Morning y’all, it’s Friday. Hopefully we don’t lose any more icons today.
1. Prince passed away at the age of 57 yesterday.
Prince, one of the best musicians to ever pick up a guitar, died yesterday at his Paisley Park estate and studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota. First reported by TMZ, the singer and guitarist told fans less than a week ago that he was battling the flu. The tributes poured in.
Rest in peace, Prince.
2. Henry Rollins rips Pat McCrory over HB 2.
The motivational speaker, comedian, actor, singer of Black Flag (and the criminally underrated Rollins Band), and a whole bunch of other stuff I’m probably forgetting, devoted his weekly LA Weekly column to HB 2. It’s got some great quotes:
Springsteen made Gov. McCrory all kinds of famous. I was being charitable using the governor’s name. The truth is that no one cares what his name is. He will be dimly remembered as the asshole who signed that fucked-up bill that embarrassed the majority of North Carolinians.
On Congressman Mark Walker, who called Bruce Springsteen a “bully” and praised Def Leppard and Justin Bieber for not canceling their shows in the state:
The congressman added, “I’ve never been a Bieber fan, but I might have to go. Maybe artists who weren’t ‘born to run’ deserve a little bit more support.” Do they hand out free bags of dumbfuck at red lights in N.C.?
Rollins also praised the state itself:
It is almost impossible to describe how beautiful North Carolina is. For a few summers, I was shipped off there to live in a tent at a summer camp. Each day, we were given chores. Milking cows, feeding chickens, getting beetles off the vegetables. Since the late 1960s, I have always had an affection for N.C.
And finally, lent some support to the idea that musicians and artists shouldn’t boycott North Carolina:
While I have nothing but respect for Bruce Springsteen, I wish he had not canceled the show. I wish he had spoken to the thousands of people who were there about what had just happened to the greatness of their state, then told them where he was donating all that money. The cancellation, in a way, allows McCrory to end the conversation, which I think should be just beginning…I just love the idea of when you see a problem, you don’t leave it alone; instead, you make it your special project.
3. A crime has been committed in North Carolina.
We’re sad to report that Sarah McBride of the Center for American Progress, who has spoken with us numerous times about HB 2, committed a truly heinous crime yesterday: she used the women’s restroom.
The picture has gone slightly viral on Facebook; hopefully some Republican legislator sees it and realizes what a colossal mistake they made, but we won’t hold our breath.
It raises a bigger question, however that no one on the other side of this issue has seemed to want to answer: how do you punish someone for using the right bathroom if it’s in a school or public facility? Are they arrested? Fined? Jailed?
What a bad law.
4. Speaking of HB 2…
It’s now an issue in the Republican presidential nomination fight, with Ted Cruz supporting it and Donald Trump (of all people) coming out in opposition to it yesterday on the Today Show. Cruz wasted no time attacking Trump for being “no different than politically correct leftist elites.” John Kasich’s response a few weeks ago, you probably won’t remember since no one knows why he’s still in the race, was that he wouldn’t have signed the bill.
Once again: we agree with Richard Burr.
That’s it, have a good weekend.
