If shows were this good, I’d go out every night.

I went to hear “Foolish Pride” and “Black Maria,” but I got so much more.

Todd was the opener. And it was Daryl’s crowd. You could tell by the applause. It was like they didn’t realize that what they were experiencing was extremely rare. After confounding audiences for years, Todd took the stage and played…HIS GREATEST HITS!

Now this show was booked for 7:30, and it started right on the dot. Todd bounced on the stage and started singing…REAL MAN!

Your head would explode, if you were paying attention. And by that time only the diehards were. 1975’s “Initiation” was the first truly left field album, after the underrated double album “Todd” the year before. 

“And my world is something you can’t see

But it’s still very real to me

You can find it in the hole where I keep my soul

There it is, way down inside me

There’s a real man

Forget about my body and be a real man”

The change in the middle is delicious, it’s a rub of the tummy, it’s what endears us to music, that which we can’t truly explain but feels so good.

And from there “Love of the Common Man.” From the originals side of the album after “Initiation,” the one with the covers of sixties classics filling up the first side, “Faithful.” You know, or maybe you don’t. Todd was now a cult item, and most were not members of the cult.

But everybody in the audience knew “We Gotta Get You a Woman,” even if they didn’t know it was about Paul Fishkin. It was a semi-hit on the radio when most people didn’t know who Todd was.

And Todd played the opening cut from “Something/Anything?, “I Saw the Light,” which everybody seemed to know. But very few knew the following number, a veritable Todd Rundgren classic, “Black Maria.”

“Black Maria

You scare me so

I feel as though

My heart stop dead”

And then the guitar wails! Todd is squeezing all his talent out on the strings, and his talent is prodigious.

Now eventually “Something/Anything?” became a hit, but at first it was for fans only, who were small in number. After the Nazz, after being an engineer for the Band, Todd started out recording for Albert Grossman’s Bearsville label, distributed by Ampex. Do people today even know that was a tape company? (And recording devices too, save me the correction.) And putting an album out on that label was like…it not coming out. There were multiple versions of the first LP, the one with “We Gotta Get You a Woman,” and the second album, the piece de resistance, Todd’s absolute best work, “The Ballad of Todd Rundgren,” was the second LP on Bearsville/Ampex. You couldn’t even find them in stores. But being overproduced in numbers and not purchased, they ended up in cutout bins and they were snatched up and for years thereafter were unavailable.

But then Ampex Records cratered, Bearsville switched to Warner Bros. for distribution, and “Something/Anything?” was the beneficiary of that relationship.

You opened the gatefold cover, and there was a picture of Todd, from the back, in his studio Secret Sound. And that same image was projected on the screen last night, an homage to what once was, our belief.

And ultimately Todd played his cover of the Nazz song “Hello It’s Me,’ the audience genuflected, but what came after…

The Philly soul medley from “A Wizard/A True Star?”

If you were a fan… This was all you could want.

But even stranger, the band was Daryl’s, which freed Todd up to prowl the stage sans instrument, working the crowd, actually performing, as opposed to be being burdened by his guitar and…

I’m sitting there thinking how this is the way it was, in the seventies. If you dropped a young ‘un into the Pantages, they’d get it. Music known by heart by some of the audience, hits known by everybody, and the whole thing being hermetically sealed, only for those in attendance. No one was playing to the back row, they were just playing music. No one was dancing, there was no production, there were no hard drives… It made you want to be a musician, and I haven’t had that feeling for a very long time.

And then Daryl Hall took it up a notch.

Yes, Todd hearkened back to what once was, you could call it nostalgia, but that’s not the way the numbers were performed. It was if they were cut yesterday, Todd was giving it his all. This was very different from the classic acts knocking it out shed by shed over the summer, painting by numbers. The show had the feel of a bygone era, despite the music being so vibrant. Like I said, this was the way it once was.

As for Daryl… Do you know anybody who doesn’t like this kind of music, you know, R&B influenced?

