Solving Problems
You start at the end and you work your way back.
1
I first learned this from Sam Perlmutter, my one and only legal boss. Sam started off at a defense firm, but it could not contain his personality, so then he went independent. He was a renegade, with his own vision.
And he wasn’t great at dotting i’s and crossing t’s.
Sam is most famous for making George Foreman’s deal for his grill, and recently they both passed, but mostly Sam operated in the entertainment business, primarily film.
We were representing a film company client which was notorious for taking liberties, acting without a contract. And they took an ad in a trade paper on a Friday featuring a star without having a signed memo and the actor went ballistic. His lawyers spent all weekend preparing and then filling a lawsuit on Monday morning. Sam estimated the bill was in the neighborhood of 20-25k, and this was 1982! And do you know what the film company said when served? You’re right, we apologize, we won’t issue any more ads with your name without a signed agreement.
A student of the game, and this law firm was one of the biggest in Los Angeles, one of the most legendary entertainment firms to this day, was well aware of the reputation of this film company, they were notorious in Hollywood. But they took the actor’s money. Because he was ANGRY, and he wanted them to DO SOMETHING!
Sam was phenomenal in court, he never lost. Because he knew that was where the rubber met the road. The clients could be crazy, waiting years to go to trial. Rather than kiss their butts and do everything they wanted him to do, Sam just kept them happy enough not to leave him, and when the results finally came in, they were thrilled. You see clients only have claims once in a blue moon, at least most of them, whereas Sam was in the legal business every day.
I could give you more examples, but I want to tell you another story I learned about problem-solving.
I was making a deal, and at the last minute the company I was entering into a contract with kept switching the deal points. Not the most major, but the minor ones we’d agreed upon. This really pissed me off, I thought they were not honorable, and I desired what was promised. And Irving said…the deal either works or it doesn’t, if it does we’ll renegotiate, if it doesn’t it doesn’t matter.
A pro knows.
The amateur gets heated up, acts without restraint, they’re pissed and someone has to pay. Is this to their benefit?
Very rarely.
2
Everybody could see that Joe Biden had lost a step. But everybody in D.C. on the Democratic side was afraid to bring it up. I mean after the debate, who could defend him? But the Democratic party continued to do so until…
George Clooney stuck a knife in his heart in the “New York Times.”
The goal of Clooney, who was representing himself and other disaffected donors, was to get Biden to step down. Nothing had worked previously. It’s not like no one was uttering negative things, but when Clooney went up front and center in the “New York Times”…
People have been brainwashed about the mainstream media. They think it’s incorrect and irrelevant. I won’t argue that point. But I will say, everyone in Washington, D.C. reads it! Clooney pulled back the curtain in the only arena that counts to these people, and Biden could never recover.
Which is why I spoke about the lack of prominence of the stories about the protests in yesterday’s mainstream media. If it had been the headline there, knocking aside the endless stories about tariffs and the firing of government employees, those in D.C. would have noticed.
These people are antiques. They’re not hip. They can barely use a smartphone. And they’re anything but renegades, they check for consensus before they even utter a word. So how do you reach them?
In the mainstream media.
3
So let’s start at the end. What is the goal here?
To get rid of Trump and his policies.
Okay, first we must look at the past, check the evidence for insight.
There were a ton of protests in Trump’s first term. Did they make any difference? Did they move the needle? Did Trump capitulate?
Absolutely not.
So if the goal is to impact Trump and his policies, protesting in the street will not work.
That’s dispassionate. Reality. It might make the protesters feel good. It might have a very slight chance of affecting the positions of elected officials, but the recent track record of protests and what they’ve accomplished is very poor.
So you go back to the goal, how do you affect Trump.
One thing we know is he’s extremely vain, and he constantly references the beauty of those around him. If you attack his looks, he gets bugged. There are many ways to do this.
Also, he keeps saying how smart and worldly he is. If Hollywood had balls, it would make a movie of all of Trump’s faux pas, scored by star musicians, and put it on YouTube. And Truth Social and X. Believe me, Trump would be steamed.
How do you get Trump out of the pocket, how do you get him to second-guess himself. That’s the only way change will foment.
4
Trump ignores so much. If the “New York Times” pans him, he comes out with an epithet, about the FAILING “New York Times” or…
You’ve got to give Trump credit. He’s neutered the opposition. He’s told everyone to ignore the mainstream. And when Fox pushes back, speaks truth, he penalizes the outlet, forcing them to get in line.
But now it’s not only Fox, but other news entities and law firms…
Sometimes it’s as simple as saying no. This is how you fight bullies. You don’t reason with them, you don’t rationalize, you just say no, very simply. This is what enrages them most. Because it shows you’re not scared.
5
Now Schumer and the Democratic party keep telling us that the legal system will save us, just wait for the elections.
But they have elections in Hungary and Russia and Venezuela, and the incumbent authoritarian always wins.
Meanwhile, every day our government institutions are eroded. And Trump defies legal judgments.
So when we’re told to believe in the process…WE DON’T!
Now in the late sixties, young people frustrated with the ongoing Vietnam War created the Weathermen, who believed in violence.
Is that what I am advocating here?
No.
