I want to acknowledge that the Dropkick Murphys parted ways with Wasserman last week. So there are males taking a position. My inbox is filled with people reminding me of the Dropkick Murphys’ action, so I wanted to point it out.

But while I have your attention, I also want to point out that the essence of Chappell Roan’s action here is money. That’s what effects change. To say this or that, to take a position is one thing, it’s quite different to affect someone’s pocketbook.

Assuming you want to have an effect on Trump and his administration/actions, the only effort that will truly have an effect is financial.

Scott Galloway has gone on record about this numerous times. He has said that you only have to reduce the GDP by a tiny amount before it affects markets and Trump reacts.

Galloway has started a new movement, or at least is attempting to do so, entitled “Resist and Unsubscribe,” you can check it out here:

https://www.resistandunsubscribe.com

But as famous as Galloway is, as much of a dent as he has in the public consciousness, it’s a fraction of that of a successful musician.

Furthermore, no single musician has universal mindshare, unlike in the pre-internet era. Therefore, it takes more than one, a movement, to have an effect.

The country runs on personal spending. Sans consumerism, the economy collapses. But we keep being told it’s the billionaires, the titans who make the world go round and we should pay fealty to them.

It takes one to know one. Galloway understands the game, ergo this Resist and Unsubscribe movement. Galloway explains his thinking here:

Resist and Unsubscribe

I am not optimistic that this Resist and Unsubscribe movement will gain enough traction to make a difference, if for no other reason than most people are unaware of it. But this is a blueprint. And this is what is going to effect change, something monetary, that affects the players who have the power to make change.

A change is gonna come.

I’m not going to get into the minutiae of Casey Wasserman’s correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell. Whatever did or did not happen, this is the straw that breaks the camel’s back after the “Daily Mail” report citing 11 women who declared Wasserman was a “serial cheater” who engaged with subordinates, including assistants and a private jet attendant.

Billie Eilish left the firm after those revelations.

It turns out the Epstein files may not bring down Donald Trump, but their release has led to payback for the rich and famous who believe the rules don’t apply to them. The adulation of billionaires was already declining, in an era where the public feels disadvantaged and screwed over, where they’re told the economy is good when grocery prices are stratospheric and billionaires don’t need to pay any more tax and Elon Musk is responsible for the firing of government employees whilst being on the way to becoming a trillionaire.

So what happens next?

The problem for Casey Wasserman is the Epstein files are the third rail. So now…

But in this case, unlike Brad Karp losing his gig at Paul, Weiss, Wasserman OWNS the firm!

But that does not matter to the talent, and the agency is nothing without its talent.

So what happens now?

Wasserman has got to go. How it goes down is the only thing left to question… Whether the agents buy the firm, leave with their clients or…

Now it is great that women are standing up. But other than Finneas, who left with his sister, no male has reacted, no male has threatened to leave the firm.

Same as it always was.

You see it’s a boys club. And the boys in charge… That’s what the Epstein files told us, a lot of rich nerds who had no game were finally able to leverage their assets to act like those who bullied them.

Furthermore, if you’re a male and you exhibit weakness, you’re excoriated in everyday business. You don’t have to be famous.

As for acts…the code of the road, you want to stand in solidarity, you don’t want to be an outlier, become a pariah.

Now the men will ultimately push for Wasserman’s ouster, when the noise gets too loud and…

How come the acts can’t use this power in other ways? Like refusing to play gigs? All kinds of boycotts. Not playing with the companies and individuals who can speak truth to power.

We already know that relying on a protest song is a fool’s errand.

Somehow Kid Rock can stand up for Trump, yet putting it all on the line against Trump? We can’t find anybody who’ll do that, other than those saying that ICE sucks.

Look at the numbers. The majority abhors not only ICE, but many of Trump’s actions.

Now the truth is as soon as you say anything anti-Trump MAGA comes out and works the refs. It’s like sweepers in curling. To the point that those who disagree are afraid to say anything.

What is it going to take for a Chappell Roan to say no mas to Trump? To endure heat at first before the entire edifice crumbles?

That’s what I want to know.

Marcel Hirscher tried to come back and he tore his ACL in training.

That was last year.

This year he tried again and sustained a calf injury and…

Marcel is 36. He’s won the World Cup eight times, more than any other skier.

But Hirscher did not ski downhill.

Mikaela Shiffrin sat out today’s downhill, she’s not skiing downhill this year after her puncture wound in GS at Killington in 2024. But Shiffrin has won in downhill.

There are four events. Slalom is the most technical, with many gates and short turns. Then comes giant slalom, the gates are set wider apart and the turns are much broader and the speed is much faster than it looks. Super-G is downhill with a shorter, more controlled course, more gates, fewer turns than GS, but more than… Downhill… Is close to just letting it go, it’s not completely uncontrolled, it’s not quite pointing your skis downhill and letting it go, but it’s close. And the speed can reach 90 miles an hour.