Everybody in attendance did, and there were no youngsters, everybody looked old and decrepit, just like me. They had many miles on them, but they remembered when music was everything, when they had to go to the show, not to shoot selfies, not to be able to tell someone, but because they needed to resonate with the sound, it was the elixir of life, and everybody there last night wanted another hit.

So Daryl bounces on stage, and launches into a couple of solo numbers. He’s playing guitar, a different one on each number, performing like it was the only thing anybody ever wanted to do in life.

Yes, it was palpable last night, the guys on stage were having fun! And fun is the one thing that money can’t buy. And too many calcified boomers have given up on fun, they’re too old, afraid of risk, and then these two septuagenarians take the stage as if the seventies were yesterday, they’re so into it. Sure, it was a performance. But it wasn’t that far removed from the garage. What I mean is everybody had paid their dues, they’d jumped through the hoops, they’d become professional musicians, that was their calling, their life’s work, and they can still do it and enjoy it, maybe more, to this day.

I mean Daryl Hall has nothing to prove. And if it’s only about money, he can partner with John Oates and play the hits in arenas to those who just want to relive the past.

Which is what most of these acts are doing. If you don’t think it’s all about the money…

And then Daryl played “Foolish Pride.”

“And I’ve got this foolish price

And pride goes before a fall

Yeah, I’ve got this foolish pride”

It’s the best cut on 1986’s “Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine.” I bought it, didn’t you? I guess not. But we were fans, we bought everything our favorites put out, and we spun them to the point they revealed themselves to us.

And I’d never heard “Foolish Pride” live before.

Daryl eventually put down the axe and sat behind the piano and played his version of “Everytime You Go Away,” you know, the number Paul Young had a giant hit with, you can picture the video in your mind’s eye.

But the Hall & Oates version is a little slower, a little more emphatic. Daryl was sitting at the piano and wringing every last emotion out of the number. And yes, he was playing the piano after the guitar. This guy was skilled, he was a musician.

One of the absolute highlights was a cover of Eurythmics’ “Here Comes the Rain Again,” with just an acoustic guitar accompaniment to Daryl’s piano and vocal. Didn’t sound like the original, but it resonated even more.

We got “Sara Smile,” the real breakthrough, from the first RCA album, the “Silver Album” if you bought it early enough in its run, it had a foil cover, but then gray cardboard, just like “Wheels of Fire.”

“When I feel cold, you warm me

And when I feel I can’t go on

You come and hold me

It’s you and me forever,

SARA SMILE!”

Yes, about Daryl’s then girlfriend, a flight attendant. But the mood of the music along with the lyrics…you can see your own life in the song. The music sets you free. It’s anything but the assault we’ve got today

And by this time, heads were exploding, as if Oprah had given away cars. And you’ve got all these old people, standing and weaving, dancing, entranced by the music, it could have been 1975, but it was also 2023, because some songs, some music, is timeless.

And then came “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do).”

This was monstrous in 1981, at the advent of MTV. This was the heyday, this was when Hall & Oates were the biggest band in the land, years after they’d begun.

“Yeah, I, I’ll do anything

That you want me to

Yeah, I’ll do almost anything

That you want me to”

The pre-chorus, it’s the magic, Daryl effortlessly evidencing his vocal talent, so sweet, so resonant. Man, he’s playing this song and I’m standing up swaying, with my head in the air, singing along. And nobody was looking at me, because everybody else was standing up too. And although we were all together it was a personal experience, my entire life scrolling through my brain, it was transcendent, and it built and went on and when it was done we were all nearly exhausted.

Daryl left the stage, we couldn’t ask for more, but then Todd came out and sat on a stool, Daryl stood behind the electric keyboard, and they knocked out “Wait for Me,” from the stiff “X-Static,” a minor hit song at best. Hall & Oates had triumphed in 1976 with “Rich Girl,” and then they couldn’t find their way back, album after album did worse commercially, they even ended up playing clubs. And by time they put out 1980’s “Voices,” they resorted to a cover, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” in a desperate search for a hit, but it didn’t, but…

So, they’re duetting on “Wait for Me,” always an engaging number, and then came…

The best of “Mink Hollow,” Todd’s “Can We Still Be Friends.”

