And he failed.
Everything comes back to the music business. Which was the canary in the coal mine for digital disruption. When they finally started stealing movies...there was a trailer in the theatre scolding moviegoers not to, PAYING CUSTOMERS WHO WERE ALREADY THERE!
Never forget, those with money and status protect money and status first and foremost, they cannot question their beliefs.
Like Chuck Schumer.
Schumer seems to believe it's business as usual. That the system works. As it is crumbling all around him. He reminds me of the executives who kept saying that the CD was perfect, who would want anything more...after ripping off the public with one good track on a disc they sold for fifteen bucks. The public was angry, the industry was ignorant, and then an explosion happened.
This time the explosion is on the other side, the Republican side, a slide towards authoritarianism. If you think Trump believes in the system...you just haven't been following the news. He acts willy-nilly and dares the legal system to stop him, and so far it hasn't done a great job of this.
Now it's not only Trump. But his acolytes. We've got to stop demonizing each and every person who voted for Trump. Forget the Biden-haters, those who constantly want to own the libs. The bottom line is people wanted change, and the Democrats weren't giving it to them. Biden was a placeholder. Where was the march to the future?
Oh, don't bother to defend him. And don't bother to point out the small margin with which Trump won. Or denigrate Gavin Newsom's new podcast. Makes me crazy when people are so up their own rear ends, inside their bubble, that they can't see the outside.
Sure, if you're part of the educated elite you think you know better. But one thing you do not know is how the other half lives. You're so busy chasing the billionaires that you're myopic.
Ah, I'm an equal-opportunity offender! People hate when you question your own team. Which is what Newsom is doing. He realizes he's vulnerable, with the issues in California, with the fetid debate with DeSantis on Fox. So Gavin is switching it up, trying to save his presidential prospects, and what do we keep hearing? HE'S LEGITIMIZING THE RIGHT!
As if we don't all live in a society together. Isn't that the cliché, keep your friends close, your enemies closer?
And then there's James Carville telling the Democrats to roll over and play dead and wait for the Republicans to self-destruct.
I'm sick and tired of the usual suspect Democrats who believe in the game so much that they can't question the game.
Like the coming elections... Do you really believe they're going to happen? On a fair basis? I mean they have elections in Russia and Hungary and it makes no difference, the incumbent strongman wins.
Everything is suddenly up for grabs. People are afraid to speak. Talk about a chilling effect... How do you lose the ability to speak truth to power? Very slowly and then all at once.
If you want to be really horrified, read this piece from "The New York Times':
"Young Democrats' Anger Boils Over as Schumer Retreats on Shutdown - A generational divide, seen in newer lawmakers' impatience with bipartisanship and for colleagues who don't understand new media, has emerged as one of the deepest rifts within the party."
Free link: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/us/politics/government-shutdown-spending-bill-schumer-democrats.html?unlocked_article_code=1.4U4.rYGH.R5a6fF1fgYte&smid=url-share
Here's the money quote:
"And in private, 30- and 40-something lawmakers commiserate about having to decipher the mysteries of the internet for their older colleagues; one said she recently had to explain to another House member what a podcast was."
This reminds me of the turn of the century when record execs did not use computers and had their e-mail printed out. How in the hell could they understand technological change? THEY COULDN'T! They couldn't fathom the discontent of the public. And they had the law on their side... So they sued their customers, and instituted the rootkit. How did that work out? HORRIBLY! Revenues continued to sink until an outsider, Daniel Ek, came along and rescued them.
And the funny thing is the labels LOVE Ek and Spotify, he's their largest account. And the users who bought the internet dream that everybody would be rich and famous in the future because of the unlimited opportunity blame Ek when this fallacy evidenced itself. More artists are making more money than ever before on Spotify and this still isn't enough for wannabe and broke artists, especially those who made money in the past. What more do you want?
Oh, a penny a stream. Then you're instantly ignored. You don't know economics. And if you don't know the landscape, you're screwed.
The public knows the landscape and is horrified and scared. And the only people seemingly tapping into this are D.C. pariahs Bernie Sanders and AOC. Bernie is speaking English, constantly railing against the oligarchs, and AOC represents the younger generation. But Schumer, et al, are in bed with the oligarchs, they've got their own team just like Trump and the Republicans, and they want no change, while believing that they know everything and rule forever, they're baby boomers, aren't they?
The record labels refused to make a deal with Napster, they legally shut it down, it was copyright infringement. And then what happened? KaZaA surfaced, and since there was no central database, a new legal question arose. And after KaZaA came lockers... It was an endless race until Ek and Spotify. (Don't talk to me about the iTunes Store, it was a wank, a temporary solution of ownership when ownership is passé, just ask anybody under thirty, they want ACCESS, not OWNERSHIP, meanwhile the aforementioned boomers can't understand this, aren't you supposed to build a shrine to yourself?)
So as you can see, it was one cut after another for the music industry until an outsider came along and rescued them.
So Schumer capitulates on the budget and he thinks this is the end. No, it's just the BEGINNING! Trump has Schumer and the Democrats just where he wants them, afraid and complacent, believing in business as usual when nothing could be further from the truth.
Well, they'll get him next time. Huh? When are you going to draw a line in the sand, when are you going to activate the public, get them on your side.
Napster gained traction with college students, because at the time they were the few with high speed connections. And even eventual users pooh-poohed Napster. It was illegal, the sound was supposedly poor, there were viruses... And then they started to use it and they were amazed, this was the greatest thing of all time! Not only could you get the hits you wanted that you'd never buy, you'd get all this unreleased stuff! Metallica said they didn't want their work tapes out there. Now acts are begging for attention, they're flooding YouTube with live shows, covers... Credit Napster. And if you think we're ever going back to the controlled market of yesteryear... You believe that foreign music is not infiltrating the scene and diluting the power of U.S. and U.K. repertoire.
Now the labels had an edict that no one employed could use Napster. Which only made them ignorant. Because if you used the service, you saw its magic, its advantages.
Schumer wants the Democrats to fall in line.
Whereas if he'd voted down the budget we'd be in uncharted territory, which a politician hates the most, they want a controlled environment. Yes, in the past a government shutdown was anathema, but I wouldn't think that would be the case today. It would focus and define the issues. As for the deleterious effects...how about all the people who've already lost their jobs as a result of Musk's chainsaw?
And the press keeps reporting the news. Just like with Napster. But the press didn't make the difference, THE USERS DID!
The general public.
And the general public is pissed, certainly the Democrats. And Republicans who voted for Trump are about to experience pain and what did Schumer do? Roll over and play dead.
It's a new world. You employ new strategies.
Read that article above:
"Representative Sara Jacobs of California, 36 — who said she recently had to explain what a podcast was to a Democratic colleague she would not name..."
Said:
"'Democrats won the people who watch cable news and read newspapers,' Ms. Jacobs said. 'We lost the people who don't feel like they're part of politics at all. And so, how do we go to them, instead of keep trying to force them to come to us?'"
Bingo. It's not only those on the right who do not believe in mainstream news. You've just got to read my inbox.
Oh, that's right, YOU DON'T!
If you did, you wouldn't have been surprised that Trump won in 2016 or 2020. And you'd be aware of the discontent and anger on the left today. People who are not only sick of the politicians, but big media. They rely on Substack and YouTube and podcasts and...alta kachers in Congress are clueless. Even baseball changed its rules, realizing the game had to be sped up and reined in.
But not the Democrats.
What do you want them to do? Their hands are tied!
No, they're not, we want you to wake up and LEAD!
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