People have no idea how big Linda Ronstadt was in the seventies.

Unless they were alive in that era.

Unlike Carrie Underwood, who stunk up the joint on this show. She’s a star with no soul. This is what TV competition shows wrought, back when they still counted. This is why so many Berklee graduates don’t top the charts. They can play, but that inner mounting flame…it’s not there.

Stars are born, not made. Oh, of course you need someone championing your cause, but to leave home at eighteen to make it in L.A…takes chutzpah and drive and a sense of destiny, that success is in your future.

And Linda Ronstadt had success very soon, with the Stone Poneys. Back in the era when FM was just starting to burgeon, when those on AM were seen as one hit wonders. As for Linda’s “Long, Long Time”…it charted in 1970, when the screw had already turned, when those in the know were all listening to albums on FM, and AM was an afterthought. Linda Ronstadt was on Capitol, the worst major, she was seen as just another singer, kicking around the scene.

And then came Peter Asher and Andrew Gold.

We’ve got to start with Kenny Edwards. You see Linda Ronstadt needed songs and players to make it. She had the voice, but that was not enough.

But despite languishing in the wilderness, David Geffen believed. He extracted Linda from Capitol and released an Asylum album where she and her boyfriend J.D. Souther could do what they wanted and…she was lambasted by the cognoscenti for singing Randy Newman’s “Sail Away” straight.

But then came “Heart Like A Wheel.”

“You’re No Good” wove a web on the radio, captured you and then exploded with Andrew Gold’s solo and…

You couldn’t wait to hear it on the radio.

So the album became a hit. And everybody who had a song on it suddenly gained attention.

I don’t think most people had heard Lowell George’s “Willin'” until “Heart Like A Wheel.”

And speaking of the title track, I didn’t even know who the McGarrigle sisters were, but I immediately had to go buy their album.

Some say a heart is just like a wheel
When you bend it, you can’t mend it
And my love for you is like a sinking ship
And my heart is like that ship out in mid-ocean

You can’t get back together. Usually they don’t want to get back together, but you still pine for them. The greatest truth is embedded in songs, and Linda Ronstadt popularized the work of so many. J.D. Souther may have failed behind the board, but his “Faithless Love” became a standard after inclusion on “Heart Like A Wheel.”

Which was on Capitol. The label had an option for an album of their choice as part of the Asylum deal.

But then Ronstadt reverted to Asylum and…

Became only bigger.

I’m not a fan of that documentary released in theatres recently. Because it was a survey, it didn’t contain the essence. Yes, it got Linda’s formative years right, that was insightful work, but it equated her later work with that of the seventies, and that’s just plain wrong.

So she was in “Pirates of Penzance.” So she sang Mexican songs. Even did albums of standards. They were all successful, based on her talent and brand, but the peak was…

The seventies.

She was the one everybody wanted. She was the girl who could hang with the boys. She was the one who dated Jerry Brown. She may not have written the songs, but she certainly lived them. She was the biggest female star on the planet.

They don’t make ’em like that anymore. Because there’s no secrecy, no privacy, no magic.

And it’s not coming back.

We could not reach out and touch these stars, they were far removed, and when we went to the show…if you weren’t there, you missed it, but if you were there…you never forgot.

So now Linda Ronstadt is on a victory lap. Too late. The Rock Hall snubbed her for years, because if a girl rejects you, boys disdain you, if you’re the biggest, you cannot be the best, but that is untrue.

And now we’ve gotten a peek into her personality. Have learned that Linda is both very intelligent and ornery. That’s right, the biggest stars have to have it their way, they can see the essence, they can’t be compromised, just like Don Henley, who introduced Linda’s segment tonight.

And another change is that we have contempt for today’s overexposed stars. There’s nothing wrong with Dave Grohl, but we see him everywhere we go. Same deal with Tom Hanks. As for his wife, tell me what she’s done again?

Are you getting the attitude?

This is what those who made it in the past can’t understand about the present. The public has torn down all the pedestals, the hoi polloi believes it is in charge. And if you’re fake, or look like you’re working it too hard, you’re gonna be excoriated. Being a star in today’s world…no one’s really figured it out yet. How much should you interact with your fans, how much should you reveal, should you air your dirty laundry?

And then Aaron Neville comes on stage and knocks it out of the park.

No, this is not an Aretha moment. “Don’t Know Much” is subtle. And it was released in 1990, as part of Linda’s album “Cry Like A Rainstorm,” a return to her prior paradigm after her hejiras elsewhere.

