Wolf Rebranded Sheep?

Will the real Michael Bloomberg please stand up?

A "former" Republican now running as a Democrat, Mr. Bloomberg is clearly a billionaire enigma, clothed as the potential "Democrat" savior and Trump alternative.

What would he do if he became president?

Would he resurrect the George W. Bush administration? (That might include the infamous neoliberals who gave us our current Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan debacle as well as the extensive "American Empire" we now are policing around the world. And, even worse, brought us to the "alternative facts" Trump era.

Scary, isn't it?

Some light on this subject comes from a recent Democracy Now interview:

"NORMAN SOLOMON: Well, Bloomberg is really, I think, a subtext. He is the oligarch-in-waiting to try to grab control of the White House. And a lot of facts just aren’t getting out there. I mean, it is just a classic of, and it is a dystopian classic of, “Can the White House be bought?” Just the onslaught of advertising, particularly on TV around the country, and he’s rising in the polls. Has he hit the ceiling? We don’t know."

"One of the bits of video that I think must be circulated to millions is on YouTube. And that is with Michael Bloomberg speaking at the 2004 Republican National Convention, vehemently expressing his support and endorsement for the re-election of George W. Bush. So, how do you go from 2004 with that kind of speech to saying in 2020 you want to be the Democratic presidential nominee? Well, that would require tremendous amnesia among people who vote in Democratic primaries. It would require forgetting about or discounting the human lives that George W. Bush destroyed and that Bloomberg helped him destroy in Iraq and, for that matter, the war at home, the class war, the racism that George W. Bush embodied through his policies. So, it comes down to: Are we going to live in this fantasy world driven by a $55 billion man, or are we going to get real about humanity and what is at stake?"

Here's the rest of the story:

Bloomberg is a billionaire Republican who terrorized black and brown youth: Sanders’ supporters


Please go here for the interview script.

Channeling Great Spirits

Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) and Mayor Michael Bloomberg

While I admire Mr. Bloomberg for what I believe he seems to advocate and his campaign against Mr. Trump, I find it hard to support “just another” billionaire mainly because he can buy his media coverage and he appears to be the mainstream media’s acceptable choice.

That reason alone makes me suspicious that he will inspire and bring into fruition the clear changes we must make to American Predatory Capitalism and steer us away from the neoliberal “American Exceptionalism” / U.S. world domination bullshit that our political people appear to mouth as their everyday mantra.

Further, Bloomberg appears to be an “acceptable centrist Democrat” with mega bucks. So, the Wall Street people find him “one of them” and therefore O.K. to be president. I am reluctant to vote for another Wall Street person to be “THE CEO” of the USA. Just another person who will likely keep the nation on the same path we have followed since Truman left office and we were on before FDR. Clearly, that was and is the road to disaster.

If we are to survive as a Democratic Republic, then we must make radical change happen… away from American Predatory Capitalism and toward Democratic Socialism. We must move toward a government that serves the best interests of all 99.9% of the people, not just the .001%.

Additionally, we must find employment opportunities for people outside of the “American empire” war industry. As I see it, we have plenty of opportunity to do so through a real peace/green economy and restoration/revolutionary improvement of the U.S. infrastructure.

If Bloomberg worked in that direction, I might vote for him – assuming the Democrat’s Wall Street-dependent leadership will never allow Bernie to become their candidate.

Second Thoughts About Bloomberg

For me to dismiss him as a potentially good president is a mistake.

After all, FDR was a member of the .01% of his time and became one of the best advocates for common people as ever occupied the White House. He was labeled a traitor by the “old monied class”, the Wall Street scumbags, Republicans, et. al. FDR’s progressive legislation and “tax-the-wealthy” programs were also reasons the “Wall Street bankers and industry tycoons” tried to overthrow him.

While FDR did make several human rights mistakes, such as the internment of Japanese Americans and turning away thousands of Jewish refugees during WWII, his progressive accomplishments saved American predatory capitalism from itself and improved the quality of life for millions of Americans... to this day.

I know Bloomberg’s NYC administration, to some extent, supported the infamous the New York PD “stop-question-and-frisk” program and that he recently apologized for his part in it.

Still, I know next to nothing more about him. But I will do more research.

It is possible he could be an FDR in today’s “billionaire's” clothing.

So, our question for the oracles is: Can Mike Bloomberg channel FDR's great, good spirit to help the people of USA, the people of the world, TODAY?

Oh Great Spirit - 2012

Back to Paris 241 years later… Americans looking for help

Reprising Ben Franklin’s visit to France in 1776, Americans are once again back in Paris looking for help and, differing from Dr. Franklin’s mission, to reassure the world that Americans are not all as stupid as their President.

The message is that American cities, states and regions know what is best for them and how to work together to solve the problems which universally confront them. That is why, in the face of federal government inaction and downright stupidity, city mayors (on a world-wide basis) have come together in their best interests to solve the problems which confront them all. And, it’s not only local and regional governments. Major corporations long ago determined that their best interests would be served if they worked together toward sustainable solutions to world problems, including energy, and deal with climate change issues. See: World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

I’ve written about these positive efforts here, Global Local, and the multi-trillion dollar opportunity that sustainability offers here, Our Legacy Will Be Opportunity.

Now comes the latest. In the face of President Trump’s outright stupidity the U.S. mayors, governors, corporations and the vast majority of the American  people are once again making it clear that they will continue with their efforts to “reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions to 26% below 2005 levels by 2025”.

It makes me supremely relieved to read of this happening. And it reminds me of a time long ago when Americans traveled to Paris looking for help to sustain their new republic. Back then, they found the help needed in France. Today, we’ve gone to Paris join with the rest of the world looking for help to overcome the stupidity we have allowed to rule our nation.

“The American government may have pulled out of the agreement, but the American people remain committed to it — and we will meet our targets,” former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a special envoy for cities and climate change to the United Nations, said Friday after meeting in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

“It will be a heavy lift. States and (160) cities would need to meet a pledge to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions to 26% below 2005 levels by 2025, America’s self-declared target under the deal.”

“Even with buy-in from the federal government, there were doubts about hitting that nonbinding target. Trump has made it a lot more complicated by spurning the accord — but not impossible.”*


*A California-led alliance of cities and states vows to keep the Paris climate accord intact, Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 12017.

Michael Bloomberg meets Emmanuel Macron as his drive to honour Paris climate change pact gathers pace, Agence France-Presse , The Telegraph, 3 June 2017.