It’s the left you have to worry about.

For years, we’ve been told to fear the right. They’ve got the guns. They’ve got an echo chamber of Fox News and right wing radio. They even believe in QAnon. You don’t want to anger them because they’re gonna show up at your house, they’re gonna camp on the statehouse steps, they’re going to invade the Capitol.

Now the insurrection…people told them to do it. It’s not like it was a secret. Almost no one expected them to breach the Capitol, but everybody knew a rally was planned, to support the inane belief that Trump had been cheated, that he’d actually won the election.

And since the election, southern states have clamped down on voting rights. The Republicans changed their strategy, they realized they couldn’t win on the national level, and therefore they focused on the states. And now we’ve got the Texas six week abortion law. And open carry. And voter suppression, under the guise of voter security.

So if you’re inside the bubble, you’re smiling, pinching yourself, it hasn’t been this good in eons, maybe forever!

But it’s not only the rank and file, it’s the news institutions. “The New York Times” has been neutered. As has been Fauci. If it’s run by the left, it’s no good. Ergo supporting Trump in his deal with the Taliban to pull out of Afghanistan, but excoriating Biden when he actually does so. And we can debate the smoothness of the extraction all day long, but these flip-flopping officials and pundits wanted the U.S. to stay there! And there are foreign policy hawks on both the left and the right. Afraid of the bogeyman, they never say no. Communism was not only going to come to Vietnam, further dominoes were going to fall thereafter. They say our exit from Afghanistan sets the table for Chinese influence. Then again, if the Russians and the United States couldn’t make lasting progress in Afghanistan, maybe no one can. The territory has been fought over for centuries.

And McCarthy is telling corporations not to cough up data on the January 6th insurrection. It’s a full court press. If I write anything political, it’s the right I hear from, they’re working the refs 24/7, trying to make you doubt yourself, about speaking up. The right sets the agenda and the left cowers. Hell, look at supposed Democrat Joe Manchin, he’s more afraid of the Republicans than he is of those in his own damn party!

As for the legal system…

People have little faith in it anymore. The richest, most prominent people, lie on the stand, and the appointment of judges has become completely political. Ergo the Supreme Court. Which resulted in yesterday’s decision not to stay the enforcement of the Texas abortion law.

But the Democrats are mostly silent. Unsure exactly who their constituency is, afraid of pissing off the progressives and at the same time afraid of pissing off a theoretical middle. If you’re looking for leadership, you’re not going to get it from a Democratic politician.

But then we had that pesky little event last spring. A policeman kneels on a black man in Minnesota who then dies…AND ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!

What do we know, George Floyd was no picnic, he didn’t have a clean record. Then again, did you read about Beverly Hills’ crackdown on crime? They arrested 106 people, 105 black and 1 Latino. It’s hard to be a person of color and not have a record.

Anyway, George Floyd dies and there are protests not only in Minnesota, not only in the United States, BUT ALL OVER THE WORLD!

We can argue all day long about the ultimate results of said protest, but one thing is for sure, the world came out in force, far in excess of any protest on a right wing issue. Because this one man died.

Remind you of the Arab Spring?

One college educated fruit vendor in Tunisia gets pissed about harassment and lack of opportunity and he sets himself on fire and the whole region is destabilized. After decades of in many cases iron fist rule. Unfortunately, after brief democratic experiments authoritarians moved in, but I’m talking here about the conflagration. It’s not like there was a build-up, it’s not like anybody could see this coming, just like no one could see the protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Which is a talking point for the right. Look at the destruction! That was their response re the Capitol invasion on 1/6. It’s always a false equivalency, they start talking and won’t shut up and hope to tire you out. But were the George Floyd protests really like 1/6? Let me see, was there damage to infrastructure last spring? Absolutely! Did anybody demand that the entire system of government be thrown overboard, invade the Capitol and threaten to kill elected officials? Of course not. It’s not even the same conversation. But on the right…

But the right is now self-satisfied. Hell, McConnell stacked the Supreme Court. But soon they’re going to stack one too many things on the edifice and the left will awaken and tear down the entire enterprise. I can’t tell you when it’s going to happen, but between the ridiculous recall in California, with so much money spent by a minority in what appears to be a completely fruitless effort, and the endless push of their agenda, the right never sleeps, if you think the left is completely somnambulant and will suffer any indignity, you’re just plain wrong.