And the album was not a gigantic hit. Sure, it went triple platinum, but in that era albums could go diamond.

Still… You knew “Don’t Know Much.” Maybe because of airplay on VH1.

So that brings us to Aaron Neville.

Fats Domino lived in obscurity in New Orleans for nearly half a century. Allen Toussaint, a certified genius, was touring when most people didn’t know they knew his work, and ignored him. Yup, Toussaint did the horns on the Band’s classic live album, “Rock of Ages,” and wrote classics like “Mother-in-Law” and “What Do You Want the Girl to Do,” never mind “On Your Way Down,” which Lowell George and Little Feat hit way over the fence on “Dixie Chicken.” People remember the title track, but the dark Toussaint cover is the essence of the album.

Which brings us to tonight.

What does LL Cool J have over CBS? Or maybe it’s vice versa, CBS wants to play it safe. That’s what’s wrong with this show, the youngsters, trying to drive ratings, everything’s about popularity these days, but it’s usually that which is not initially popular that lasts.

I mean can’t you give somebody else a chance?

That’s the nature of the pop chart, as Paul Simon sings, and is now so often quoted: “Every generation throws a hero up the pop charts”.

So, seventy eight year old Aaron Neville comes out on stage, to duet with Trisha Yearwood, who unlike Carrie Underwood knows that you can exhibit power with nuance, that you just can’t blast, that you’ve got to feel the song and then sell it.

And Aaron Neville has been around forever.

But tonight you found out why.

He’s still got that sweet voice! His body has aged, he moves slower, but when he opens his mouth…

Your soul is touched, you’re stunned there’s such beauty on this earth.

But Aaron Neville has never been honored by the Kennedy Center, never mind the Neville Brothers.

And there you have the modern paradigm. If you’re not selling yourself, most people don’t know, you’re not top of mind, but when you appear…WHEW!

Believe me, if the Neville Brothers had a better manager, they’d be honored, and in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That’s how it works, you need a champion, to work the room.

But what if you’re just a singer?

Despite what you see today, most artists are not good at selling themselves, maybe that’s why most of today’s “stars” do not qualify as artists.

But you know it when you see it.

And tonight we saw genius honoring genius.

I don’t know much, but I know that Aaron Neville killed on the Kennedy Center Honors tonight.

He doesn’t have enough name recognition.

Welcome to the twenty first century, where you think your niche is national, but it’s not.

My favorite example is SNL… Funny or not, who exactly watches that show anymore? Same deal with prime time network television. Advertisers go for the largest share of a shrinking market, but this decline in numbers evidences the spread of attention over many more genres/influences/ideas.

Kind of like record companies and radio. Terrestrial radio has the largest share of ears, but that no longer means it dominates, and by focusing on these outlets, record companies are dooming their futures.

That’s the story of the twenty first century, the inability of the usual suspects to pivot. They always wait too long, they are supplanted by more nimble newcomers.

The monied-class and New Yorkers think everybody is familiar with Mike Bloomberg, after all, doesn’t he run Wall Street’s information pipeline, wasn’t he mayor of New York?

All true, but most people are not paying attention, they’re not actively investing in stocks and they don’t care about New York, they may even resent New York, which is why Bloomberg is polling at 5%.

Klobuchar, Yang…they had the privilege of being in the debates, which garnered ratings superior to network prime time. So, now more people know about them.

So, if you’re running a national campaign…

But should you be running a national campaign?

Musicians keep lamenting they can’t break through. Maybe they don’t have to break through, maybe they should be satisfied they’ve got an audience at all, and try to grow and superserve this audience.

That’s right, there is no Music League. Despite the Grammys, there is no kumbaya, no coming together, no overall scene, you’re on your own, and it’s not so much that you’re competing with everyone, but yourself…which path do you want to choose?

Kinda like Mike Bloomberg himself. He was laid off by Salomon Brothers. Rather than look for another gig at a bank, he started a whole new business, he thought he knew better.

That’s the twenty first century in a nutshell…do you think you know better? If you do, you can have an impact. If your goal is to compete with others on their terms…good luck

And the funny thing is as tech closes ranks, art has become ever broader.

You can’t compete with Facebook or Google or Amazon…they’ll just buy you or put you out of business. But in art… With the distribution pipelines free, you’ve got a chance.

