Will they censor the hot new song, "Fuck L.A.?"
In a couple of weeks, Virginia duo Illiterate Light— singer-guitarist Jeff Gorman and drummer Jake Cochran-- are releasing their new (second) album, Sunburned. They just put out a single and video to help kick off the marketing and promotion campaign for the album. The name of the single is “Fuck L.A.,” which kind of catches your attention. Or it caught mine, anyway. And then I watched the video a couple of times and listened to the song, which, by the way, has nothing to do with L.A. per se. Having spent most of my career in the music business, the song is about something I’ve spoken with musicians about for decades: the emotional strains involved with going out on the road and missing your family. Here, watch the “Fuck L.A.” video and listen to Gorman's lyrics:
Illiterate Light’s publicist noted that Sunburned is an album for searchers, the people who channel the darkest energy into something healing and positive. I liked that idea and I started thinking about how I could write about the record for DWT. And then I got that notice up top from Twitter. Obviously, I can’t use “Fuck” in the title of a Tweet. But then I started wondering why Twitter sent me that censory notice. My tweet doesn’t fit any of their criteria. There’s no nudity (unless you count Rick Scott’s bald head), no sexual content, no violence (unless they can read my mind when I think about Rick Scott), no gore and no hateful symbols. Is it out of bounds to note that Rick Scott is crooked? That’s certifiable fact. Scott is a crackpot? Just watch his own brand new ad and make up your own mind:
From a Top Class Action post by Joanna Szabo in 2020:
According to the New York Times, before he got into politics, Scott went to law school, served in the U.S. Navy, bought and revived a couple of doughnut shops, and became a law firm partner. He also co-founded Columbia Hospital Corporation, which later merged with HCA Healthcare to become Columbia/HCA and is now one of the largest for-profit hospital systems in the U.S.
But in 1997, Scott’s hospital reportedly became embroiled in an investigation conducted jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Health and Human Services due to concerns over potential Medicare fraud. The feds had search warrants for Columbia/HCA facilities, as well as on dozens of doctors they suspected were tied to the company in a major Medicare and Medicaid fraud scheme.
Not quite months after the federal raid, Scott was reportedly pressured by the board of directors to resign as chairman and CEO.
In December 2000, the U.S. Justice Department announced what was then the largest government fraud settlement in U.S. history: Columbia/HCA had reportedly agreed to pay $840 million in criminal fines and civil damages and penalties.
The settlement reportedly revealed a number of things about the company’s practices while Scott was CEO.
• Columbia billed Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs for tests that were not necessary or ordered by physicians.
• The company attached false diagnosis codes to patient records to increase reimbursement to the hospitals.
• The company illegally claimed non-reimbursable marketing and advertising costs as “community education.”
• Columbia billed the government for home health care visits for patients who did not qualify to receive them.
A second series of claims, in a similar vein, was settled with the government in 2002, adding $881 million to the fine, bringing the total fine for Columbia’s healthcare fraud scandal to $1.7 billion.
As part of the settlement, Columbia/HCA pleaded guilty to at least 14 corporate felonies, incurring financial penalties but not jail time.
So how did Rick Scott make his money? Some of it reportedly came from this healthcare fraud debacle. When Scott left the company about four months after the initial raid, he was paid a $9.88 million settlement. He also owned 10 million shares of stock in the company, then worth more than $300 million.
A Florida Democratic party spokesperson, Joshua Karp, said in a 2014 press release that Scott is the “ultimate Medicare thief.”
“Rick Scott’s company stole money that should have gone to health care for seniors,” Karp said.
And my question remains— with a tough reelection campaign looming next year, why is Scott running anti-establishment ads against the Republican Party in media markets like New York City, Philadelphia and L.A. instead of in Miami, Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa?
By the way, Illiterate Light is doing an in-store at Plan 9 in Richmond on January 6 and then playing at their album release party the next night at The Jefferson in Charlottesville. Actual touring, supporting Mo Lowda and The Humble, kicks off on March 23 and 24 at Johnny Brenda’s in Philly. They'll be touring all over the Midwest after that.
UPDATE:
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