Doing my '90s show for the crowd at Hotel Chelsea. Photo by Kat.
Will We Continue to Have a Democracy?
I think that's the big underlying question on most American's minds. A lot of the resistance strategy we have is geared toward typical circumstances, where -- as has always been the case in a democracy -- if we don't like something about our government, we simply vote for different candidates who better represent our needs as citizens.
So, when we note that the actions of the far-right will have a devastating impact on their constituents and, under typical circumstances, will face reelection difficulties in the 2026 midterms, that's based on the assumption that there will be voting in 2026.
What could prevent that from happening? Trust me that Musk, his whipping boy Donnie Dump, and their team of fascist assholes are plotting that very situation right now. And sure, this country has existed for almost 249 years and has never called off national elections, even during wartime (including civil war) and through widespread disasters. But that doesn't mean it couldn't happen.
Is It Possible or Legal?
Legal? No. Possible? I don't rule anything out when it comes to this guy and his aptitude for ignoring the law.
The Constitution requires that presidential elections take place every four years. Congress set the current date for presidential elections in 1845 and it has been held on that date ever since. No one -- including the president, congress, or the Supreme Court -- can change that without amending the Constitution itself. Furthermore, the Constitution requires the president’s term to end on January 20. There are no exceptions that would allow the president to stay in office after that date unless the president is reelected.
So that's been the case during presidential election years. What about midterm elections? Per the law, all national federal elections are covered in the same way. But Dumpy could at least attempt to create some catastrophe or other national emergency that called for a reaction like martial law, and try to cancel elections "for reasons of public safety."
Do I Think That's Likely? What Would Happen Then?
Likely? No. Possible? Yes, though remotely. And maybe that's just the optimist in me, or the voice of someone who's never lived through an actual dictatorship like those of Stalin or Hitler and the like.
However, the greater possibility is for sham elections to be held, as seems to be the case in Russia with Vladimir Putin. In those cases, people are given the opportunity to vote... but the voting data is manipulated to ensure the victory of one side before the elections even start. And frankly -- while I have no proof of this and will not be like the election deniers from 2020 -- I think it's within the realm of possibilities that Elon Musk and his team have the technical know-how to alter voting results.
Well, That Sucks
Yes, it does. But I take solace in a couple of things.
First, we have a cadre of smart leaders who are also aware of these potential permutations, and are already thinking ahead at a number of ways to better ensure election integrity... especially in blue states like New York, California, Massachusetts, Illinois, Washington, and elsewhere.
Second, the people of our country aren't as easily subdued as has historically been the case in other dictatorships. We have the ability to organize that far exceeds the situations in Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany or the Khmer Rouge era in Cambodia. And we have guns. Lots of guns. So, so many guns.
I'm not one to sugarcoat things. But I'm also realistic in terms of what even the worst of despots is capable of given our system of checks and balances, which was put in place specifically to fight against a Donald Trump-type asshole. I'm certainly not panicking, nor advising any of you to panic. Just stay vigilant.
Hey, How About That Show?
Yes indeed. I thought it was really great, despite some challenging moments that we'll mention below.
As I was building my set list, I noted that a few of the songs I was adding were all from the 1990s. So I carried that into being a full theme where my entire set was comprised of songs of the '90s. As I mentioned during my show, that was a tumultuous decade for me, but mostly because I entered the '90s as a 21-year-old idiot who was still in college, and left them as a 31-year-old guy with a kid and a big job.
No matter what era that happens, it's a time of extraordinary change for most people. It just happened to coincide with the '90s in my case. And also, it was a decade of tremendous musical change, especially contrasted with the over-produced pop of the mid/late '80s. I was a huge fan of those groundbreaking bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, and Stone Temple Pilots, as well as the more interesting side of the pop and post-grunge/alt rock of that time frame. I made it a point to add a couple of previously-unplayed (by me) songs to keep things fresh.
In the midst of my '90s set. Fun fact: when I started doing shows in Second Life in 2006, the '90s had only been over for seven years. Now -- mind-bogglingly -- several of the songs I did in my set are over 30 years old. Photo by Kat.
I was about two-thirds off the way through my set, which had been going just fine, when -- about to launch into a Weezer song -- I heard the unmistakable sound of my guitar's preamp battery start to fizzle. The normally mellifluous sound of my Pro Series Takamine in my headphones became garbled, and then cut out altogether. Ahhhh! Panic!
No. I didn't panic, though I did sweat a bit for a couple of minutes. Fortunately, I just happened to have a couple of AA-sized batteries sitting right in front of me. While I chatted to the crowd, I popped the preamp out of the guitar, replaced two of the four batteries (hoping that would be enough juice to get through the rest of the show), and carried on. Everything was smooth sailing after that, even though I was a bit flustered, unsurprisingly.
Rocking the Chelsea with some fun tunes. Photo by Kat.
The crowd graciously waits while I change batteries in my guitar mid-show. I did see a few comments from folks who were puzzled by the concept of having batteries in an acoustic guitar. Most of us in SL (and other live performers) use acoustic-electric guitars with onboard pickups and preamplifiers, and we do plug them in just like electric guitars. The rest of us (and I've done both) just put a microphone in front of a purely acoustic instrument. Photo by Kat.
Hotel Chelsea set list...
1979 (Smashing Pumpkins)
Sex & Candy (Marcy Playground)
Sour Girl (Stone Temple Pilots)
Possession (Sarah McLachlan)
Wonderwall (Oasis)
Pretty Noose (Soundgarden)
Barely Breathing (Duncan Sheik)
*Say It Ain’t So (Weezer)
Walk on the Ocean (Toad the Wet Sprocket)
*Found Out About You (Gin Blossoms)
You Oughta Know (Alanis Morissette)
*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL.
Huge thanks to every person who hung out at my show, with special thanks going out to the following who helped support it!
Buck Dezno, Jadeyhazel Whisper, Maximillion Kleene, cristoofarr Resident, Dz Questi, Triana Caldera, Diana Winchester, bundy Xue, Quinton Whitman, Kat Claxton, Triana Caldera, Trouble Streeter, my terrific manager Maali Beck, Hotel Chelsea manager Shyla the Super Gecko, and Chelsea's great staff!
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