Perhaps the Journal-Sentinel's McIlheran should avoid writing about the whole rock genre

Patrick McIlheran embarrasses himself by approvingly linking and quoting a rightwing hack who suggests many of the 75,000 people at Obama's Portland,Ore. rally were there to see local indie rock heroes The Decemberists, who opened up for Obama.

Patrick would have been well advised to have read Sadly No's (exponentially more reliable than the New York Sun or the National Review put together!) take on the hopeless argument that even a fraction of the people gathered would have been there primarily to see the Decemberists. As one commenter there notes, when the Decemberists played in NYC for two nights they played at a 3,000-capacity venue.

Does McIlheran think that the Decemberists are "spawn" of Bob Dylan?

And which is worse:Getting people to come to a rally by having the Decemberists open up or walk through a Potemkinized street of Baghdad and say things are going great?

(The Brawler wishes to note that while he is not a huge fan of the Decemberists, Colin Meloy's book for 33 1/3 about the Replacements' Let It Be is very, very, very good.)

This silliness gets exhausting. Back to hiatus!

Comments

[illusory tenant]

Lou Reed is the spawn of Doc Pomus and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, not Dylan. Although Lou did manage to struggle through "Foot Of Pride" at the 30th Anniversary BobFest.