And this is the time for art. When the world is focused on money, when leaders spin untruths, now is the time to speak truth to power, assuming you know you aren’t about money but message, that if your fans won’t keep you alive you don’t deserve a career to begin with.

Bloomberg could run in New York, but he can’t run nationally, not because of his positions, but because people DON’T KNOW HIM! And unless he’s up front on the debates, on TV, good luck!

That’s the story of Trump, the public thought it knew him, from his residence on television and in the news. He was his own publicity machine, over decades. Hillary could not compete, she was victimized by others’ perception of her. Today you blaze your own trail, if you’re worried about what others say about you you’re missing the point, most people are not paying attention to the haters until you call attention to them, boosting their image and cause.

So, you just ignore everybody not on your team. If you’re having trouble getting traction for your works/image, what are the odds those criticizing you are gaining any traction for their opinions…NIL!

This is the essence of Twitter… All the haters? Check their number of followers. Almost all are de minimis, they’re living for you to call attention to them.

So what we have is a media and government believing the old paradigm still holds, when it doesn’t. They print lists, charts, when no one sees the world that way. Chances are you don’t care about the rest of the Top Ten, if you care about the Top Ten AT ALL!

And publicity?

Good luck! Go on that TV show, do that interview… Your fans convert new fans. You’re best off giving your fans more, they won’t stop talking about you….what are the odds someone’s gonna read some puff piece in the paper and check you out? ALMOST ZERO!

And if you rise above the fray, you turn into a cartoon character. There is no time for nuance, everything’s a drive-by while people dig down deeper into their own lives. People don’t have time to dig down deep into yours.

So everything worth anything in this world grows slowly. And that which grows quickly is usually a fad, despite all the hoopla.

If you’re in it for the long haul, you’ve got to build on your base. Who is Mike Bloomberg’s base? Rich people? People of color will never get over stop and frisk.

That’s another thing the media doesn’t understand. When it comes to elections, it’s one person, one vote. The rich don’t get to vote more than once, despite believing they’re masters of the universe.

The election of Trump is just evidence of this disarray. And the media who missed this believe he’s just an anomaly, they don’t understand the underlying problem, which is constituents don’t believe anybody’s in it for them!

Who is on your team? Who are you aligned with?

That’s another problem with the Democrats…the circular firing squad. What is the message, can they stick to it?

No! The DNC says the center must hold when the center doesn’t exist and criticizes the left and is out of touch with the public entirely.

It’s kind of like that old John Lennon song.

You can’t believe in government.

You can’t believe in Grammys.

You can’t believe in movies.

You can only believe in yourself…that’s the lesson of influencer culture, you’ve got to use the modern tools to make your own little dent in the universe. Talk to Generation Z, it understands this. But all boomers and Gen-X’ers can do is criticize these young ‘uns, along with their elders the millennials.

But the millennials know no job is forever, that you’ve got to look out for yourself, because no one else is.

So Trump is evidence of dissatisfaction. The question is what comes next? The lesson of the twenty first century is we are never going backward, only forward, and those who understand this triumph.

And the public adapts. The same way it purchased computers to play on AOL and then bought iPods and smartphones and subscribed to Spotify. The public is willing to move forward, but early adopters have to pave the way and spread the word and the hoi polloi must feel safe and excited.

The average citizen is so afraid of losing what they’ve got that they’re risk averse. But they will change, seemingly overnight, from Kodak to digital, from BlackBerry to iPhone.

But few playing the game seem to understand the populace.

To win the Presidency you must be famous. You must have fans. They must believe in you, they must be willing to go wherever you take them.

Same deal with artists.

You’re nothing without your fan base today. And the truth is many supposedly huge fan bases are just an illusion, not that many people believe.

Which is why we are in the era of authenticity and credibility.

But the public is gun-shy, because it’s been lied to too many times.

What else did John Lennon say?

Gimme some truth?

Don’t lie, don’t triangulate, be yourself…

Everybody’s got rough edges, everybody knows this. Smooth yourself down at your peril. Be unique, be a leader, be someone people want to cling to.

Or get out of the way and go back to the bench, fame is not for everybody, and fame is just another career choice…and if it’s your game, learn how to play it well.

P.S. I e-mailed Mark Cuban to run. He’s on TV every day, he’s seen as the sane panelist on “Shark Tank,” he’s perceived as understanding economics, and he’s a billionaire! Mark responded he’s not a Democrat, and that he promised his family he would not run.

