The problem is it’s not that good a song.

Then again, neither was “We Are the World.”

My inbox is blowing up with missives about this new Springsteen number. And I applaud Bruce’s effort, but it’s no “Hungry Heart,” as in it’s not an instant, one listen banger. And what you need in the Spotify era is something that grabs you in fifteen seconds, or five, and “Streets of Minneapolis” does not… It’s no “Ohio,” with its fat guitar and anthemic lyrics, nor is it the equal of “Eve of Destruction,” wherein P.F. Sloan’s words and Barry McGuire’s emphatic delivery created a track that transcended the radio. Nor is it Sly’s “Everyday People,” never mind Bob’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist. That’s what’s wrong with today’s society, everybody’s paying fealty to their team to the point they’re myopic, can’t see the forest for the trees, and it’s not only Swifties and the BTS Army, it’s Trumpers and fans of the Boss too.

The biggest story today is Tesla’s numbers. Without an organized effort, running on sheer instinct and hate, the public has put a huge dent into the car company, to the point where sales are off significantly and BYD owns the volume crown. People want nothing to do with Musk, and they’re voting with their dollars. And we can take the same approach to Trump.

Now “We Are the World” is a dirgey, nearly dreadful composition that has a reasonable chorus, but it was a massive success. In a different era. When MTV could reach and dominate the world, and everybody was against starvation. Is everybody against Trump? No, but like a rock band of yore, the fanbase is growing and today Neil Young came down on Verizon and Apple for kissing Trump’s butt. That’s the kind of leadership we need, Neil has credibility, as for the Boss…

Like I said, I don’t want to get into a discussion of the Boss.

But it’s hard to write a catchy song on demand. If it was easy, acts would have dozens of hit records, and they don’t.

In the MTV era, marketing could trump quality. Not anymore. Today you’ve got to lead with quality.

So…

It’s very simple. It’s Grammy weekend, just like with “We Are the World” forty years ago, we’ve got to get all the nominees, the presenters, the stars of today, peopled with a few from yesteryear, into a studio to sing a song and… If someone can write an instant hit, great. But if not, we get everybody on a soundstage and they sing Edwin Starr’s “War,” with new lyrics.

“ICE

What is it good for?

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!”

This song is such a slam dunk that Bruce has already covered it! It was an anti-Vietnam anthem. Just change the lyrics and…

You’ve got a background press story. The tale of the original song, written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, originally performed by the Temptations. Starr and Whitfield and Strong are all deceased, their stories are ripe for the telling. By covering “War,” there is instant backstory.

As for the recording…

You’re part of the problem or part of the solution. The Boss can call up all of the stars and ask them whether they’re going to participate. Who’s going to say no to the Boss? And throw in Paul McCartney too. Trump does not only affect the U.S., hell, he’s sending ICE to the Olympics!

No excuses. Either you show up and sing or we tell everybody you wouldn’t commit. Force musicians to the forefront. Shame them if they won’t participate. And just like with any benefit concert or record, once the superstars are on board, the lemmings come out in droves, not wanting to be left out, wanting the publicity.

As for producers?

It’s a murderer’s row. Dr. Dre, Rick Rubin and Andrew Watt. All behind the console.

As for the backing track, the musicians… These players all have backstories. Or, if time is of the essence, you can use the E Street Band.

“Streets of Minneapolis” is a one day phenomenon. How do you make your effort last?

One, by having a guaranteed hit song. Two, via the penumbra, the story, the background of the song and the participants and the recording thereof and…

But how do you promote it? 

That’s the problem, it’s not like the days of yore.

So, every DSP has to be shamed into putting the song on its homepage, and keeping it there until…ICE leaves Minneapolis, or ICE removes its masks, or ICE is neutered completely, choose the limit.

As for Spotify… My inbox filled up with blowback about their ICE ads, this is an opportunity to make things right.

As for neutrality… Tim Cook isn’t neutral, nor is Mark Zuckerberg or the aforementioned Musk, but somehow music DSPs have to be? No, that’s about fear, pure and simple, they need to take a stand.

And then you’ve got the influencer army. A number at the studio recording, and then getting everybody to use the recording in their clips.

And instead of some lame kumbaya No Kings protest, we’re going to assemble singers at the same time in all the major cities of America. Everybody’s invited, from Boston to Honolulu. And at the same time, everybody is going to sing this new version of “War,” en masse.