And it’s the left that’s got the numbers on its side. Forget the electoral college, Democrats won the Presidential election popular vote handily in both 2016 and 2020. Gerrymandering and an antique system wherein North Dakota gets as many Senators as California has resulted in the tyranny of the minority. And history is laden with revolts upon said paradigm. When the majority of the public is on the side of the government, not so much. But when an authoritarian is clamping down on the majority, blowback happens not only in Tunisia, but in France, remember the famous phrase “let them eat cake”? It’s hard to even get unemployment in many red states, including Florida. As for the canard that unemployment checks were keeping people from getting jobs…turns out in states where government payments were not stricken, the jobs numbers were nearly identical to where they were, and this is not only the “New York Times” speaking, but the “Wall Street Journal” too.

And then there are the states that refuse to take federal money for Medicaid. Now the truth is people are hurt by this, individuals, you can stand on principle all day long, but these policies have effects. Just like wars kill people, done deal. You want to go over there, you want to die? I didn’t think so.

So what is going to break the left’s back?

Sotomayor went ballistic on her fellow Supremes. Let’s not forget, supposed right winger Roberts voted with the Dems. And if the playing field had been level, Kavanaugh and Barrett never would have been appointed, it would be two Democrats, and the Texas laws would be stopped. Don’t think those on the left aren’t aware of the weaseling of McConnell. You think people are ignorant, but they’re not that ignorant when it affects them personally, and if you’ve never been worried your girlfriend is pregnant, you’ve never had sex.

But the same party that says their bodies are inviolate want to have dominion over yours. Forget the logic, it hasn’t worked up to now, they don’t see the hypocrisy, because that’s not what it’s about, truth and justice, it’s just about getting what they want.

And they’re afraid that vaccine passports will be akin to giving Hitler power over them, but then they turn the entire populace of Texas into government agents, tattling on others, sounds exactly like East Germany to me.

But the left sits here and takes it, over and over and over again. To the point that the right is patting itself on the back. It’s working! Fight every point of the left’s agenda, manipulate the game so you win.

But this isn’t sports, it’s people’s lives.

So am I worried about living in an authoritarian country run by the Trumpers? ABSOLUTELY! But after the enactment of the new Texas laws I know we’ll never get that far, not at first. The right believes the left are pushovers, that they can do anything and get away with it. But now the metaphorical battered women are dying. And those in a similar position are agitated and on guard, they know what they’ve got to lose, and they’re ready to rise up when just the lightest feather is added to the right wing pile. It won’t be a major event that wakes up the left, it’ll be the smallest thing, which will have major consequences.

In the south one Black woman didn’t want to sit in the back of the bus and the entire region erupted, they came from the north in support.

And these new laws affect everybody. If you don’t know a Catholic family with an abortion, you know no Catholics. Because when push comes to shove, they know the baby will ruin the person’s life. As for rape and incest? Almost no one is anti-abortion re those. As for open carry? Statistics tell us even in Texas they’re against it. But the right keeps pushing and pushing and when they get away with it they push a little more. It’s a scorched earth policy, every issue is black or white. You’re on their side or you don’t count. They’re organized, the left is disorganized, but there’s a lot of disgruntlement on the left.

The arts are secondary to politics in today’s world. If I write anything political I get light years more e-mails in response. And isn’t it interesting that the right always says to stay in your lane, when they’re certainly not staying in theirs.

If there’s not an adjustment, there’s going to be a realignment. It’ll be something relatively trivial that is going to wake up the beast, it’ll be like the George Floyd protests on steroids. And they’ll far outweigh the numbers on the right, who won’t even see it coming.

But it is.

Suzi Quatro is a trip! You’re gonna dig this podcast even if you’ve never heard any of her hit singles or seen her on “Happy Days” or read any of her books or seen her on stage or listened to her radio show… Suzi is open and honest about everything, displaying her Detroit roots despite living in the U.K. for decades. Suzi needed to make it, and she’s still out there doing it. It was a blast talking to her!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/id1316200737

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast

Re: Rubberband Man!

