The Onion Muses About Bloomberg's Aristocratic Presidential Hopes

Michael Bloomberg qualified for his first Democratic party debate as a 2020 presidential hopeful on Wednesday.

It seemed clear during and after the debate that maybe he was better off back when he still was not showing up to them, at least not physically.

The other candidates in the field took this opportunity with Bloomberg's actual, physical appearance to continually lampoon him, clearly portraying him as yet another version of Trump: an arrogant and sexist, eccentric billionaire with a false sense of entitlement and expectations that he could buy his way to the presidency. Regardless of whether they were generally seen as liberal Democrats, like Warren and Sanders, or as more conservative Democrats, like Klobuchar, Buttigieg, and Biden, they all seemed united, for once, in their attacks of Bloomberg.

There were a lot of commentaries about how brutally and mercilessly Bloomberg was attacked after the debate. 

But Bloomberg is a controversial addition to the Democratic debate. After all, he was not a Democrat until just recently, and he served as an outright Republican when he was mayor of New York City. And indeed, the fact that he is an unapologetic and often arrogant billionaire who seems to harbor delusions of grandeur and a false sense of entitlement sometimes make him feel more similar to Donald Trump, the man he allegedly is trying to replace, than to any of the Democrats, whatever their flaws may be.

In a satirical piece, the Onion may have touched on some of the unspoken undertones of Bloomberg's approach to politics and his overall campaign, reporting (again, not factually) that Bloomberg at one point declared, "I'll rule you peasants with an iron fist." The Onion then reported that there were thunderous applause by the Democrats in attendance, in a similar scene to Emperor Palpatine's announcement of the establishment of the Empire, which Padme marked was the end of the democracy of the Old Republic in "Revenge of the Sith." She also said noted that this end of democracy was marked with thunderous applause.

Here is the link to the Onion piece that prompted me writing this blog entry:

‘I’ll Rule You Peasants With An Iron Fist,’ Says Bloomberg To Standing Ovation During DNC Debate by The Onion, February 20, 2020:

https://politics.theonion.com/i-ll-rule-you-peasants-with-an-iron-fist-says-bloomb-1841790198?utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SF&utm_content=Main&fbclid=IwAR03_GGhqO8f0nFp3Rg9X82LhF7L6UVb6KdD9M2rpkxQfMLUTX8lu3iYBz8

Pearl Jam Releases Another Music Video as Release of New Album, "Gigaton," Draws Nearer

Pearl Jam has released another music video, the second one this year, as their newest album, Gigaton. The album cover has an image of a glacier melting, which is a clear allusion to the impact of climate change, which the American government tragically seems unable to believe in, let alone take any action to fight against it.

Earlier this month, Pearl Jam released the first video for one of the tracks on the upcoming album. That was for "Dance Of The Clairvoyants (Mach III)," which has the intelligence and subtly in lyrics that we have come to expect from Eddie Vedder.

Yesterday, Pearl Jam released the video for a second video this month. This one is called "Superblood Wolfmoon," which will be featured on their new album. 

I believe that this is Pearl Jam's first animated video since "Do the Evolution" back in 1998. It shows animated versions of the band members - Eddie, Stone, Mike, Jeff, and Matt - performing the song. This one is more straightforward rock with a punk bent to it. 

Not bad.

Here is the video, taken from Youtube:

Pearl Jam - Superblood Wolfmoon (Tiny Concert Animated Video)

Neil Young Trashes Trump & Expresses Support For Bernie Sanders

Neil Young is railing against Donald Trump. This is nothing new, as Young had never been shy in his scathing criticism of Trump and his presidency.

Young recently wrote a long letter expressing his disgust at Trump, and Rolling Stone magazine recently published an article on it which included a decent amount of the letter.

Here is some of the main parts of Young's letter:

“You are a disgrace to my country,” Young writes in a long, scathing open letter to Trump on his Neil Young Archives website. “Your mindless destruction of our shared natural resources, our environment, and our relationships with friends around the world is unforgivable.… Our first black president was a better man than you are.”

