April 14, 2019

"In Rebuke to Trump, Yo-Yo Ma Plays Bach at US-Mexico Border."

Reads the headline at Inside Hook.
“As you all know, as you did and do and will do, in culture, we build bridges, not walls,” Ma said, taking a verbal jab at President Trump’s attempts at building massive walls along the U.S.-Mexico border. After his performance, the artist, referring to the bridge that connects the two cities, said:. “I’ve lived my life at the borders. Between cultures. Between disciplines. Between musics. Between generations.”

109 comments:

Dude1394 said...

Try doing it on a Texas ranch without border agents moron. They will take your cello and beat you with it.

Ice Nine said...

I don't know if Trump can recover from this devastating blow.

R C Belaire said...

Just. Play. Why take sides, publicly? We all have our opinions but mostly keep them to ourselves, or to a very small group of friends/relatives.

PackerBronco said...

Does Yo Yo live in a gated community? If so, he can STFU

Big Mike said...

He should play Mariachi music with a good Mariachi band. That’ll show Trump!

mccullough said...

Send a bus load to his house.

Virtue dinganling is easy.

Living next to 35 illegals is hard.

Put yo money where yo mouth is.

Lucien said...

Indeed, what is Tupac’s body of work, or NWA’s, if not extended exercises in bridge building? Birth of a Nation, Triumph of the Will, Do the Right Thing — cultural bridges all.

Mike Sylwester said...

OK, let everyone and anyone come into the USA and settle here.

Declare all the illegal aliens already here to be US citizens.

You just can't argue with cello music.

mccullough said...

Google Yo-Yo Ma’s house.

Another 1% scumbag. Plenty of room on his estate for 1,000 asylum seekers from Central America.

Why isn’t he taking them in?

Leland said...

“I’ve lived my life at the borders. Between cultures. Between disciplines. Between musics. Between generations.”

Well isn't he special. I guess all his performances are free and no one is ever held back from entering to watch him perform whether they can afford a ticket or not.

rehajm said...

We've found plenty of outlets for Trump hate this morning despite Face the Nation not being on...

Gahrie said...

How many illegal aliens are living in his house(s)?

tcrosse said...

Yo Yo is one of those rare Chinese who managed to get into Harvard.

tcrosse said...

I would accompany him with the world's tiniest violin.

Fernandinande said...

we build bridges, not walls

Mr. Funny Name, call home! A kindergarten class wants its slogan back!

Professional Lady said...

He's entitled to his opinion and to express it. It seems the event he was playing at was organized to make his points. So, I'm ok with it. What I object to is paying to see an opera, play, concert etc and having a performer gratuitously inject his or her political views on a captive audience. Often, there is the smug attitude that everyone in the audience agrees with his or her point of view. It's a distraction and guess what - most people are there to just relax and enjoy and be taken out of the everyday world - not to be preached at about political issues.

David Begley said...

Yo paid $1.9m in 1993 for his house. And, yes, he could host two or three dozen illegals there.

mccullough said...

He lives in The Berkshires in Western Massachuseets with the wealthy.

Fucking hypocrite. Playing his Cello for the wealthy has made him very wealthy.

Sent his kids to Harvard of course with all the other spoiled brats of The Rich.

Daughter gets married in The Hamptons.

Send the asylum seekers to The Hamptons as well. Letthese jagoffs enjoy their summer.


Carol said...

Ah yes, we should all be so worldly as a highly successful classical musician. They live charmed lives, eh? Who needs borders?

William said...

Why are immigrants considered to be above the fray regarding immigration issues? Don't they have, in many cases, a vested interest in increased immigration. People who oppose immigration are considered to be inherently bigoted, and immigrants are considered to be inherently tolerant. White people, in particular, are at great risk of falling into the sin of bigotry and can only overcome it by being pro-immigration.......What were Pablo Casals views on immigration? He lived in an era of severe restrictions on immigration and never spoke out against them. It's a real black mark against his name. Wouldn't it have been great if, during his celebrated White House concert, he had stood up and told President Kennedy "Mr. President, let's have more immigrants in America".

mccullough said...

Harvard can take 1,000 asylum seekers, as well.

Let the Rich live their Virtue.

Not Sure said...

Waiting for him to host a cocktail party for la Raza Unida and serve cucumber sandwiches.

hombre said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lyle said...

All will be well now. Yo Yo's Yo Yo gesture would be serious if he would take in a family of migrants and nurture them into Americans. Be a bridge Yo Yo, be a bridge!