And if Netflix can defend Chappelle regarding his anti-trans and antisemitic remarks, they can have the making of video on their homepage. Maybe make them pay for the privilege, or get every streamer onboard, from Prime to Disney+.

As far as keeping the story alive, like I said, “War” is a hit! It’s a record that never goes stale. This is a litmus test, just like with Jimmy Kimmel. Are radio stations too afraid to play this song for fear of retribution by the Trump regime?

It’s time to stand up.

Or don’t. But if you don’t, you’re on the wrong side of history. Keep defending ICE. Keep saying that Pretti was a domestic terrorist. Keep saying that Goode was asking for it. Keep denying the truth. Homey don’t play that no more, even elected Republicans are switching sides.

It’s time to get practical, enough with the virtue signaling, it’s time to make a difference.

The real way to make change is to affect the economy. Just get everybody to stop buying, as Scott Galloway said. Put a hurt on the GDP. The nation runs on discretionary income, the people have the power, not the billionaires.

It’s time to create our own bubble. Believe me, Fox News, the entire right wing blogosphere will not be able to resist talking about this song. And it’s not going to look good when seemingly every musical star is on the other side. As powerful as Hannity is, he’s no match for Bruno Mars or Lady Gaga.

So… This is easily doable.

But if it’s not done, let’s at least speak English, let’s play by the rules. In order for a song to make a difference in today’s world it must first and foremost be a one listen smash. Sans that, you’re dead in the water. Once you’ve got the smash, then you can talk about marketing. As for news? What is on the homepage today is forgotten tomorrow, you need to create something that sustains.

If you’re the kind of person who still can’t handle the fact that I said “Streets of Minneapolis” was meh, that it was no “Streets of Philadelphia,” which I heard once at a screening and couldn’t get it out of my head, even though an official release was weeks away, you’re part of the classic Democratic problem. Dems are so busy arguing amongst themselves that they can’t get organized and make a difference. We have to worry about all the minority groups, give them a say, not offend them, become paralyzed to the point of inaction, like the DNC and those in Congress.

But they work for us. And it’s time to show them where we’re at. We need to take action.

Music has power, you’ve just go to use it.

Spotify is laden with tracks that are not listened to. You don’t want to be one of those. And it’s the oldsters who are against streaming, who think it’s the devil. It’s the youngsters keeping music alive. We’ve got to get them  motivated by employing young acts. A few legends sprinkled in is fine, but…

Springsteen has already been neutered by the right. Been labeled. “Streets of Minneapolis” is only making those who are on his side feel good, it’s not moving the needle amongst those still loyal to Trump, it’s a press story. But a hit song made by people from the entire spectrum of music?

That’s a start.

And we’ve got to start somewhere.

You never know when the whole thing will tip.

It starts with numbers and organization. And nothing is as powerful as music. LET’S USE IT!

1

I finished this book Sunday night.

I started it Sunday morning.

I wasn’t hooked at first, but then I got into it and…

I was going to write about it yesterday, but I had two hour long phone calls and I’m still wound up after those. They were personal, not business. One the follow-up to my annual physical (you should get one, no matter what anybody says), the other about money, but… I’ve been wound tight ever since.

I know this is the life of most people. But it’s not the life of someone doing creative work. Someone in traditional business goes to the office, talks on the phone, answers e-mails, ultimately concludes and then does their best to decompress until they start all over again the following morning. But if you want to be creative…

I have my radio show on Saturday, and it takes at least a couple of hours to calm down from that, so by time I make it to Sunday, actually, for the rest of Saturday, I want to disconnect.

Now growing up in the sixties, the weekend was filled with activities. It was a roving party of family activities. It was almost like you lived in multiple houses…the parents were best friends and…

It doesn’t happen that way anymore. You can’t drop by unannounced. You might have seen that Sebastian Maniscalco bit:

People are afraid, they want to be safe. Furthermore, everybody’s in touch all the time, via the smartphone. And if you don’t respond right away, you’re seen as either a pariah or…maybe you’re ill.

So I feel kind of guilty laying low on the weekends. After all, this is when most people leave the house and participate. Then again, when I was in college, we used to say the weekends were for amateurs. The true believers, the true outcasts, knew that it was all about Thursday night, and Sunday and Monday were not bad either.

