What the hell was she doing on SNL?

She’s the biggest act in the world. Bigger than Drake, bigger than Taylor Swift, bigger than ANYBODY! Maybe because she goes away, she’s not working it all the time, maybe because she has hits, in a genre almost everyone has forgotten about, straight ahead pop, sans the trendy 808 beats, maybe because she’s the best live performer out there, she can not only sing, she interacts with the audience, she tells stories, she’s riveting…she sets herself apart, she exists in her own bubble. SO WHY DID SHE COME DOWN TO EARTH TO APPEAR ON A SECOND-RATE TV SHOW DOING BAD MATERIAL??

I know, I know, she wanted to show off her newly-slimmed body. Her self-image has improved, great. But this does not add an iota to all the elements that made her a star and kept her shining bright. It doesn’t matter how those with true talent appear, hell, I don’t want to body shame anyone, but my point is it’s what goes into the ears, not what comes into the eyes. Furthermore, true fans have already seen these thin images, they’ve been all over the gossip sites. So, you’ve got a coming out on late night television and..?

Why late night television? That’s certainly not cool. What self-respecting youngster wants to tune in on a Saturday night, they’ve got no better options? Hell, they’d rather make a TikTok video using an Adele song than watch her on SNL, where she’s not even singing!

Oh yes, she ended up singing a bit, and that was cool, but it was just a wink to those who couldn’t fathom that she was not the musical guest.

As for the oldsters… They remember when SNL was truly great, back in the late seventies. If they’re watching today, it’s out of habit at best, if they’re awake to begin with, or on the west coast and viewing the live feed.

The opening bit, the political bit…it would be funny if there were any jokes. We’re just supposed to laugh because they’re doing it? How low can the bar be?

So low that major media outlets cover the show the next day, as if it matters, but it’s Quibi without the monthly charge, with bad short bits that you never want to see again. Oh sure, you get more eyeballs than the competition, there’s an imprimatur of importance, if you’re the musical guest it demonstrates to gatekeepers that your handlers are committed to breaking you, but few play absolutely live anymore and it’s all about as genuine as a Twinkie, with the same nutritional effect.

But this is what happens when legacy media is beholden to publicists, when it still lives in the last century, when it believes one show can reach and impact everybody and change the culture. Come on, when was the last time someone employed a catch phrase from SNL? Yet they were rampant back in the seventies. Back when the show was cutting edge, the anti, now it’s establishment, it’s what young kids are REBELLING AGAINST!

So, just by going on SNL Adele hurts her image. Bruce Springsteen does an Apple TV+ movie for his stiff on arrival new album, imagine if Adele created something special stamped with her personality, people would be salivating over it. And she wouldn’t share the stage with others, she’d be the star, deservedly.

Adele is more than the hits, she represents something, rarefied, why bring herself down to earth, we need people to believe in!

As for ticket sales… She can sell every one available. And that’s because you can only get what she’s selling at the gig. Each show is different, they’re magic, there’s no online equivalent.

However, the truth is “25” was not as good as “21,” not as successful. So, unless the next album truly delivers, her fans and her business might fall off. You can sell tickets off a stiff album if you’ve got enough dedicated fans, but how many true fans does Adele have anyway? She’s a pop star with hits, without them..? She was more like Barbra Streisand, there’s only one of her, hits are irrelevant if you manage your career very closely, keep yourself exotic, don’t appear just anywhere, place yourself in your own solar system, above everyone else.

This is where a manager counts.

Then again, not enough managers will say no to an artist.

And probably, Adele had a desire, pushed to do this show. But the truth is she’s a Brit, she doesn’t really understand it, just like Americans don’t understand U.K. television shows, if they know anything about them at all. And eyeball counts only matter if you’re selling, trying to extend your reach, AND ADELE WASN’T SELLING ANYTHING! Except for herself.

But watching all you could do was marvel at her appearance. Did she have weight loss surgery, did she have plastic surgery…what she said was secondary. And it was scripted by SNL hacks, who deliver this tripe every week. If you want to make an impression, write your own intro, that you test elsewhere first.

