My Take on LBJ, the Rob Reiner Film now on Netflix

When I saw LBJ show up on Netflix I assumed it to be a new film about our 36th president. After a couple recommendations I decided to watch it. I was surprised to learn at the outset that this was a Rob Reiner film, surprised only because of his recent passing. I then assumed it must have been his last film, but nope. LBJ, starring Woody Harrelson as the gritty Texas senator who became our 36th president, was released in 2016. 

Those familiar with Rob Reiner know that he was a political activist who used his celebrity status to bring attention to equal rights and social issues. In this film, Reiner exercised great restraint and allowed the story to tell the story. Besides being an up close and personal profile of Lyndon Baines Johnson, it's essentially the story of how the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed into law.

Having dabbled with Hollywood screenwriting, I'm always intrigued by how a director chooses to tell a story. I've read numerous books that were translated to celluloid over the course of a lifetime. From Planet of the Apes to The Godfather to No Country for Old Men, many of these books have become film classics. Others, Like Bonfire of the Vanities and Ironweed, were disasters, despite the A-Team casts and the highly praised novels they inhabited.

As regards LBJ, Reiner knew he had his lead in Woody Harrelson. And the script itself was good, beginning with the choreographed events of that fateful visit to Dallas on November 22, 1963, interspersed with flashbacks highlighting LBJs character and the times he lived in as he rose to power.

The film centers on LBJ's complex role in pushing forward the Civil Rights Act amid personal insecurities, political rivalries (especially with Bobby Kennedy), and the weight of national tragedy. 

Woody Harrelson delivers a standout performance as Lyndon B. Johnson. When the film opened, my thought was, "That's Woody Harrelson acting like LBJ." But as the film played out I was surprised how effectively Harrelson "became" LBJ.

All movie making involves trade-offs and risks. The actors playing John and Bobby Kennedy were "adequate" but how much money do you want to spend to make every actor a replica of the characters they played. The important ones to get right were LBJ and "Lady Bird."

Harrelson captures LBJ's larger-than-life personality: the crude, profane, arm-twisting Texan wheeler-dealer with a mix of ambition, vulnerability, and genuine commitment to civil rights. His portrayal is energetic, entertaining, and often vivid, bringing the "Master of the Senate" to life through barking commands, colorful obscenities, and moments of raw emotion. Jennifer Jason Leigh was solid as Lady Bird Johnson, adding warmth and grounding to the story and providing a foil where Lyndon's insecurities could be shared.

The film made me wonder what other presidents' insecurities might have been and to whom they shared them. 

The screenplay keeps things focused on a pivotal few years, beginning with JFK winning the nomination at the Democratic Convention. I'd forgotten that part of the story when I read Theodor White's The Making of a President 1960. What I recall most from White's account was the degree to which the Kennedys were organized and the dirty tricks they play on Humphrey to impede his campaign. 

Johnson wanted that opportunity to head the ticket and had the foresight to see that the Kennedy clan was aiming for dynasty, not just an election. 

The film emphasizes not only Johnson's political maneuvering, but his post-assassination determination to honor Kennedy's legacy by passing civil rights legislation. It's a sympathetic portrait of LBJ, painting him as an under-appreciated pragmatist who rises to the occasion. 

Critics described it as pedestrian or by-the-numbers, with a mixed reception: Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 55% critics score (average around 5.7/10) and a more favorable audience rating, while Metacritic sits at 54/100. For me, it was a refreshing look at a president I've not had the highest regard for due to his aggressive insertion of our nation no the Southeast Asia conflict known as Vietnam, among other things.

Overall, LBJ is a solid, watchable historical drama elevated by Harrelson's committed, entertaining adaptation of the persona. It's not groundbreaking, but it offers an insight into a transformative moment in American politics. We've all read much about the Kennedy assassination from a hundred perspectives, but I can't recall seeing or reading about that day from the perspective of the man whose life was most dramatically impacted by the events of that day.