In the World Cup downhillers are the big kahunas, they take the most risk. Almost none of them are any good in slalom or GS. Males are macho. Women…

You have to know at this level of sport, these people are jocks. Billy Kidd was a relatively slight guy from Stowe, that type can’t win anymore. You’ve got to spend hours in the gym. And the conversation amongst these athletes is not all lovey-dovey…there are put-downs and psychological warfare and bullying and…

You may play the sport at home, but don’t think it’s the same environment.

So… For decades the USA was a relative also-ran.

And then came Bode Miller.

And then came Lindsey Vonn. Previously known as Lindsey Kildow, from Vail via Buck Hill in Minnesota.

Prior to this Americans could win, but not on a sustained basis. Miller and Vonn could hold their own with the Europeans, and whatever respect they got in the U.S. was superseded by the adulation on the continent, where they were true stars.

Now the average American did not know who Lindsey Vonn was until the Vancouver Olympics, where she bitched in advance about her shin and using cheese on it…and this is where I turned on her, I was a big fan before. Why the complaints? Everybody hurts. Truly.

She of course went on to win. Congrats.

But Julia Mancuso won the downhill silver in Vancouver, and the combined too…a combination downhill/slalom event which is just about extinct. Mancuso also won the giant slalom at the Turin Olympics in 2006. And she got another bronze in Sochi in 2014.

But the average American has no idea who she is.

Why?

I’d posit Mancuso is not blond, she’s not glamorous.

As for Shiffrin, I’ve never seen such a verbal skier, willing to tell the truth to boot, she’s the best of all time, man or woman, she’s got a good amount of name recognition in the U.S., but nowhere close to Vonn’s.

But Shiffrin is the best of all time. By far. Her total victory count is 108, when Vonn’s is 84, close to Ingemar Stenmark’s 86, who held the long-standing record recently broken by Shiffrin, who is only 30 and still going.

Now ski racers used to retire early. Especially Americans. But then the Europeans got better in their thirties and many are hanging in there.

Because it’s hard when you retire. But at least you can ski, whereas when you retire from so many sports you can no longer participate in them, like football.

So Lindsey Vonn decides to come back. And all her contemporaries, all the retired greats weigh in, negatively.

But she proves them wrong. She wins. Which was truly astounding. Showing skill, technique, knowledge…they can compete with strength and youth. Her success was amazing. Kudos.

Now most of the stars of yore didn’t think Lindsey could come back and win, but first and foremost they thought she should not come back because of the odds of injury, which affect old bodies more.

And now Vonn is injured. Truly, it was only a matter of when. Because that’s Vonn’s style, to hang it all out there, and you’ve got to hang it all out there to win. Just watch Franjo von Allmen’s victory in yesterday’s men’s downhill. There were men who carved better turns, were technically better, but they didn’t win. Von Allmen took the risk and won.

Now in skiing, the Olympics don’t get much respect, they’re seen as an anomaly, because anybody can win on any given day. It’s the season long World Cup that matters.

But the Olympics are when Americans pay attention.

So Vonn tears her ACL and decides to ski in today’s race anyway. And falls again, her coach, legendary Norwegian competitor Aksel Lund Svindal, says it’s because she favored her right leg, the uninjured one, the one with the artificial knee, that allowed her to make this comeback.

This was foreseeable.

Meanwhile, Breezy Johnson, unknown to most Americans, won the gold medal, which is an unbelievable triumph, to win in downhill not only on a European track, but in the Olympics. Those paying attention knew that Johnson had stepped it up a notch, had been putting down some great results, but her story was eclipsed by that of Vonn. And her victory will be overshadowed by Vonn’s attempted comeback and her failure today.

So is Vonn a hero?

She’s a great skier. And a legendary gym rat. And I respect that. However, there’s more to life than ski racing. At some point you have to pivot into a new lane, which is nearly impossible for most athletes, many do their best to trade on their sports achievements, but…

I guess what I’m saying is Vonn proved us all wrong by coming back and winning, that’s amazing. But we knew how this would end, and it has.

But I wonder why she sucks all the air out of the room, why she gets all the attention, when Shiffrin is in another league and up and comers like Johnson are putting down good results.

Vonn is not warm and fuzzy, far from it. She’s a fierce competitor.

But she’s 5’10” and blond. And in America that seems to count. It’s a trump card that…even Trump focuses on looks, oftentimes first.

You get what you’re born with, you get no choice.

But I wish Mikaela Shiffrin was even more of a household name. She’s Babe Ruth. And her consistency is jaw-dropping. She won seven in a row in the 2016-17 season, and won six in a row from the end of last year to the beginning of this one.

But she’s not blond. She’s attractive, but she does not have model good looks, never mind the height, not that Mikaela is short, I figure that’s got to be the reason.

So Vonn goes into surgery as the most famous American skier of all time. She can trade on that perception for the rest of her life.

But me? I’ve lost my passion for her. She gets my respect, but…

Tune in Saturday February 7th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz