Of Evanescence.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/amy-lee/id1316200737?i=1000728378958

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/7c812a59-0329-4eaa-812a-7f842a955615/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-amy-lee

Used to want to be rock stars.

But that was back before the cell phone camera. All the perks of being a rock star are gone. You can no longer rape and pillage across America, and you aren’t even that rich, so where is the opportunity?

Rape and pillage. You can’t use the former word if you’re a male. It’s taboo. The language police will get you. As a matter of fact, if you’re male in America today you’re constrained, you’re issued a list of taboo behaviors at birth and if you cross them…

Now of course this doesn’t apply to all men. But somewhere along the line all men were considered macho boors. You’re lumped into that category by your penis, period. You’re aggressive and macho and not in touch with your feelings and if we don’t constrain you, there will be trouble.

Not if you’re a college graduate, not if you’re a winner, but not everybody can be a winner.

And if you don’t go to college, where does that leave you?

With the short end of the stick, not much money and not much power. All you can do is sit around and let your anger stew, get drunk, listen to bro podcasts.

The left brought this upon itself. Hell, the most reasonable of men can’t live up to Democratic standards. They too are lumped into the macho bag, any rough edges are decried, if you don’t acknowledge the equality and power of women you’re a pariah. Truly.

Hang with me here. I’m trying to explain the vibe, where we were, how we got here, if you’re nitpicking you’re missing the point.

I’m inundated with right wing blowback. Which is marked by misspellings and bad grammar. Just today I got an e-mail from someone talking about Jimmy Kimmal and Jay Lenno…

What has that person’s life been like? Probably not good. Because if you make mistakes like this chances are you are not educated and cannot get a good job and therefore you are resentful. And this resentment trumps everything else in your life, this is why you vote for Trump.

You’re driving Uber. You’re barely making ends meet. And all you hear about is social welfare for people of color and the disadvantaged. It’s not that you’re really against these people getting help, but you’re pissed that no one is looking out for you, no one is taking action regarding your problems. Where are the better jobs? And if I hang with my bros and get high after work I’m still going to be denigrated.

We all need something to live for. For most it’s job or family or both.

But what if you have a lousy job and can’t get laid.

To you it looks like the world has been feminized. Look at the Spotify Top 50, dominated by KPop Demon Hunters. Sure, there are male fans of KPop, but if you’d rather wrestle and talk about hunting, is this going to be your music?

And we do have a problem with guns in America, but there are people who like to hunt. But if you kill anything in America today you’re the problem, not the solution, even though in many areas conservation is handled via hunting, otherwise deer and other animals would overwhelm the area.

You’re constantly being told that your behavior and values are wrong.

Don’t confuse these men with religious zealots, or rich profiteers, they’re the rank and file. They listen to Rogan and Theo Von not because they think they’re right so much as these guys don’t talk down to them, they make them feel COMFORTABLE!

Come on… You see a guy with a blue collar job driving an old pickup and you don’t judge them? Maybe you don’t, but a lot of educated/desirable women do. And if these guys dare to approach women…they’ve got to run a gauntlet to get access. No means no…

There are many bad actors who need to be taught limits. Then there are normal guys, maybe insecure and shy, who’d have trouble with women in any event but are lumped in with bad actors…

It’s kind of like mass shooters. The main thing they have in common is mental derangement. But if a shooter is trans or has any other characteristic, if you share it, you’re tarred too.

Are macho males going to be fans of Justin Bieber?

Look once again at the Spotify Top 50. We’ve got Alex Warren and Benson Boone and the sexed-up Disney star Sabrina Carpenter? She’s enticing all the men who know they’ve got absolutely no chance, despite decrying her pop music. But all the media is raving about her and Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo and…where are the concomitant male stars, marinating in their maleness?

Well, there are some in the heavy metal/active rock world… Then again, a lot of them are cartoons, not truly dangerous, that’s just an image. If you want something that resonates, you go to the Gathering of the Juggalos.

Or are a fan of a dangerous rapper. One who brandishes a weapon and risks going to jail. That guy is STICKING IT TO THE MAN! Somebody’s got to do it. Many males see men who test limits as part of a great rebellion, a great reaction, against a system that keeps them down.