David Begley said...

The Hamptons! Great idea. Just set up tents on all those fab lawns.

hombre said...

Yo-Yo Ma is a performer I will be sorry to boycott.

Michael K said...

The virtue signaling is strong in this one.

fivewheels said...

"I’ve lived my life at the borders. Between cultures. Between disciplines. Between musics. Between generations."

Yes, and your entire career is built on your control and manipulation of exactly what crosses between those cultures and disciplines. You were able to decide which music to cross and combine, and how, and when, and achieve the result you desired. Dipshit.

Wa St Blogger said...

I truly wonder what the actual immigration policy is of the left. Should we let all 3 billion people into this country who want to come in or is there some limit? If there is a limit, how do you insure that limit is managed? If someone cuts in front of the line do you just let them in and say sorry to the one who waited their turn or do you expand the limit? If you expand the limit then why bother having a limit?

It's fine to have compassion for the the poor in other countries who want a better life, but you have to answer the above questions before you can make a decision on what to do with illegal immigrants.

Darrell said...

Deport him--as an undesirable alien.

If he is a US citizen, revoke it.

Greg Hlatky said...

Yo-Yo Ma is an international star. What are the immigration laws in all those other countries he performs in?

mockturtle said...

As a fan of both Ma and Bach, I'm disappointed at this politicization of music. Apparently his thinking cap fell off at some point.

Darrell said...

We let in at least 1.5 million legal immigrants every year. Notice the Lefties never acknowledge that.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...

If only Peter Dinklage had been there, getting all angry, they would have created an epic meme: madder than a midget with a yo-yo.

I denounce myself.

Fandor said...

Yo-Yo, how's the air up there?

Narayanan said...

I'm not convinced any of this is sui Moto.
Who is playing with the strings?

See what I did there.

Paul Zrimsek said...

Every time I've seen Ma perform, it entailed walking through a door in a wall, manned by a person who would not have let me through if I didn't show a piece of paper saying I was allowed in.

Kevin said...

"My two fondest hopes are that we could have a cultural platform of 10 million people who get together to decide things and have a cultural voice. Another is a platform that can be used by students that combines education and culture, needs and resources," he says.

Nothing elitist about Ma's world cultural committee.

Of course Ma wouldn't be 1/10,000,000th of the endeavor, but an elite of the elite, having his ideas ratified for the world by the lesser elites.

Kevin said...

If Ma wanted to build bridges, perhaps he could focus on the divide between red and blue America?

Or does he lack the interest?

gspencer said...

“I’ve lived my life at the borders. Between cultures. Between disciplines. Between musics. Between generations.”

And now we know what's between the ears.

tcrosse said...

A cellist is not usually a stand-up guy.

buwaya said...

I too have lived my life between cultures, on the border between several. More of them, certainly, than Yoyo Ma. This does not make such a condition a reasonable argument.

Birkel said...

This rebukes Trump in what way?
Given there is wide support for increased border control, if this is a rebuke it is of the American people and American sovereignty.

Narayanan said...

A point I may have brought up many many comments ago.

Should we implement 50 States solution ...

Take immigration off federal jurisdiction?!

Can it be done?

Must gain state citizenship
Before USA.

Narayanan said...

If there is not going to be USA at all then we'll be left with individual States.

There is no King George to fight against. Only Democrats and Republicans

rcocean said...

In a stunning rebuke of Mr. Ma, Donald Trump did numerous yo-yo tricks,including "walking the dog", while singing God bless America, on the White House Lawn.

Wince said...

Ice Nine said...
I don't know if Trump can recover from this devastating blow.

Don't you mean... bow?

Drago said...

The democrat/LLR protected cartel sex traffickers can now abuse underage girls to beautiful music written by a Dead White European Male.

mccullough said...

Yo Yo will get back on the private jet and enjoy his wealthy lifestyle for as long as it lasts.

JaimeRoberto said...

Sick burn, Yo.

Anonymous said...

OK, let everyone and anyone come into the USA and settle here.

Declare all the illegal aliens already here to be US citizens.


False dichotomy. You guys used to want to be known for your superior thinking skills.

iowan2 said...

President Trump has just came out of a 2.5 year long cage match with the intelligence community...a winner. (Despite Chuck Me Schummers prediction)

I bet Yo Yo Ma will be President Trumps undoing. Suuuure it will.

iowan2 said...

