don’t give a crap about what anyone thinks or says about Clinton so long as its ultimate effect is to keep trump out of the White House. In November the choice will be the Democrat (and it ain’t going to be bernie) and trump. Anything that makes a trump presidency more likely pisses me off.

    Pogo,

    I agree here. Pisses me off as well if i read typical right wing bullshiit here that only helps Trump…I want a Democrat in office in November, period..

    Purple

    I take exception to you calling support for HRC, a Democrat in office in November a “fan Club” and i think it’s insulting to all who believe in the strong progressive policies advocated by HRC.. As far as wanting to sensor you, nah, you do provide links for your opinions.. I most of the time disagree with you but i respect your right to post and offer up any and all of your opinions, glad you’re here. ✌

  41. bid, did you hear that dog whistle blown by Patrick about Obama’s “black mail”? doesn’t miss a chance does he?  I think he meant extortion or exaction but those don’t sound racist enough.

    if the pee party wins on this issue and separate potties are mandated, does it mean state building codes will require homes to have girls and boys bathrooms?  how about diaper changing facilities or when boy tykes can’t go in with mommy?  and how will single fathers handle the situation with little girls too young to go by themselves?

    it just struck me, this is a ploy by the adult diaper companies to expand their market to k-12 customers! sorta like the tobacco folks when they seriously began to market children. and of course they’ll offer them in pink and blue… and maybe rainbow if they’re progressive.

  42. The “Hillary fan club” comment isn’t anything derogatory about her supporters supporting her, but it is about her supporters telling her detractors to shut up because it’s pissing them off.  Being pissed off is a choice.

    I still say a barn dance sounds like fun.

    Have a good weekend.

  43. Patrick is a master dissembler.  He took each of Hayes’ questions,  distorted each into a question he had Dumbass talking points about (e.g. Obama’s thirty pieces of silver) then puked the talking points out.  And Chris let him.

  44. Blue,

    Glad you don’t take things personally here because they’re not.. Your part of a family here like all the rest of Craig’s gang. I have always enjoyed reading you before this primary but i admit i so disagree with you not caring about electing a Democrat in November because it won’t be Bernie.. It’s nice you had a candidate that inspires you like Bernie does and yes i still implore you to think about November and give Mrs. Clinton a chance..

    I just view things differently. In all of my voting since i was 18 i only really cast one vote for a President i liked and that was Bill Clinton.. It’s unrealistic in my opinion to expect to like/love most people you vote for.. It’s about the greater good and the goals of the Democratic party. I really really believe what i’m saying after 2 votes for President Obama. It turned out to be absolutely the right thing to do.. The alternatives were awful and Obama has overperformed my expectations.. You don’t really seem to support Trump and you don’t appear to be a Jill Stein supporter so maybe just maybe Hillary will over perform your expectations as President should she be elected??

  45. BlueInDallas

    For the record, I love you to death.  You are and always will be one of my favorite people on Trailmix, not to mention a trip to NY someday.  We just happen to disagree at present on third person Bernie who I think is basically a shyster who has lived off on others for the whole of his life.  I don’t think he is evil only unfit to be President.

    Hillary OTOH may have flaws.  She may be too much of an insider.  She is not perfect.  What she is is well trained to take the global stage:  A brilliant and competent human beings.  The photo above is why I think we need to elect her.

    Plus she writes nice notes to people who don’t expect thoughtfulness even when that is what a decent person would do.

     

     

  46. Just caught up with it all……..Pit great links with a lot of information that mostly goes overlooked here.  Just  think of how it goes overlooked with  those that don’t follow politics that much…or at all.

     

    Im going to vote for Hillary b/c for the fist time as i have said before…is that the argument for the lesser of two evils is a valid one. Some times you just have to live with what you are forced to live with….as in the 2007-2008 crises that completely ruined me and my family…that was forced down my throat …..I  survived ……now that Hillary is being forced down my throat………i will swallow that bitter pill and survive her…….she is only another greedy politician in a long line of greedy politicians…….I feel strongly about the supreme court issue this time around….3-4 will be named…….hoping that she comes up with a cpl of S. Oconner or someone like her….I always thought that she was fair…….that is the only reason…..if it wasnt for that….i would not vote for the WAR Hungry Hillary, that all she thinks about is making money for her Military Defense Corps shits…and her Wall ST shits of friends that she has been part of for a long, long time……but as many have pointed out……D. Trump is not to be trusted with any part of governing our country from the hip….he is really a repulsive mother………

    Once Hillary is elected….and all is happy…..lets watch her closely……..Being an Democrat is only a few % ages better than being an republican….not much diff………close (always) elections prove that to me all of the time……

    What is striking to me….is the vast difference between the political expierence that Hillary has….and the lack of political exiernece that Trump has…is she is such a wonder women….the why is it a close race…why the worry…why cant she and the democratic party put this clown down in the very first round….why is he going to last until the 14th round…..i dont get that.

     

    I say that there is not much of a difference between the ds and the rs………if there is…..then why isnt obvious……..the talk is a lot different…but the walk is almost in lock step with how they both govern……….they both govern by back door deals with themselves…..wall st. larg corps, the Pharms…..the Military, foreign governments willing to go along with all  the shady deals that all the mentioned above wants….;and both partys have been doing for  ever and ever……not for the common good as the dems like to say…but for the greed of it all…….at least the shit rs are not two faced about thet……..no the ds are not the same as the rs……but almost……..later going for a walk about………..

  47. Hi, Solar !

    There’s a huge difference on the border argument and the way the 2 parties describe guys & gals like you, Bronc, Tony, etc. And, the way they think about females, like the women we chat with here, our mothers, sisters, and daughters. There is an unbelievable anti-scientific, anti-literature mania in one party, but not the other. One party thinks torture is dandy. Yadda, yadda.

    You get my point: the 2 parties are not the same, although on war and Wall Street some Dems are way too much like the rippers.

Comments are closed.