But how come Kid Rock and his cronies can start a boycott of Bud Light over a trans issue and the brand has never recovered? Now the number one beer brand in America is Modelo. How come Democrats can’t organize like this?
Because there’s too much infighting and not enough leadership.
Theoretically, the Democratic party should be leading us, telling us what to do, but they’re worthless.
Now in the sixties, independent leaders appeared, I’ll make it simple, just look at the Chicago 8. They weren’t elected, they rode the discontent of the youth and moved mountains. Is there any young person with this ethos today? I certainly hope so. Because the young get angry first and they’re willing to put themselves on the line, because they’ve got very little to lose. They don’t look at their 401k before acting.
So you need leaders and you need a plan. Word was put out that you needed to go protest at the Chicago convention. Ironically, this contributed to the nomination of Hubert Humphrey and the loss of the election and…
The main flaw of Humphrey wasn’t that he was a bad man, he was known as a very good politician. But he was tarred by Johnson, like Harris was tarred by Biden, and he was too centrist, too pragmatic, he couldn’t tap into the anger of the public!
Just like today. The public is angry, that’s what yesterday’s protests were all about. But protests without context, without a plan, without a leader, are meaningless.
6
You’ve got to look at the goal and get practical.
Trump bought a Tesla at the White House… This broke protocol and possibly the law, but he felt a need to defend Elon Musk. So, Trump can act, he can come out of his cubbyhole. But protests in the street have not worked so far.
A national strike? Everybody not going to work one day?
He’d pay attention.
And if it was said one day this month and two days next month and three the one after that…
These are the kinds of actions people want to take.
And people are willing to boycott products of Republican fat cats if they’re just instructed to. This is where online shines as opposed to mainstream media. People organize online, they feel good interacting and being part of the cause.
But Schumer, et al, are sitting on their hands, saying they are powerless.
As for Cory Booker… He needs to talk to Irving… WHAT IS THE ASK?
Booker got people’s attention but he didn’t tell them to do anything. Amateur wanker.
Yes, we can criticize our elected officials. We live in a fluid society where there are no taboos. How come Trump knows this and the Democrats do not?
Now if you go against the party line, you’re excoriated.
That’s the story of Gavin Newsom, the party and its loyalists hate that he has Republican operatives on his podcast and that he agreed trans women should not participate in women’s sports.
Newsom knows it’s a long game. Which is why he started a podcast, episodes are released on a regular basis, the game is to gain attention and keep it. One-offs don’t work in today’s world.
Also, podcasts are a hotbed of political debate, that’s where opinions are expressed and grow. So Newsom acknowledges reality and the elite Democrats are pissed?
I don’t think Newsom can win the presidency, never mind the nomination, the Republicans have been on a multi-decade crusade of denigrating California. But at least Newsom is putting one foot in front of the other and acknowledging reality.
We’ve got to put behind our tropes and get to the main issues.
We should not be debating DEI and women’s rights…because they are not unifiers right now, and when the house is on fire you address that immediately, you put all other issues on the back burner, you call 911 before you call your friend to cancel dinner.
7
I am not in charge. I don’t even have the personality to lead. That requires someone charismatic who is good with people. Someone who can smile and manipulate. That’s why Bill Clinton was so successful, and why the right hated him. And that’s also why Hillary Clinton failed, she could be nobody but herself, speaking her truth, and the public couldn’t handle it. And when she tried to play the game no one believed it, one of her favorite books was the Bible? Give me a break.
So someone can unite us. It doesn’t look like a politician. But this can’t be like Occupy Wall Street, which insiders laughed at, which had no leader and ultimately no effect.
Let’s start there, with a leader. Michael Moore is good, but long in the tooth, and now carries too much baggage. We need someone younger, sans said baggage. Who will tell the public what to do.
Organization is everything. That’s one thing that we had in the sixties, protesting the war. And we had the musicians on our side too. We were a monolith.
Now we’re just disgruntled lefties pissed that we lost the election. We’ve got Trump Derangement Syndrome and are laughed at.
I know this is what people think BECAUSE I HEAR FROM THEM EACH AND EVERY DAY!
Politicians may live in a bubble, but too many Democrats do too. They don’t know that “Democrat” is now a dirty word, that the appellation is negative and tired. If the left is in touch with the working class and its plight, which is doubtful, they distance and denigrate these people. Say they’re ignorant and laugh at them. When did that ever work? When did that ever bring people to your side?
8
Now if there is not organized pushback, then there is spontaneous revolution, and that’s uncontrollable. That’s when people start rioting in the street, sabotaging institutions because they just can’t take it anymore. That’s the story of the UnitedHealthcare assassination. But when it comes to the entire country coming under the power and the whims of an authoritarian, many more people are pissed.
This could be coming. If for no other reason than the left is not organized.
But the key is to be organized, focus on the result you want and then come up with a plan of action. You must concentrate on practicality more than emotions. Trump is a paper tiger, for now anyway. But he does control the military…
It’s your duty to stand up for America and its democracy. And I know you want to and I know your leaders have let you down. But it’s best not to act willy-nilly. It’s best to study your opponent and hit him in the chin when he is not prepared for it, when he thinks you’re a wimp and he’s the almighty.
This is doable.
