Jim Wallace Sojourners..........

Dear Jim,
 I'm a huge fan of yours and have always pointed to you as one the the Christians that's a model of a "good Christian". So many people think the idea of a "good Christian" is little more than a bad joke these days. I used to be mad at Bill Maher cause he never had Christian's like you on his show, just super right wing ones. You like Rachel Maddow have really let me down recently though. You can attack the Tea Party all day long but when you then try to say that Libertarian philosophy is anti Christian then I feel you've gone way over the line. I'll go point by point through your recent blog.

You said:

"Libertarian abandonment of the the most vunerable, whether its unborn lives or the poor." 
I am a Libertarian and a Christian and as a Christian I am against abortion. I am also against heroin but that doesn't mean I think its the government's right to tell people whether they can have it not. If we got to keep more of our tax money caring citizens like myself could fund places that would take the unwanted babies and raise them with love and care, giving the parents an alternative to abortion. How dare you say that we Libertarians don't care. All of our money is taken for war and Wall Street so I have scant left to give. And by the way Jim, you say Libertarians aren't holding the Government accountable for their fraud and theft of citizens property, money and their very lives for unjust causes. Have you never seen Ron Paul in the last thirty years? That's all he's ever done!

"An anti-government ideology just isn't biblical."
If that's true then why were all the the Apostles, according to tradition, put to death by the state? Why was Paul and all the other Apostles sentenced to capital punishment if they were so pro government? Government is fallen just like the rest of humanity so why should I have such faith in it when its doing such a crappy job? I am not against the existence of Government, merely its size. Canada's health care bill was 8 pages long. That's a good size for a health care bill, not what we got. Also, Libertarians can't be pro constitution and be anti government. We just want the government to be for the people and not for central bankers and corporate elites.


"The Libertarians' supreme confidence in the market is not consistent with a biblical view of human nature and sin."
Libertarians don't think that the Market is the solution to sin. That's what the courts are for. We also are not stupid enough to think that the Government is the answer to sin either. Everything the Government touches goes bad. Medicare will be bankrupt soon. Social security will follow soon after. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did a great job with the real estate sector. The Federal Reserve has been such a force for good in battling sin and injustice. Listen to yourself man! Like Ron Paul said, the states can take care of BP in the courts. Its no different than if you dump a bunch of pollutants in my yard. I then sue you for destruction of my property. True Libertarians don't think there's no need for a meat inspector but the more the regulatory system grows the more of a monster it becomes. Big Corps. pay off or even install their own in the regulators position. Watch "The Warning" on Frontline. They gave Brooksley Born's job as Wall Street watchdog to a guy from the Fed! Obama did that. When will you realize that its the size of, and corruption of, and not the existence of the regulatory machine that we disagree with. We don't say "no" government, we say "small" government. Elizabeth Warren doesn't need a newly created position, they just need to listen to someone like Brooksley Born when she sounds the alarm in the first place.

"The Libertarian preference for the strong over the weak is decidedly un-Christian."
When Jesus helped people was that the strong helping the weak or vice versa? Who in the hell else is supposed to help the weak but the strong? Again, the more of my tax money that the Government takes from me, the less I have to give to the needy. Jesus said what Caesar does is dealing with a totally different Kingdom than His. For example, while there was slavery in society at that time, slaves were sometimes over their masters within the church hierarchy because what happened outside the church was Caesar's business. but what happened inside the church was God's. Jesus never tried to make the government take care of the poor. He inspired those inside the church to do it. If these modern churches weren't so full of crap then the three the biggest ones in any city in America could get together and end homelessness and hunger in their towns. Do they do it? NO. And they don't even have to pay taxes. Now you're saying the government should take my money do it because you think they can do a better job of it than me. I say, you're crazy.

ob 

Inside Job

INSIDE JOB is a 2010 movie narrated by Matt Damon and Produced and Directed by Charles Ferguson. EVERY AMERICAN who cares about this country and their freedom should watch this movie. I just saw this at a theater in New York while we are up here rehearsing for the next ABB run. If you are not infuriated after watching this movie then you should pick out a casket and occupy it. Apathy is the enemy of freedom. Here's how it describes itself.