“We can’t play this game anymore

But can we still be friends”

Now Daryl’s taking the lead. And when the song evolves, Todd’s adding little asides, and body movements, taking the song to a whole ‘nother level.

And then the two Philly souls do an extended cover of “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” by the Delfonics.

Every boomer knows this song, from when AM still meant something, before there was FM in every car, never mind a tape deck, when there still wasn’t even an FM rock station in many markets.

So these guys are up there showing their roots, truly blowing our minds. They’re in a trance, it’s almost as if we’re not even there, they’re so into it.

You don’t get this every night, you almost never get it at all, but here on a Monday, when most people stay home, these two were taking us to heaven and beyond. It was truly spectacular. Not in the jaw-dropping way, but in a religious way, they were channeling the divine and we were along for the ride.

And then Todd left the stage, Daryl started pounding out the notes on the keyboard, and it was clear to everybody in the building, this was YOU MAKE MY DREAMS COME TRUE!

Everybody jumped up, as if they’d gotten a hypodermic to the ass, they couldn’t help but move around, nearly mindless, uniting who they once were with who they are now, seeing the long continuum of life coming together, they’re still here, they’re still alive, and so is Daryl Hall. He’s not running on fumes, he’s giving it his all, he’s got the music in him.

“Kiss on My List” was the surprise comeback track on “Voices,” it went all the way to number one, Hall & Oates were back in the hit parade, something that rarely happens once you’ve gone.

But this was only the beginning, as great as “Kiss on My List” is, it’s one of the best things in life, it was followed up by “You Make My Dreams.”

“What I want you’ve got and it might be hard to handle

But like a flame that burns the candle, the candle feeds the flame”

An electric number, as if the band plugged into a socket, and the electricity poured over the audience, we were jumping as if we’d been electrocuted.

“Well, well, well you

You make my dreams come true”

But then there’s that moment, almost two-thirds of the way through the song, the change.

“Well, listen to this

Ow!”

The instrumental break, you’re twisting and turning, it’s so simple, but it’s like you’re doubled-up after being squeezed in a bear hug, it’s something only music can do, can make you feel, it’s so simple, yet so right.

And it’s got nothing to do with spandex. Dancing. Acrobatics. The song is enough, nothing else is needed, the music infiltrates your body and makes you feel alive, even if your significant other dumped you, you lost your job, your money, “You Make My Dreams” makes life worth living.

And then the band left the stage. I really expected “She’s Gone,” you know how they like to let you down easy, calm you down before you exit the building, but the band ended on a high note, giving it their all, and you believed they could go all night, maybe they were going to an all-hours club to continue, because that’s what they do, and they can do it forever, and they’d play for free if they had to, because this is who they are.

But this is who you are. From back when you knew the hits, when they enlivened society, when they permeated the culture, when they were bigger than anything and everything today. And even though it’s forty years old ,”You Make My Dreams” sounds just as fresh as yesterday. Which is pretty amazing if you think about it.

So the lights came up and I was on a high. As was the assembled multitude. In this theatre, on a weekday night, we’d been provided with the essence of music, the essence of rock and roll. 

Our parents went to hear classical music, maybe an old jazz performer, maybe even a crooner, but they were not like us, their progeny. Music is one of our basic building blocks, more important than milk and vitamins. It was everywhere and everything.

It made our dreams come true!

Spotify playlist: https://tinyurl.com/2av6ejdv

WHO?

The World Series was the least watched ever. It averaged 9.11 million viewers, a 23% decline from 2022’s 11.78 million. In a country of 331.9 million.

That’s right, not even 10% of Americans watched the World Series. As a matter of fact, only 3.6% of Americans watched the Series. And you know oldsters are into baseball, so we can’t count them out. And sure, there are babies who won’t watch, but theoretically baseball crosses all demos. Yet for some reason, the Series was not a priority.