But as the years have gone by I find myself staying home more and more. And I’m wondering if it’s my age, or an aftereffect of the Covid lockdown, I wasn’t like this before, or it’s just me.

Like Bob Dyan once said, I’m not going to tell you my hopes and dreams, because you’ll laugh at me, you’ll think they’re far-fetched and grandiose. However…

I don’t want to waste any time. And I was thinking about this. In the seventies, I’d go to the movies, constantly. That’s where I connected. I was on the outside looking in. But now I’m on the inside, I can reach tens of thousands with the stroke of a key, and that feels so good. I don’t want to let that go. But to be readable, to do something great, I’ve got to be disconnected, which I know is a conundrum, I’ve got to disconnect to reconnect, but that’s the way it is.

So Saturday night, I finished reading this book “The Sisters.” I tried once before, not really hard, but I decided to give it one more go and I got hooked. What you’ve got here is a story set mostly in Sweden, with the main characters half-Swedish and half-Tunisian. “The Sisters” is not a short book, and it creates a whole world. You get invested in the characters, all of whom have different dreams. The Tunisian father who wanted to set the world on fire, but ended up working on the subway for years and years. The girl who is the life of the party but just can’t find her direction. Her sister who took a year off from college and found herself working for a decade in a job that was supposed to be temporary. The other sister who is too uptight to let loose, saving a dollar, making sure all i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. What we’ve got here is normal people. Normal life. No one is famous, yet the people are not downtrodden. And it’s a great antidote to America, where everybody’s on the road to the top or the road to ruin. But after finishing “The Sisters” after midnight, I just couldn’t get into “The Award.”

2

And I wasn’t doing such a great job of getting into it on Sunday either. You know how you can see the day slipping away? Knowing that you’ll regret the time you’ve burned? I decided to commit, I wouldn’t pick up the phone, and that’s when I got hooked.

“The Award” is not a difficult read. But unlike “The Sisters,” it does not center around everyman, rather a writer. They say to write what you know about, but if you’re a reader of fiction you might believe that writing is the number one profession in America, when so many people don’t even read books, never mind write one.

But the main character makes an amoral choice not long into the book and I winced. Because this character seemed otherwise reasonable, and I wouldn’t do this.

But then…

“The Award” ultimately turns into a thriller. Which I didn’t anticipate. And every aside, every throwaway from earlier in the book, comes back into play.

But the bottom line is “The Award” made me tense. Had me on edge. On some level I could see where it was going, on another it didn’t go quite that way.

And then reading for hours, getting up to go to the bathroom, I was inspired, I wanted to write about what was going on in Minneapolis.

That is how it works. You have to do something else to do the thing you want to. You get inspired, it hits you. This is when all the great work is done. As for writing sessions, cobbling songs together, there is great work achieved by those methods, but it’s the bolts of lightning that render the best stuff.

Actually, I saw this great Ray Bradbury video on TikTok. I certainly know who he is, I’ve got respect, but I’ve never read any of his books, science fiction is not my thing. But Ray said…

“Never went to college. Don’t believe in college for writers. I think it’s very dangerous. I think too many professors are too opinionated, and too snobbish, and too intellectual. And the intellect is a great danger to creativity. A terrible danger because you begin to rationalize and make up reasons for things instead of staying with your own basic truth, who you are, what you are, what you want to be. And I’ve had a sign over my typewriter for 25 years now which reads ‘Don’t think.’ You must never think at the typewriter, you must feel, and then your intellect is always buried in that feeling anyway. You collect up a lot of data, you do a lot of thinking away from your typewriter, but at the typewriter you should be living.”

@contemporary.blueprint

Ray Bradbury: Don’t Think, Feel ? Do your thinking away from the page.?? Write from your basic truth.?? When you’re stuck, stop explaining and start describing. Don’t let overthinking choke your work while you’re making it. Study, analyse, gather references — then, when you sit down, let the writing be a lived experience. Making should come from instinct, emotion, and what feels true in the moment. ——— #art #creativity #writing #literature

? original sound – The Contemporary Blueprint

Eureka, that’s it!

People talk about writing, how hard it is, how they like to have written as opposed to writing. How writing is really about rewriting. It’s all intellectualized, and that’s why it’s not transcendent.

Writing, whether it be a screed or a song, should be channeling. The rest of your life is practice, background…when you sit down to create you’ve got to be uninhibited and inspired.