He’s particularly irked by Trump’s usage of his song “Rockin’ in the Free World” at his rallies. Young has asked him to stop this practice numerous times while acknowledging he has no legal recourse to force him. “[It] is not a song you can trot out at one of your rallies,” he writes. “Perhaps you could have been a bass player and played in a rock & roll band. That way you could have been onstage at a rally every night in front of your fans, if you were any good, and you might be …”  

“Every time ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ or one of my songs is played at your rallies,” he continues, “I hope you hear my voice. Remember it is the voice of a tax-paying U.S. citizen who does not support you. Me.” 

Young was not entirely negative. True, he trashes Trump and how Trump uses Neil Young's songs during his ridiculous political rallies. But Young also seemed to clearly endorse Bernie Sanders and his policies:

Near the end of the letter, Young comes very close to endorsing Bernie Sanders. “One of your opponents has the answers I like,” he writes. “He is aiming at preserving our children’s future directly. He is not popular with the Democratic establishment because, unlike all the other candidates, he is not pandering to the industries accelerating Earth’s Climate Crisis, the end of the world as we know it. He is truly fighting for the USA. His initials are BS. Not his policies.” 

Strangely, there are some links between Young and Trump. Trump does not merely play Young songs at his rallies, but apparently is quite a fan of Neil Young, and has seen him numerous times in concert, and sat next to some people who you would not typically imagine him being pals with:

Somewhat ironically, Trump is a big fan of Young’s music. In 2008, Rolling Stone phoned up Trump after noticing him at three of Young’s concerts over the past couple of years. At one of them, a CSNY show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, he sat next to Patti Smith and Salman Rushdie, and stayed for the entire show.  

“He’s got something very special,” Trump told us. “I’ve listened to his music for years and I’ve seen him before that, but I went to the concert where they were honoring Bob Dylan years ago at Madison Square Garden [Bob Fest 10/16/92], and Neil got up and totally brought the house down. There was nobody close. He’s performed for me at my casinos over the years, and he just brings it down. I’ve met him on occasions and he’s a terrific guy.”

Still, maybe there are limits to how big of a fan Trump is. When asked if he could name a single song or album that was his favorite, Trump could not come up with a specific answer. It was reminiscent of his non-answer when asked what was his favorite part of the Bible, and he basically just claimed "all of it," which many people felt was almost tantamount to admitting that he was not familiar enough with the Bible to actually claim any specific passages as his favorite. Here is his answer when pressed to give his favorite material from Young:

When asked to name a single favorite Young song or album, however, Trump was completely stumped. “It’s sort of all favorite,” he said. “I like the older stuff better, which is typical with a lot of artists — hence the famous Ricky Nelson song ‘Garden Party.’ I like all his songs, you know, ‘Rock & Roll’ — just great stuff.… Whatever the hell ‘it’ is, he’s got it.”

Bizarre, no? 

Not sure if either Patti Smith or Salman Rushdie were there with Trump specifically, or they just happened to be seated near him. Otherwise, those are some strange bedfellows, even if they are fans of the music of Neil Young.

Young was presumably joking when mentioning that Trump might be in a band or a musician. My guess is that Trump is no musician, because if he was, he would probably only give credit to himself for being a great musician, and these would probably be over the top claims of being the greatest musician, or even artist, that this planet has seen, much like his friend and supporter Kanye West is known to have done in the past. But talking about how great Young is and using his music at his rallies - obviously without Young's permission, much less blessing - indicates that Trump is a fan of Neil Young's music, or at least was before Young's criticisms of him and his presidency. 

Neil Young Pens Open Letter to Donald Trump: ‘You Are a Disgrace to My Country’ Now an American citizen, Young rails against the president by Andy Greene, February 19, 2020:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/neil-young-letter-trump-954835/?fbclid=IwAR2cY4nAF7jEnbAqFQMvMWidtnX8qsVBU8RfI3atNcntMl-XNXxfGrpj6Jc

NFL Proposes Changes to Playoff Format

🏈🏈🏈🏈

 

This change is not in the far off future. If this change indeed goes through, it would begin this coming season, so the changes would come into effect right away.              

The positives, at least for the league, is that it would add two more playoff games on Wildcard weekend. And for the weaker teams that have just been eliminated in the past, there is less of a chance now that teams with solid records or performances in the regular season will be kept out, as they had in the past. Obviously, with one more playoff spot for each conference, more teams will qualify, and so that will be good news for those teams.              

