Bill came home from church yesterday and asked if I wanted to go see the Bob Dylan movie.
I had mentioned the movie a day or so ago, so it took no thought for me to say yes.
"When we're out of the movie, we can go get something to eat---on me," I added.
So, off we went, for the first time in about a year, to watch the movie. I was especially interested in this film because I've always been a Joan Baez fan.
The three kids even joined me when I attended her concert in Boise a couple of decades ago.
I also had read and heard some very positive reviews of the movie "A Complete Unknown," which follows the early years of Bob Dylan's musical career, which, in turn, eventually landed him a Nobel Prize for literature.
When we arrived at Bonner Mall Cinemas, purchased our tickets and walked into the theater, it was about five minutes to show time.
All together, I think maybe 12 people occupied the theater, all allowing plenty of room around where they were sitting.
Also, all, except a younger couple who came in late, appeared to be our age. Twas no surprise to me to see this demographic, although I had expected to see more of a crowd at the afternoon movie.
We all were young adults during the Vietnam War era and the golden age of folk music which elevated groups like Simon and Garfunkel; Peter, Paul and Mary, Pete Seeger, and, yes, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan.
I learned their names and tuned in to their music as a college student at the University of Idaho.
While working at the U of I Radio Television Center, I became better acquainted with these names because they dominated the LP record-album collection at the center.
I probably even played a few of the songs on my radio show while studying radio announcing at the center as a senior.
Somehow, when I came home from school one summer, a Pete Seeger album came with me.
In the movie A Complete Unknown, actor Timothee Chalamet plays Dylan in a masterful performance, so much so that he has received praise from Dylan himself.
Meanwhile Monica Barbaro plays Joan Baez. I think I'm spoiled due to so many years of following the singer. It's hard for me to imagine anyone cloning Joan Baez, especially her amazing and unique voice.
In my mind, there is only one Joan Baez, so I'll admit to being disappointed with that role in the movie.
I was not disappointed, however, with the music or the story. Virtually, every scene brought back a memory of those times and of the notables of the era.
Once more, 60 years later, I cried when CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite announced the death of Pres. John F. Kennedy.
Hard to ever erase that profound loss for the country, the world and for any 16-year-old who idolized Kennedy.
I liked the movie. In a critical sense, I probably would have preferred a little more story telling to go along with the amazing and nostalgic musical scenes.
I can't say that I would have liked Bob Dylan as a person because his entire life revolved around his music and his hero Woody Guthrie.
As a basic human being, he could have worked on his relationships, and that was clearly portrayed in the movie.
He was also a contrarian, so much so that his behavior and decisions didn't always satisfy the people who supported him.
But his lyrics and the stories they told were brilliant, especially for those times.
Bill and I were glad that we went to the movie, and we could see, in the darkness of the theater, affirmative facial expressions of the few who watched the movie with us, signaling that they, too, approved.
We even heard some faint singing along from time to time.
Afterward, the Farmhouse Restaurant seemed like a good place for a bite to eat AND to take in the last of the Seattle-Los Angeles Rams game.
Twas a good ending for the Seahawks, who will not be in the play-offs even though they finished at the top of their division with one of the best records in the past few years.
It's been a fun year following them.
And, so today, the real political drama of our times begins in Washington, D.C. and for us Idahoans in Boise as the State Legislature opens.
I'll include a note from Luke Mayville at the bottom of this post which speaks about the threat, via the Legislature, to Medicaid in Idaho.
The results of the 2024 election are going to start affecting the populace sooner rather than later, and some of these moves more than likely will affect residents in ways they never dreamed of while casting their votes.
Regardless of how you stand politically, it is more important than ever in 2025 to remain vigilant with Legislative acts and to make your voice heard if what you're seeing is not what you envision as being the best for all, including your own interests.
As a preview, I want to say a word about the urgent threat
to Idaho’s Medicaid Expansion program.
Back in 2017 when we formed our organization in Bonner
County, our first big project was to launch a campaign to expand Idaho’s
Medicaid program. Against all odds, that effort snowballed into a statewide
signature drive and a broad-based coalition campaign that won with the support
of 61% of Idaho voters.
As a result, there are now 95,000 Idahoans benefiting from
the program—many of them receiving healthcare coverage for the first time in
their adult lives.
Several years into the program, Medicaid Expansion remains
wildly popular. A 2023 poll* found that 73% of Idaho voters—including 65% of
Republican voters—oppose repeal of the program and want it to be kept as is.
And yet, special-interest groups and their allies in the
legislature have declared their intention to repeal the program during the 2025
legislative session**.
You might be thinking: How can they justify eliminating
voter-approved health coverage for 95,000 of their fellow Idahoans? Their
answer will be to repeat—over and over again—a false narrative about the
Medicaid Expansion budget being “out of control.”
The truth is that Medicaid Expansion is a fiscally
responsible program and a good deal for Idaho taxpayers. Here are the facts:
90% of the cost
of Medicaid Expansion is covered by federal funding. This means that for
every 10 cents Idaho taxpayers put into the program, we get 90 cents in
federal funds.
With the
federal government footing most of the bill, the program has resulted
in billions of federal dollars invested in Idaho. This
investment has generated massive savings to state programs and to local
governments, including savings to state behavioral health programs, local
indigent healthcare funds, and substance use disorder services within
Idaho's prison system.
A 2023 study by
Idaho’s Division of Medicaid*** found that the annual savings generated by
Medicaid Expansion were greater than the annual costs, and that repealing
the program would cost Idaho taxpayers $10 million dollars.
(Medicaid Expansion generated $77 million in savings while costing $67
million to the state general fund).
Of course, you won't hear any of these facts from the
anti-healthcare legislators and special-interest groups who are putting
Medicaid Expansion on the chopping block.
That’s where we come in, and when I say “we” I mean all of
us. In the weeks and months ahead, we need as many Idahoans as possible to join
the work of debunking the Medicaid-Expansion-is-out-of-control myth and telling
the story of how the program meets the basic needs of thousands of Idahoans.
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