Now the scuttlebutt is it was two wild card, minor market teams. Which is like saying no one in America watched the ski race because Mikaela Shiffrin wasn’t participating. In other words, very few people are interested in watching ski racing, and very few are interested in watching baseball.

This is not to rag on baseball. I only went to one game this year, but the changes were palpable. I’m a traditionalist, I still can’t get over the designated hitter, but if you’re losing purchase with the audience you’ve got to change up the game. The endless stepping away from the mound and the batter’s box, the endless shenanigans with a runner on first…these didn’t happen, these abominations, stretches of the rules, had to be excised. Now all we need is automatic umpires. They’ve got them in tennis.

But the reason I mention the World Series is not to rag on baseball, but to illustrate it’s niche. There are plenty of alternatives, on network, cable, streaming, social media… There used to be very few choices. So if you’re a passionate baseball fan, you tune in. If not, you’re fine avoiding the whole damn thing. And it’s not like baseball is in your face 24/7, that’s Taylor Swift. But that’s the same damn thing, how many people are really interested in Taylor Swift? A lot fewer than you’d estimate reading the calcified news with no perspective.

Music is in bad shape. There, I said it. You can deny it, but if you want to know which way the wind blows, you certainly don’t put on a record. I think we will ultimately be saved, then again the entire paradigm has changed. Used to be you and me, our band against the world. We rehearsed in the garage, we played for free, we got into the clubs, we drove within 50 miles and if we had success, we expanded our horizons. It was all done in a stealth way, not by choice, but because nobody else cared. You built it, hoping that someone with bucks, influence and relationships would come along to make you rich and famous.

But now if you’ve got anything to say, you immediately do so online. You don’t woodshed, you get it right out there. You don’t discover who you are, you troll for dollars from day one. Even worse, just like the World Series, you’re competing for everybody’s attention, and it’s nearly impossible to get anybody to focus on you.

So, with so much effort involved, with so few guaranteed returns, there are few bands anymore. It’s all solo artists. But still, there hasn’t been anything new under the sun in eons. Howard Stern featured the Struts. They were actually very good, but I couldn’t stop laughing at their appearance, the leather jackets and long hair. God, the sixties are over, even the seventies and eighties. Even James Hetfield cut his hair. Do you really expect anybody to buy your act, do you expect to have any influence? To do so, you’ve got to do it differently.

And one thing is for sure, Declan McKenna was doing it differently.

I went to hang with Cliff Burnstein. I too had never heard of Declan McKenna. But when I emerged from the bowels of L.A. Live, all I could see were girls. A plethora of them. They certainly couldn’t be going to see Declan McKenna, there are a lot of options on campus. But doggone it, they were! You could barely get near the place. It wasn’t only women, but I’d put the ratio at about six or seven to one.

HOW DID THEY KNOW?

That’s the question, this is my business, I’m paying attention, the managers are my friends, and I was completely out of the loop.

And I’d done some research. Declan had one number with nearly half a billion streams on Spotify, one with just over a hundred million, and then nothing close. Don’t forget, streaming numbers on Spotify, the ones I’m quoting, which are public on the desktop app, are cumulative, over the life of the record. Which means if you’re complaining about getting ripped off for 100,000 streams, that you should make bank, adjust your mentality, the numbers keep going up and up, but not for everybody.

So what happened here?

“Brazil” had been used in a TikTok video, it had gone viral. Was it worked, did the label use connections? No, it happened serendipitously. And not yesterday, McKenna’s been at it for nearly a decade. I mean you heard one song on TikTok, really just part of a song, and you were so infected that you became a fan of McKenna, listened to everything that came after?

Turns out so. Otherwise, how did all these people know every word. This wasn’t the Beatles, but they literally knew every word, they were standing singing along.

So what was the act?

