The War

Everybody’s lost interest. It’s fallen down the charts. The audience has moved on. If this were a band, the pause in fighting would be perceived as a career misstep, a loss in momentum, something hard to recover from.

You’ve got to agree that Taylor Swift knows how to fight a war. During a pause in the action, with the tour down, she got involved with Travis Kelce. And that death in Brazil, tragic, but it allowed Swift to show compassion. And why isn’t there a call for cancellation of shows and festivals during heat waves? Oh, that’s right, money talks and we’re the living proof, the show must go on!

Kinda like in the wake of the Travis Scott tragedy. He’s back on the road. Supposedly not doing such great business, but that has not dripped into the fawning press coverage, writers have no clue, Travis has been rehabilitated, being contrite, right before our eyes.

People just don’t have the bandwidth, the attention span. Come on, think about Ukraine during another winter? This is just too long, like those three and four hour movies indulgent directors are serving us. Can’t we at least have a bathroom break? No, because this is the way the director wants people to see it, damn your bladder.

And I’m not saying the rabid young left has changed its take, but the “Times” poll said that people are coming to Israel’s side, as in Hamas were bad actors, butchers, on 10/7. In other words, the anti-Israel faction is smaller than we think, although very vocal.

But these anti-Israel voices were silenced by people standing up, or at least impacted by people taking a stand, exactly what musicians refuse to do, they’re scared. Stay silent, that’s what their handlers say. Well, the handlers don’t sport their monikers, and if they were so bright, why don’t they make the music?

The message has seeped out. Hamas are evildoers. And you can be queer in America, bud dead in Gaza. You look stupid if you defend Hamas. And no one likes to look stupid, especially when no one is paying attention.

Of course I’m overstating here, but the fatigue is palpable, the American public needs something new. The Palestinians are never giving up, from the river to the sea, baby. They’re going to fight to the death, they’re already dying, because those damn Jews have got to go.

But the Jews, um, the Israelis, we know they’re different, but in truth antisemitism runs wild, don’t care about their image, they know they’re in a fight for their survival as a people, as a nation. They’re not going to listen to anybody tell them to cool it, because no one ever listens to them. But Bibi is bad, atrocious. True, but you don’t change horses in midstream. And have we looked at ourselves recently, on the verge of authoritarianism? America used to be the model for the world, now a good chunk of the country wants to secede, shut the doors, put a curtain around America, after all we need no one else. Enough with supporting these countries we can’t place on a map. I’m sick of paying taxes for something that does not affect me. As for holding back Putin, he’s a good guy, that’s what Trump says, he’s just misunderstood.

But this is untrue, you say! Doesn’t matter. Truth is irrelevant. It’s emotions all the time. And our emotions say that the intelligent have screwed the underclass. And the underclass are willing to burn it all down to teach them a lesson. Kinda an analogy to Hamas, don’t you think? Yes, the fat cat Republicans are like Lebanon and Egypt and the rest of the Arab countries cheering on the Palestinians, but in truth they want nothing to do with them, they won’t let them migrate across their borders. Keep those taxes on the rich low, the benefits are going to trickle down, I tell you!

In the modern world keeping a story alive is nearly impossible. Trump understands this. This doofus is tweeting, making news, staying in touch with his audience nearly 24/7. And they love it! He’s feeding them fodder, they’re rabid. He’s their hero in a world where there’s very little to believe in.

And the opponents? What a joke. They tell us to trust them. But we don’t trust anybody. And there is a secret police, who come out and stab you if you say anything anti-Biden. He’s visibly too old, he’s factually too old, and what do they tell us? Look at Trump’s age! But then we’ll say everybody ages differently, isn’t that what you told us?

And people can’t even understand this. They’ll think I’m pro-Trump. Because people are no longer educated to think, but to make money. Hell, I’d rather have AI make decisions than those educated in untruths in substandard schools.

Everything is up for grabs, so you’re focused on yourself, preserving what you’ve got. Who’s got time to think about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict? Things aren’t so good in your own life, right in front of you.

Hamas was Billie Eilish. Building her career when no one knew who she was. Eilish didn’t come out of nowhere, nor did BDS, Interscope and management developed Billie Eilish and the Palestinians developed BDS, it just didn’t appear spontaneously. And did you see that Billie likes women? Well, dig deep and I’m not sure that’s true, at least sexually, but the headline implies it.

