Music has always been a large part of whatever I've done professionally at any given time through the years.
As a composer/lyricist/songwriter of some accomplishment, obviously.
As a commercial/advertising/jingle writer.
And, as a broadcaster, I've been that voice that brings you the latest news, weather, sports and, of course, the same twenty five or so latest hit songs in what radio consultants refer to as "heavy rotation" but most every day listeners I've ever spoken with refer to as "why do you guys only play the same twenty five songs over and over and over all the time?"
Even these days, as I have discreetly moved, as a result of my age and experience (been shoved, as a result of my age and experience) away from hosting music radio shows to hosting news/talk radio shows, I still include music as underscore, segue and/or satirical, while not necessarily subtle, slaps at whatever topic, or caller, needs slapping in the applicable moment.
Admittedly, sometimes it's simply for the purpose of enhancing the show and entertaining the audience.
Talk radio talk about, say, Kim Kardashian's latest Mensa level contribution to society is typical (read: yawn/snooze) talk radio fodder, so I flip the impish switch and add a little sparkle to the segment by segueing in with a few seconds of Sister Sledge singing "We Are Family" and segue out with a few seconds of Donny Osmond's once upon a time tune of teen angst "Go Away, Little Girl."
Yeah, I know. Describing it as I just did does make the idea sound cheesy. But, trust me, it comes off really well on the air.
As a result of all those years of musical contribution and conditioning, the brain being what the brain is, I tend to think in terms of music, songs, lyrics automatically.
Even, and, these days, especially, when it comes to politics.
To wit, this morning, as I clicked on to check out the final outcome of what I knew the final outcome would be in last night's Nevada GOP caucus tally, I was greeted with the banner headline trumpeting the obvious.
Or, in this case, of course, more appropriately, "trump"ing the obvious.
"IT'S TRUMP"....read the big block print at the top of the CNN website home page.
And my brain being what my brain is, I had one immediate, automatic thought.
Michael Jackson.
Stay tuned, cats and kitties, we'll be right back to explain the connect between the King of Pop and the Emperor of all he surveys.....but first..........
Mel Robbins is a CNN commentator, legal analyst, best-selling author and keynote speaker. In 2014, she was named outstanding news talk-radio host by the Gracie Awards. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author
(CNN) It's over. Donald Trump is the Republican nominee.
He just added Nevada to the growing list of caucus primary wins, and while he needs more delegates to clinch it, who the heck can stop him now?
He is leading in national polls and in many state polls; he's succeeded in upending rivals such as Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Ben Carson; and there's no one in sight who can stop him. The only question is when will the GOP embrace him? The answer: no time soon.
The establishment doesn't like him because it can't control him. Yet he's the only conservative candidate who stands a chance against Hillary Clinton. The polls may reflect Marco Rubio doing well as a conservative uniter, but no one will hammer Clinton's biggest weakness better than Trump, and that's Clinton fatigue.
Sorry, Bernie fans, the Democratic nomination is hers to lose.
Bush has limped away from the race in a manner that validates almost every insult Trump had flung at him (these are just from the past two weeks):
"Total disaster," "had to bring in mommy to take a slap at me," "zero communication skills," "weak candidate," "spent a fortune of special interest money on a Super Bowl ad," "desperate," "failed campaign," "Not a leader!" "by far the weakest of the lot," "Jeb failed as Jeb," "gave up and enlisted Mommy and his brother," "Weak," "no chance."
At least Jeb had the guts to face the truth and withdraw. John Kasich is a nice guy, and he gives good hugs, but under what scenario does he actually win? Carson is just as surprised as you and me that he's still on stage, which means he doesn't belong there.
Staying in the race is delusional at this point. It's time they pack their bags and turn their loss into a win on the speaking and publishing circuit.
That leaves Rubio and Cruz. Neither one of them can beat Clinton, or Trump for that matter. Yes, Cruz captured Iowa, but he is too scary for moderate Republicans and independents. And the GOP "establishment" can hope that with Jeb gone, Rubio will scoop up enough non-Trump votes to cruise to a victory, but that's not happening either. After Cruz and Trump grab their share of the undecided, there won't be enough left to give Rubio the bump he needs to pass Trump.
Last summer, I gave you five reasons why so many Americans loved Trump and why he would go the distance. Notice, four of the five points cemented his path to the Republican nomination. At the time, the seasoned political commentators and pundits just rolled their eyes at me. Now they're predicting a win.
1. He's real.
2. He doesn't care what you think.
3. Many Americans hate Washington.
4. It's early (null).
5. You want to see him debate.
(As I mentioned in that piece, in full disclosure, I know Trump. I've delivered keynotes for his company, spoken at the same leadership events, chatted in green rooms and interviewed him on camera.)
Also notice Trump's campaign hasn't changed one bit in eight months, either. If anything, Trump has just doubled down on the tone, the temper and the tactics.
In July 2015, this is how Trump put it to a crowd in Sun City, South Carolina: "We are tired of being pushed around and led around by stupid people ... we need smart leadership, we need great leadership. We need to make America great again." There was no policy then, and there isn't policy now. And it doesn't seem to matter.