“Justice Department Preparing Legal Action Against Live Nation for Ticketing Practices-Live Nation allegedly sought to strong-arm concert venues into using its dominant Ticketmaster subsidiary”

The only money is in the ticketing.

Actually, this is not the most important music business story this week. Also from the WSJ:

“Liberty Media Seeks to Increase Stake in iHeart Media-Deal would put nation’s largest radio broadcaster under same umbrella as concert promoter and satellite-radio giant SiriusXM”

Now using the logic of the SiriusXM merger, Liberty’s control of iHeart should be approved by the government. In other words, satellite radio and terrestrial radio are two different entities, they serve different audiences.

Hmm…

Now if you go deep into the inner-workings, antitrust law is a game of the usual suspects on both sides of the fence, both attorneys and government. And the law is not a practical enterprise, a judge doesn’t look at what feels right, but what the law says, how it should be interpreted, and if you’ve got good enough attorneys, which are always better than those employed by the government, chances are you can get what you want, especially if you donate to the ruling party.

So what is end game here?

Liberty Media has a long history of spinning off and exchanging assets. Liberty is in the money business. And it tries not to pay taxes. Ergo, the spinning off and exchange. In other words, the present-day status is not going to go on forever, there’s going to be an event. History tells us, unlike a hedge fund, Liberty is willing to wait. But a transaction transpires.

Now as for Live Nation…

The problem with Ticketmaster is its basic principles and ethos. Credit Fred Rosen with the original problem. He paid buildings to be the exclusive ticketing company. This is a huge incentive to building managers/owners. In essence, it’s free money. But to pay for that deal, Ticketmaster charges the end client, the everyday customer, fees, which consumers abhor, never mind don’t understand. Now the truth is these fees are not only a way to pay building owners, but for the promoter to make money, because the face value of the ticket…almost all of it goes to the talent. The fees are really the talent’s fault. Under the deals, the fees are not commissionable. And, Ticketmaster is paid to take the heat, the fans refuse to blame the acts anyway. And this has worked well until…

Concert ticket prices went through the roof, becoming the main source of income for acts, in a world where experiences are gaining value in comparison to assets. Furthermore, the ticket sellers are trying to squeeze the brokers, and the brokers don’t want to be put out of business. So, it’s an ugly situation, drawing government scrutiny. And the last thing you want is government scrutiny, which always comes too late and is effected by those unsophisticated with the industry.

So if all the money is in the ticketing… Ticketmaster is more valuable than Live Nation. Furthermore, in its war against scalpers, Ticketmaster is now selling secondary market tickets. And those are even more profitable than primary tickets. Ticketmaster is double-dipping, competitors cringe, but this is what is happening.

So…something’s gotta move.

Now a radio conglomerate already bought a concert promotion company, i.e. Clear Channel’s acquisition of SFX. It didn’t pan out financially, but it was approved. So, allowing Liberty to control both iHeart and Live Nation…that should garner approval too.

Now what you’ve got to understand is concert promotion and radio are mature businesses. And with mature businesses there is consolidation, and usually price wars before prices ultimately are stabilized at a higher point. This is the Amazon paradigm. Amazon puts competitors out of business by undercutting their prices, or it buys the competitor, and then prices stabilize at a higher level.

But concerts are not fungible items. And the truth is many shows are actually underpriced, ergo the secondary market.

So…

Do we let Live Nation continue to use its Ticketmaster muscle?

“Live Nation Chief Executive Michael Rapino said the decree allows the company to make decisions that are ‘right for our business,’ and that booking a Live Nation tour date at a venue that uses a ticketing provider other than Ticketmaster may not make economic sense for the company.”

BINGO! If the only profit is in ticketing, if you don’t control it, you don’t make any money. Not that the government understands this.

So…

Amazon is going to buy Ticketmaster. It’s just a matter of when Liberty can strike a stratospheric price. Once again, the value in Live Nation is not in the concert promotion, but the ticketing. Amazon doesn’t want to own a concert company, but it sure wants to own ticketing, it’s a gold mine. Furthermore, Amazon would do a better job of selling tickets than Ticketmaster could ever do. Amazon knows its customers, it’s one stop shopping. It’s the Google of commerce, i.e. you search for what you want on Amazon, not Google. So…

If Liberty can strike a high enough price, done deal. Then it sells the Live Nation concert company to some mark, just like Sillerman sold SFX to Clear Channel. Or it is broken up, the company being worth more when sold piecemeal.