One of the reasons the left can’t get organized against the right is because those on the left have it pretty good, are complacent. They’re not worried about the working man, which is why these people are now Republicans, they can only provide lip service.

So you’ve got Scott Galloway and others talking about how we have to lift up young men. I’d say we have to change the attitudes of those who are already here.

Men are different from women, don’t try to turn them into metrosexuals and don’t pooh-pooh all their behavior. Everybody wants to keep men in a box.

As for the male leaders on the left…

Who can identify with Chuck Schumer? And Gavin Newsom is slick. As for Cory Booker…I’ve never met anybody like him. Where can I see people like myself, that’s what men want to know.

Well, those guys aren’t given positions of power because they have edges that are too rough. Which is why men cotton to Elon Musk, because at least he’s unconstrained, he’s got power.

You might look at the downsides of Musk, but what are you providing in the alternative?

Talk about orthodoxy… A male might vote for Kamala Harris for intellectual reasons, but emotional ones? She’s as phony and wishy-washy as they come. But if a male says this he’s accused of breaking the Democratic code, and if you do this they don’t want you around… Big tent, my ass.

You went to high school, didn’t you? What did it feel like to be left out, to have no power. You weren’t cool, you weren’t part of the student government, you didn’t play on a sports team, it’s almost like you didn’t exist. But supposedly graduation was liberation. NOT ANYMORE! Regular life is like the purgatory of high school.

And the funny thing is if you don’t play along, it drives the women and their minions NUTS! If you say something politically incorrect, they just can’t handle it. You’d think that you shot someone.

And where are the men on the left saying NO MAS! Standing up to the pronoun and trans people in sports and men having babies rhetoric. Everyone on the left is so afraid of offending a single person that they bend over backwards to defend every person, to the point of ridiculousness. But they aren’t bending over backward to support the average male, who is considered to have been born on third base.

We don’t live in a post-racial society, but to look at everything through the lens of the past is plain wrong. Women may still be disadvantaged, but they’ve come a long way, baby. And the problem with DEI isn’t that those gaining advantage are unworthy, but more WHO’S LOOKING OUT FOR ME!

Let’s be clear. I’m focusing on a subset of the population. Not every man and not every Republican man. But there are those those who believe they got a raw deal and no one is listening to them. And believe me, no one on the left is. It’s like showing up at a black tie event in a Canadian tuxedo. You stand out and are laughed at.

You just don’t do it right. People are constantly watching you for bad behavior.

We don’t need a major adjustment here, only a subtle one.

Men can’t be guilty until proven innocent. Not every male is a wannabe rapist.

As for behavior… Why is it only girls’ actions are approved. So, the male world tends to be more physical…do we have to leave all of our maleness aside to be accepted?

Women need men too.

And women get to choose. Never underestimate that.

As for the media… It’s so afraid of being excoriated by the left wing police that it’s complicit.

From little kids to adults, we have to change our behavior towards men. If a little boy is running ragged on the playground, raising his voice, he is not defective. Ditto men. But they’re told they never grew up.

Wow.

Is it worse being poor and broke and a person of color? ABSOLUTELY! But that does not mean the plight of the average male should be forsaken.

We’ve got a problem here, and those on the left aren’t even aware of it.

They created this problem. They created the men on the right who hate the libs.

And they give these men no reason to love them.

Think about it.

You don’t poke the bear.

Let’s say you’re called into the principal’s office. And this puffed-up authority figure starts coming down on you, reciting your so-called offenses… You hang your head and listen. You stay quiet. You certainly don’t bark back, because of the CONSEQUENCES!

The principal has the power and you don’t. You will ultimately be gone, but the school will remain. The institution is bigger than the individual. Therefore, you must heed its rules, however insane they might be.

But not Jimmy Kimmel.

The course of behavior was clear. Jimmy needed to do a bit of a mea culpa and then go completely off topic, steer clear of the controversy, but Kimmel LEANED IN!