Subtleties. Many people will say the above makes no difference. That people forget. But the truth is image and career management are what separates the legends from the rest of the acts. Come on, those who go their own way, who are sui generis, those are the ones you want to get closer to, the ones you are yearning to understand. Like Neil Young. He’s an enigma. You hang on his words. But he didn’t give the public what it wanted, he went his own way, and then the world circled back to him and then it left him once again, alone with his fans, who’ve supported him.

Adele had charisma. I tell everybody her live show was one of the two best I’ve seen this century.

But now everybody has seen her. And she appears to be nothing special, not so different from everybody else. Another singer.

It’s a tragedy.

cbsn.ws/34vR3qB

And you wonder why no one will confront him.

Lesley Stahl did a good job, better than any of the debate moderators, but still, Trump made mincemeat out of her. He started off soft and then went on attack and it was a tsunami of B.S., to the point where Lesley essentially had to put her hands over her head to protect herself from incoming.

They say Trump is gonna lose and vacate the office.

NOT IF YOU WATCH THIS INTERVIEW!

People believe it’s business as usual. That our country operates normally. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Let’s start with the Supreme Court. People think it’s all about winning, that it’s a game and if you can get your candidate on the court you’ve succeeded.

That is patently untrue.

You see there is an issue of credibility. Do the people trust the Supreme Court? That’s now in question.

Read this:

“We Were Clerks at the Supreme Court. Its Legitimacy Is Now in Question. – Brazen politics in Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation process threatens the court’s standing with the public.”: nyti.ms/3movqP9

And it’s not only the left asking this question:

“I Was Reagan’s Solicitor General. Here’s What Biden Should Do With the Court. – Joe Biden should be open to enlarging the number of justices. But first, he should see if the conservative majority overplays its hand.”: nyti.ms/3kzVlTI

And it’s not only the Supreme Court, but the lower courts, which have been packed with right wing loyalists after Obama’s picks were denied.

So, the question is, do you believe in the government?

To twist your head, it’s the right wing that professes it does not. Reagan famously succeeded by telling his constituents that the worst words they could hear were “I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.”

Tell that to those infected by Covid-19, tell that to those feeling the effects of natural disasters. You want and need the government, which is supported by taxes, otherwise you end up with chaos.

Which is what we’ve got now.

So our Supreme Leader is in a fight for his electoral life. And he says as much. He tells Stahl that to lose is go to home to mommy. Why do those on the left believe he’s going to do this, why do they believe he’s going to accept electoral college defeat, especially after he has continually told us he won’t?

So what we’ve got is echo chambers. On the left and right. And the twain do not meet. Talk to your friends, they’ve abandoned those with different political opinions, polarization has filtered down this far. What makes people believe there is one unified set of facts, blasted on the news, that everybody pays attention to? Furthermore, Trump has discredited the news, Stahl even brings this up.

So, Trump is immediately disarming, telling Stahl he knows she’ll be fair, after she says she’s going to ask him tough questions. That’s how far we’ve fallen, we can’t even ask questions of our president without warning him, for fear of upsetting him. And then he starts to spew his alternative facts. Stahl remains calm throughout, because she’s afraid of media blowback. If she loses her cool in reaction to Trump it will be her fault, not his. But Trump doesn’t hesitate, he continues to push forward, like a bulldozer.

And then the switch is flipped.

Come on, you know when this happens, when you can see the light in someone’s eyes changing, when you can see the smoke start to come out of their ears. You know if you say one single thing, a conflagration, a battle will begin.

If you blow back, YOU’LL GET FIRED!

Because HR always aligns with the boss. And the Board too. If they don’t touch you, if the content is not sexual, they get away with it, under the rubric of life is hard, business is tough, and if you don’t stand up, if you don’t fight ferociously, the other guy will win. As for the rules and regulations…they don’t apply, especially when they control the judiciary.

And then Trump’s got his hackles up. He’s going full steam. He’s stating his malarkey like it’s true, and anyone who questions it is just dumb.

Come on, do you now understand what is happening in the White House, in the “Deep State”? It’s either Trump’s way or the highway. And even if you’re aligned with him you still might not evade excoriation. Like Bill Barr. Trump keeps telling him to prosecute innocent people.

And it’s not only the inside, it’s elected officials too. Vote to convict Trump at the impeachment trial and not only will you lose your seat in the next election, before that Trump will excommunicate you and double-down on you, you’ll be the endless victim of his scorn.

And politics is a team sport, and therefore all the Republicans have aligned with Trump and won’t say boo and…

The Democrats have no power. The Republicans control the Supreme Court, the White House, the Senate, and so many lower courts, which will approve the shenanigans of Republican-controlled legislatures, which are oftentimes that way because of gerrymandering.

As for the right’s response? YOU DO IT TOO!

Don’t you get it, they’re playing offense 24/7, to the point that those on the left are always playing defense, according to the right’s agenda. And if you’re on the left and you stand up, you’re denigrated day in and day out, like AOC. The right made AOC a star, not the left.

You know Trump. You’ve encountered him numerous times over your life. The next door neighbor who is right even though they’re wrong, who continually calls the cops on you. The coworker who makes fun of you, gangs up with the other coworkers to ostracize you. In school, you can fight back physically, once you’re an adult you’re not supposed to. So what is there to do but throw your arms in the air and back away?

As for a fair fight… Who believes in fair in a world where the Houston Astros cheat and do not lose their title? Russia is banned from the Olympics so they hack the event, disrupting it. Fairness went out the window years ago. People cheat to get into college… It appears if you’re not cheating, you’re not winning.

And if you’ve got enough money, you can stand up to anybody, get the lawyers involved, bury the other team in paper. But the only people with enough money to do this are the same ones who are cheating.

As for the interviews with Biden and Harris…

Biden was benign. He made no news. He’s refraining from being aggressive for fear of losing votes. As for Harris, she was so phony that I had to turn her off, I stopped believing what she was saying, she certainly did not. But neither of them got heated, hot under the collar, they didn’t throw bombs at Trump and the right because they believe in decorum in a rigged society. It’s like having a baseball manager who never questions the calls, as the opponent is rampaging 24/7 and making the umpires uptight.

So, Trump loses.

Well, he can still win.

Read or listen to last week’s “Daily” podcast: nyti.ms/34rXo6y

You think so much is set in stone in the electoral process when it is not.

And let’s not forget, Nixon resigned because Republican senators told him to. No Republican senators stood up to Trump during the impeachment trial, are they gonna stand up to him when he declares victory after a “rigged” election?

Possibly, but I doubt it.

Trump has disrupted politics, employing a new game, a new style of play. And just like the record companies and the rest of those who lost out in the transition to digital on the internet, all those on the left are saying is it’s unfair and people should play by the rules. Meanwhile, the motto of Facebook has been “move fast and break things.” And Google told us it would “do no harm.” Yeah, right. And who won in the end, the historical powers or the disrupting techies? THE DISRUPTING TECHIES EVERY TIME! And if you beat one techie in court, usually years after the disruption, another techie popped up to take its place.

The left and the right don’t seem to agree on ANYTHING!

But Trump sets the agenda, he’s playing offense all the time, to the point where those on the left just respond and if you grow a set of balls you’re told to STFU, by the LEFT! To the point where Biden and Harris keep denying they’re progressives, both afraid of the s-word, i.e. socialism, they keep backpedaling while Trump and his cronies keep decreasing the area they can play in. It’s like a game of operation, and the left is deathly afraid of touching the outside rail and when it does, the right goes berserk!

I’m not trying to convince the right here, they’ve got their leader, who’s fighting damn hard for them.

But those on the left? THEY’RE WIMPS!

As for the media, it lionized Kristen Welker’s performance when it was truly lame, compared to Lesley Stahl she was a zero. Is that how far we’ve fallen, that maintaining order is a victory?

This is a death match. That’s what most of the public has not realized.

Furthermore, the right knows it doesn’t have the numbers so it has been rigging the game, with the aforementioned judges, gerrymandering and voter suppression. And all the left can say is…IT’S NOT FAIR!

We need not only a candidate, but an entire infrastructure to stand up to these bullies. Instead, we get lifelong pols who think they know better looking out for each other. Meanwhile, the right is running circles around them.

Be afraid, be very afraid. November 3rd is just the beginning. Wake up and see what you’re up against.

It’s positively mind-blowing.

I almost didn’t watch it, the “New York Times” gave it a bad review. That’s because they looked at it through the wrong lens, it’s not a movie, it’s PERFORMANCE ART!;

I’m not the biggest Borat fan, I’m not even the biggest Sacha Baron Cohen fan, but I was intrigued by the distribution plan of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” It’s free with Amazon Prime, which seemingly everybody in America has, or has access to. In other words, to use the term of the techies, Cohen has reduced the “friction” between his work and his audience. Talk to any true artist, it’s never about the money, sure, they want to get paid, but they’d sacrifice every dollar to reach more people, to have an impact upon society.

And it’s funny how not a single musical artist has had an impact politically in the twenty first century. Boomers keep expecting “Eve of Destruction,” of “For What It’s Worth,” but they’re never gonna come. One can analyze the scene, the vapidity, the commerciality, but that is missing the main point…NO MUSICAL ARTIST CAN REACH EVERYBODY!

But somehow Borat can.

I love a good stupid movie. My favorite is “Stripes.” Which has a similar sensibility to “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” as in it questions authority while laughing at it and those watching are in on the joke. But “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”? It’s commenting on the America we live in today, in a way no one in the media seems to be able to do other than Cohen himself.

In this same twenty first century, the only people allowed to speak truth are cartoon characters. Look at “South Park,” never mind “The Simpsons” and so many others. They tackle taboos, they say what real human beings cannot.

And the “South Park” twins ended up going to Broadway with “The Book of Mormon.” And you’d think that Mormons would hate it, but they love it! Just like right wingers will love “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” And they’ll also get a dose of truth, many doses of truth, that cannot be denied.

As for Rudy Giuliani, this film should put the nail in his coffin. And it’s not about him tucking in his shirt, but what he says earlier, about Trump and China and the coronavirus. He repeats right wing tropes, like the virus was created in a lab and Trump is doing such a great job, and you’re stunned. You always thought Rudy was smart, but now his cover has been blown, he’s nearly as insane as Trump himself! Until he became president I too bought the party line, that Trump was intelligent, but we now all know that is untrue. Furthermore, Rudy is so sleazy, hitting on the female interviewer, smiling, baring his teeth as if getting ready to devour her like the Big Bad Wolf, that your stomach turns. This is who this guy really is? And you realize yup, it’s him, just like it’s everybody else in this road trip of a film.

It starts out stupidly in Kazakhstan. But then as the film unspools, when Borat gets to America and starts interacting with people, you gradually get stunned. At first you think it’s just one gullible person, and then you realize all these people are gullible!

The anti-Semitism. Getting the bakery employee to write hatred on the cake without blinking.

You start to squirm with every progressive set-up. You wonder how Cohen did this, and you wonder about the consequences. Like the debutante ball and that time of the moon. No one just laughs out loud or tells Borat to get out immediately other than when he enters a ballroom to give his daughter to Pence. But by piercing the bubble of this conservative nonsense it makes Pence and his followers look like nincompoops. It’s amazing what people will say if they believe they’re in a bubble, that the real world and the media are excluded. As for the anti-Covid rally, getting the assembled multitude to shout hatred…right there you see the perils of groupthink.

So, Sacha Baron Cohen just disrupted the movie business. They thought it would be the too long and not good enough Scorsese film “The Irishman.” And then maybe “Mulan” on the Disney Channel. But the truth is “The Irishman” was an endurance test and it turned out that “Mulan” was also far from stellar and it was on Disney+ and…

This is like “The Sopranos” on HBO.