We could just reduce, visas, work permits, green cards, etc, by the number of illegal aliens and phony asylum seekers from the previous year.
Illegals would be punishing those playing by the rules. This would include those immigrant already here and wanting to sponsor their relatives.

Ken B said...

Fuck you. Keep your politics, either way, off the music.
I own thousands of classical CDs. I am the core audience. I won’t buy another one from Ma.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

He could hold a fund raiser in second and third-world nations, shit shows and social justice zones, as the first act to emigration reform and mitigating the progress of collateral damage at both ends of the bridge and throughout.

James K said...

And we're supposed to care what Yo Yo Ma thinks about immigration policy because...?

Lewis Wetzel said...

“I’ve lived my life at the borders. Between cultures. Between disciplines. Between musics. Between generations.”
And made a good living at it.
Why can't people see that everything has a limit? A quarter teaspoon of pepper seasons your chicken well. A cup of pepper ruins it. Internationalism is a dreadful, unimaginative monoculture. Bourgeois culture is dull because the bourgeois don't believe in anything larger than themselves.

Big Mike said...

Here is an example of good Mariachi music. I can picture Yo-Yo Ma fitting in between the fiddles and the guitars.

_____________
* Yes, I know that this group is composed of Croatians, not Mexicans.

effinayright said...

If I came across Yo-Yo Ma, I would say: "Yo mama!"

Achilles said...

If yo yo doesn’t like the rule of law then it is time to declare his home is no longer protected by the law.

The left has declared war on the rule of law years ago.

They should find out what that means.

Dr Weevil said...

As Big Mike implies (10:15am, 12:18pm), Yo-Yo Ma probably could play well with a Mariachi band. He's played on at least two bluegrass albums, Appalachia Waltz and Appalachian Journey, though I haven't gotten around to listening to them. (I love Bluegrass, but have mostly been playing the CDs I already have, occasionally dipping into the ones I inherited from my sister, and haven't gotten around to these two.) So, one more criticism to add to the rest (all true): why didn't he play culturally-appropriate border music instead of alien-to-wetbacks Bach?

walter said...

"Ma was originally scheduled to play on the actual bridge, which would have been briefly closed. The planned closure would have been a collaborative effort between officials and residents on both sides of the border. But the traffic and pedestrian delays that the performance would have caused convinced officials to move the locale to the Tres Laredos Park right next to the bridge."

Fucking reality...

Yo-Yo Ma's House - Virtual Globetrotting
https://virtualglobetrotting.com › Maps › Yo-Yo Ma's House
Rating: 5.6/10 - ‎5 votes
Jan 19, 2009 - This map's location has been removed for privacy concerns.

Big Mike said...

Actually, Dr.Weevil, I doubt that he could.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Yeah I wrote a song today about a stupid mulatto who wears mom jeans and rides a girl's bike as a rebuke to the Obama years.

Mr. Majestyk said...

Who cares what some yo yo thinks?

Automatic_Wing said...

I wonder if Yo Yo Ma would have a problem with random people wandering into his recitals.

Michael said...

Automatic Wing
Indeed. What about the masses who can’t afford Bach’s solo cello concertos I n Carnegie Hall! Anyone suffering from the lack of Bach in their little hometowns should be able to walk right away n.

Lewis Wetzel said...

How many divisions does Yoyo Ma have?
Who put him in charge of immigration?
Isn't this Ma's crude to export his Chinese values to the rest of the world? The Chinese have a long tradition of setting up colonies in other countries.

Fen said...

I don't understand these people.

I'm an excellent archer. Right now I'm into Horseback Archery. BTW, here's a fun first person perspective of the art. She's prettier than me, and much better :(

So when I get recognized at the Olympics or something, should I use that platform to pimp my political opinions? Does my expertise in archery translate into politics? No. Is it rude of me to impose my beliefs on a captured audience that came to watch a competitive sport? Yes.

Even this Deplorable is wise enough to understand all the above. So why can't a musical genius do the same?





Fen said...

Shut up and sing.

Sebastian said...

“I’ve lived my life at the borders. Between cultures. Between disciplines. Between musics. Between generations."

Actually, no. He has lived most of his life in the USA, enjoying the wealth and security it provided. He has spent much of his life in concert halls, playing for an audience that paid for tickets.

And what the hell does it mean to live "between generations"?

Anyway, Yo Yo lived his life at the borders, therefore we should let in any illegal. Musicologic.

Alex said...