My inbox is full of right wingers telling me Kimmel isn’t funny and he and late night will soon be gone. That’s completely missing the point, in a world where what is said today may not even be remembered tomorrow. The future has never appeared less locked down. The nation is in turmoil. You fight your battles today, because the war might be over by tomorrow.

So Jimmy comes on and says it was never about Charlie Kirk, says that no one should die for their beliefs. And then…

He lays into Trump and Carr. Hangs them with their own words, and then twists the knife.

Now wait just a second… This is America, you’re just a cog in the system, you think you can change the world?

YES! That’s the power of the individual, that’s what the Democrats have been lacking, someone to stand up for their beliefs and damn the consequences.

So what are the consequences?

Disney ain’t gonna fire Kimmel, not for quite a while, if ever…because the company is afraid that if they do none of the talent in Hollywood will want to work with them and they’ll be SOL.

And the flame of hope has been lit under those who are unhappy with Trump and his policies, who believe they have no options.

Turns out they do. And it comes down to something very simple, money. As the Kinks say:

“Money talks and we’re the living proof

There ain’t no limit to what money can do

Money talks, money talks”

But it’s about more than money. Kimmel has blazed a trail for others, who have been too fearful to reveal their beliefs. To quote Elton, he’s still standing. Yes, you can take a position and still stand too.

Too many on the left have been overwhelmed by right wing blowback. It’s not only corporations, but citizens. Everybody’s on the rear foot, everybody’s afraid. But if Jimmy Kimmel can not only survive, but push the envelope even further, so can they.

Will Nextstar and Sinclair come back?

Probably not before their merger issues are decided by the government. But after that?

The tide is turning. Trump says that ABC settled once before… But they were playing by Mafia rules, not legal rules, and Homey don’t play that no more.

This is classic government overreach. And it looked like no one was going to stand up to Trump and then he and his minions pushed it too far, with Kimmel.

Never mind that unlike Mafioso they say what they’re going to do, reveal their heinous policies, up front and personal, for all the world to see.

And it’s one thing to be anti-vaccine, but quite another to blame autism on acetaminophen, a word which Trump found almost impossible to pronounce.

Have you seen the video? Trump’s mispronunciation was all over TikTok and Instagram Reels. You couldn’t avoid it.

And is there anybody who doesn’t love Tylenol? The most benign of pain relievers? Take away my vaccine, but don’t take away my Tylenol!

Which Trump never would have taken a stand on if he didn’t feel a need to defend the unscientific policies of RFK, Jr.

Yes, yes, yes…there are Trumpers who seem to defend everything he does. But the dirty little secret here is for most it’s not about Trump, it’s about hating the libs, and it’s hard to come to the defense of someone who is self-immolating.

And then there’s the reach of Kimmel’s words.

There were endless videos on TikTok long before the show even aired on the west coast.

As of this writing, the official ABC YouTube post has over 14 million views.

Jimmy Kimmel is not dumb. He knows the reach of the actual broadcast is de minimis, but he told me YEARS AGO that it was all about creating clips for social media. And in that world, he is triumphing.

So for eight months Trump believed he was inviolate. But now he knows that he is not. Sure, Trump has doubled-down on his hatred of Kimmel and the rest of the late night hosts, but they’re still on. And following in Kimmel’s slipstream, comedians are no longer going to be fearful of the consequences of doing anti-Trump material, it’s not like YouTube is going to cancel them.

And the dirty little secret is a tiny number of people have had broad effects in media censorship, oftentimes just one or two letters or calls, far from millions. But Disney heard from the true silent majority, the ones who haven’t dedicated their lives to petty scuffles on FOX, but have been living their lives until…

They were pushed one step too far.

So who is going to stop Trump?

Certainly not his cronies, certainly not Congress, they’re all in.

Trump would rather shut down the government than listen to Democrats. Then again, he’s suddenly done a 180 on Ukraine and Zelensky. Wasn’t Putin Donald’s honest friend?

I guess not.

So, Trump can pivot, the key is for those with a voice and the public not to be assuaged by these small changes, not to be satisfied. When you’ve got someone on the run, you keep them running.

I can debate with Republicans all day long about the welfare state, taxes, but when it comes to basic American rights…

There’s only one rule of law.