That said, however, it seems to water down the quality of the playoffs. In the AFC, the team that just missed out on the playoffs were the Pittsburgh Steelers, who went 8-8. In the NFC, the 9-7 Los Angeles Rams would have qualified, and thus gotten the chance to defend their NFC title from the previous season. They would have gone to Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers, who would have needed to win in order to advance to the divisional round. The Chiefs would have had to face and defeat the Steelers if they were going to advance to the divisional round, and they traditionally have struggled in the playoffs against Pittsburgh, although they appear to be much better these days than they have been in the past during earlier meetings.              

Yet, this begs the question of just how exhausting the schedule will make it for more teams. This does add extra incentive to win the home field advantage throughout the playoffs, because playing one less game – and thus facing elimination one less time – would be a clear advantage, yet it not only goes to the very top team in each conference.              

As for the rest, they will each be forced to play at least three games in order to reach the Super Bowl. The number two seed in each conference would have to play that extra game, and that adds an extra opportunity to face a presumably tough team and get eliminated, or to suffer some injuries or get weaknesses exposed. It will make the advantage of being a second seed versus being a third seed feel almost negligible, frankly.              

Still, change is inevitable, and this is one change that, apparently, is virtually inevitable. The NFL has wanted to do this for a while, because it adds key games during the big moneymaking time for the league, in the playoffs. More teams will qualify for the postseason, and that is exciting news for teams that too frequently just miss out on the playoffs, like the Steelers have the past couple of seasons.              

It does not seem like all that long ago when the NFL last expanded the playoffs to include six teams per conference. That was back in the 1990-91 season, and it did not alter the format of the top two teams in each conference having playoff byes. But logically, the next step for the league would be to add an eighth team, and for none of those teams to have playoff byes. That would make it more similar to the playoff formats for both the NBA and the NHL, where the eight teams play each other according to seeds, but have to go through three rounds of playoffs before reaching the championship round, which in the case of the NFL would be the Super Bowl. Sooner or later, it feels like that is going to happen. At least it feels like the next logical step.

Whether or not that is a good idea or not may be a better question.



NFL playoffs set to add 7th team, per report By Jason Marcum@marcum89  Feb 19, 2020: 
The 2020-21 NFL playoffs will likely have seven teams making the postseason in each conference.

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2020/2/19/21144690/nfl-playoffs-2020-team-rules-7th-cba-news-rumors

Bernie Sanders is Doing Extremely Well, Yet Mainstream Democrats Are Busy Shooting Themselves in the Foot

Bernie Sanders and me here pictured together in New York City, October 2016

Sanders is doing extremely well now, and in fact, he is doing so well, that it is difficult even for mainstream Democrats and major media sources to deny that he is, in fact, the frontrunner for the party. Again, the plls suggest that he has a lead in national polls, and he has opened up a huge lead in California, the biggest state in the country, while recently taking a lead in Texas, the second largest state.             

Indeed, things are going well for Sanders. And, if they want it, this could bode well for the Democrats, who could ride the Sanders train to victory in November, and reclaim the White House, if they wanted it.              

It is sad that we have to ask if they want it, though. Because right now, it seems unclear. Some Democrats are flirting so much with so-called moderates within their ranks, even though one after the other, these mainstreams seem to fall by the wayside. First it was Biden. Buttigieg was also one of the favorites, but his campaign has hardly taken off in a big way. To some extent, some people have looked at Klobuchar, even though her campaign also has largely stalled. And now, it seems that Bloomberg is all the rage, even though he was a Republican until very recently, which seems revealing, as it exposes the hypocrisy of mainstream Democrats who claim to base their opposition of Sanders on this notion that he is not “really” a Democrat.              

Major news media sources also have launched numerous attacks, something that I have covered here over the past couple of weeks, and which just seems to keep going.              

Clearly, there are plenty of powerful people who simply do not like Bernie Sanders.              

My guess is that this is because he is not for sale, and that this is not just words. Trump claims the same thing, but there maybe nobody in this world who worships money and the power and influence that it brings quite to the extent that Trump does. The mainstream Democrats and Republicans in recent decades are well-known to bow down to private special interests, courting their money and support.                