The headlines, conventional wisdom, tell us the Israelis, the Jews, are rich, smart and invulnerable. People are stunned that they missed the intelligence. But this just shows that they thought Israel and the IDF and the Mossad were all mighty. Based on the past. Things change. But those damn Jews, we know they’re the problem, people have been told that their whole lives. They’re here to replace us. They spread Tucker Carlson’s word in Charlottesville, Elon Musk endorsed the generational trope, and they’re trying to blackmail X, didn’t you hear?

Yes, just like Israel is guilty of colonization and genocide. Even though neither applies. How can you have truth when people don’t even know the definition of words?

And how can you believe in equity when Florida State is denied a slot in the playoffs. They were robbed, just like Lewis Hamilton in 2021, the system, men, not the sport, denied them their place. But life goes on. You’ve just go to eat it.

Can’t they end that damn Israel/Hamas war? Can’t everybody just get along?

Well, I guess not. You’re not out protesting for Black Lives Mattering anymore and after all the brouhaha not much changed, which the Blacks will tell you happens again and again, but they’re equal and not entitled to voting protection and gerrymandering is a right, not a privilege. And if you don’t have power, STFU.

Everybody feels powerless, everybody needs a cause. Swift? Trump? They’re easy to glom on to. They’re American, they’re constantly making news, they’re worried about career management. Israel and Hamas? Man, that’s far away. But the war is more intense now than ever! Aren’t you worried about all the Palestinians who are getting killed? Yeah, I am, but man the airport is overcrowded and I’m thinking about my vacation and gas costs a fortune. But it went down! If a Mercedes-Benz goes down by 10k can most people afford it? Still no. Yet the people driving these Suburbans behind tinted windows, they don’t care about the price of gas, it’s a drop in the bucket. They’re not struggling. And they too are sick of paying taxes. The rich know better, about everything, just like Elon Musk!

Overwhelmed yet?

Welcome to America.

And now you can see why most people have moved on from the conflict in the Middle East, they’ve only got time for that which directly affects them, and the war doesn’t, so it’s not completely forgotten, but it’s in the background now. Shhh… Don’t interrupt me, I’m bingeing “Friends.”

Best Streaming TV 2023

In relative order.

(Note: These are shows I watched in 2023, they may have been released earlier.)

1. “Ferry” – Netflix

2. “War Sailor” – Netflix

3. “Infamy” – Netflix

4. “Silk” – Amazon

5. “The Diplomat” – Netflix

6. “The Bear” – Hulu

7. “The Ex-Wife” – BritBox

8. “Tour de France: Unchained” – Netflix

9. “The Snow Girl” – Netflix

10. “Kohrra” – Netflix

11. “Informer” -Amazon

12. “Black Butterflies” – Netflix

13. “Pure” – Amazon

14. “The Last Word” – Netflix

15. “Nada” – Hulu

16. “New Blood”- BritBox

17. “Thicker Than Water” – Netflix

18. “A Murder at the End of the World” – Hulu

19. “Class Act” – Netflix

20. “The Sixth Commandment” – BritBox

21. “Bosch: Legacy” – Season 2 – freevee

22. “Indian Matchmaking” – Season 3 – Netflix

23. “Jewish Matchmaking” – Netflix

24. “Kleo” – Netflix

25. “Slow Horses” – AppleTV+

26. “Clark” – Netflix

27. “Women At War” – Netflix

28. “Three Pines” – Amazon

29. “Chloe” – Amazon

30. “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” –  Season 2 – Netflix

Best Streaming TV 2023-SiriusXM This Week

Tune in Saturday December 2nd to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

Phone #: 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz

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

Re-Promotion

My inbox is filling up with angry naysayers telling me I’ve got no idea who Peter Gabriel is (although for some reason they seem to know, even though they’ve never met him), and the new album is great and I need to STFU and crawl back into the hole I came out of.

Talk about missing the point.

Myopia, always makes me laugh.

Did you watch any of that abortion of a debate between DeSantis and Newsom last night? What a waste of time. They both lost. All the scuttlebutt today is how DeSantis cheated, with a teleprompter and visual aids and that Hannity was biased and had a conservative agenda, but what struck me most is how this ridiculous endeavor would change no minds, wouldn’t speak to the core issue in America today, which is that we’ve got two sides, operating with their own principles and beliefs, that hate the other team with a passion, believes they’re delusional and say they can prove it.

