Brianland

Election Night 2016 in New York City . . It was such a beautiful fall Tuesday in New York. We were all in such a good mood. But in retrospect there were some early warning signs I’d rationalized and dismissed: The tollbooth clerk I had a happy election exchange with but when asked who she […]

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How Rock Concerts Led To Politics . For most of ’80s I lived in Phyllis & Eddie Condon’s palatial apartment on Washington Square North.  The NYU Program Board from where I ran the concerts was in the Loeb Student Center on Washington Square South — about a 3-minute walk away — if you didn’t dawdle […]

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. The 2016 Presidential and Congressional elections will be a win for Clinton because . . . — Trump continues to be unhinged for the next 3 months; — his racism / bigotry comments & viewpoint continue to reappear; — there’s a 3-month continuous drip-drip-drip of negative Trump business stories; — the Republican party will not […]

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. “This is a Shitshow” . When I tried starting this story last night immediately upon arriving home around 4 AM . . . this was all I got writ — Republicans are loons … 😀 But boy, I just had the greatest time!  Sheesh!  This was like the 4th of July for a week!  […]

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Republican Convention — Day 2 — Tuesday July 19th  . As the crazy circus rolls on that is the Repugnant National Coronation of their favorite racist bigot who is now their official “standard-bearer” after years of less obvious assholes — the playful sense of humor of many sensible and silly Americans is still on display. […]

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You can read about the two days leading into the convention here. Monday July 18th . Holy shit!  What a first convention night in Cleveland!  This town is throwing A PARTY!  Wow! I mean, the cops and all levels of security are being so freakin nice! At one point, ’round midnight, I needed to know […]

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. Lesson One going into the streets of Cleveland — as hipped by my poli-warzone-brother Mitch — If you hear fire crackers, don’t assume they’re fire crackers.  Get behind cover. Roger that. Mitch and I met in 1983 thru him being a music reporter in Winnipeg and me managing to some success one of the […]

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Front Row for The Revolution . Photo by Jeremy Hogan . It all started waking up on New York et al election day in Ken Morris’s house in Cleveland the day after we pre-scouted the city for the upcoming Republican Implosion.  I mean, Repugnant Convention.  There were 3 different messages in my in-box about a […]

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. Restoring my Faith in Democracy at The Democrats Abroad Toronto Debate-Watch Party, April 2016   . Attending the Democrats Abroad debate-watch party in Toronto this week reminded me how we are so much better than the memes and mean comments I see on social media or news opinions every day. “Democracy isn’t something we […]

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. Originally published in Interchange Magazine, and TransForum Magazine, Jan. and Feb. 1993. . “We march to the music of our time.” ……………………………………….Bill Clinton at his Inauguration . Little Dorothy Washington slowly snuck up to the Iron Curtain of Oz, and peaked behind the screen. Her eyes popped when she discovered only a hungry old […]

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When Conflict Television Was Born or . . . “I’ll sock you in your goddamn face.” . . 1968  — The year so much changed . . . Martin and Bobby . . .  North Vietnam’s Tet Offensive galvanizing Americans’ opposition to the war . . .  The Beatles open their Apple Core . . […]

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  With the passing of The Giant I thought of all great music he inspired … and interestingly enough I’d reviewed a lot of it over the years so thought I’d put some of the best together here … This is my single favorite clip of all the live music performances I’ve ever seen on […]

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  Speak truth to Power. Or at least ask it questions. Since I came of mindful age after JFK & RFK and during the Nixon administration, it was near impossible to have anything resembling a hero in the world of American politics. But one of the first people who made me both interested in and […]

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Some Favorite Moments, Classic Quotes and Lasting Images of the 2012 Campaign, roughly in the order they happened …   — The ever-increasing availability we all have to unlimited polling data, particularly at RCP and 538. — The sharing of funny images and insightful articles on Facebook — like having your own customized clipping service […]

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Here’s the results ahead of time … First called Tuesday, Sept. 25th, 2012 (6 weeks out 😉 ) The only 2 states I flipped since then are in red. Dems Repubs Cali — 55 Texas — 38 NY — 29 FL — 29 PA — 20 GA — 16 IL — 20 NC — 15 […]

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The Ballad of the Profiteers   . You’re suckin’ on / your money’s teat, When nothin’s left / for folks to eat, You’re livin’ high / down on Wall Street, Crushin’ dreams / beneath your feet. How come it is / and why it’s not, The biggest thieves / are never caught, When all you […]

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Obama’s election night in New York City may have been my favorite single night / moment in 25+ years of living in Manhattan. (You can read about it here: http://brianhassett.com/2008/11/election-night-2008/ ) That feeling was extended to a week-long celebration in my second favorite city, Washington, D.C. — a home-game in the History League — And lo, […]

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  I happened to be reading The Warren Commission when the the Tucson tragedy went down, and when I saw that mug shot with the left black eye and —  Click! . . . I started to notice an inordinate number of similarities between Oswald, Loughner and the two shootings . . . Both were […]

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Sans Sons — a Song in Names Only . .   If you speak each name aloud or to yourself (rather than scan) it takes you on much more of a journey. It starts in triplet, then opens up . . .   Jesus Christ  Isaac Newton Plato. Mary Magdalene Mother Teresa Florence Nightingale; Joan […]

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After Christina Aguilera’s performance of James Brown’s “It’s A Man’s World” at the Grammys, this is one of the more transcendent performances by any musician I’ve seen in years.  Or ever.  This woman’s a channel, for sure. “Live Earth” was the most watched event in human history, the single event experienced by more people at […]

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This is a nice essay that was slipped over the transom by a fellow New York warrior in honor of Women’s History Month, thought I’d share. MEET THE NEW FEMININE FEMINISTS by Zoe Artemis These days my life is divided up into two moving parts: teaching dancing, and campaigning for Barack Obama.  Yes, I’m a […]

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at John Grady’s request, I pulled this out of the files . . . The Franken Fracas (Democracy in Action – Sunday!  Sunday!  Sunday!) Manchester, NH — Howard Dean’s Town Hall appearance High Noon, the Sunday just before Super Tuesday Hundred year old theater, core heart downtown Manchester, in a city & state completely consumed by […]

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We need a strong Leader in the Senate right now. And old Harry Reid is SO not it. Think of this 111th Senate full of all these kick-ass, get-things-done progressives & centrists: Pat Leahy, Carl Levin, Russ Feingold, John Kerry, Chris Dodd, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, Barbara Mikulski, Ron Wyden . […]

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* RAGING   GLORY * * The   D.C.  Dispatches [Revised Edition] * 1 – Jan. 14th –   Barackstock on Sunday 2 – Jan 17th –  We’re Gonna Sing 3 – Jan. 18th – The Baltimore Report 4 – Jan 19th –  Blissfully Ravaged In Democracy 5 – Jan 20th –  The Day That Could Never Happen 6 […]

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. It’s funny when some Americans talk about who is an American and who isn’t . . . It made me think of some commonly-perceived “Great Americans” who weren’t born here, like  . . . Christopher Columbus (Italian)  (“discovered” America, and for whom cities & holidays, and circles & squares are named after) William Penn […]

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