"A comprehensive analysis of the 2008 global financial crisis, which at a cost over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and nearly caused global financial collapse. It traces the rise of a rogue industry which has corrupted politics, regulation, and academia."

Every administration from Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr. and Obama all share the blame in what has happened and what's about to happen.

Here's some reviews.


Boston Globe, Wesley Morris
"The movie succeeds at upsetting you not by losing its cool, the way so many similar films do, but by slow-cooking its argument." A

Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert
"...an angry, well-argued documentary about how the American financial industry set out deliberately to defraud the ordinary American investor." A

Filmcritic.com, Chris Cabin
"Like No End in Sight, the key to Inside Job's power is how clearly Ferguson maps out each step towards disaster." B

New York Times, A. O. Scott
"...meticulous and infuriating," A-

Vote

Its a great day to be American, I hope you go and vote today.

Some say that we don't have a choice. That's not what I found on my ballot this morning.

This is the form the revolution needs to take!

Shalom,

ob

Fuji Rock Festival in Japan

When you find out that you're flying all the way to Japan from Atlanta, GA to do one gig and come right back home its easy to not be quite as excited as one normally would be. Fortunately I was asleep for the majority of the flight there and they arranged for us to have one day off before the day of the show so we could see a little of Tokyo before heading up to the mountains. Derek knew some cool places to eat and shop from being there with Clapton and with his own band, and we took advantage.

One place they loved to hang was a bar called the Red Shoes. I had been hearing a lot about this liquor that they have with either a snake or a lizard at the bottom of the bottle. Apparently Derek ate the snake last time he was there, according to custom. I told them that would not be happening in my case. Well after having a few shots of whatever that was I ended up eating a small portion of the lizard that was at the bottom of this bottle. It was nasty but I didn't wimp out and just swallow it, I chewed it up. Yuck! Its one of those really weird things that bonds a band together sometimes.

Japan is so different from anywhere else I've been. I've never seen a rude cashier or waitress for instance. Its like its not culturally allowed. The people are so polite and cordial. Fortunately I love sushi so I knew the food wouldn't be a problem for the most part. Although I have to say, their idea of breakfast is a lot different than mine. Hell, I live in Georgia! We truly had some great food, and I developed a new appreciation for how good the Japanese are at making different kinds of dipping sauces. (You gotta try Shabu Shabu sometime if you get the chance.)

The drive up through the mountains to the festival was amazing too because for the most part the Japanese didn't build on the mountains, only in the valleys, so the mountains looked untouched. It was a lush, dense, green panorama. I wanted to be on a motorcycle so bad I could cry. Our interpreters and guides, Wakaba, Aki, and Yoshi were amazing too. They took such good care of us and I really feel like I made three new friends. Beautiful, sweet people.

We had such a blast playing the festival too. When you come that far for one show you really want to make it count! I have to say that my brother Kofi was especially on that night. I can't think of a better clavinet player. Susan was ripping guitar on That Did It Baby that night too. Derek, as usual was transcendent.

You know he would never say it but I think Derek is the greatest rock guitarist of all time. Mostly he wouldn't say it because he's too humble, and because until recently he never considered himself a "rock" musician any more than he considered himself a "blues" musician. So this is my opinion only. But think about it, if you compare Clapton, Hendrix, and Duane's playing at the age of sixteen to Derek's at that same age I think it would be obvious who was the most advanced. Hendrix was always my personal favorite as far as rock guitar goes but it was the combination of his writing, singing and his personal style on guitar as well as his mastery of the instrument itself that did it for me. I'm talking here purely about the mastery of the instrument. Its only because Derek doesn't sing that he doesn't get the same status as Clapton and Hendrix, but make no mistake about it, he's the best. I'm saying it because he won't. If you need more proof, consider the fact that Derek has been asked to jam AND record with some of the greatest jazz musicians of all time as well. People like Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, McCoy Tyner, Wynton and Branford Marsalis.......