Bob Dylan and the Civil Rights Movement, a Lecture by Steve Potts

Thursday night I went to see/hear Steve Potts' third Year of Dylan presentation. His previous two lectures, held at the Discovery Center in Chisholm, were on Dylan & the Beatles, and Dylan & the Vietnam War. Potts, who teaches at the community college on the Iron Range, is also an author, having published 150 children's books alongside his teaching career. 

Brian Simonson, a member of the committee involved in helping launch the St. Louis County Year of Dylan, welcomed the small but appreciative audience in attendance and introduced the speaker. The talk was dense with information, his style of delivery easygoing and authentic. 

Before diving into his theme Mr. Potts briefly touched on some personal stories that set up his lecture. Bob Dylan's presence at the August 28, 1963 March on Washington wasn't an aberration for Bob. In 1971 he participated--invited by his good friend George Harrison--in the Concert for Bangladesh, and later performed in the first globally broadcast concert for a cause, Live Aid. "Today everyone does concerts for charity," Potts said, noting these latter two events were groundbreaking.

In 1963 the times were indeed changing. The years leading up to the March on Washington included Freedom Rides, lunch-counter sit-ins, arrests and violence against Blacks who were striving to raise awareness regarding the injustices taking place. Southern Democrats were blocking the implementation of the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education and President Kennedy, fearing he would lose this voting block in the following year's re-election bid, did little to pressure the Southern Dems.

Black leaders from nearly all the major groups, decided to call for a March on Washington for jobs and an end segregation. The "Big Six" of this leadership coalition included Roy Wilkins, John L. Lewis, Whitney Young, James Farmer, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., A. Philip Randolph. Washington DC was chosen primarily for its symbolic value.

Dr. Martin Luther King was insistent that there be no violence. (Malcolm X, who was not part of this event, called it "The Farce on Washington.")

It's interesting that after the assassination of Dr. King, riots broke out in every major city in the U.S., except Minneapolis. Mr. Potts suggested that this was because Hubert Humphrey was mayor at that time. 

There were a lot of important people present that day. Jackie Robinson, James Baldwin, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Lena Horne, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee and Sammy Davis, Jr. to name a few.

Joan and Bob. Post card on one of my cabinets.

How did Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul, and Mary end up singing there? Evidently someone felt that by having these young White singers perform it would reach other young people.

In July, two weeks after Medgar Evers was shot, Bob, Pete Seeger and others went to Greenwood, Mississippi to perform on behalf of voter rights for Blacks, the cause for which Evers. had been killed. Potts said, "You've got to respect a man who put his career on the line for a cause." 

Afterwards, there were requests made for Bob to be a spokesperson for other causes and Dylan stepped back from being the front man for causes. He denied being the voice of a generation and refused to be anyone's pawn. He did not, however, stop writing songs that challenged and informed people with a conscience. 

At one point the speaker drew our attention to another Dylan song about an event from the Sixties, Dylan's longest song. How long? 17 minutes. Mr. Potts noted that Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech is also 17 minutes. He then asked, "Coincidence?" (I'm referring to Dylan's Covid-era needle drop "Murder Most Foul" about the assassination of President Kennedy.)

For me it immediately brought to mind other layers of meaning regarding the number 17, which I wrote about in this blog post about the Alhambra. Since then, 17 is among my favorite numbers, and these new connections only served to reinforce that impression.

Much more can be said about the evening, but for now I hope you've enjoyed reading about the flavor of the lecture. It was tasty. Thank you, Steve, for all you shared. The audience was engaged throughout. We look forward to seeing you again at Duluth Dylan Fest.

Must See: "Which One Is The Real Bob Dylan" at Karpeles Manuscript Museum Library in Duluth

It’s only fitting that Bill Pagel’s exhibit Which One is the Real Bob Dylan should share this space at Karpeles with an exhibit about Abraham Lincoln.

When the Founding Fathers created the American Experiment its core principles had to do with freedom and human dignity,  its motto being the proposition that All Men Are Created Equal. Unfortunately a considerable portion of our people were not free, and though these founders heroically set forth the principles, they left it to future generations to work out the details, to implement what was promised.