As for SiriusXM/Pandora/iHeart…. If Verizon and AT&T continue to overpay for content companies that don’t pan out, why not buy this entity! There is a deep pocket who would want control of all these distribution pipelines and content. They could be put to better use by someone with a broader game. Or could they?

But when you’re the only game in town, the price goes up.

So…

Distribution is king, but content counts. Liberty has both, and will sell/exchange/merge what it’s got with something bigger.

In other words, this is a money play.

This is what those on the street, not Wall Street, but Main Street, don’t understand.

Even the government thinks it’s about ticketing.

And when businesses are mature, those with money, those involved in maximizing value, enter the picture. Same in tech right now. The crazy days of individual entrepreneurs are done. Now it’s about the investors more than those who actually work at the company.

Now fees have invaded so many spheres. Have you stayed at a hotel recently? And the public hates fees, but pays them anyway, until it gains an option. Napster was that option in recorded music. Does the public have an option regarding ticketing/concerts? No, so that’s why it’s getting the government involved.

Now let’s never forget that they got Al Capone for tax evasion.

So… The public is pissed about ticketing. It is too opaque. It’s just the way the industry wants it, although its goal is to eliminate the secondary market completely, in a world where the public relies on this secondary market for availability. Sound complicated? IT IS!

Ticketmaster is headed for a brick wall. You remove any element and it doesn’t work. You’ve got to have exclusive deals with the venues, you’ve got to have the fees. As for third party entrants…even if they could pay the venues, the venues would be locked out of shows, since the only profit is in the ticketing!

Live Nation’s stock price has gone up and up, that’s what Michael Rapino is paid for. Buyers and sellers, i.e. money, cares not a whit about the underlying business, just the perceived value, and right now the perceived value of Live Nation is stratospheric.

It’s not about ticketing, it’s not about fees, it’s not even about the government investigation. It’s about raising the value and taking advantage of discrepancies in the market, and companies eager for an infusion/rescue. Soon, Liberty will control it all. And Liberty has a history of exchanging assets.

So…

A change is gonna come.

Lyin’, cheatin’, hurtin’, that’s all you seem to do
Your time is gonna come
Your time is gonna come

“Your Time Is Gonna Come”
Led Zeppelin

Or maybe it’s not.

Turns out the people want strongmen. Officials who promise order. They want to give up power to those who know better, because they no longer know themselves. They’re afraid of self-determination while professing a desire for the same thing. Globalization has stymied them. They want a return to an era of yore, when life was understandable. Can you say MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN?

For a moment there, it looked like there was a leftward turn, like in Poland, a reaction to the far right inroads. So is Johnson’s win a harbinger of things to come, or a one-off anomaly?

I’m not sure.

Then again, the Brexit vote back in 2016 was indicative of rightward leaning in left wing countries. That’s how we got Trump. But one thing’s for sure…NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING! Isn’t that what William Goldman said about the movie business? Now it’s politics. Nobody predicted Trump would win in 2016, and then he did.

And no one predicted that Boris would have such a smashing victory.

But he did.

So maybe we need insurance, maybe we need to nominate our billionaire against their billionaire. Maybe Bloomberg needs to be the candidate. Sure, he’s a bad speaker, but it appears now that Trump will not debate the Democratic candidate anyway. The left wing in America wants the semblance of order, it wants to be able to sleep at night, it is willing to sacrifice progress for order…or is it?

One thing’s for sure, Scotland is not going to go quietly. Expect not only a secession movement, but there is a very good chance of exit.

Same deal with Northern Ireland. An unforgettable fire that may soon turn into a conflagration.

We live in incomprehensible times. An era where even the proprietors are clueless and achievements do not spread. Mark Zuckerberg has no idea of the power of his platforms, nor how to control them. And no one seems to know that Apple’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention is a raging success, neutering targeted ads on Safari:

The Information: ‘Apple’s Ad-Targeting Crackdown Shakes Up Ad Market’

So is California Scotland, just with a lot more money and power? Yup, D.C. cannot diverge from the Golden State’s agenda too far without an eventual rupture.

And is New York Northern Ireland?

One thing is for sure, the south is equivalent to Labour’s “red wall,” burgs where industry has faded and the people are out of work and frustrated. And it’s not only the south, but it’s the north…Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio… One thing’s for sure, denizens of these states have lost trust that the left, i.e. the Democrats, care about them, while they’re trumpeting technological victories and flying around in private planes. Trump promised them a recovery. Forget that it hasn’t happened, he’s given them something to believe in, while the left has not.