School is about squeezing the creativity out of you, making you conform. Writers are born, not made. It’s a calling. You can learn how to do it, but you won’t be great if you weren’t born with the instinct, the passion.

As for MFAs… Some decent books come out of those programs, but they excise the inspiration, it’s all about the rewriting, as it is for the main character in “The Award.” Who has to question whether he is good enough, or whether he should give up.

He’s got a girlfriend who believes in him. But he ends up losing the plot. And there’s the legendary writer who lives beneath him who is a grade A a*shole, but no one says this out loud, for fear of being on the wrong team, never mind offending this legend.

As for the thrilling plot… Doesn’t have to be a writer, could be anybody. The choices you make… One false move that seemed irrelevant yesterday catches up with you tomorrow.

“The Award” is a ride. I think it’s the kind of book those on BookTok who brag they read a book a week like. This is not literature for the ages, this is plot. But it takes you away, not as well as “The Sisters” does, but there’s that tension.

And when it broke I wrote “More Minneapolis.” I was primed and didn’t even know it. I was completely disconnected from society, and then I reconnected instantly.

But now I’m pissed I can’t get enough distance, I’m caught up in the b.s. of the world, and when that is the case you can’t get into the space you need to to do great work. And there are no tricks, you’ve just got to wait it out. To calm down, for the inspiration to return.

But I’m booked solid going forward and I might never have the time to write about “The Award,” and I wanted to, but this does not have the tone I wanted to convey. Which is you’re just an average person, reading a book, looking for a break, and then it happens, you get hooked, you’re on the ride. You’re there alone, in your own bubble, but you know the writer is with you. And it’s different from a movie or TV series. But it’s akin to a great record. But today’s records are written first and foremost for commercial success, and that rarely works. You’ve got commerce, not art.

And we’re looking for art.

But we don’t want anybody to be an artist.

And most of those who say they’re artists are not.

But we’re still hungry, we’re still looking for that resonance.

1

I buy it.

I knew something was up when my phone rang at 3 in the morning. Nothing good happens in the middle of the night, on the phone anyway. My college roommate picked up the receiver to find out his younger brother had been killed in a car accident. Thirty years later, my best friend was on the line experiencing a Come to Jesus moment. In that he just could not handle all the havoc he’d wreaked.

I’d known the guy for twenty years, and didn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary until we heard Kay Redfield Jamison speak. She wrote the definite book on bipolar disorder, “An Unquiet Mind,” and after she was done talking my best friend’s wife told me that was him. I didn’t see it, but she was right.

He started to behave in a more and more grandiose fashion. He got into a fistfight with the manager of his club. And I won’t say my friend was the softest guy in the world, but this was completely unfathomable.

And then he proceeded to lose everything. His wife, his money, even his car got repossessed. But he wasn’t unduly annoyed, he was going to get his automobile back and he did and then…

The phone rang at 3 in the morning. Having been through my own troubles I stayed on the line. But I didn’t want to let him go, because he never turned the corner. He never loosened up. He just could not fathom what he’d done, the effect it had on people.

I told him to call his psychiatrist in the a.m., only a few hours away, but the doctor wouldn’t see him, because my friend owed him too much money.

And the phone rang at the same hour the next night. And there were calls thereafter. He just couldn’t believe what he’d done.

I was worried, this guy couldn’t be alone. He needed 24/7 attention. I suggested he go home, to the house he grew up in in another state, his mother was very compassionate.

He did. And a few nights later, as I was running out for the first Metallica show with their new bassist, the phone rang and it was him. I told him what I was up to. I spoke about the opportunities he’d have in the future, but he responded, “Not for me.”

That was a bit eerie. But I rushed out.

And that night my friend committed suicide. The next morning a mutual friend called and before he could even get the words out, I knew. 

2

I’ve only met Kanye once. It was in Chris Martin’s dressing room, at the Forum. As you will remember, Kanye had gone on very late at Bonnaroo. I asked him about it. After all, conversation was free-flowing, Martin is the nice guy you see on stage.

And Kanye started talking in the third person. He said something like “Kanye does what he has to do.” And more like that. It was very weird. Very non-backstage, off the record and loose as it normally is. I realized this guy was different.

And he had his ups and downs thereafter. Well-publicized. But someone who worked with him told me he was diagnosed bipolar, but wouldn’t take his medication. Many people won’t. Because it flattens you out, it gets rid of the highs.