And so it was Lincoln set about to complete what the Founding Fathers started, to fulfill what was promised in the Declaration of Independence.

And yet, even though Lincoln carried it forward with the Emancipation Proclamation, the lack of equality for blacks continued to be heartbreakingly evident, especially in the Deep South. The rise of the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow laws and lynchings stained the promises made.

Dylan, signed by Dylan, on display at Karpeles

Nearly a century later, the advent of television and this pervasive injustice gave birth to the Civil Rights Movement. Dylan’s songs articulated insights that helped raise awareness of the unfulfilled promises made by our Founding Fathers.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

The folk movement in America was comprised of a number of influential songwriters whose songs rang out prophetically, calling out the abuse of power and shining a spotlight on stories generally hidden from the wider public, lost in the media mishmash. Standing on the shoulders of those who preceded him, he made us aware., helped us better understand how broken our nation was. Like a prophet, he was attuned to the times and indeed these times were a-changin’

Bob Dylan signed and scribbled on pages of Daniel Kramer photos. 

It was no accident that Bob Dylan & Joan Baez were selected to sing during Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1963 March on Washington for Civil Rights. Nor was it an accident that this event took place with the Lincoln Memorial as a backdrop.

And so, to reiterate, it's fitting that the exhibition of Dylan memorabilia from the Bill Pagel Archives should share this museum space with a Karpeles collection featuring our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln.

Included in the exhibit are original handwritten lyrics for Desolation Row, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues and other songs, original letters, a rare 45 that he recorded with his friends in 1958, and other unusual rarities.

"Which One is the Real Bob Dylan" will be on display at Karpeles in Duluth through August 1.

The "We Shall Overcome" Speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

There are all kinds of collectors in the world. Some people collect art. Others collect pedal cars. Still others collect baseball cards. In 2016 I learned that a graduate of one of our Duluth high schools, who made a small fortune in California real estate 50 or so years ago, collects manuscripts, which I wrote about here in a piece titled Treasures of the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum. 

Handwritten sheet from Dr King's speech at SMU.

This weekend I visited Karpeles in Duluth (there are a dozen such Karpeles museums in this country) and saw on display the original handwritten "We Shall Overcome" speech by Dr. King. It led me to go find and read it again in honor of the day, the man and the fight. Here are a few excerpts followed by a link to the complete speech, which he delivered in March of 1966 at Southern Methodist University.

'We have come a long, long way but we still have a long, long way to go.' --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Here are a few excerpts from this speech, which is essentially a summary of what seem to be self-evident truths. 

And I believe also that it is true that if we are to solve the problem ultimately, the white person must see the Negro as his brother. And he must treat him right because it is natural and because the Negro is his brother and not merely because the law says it. If we are to solve the problem ultimately, every person must rise to the majestic heights of being obedient to the unenforceable.

But after saying this I think we must see the other side and see the wrongness of the notion that legislation can’t help. It may be true that you can’t legislate integration but you can legislate desegregation. It may be true that morality can’t be legislated but behavior can be regulated. It may be that the law cannot make a man love me but it can restrain him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important also.

* * * *

My contention is that as we bring these things to the surface and deal with them, we must deal with them non-violently. And we need the support of all people of goodwill as we develop a non-violent assault on the evils of segregation and discrimination.

* * * *

And so if one is working for a just society, he should use just methods in bringing about that society.

And so the plea facing us today is to move on that additional distance that we have to go with understanding, with a concern for brotherhood, with the removal of all prejudices, with an understanding that all of God’s children are significant.

Read the full transcript of this speech:
www.smu.edu/News/2014/mlk-at-smu-transcript-17march1966

* * * *

Key civil rights legislation of the 1960s.

The Civil Rights Act of 1960 (Pub.L. 86–449, 74 Stat. 89, enacted May 6, 1960) is a United States federal law that established federal inspection of local voter registration polls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone's attempt to register to vote. Signed into law by President Eisenhower.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, is considered one of the crowning legislative achievements of the civil rights movement. Signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The Civil Rights Act of 1968 defines housing discrimination as the "refusal to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of his race, color, religion, or national origin". Title VIII of this Act is commonly referred to as the Fair Housing Act of 1968.  Signed into law by President Johnson.