Bob, The Spinners’ immortal song, “Rubberband Man,” has a special place in the history of Ben & Jerry’s.  On the last day of September in 1978, after surviving our first summer in business, Ben and I hosted a “Fall Down Festival” in front of our original scoop shop in Burlington Vermont.  By far, the highlight of the day was the debut of the dramatic sledgehammer-smashing of a cinder block on the bare stomach of “Habeeni Ben Coheeni,” the noted Indian mystic.

As the crowd gathered in anticipation, “Rubberband Man” was cranked out over the makeshift PA system. Habeeni appeared, bearing a passing resemblance to Ben, draped in a bed sheet and perched on a platform in the lotus position.  He was carried onto the scene by six bearers, while chanting in a tongue not comprehended by mere mortals.  His entrance completed, Habeeni took his place alongside of me, and I recounted the improbable story of how his holiness had come to be before them today.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, what you are about to see will astound and amaze you.  What you have before you here today is the genuine article, the real thing.  The man of rubber, the man of steel, the man whose body defies every law of nature!  Born in India, Habeeni was abandoned as a baby, but rescued and raised by Indian fakirs, those magical and mystical people.  One day, Habeeni was studying at the temple of Rishikesh, when disaster struck – an earthquake.  The building crumbled, rubble and stones tumbling all around.  However, Habeeni was able to survive by placing himself into a metabolic trance, which he will simulate here before us today.”

I then invited a few kids to come up and verify that indeed the cinder block and sledgehammer were real, and then Habeeni went metabolic, falling backwards into the hands of attendants, who suspended him in a supine position, between two chairs.  Once he was settled in place, I pulled back the sheet, and placed the cinderblock on Habeeni’s bare belly. I then took the sledgehammer and, raising it high above my head, brought it crashing down on the cinder block, smashing it into lots of little pieces.  To call it dramatic does not begin to capture what a spectacle it was.  “Habeeni Ben Coheeni, ladies and gentlemen, the noted Indian mystic, Habeeni Ben Coheeni,” reverberated over and over, as “Rubberband Man” once again cranked out over the speakers.  Habeeni, restored to his platform, left in triumph, carried out by his handlers, tossing flower petals to the pumped-up crowd.

In later years, Habeeni returned to demonstrate his incredible feats at our annual shareholders meetings, but Habeeni and I realized we needed to forego this when it became too challenging to balance the cinder block on his ever rounding bare belly. Too much ice cream, wailed the cynics and nonbelievers.  Yes, even for Habeeni himself.

It was great to see the clip of the live performance of the Spinners singing their great song. Thanks also for the recent shout out for Americone Dream, my current favorite flavor.

 

Regards, Jerry Greenfield

_________________________________

From: Chuck Morris

Subject: Mike Finnigan

Just attended his service. Would love it if you wrote something on him. One amazing and wonderful guy. First met him when he played with Finnigan and Wood at my first club Tulagi in 1972. I,m sure you are aware of Mike being the most sort after sideman in the business playing for years with acts like CSN,Joe Cocker and the last 10 years Bonnie Raitt. He was a world class keyboard and organ player and one great singer. And most important this 6. 7 ex basketball player from Kansas University was one caring person who befriended all of us and had a lasting impact as one beautiful guy. His service was amazing with so many attended from Stephen Stills to all of Bonnie Raitt’s band. I loved the guy.

_________________________________

Subject: RE: The Bill Wyman Documentary

 

I interviewed Bill during the Steel Wheels tour.  He had just written his autobiography. I imagine the book was intended to provide him some regular funding after he left the band.  Something that belonged to him.  I have several vivid memories of the interview.  One was that it was at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington DC.  They were performing that night at RFK Stadium.  Each of the band members had their own floor in the hotel, each with their own elevator key.  I got off the elevator on Bill’s floor and saw an empty hall with a guard seated in front of a suite.  Bill’s suite was huge.  It had a huge living room (where we did the interview), and adjacent dining room, where he had his computer set up for writing.  He was very proud of the computer, and it was large enough for its own flight case.  He wrote his book on it, but he told me he was writing more.  He loved writing.  It was something he could do alone.  He told me some of the same stories that went into the documentary. He wasn’t very emotional or expressive.  He spoke very simply and calmly.  At the end of the interview, I asked for a picture.  This was before cell phones, so we needed someone to snap the picture.  I figured he’d ask the security guard at the front door, but instead walked over to the bedroom.  He opened the door, and I could see two scantily clad young girls on the bed.  One of them came out and took the picture.  That was the end of the interview.  It’s only rock & roll.