The virtue signaling is off the charts man.

dbp said...

I've seen Yoyo Ma practice with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and he is truly a gifted artist and humanitarian.

Yet, even as this was the stated intent, I don't see how a Chinese American, playing German music at the US-Mexico border, is a rebuke to Trump. I guess the issue is, that I can't follow the logic.

Maybe I can play the same game: I just ate an ice cream sandwich, as a rebuke to Rep. Ilhan Omar. Take that Congresswoman!

Alan said...

How the hell does he think China keeps itself essentially homogenous? Why doesn’t he go the border with Korea or Vietnam and do this? Having spent much of my life living and working in Asia I just can’t stand these hypocritical Chinese who seem to hate America because it’s the progressive thing to do.

walter said...

I bet yo yo is a fave of MS-13

Alex said...

To be fair, you can get virtually all classical music for free on Youtube and your local library. You don't have to go to the nearest big city orchestra, as interesting as that is. Believe me I went a number of times over the years and it just got old.

Alex said...

Alan. Virtue signaling elites like Yo-Yo Ma, Emma Watson get to pontificate on the world stage and peons like us have to take it up the ass.

Qwerty Smith said...

Ethnically Chinese legal immigrant plays German composer in the United States. Isn't that best understood as an inadvertent slap at leftist complaints about cultural appropriation and the melting pot?

If Yo-Yo Ma wants to make a gesture that is actually relevant to the debate about legal residency, maybe he should publicly alienate his citizenship, contact ICE, and play until he is deported. That'll show Trump.

Alex said...

Why isn't Yo-Yo Ma playing mariachi music instead? Playing German music to Mexicans, isn't that Nazi like?

John henry said...

Who is the better "artist"?

Bach who created the music?

Or MA who merely plays it. Exceedingly well, no question.

So is MA an "artist" or a highly skilled craftsman?

Nothing wrong with being a craftsman. We need both artists and craftsmen/womeb

Even rarer than either is the person who can do both the art And the craft.

John Henry

tcrosse said...

Not to be confused with:
"The Cellist of Sarajevo
Smailović caught the imagination of people around the world by playing his cello, most notably performing Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor for twenty-two days, in the ruined square of a downtown Sarajevo marketplace after a mortar round had killed twenty-two people waiting for food there."

Martin said...

Maybe Yo Yo Ma would like to take 30,000 Central Americans into his house(s)? You know, to show he is sincere...

Taleb's "Skin in the Game" is exactly on point to this... unless someone shares downside risk they should just STFU.

Rabel said...

At InsideHook, we’re fond of calling ourselves “the go-to luxury lifestyle recommendation platform for the affluent, on-the-go gent.”

Cool. Meade sent you that link, didn't he.

narciso said...

I don't imagine he goes to east Turkistan, say Urumqi, or the border with Tibet much


https://dailycaller.com/2019/04/13/9th-circuit-asylum-seekers-mexico/

Josephbleau said...

Talented performers, rock stars and actors understandably become soft headed and disconnected from the realities of life. This is not a sin, neither is it a reason to take what they espouse seriously.

cf said...

in other news at the border this weekend, Mexico actually succeeded in arresting a lead Zeta chief, a 23-year-old woman, and 4 of her flunkies. She had ordered the execution of a woman prosecutor, and her men poured 41 rounds into that woman, murdering her in front of her children.

but that's nothin, out there where I grew up. did you here about the ovens for getting rid of the bodies that they discovered in little Allende, Coahuilla a few years back? Just outside of Piedras Negras, just acros the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass.

And my brother was telling me about our schoolmate who became a washington lobbyist, but went back down to the border to look into the disappearance of a relative. They found her car a few days later still parked at the meeting spot where she was going to meet someone. never been seen since.

Play on, Yo yo, Play on! nothing to see here.

JMS said...

I'm sad, but not surprised. I was mightily impressed with an interview Ma gave to a Time reporter for its Entertainment page (9/13/18 issue). When asked if he would perform for President Trump, Ma didn't say yes, but he didn't say no either. Since every right-thinking celebrity says HELL NO and then goes on to trash the man and his policies, the interviewer gave Ma another chance--and he still didn't say no. My opinion at the time was that Ma's brave, thoughtful and thoroughly non-controversial answer would enrage many of his admirers and cost him fans if not performing gigs. Looks like his agent and publicist convinced him he needed to make amends or his career would suffer. Here are the questions and Ma's answers:


You’ve performed for many Presidents over the years. Would you perform for Donald Trump?
The times I’ve performed for a President usually were state dinners. You had people from all sides of the aisle put their best selves forward. This is an incredibly important habit for all of us to practice because if you can’t talk to one another, how can you work toward a common goal? If democracy is the result of discussion, how can you stop discussing?