* * * * 

For further reading:
Read Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech which he delivered in August 1963. It opens with "Five score years ago" so as to echo the opening of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address while drawing attention to that significant event of 1863, The Emancipation Proclamation.
Here is the link:
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/i-have-dream-address-delivered-march-washington-jobs-and-freedom

Let's not forget the dream.

Only A Pawn In Their Game -- Dylan's Contributions to the Civil Rights Movement Still Speak Today

"'Only A Pawn In Their Game' is one of Dylan's truly great songs, and what puts it over the top... is its unmatched tone." 
~ John Hinchey, Like A Complete Unknown

I recently heard an interview with Joan Baez in which she spoke candidly about her initial disappointment when Bob stopped writing protest songs and went electric. It wasn't till later than it dawned on her that he had not abandoned the movement and left them with nothing. Rather, he left this great catalog of songs that could be carried on for years to come. This was his gift to the movement. And what is astonishing is how so many of these songs -- songs like "Hard Rain" and "Blowin' in the Wind" -- continue to remain relevant today.

In August 1963 leaders of the Civil Rights Movement organized a march on Washington. The purpose of the march was gain passage of meaningful legislation with regard to civil rights.
The issues of the day included the elimination of racial segregation in public schools; protection for demonstrators against police brutality; a major public-works program to provide jobs; the passage of a law prohibiting racial discrimination in public and private hiring; a $2 an hour minimum wage; and self-government for the District of Columbia, which had a black majority.*

A quarter million people showed up at the gathering, about a quarter of them white. Among the speakers and performers there were numerous notables including Marian Anderson; Joan Baez; Bob Dylan; Mahalia Jackson; Peter, Paul, and Mary; and Josh White. Charlton Heston—representing a contingent of artists, including Harry Belafonte, Marlon Brando, Diahann Carroll, Ossie Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Lena Horne, Paul Newman, and Sidney Poitier—read a speech by James Baldwin.*

"Only a Pawn in their Game" is the opening cut on side two of The Times They Are A-Changin' vinyl. It's a powerful indictment of an America that still fails to live up to its dream. Though the album had been released at the beginning of 1964 the song itself was performed at the Civil Rights rally/march on August 28, 1963.

Dylan had performed Only A Pawn three other times before this performance here, the first time at Silas Magee's Farm in Greenwood, MS on July 6 and then eleven days later at the home of Dave Whitaker in Minneapolis. The third time was at the Newport Folk Festival in late July.

It was on this day in 1963 that Dr. Martin Luther King gave one of the most powerful and memorable speeches in American history culminating in the words, "And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.'"

Here, then, are the lyrics for Only A Pawn. The song's power comes from the directness of its language. For years the metaphor of pawns initially escaped me. I understood that pawns are the lowest value on a chess board, and I always got that. The pawns are moved here and there by the hand that moves them. What I'd not considered was how in the game of chess the pieces are black and white. Chess is a strategy game involving white pieces and black pieces.

Dylan's roots at this time: the classic folk tradition. His aim: to wear the mantle of Woody Guthrie for a new generation, drawing attention to the outcast, the forgotten, the downtrodden, the misfit, the alienated and disenfranchised. When Dylan was recording The Times They Are A-Changin' songs like Surfin' USA (Beach Boys) and He's So Fine (Chiffons) were topping the charts.  How different this harsh realism.

Only A Pawn In Their Game

A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers' blood
A finger fired the trigger to his name
A handle hid out in the dark
A hand set the spark
Two eyes took the aim
Behind a man's brain
But he can't be blamed
He's only a pawn in their game.