I didn’t see a single tattoo on stage. Reminds me of being in college, when even the nerds had long hair. I cut mine. During Thanksgiving vacation, when a barber was near. People thought my parents made me do it. Not my parents. Maybe your parents. Yes, long hair once meant something. If I see a musician loaded up with tattoos today, I laugh. It doesn’t mean you’re dangerous, mostly that you’re a conformist. And music was built by those who did not conform.

And the lead guitarist was a woman. Wearing baggy painter’s pants and a baggy jacket. In other words, she was not trading on her sexuality. That was also a revelation.

As was the energy.

The late seventies punk/new wave scene in L.A. The English ska scene from the same era. And then the one hit wonder English bands on MTV. They were all about the same thing, rejecting the past and letting their youth and energy fly, they were infectious. You could not go to a ska show and not feel the vibe and dance, even if you abhorred the dance floor.

That’s what Declan McKenna and his four bandmates were providing. Endless energy, the performance was upbeat, not dreary.

Declan was wearing a beige suit, with a tie and no shirt. The sartorial choices were different from the usual suspects, only the English seem to be able to do this.

So how did this happen?

Well, a Q Prime person discovered Declan McKenna on Bandcamp. Cliff and Peter listened with weary ears, but were stunned, they believed the song was a hit. They flew to England and signed him. Then they brought the band over to play minor markets, and when girls lined up to buy tickets at nine a.m. in Buffalo, they knew they had something. That was the plan, to play out of the way places, not the major markets. And to play venues in the suburbs, because that’s where the audience was. Young people whose parents might be afraid of letting them go downtown.

Declan even played some acoustic numbers at high schools.

Then again, I got Cliff to admit that as good as his efforts had been, he didn’t really know how it had all happened.

Ain’t that the truth. All the tried and true methods not only don’t work, you’re not in control of those that do.

And Declan played for an hour and forty five minutes, no one could complain they did not get their money’s worth, unlike in that “Wall Street Journal” article. Declan’s got fans, and unlike the nobodies from nowhere who pop on to the Spotify Top 50, they’d definitely come the next time around. Declan isn’t dependent upon hits, they’d help, but they’re not necessary. He’s got an audience.

Do I think Declan McKenna will be the new Sam Smith, nowhere to somewhere overnight? No. Then again, I’m not sure anybody can do that anymore. And if I sat here and told you that Declan McKenna was unique, an absolute star with A+ material, I’d be lying too. You never know what someone will develop into, but right now Declan appears to be a journeyman.

In the old days, journeypeople were subsidized by the record label. Today, you do it yourself, on the road.

So is Declan McKenna’s success an inspiration or is it depressing?

You can spin it either way.

You can have success, make a good living, almost completely outside the major system. But that’s all you may get.

And no one seems to know exactly how to break a new act these days.

But one thing I have to say for sure, Declan McKenna wasn’t doing it exactly like everybody else. He didn’t have a featured rapper. He wasn’t writing bland pop tunes. He was speaking his truth, and it resonated with some people.

Yes, Declan is cute, and that never hurts.

But no one could exactly say why all the girls were there.

But they were.

“Trump Leads in 5 Critical States as Voters Blast Biden, Times/Siena Poll Finds – Voters in battleground states said they trusted Donald J. Trump over President Biden on the economy, foreign policy and immigration, as Mr. Biden’s multiracial base shows signs of fraying.”

Free link: https://tinyurl.com/5n8b3c7w

STFU. That’s what all the boomer Democrats tell me when I express doubts about Biden. They’re incensed, pissed that I would break the code, I must vote for Biden, because he’s the only one who can beat Trump. OH YEAH?

Isn’t it funny that the RNC has lost control of the Republican party and the DNC still has a firm grip upon the Democratic party.

