An otherwise respectable website today had an article featuring one of my absolutely favorite weird musical acts, Mojo Nixon. I haven’t thought of or listened to Mojo for a while, but he always brings a big smile to my face. He’s completely unique – no one else has his crazed, manic, rockabilly musical talent and his flair for hilarious lyrics. Here’s a sample from one of my faves, “Don Henley Must Die”.

“This is the sound of my brain…

Then I said, this is the sound of my brain on Don Henley!

Then I said, 1 2 3 4…

He’s a tortured artist
Used to be in the Eagles
Now he whines
Like a wounded beagle
Poet of despair!
Pumped up with hot air!
He’s serious, pretentious
And I just don’t care
Don Henley must die!
Don’t let him get back together
With Glenn Frey!
Don Henley must die!”

You have to see it performed to really appreciate how Mojo commits to a song.

And then there’s the eternally great “Elvis Is Everywhere”.

The lyrics to this song are just…demented. Fun. Crazed. “Elvis needs boats” as the explanation for the Bermuda Triangle. “Elvislution”. I could go on…Mojo was a helluva lot of fun.

“Man, there’s a lot of unexplained phenomenon
Out there in the world.
Lot of things people say
What the heck’s going on?
Let me tell ya!
Who built the pyramids?
ELVIS!
Who built Stonehenge?
ELVIS!

Yeah, man you see guys
Walking down the street
Pushing shopping carts
And you think they’re talking to allah,
They’re talking to themself.
Man, no they’re talking to ELVIS!
ELVIS! ELVIS!
You know what’s going on in that Bermuda Triangle?
Down in the Bermuda Triangle
Elvis needs boats.
Elvis needs boats.
Elvis Elvis Elvis
Elvis Elvis Elvis
Elvis needs boats.
Aahh! The Sailing Elvis!
Captain Elvis!
Commodore Elvis it is.

Yeah man, you know people from outer space,
People from outer space they come up to me.
They don’t look like like Doctor Spock.
They don’t look like Klingons,
All that Star Trek jive.
They look like Elvis.
ELVIS!
Everybody in outer space looks like Elvis.
Cause Elvis is a perfect being.
We are all moving in perfect peace and harmony towards Elvisness
Soon all will become Elvis.
Everything everywhere will be Elvis.
Why do you think they call it evolution anyway?
It’s really Elvislution!
Elvislution!

Elvis is everywhere
Elvis is everything
Elvis is everybody
Elvis is still the king“

Lots of news this weekend from CPAC, that gathering of ghouls from what’s left of the Republican party. Foremost among the news:

• Herr Trump is still their authoritarian leader
• Kari Lake (!!) polled as the favorite running mate for Trump
• Trump said he will run even if he is under indictment (likely)

A Trump-Lake ticket would be the ultimate reality-denier team. Both are pathological liars capable of saying pretty much anything. They would be loved by the 30% forever-Trump cult, so they would start the election with that as a voter base.

The Democrats need a practical, votable candidate – not an 80-something success story. I love what Biden’s done the last two years, but we need to take his age, stamina and cognition off the table for voters. Who can take on the Reality Denial team? That’s the biggest question for 2024, and we’re running out of time for the answer.