America Is Ready To Party
If you were either viewing or attending the second day of the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, and decided to skip out on the traditional hour-long state-by-state roll call to grab some dinner between the speeches of private pension bailout advocate Kenneth Stribling and professional anti-Trump Republican Ana Navarro, you missed one entertaining and potentially even meaningful spectacle.
Roll calls are, in the best and worst case, the county fairs of national nominating conventions, with thematically dressed state delegations (cheese-heads for Wisconsinites, star-spangled cowboy hats for the Texans, etc.) flanking a local pol or two on the mic as they cite fun facts and political trivia about theirs, the greatest state in the union, before announcing the already-known vote totals for the next American president. And yes, the Libertarians do it too (minus the known vote totals), though sometimes they sacrifice the cheesy recitations to save time.
But last night’s ritual was different enough to make you almost hopeful about the future of American civic life. Not because of the political content, at all, but because of something closer to the opposite of politics: music.
On stage, parallel to the podium, wearing shades, a white boater hat, and a shiny blue satin suit, was a ridiculous-looking creature named DJ Cassidy. He promptly transformed the liturgical drudgery into a 76-minute dance party and a celebratory reminder of why, like the Violet Femmes, we like American music.
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Cassidy (given name Cassidy Durango Milton Willy Podell), a celebrity DJ whose most meaningful contribution to the culture was a pandemic-era YouTube series called Pass the Mic, tailored many of the selections to a connection with the state, starting with the obvious (if dully controversial among journalistic scolds) “Sweet Home Alabama.” There were literal choices (the B52s’ “My Own Private Idaho,” “Carry on My Wayward Son” for Kansas), artists tethered to states (Bruce Springsteen for New Jersey, Prince for Minnesota), campaign callbacks (Bill Clinton fave “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac for Arkansas), deep metaphorical cuts (“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell for the vulnerable-to-sea-level-rise Northern Mariana Islands), and also some head-scratchers. The connection between New Hampshire and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” is unclear, as is Sabrina Carpenter’s 2024 smash hit “Espresso” to Guam.
Most of all, though, it was just an all-American arena-bop, with cuts dropping like walk-on music for baseball closers—Eminem’s “Lose
Article from Reason.com
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