Then would you play for Trump?
Civil discourse is so important–it’s the basis of what allows a civilization to function. It’s not about winning. The cultural part is about understanding.

Ray - SoCal said...

Yo Yo Ma.

Daughter is an attorney for the #2 law firm in NY, her husband is a stock trader.

He married a Harvard Professor.

He played accompanist for the Dixy Chicks.

Lives in NY.

Played at Obama's inauguration.

Born in France.

Plays a European based instrument, the Cello.

Was at the US border playing a German composers music.

Definitely part of the Elite and lots of virtue signalling.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I love Yo Yo Ma, and all the Bachs, but this is a very weak attack on Trump. It works as music, but won't do a thing to build any bridge. It seems he's trying to build a wall against Trump and the Deplorables. It's not working, and that's a good thing.

Oh, and the Zeroth Amendment written on the plaque at the Statue of Liberty is not law.

Anonymous said...

“I love Yo Yo Ma, and all the Bachs, but this is a very weak attack on Trump. It works as music, but won't do a thing to build any bridge. It seems he's trying to build a wall against Trump and the Deplorables.”

That’s nice, but he hates Trump and probably you deplorables too. Ask yourself why the most talented and intelligent people are not Trump supporters.

n.n said...

why the most talented and intelligent people are not Trump supporters

That's a diversitist statement, but delusions of grandeur, conflation through correlation, confirmation bias in rarefied atmospheres, and consensus-driven beliefs, are likely suspects.

YoYoMa hates Trump said...

“YO YO MA: WOULD I PLAY FOR TRUMP ON HIS DEATHBED? NO”


“Would I play for him on his deathbed? No,” Ma says. “I operate on the premise that absolutely anybody can change, and I also recognise that it’s possible that somebody may never change . . . I also think, just by observing the performance arts world, huge ego is very often matched by huge insecurity…”

BJM said...

Yo Yo Ma just made an in-kind contribution to Trump's re-election campaign.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Politics destroyed the MC5, the mightiest of rock bands. Beware Ma. However, it's so "Haute in the Hamptons". I wonder the why behind such overcompensation.

richard mcenroe said...

Of course. What MS-13 member wouldn't be instantly reformed by Bach?

richard mcenroe said...

Reminds me of the good old liberal days when Leonard Bernstein passed around Black Panthers as party ornaments...

Greg Q said...

Thank you Yo-Yo Ma

I will never again purchase one of your performances, or attend a concert where you are performing.

It's good you know that you are a worthless scum-bag, so thanks for opening your mouth and proving it

Maillard Reactionary said...

Yo-Yo Ma is a great cellist, but, regrettably, a moronic idiot when it comes to politics and public policy, which is typical of artists of all kinds. They do not have the time or interest to become well-informed in such matters.

If he decides to move to Mexico or Guatemala and continue the rest of his career from there, I will take his political eructations more seriously.

Just the same, good on him for sharing the glory of Bach's music with whoever was present. If it put a thought, even a latent, incomplete thought, in one person's mind, about what it can mean to be human, it was worthwhile.

By the way, whoever wrote that headline is also a moronic idiot. Bach wrote his music "for the greater glory of God". Human affairs didn't enter into it (although Yo-Yo Ma did, to his discredit).

MadisonMan said...

I guess it wasn't raining at the time.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

regrettably, a moronic idiot

Yo-Yo Ma, intelligent, talented, perhaps empathetic in a liberal fashion, and bad judgment, yes.

Bob Boyd said...

Yo Yo. Named after a stringed instrument.

chuck said...

One laughs. These artistic souls are so in love with their own wonderfulness that they become a parody of virtue.

jg said...

overrated yo-yo

Drago said...

Just wait until the dems/left/LLR-left roll out the "big guns" and invite James Taylor to sing at the border!!

DeepRunner said...

ah...Yo-Yo Meh...playing at the border.

That'll show Trump...

Steve said...

Mstislav Rostropovich played his cello as the Berlin Wall fell. Sadly, Yo-Yo Ma is no Rostopovich.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiwXUJJjL6g

Bilwick said...

How precious of you, YoYo!