If only we had men of balls like this today who would speak to politicians this way.
Miles Davis was a man of few words. When he did speak, his words often had a similar effect to a hand grenade being lobbed into the room. In 1987, he was invited to a White House dinner by Ronald Reagan. Few of the guests appeared to know who he was. During dinner, Nancy Reagan turned to him and asked what he’d done with his life to merit an invitation. Straight-faced, Davis replied: “Well, I’ve changed the course of music five or six times. What have you done except fuck the president?”
This is just an urban legend.
Davis mentions meeting Nancy Reagan in his autobiography. He said she seemed like a nice person. But nothing referring to the questionable comment mentioned in the article. And there is no confirmation from any other reliable source – just hearsay.
Given the kind of guy he was and the style he used in the book, he probably would have boasted about this if it were true. A big if.
Uncle Dave wishes “If only we had men of balls like this today who would speak to politicians this way.”
After watching and reading the coverage by the fawning liberal press over their Messiah in the White House, I have to agree.
ABC, CBS, NBC – the B certainly does not stand for Balls.
The press is only as liberal as the conservative businesses that own them.
The enemy is not liberalism. The enemy is not conservatism. The enemy is bullshit.
FTW
Right on!
Let us all know the first time Fox news asks a hardball question of Mitt or any of his numerous stand-ins (aka “news analysts”) on the right.
I still find it hysterical seeing a clip of him or one of these stand-ins saying the auto bailout was really Mitt’s idea.
YouTube will prove such an embarrassment to these politicians who depend on their revisionist shills and their old time ideas that people don’t remember and besides there’s no proof anyway… (In spite of the fact that a few republican incumbents got a big nasty surprise when Obama was first elected.)
I will greatly enjoy the coming campaign which will catch every inconsistency and put it on air the week before the election…
Messiah?!!?!!? Jesus is in the White House?!!?!
Why would anyone want to speak to politicians this way unless you just want to start an argument or is this supposed to be an example of “speaking truth to power”?
This would have been a witty response:
Davis replied: “Well, I’ve changed the course of music five or six times. What have you done except Just Say No?”
Urban legend or not, it makes a good story.
Although apocryphal it may be, she is said to have replied “I consulted the astrologers to determine the destiny of the United States of America. Ronnie usually listens to me after we’re done fucking”
That, I believe.
True but politicians, esp the Teapublican flavor, have lackeys in the audience to initiate a ‘boo’ session along with the pre-recorded to boos sounds when a tough challenger comes forward.
Remember Rick Perry and the death penalty, Ron Paul on health insurance and Rick Sanitorium with the gay soldier.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/09/debate-crowd-booed-gay-soldier/
Also. how many times do Catholics raise their hand in church and ask “excuse me Father but did you say talking snake? “. NEVER
The image of Ron and Nancy getting it on, is hard to imagine and harder to forget.
Yeah, but I’m sure you would bang Patti like a screen door in a tornado.
How to tell a partisan dumbsh*t from the regular kind: tell a story of dubious credibility, have an honest citizen (in a rare appearance by JB) report it cannot be confirmed, then continue posting as if it were true because it strokes your stupidity.
Proof positive that silly hoomans can still hate on the merest pretext…….and they vote……yes, mostly puke.
Simple but true.
So … like … I guess the height of freedom is being rude?
And rude to a female who isn’t a politician?
I’m supposed to think being rude for no reason to Michelle Obama or Barbara Bush would be cool.
Well, I don’t. So I guess I’m not cool.
A man being rude to a female isn’t cool, it’s lame as hell. There is a word for it: it’s called being chickenshit.
Being rude to a old woman especially as a man is cowardly. Being a “man” would be being rude to a terrorist with a gun or an abusive cop.
At this point, I really would question the moral integrity of the poster of the article.
No, the height of freedom is being married to the Leader of the Free World and not having to inform yourself about your dinner guests.
I saw Miles playing live a few times. The last time, he had his back to the audience the entire evening. The music was still great.
>If only we had men of balls like this today who would speak to politicians this way.
Then liberals would bash them, and this site would join in. Rick Santelli, Sarah Palin, Herman Cain, Rush Limbaugh, etc.
Tea Dude —- you can relax and start thinking of Miles as ‘great’ again.
An internet search filtered on “What have you done except fuck the president” [incuding the quotation marks] and filtering on results only created before 20May2012 returns results which basically prove that this is made up.
I guess guess management didn’t have anything else to foment with today.
Well there’s a student in North Carolina who yelled at him for criticizing Obama, and said she would have him arrested for disrespecting the presidency. This was after the teacher talked about Romney bullying a kid, and the student asked didn’t Obama do it too.
I’m sure you celebrate the student and not the teacher, right?
Who am I kidding, this site celebrated Seth Meyers’ humor in service of the president.
Dude, shut up. It’s a post about Miles saying something true and scathing 25 years ago. Just appreciate the coolness, and stop seeing everything through politics.
Not likely. Miles died in 1991.
Great post! Love the quote 🙂
In an interesting reference to Miles Davis last year, NYT columinist David Brooks said of Obama:
“Obama’s actual governing style emphasizes delegation and occasional passivity. Being led by Barack Obama is like being trumpeted into battle by Miles Davis.”
A pretty cool visual reference.