And you can lie and live an unvirtuous life with no consequences anymore. Then again, the poor are drug-addicted and divorced and they don’t care, they just want hope and a return of what they once had. And the Democrats fail to understand that that HOPE Obama promised them was not delivered.

One thing’s for sure, the U.S. is economically screwed, especially at a moment when China is burgeoning and the European Union, sans the U.K., is a true challenge. Doubt me? Look at Airbus versus Boeing. Europe doesn’t accede to the U.S. in lockstep anymore. As a matter of fact, they laugh at Trump and no longer see the U.S. as a threat, or a protector. It’d be as if Facebook asked people to pay to use the platform as it sells their information to advertisers. Trump is trying to get everybody to pitch in, on NATO, on… Not realizing it’s all about dominance.

So now Trump has dominance over his own domain, i.e. the United States, at the same time minimizing the power of the country while telling citizens he’s winning all the while. Talk about duplicity…

Then again, what is truth anymore?

You’ve got to give the Republicans credit. They’ve been on a multi-decade denigration campaign.

They marginalized Hillary Clinton.

They marginalized the “New York Times” and the “Washington Post” and say to believe in Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.

This is like a campaign to undermine Google results. Yup, you just cannot trust the algorithm, what comes up is biased, ignore it. And if you’re smart, you’ll give up the internet and just listen to the Big Boss, he knows better.

That’s the situation we’re in. Number one is not number one. The film business says streaming isn’t movies but the public is addicted to streaming. The music business says we live in a hip-hop word, but the truth is other genres are flourishing.

It’s hard to know what is going on if you’re paying attention. But if you’re working a minimum wage job to try and support your family, who has time to try and parse the truth, you just want someone to promise to make it better, the same people who trumpet full employment, even though they don’t want your hourly wage raised so you can pay your bills.

The same people who want to decrease your health options so theoretically others can’t rip the system off while the medical companies triumph all the while.

And we believe in corporations more than artists. What’s the first thing an act does when it gains traction? DO ENDORSEMENTS, SPONSORSHIPS, PRIVATES! You can’t believe in today’s artists, if nothing else they are not rich enough. And believe me, the mighty buck triumphs in America today.

Which is why we need to match their money with our money.

Yup, we need a real billionaire to go up against Trump, the faux billionaire.

Bloomberg for now, although he is too old and lacks dynamism.

But what we need is someone the people know, who they trust.

Yup, maybe that idea of Oprah wasn’t so bad.

You see Trump was built by Mark Burnett, without Mr. Survivor, Trump is a joke.

So we need Spielberg, all those Hollywood-types, to build the image of someone on the left, hopefully someone who already has traction.

And not Tom Steyer. Being a billionaire is not enough, you need someone the public likes. Even Tim Cook!

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn proved that you can’t be wishy-washy and you can’t turn on pillars of your own constituency. Yup, Corbyn couldn’t even come out for another Brexit election, he couldn’t help himself from making anti-Semitic comments. That’s one thing that’s wrong with Biden, we don’t want a return to normalcy so much as pie in the sky. Promise us a rosy future! Yes, to those who can’t understand economics. Kind of like Alabama promising to rid the state of the undocumented. The public loved it, because the public was ignorant, not knowing factories and other businesses relied on this immigrant labor.

Once again, that’s America. Promise a solution, don’t worry about truth.

The public can’t handle the truth. And people can’t parse it either. They’re too uneducated and ignorant to understand what’s going on, as the fat cats keep saying taxes should be lowered so no one takes unfair advantage, so no one takes money out of your pocketbook. The spoils always trickle down…can you say KANSAS?

That’s right, the left is educated, winners who understand but refuse to sacrifice for “those people,” in this case mostly the whites hooked on drugs.

As for the right… They want you to believe you too can become a billionaire, and you want to keep the spoils, right?

This is what the internet has wrought.

This is what the peace dividend has wrought.

Putin invades a country, right after his private, pocket-lining Olympics, and…the rest of the world does nothing.

Trump breaks the law and his team cries foul, talk about living in a topsy-turvy world.

So what does the public want?

To stop thinking about it all. To complete Brexit so everybody can move on.

The public wants to stop thinking about politics.

But that does not mean people will vote in their own interests.

People believe in the fantasy, otherwise life is just too tough.

Turns out you’ve got to promise control and execution of that fantasy to win.

This is just the beginning.