When you’re on a high you think you can conquer the world, do anything. Oftentimes when manic you need very little sleep. Furthermore, a lot of what bipolar people create when high is world class, trendsetting, definitive.

A high can last a matter of weeks, months, even years.

But then they crash. They always crash.

But those highs, they don’t want to give them up.

And they don’t want to believe anything is wrong with them either.

This is all well-documented, but most people don’t want to read the documentation, especially if they’re a man. You’re supposed to buck up and fly right. You don’t need the help of no stinkin’ doctor, never mind medication, that’s for wusses.

Only it’s not.

3

Now Kanye’s behavior was so out of control that even casual observers could tell he was mentally ill. Because no one acts this way unless they are. And for the record, an amazing number of artists/musicians are.

And in the process, Kanye lost not quite everything, but pretty damn close. He became a pariah, deservedly so. No one wanted to amplify his craziness.

As for what made Kanye seek help…

Was Kanye’s bipolar disorder caused by the car accident he references? It’s possible, but no one wants to believe they’re mentally ill, that the cause is themselves, their chemistry, they’re always looking for outside forces, explanations, to accept that they’re less than perfect is very difficult.

Not that it matters. There is a diagnosis and Kanye got treatment and appears to be on medication…which you have to take for the rest of your life, and many people stop.

As for the dig at those who diagnosed him autistic… You’ve got to know, mental health is not like orthopedics, it’s not as simple as diagnosing and setting a broken leg. There’s no definitive blood test. What you’ve got is doctors, psychiatrists, who quiz you, do their best to get a reading, and then prescribe drugs…sometimes they work, it’s a miracle cure, but sometimes you have to switch from one medication to another and the process is depressing unto itself. Because there are side effects. Some wear off in a few weeks, others never do.

But if you live in the big city, there are psychopharmacologists, who specialize in this. As a matter of fact, because of the low insurance reimbursement and the unwillingness of people to pay for therapy, most psychiatrists today do not do talk therapy, they just prescribe. And they’ve gotten better at it.

But most people get talk therapy from those without prescribing ability. Psychologists, social workers. And then there are those who believe they can shortcut the whole process by just asking their primary caregiver for an antidepressant, as if the psychopharmacologists have no special skill, not to mention almost always the pill is not enough, some quantity of talk therapy is needed to recover.

4

You cannot treat your own depression. As for your friends…they love you, they’ll tell you you’re okay, and oftentimes you are not. You need a professional.

But when it comes to bipolar disorder, the only thing that works is the medication, and if you don’t take it…

Right now, Kanye appears to be taking it.

Does he want forgiveness? Does he want to be embraced by the public once again? Of course. But that’s not the driving force here. It’s the recognition of the havoc he’s wreaked, the people he’s hurt, now that he’s stabilized he can see it, is mortified by it, and wants to come clean. Are we going to continue to penalize someone who has made the effort, is on the road to recovery and is completely honest about it? Why?

No, we should not. That does not mean you have to embrace Kanye. That does not mean you should not be skeptical of him in the future. That does not mean you should wipe the slate completely clean…

But this is not like an actor who makes a racist comment and goes to rehab. This is mental illness, and there’s no easy get out of jail free card.

Then again, many Americans don’t believe in mental illness, they think therapy and medication are unnecessary crutches. Oftentimes, they could benefit from such.

5

So, taking the ad in the “Wall Street Journal”…

I was surprised my inbox did not blow up about this today. But then I checked the Google news and the story has been covered, but…does everybody know? Does everybody care?

We don’t need any specific musical star. Just as long as we have some. George Michael killed his career with his Sony suit. Most people have a peak, that they can never reach again.

Never mind how hard it is to reach the peak to begin with.

So one can be cynical and say that the ad was in the “Journal” because that’s where the advertisers are, the movers and shakers of business, and it’s these people Kanye wants forgiveness from. I mean usually today you control your own narrative via X/Twitter, most people don’t even engage the mainstream press, that’s old school. As for full page ads in major publications…that’s for corporations, causes, not individuals.

So…

Give the man credit. For recognizing his faults and addressing them. That’s more than most people do.

And being honest and laying it all out in public, when the goal of most, celebrity or not, is to hide their flaws? Kudos.

And if we can’t forgive…

That’s the problem with America today, one false move and you’re out. Forever. People don’t want to go on the record, they don’t want to take the risk. Say the wrong thing and you’re excommunicated.