First we had “Dream On.” Then even “Sex and the City.” But when HBO aired “The Sopranos,” not only did we realize the show was better than anything on the big screen, in theatres, but it made a joke of all the network fare. Yes, you can credit HBO for changing television, and our entire nation’s consciousness. You see then the other pay channels had to create original programming to compete with HBO. And then Netflix came along with an open checkbook and suddenly we were living in the heyday of television. Sure, there are too many shows to watch, over four or five hundred per year at the last count, but the truth is…MOST ARE NOT WORTH WATCHING! We no longer live in a three network world. Television resembles the music business. The label releases a bunch of product just hoping ONE album/artist/track hits. And if it does, it covers all the dreck financially. And the audience is drawn to hits. And hits often take time to grow, the perfect example being “Breaking Bad,” which was on TV for years but didn’t break through until it was on demand on Netflix.

So we’re all looking for something to watch.

And we’re all listening to our friends, the scuttlebutt. We may not watch all the way through, but we’ll give recommendations a chance.

And you want to watch “Borat” to be PART OF THE DISCUSSION! I only lament we’re in the Covid era, otherwise “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” would be the topic of discussion in the office for at least a week. Those left out would immediately watch it, just to render an opinion. That’s what we want to do. That’s one of the reasons I watched it today, I wanted to be up to date. Meanwhile, there’s not much I need to be up to date on these days, other than the news.

And Rachel Maddow and the rest of MSNBC have spent four years with a serious tone trying to take Trump down, and it hasn’t worked. But this stupid “Borat” movie will have more impact than any of the anchors’ bloviating, more impact than last night’s debate, because when you see the insanity in action you just cannot defend it, you’re forced to wake up.

That’s right, there’s a right wing bubble, trying to keep people from the truth, demonizing everyone who is not inside it. But Cohen pierces that bubble with the tiniest of pinpricks, over and over and over again. And ultimately it’s simple, you let people be who they are and you can’t help but laugh at them, they incriminate themselves, and you question your own beliefs.

The plastic surgeon who talks about Jewish noses. Who doesn’t take offense. Irrelevant of his beliefs, this is how we’ve gotten here, no one speaks up. And then when black people speak up those on the right refuse to address the issue, talking about law and order as opposed to systemic racism. Then again, Tucker Carlson says racism is history in America. Tell that to a black teenager in a hoodie walking through an upscale mall or the streets of Beverly Hills.

This film is jaw-dropping. Like I said, not at first. But the cumulative effect ends up being overwhelming. Cohen does not relent, he keeps on upping the ante, keeps exposing right wing tropes for what they are. How are you gonna defend the viewpoints in this movie? You can’t, you can just do your best to ignore it. But the younger generations will eat “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” up and watch it over and over again. And as they recite its elements their parents will watch it too.

Never underestimate the impact of art. I truly believe we can credit MTV with demystifying and destigmatizing homosexuality as well as interracial relationships. When you see it on the screen and all of the tropes are proven untrue, it has an impact.

Then again, we’ve still got a long way to go. James “The Amazing” Randi just died and even though he did his best, there are still clairvoyants and other fakers ripping off the public.

But Randi never reached everybody. Oh, he reached a lot of people on “Johnny Carson,” but “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” is not here and gone, rather it will live on, on demand, on Prime Video. That’s the world we live in, one of on demand, if I can’t watch it when I want to, I wont. Make it inconvenient and I’m out. This is what the older generation does not get about the youth. This is how the youth have learned to live in a world with so much incoming, whereas so many elders have just punted, thrown their arms in the air and said it’s too overwhelming.

And, ultimately “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” is overwhelming. It overwhelms your senses. At first it’s just intellectually funny, but then you can’t resist laughing out loud, sometimes hysterically. And almost all comedies are uneven, you can’t review them through the lens of a drama, just like you can’t send a rock fan to review a hip-hop show.

“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” is a bullseye. Watch it NOW!