Even back then, Trump was telling the media he didn't see Jeb "as a factor," and he was right.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus reportedly told Trump to tone done his rhetoric last summer. Yet he's only turned the volume up.
In September, the world was up in arms over his loose tongue at the mic and Twitter rants. No one could believe it when he called Lindsey Graham "a total lightweight ... idiot," and barked that Rick
Perry wears glasses so "people think he's smart," and Obama's administration officials are "dopes."
Carly Fiorina's face bothered him, Megyn Kelly had blood coming out of her "whatever."
That hasn't slowed down either. In fact, who hasn't he offended at this point? Basically, no one.
Trump's targets:
The Pope
George W. Bush
Women
Mexican immigrants
Fox News
Refugees
Muslims
The Koch brothers
Washington
Apple
Luckily, CNN and The New York Times have amassed lists of Trump's insults.
He even said he could shoot one of his supporters and he'd still win. Sadly, he might be right, assuming he wasn't arrested and jailed for it. On Monday, he said he missed the "good old days" because he wanted to punch a protester.
The GOP establishment has been wrong at every turn, and Trump has been right. In business, there's an explanation for this: disruption. That's what Trump has done -- he's disrupted politics as usual and changed the rules entirely. As I argued in January, once disrupters such as Amazon, Uber and Airbnb get out front, they become nearly impossible to beat.
That's why the establishment hates him. Not only has he changed the rules, he has upended the hierarchy. The GOP has been snubbed. It's sort of like that moment a few weeks ago, when Paul McCartney was turned away from a Grammy after party. McCartney used to own the industry, but now he isn't relevant enough for insider access.
That's why, for Thursday's final debate before Super Tuesday, we will all be tuning in -- to see what
Trump does. And I can tell you exactly what will happen.
He's been 100% consistent since he jumped into the race last summer. He'll tell us he plans to make
America great again. He'll remind us that we've got lousy deals with China and Iran. And he'll go on the attack.
The only thing that's shocking about all this is the fact that while Trump is always on the attack, no one has been able to land a direct hit back
And consider this: Trump hasn't even begun insulting Rubio yet. Trust me, it's coming. And so is a negotiation trick he's been using this entire time: lowering the perceived power of his opponent.
Mark my words, just as Trump pushed Jeb out of the race by calling him "weak" and "low-energy," he'll push Rubio out of the way by referring to him as a decent choice for "VP."
So what is the GOP waiting for? In the past six GOP primaries without an incumbent, with the exception of Newt Gingrich in 2012, every South Carolina winner since 1980 went on to become the eventual Republican nominee.
For all Trump haters, that's not good news.
If you are still crossing your fingers hoping for a Rubio surge, I advise you, don't waste your time.
The race is over. It's time for the GOP establishment to decide if it wants to continue the identity crisis or elect a president.
The Republican nominee is Donald Trump.
As recently as six or eight weeks ago, I would have finished reading Mel Robbins's piece here and have already formulated a few snappy retorts and/or rebuttals to the conclusions that she has drawn.
As recently as six or eight weeks ago, I was riffing and, as our buddy George Costanza might put it, scattin' and be-boppin' all over the Donald and, more specifically, the people who were calling into my weekly news/talk show and articulating to me why they were passionately committed to supporting this guy all the way up to, and including, handing over the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania.
I use the word "articulating" very loosely, by the way. Pretty much every single every day Joe or Jane who called in to give the Donald some due had very little to offer in the way of cogent justification of their fervent fan worship beyond what has become, now, almost qualified as a punchline.
"He says what's on his mind."
No amount of my sharing with them the amount of damage done by the uncle in my family who stayed shit faced most of the time and pretty much always spoke his mind, too, seemed to make a dent in my attempts to actually break through to the part of their brains where logic and reason live.
Or once lived, as the case may be.
As recently as six or eight weeks ago, still, I kept talkin' and rebuttin' and debatin' and cajolin' and tryin' to shine a light on this doofus demagogue they desire that was bright enough to enable them to see that he was nothing more, or less, than a doofus demagogue.
But that was six or eight weeks ago.
This morning, I clicked on to check out the final outcome of what I knew the final outcome would be in last night's Nevada GOP caucus tally and I was greeted with the banner headline trumpeting the obvious.
Or, in this case, of course, more appropriately, "trump"ing the obvious.
"IT'S TRUMP"....read the big block print at the top of the CNN website home page.
And then I read Mel Robbins take on the tempest.
And my brain being what my brain is, I had one immediate, automatic thought.
Michael Jackson.
And a single lyric line from one of Michael's lesser known, but nevertheless poignant, hit ballads.
A lovely few musical moments entitled "She's Out Of My Life".
A lyric that sums up, for me, where we are right now in this country's political process, in this particular presidential campaign and in the surreal reality that is the irrefutable conclusion that Mel Robbins has offered and I have no snappy retort or rebuttal to retort or rebut.
The Republican nominee is Donald Trump.
Cue Michael.
"...and I don't know whether / to laugh or cry...."
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