Bernie actively rejects these billionaires, and he has held steadfast with his values, never wavering on his commitment towards trying to make the country a legitimately better, fairer, and more hopeful place for all Americans, even if, yes, that means that the wealthiest Americans will have to pay more in taxes.              

Clearly, this is a message that does not resonate positively among mainstreamers for both Democrats and Republicans, who then go to extraordinary lengths to try and discredit Sanders, to attack him. They relentlessly insisted that he was not a serious candidate, and labeled him as a “fringe” candidate back in 2016. As the frontrunner right now, they likely cannot get away with that (apparently, their hypocrisy might still have boundaries that they do not cross, at least for now), but that does not mean that they are pulling any punches. And the thing is: they cannot attack Bernie based on inconsistencies or some perceived              

They keep throwing whatever throwing whatever they can at him, hoping to create as many obstacles in his way as possible.  Yet, if the mainstream Democrats would simply do what they should have done back in 2016, Bernie Sanders will likely not only capture the Democratic nomination, but get people excited with his grassroots campaign. They could ride his train to victory in November, if they would just get out of the way, and stop trying to interfere.  It makes you wonder if they are more scared of him receiving the nomination over the other Democrats, or if they are actually more fearful of him actually winning in November, and then ending the Clinton and Obama style of Democrats winning elections. Because if he makes half the changes that he proposes, those kinds of Democrats will seem like political dinosaurs indeed.

Lee Camp Predicts How the Democrats Will Block the Nomination of Bernie Sanders

Lee Camp, like many other experts, believes that the Democrats are set to rig the election to secure a "safe" nominee in summer, much like they did in 2016.

Look how well that worked out.

Camp may be right.  He at least claims to know what the Democrats can be expected to do.

Do you agree? Take a look at a recent video by him, and how he expects things will shake out. 

Here's How It'll Go Down (Web Exclusive)

Bernie Sanders, Front-Runner

Bernie Sanders and me here pictured together in New York City, October 2016

Is he really the "new" frontrunner, or are they just finally acknowledging that the results have born out what the polls consistently suggested before. He was winning New Hampshire, and has had a lead nationally for a while now. The results last night were hardly a surprise, but the mainstream media is now only grudgingly acknowledging that he is indeed leading, as they have always dragged their feet in their coverage of him as a serious candidate.

The Democrats are, once again, showing some desperation in trying to prevent Bernie Sanders from being their nominee for 2020. He leads in the races of state primaries to this point, having received a majority in both Iowa and New Hampshire, and as of right now, he is leading for the next primary in Nevada, as well. Polls show that he is leading in national polls, and polls project him beating Trump by a wider margin than any other Democrat in the general election, to boot.              

So what do the mainstream Democrats do?              

Predictably, they go to extraordinary lengths to make sure that anyone but Sanders receives the nomination.              

Frankly, it sounds counterintuitive, and very self-destructive. Like they are shooting themselves in the foot. But remember, it was a similar story back in the 2016 election, as well. Bernie Sanders was surging, he was the most liked and trusted of major politicians in the country, and polls showed him beating Trump more soundly than Hillary Clinton, who was struggling, particularly with likability and trustworthiness. There were some suspicious things that compromised her trustworthiness, as well. The fact that she asked leaders in the Democratic party leaders like Debbie Wasserman-Shultz to help her, and then receiving that help, even though they are supposed to remain impartial. There were questions about how much money Hillary’s campaign was receiving from major corporations and Wall Street banks, and the enormous speaker’s fees she received for personal appearrances. Then, while Hillary Clinton was being investigated, Bill Clinton – her husband and, obviously, the former President of the United States, meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the tarmac of an airport in Phoenix, an action which effectively temporarily shut the airport down briefly, inconveniencing everyone there, as Clinton met with Lynch. They denied that the investigation into Hillary was discussed, yet such a meeting is still illegal, and all charges against Hillary Clinton were dropped within a few days of the meeting. Then, Hillary Clinton received a question from Donna Brazile prior to a debate against Trump later that year. All of that would compromise her legitimacy and trustworthiness, and reinforce the notion that the election was rigged in favor of the powers that be, who clearly wanted Hillary to win.