Kanye was excommunicated. Should he be embraced warmly? Once bitten, twice shy. Only in this case, it’s many times bitten.

But untreated bipolar disorder is a legitimate excuse.

But this screed is no guarantee Kanye will continue to take his medication, and if he doesn’t, all bets are off.

Kanye has to continue to earn our trust.

But he’s entitled to that.

He deserves the benefit of the doubt.

For now.

It’s January 6th all over again.

I don’t know about you, but I found out about the storming of the Capitol online, on some news site, whereupon I immediately switched to video and watched the riot play out. That’s what it was, right? A riot?

Everyone agreed. Trump was kicked off of social media platforms, the media testified as to the dark day in America, and Donald was impeached, for the second time.

But not convicted.

All right… But they were going to get him, right, make him pay for his sins?

Well, the spin years later became that 1/6 was a peaceful protest. That if Mike Pence had just done the right thing, none of this would have happened. As for the perps… Trump had nothing to do with it and weren’t they just patriots? Why should they be denigrated, incarcerated for their belief in this great nation of ours? Trump let them out of the jails immediately, wiped the slate clean, and Ashli Babbitt, like Charlie Kirk, has been elevated to the level of a deity.

As for all those elected officials who decried Trump’s behavior? They all fell in line behind the man when he was elected president once again. As for the investigation into his so-called crimes…asking for more votes in Georgia, the classified documents in Mar-a-Lago… Let’s not go tit for tat. It’s unjust for Trump to be prosecuted, because the Democrats do the exact same thing. And if Trump were somehow held liable, it would be open season for the Democrats when they get back into power. Jovial John Kennedy said exactly this on Bill Maher’s “Real Time” on Friday night…as if you say it folksily enough, people will believe it. And when asked if Trump lost the election, Kennedy obfuscated, because if you go against Trump the clock starts to tick, it’s only a matter of time before you become a pariah, before you’re excommunicated. And it’s not only politicos, Jamie Dimon now too. Never mind law firms and news networks.

So now we watch video of  a man who was a nurse whose efforts were to aid a downed protester, who was waving a phone, not a gun, whose hands were on the ground, shot in cold blood. Video, just like 1/6.

And Trump and his cronies are telling us not to believe what we see And even the Fox News website referenced the difference between the government’s viewpoint and the people’s…but that’s gone now, replaced by a headline about an ICEman being maimed by a violent mob.

That’s right, the narrative is already changing. The sides are lining up. And it’s them against us, the government against the people.

However, those who are frustrated with the government’s actions have been told to vote, just wait to the coming election, when wrongs will be righted, never mind the big election in 2028. The only people who believe this are the elected politicians and the media that reports upon them. Nobody I know has faith in coming elections to right the ship.

So, there have been protests in Minnesota. And this ain’t L.A., it’s been below zero, but people have been coming out.

Now in the sixties, protests like this ultimately turned the screw. We got the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and ultimately the winding down and ending of the Vietnam War. As for the Voting Rights Act of 1965…that’s been undercut by the Supreme Court, since we supposedly no longer live in a racist society, never mind Citizens United. Meaning the deck is stacked even if you are not stricken from the voting rolls, the odds are against you.

So what happens now.

As we all know, it’s Pretti’s fault. He should have just stayed home, like a good American, a heritage American (but with that last name, I’m not sure he qualifies…). And while he’s at it, if he leaves his home he should carry I.D. Because this is the way it goes in America…

Only it doesn’t. You don’t need papers and you have a right to assemble. As for leaving your house… Trump is winning here. Nobody with money will stand up to Trump for fear of losing it, now the hoi polloi won’t stand up to Trump because they’re afraid of losing their life. Really, are you going to go to a protest now?

The crisis has reached a boiling point.

What do we know? TACO. Trump always chickens out. If he doesn’t let one of his minions take the blame, he squirms and equivocates, because after all there are good people on both sides. Trump may bend a bit here, as he distances himself from the ICEmen responsible for Pretti’s death… Like Marjorie Taylor Greene talking about having her eyes opened once she got out of the right wing bubble and read the rest of the press, Trump will say he had no idea.

But shortly thereafter it will be just like that Talking Heads song, same as it ever was.

So…

This is not an Arab Spring moment. Because not enough Americans feel oppressed. However they’re doing it, many still believe in the ICE mission…never mind the racist beliefs underpinning many of these beliefs.