If you don’t start exercising your freedoms today, they will be gone tomorrow. You must make a stand before it’s too late.

Just like Jimmy Kimmel.

You’re not going to see me at shul.

Then again, I haven’t been a member of a temple since the eighties, when I was married.

But what I’m referencing here…

All those parents who are afraid their kids are going to get shot in school…today I feel their pain. The LAPD is sending more officers to guard synagogues, but if they want to get you, you’re gone.

Not that I didn’t go to services. I did so online, have been doing so since the late nineties. I used to say it was truly a religious experience, just you alone, in front of the screen, but that was back when the service was a special one that lasted less than thirty minutes, as opposed to the livestreams of today, which are nearly interminable.

So I logged on to the Steven Wise Temple stream at six o’clock and the singing had already begun. We didn’t have a choir like this back in our era. And we certainly didn’t sing Beatles songs. The woman rabbi did a whole sermon on “Let It Be,” parsing what Paul McCartney meant by saying “mother Mary” and…

I finally had to turn it off. Reminded me of Rabbi Davidson back at B’nai Israel in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where I grew up. It was sometime in the early sixties, he went on about a tape he’d been sent of sounds from Vietnam for nearly half an hour and to say it was boring…

Now, more than ever, I want first class entertainment. If you’re going to stand up there and tell a story, maybe practice at the Moth beforehand.

But I went as a kid. It was an obligation. I never paid attention, just going was enough. Which is why the online services were such a revelation, I actually paid attention, but now I only go out of guilt.

And the guilt has just about died out.

As for believing… Listen to the George Carlin routine and it’s hard to. Let me see, there’s a guy in the sky, and he’s watching all of us to see whether we’ve been naughty or nice. Yeah, right.

Then again, being Jewish is being part of a community, and I’ve had great experiences as a result.

Jewish summer camp… Where the focus is on your first love relationships as opposed to how good a baseball player you are. There’s less of a hierarchy and more of a togetherness. And you always waited for the counselors to march through the dining hall yelling “The Big O Is Coming!” “The Big O Is Coming!”

That’s the Olympics. The highlight of the year.

And ultimately Israelis were murdered at the Olympics, but now they don’t even want them at Eurovision. Short memories.

Like the Holocaust. Forget those saying it never existed. If you’re a child of the fifties and sixties you were fully aware of it, you knew survivors, never mind people whose relatives had been cooked.

But today we’ve got Jewish nincompoops like Hannah Einbinder taking the side of the Palestinians…

Talk about a dicey subject. If I don’t take the anointed side, my inbox goes wild. Gaza is just like Trump. You’re on one side or the other, there’s no grey area, THEY’RE KILLING CIVILIANS!

But it’s kind of like Charlie Kirk. No one in their right mind wanted Charlie Kirk to die, nor any Palestinians, but when you look under the surface…

I can feel the chilling effect in my bones as I write this. Unless I say Charlie Kirk was a great American deserving of the Medal of Freedom I’m a pariah. One can’t even discuss his positions and the division he sowed. Once again, he was entitled to his speech. But is this Mother Teresa? Is this the right person to lionize?

The Palestinians want Israel gone, which is what “From the river to the sea means.” They’ve been offered their own state numerous times and refused…they want it all, and unless Israel is gone, they’re sitting out. As for the rest of the Arab countries…they don’t want the Palestinians.

So, Hamas attacks Israel and…

Well, now everything is in play. Netanyahu, the West Bank… And the truth is, if it weren’t Jews, the rest of the world would not be so concerned, they never are.

How do I know? I’M A JEW!

Is a white person in touch with the racial hatred a Black person experiences? Then how come non-Jews can tell me all about antisemitism? Sure, you can divide Zionism from antisemitism… But I’ve got a question, when antisemitism gets really bad, where are Jews going to go? Israel, it’s the only safe place. But Jews don’t know their place, they don’t know how to just shut up and be thankful they’ve got what they do. We as Jews have been hearing this our entire lives. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told I’m too loud, too inappropriate, don’t fit in. It’s about more than personality, it’s raw antisemitism. You want to know what it’s like growing up in a Jewish family? Watch the beginning of Woody Allen’s “Radio Days,” where the family is sitting around the table talking over each other, that’s what it’s like.

