2016 Jan 23^rd

There is a snow storm on the East Coast. Central Park at this moment has 14.7 inches of snow. Snow in Central Park is now being measured to the nearest tenth of an inch. Driving in the City is against the law but from the television images a few law-breakers are still out there. More snow is forecast but here in a community that routinely deals with 100 inches of snow a season the reaction to New York’s predicament is more “what’s the biggie?” than “poor baby.”

There is some political news although I doubt that this storm has anything to do with it. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has let it be known that he might enter the race for the Presidency. Hey, why not? Bloomberg was a popular mayor; he served three terms and he kept the garbage and the snow picked up; what’s not to like? There’s more: Bloomberg has about 37 billion dollars of net worth. If Bloomberg got into the race his net worth relative to Trump’s would make Trump look like…an apprentice!

Of course this is a very long shot; if Bloomberg doesn’t see a path to the nomination he will devote himself to other efforts. Bloomberg’s problem is that he is no Donald Trump. OK, Bloomberg was a great mayor and he could well be a fine President, but he is not the charismatic figure we have in Donald Trump, and that has nothing to do with the clear disparity in their relative wealth. It is hard to imagine Bloomberg attracting a tenth of the delirious crowds that wait in the cold for a chance to look at and hear Donald Trump in the flesh. Trump has claimed that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”

Trump is right; he wouldn’t lose any voters, just as none of his fans are interested in hearing about how he would deport 11 million people, or how he would make Mexico pay for a 1900 mile border fence. His fans are “true believers” in exactly the sense of the true believers who were described by Eric Hoffer. They have bought into the magic of Donald Trump the multi-billionaire builder who will magically “make America great again.” The fact that Donald Trump’s building constructions were the result of other peoples’ efforts paid for and supervised by Trump is immaterial. Just as the fact that as far as we know Donald Trump has never built anything himself, not even a ninth grade wood shop foot stool. True believers simply don’t care.