What happened with the RNC is it lost control of the narrative, didn’t understand its constituents, and then Donald Trump came along and took over the party. It’s all MAGA, all the time. To the point where every elected official is afraid to say anything negative about him, they’re afraid of being Cheneyed. Yes, go against the orthodoxy and you’ll be primaried and you will lose. So everybody lines up, or gets in line after coloring outside the lines. They can’t even impeach and convict this guy. A lot of Congresspeople decried 1/6, until they found out the public, their voters, and their news media, Fox, et al, thought it was a minor kerfuffle and Trump was innocent. Hell, Fox was afraid of having its lunch eaten by far right outlets, by OAN, so it too hewed to the Trump story.

A laugh, don’t you think?

Well, you have no idea how much Republicans hate Democrats. Much more than Democrats hate Republicans. Republicans have been fed a diet of me-too for decades, MSNBC is no match for Fox, and Fox started indoctrinating its viewers years before. The Democrats are going to end democracy, don’t you know? And they’re going to take away your guns while they’re at it, so you can’t raise up in response, as if even AR-15s are a match for the military.

Don’t bother me with the truth, it’s irrelevant.

What blew my mind most this past week, what I can’t get out of my head, was this piece I read in “The Week,” from “The Bulwark.”

“It is not polite to say so, but most voters ‘are disconnected from reality,’ said Jonathan V. Last. In a recent ‘Bulwark’-organized focus group of swing voters, most parroted right-wing criticisms of President Biden that completely conflict with the factual evidence. One voter complained that ‘our economy is in the dumpster due to Biden’s “socialism.”‘ In reality, unemployment is down to 3.8 percent, average wage gains of 4 percent are outpacing inflation, and the Dow is at 33,000 – 14 percent higher than at any point in Trump’s presidency. Median household wealth is up 37 percent (!) since Trump left office, and as for ‘socialism,’ Trump raised the national debt by a record 7.4 trillion in just four years – a leap of more than 33 percent. One female voter conceded that ‘Trump was just a nut,’ but said he ‘didn’t leave the country in the shape that Joe Biden is leaving us in.’ Hello? Trump left office with the unemployment rate at 6.3 percent, the economy in free fall, and more than 90,000 Americans dying of Covid every month, and with no real plan in place to distribute vaccines. When people are this misinformed, it’s no wonder Trump still has a chance to regain the presidency.”

So, please let’s not talk about facts. They are not reaching voters. As for “Bidenomics,” it’s a riff on “Abenomics,” the policies of the Japanese leader Shinzo Abe, which were seen as fully successful by few. Yup, that’s the Democrats, go deep into Wonkville to come up with a moniker that most people don’t resonate with. Good job guys!

Yes, the DNC has declared we all have to line up behind Biden. You’d think it’s the law.

But it’s not.

Friday night Dean Phillips was on Bill Maher’s “Real Time,” you know, the joke of a Congressman running to unseat Biden as the nominee. Not for himself, even he seems to know he’s got no chance, but to illustrate the Democrats have a problem and someone else needs to be the candidate. And why? BECAUSE BIDEN IS JUST TOO DAMN OLD!

And boy was the point made listening to Phillips. He had power in his voice, verve, he was quick on his feet, he could crack jokes. When Joe steps up to the mic he seems to barely get it out, his voice is closer to a whisper than robust, and that does not inspire confidence.

Please stop telling me Biden’s done a good job, I get it, I think so too. I’ve got my quibbles, but he’s better than I thought he would be. And I tell these same people who tell me to STFU that if I could snap my fingers and make Biden the President for another four years, I would. But I don’t have that power. This is not about the rearview mirror, but going forward. And going forward, it’s absolutely clear, Joe Biden is too old.

Oh, don’t tell me about ageism. You’re only one step away from the college students with their microaggressions and trigger warnings and…everybody may be equal under the law, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. No one wants Biden to run except the Democratic cabal and some oldsters. The poll numbers are horrific, each and every one of them, a vast majority, seemingly almost everybody under the age of forty, along with many more advanced in years, think Joe is too old. But we’re all supposed to hold our tongues, we can’t go against the party line. Joe’s our man!

Well, he’s not mine. Nor was he mine back in 2020. He got the nomination, he won, but that was a cycle ago.