A South politician preaches to the poor white man
"You got more than blacks, don't complain
You're better than them, you been born with white skin" they explain
And the Negro's name
Is used it is plain
For the politician's gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid
And the marshals and cops get the same
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool
He's taught in his school
From the start by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up his hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks
And the hoof beats pound in his brain
And he's taught how to walk in a pack
Shoot in the back
With his fist in a clinch
To hang and to lynch
To hide 'neath the hood
To kill with no pain
Like a dog on a chain
He ain't got no name
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

The day Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught
They lowered him down as a king
But when the shadowy sun sets on the one
That fired the gun
He'll see by his grave
On the stone that remains
Carved next to his name
His epitaph plain:
Only a pawn in their game.

Recorded June 1963
Copyright Bob Dylan

* Source: Infoplease -- Civil Rights March on Washington, All about the March on Washington, August 28, 1963 by Shmuel Ross (EdNote: This article is worth reading in its entirety)

**If the song doesn't make you weep, then you may need to listen to it again. Here's another live version. I agree with the comment "as soon as he begins strumming that guitar every hair on my arms raises and the goosebumps are just like WOOOSH!"

Bob Dylan Is Nobody’s Pawn

Near the beginning of this month we were treated to an impressive Super Bowl performance by the Seattle Seahawks and a powerful two minute Chrysler commercial narrated by Bob Dylan. I'm not sure which of these was more startling. I do know that the buzz after the game, regarding the commercial was fairly substantial. I saw Facebook posts of "sellout" by a few people and I was going to write a blog post about it, but found Rolling Stone had already captured my sentiments when it wrote the next day, "A great many Super Bowl viewers were shocked to see Bob Dylan in a Chrysler commercial last night, but they really shouldn't have been."  

Amongst the circle of Dylan fans I've gotten to know here in the North Country the unanimous sentiment seemed to be how cool it was. These are the people who have read the books, follow ExpectingRain.com, listen to his music and have all the albums, know the lyrics, have followed his career for their whole lives, and know all the highs and lows of the Never Ending Bob.

And their reaction was this: He's never done the expected. Why would he start now?

What prompted me to write about it this morning was yesterday's superb look-back at the Civil Right Movement on Minnesota Public Radio. The portions I got to hear while travelling back from lunch had to do with James Meredith at Ole Miss, and the shooting of Medgar Evers. In response to the first incident Dylan wrote Oxford Town. In response to the latter tragedy he produced what I consider one of his most powerful songs, Only a Pawn in Their Game.

In the MPR piece they shared how Medgar Evers put his life on the line in his fight to abolish Jim Crow laws and to obtain the same rights for blacks that all other Americans had. Evers had put his life on the line for American freedom in World War II at both Normandy and the European Theater. The racist ways of the Deep South stood in stark contrast to things he had seen overseas and he took steps to rectify the injustices he saw all around him.

MPR aired the vitriol that white callers directed to the television station that aired his seventeen minutes of FCC-enforced "equal time" in response to a white politician who had previously denounced the notion of equality for blacks. These hate-filled calls painted a painfully vivid picture.

Dylan's Times They Are A-Changin' captured this moment and the songs he wrote became anthems for civil rights. And there were expectations that he would keep producing this kind of music, expectations that he dashed in a relatively short time.

Two decades later a new wave of Dylan fans began following him. Slow Train Coming brought converts from the Christian sub-culture who embraced the "born again Dylan" and now claimed him as their own. But a few years and three albums later these fans became confused, wondering why he didn't continue producing Gospel songs.

I recall Dylan answering this matter in an interview about the time his Oh Mercy album came out. He said, in essence, that once he said what he had to say he didn't feel a need to keep saying it again. He gave us the songs and others could take them forward into the world.

In short, he wasn't going to be what this new group of followers wanted him to be either.

A hallmark of the American dream is its homage to the notion of rugged individualism. Though Dylan's career has exemplified this, being a man who marches to his own drum has scraped more than a few people the wrong way over the years.

Was the Super Bowl ad a surprise? Maybe. But it shouldn't have been. Whatever happens next, we already know Dylan is never going to be what others others want him to be. Kudos to you, Bob. Whatever you've got up your sleeve for the rest of 2014, we're looking forward to it.

Meantime, my you stay forever young.