As IF Times

link https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/us/politics/bloomberg-nevada-debate.html

In the aftermath of the recent Democratic candidate debates to determine who is going to be beaten by Donald Trump in the next election, the big takeaway is just how incompetent a man who is worth a reported 60 billion dollars can be.  Michael Bloomberg appeared to be the pinata at a kids’ party since he was the only one not carrying a stick.  In what appeared to be a very bad farce, a stage full of incompetent, disingenuous do-nothings set upon Mayor Mike as if he was the new guy in a prison block.  It was bewildering to see that one of the most successful men in America (as measured by wealth) could appear to be so feckless in facing antagonists that are so incompetent and un-likeable that even their own party cringes at the thought of any of them.

Anyone? pic.twitter.com/xqhq5qFYVk

— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 20, 2020

The only utterance Mayor Mike made that made any sense at all was the fact that he was the only one on stage who had ever started and built a business, and a very successful one at that.   None of the other pretenders on stage had done anything in their lives to build a company, meet a payroll or know the stress of maintaining an enterprise.  They have all been employees,  never having needed to take on real risks in their lives.  Despite this, they feel qualified to assume the controls of the mightiest nation on earth because…racism, global warming etc.    His tormentors were either professional political figures, lawyers, or the most odious combination of all, both.  This background makes them well seasoned in the art of making pandering promises and faux pious utterances.  Bloomberg didn’t stand a chance.

He’s a guy from the business world, where things are done autocratically and not by consensus.  Marching orders are set not by focus groups but rather at his personal direction.  He is not used to having to explain his actions to anybody. None of these qualities disqualifies him to run for the top job of managing the nation.  In fact, they can be admirable qualities in a leader.  Unfortunately, these qualities are not accompanied by any sense of humility or understanding what people are like that he doesn’t employ.

Donald Trump comes from a similar background, having built a formidable business empire by his own efforts.  The difference is that Trump had built his organization by working with teams of people in all industries with lots of hands on involvement.  There were always lots of moving parts and he had to grasp many and varied aspects of different businesses.  He actually had to deal personally with construction trades, unions, lawyers, as well as political  and personnel issues.  Bloomberg built an information empire dealing with tech geeks. One dealt in the real world and the other in an abstract digital world.

The difference between the experience of the two men is made very clear once Bloomberg chooses to speak about things outside of his field. The disdain he holds for those people not engaged in his industry is incredibly arrogant and condescending.   This comes from a man who has been allowed to live isolated from the realities of the lives of the average person. To operate where your moves and policies have to please a public is likely very alien to him.  He won’t even let his own news organization cover him.  His apologizing for policies he once favored made him look the same as all of the other candidates who readily apologize for anything that was likely to offend anyone.  It’s reminiscent of John Kerry who was for the war before being against it.   While he did preside over a few peaceful terms in New York, his most notable accomplishment was the abolition of large sized drinks.  This nanny mentality has also shown up in his zealous anti gun stance,  a definite non starter with people outside of the bubble of liberal cities.

Certainly, he’s not the first (nor he will be the last) political aspirant to offer stupid policies, but to be seen as unable to fend off the attacks of  people of much lesser intelligence is the real shocker for interested observers.  While we can accept his quality as a business manager, his lack of ability to convey a palpable message and empathy for people knocks him out of serious consideration.  I think there’s still a chance that he can get the nomination because he can write checks with more zeros than a box of cheerios.  He’s always been used to getting his way by paying up.  But it will be all for naught because he’ll spend all this money to attain the nomination….only to lose to Trump in November.

link:  Sanders gets a second look

Bernie Sanders is the extension of the bad boy obsession phenomenon that consumes many young girls during a crazed time in their lives.  He’s the geriatric version of Fonzie.  Usually during their teen years but not exclusively, women are vulnerable to the charms of roguish boys, who appear to live outside of the mainstream and flout popular social norms.  Heck, they’re even a bit dangerous.  To their friends and families, the girls’ obsession seems weird because the object of their  affections are generally louts, ne’er do wells and are social outcasts. No good could ever come of the relationship.  Eventually of course, the boy moves on to the next victim and the gal is crushed.

It’s a stretch to imagine a leather jacketed, greasy haired, brooding hoodlum turning into Bernie Sanders ( and frankly that should scare all girls off of such guys) but the parallels are astonishing.  Among all of the objectionable people vying to attain the nomination to be the Democratic nominee, Sanders is by far the most objectionable.  For, while all of the candidates conveniently say the same things and pander to whomever they can  to get votes, Sanders genuinely believes his crazed utterances and has unabashedly been doing so his entire career.

Similar to his senate cohort, Joe Biden, Sanders has lived his entire life suckling on the public teat, rising from guitar playing communes to mayor of a small town to being elected to the US senate, to being a contender for the US presidency. It’s Horatio Alger-The Nightmare Version.  Throughout the time of his rise in political favor, he has consistently advocated for support of a socialist society with the usual bleats about wealth disparity, racism, sexism etc etc.  Fortuitously for Sanders, this on going preaching against capitalism has not prevented him from acquiring great wealth, including several homes, a large stock portfolio, big payouts and even a most un-socialist bauble, an Audi R-8 sports car worth a cool 100g.

Sanders is not alone in his hypocritical life.  Al Gore and Joel Osteen are the most obvious examples of charlatans who preach their respective brands of piousness while having a siphon attached to the public purse. The genius of all of these people is their ability to find that part of the population that are susceptible to their entreaties…and then make truckloads of money from them!  Al Gore is not living in a wood cabin eating kelp and travelling by oxcart.  Joel Osteen is not wearing sackcloth and handing out bread.   And Bernie Sanders is not sharing his ill gotten filthy lucre with his adoring acolytes.

During this interminable period of Democratic debates, few things are more odious than to see this avowed socialist wag his finger at the public, telling them how things should be.  Imagine;  a man who has done nothing, telling people how to do everything.  According to the ‘polls’ however, his popularity is strong across a wide swath of America. I think this is the equivalent of polling goo goo eyed teen aged girls who think that Bernie is Fonzie.  Nobody would trust the judgement of teen aged girls on anything much less major decisions on the direction of society.  His push for socialism continues even as there is not a single instance of such a system working anywhere, now, or ever in the history of the world. Wake up girls; the man’s a goof.  He does live outside of the mainstream, he is anti social, but more importantly, he is more than a bit dangerous.