Oh, that’s right, ABORTION! We are going to be saved by abortion rights, no one is going to vote for Trump. Well, it’s really about only five states at most, forget the popular vote, and especially in the south, there doesn’t seem to be the rabid anti-abortion sentiment there is up north. Furthermore, people have a long history of voting against their interests. So don’t explain to me why people should do one thing while they do another. Just face reality.

I don’t want to hear about Trump’s indictments, I don’t want to hear any criticism of Trump. The bottom line is only a few states matter and those states were tight the last time around, and now Biden has a record, upon which Trump can run against, which he didn’t have before.

And Trump will whip out the right wing trope. That taxes are too high! Everybody wants to pay lower taxes, but they’re not willing to forgo any services, which is why the debt rose so much under Trump.

People retire in sports, they retire in academics, but when it comes to politics we’re told again and again that it’s ageism, you should be able to serve until you die. Where else does this play? NOWHERE! They kick you out, or upstairs, and give you the title “emeritus.”

Now you’re going to respond to me with stories. About what Biden has done. But that’s got nothing to do with it, as the “Bulwark” article and the “Times” poll tell us. Can you pull the lens back and look at the big picture?

No one is as rabid about Biden as they are about Trump. That’s not what Joe inspires. And even worse, even though Joe has been running the country well for these past three years, the Republicans still control the narrative, the Democrats can’t seem to come up with their own story and propagate it, spread it everywhere. There’s no fighting spirit amongst Democrats, just self-satisfaction and exasperation, how can you win with that?

And I can’t find a single person who wants Kamala Harris to be President, which is a big issue because of Joe’s age, but I’m told she’s a black woman and if she’s excised from the ticket… Exactly what? Every black person and every woman is going to throw Joe or the ultimate Democratic candidate overboard? 

That’s the Democrats, the party of fear. They don’t instill it, they just feel it. Which is why they’re getting their lunch eaten in the Middle East crisis. Anyone paying attention, and there seem to be very few, knows that for decades now, BDS has been infiltrating college campuses. But no one seems to know that it’s supported by the Palestinians. That’s right, the Palestinians are better than the Democrats at getting their story across on campus. And in Hollywood. Come on, do you expect these sympathetic nitwits to understand world politics? If I watch one more show telling me about the poor Palestinians…

But now I’ve turned you off, now you’ve clicked away. Because you don’t know the facts, that there are about the same number of Palestinians as Jews on the entire globe. But it’s ethnic cleansing, genocide! Where did you learn math! As for the number of refugees… They’re counting every descendant since 1948. Hell, by that metric, how many Americans can be called refugees? But don’t let the facts get in the way of emotions.

And the point here is many of you disagree with me. And you’re all bleeding heart liberals, who are never going to vote for a Republican anyway. But are you excited now that Biden is standing up for the Israelis?

Biden and Blinken, talking out of two side of their mouths, afraid to piss off constituents by saying the war must go on. These two are afraid of angering the pro-Palestinian cohort. They could try to educate people, now that they’re paying attention. Have you seen videos of the tunnels? Whew! And the oxygen tanks for Hamas in the supplies. Do you know the water is used for rockets and the fuel is hoarded by Hamas? I’m not saying it’s not a thorny issue, I’m just saying that all people can express is sympathy for the Palestinians. Well, where in hell is the sympathy for Israel, for the Jews? Oh, that’s right, these rich f*cks deserved it. Or people say it’s not their battle.

Yes, the Middle East war has divided Democrats and Biden is doing a piss-poor job of bringing them together. Why can’t anybody speak the truth? That’s why Trump won in 2016, his fans thought he was speaking to them, their truth, that he was not pandering to the usual suspects. Meanwhile, Joe is in the White House, a veritable bunker, barely coming out and saying anything! And too often when he does make remarks, they’re equivocal.

IS THIS A WINNING STRATEGY?