 

George Achaves

_________________________________

From: Eric Bazilian

Subject: Re: The Brian Jones Documentary

First line, second verse. Written in 1998(?).

https://open.spotify.com/track/4EbTY9VKz1fmm08ifcp0ho?si=8oeg6GuGSwSjsVEC45o71A&dl_branch=1

The Stones have existed with the title ‘The World’s Greatest Rock And Roll Band’ but with Brian they were transcendent. Yes, Mick Taylor shredded rings around everyone else and Woody has fit like a glove around Mick and Keith since 1975, but Brian was the secret sauce, the left turn, the recorder in Ruby Tuesday, said sitar in Paint It, Black, the slide in Little Red Rooster. I stand by the first line, second verse.

I did take her to see the Stones, finally, by the way. Several times.

_________________________________

From: Andre’ Cholmondeley

Subject: Re: Music

Oh man, Bob, you’re gonna trigger a LOT of people w this one.

The part about musicians relaxing, smoking dope and think it’s not their fault when it doesn’t work out….ouch

Stings but…..true for so very many. The fantasy of “being discovered” ……..and next thing you’re in a private jet, is still strong.

One thing you didn’t say — but touched on when you mention how cheap it is to make music — is that thanks to globalization, democratization and easy access to tech — WHICH MUSICIANS CHAMPIONED FOR DECADES, we now have hundreds of thousands, probably millions MORE musicians than ever before.

Which means — essentially infinite supply of music. From GLOBAL sources, when it used to be predominantly from…….the USA and UK.

With a $200 pawnshop laptop, and a cheap mic, teens and 20-somethings are making great music. Sure, some bad music too. But as you say — that’s a sidebar. It’s music that gets heard.

Made with free software for recording , synthesizers, promotions tools, hosting their music, streaming their shows etc. Free free free free free — yet older musicians want the payouts to be like 1989. Literally NO OTHER INDUSTRY would have economics like that — where the inputs approach free on so many fronts…. the creators explode in numbers, yet the principals expect the same market value for the item sold !!

So the FIRST LAW of Economics kicks in — Supply & Demand.

But musicians get MAD when that is brought up — they want the culprit to be “Spotify”, or ‘Apple” or “napster”, or “streaming” in general…all while they love their all-you-can-watch streaming bargains with Amazon, Hulu, Netflix. As you always point out  – NOBODY would go back to driving DVDs back & forth to Blockbuster  …..or the independent video rental place. Or dropping off their Kodak film to be developed for $25…. then half the pictures are blurry or your mom was blinking in the best shot. Nor would they give up the great “unlimited” cell phone plan and go back to the “600 mins for $35” model……

On and on. A fantastic psychological experiment, watching fellow musicians literally stamp their feet like Dorothy trying to go back home…..to what never was anyway — it was always a record-company blanket party, with the execs running away with the major rewards.

Andre´Cholmondeley

tech- Steve Howe/YES

& Celebrating David Bowie

_________________________________

From: THOMAS ALLEN

Subject: Re: It’s A Team Sport

….yup…..there was a time when burl ives sold records……

_________________________________

Subject: Re: It’s A Team Sport

Bailed on Guns last night in Phoenix after I realized there was no policy to show either a negative test or vaccination. So 19k ppl packed in there like this is all over. No thanks. Can’t believe Axl, Slash, Duff and the rest of the hired Guns are ok with this, and are willing to risk their own health. Strange times continue.