As for military in the streets… And whether we call them this or not, that’s what ICE is, they can enter at will, and seemingly shoot at will… Don’t you know that those northern cities are hellholes of crime and if the mayors just did their jobs, which they’re not, no one would be shot, peace would reign?

Yeah, right.

So there are some who still believe in Trump. Although that edifice is being chipped away. Because of what’s happening in Minneapolis. However, if you think this will change the course of Trump’s behavior…

What do we know… Trump does what he says he will and he never truly backs down. Hell, he never sleeps…he’s up posting on Truth Social in the wee hours of the morning.

So if you’re expecting change…

What did we learn in the wake of the protests against the killing of George Floyd? That today Blacks are even worse off. The prevailing narrative is the demonstrations disrupted the nation…nothing was ultimately gained. So I ask you, will something ultimately be gained by the protests in Minneapolis?

Not much. After all, Trump had mention of his impeachments removed from the Smithsonian, he has no problem rewriting history. And when the dust settles, he and his flock will say whatever happened in Minneapolis, it was ultimately the public’s fault. Probably incited by outside agitators. Because no American in their right mind would stand up against the mission of ICE, right?

Having said that, at least those protesters are taking action. But it gets worse, it seems that the only thing that will cower Trump is violence. Unless Congress wakes up, which I doubt it will. As for NATO coming to rescue the citizens of America…good luck with that. As for the 2nd Amendment, those guns are for Republicans, Democrats can’t be trusted with them, as Pretti proves.

If your head isn’t spinning now…

This is authoritarianism, this is fascism, this is a dictatorship. The Republicans say to stop using the H-word, but the truth is America today resembles Nazi Germany, even down to the detention camps that cannot be investigated.

It’s a slippery slope. And never forget, Hitler had supporters too.

And I beg of you to read David French’s piece in the “New York Times.” For the record, French comes from the right:

“An Old Theory Helps Explain What Happened to Renee Good”

Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/opinion/renee-good-ice-immunity.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HVA.TRLI.qL4NRc5PToME&smid=url-share

People felt life was pretty good in Nazi Germany, as long as they didn’t come up against the forces of the government… Read this, it might be from the “New York Times,” but like I said, French is from the right.

So the bottom line is whatever happens here if you expect Trump to change, if you expect major change in our country, you’re dreaming, that’s never going to happen. It’s not like if ICE even backs off a bit Trump is going to let up on the rest of his heinous policies that negatively impact the populace. Why should he? He’s in control. And the military is on his side. As for legislative power… They have the equivalent of Congress in Russia and Hungary too, doesn’t make a difference.

So if you’re all riled-up about the death of Alex Pretti…I’m with you. But if you think it’s going to foment major change, you’re dreaming.

For that more people have to be pissed off and more people need to take action.

Even Robert Reich is now calling for a national strike. Which I believe is appropriate before there are guns in the street, before more citizens are cut down in cold blood.

This is just the start, the true resistance to Trump. Forget the kumbaya pussy hats and No Kings rallies, they were parties that Trump ignored when he wasn’t laughing at them.

No, to evoke change you have to hit them where it hurts, financially.

Now if you’re a Boomer, you remember that in the sixties if a TV network got calls about “controversial” programming, they killed it. Oftentimes, in a nation of hundreds of millions, there were fewer than twenty phone calls. But the networks were afraid.

Corporations live in fear. All those overpaid CEOs kissing Trump’s butt, they’ve got to see their businesses challenged, their stocks drop, that’s the only thing that will get them to change course, the only thing they care about is money.

It’s what runs America, which is why Trump wants total control of the  Fed.

I’m not advocating violence, not at all. But I am saying that when people are up against the wall and are pissed enough, it happens, like with the Arab Spring. But life in that area of the world was much worse in terms of standard of living and opportunity than it is over here. So what will get the public to turn?

Let’s be clear, what is happening in Minneapolis has not only gained people’s attention, it has peeled Trump supporters away from him. So that’s a start. But if the public doesn’t take further action Trump will circle the wagons, declare victory and march forward, tightening the rope on your rights all the while.

Yup, you’re losing them as I write this. You can watch Netflix and say it doesn’t affect you, or you can realize if it doesn’t already, it ultimately will, and it then may be too late.

This is just the beginning.