Of course not. But it’s heresy to say this. Heresy to say both the Middle East and the election are complicated. That we have to separate the issues, dig down deep. But how can we do this in a country where you can’t say anything negative about “Now and Then” because it’s by the BEATLES! That’s what we’ve lost in the race from the humanities, the power of analytical thinking. Now everything is black and white, for or against. If I question Biden’s bona fides for re-election, if I analyze his statements and movements, I’m a hater. Like we all live in a country ruled by Taylor Swift.

Turns out despite so many thinking otherwise, we might actually be getting back together with Donald Trump. Swift may move on, but not the public.

So please, start talking about this. Start breaking the seal. Ask your friends, is Biden too old? Would you prefer someone younger to run?

And ask those younger than you, and outside your bubble. Their vote counts as much as yours.

As for those who say to ignore polls at this point, to forget approval ratings… I’m with you, but Biden is getting older each and every day. He is not Dorian Gray. He’s aging in front of our very eyes. Why do you refuse to see it?

Because you don’t like change. Bill Maher… He’s anti-tech, every problem is caused by social media. Sure, social media has an influence, but BDS started growing on campus long before social media existed. And you go where the people are, you don’t try and shut sites down. I get it, you want to pull us back to the past. How’d that work for the record companies?

The main effect of this “Times” poll will be to get the DNC to question itself. And it will only effect change if you start agitating yourself. We want a primary of multiple candidates and we want it now, we don’t want ’68, where we try to rally around Humphrey far too late.

I still think Biden is not going to run. But he’s afraid of saying so now, for fear of being seen as a lame duck and losing power.

But I’ll also tell you that I’m not sure Trump will be the candidate either. When everybody else drops out, Nikki Haley is a formidable contender. And against Biden it’s no contest, Haley wins.

Things can change overnight in politics. We’ve seen it again and again. Remember Muskie? Governor Dean? Bush from Florida? But one thing is for sure, Joe Biden is not going to get any younger, and if three plus years are an example, he’s not going to suddenly inspire and grow confidence. That’s not how it works.

Biden is the reluctant candidate. From those who think they know, and have been wrong for more than a decade, and those who are afraid.

Can’t you fight? Can’t you see it’s a contest? Can’t you risk?

Change happens more rapidly than ever before these days, but the DNC moves glacially, if at all.

And if we’re looking for leaders… Biden may be President, but he’s not Presidential. A President inspires, he leads, he’s not afraid of making a public statement. He’s out with the people, convincing them.

Sure, Biden is making a tiny effort, but none of it memorable. His heart isn’t in it. Maybe because his heart is no longer as strong.

It’s his age, don’t you get it?

Joe’s got to go.

And if you think otherwise, you’re part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/43bk4myk

 

“Apple Scruffs”

George Harrison – “All Things Must Pass”

 

“Sign On the Window”

Bob Dylan – “New Morning” 

 

“Take Me to the Pilot”

Elton John – “Elton John”

 

“Where to Now St. Peter”

Elton John – “Tumbleweed Connection” 

 

“Legend of a Mind”

Moody Blues – “In Search of the Lost Chord”

 

“Anyday”

Derek & the Dominos – “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs”

 

“Midnight Rider”

Allman Brothers – “Idlewild South”

 

“Maybe I’m Amazed”

Faces – “Long Player” 

 

“Laughing” 

David Crosby – “If Only I Could Remember My Name” 

 

“Mother Goose”

Jethro Tull – “Aqualung” 

 

“So Far Away”

Carole King – “Tapestry” 

 

“Riding On a Railroad”

James Taylor – “Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon” 

 

“With My Face on the Floor”

Emitt Rhodes – “Emitt Rhodes’

 

“Hard Headed Woman”

Cat Stevens – “Tea for the Tillerman” 

 

“Trouble”

Cat Stevens – “Mona Bone Jakon” 

 

“Lucky Man”

Emerson, Lake & Palmer 

 

“I’ve Seen All Good People”

Yes – “The Yes Album”

 

“Brown Sugar”

The Rolling Stones – “Sticky Fingers”