Jerry Garcia's Conservative Children

The New York Sun ^ | 8/9/05 | John P. Avlon

[qam1]

Think back to the ringing guitars, the spinners, the patchouli oil and the haze of pot smoke hanging over an arena - the psychedelic country rock of Grateful Dead concerts seem like an unlikely cradle for today's conservative commentators.

And yet, 10 years to the day after Jerry Garcia's death on August 9, 1995, no less than three of Generation X's most high-profile young conservatives remain dedicated Deadheads: Deroy Murdock, Tucker Carlson, and Ann Coulter.

[wagglebee]

One of the best tapes I ever had (that got eaten in a tape deck!) was Brent Midland's final audition in Weir's basement.

[scott says]

ouch! I hate that...I think I have a sbd tape called Brent rehearsals....let me look...yep 4-16-79 2 full 90 minute tapes soundboard, A quality..still on cassette....

[Ron in Acreage]

Dave Matthews is a complete ripoff artist. Listen to Widespread Panic for the real deal. Their Everyday CD is awesome. I think Matthews even has a CD called Everyday. As Bob Grant would say, he's a fake, phoney and a fraud!

[ChildOfThe60s]

Pillory me folks. I have always been a conservative, even in chemically induced states of heightened awareness. But truthfully, I have always found the Dead to be entertaining, but way overrated musically.

[Leto]

Went to my first GD concert in 1970, what a great band.

[nopardons]

She doesn't look all that "young" to me and yes, I am older than she is.

The very real problem is that for the past 35+ years, people have been called "kids" or "young", who are long past being either. This, in turn, fosters immaturity and the nation and culture is thusly devalued; as are those words.

[nopardons]

I thought he was much older, for some reason. Thanks for the info re his age. Still and all, 36 is NOT really "young"; though I guess it does make him a Gen Xer.

[nopardons]

I think that someone/s have moved back, for some inexplicable reason, the start of the Gen X thing. When it began being used, the date for the start was later.

But at 43 or 44, Ann is NOT a Gen Xer; she's a BABY BOOMER.

[lefty-lie-spy]

There's lots of us drug-using, hard drinking, womanizing godless conservatives out here and having a great time. I wouldn't have it any other way, but never call me a lefty. If you don't enjoy life to its fullest while making lots of money and good friends on the way, its simply just a waste of time.

[wagglebee]

I got sober and quit drugs about 15 years ago, but I know what you mean.

[Hildy]

I think this is connected to the Rolling Stones. I think the Stones made a huge mistake with their new song. DON'T PISS OFF THE PEOPLE WHO MADE YOU ZILLIONAIRES.

[Hildy]

There's lots of us drug-using, hard drinking, womanizing godless conservatives out here and having a great time. I wouldn't have it any other way, but never call me a lefty. If you don't enjoy life to its fullest while making lots of money and good friends on the way, its simply just a waste of time.

Worth a bump to the top!

[Hildy]

Who's Herbie Stempel??? Wasn't he the guy who brought down the quiz shows in the 50's?? LOL!

[HitmanLV]

Yep, Herbie Stempel is the bitter, nerdy guy who did indeed help bring down the game show industry back in the 1950s.

I have heard that if you bump into him on the streets of Brooklyn to this day, Herbie will invariably begin telling you how he was ripped off by '21,' how he knew all the answers, how he was treated unfairly, how they were bigots, etc.

I consider Carlson in the same tradition - he is a nerdy type that the producers like to make a spokesman for conservatism, as a way of making fun of conservatives.

Indeed, conventional wisdom has it that Stempel was propped up as a winner on '21' and basically made fun of, just to be the foil for the more handsome, all American, and hand-picked champion Charles Van Doren.

[justshutupandtakeit]

There is little music more boring than the Dead with Garcia meandering all over the place with pointless riffs. Absolutely the worst. Dozens of bands were better even the Bay City Rollers or Loverboy.

[Hildy]

That was well documented in the Movie QUIZ SHOW, which truly was one of the great movies of the 90's. Did you see it?

[Freebird Forever]

I think the Stones made a huge mistake with their new song. DON'T PISS OFF THE PEOPLE WHO MADE YOU ZILLIONAIRES.

I'm not so sure.

The Stones are a band with a large international following.

I think Mick just gamed it out and decided those who might be pi$$ed off by the lyrics aren't likely to put much money in the Stone's coffers anyway. Nor have they for a long time.

Mick is a sly one, who has been in the business a long time. I believe this whole hubbub was contrived to obtain free publicity for the new CD. And it has.

[Hildy]

Yea, you're probably right.

[HitmanLV]

Yes, it is a very well made film, though I really didn't like the investigating lawyer with that exaggerated Boston accent. Just annoying.

Old TV and old cinema has been an interest of mine all of my life (my fave tv shows, for example, mostly come before 1975). Oddly, I am 37, so most of those shows were on tv before I was born or in my early youth!

The quiz show scandals were an interest of mine and as a teenager I even poked around the museum of broadcasting in NYC (not the museum of radio & television) for info on it. I always had special contempt for Stempel, parly because he embraced the 'victim' mentality, partly because he is such a whiner and complainer, partly because he allowed himself to be used, but mostly because he seems oblivious to the concept that his 'championship run' was engineered: he was never a legitimate winner on the show anyway, as he was fed the questions, so it's unfair for him to cry foul when it was his turn to be an illegitimate 'loser.'

It's like pro wrestling (one of my other lifelong passions): the champion is hand-picked by promoters. The championship is a prop (closer to being the lead of a popular tv show rather than being any kind of 'winner'). Stempel really believed he was a champion: he never was, he was more like an actor playing a champion. He only cried foul when he became an actor playing a loser. Silly, childish, and immature.

I always thought that the portrayal of Stempel in the movie was fairly damning and that it must have been exaggerated. I have learned since then that, if anything, that depiction is tame and bends over backwards to make him look good.

Herbie Stempel: loser for all the reasons he can't understand. :-)

PS - I don't impute any of this to Carlson, by the way, who I think is a sincere guy. But is he propped up as a silly looking conservative by CNN/MSNBC? No doubt in my mind.

[Hildy]

Robert Redford did an outstanding job, and I agree with you about Rob Morrow who played Goodwin. You know he is the Goodwin of Doris Kearns-Goodwin, right?

Turturro was spot on with Stempel and thet entire cast was just fabulous. Especially good was the strainted relationship between Van Doren and his Dad. It's just a marvelous movie about how easily people become corrupted, and for different reasons.