Anyway, once again, I digress. The show was inspired, the crowd was the best you could ask for, and the trip was certainly well worth the long flights. I'm pretty sure it will be out on DVD too. I sure hope so. Its such a privilege to work with such great people.

The First Of Many Tributes To My Bass Guitar Heroes

Every generation has its living superheroes, certain humans that prove that all men are not created with equal abilities. When I was coming up, it was Jaco Pastorius who went completely beyond my previously conceived sense of the boundaries of the bass guitar. He inspired me and many other bassists to aim higher and farther. Well, I have been privileged to know personally a human of my generation such as this. I call him The Great Bruce Lee of the Bass. His name, as you probably already know, is Victor Wooten. There's nothing that I can say that hasn't been already said before so all I can do is tell you about my personal experience with Vic.

I was 19 years old when I was turned on to Victor and his brothers by a great New York jazz drummer named Billy Drummond. I had moved to Virginia Beach and Billy and the Wootens lived in neighboring cities and were already friends. He said, "I think its time for the Burbridge brothers to meet the Wooten brothers". He told us that there were five of them and that they all played. He also told us how much our minds were gonna be blown when we saw how far out they were. If you've seen Future Man with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones then you know what I mean. Needless to say I was speechless. It was like a magic trick was being played on me. Vic had already mastered things that had never even been conceived of at that time. I was already committed to going in a different direction than fretless bass because of Jaco and then here comes Vic out of the blue totally revolutionizing the instrument again. At nineteen years old no less. I realized that if there were guys like this walking around then I'd really need to come up with something new. I have to give him the credit for really spurring me out of my comfort zone at that period in my life. 

Vic is also one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. I guess "gracious and humble" is the recurring theme of these music blogs, and that's exactly what Vic is. Even though he would have solid grounds to be on a huge ego trip if he liked, lots of musicians and quite a few fans know him as the exact opposite. He gives back much more than we give for the ticket price. His outreach and education with his Bass/Nature Camp at Wooten Woods Retreat is an invaluable resource for many things that exist alongside music including spiritual renewal. An experience at the Retreat is one of the best battery recharges I've ever personally had. I really wish that my schedule allowed me to do more teaching there.

Vic has helped me out a lot in my career too. He helped me to get my first string endorsement, he spread my name around at his solo gigs, in the bass community and in the music industry in general. He invited me to play on his records, sit in on live shows and invited me to tour with him for a multi-city run in Japan with just me, him and a drummer! I learned a crucial lesson playing with Vic over the years but especially in Japan. It can be pretty rough on the ego to watch Victor do a bass solo and literally peel the paint off the walls, and then its your turn, you know? No pressure or anything. I was like, "Hey, can I go first???" If you try to compete with Vic, you're gonna lose. All I could do, all I had to do, all he wanted me to do in the first place, was to be myself. He brought me to Japan to make music, to play those chords I had been working on for so many years. It was some of the most fun I ever had, I'll never forget it. 

Thank you Vic for being so committed to the bass guitar, to music, to your humanity and for being so gracious, Thanks for all you've done for me personally, for lighting a fire under my ass, for the joy and hope you inspire when people see the amazing things you do. Thanks for being The Great Bruce Lee of the Bass Guitar.

Footnote: At this writing Vic has faced some recent challenges including the damage of his Wooten Woods Retreat by the Nashville floods and the death of his brother Rudy, the sax player of the Wooten clan. Much love to you Vic, Regi, Roy, Joe and family during this time and always.

Crossroads 2010 in Movie Theaters!

Check out Oteil with the Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band when Eric Clapton's 2010 Crossroads Festival movie comes to theaters across the nation on Tuesday, July 27th!












For Tix, go to: http://www.fathomevents.com/concertsandmusic/event/ericclaptoncrossroad.aspx

Fur Peace Ranch

Hey guys! Oteil has signed on to teach at Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch this September! For more info go to:

http://www.furpeaceranch.com/instructors/oteil_burbridge.html