Marcus Thunich

Glendale, AZ

_________________________________

From: Linden Coll

Subject: Covid – NYT’s UK article can’t be trusted. “Scotland could impose new restrictions as Delta cases rise”

Sure, there’s a lot of people/idiots acting as if its all over – especially the young, but the article failed to mention the music festival in Cornwall

mid-august which was prominent in the news recently because it led to ~5,000 new infections.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/23/almost-5000-covid-cases-linked-to-cornish-music-and-surf-festival-boardmasters

Scotland’s schools went back a couple of weeks ago and predictably cases are suddenly escalating

England’s return this week with universities following later in the month.

https://londonlovesbusiness.com/scotland-could-impose-new-restrictions-as-delta-cases-rise-which-will-move-to-parts-the-uk-soon/

rgds

LC

_________________________________

Subject: Re: Don’t Ya Mess With Me

Hey, Bob –

What’s interesting musically about “Baby, I Need Your Loving” is the variable verse lengths. Of course, it’s a Holland-Dozier-Holland composition but rarely, if ever, would they utilize anything but the standard four-line verses and choruses.

But for BINYL, the instrumental intro is three couplets, the first verse is seven couplets, the second verse is five, followed by the four-couplet bridge (of sorts) and the eight-couplet third verse. But all the choruses are four lines (all the easier to sing along to) and it fades with a vamped chorus.

If you’re playing it live, you really have to be paying attention.

Love to learn how that came about if anyone has any backgrounder on the writing and the session.

Thanks,

Larry Butler

_________________________________

From: Tom Johnston

Subject: Re: Don’t Ya Mess With Me

Thanks for the “window”! I agree on Oh Mexico and a couple of other tracks on the full length album.

We played Chicago last night to 25,000 people and they did respond to the new stuff and in general tore it up for the whole show which is 2 1/2 hrs.

From the road,

Tom

The media is not prepared for a Democrat who doesn’t apologize.

For over twenty years, the Republicans have set the agenda and the Democrats have reacted. And you can’t win playing defense the entire time.

As for the media?

It lost a lot of credibility supporting the Bush (Cheney) incursions/wars in the Middle East. It didn’t root out the facts, that Saddam Hussein had no WMDs, and was so fearful of appearing pacifist, it was rah-rah and lost its role as an independent arbiter. Ironically, at the same time TV and internet news became partisan.

Meanwhile, the Democrats were squabbling within, and at the same time losing control of their constituency, and their pulse on America. Let’s not forget, globalization flourished under Democrats, and globalization is inevitable, but there was no provision for shoring up the lives of those displaced, who ultimately realized the Democrats were mostly talk and little action and then switched parties to the Republicans, who were as angry as them, despite still being in service to the fat cats.

That’s income inequality, goosed by St. Reagan. Our country has never been the same since. Because if you earn a billion dollars, you think you’re better than the rest of us. Come on, would we be listening to Bill Gates if he didn’t have all that money? No, it’d be some academic, someone with history in the field, but in America today, money trumps everything.

So the Democrats detach from their base. It is an issue of elitism. Yes, the elite ran the Republican agenda too, but they mostly operated behind the scenes, a lot of them inherited their wealth and position, whereas the Democrats worked hard to get where they were, via education and innovation, and they had contempt for the little people, but they did not realize the little people knew it, and couldn’t be controlled.

So the country becomes radicalized technologically. We have a government that cannot function in today’s digital world, if for no other reason than elected officials do not understand how it works, are not familiar with its ins and outs. Happens all the time, Congress brings in techies for hearings too late, after the fact, and then nothing happens. Facebook buys WhatsApp and nobody in D.C. seems to understand the power of that platform, maybe because its strength was overseas, where it ruled. And those in D.C. thought the aughts would continue forever, with new hardware and new apps, not realizing it was a game of musical chairs with the end result being a handful of gargantuan companies that became too hard to mess with. Come on, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon…they’re bigger than the country. China realizes this, and the irony is these companies completely back down, to stay in business, because money is king, but in the U.S. not only do they operate unfettered, they act with impunity, they push back, or pay a little lip service and then go back to their heinous ways.