I mean it’s hard to believe in Newsom when he can’t even answer the question. Tell me why population went down in California, won’t you Gavin? It’s true, what’s your take? Avoiding the question just makes you look bad.

And let’s be very clear, no one likes to pay taxes, but with them come services. So, in comparing California to Florida, that’s the main advantage, what you get for your money, which is services. Is California perfect, of course not. But even Newsom was afraid to talk about the Democratic philosophy of a safety net, of taxes for quality of life, believing this is anathema, playing into the right wing agenda…once again the Democrats are playing by Republican rules. If you can’t own your identity, you’re screwed. What did they used to say, “I’m black and I’m proud”? Can’t you be proud you pay into the government, that you’re all for government help, are we all supposed to lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps?

So you’re a fan of Peter Gabriel, you’ve listened to the new album. Isn’t this exactly what I said would happen? But you need to bark back anyway, believing if you yell loud enough you can shout me down. I’m laughing at you, because you’re displaying your ignorance, TAKE THAT! If I played by your rules I could never say anything.

As for this emotional defense of Peter Gabriel…

There you have music in a nutshell. No one passionately defends a TV show, or a movie. Maybe there are some still defending authors, yet that’s far from mainstream. But people are dying to believe in artists, they want the artist to fulfill them, and we’ve got a whole industry that ignores this bond, we serve pablum from sellouts who can’t stop testifying that they owe it all to their fans, when the last thing they’d want to do is hang with these great unwashed, that’s why they become stars, so they don’t have to.

Authenticity, credibility. This is what people are hungry for. But the percentage participants, the labels, pooh-pooh this. You can’t leave any money on the table, you must take advantage of every opportunity, otherwise the percentage participant won’t get paid! As for the consumer…no one is thinking about them whatsoever, they’re there to be ripped-off. There should be a law against releasing the same damn album with multiple covers. First and foremost most people never play this physical product, they don’t even have the equipment, but their belief is so strong that they have to have everything…until they don’t, because you broke their trust.

Peter Gabriel is a credible artist who has a strong bond with his audience. Which is smaller than ever before. As for reaching new people, I don’t see any effort at all. And if you’re a creator, and most complaining are not, the number one goal is to have your art exposed and consumed, it’s more important than money, the only person who says otherwise is Gene Simmons, and I don’t even believe him.

If we told Peter Gabriel for a quarter of the income four more times the people would listen to his record he’d take that deal in a heartbeat. But he’s got a blind spot, he doesn’t know how to reach more people, he made the product and stopped. As for his rabid fans, it’s a closed circle, a limited group, if it keeps Peter alive, fine, but don’t tell me to be impressed. Peter recently toured and most people were completely unaware of it, and that’s Peter’s fault. Not the label’s fault. Not the publicist’s fault. And don’t tell me Peter doesn’t care, this is what he cares about most! Like an actor or producer wanting to have their movie seen. What do they always say? The studio didn’t do enough promotion, or the right promotion. And in music you do the promotion yourself, you’re responsible, and that was my point.

But you need to shut me down from the get-go. Many people said they didn’t read beyond the first line. This is like the e-mail I get all the time, castigating me for not mentioning something WHEN I DID! You took the time to bust my balls, you needed to put me in my place, but as far as actually reading what I said, you didn’t have time for that. So that’s a reflection on you, not me.

I write this damn stuff almost every day, believe me I’m an expert in response, I know the game. I know if you listen to the audience you’re screwed, you have to do what you think is right. And sometimes you hit the target and sometimes you don’t. And if there was no success it was your fault. Maybe what you wrote or played wasn’t that good. Or it was the wrong time. You accept this and move on. Or, you complain, like the wusses. But even worse, these wusses have fan bases that will tell anybody who crosses the object of their desire that they’re a loser lunatic. And this is not only in music, it’s across society, in all verticals. And the weird thing is those who have something to say that is worth hearing shut up for fear of the blowback. So everybody loses. The minority seems to control the dialogue, when it doesn’t.

As for the truth, you can’t handle the truth.

Ergo putting your hands over your ears and hating on me.

What a joke.