Not that you have to behave that way, but you are certainly judging me for doing so.

I just want to be left free to be me.

But that’s hard in today’s word.

Let me just dig the hole deeper… Hamas has won. I point you to an editorial in today’s “Wall Street Journal”:

“A Palestinian State for Hamas”

Free link: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/palestinian-statehood-u-k-france-australia-hamas-israel-6df739a9?st=bCNLLv&reflink=article_email_share

This was the plan all along. And Israel played into it. Global sentiment is now on the side of Hamas and the Palestinians. Israel’s image will never recover in my lifetime.

Kudos.

However, the pro-Palestinian mobs don’t realize they’ve been played.

All those musicians in the U.K… I didn’t see them holding concerts for Israel after October 7th.

Then again, Israel is a wealthy country of Jews, it should know its place.

And if it wasn’t Israel, I’d say the war would soon be forgotten, but antisemitism never dies, just like rust never sleeps.

So that’s what it’s like being a Jew in the world today. You’ve got to keep quiet, put your head down and feel privileged that you’re just allowed to earn a living and exist.

The music industry, over-indexing in Jews? Do you see them taking a stand re Gaza? No, they just want to be out of the fray.

However, Paramount took a stand:

“Paramount criticizes pledge by entertainers to boycott Israeli film institutions”: http://bit.ly/46w1I3q

We don’t see a concomitant statement from record labels, re the pro-Palestinian concert at Wembley nor acts pulling their music from Spotify in Israel.

Then again, the Ellisons own the company, and Larry Ellison is Jewish.

As for the crackdown on colleges under the rubric of antisemitism… Most Jews don’t think that’s really what it’s about. Then again, how ignorant could college presidents be that they allowed Jews to be targeted and afraid when they wouldn’t let this happen to another minority group.

So Jews today are afraid, on guard.

And we want to tell the masses that most of us are not religious zealots in black hats. That we’re more culturally Jewish.

And we want to tell the younger Jewish generations that support Palestine that at the end of the day, no matter what they say, they’re Jewish too, and not immune to antisemitism. Protest all you want, it’s in your blood.

Now in truth Rosh Hashanah is nowhere near as heavy a holiday as Yom Kippur, when you’re either written into the book of life for the following year, or you’re not.

And it got to the point when I was in high school that we’d go to Vermont on Rosh Hashanah, and go to the temple up there, if we went at all. You see you don’t have to go to temple to be considered a Jew, you’re always a Jew, it’s not something you can wash off, you’re reminded of this constantly by non-Jews.

Which is one of the reasons why Jews hang together, because of a commonality. That’s got little to do with scripture and a whole hell of a lot to do with persecution. We can handle it, we’ve been taught to handle it. As for right wing support of Israel…if it also wasn’t the home of Christianity, would this be the case?

And the dirty little secret is Judaism is dying out anyway, because of intermarriage. If you just wait long enough, we’ll be gone.

But that’s not soon enough.

So…

I was planning something more upbeat and sunny, about Jewish traditions and the New Year. But if you’re a Jew today, Gaza is not far from your mind.

Once again, I’d say there are no victors, but in truth Hamas has already won. Never mind the masterminds still being alive in Qatar. They got the entire world on their side. They’re celebrating. Why give the hostages back when their strategy is working so well?

As for Israel… Just like Jews in general, they should shut up and put up.

Innocent people are being killed. And that’s terrible. And at this late date, one can certainly see the cost in status alone should have had the Israelis stepping down, stopping the war years ago. But if you think this would have placated the Palestinians, you just aren’t familiar with the history of the region.

So there we have it. Israel is committing genocide. And by the way, Jews run the entertainment industry, the same Jews who’ve been silent for fear of blowback. All the tropes have deepened and grown, while they’re blowing up synagogues and Josh Shapiro’s residence.

Just giving you a bit of perspective from the inside. From the baby boomer generation, the bridge from then to now.

Never again?

It’s already happening.