Gateways… Amazon is where people do research for products, not Google. And if you don’t play by Amazon’s rules, you can’t get on the platform and the chance of your business being successful is almost nil. Google truly controls information. But it’s all in the algorithm, no human is involved. And the search engine got so good that almost no one goes beyond the first or second result. So if you’re below… Furthermore, everybody gets different results, even to the same damn question! Microsoft misses so much but gets rid of Ballmer and focuses on its corporate customers and the cloud and is about to overtake Apple as the world’s most valuable company. As for Apple… The truth is it’s very profitable, but waning in influence. Their handsets, their cash cow, may have a healthy market share in the U.S., but elsewhere? As for their App Store rules…they only matter because Apple punches far above its weight in apps, because the elite are on iPhones. As for the hoi polloi on Android? They can’t even update the operating system and their phones and app stores are riddled with viruses and scams, but Android is not as sexy as Apple, so it doesn’t get the attention, those in D.C. are too stupid to look at the facts as opposed to focusing on the hubbub. As for Facebook? For four years we’ve known it’s a repository for inaccurate information, and that it thrives on sensationalism, but what has changed since the election of Trump? Almost nothing!

So you’ve got the media and D.C. believing they’re in touch with both business and the public when that is patently untrue. Come on, the media completely missed Trump’s rise in 2016. Anybody who actually interacted with his constituency was aware of the strength of his position, he channeled people’s anger while Hillary was oblivious. And then she labels people deplorables and all hell breaks loose and she apologizes…when the truth is they were and still are deplorables, look at America today, where ignorance and agendas based on falsehoods are badges of honor! Hillary came from her husband’s camp, triangulating, never go with your gut, get everybody’s advice and then try to appeal to the most people, which has been history since the advent of the internet. Hillary couldn’t own that our country was divided and be the leader of one side, as a result her mushy, uninformed campaign was doomed. When things are bad, you need a leader. And many Republicans thought things were bad and we got Trump.

Who never ever apologized in his life. He came from the world of a controlled spotlight into the glare of the world stage and didn’t change a whit. Come on, so much of what you read about entertainment is just complete B.S. No one calls the perpetrators on this crap because they don’t believe it really matters. That’s Trump’s background. Smoke and mirrors. But he ascends to the throne and acts the same damn way!

But even worse, the establishment, the press, believes he will play rationally and abide by the rules. And fearful of being beaten up by the right, the left wing media prints false equivalencies, so fearful of looking biased when the media on the other side of the fence so clearly is.

And then the younger generation comes in. AOC.

Funny, she doesn’t back down either. And what those who decry her don’t understand is many on the left, especially those skewing young, finally believe they have someone who is fighting for them. And, an educated woman of color! Forever, woman and minorities have been told to shut up and wait their turn. The white establishment even neutered affirmative action. But AOC doesn’t care about any of that, she jumps to the head of the class, ignores the rules. And the funny thing is as everybody keeps beating up on her, both the left and the right, it’s only the right who glom on to the paradigm wholeheartedly. Ergo, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. Two wackadoodles who you can’t take seriously on the surface, but they represent their base so they got elected. What do we hear on the left? Play to the center! We’ve got to appeal to everybody. Let’s do it the old way. Meanwhile, after last November’s election AOC doubles-down and says if only they employed her playbook they would have won…which was utilization of the internet. But the old pols playing by the old rules still spend money on TV, reaching ever fewer, but since it skews old and a greater percentage of old people vote, they say it’s the right thing. It’d be like playing in internet land with no knowledge of it. Actually, that’s exactly what it was!

And this same media said Biden had no chance, and then he won. Proving, once again, the media has got its head up its ass, if you’re looking for someone to tell you where it’s going, don’t listen to a reporter, the talking heads on TV are even worse.

So, Biden gets elected and…

Goes his own way.

But stumbles on infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the story in the media is 2022. They can’t stop weighing the odds, following the horse race, as if that’s the most important story. Actually, we’ve got a government, what is happening now!

And then comes Afghanistan. Something the mainstream media ignored, believing it didn’t garner eyeballs, didn’t sell advertising. But suddenly it becomes a sexy story, it’s war, and people are trying to get out, and there’s a suicide bomb, it’s a phenomenal movie, and it’s real!

As for the right, they’ve been waiting for this, they see it as Benghazi on steroids, forgetting that they’re talking out of both sides of their mouth. Save the interpreters, after voting not to! Stay in Afghanistan, after Trump makes a deal to leave! It’s so myopic as to be humorous, if the American public were not so ill-informed sans the power of analysis that it can be blown this way or that like a feather.