Sanders is doing extremely well now, and in fact, he is doing so well, that it is difficult even for mainstream Democrats and major media sources to deny that he is, in fact, the frontrunner for the party. Again, the plls suggest that he has a lead in national polls, and he has opened up a huge lead in California, the biggest state in the country, while recently taking a lead in Texas, the second largest state.              

Indeed, things are going well for Sanders. And, if they want it, this could bode well for the Democrats, who could ride the Sanders train to victory in November, and reclaim the White House, if they wanted it.              

It is sad that we have to ask if they want it, though. Because right now, it seems unclear. Some Democrats are flirting so much with so-called moderates within their ranks, even though one after the other, these mainstreams seem to fall by the wayside. First it was Biden. Buttigieg was also one of the favorites, but his campaign has hardly taken off in a big way. To some extent, some people have looked at Klobuchar, even though her campaign also has largely stalled. And now, it seems that Bloomberg is all the rage, even though he was a Republican until very recently, which seems revealing, as it exposes the hypocrisy of mainstream Democrats who claim to base their opposition of Sanders on this notion that he is not “really” a Democrat.              

Major news media sources also have launched numerous attacks, something that I have covered here over the past couple of weeks, and which just seems to keep going.              

Clearly, there are plenty of powerful people who simply do not like Bernie Sanders.              

My guess is that this is because he is not for sale, and that this is not just words. Trump claims the same thing, but there maybe nobody in this world who worships money and the power and influence that it brings quite to the extent that Trump does. The mainstream Democrats and Republicans in recent decades are well-known to bow down to private special interests, courting their money and support.                

Bernie actively rejects these billionaires, and he has held steadfast with his values, never wavering on his commitment towards trying to make the country a legitimately better, fairer, and more hopeful place for all Americans, even if, yes, that means that the wealthiest Americans will have to pay more in taxes.              

Clearly, this is a message that does not resonate positively among mainstreamers for both Democrats and Republicans, who then go to extraordinary lengths to try and discredit Sanders, to attack him. They relentlessly insisted that he was not a serious candidate, and labeled him as a “fringe” candidate back in 2016. As the frontrunner right now, they likely cannot get away with that (apparently, their hypocrisy might still have boundaries that they do not cross, at least for now), but that does not mean that they are pulling any punches. And the thing is: they cannot attack Bernie based on inconsistencies or some perceived              

They keep throwing whatever throwing whatever they can at him, hoping to create as many obstacles in his way as possible. 

Yet, if the mainstream Democrats would simply do what they should have done back in 2016, Bernie Sanders will likely not only capture the Democratic nomination, but get people excited with his grassroots campaign. They could ride his train to victory in November, if they would just get out of the way, and stop trying to interfere.

It makes you wonder if they are more scared of him receiving the nomination over the other Democrats, or if they are actually more fearful of him actually winning in November, and then ending the Clinton and Obama style of Democrats winning elections. Because if he makes half the changes that he proposes, those kinds of Democrats will seem like political dinosaurs indeed. 

Here are the articles that I used in writing this particular blog entry:


Why some Democrats are worried Bernie Sanders could be unstoppable for the 2020 nomination  Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY, February 17, 2020:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/02/17/bernie-sanders-success-2020-primary-worrying-some-democrats/4752572002/?fbclid=IwAR33FyBx_UcqhurcvsUKiRwnsZtctc4qr8cREYtcIe37GFnfWe6qjeFo9vY





Bernie Sanders Jumps to Commanding 32% Lead in California Poll by Jeffrey Taylor, February 18, 2020:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-19/bernie-sanders-jumps-to-commanding-32-lead-in-california-poll?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&cmpid=socialflow-facebook-business&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=business&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0LO8ajXfitiJjJ-wM-oADhSBxqNxSCmqXoRolLu6XSLhf5iI6qRFpPcbk




Bernie Sanders Faces a Media Rigged Against Him by Jeff Cohen / truthdig.com / Feb 15, 2020

https://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/bernie-sanders-faces-a-media-rigged-against-him/?fbclid=IwAR3StE-4eya-94wu5cnixal8Cq3p0jPAI6PVk1hrccbrusbGpqP1hYzY6c8





Bernie Sanders, Front-Runner Also: The Justice Department’s new era.  David Leonhardt By David Leonhardt Opinion Columnist  Feb. 12, 2020:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/opinion/bernie-sanders-new-hampshire.html