Monday, November 25, 2019

Michael Bloomberg’s gamble with opprobrium

Michael Bloomberg's 6,000-or-so square foot beach shack in Bermuda.
He escapes there frequently via private jet, usually to play golf. Sound familiar?
In quite a few ways, Michael Bloomberg is simply Donald Trump Lite.

Trump has Mar e Lago. Bloomberg has a waterfront estate called Stokes Bay, in Bermuda.

Trump, when he’s not tweeting obsessively, plays golf obsessively. Ditto Bloomberg when he’s in Bermuda. In fact, “obsessively” is just the word the New York Times used to describe Bloomberg’s golfing behavior there.

Perhaps more pertinently, neither man has demonstrated much respect for established law. With Trump I wouldn’t know where to begin. With Bloomberg, I know where it all might end. After New York City’s voters approved mayoral term limits by referendum, Bloomberg overrode the referendum by a tricky political maneuver. He essentially bribed New York City Council members by granting them an extra term as well. 

Bloomberg's excuse for flipping his own city's inhabitants the bird was that he needed a third term to fix the city's financial crisis. He alone could do it! Does that sound familiar? 

The 120-year-old President?

So much for the will of the people, and possibly for presidential term limits. If Bloomberg, now 77 years old, lives to be 120, we could have a 120-year-old President of the United States.

Would Bloomberg be a better president than Trump? Absolutely yes, for the same reason that getting bitten on the ankle by a rabid pig would be better than getting crushed to death and then swallowed by a boa constrictor. 

Bloomberg has already placed “at least” $37 million worth of advertising, CNN reported recently. Even billionaires don’t throw that kind of money around just to hear the sound of money bags knocking network advertising sales managers off their feet.

That’s also why, just for starters, Los Angelinos who watch the local news on NBC in the afternoon or evening could be seeing nine ads for Michael Bloomberg every day, according a tweet from Shane Goldmacher, a New York Times political reporter.

Moreover, Bloomberg’s sudden apology to the African-American community, for 12 years of stop-and-frisking black people for the offense of being outdoors while black, rang loud with almost the same total lack of sincerity that marks Donald Trump when he reads a prepared speech written by some political consultant.

An apology of convenience

“I see now that I was wrong,” Bloomberg said to a black church congregation that he had chosen for his mea culpa

How come now rather than a dozen weeks ago, or when you were mayor for twelve years and could do something about it, Mike? You didn’t notice all the lives needlessly ruined, all the jobs lost, all the loss of civic comity created by needlessly harassing African-Americans for twelve years? Of course you didn't. Or perhaps you just didn't care.

For Mr. Bloomberg’s sake, if God forbid he wins the Democratic primary, I sincerely hope he also wins the Presidential election.  Because if he jumps in and spoils it for strong Democratic candidates, and then the election goes to Trump, the cloud of opprobrium that follows Bloomberg for the rest of his life will be so thick you’ll be able to cut it with a crowd of waving pitchforks. And my guess is, he'll want to spend even rainy weekends in Bermuda. Not to mention midweeks.

If he gains the Democratic nomination, Bloomberg will either make himself President … or the Democratic Party’s biggest pariah in history.

8 comments:

Mike R said...

Nice.

Tom Shefchik said...

Another rich white guy savior. Give us a break.

Soi kèo - Nhận định - Trực tiếp bóng đá k+ said...

Buttermilk Sky said...

I've only seen one Bloomberg commercial, but Steyer is on more often than the GEICO gecko. It's a golden age for lawyers and the owners of TV stations.

The New York Crank said...

Right you are, Sky. I've seen Steyer's commercials, and I can't figure out what he's up to, other than obviously trying to run for president. My takeaway from his less-than-compelling message seems to come in two parts. Part 1. Trump is bad. Part 2. Steyer and his wife founded a non-profit bank.

After more than $50 million worth of media expenditures, he's still polling at roughly 2 percent. Maybe he's running for sainthood.

Yours crankily,
The New York Crank

Anonymous said...

My suspicion is that Bloomberg is setting the stage for a 3rd party run IF the nominee is Warren or Sanders. If Biden or one of the other corporate tools manages to get the nod, MB will quietly pack up his toys and leave the sandbox. If (god forbid!) a GENUINE liberal-populist wins the Democratic Party's primaries, Bloomberg will run as a centrist-independent to enable Trump's re-election. Oh, he'll CLAIM that Warren or Sanders cannot possibly win and add that Trump is just too much of a threat to the country to let this pass, bla bla bla. Everyone with half a brain will recognize it for the bullshit it is, but if he succeeds in being the spoiler, he could care less about "opprobrium". He's almost 80 and richer than sin. Of course he can cloister himself away and live his remaining years in privacy, far from the shaming crowds.

PS - He may also be just deluded enough to think he can win. Accumulating that much money probably has a way of making a person feel pretty much invincible.

SPM 12/16/19 @ 2:43 pm

Unknown Soldier said...




Matthew 11
[15] He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Revelation 11
[15] And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE STUDY
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


Billionaires are BRILLIANT !

scratchwiththechickens@gmail.com
seeking benefactor


!

The New York Crank said...

I have decided not to "moderate" the post above off my blog because it is indicative of the level of insanity now besetting politics in the USA. Or, since Unknown Soldier is quoting the Bible, I will quote The Book of Divulgation:

Verily verily, it is written that he that sinnneth showerth scant compassion for the halt and the lame and the blind, but he gathereth the harvests of the poor and he that stroreth them in his own storehouses unto him falleth the plague.


Yours very crankily,
The New York Crannk