And in slow motion, with constant coverage, the Afghanistan situation looks bad. Everybody’s beating up on Biden, the left and right press, the Democrats and the Republicans. Everybody’s opining his tenure is now hobbled, it’s over for the Democrats. Biden should be at home, paralyzed, wondering how he lost the favor of the left wing insiders and gave fodder to the right wing haters. BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT HE DID!

First Biden says he owns it.

And then yesterday he comes out and declares victory. Yes, he got us out on time and did a good job of it. He cites facts and figures. He addresses naysayers, saying if he started withdrawing earlier it wouldn’t have made any difference, might have even been worse. No one foresaw this, no one! Biden was supposed to be a senile oldster with no backbone who delegated all power, who was clueless as to what was going on. One expected him to cower in the indignity and become completely neutered. So what does he do? Unlike Trump, he doesn’t go after his attackers so much as fly above it all. The most powerful person on the planet with the most information speaking from his heart and mind and telling the truth from his perspective. And he owned the news cycle. To a great degree he quashed the blowback. Especially since so much of this is opinion anyway. I mean some guy on TV says Biden cocked it up and we should have stayed and then the guy himself comes out, without worrying about the effect of his words on every single person and says no, that’s not the way it is, he did a phenomenal job. Trump might say something like that, but never a Democrat.

And in addition, he pooh-poohs the old mantra, the old armed forces on the ground mantra. No, the new war will be fought in cyberspace, against the Russians and Chinese. And if they need to take action they’ve got drones. Meanwhile, every elected official dependent upon military pork for their state to keep their job is quaking in their boots.

And Biden isn’t worried about the rearguard, but he’s not insulting them either. He’s moving forward, but he’s also got his finger on the pulse more than anybody in the media, he knows the public, those whose kids actually go into the military, are glad we’re the hell out of there. People worried about budgets can’t fathom the twenty years of spending, someone spoke English!

So what does this mean?

Not that those on the right will embrace Biden, they hate him in principle, he’s a Democrat. But that maybe the tables will be leveled, maybe the left will realize it’s got more power, more room to move, than previously thought.

As for the right, it’s got Gaetz, who stays in power, even though the Democrats fire anybody who even looks at a woman too long, and Boebert, whose husband made over $450,000 in each of the last two years yet didn’t put it in her election filings, stating that his income was “N/A.” And you wondered how Shooters Grill stayed in business… It was all a front, a way for her to boost her image, it was a failed business from day one, and now it’s out of business. But the Democrats aren’t zeroing in on this, she’s still in power. The supposed woman of the people is anything but. Then again, those who voted for her will say at least she’s not a Democrat.

Yes, the Republicans play by different rules than the Democrats, I’m not even sure they’re playing the same game! The Republicans circle the wagons, get on the same page, and will do anything to win. The Democrats fight over the making of the sausage and when they’re done no one is happy and they can never get on the same page and no one can get everybody in line. But even worse, the rules are out the window for the right… Voting law protection? Forget it! Meanwhile, there’s a Supreme Court that doesn’t represent the public which was tilted right by Mitch McConnell that as of this writing is allowing Texas’s six week abortion rule to stay in place. The Republicans are like insects, who never stop, they don’t win nationally, they organize locally, there’s more than one way to win. And they form the Federalist Society, they play the long game, they’ve got a whole host of young presidential candidates in the wings, from DeSantis to Noem to Haley to Cruz. Who do we have on the left? Pretty boy Newsom who is in the middle of an recall election. Buttigieg, who the more you investigate his tenure as mayor the worse it looks. But he went to Harvard and then into the military! Trump skated from the military and Boebert is a high school dropout. And they both won!

So Biden is being a leader, and the Democrats haven’t experienced this in eons. St. Obama was so busy not being seen as an angry black man, trying to appease absolutely everyone, that he got so little done. Meanwhile, no one on the left can blow the whistle on him, he’s sacrosanct. But not on the right. It’s all about today’s team…they’re not busy defending Cheney’s warmongering strategy, which proved to be plain wrong.

So, this is utterly astounding. Biden is not just taking responsibility, he’s saying it was the right thing to do and he did it well and then he says why. Where’s the contrition? Nowhere to be found!

At least somebody is fighting back.