Issue No.1: Moments and Components
Dearest Reader,
Welcome to the first issue of Bootstraps. It feels fucking amazing to say that. For so long I have had days– today included so far– where I have spent a great amount of time thinking about writing but choosing to browse fashion discords, scroll Twitter, swipe TikTok and, critically, not write. But here we are! Releasing the first of hopefully many many days of good but not great content!
Despite this anticipation though, in full honesty, today was pretty bland and demoralizing. One of those quarantined weekdays where there isn’t some treacherous outdoor activity planned so accomplishments for the day start and end with Youtube yoga. I’ll complete my uncoordinated twisting and binding session by 9:00 AM with glimpse of hope that my routine will continue. Slowly but surely though, there will be a headline of the day that will send me into a Twitter hole. At that point I should more or less call it quits.
Even though these days feel like failures, and days of incredible productivity feel like breakthroughs, I think it’s more accurate to view the lazy days as small mounting components to what will become a “moment.” When you have a crazy long run, a finally get a fit off that feels like personal style, or get your first blog post up, it feels monumental. Perhaps this was only component that broke the camel’s back.
I’m hoping that the thread I can tie with today’s newsletter is investigating 1 figure who I see as component, and one who is really a misunderstood moment. This is really a stretch just to talk about 2 things I already wanted to talk about but who cares, my blog.
Put Some Respect on Link Wray’s Name!!
In 2017 Link Wray was denied a spot in the Rock and Roll hall of fame despite an earlier failed nomination in 2013 and an upcoming bit for the induction of his single, “Rumble,” the following year. It’s no surprise that the classic homage to late blues and early rock made it in. The first three chords are iconic and truly the sound track to any fifteen year old’s fantasy of 1950’s badass greaser life, The Outsiders style. The track is good for sure. But amounts to more or less his only legacy.
While the rough and rowdy style of late 50’s Wray was undeniably an influence on the more abrasive cuts of The Who, The Fall, The Rolling Stones, and many others, his self-titled work released in 1971 remains a greater triumph. Rumble was a breakthrough, a moment of stylistic cataclysm that truly rocked the ears of what I presume where kitty-cat skirt wearing puritans. It defined a generation of rock. What s/t lacks in this sort of revelation, it makes up for though in authenticity, and unmatched quality of contribution.
Following a decade of success with 5 studio albums, the singer and revered guitarist, pivoted from the tough guy blues rock that gave him his name, to more artful, and lyrical country rock, that would fully materialize, a working class sensibility to differentiate himself from a fellow Rockabilly star, one Elvis Presley. The result is an introspective, and razor-sharp distillation of un-glorified Americana. A portrait of a dude living in a country that has just begun its journey to destroy the world and its people.
Of course it’s easy to create revisionist narratives of opposition to American Empire in the late 60s, however, as an Indigenous American that was drafted into Vietnam before almost dying of tuberculosis, his indictment of the good ol’ U S of A isn’t hard to dissect. In the most popular cut from the album, which happens to have many equally popular covers, he writes
I hear thunder
And I can feel the wind
I can see angry faces
In the eyes of men
And don't forget kid's stake
Where kids lay bleeding on the ground
And there's no place on this planet
Where peace can be found
Of course, the lyrical content only adds to an endearing blend of rock styles that isn’t just a snapshot of music to come– cough cough Exile on Main Street– but is sentimental swan song to an era of Rock and Roll that will never return. With the release of Let It Be and the oncoming unraveling of New Deal security for middle class Americans, Link Wray is correct to say, “it just ain’t what it used to be.” This album, and his subsequent musical reckonings, didn't change Rock and Roll. The Self Titled album looked around, picked up a guitar, and expressed a fleeting point in this failing empire. It did so perfectly.
Save Me San Francisco
Alright! We’re doing it! I am writing about the Kamala nomination.
When I looked this afternoon into the news about the K Hive’s coronation, or I guess Vice coronation for however long Biden can still remember where he is, I was a little underwhelmed. This felt like the most obvious answer so the lambasted outrage from the left felt pre-meditated in a sort of frivolous way. Who did you think he was gonna pick? Would you have been happier with Warren?
The conversation that has interested me though has been the observation that now, as Pelosi speaks for the house, Harris is in line to the presidency, Newsom has become a national figure, and London Breed is making moves for a cabinet position, San Francisco is representing in the corporate liberal elite. As journalists across the country have started to notice this trend, some have written pieces on SF’s rise and they all suck ass.
Today Politico published Jeremy White’s ahistorical monstrosity, “Kamala Harris and the triumph of ‘San Francisco Democrats’.” The premise here is that San Francisco once a radical haven, has, with the influx of tech money and a statewide democratic majority, shifted towards a compromise between two camps of progressives– I guess one more “progressive” than the other– leading to cutting edge politicians who embody the leftward spirit of the city’s past with a palatability to national big wig donors. White boasts that Kamala was able to recruit electoral support in teh vas majority fo California Trump counties but then avails her “left” credits:
Since winning election to the Senate, and especially since launching her failed presidential run, Harris has become identified with the left. She has become a fiery antagonist of the Trump administration while backing progressive causes like "Medicare for All" and health care for undocumented immigrants. She forcefully argues for prosecuting wayward police officers, including by fortifying the nation’s use-of-force standard.
WRONG!
Post-war San Francisco politics has always been a battle between left of liberal democrats and socialists, and it remains this way today. Kamala Harris is not some new flashy innovation in Bernie era democratic politics, she is a milquetoast byproduct of The San Francisco Machine.
First, it goes without saying, but San Francisco was not devoid of moderate establishmentism 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago as White claims.
Not too long ago, the term “San Francisco Democrat” was shorthand for out-of-touch liberalism, a lefty fringe that was often on the losing end of the seesaw in its own state’s politics, which were dominated by Southern California’s conservative Republicans and moderate Democrats.
From 1968-1988 the governors office was held by Joseph Alioto, George Moscone, and Diane Feinstein. Moderate democrat would be a generous characterization of these three.
Certainly there were radicals in SF politics at the time, like say, Harvey Milk, but they were frequently stifled by their colleagues to their left who were more often than not, in bed with police unions. And, by the way, what ever happened to Harvey Milk?
Over time the this radical wing of the party has been passed down by organizers Harry Britt, a true hero who passed away last month. As socialists organizations like ILWU and DSA have been sustained, now the new guard, headed by Dean Preston, Jackie Fielder, and Chesa Boudin among others, stands in stark contrast to Harris and he confidants. It’s because they’ve come from a a completely separate tradition. Gov. Newsom who is lauded over and over in the article for supporting gay marriage, comes from what can be described as a four family political cartel between the Pelosis, Newsoms, Browns, and Gettys. Newer school figures like Harris and Breed certainly draw a base of support from these same actors who White himself identifies as part of the same movement.
This is all to say, “San Francisco Democrats’” ability to cling to left positions only comes from etc political ground work laid by radicals, and is dubious at best, as all of the figures White points out have quite troubling records themselves. Kamala famously prosecuted truancy, rose federal prosecutions from a little over 50% to nearly 75% and as I’ve more recently found out stopped supporting victims of sexual assault by The Catholic Church.
San Francisco politics has, and always will be an expression of the tension between politically correct liberalism and legitimate social democracy and all that falls left of it. The popularity of SF democrats then is a bigger commentary on the nation’s readiness for a “woke” prosecutor. The left-wing culture war has triumphed, but capital is no where near being challenged. We just needed masters willing to say “folx.”