Megalomania. Delusions of grandeur. Hubris. The pop diagnoses are numerous and all seem to apply, at least in part. The little man in power who reads his own press clippings and comes to believe them. Who are we talking about? Hugo Chavez? Kim Jong Il? Robert Mugabe? The cadaverous Fidel? Ah no. No one quite so exotic. This petty little dictator who seems to be increasingly in need of a visit from the friendly white-coated gentlemen is none other than that foe of fast food, the cigarette-snuffing, sodium snatching gun-grabbing, MAIG maven and man about town, Michael Bloomberg. No longer content to simply play uber nanny to eight million New Yorkers, Mike has his eye on bigger things these days than simply telling people in his own burg how to live and eat. And he’s happy to tell the world about it…
The mayor, of course, has always known what’s best for his poor benighted subjects. Just ask him. He’s dictated how much salt they should put on their food. How many calories to consume. What kind of fat to fry their donuts in. Where they can smoke. How guns should be sold in other states. Even what can be sold at school bake sales. No existential detail is so small as to escape his Sauron-like gaze.
It’s not hard to picture him, perched in his city hall office – Oz-like, with jets of flame to either side – proclaiming this and decreeing that. Truly, his desire for control over the lives of New Yorkers – a bunch clearly too dumb to be left to their own devices – is positively Soviet in its ambition and reach. Now, though, he seems to be looking at NYC not as the Big Apple, but as his Personal Banana. Republic that is.
nypost.com recounts a recent address by the bilious billionaire to an undoubtedly stupefied group at MIT where he regaled them with tales of his power and world-wide reach.
“I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh largest army in the world,” he said.
“I have my own state department, to Foggy Bottom’s annoyance. We have the UN in New York, so we have entree into the diplomatic world that Washington does not have. I don’t listen to Washington very much, which is something they’re not thrilled about.”
Is it a sign of dementia or delusion that Hizzoner actually thinks his proximity and access to the United Nations, easily the world’s most expensive and ineffectual conglomeration of useless bureaucrats – outside of Brussels, of course – is a positive thing? You say tomato, I say tomahto.
It can’t be long now before the annual Columbus Day parade is moved to May 1 and includes Bloomie’s Army goose-stepping past while he’s perched atop a boxy stand in Columbus Circle, Lenin’s tomb-style, reviewing the troops and firepower at his command.
It’s nice that Mikey likes to play commander in chief of his own little Freedonia on the Hudson. The one saving grace for the rest of us, perhaps, is that the only thing bigger than his ginormous ego is the extent of the city’s (and state’s) fiscal mismanagement. Which will make it hard to maintain that standing army of his when all the money to pay them is sucked up by municipal pensions.
Oh well. Mike’s the resourceful type. Surely he’ll come up with a new scheme to fund his little empire no matter how little help he gets from Albany. Maybe an incandescent light tax. Or a user fee paid by those purchasing standard, rather than organic food. Or maybe he can put pen to paper, redcounting his rise to power, his brilliance and his vision for himself and his glorious city. Maybe he could call it Mein Stadt.
as a reader of this blog this is the one thing that bugs me about the site, the rants on non gun related issues. I don’t come here to read the political news of the day, i come to this site because I want to know whats going on in the wide world of guns today. all this post “article” does is let one commentator fume about someone they personally don’t like and make stupid comments of an equal level to what they are complaining about.
or it allows us who enjoy the rants to fully understand that those who oppose guns are not screwed on too tight and thus our scorn for them has merit.
I always figured that was a given that radical anti gun advocates were nuts. so why rant on something that cant be fixed seen as we as a society don’t lock up the mentally ill unless they are actively hurting themselves or others.
but it also helps give fodder to those on the fence that the side trying to ban weapons is looney. I have convinced at least 5 people in my office dept. (out of approx. 40) to become interested in weapons and self-protection in the last year by being able to show how stupid and illogical the antis are. These were people whom I considered more liberal than not and it has been amazing watching the light bulb go off for them. Thank you Little Mayor.
I think the point of the post is to provide context. (no alliteration intended) In other words, looking at Bloomberg’s irrational stances on other issues (like salt control) helps us to understand his irrational stance on gun control.
As a general rule, the meaning of what gets said depends on who said it, where, when and how it was said and so on and so forth.
charles and Dirk Diggler I would agree with that line of thought and sentiment if the last paragraph in the original “Article” didn’t go into name calling and when you bring out the Hitler references it really is just name calling.
It might just be how I was raised but regardless of how much you dislike or disagree with some one I was still raised to be civil towards them and honestly I do have an expectation that others hold that same standard.
“…I was still raised to be civil …”
This is an honorable standard. I don’t disagree with your parents, but I think the time for dealing with characters like Bloomberg in a perfectly civil manner has passed. Again, consider the context.
I honestly do feel like I am considering the context here, we have a set of preposterous statements by Bloomberg which are rightly ridiculed for being grandiose but then Dan Zimmerman goes on to make nearly equally grandiose statements about Bloomberg in his final paragraph.
sure Bloomberg is a bigger fish and deserves to have his silly point of view pointed out but again the site is not geared up as a politics site for anything other than gun rights, and this article was not making any links between Bloomberg’s view on guns and his preposterous public statements.
“and this article was not making any links between Bloomberg’s view on guns and his preposterous public statements”
Yes, it was. Bloomberg is an ego maniacal wacko and this post was showing the depth of his insanity. Thus, it is relevant because it further discredits his absurd anti-gun campaign.
I agree that these kinds of rants don’t do anything for me.
That said, while it is probably useful to register that dislike to the site owners so they can choose content to fit their audience, I’m also perfectly content to just skip ahead to the newest article on AR accessories.
I think it is important to keep track of what a powerful lunatic who is vehemently opposed to freedom in general and gun rights in particular is saying and doing.
That may be but the site is called the truth about guns, if this was an article ranting about Bloomberg’s views on gun control I would agree but as I posted earlier its just a rant about a guy the author doesn’t like that devolves into name calling, being discourteous and rude does not help any ones cause at any time.
The fact that this shows what an utter wacko Bloomberg is shows why his anti-gun stance should be utterly ignored by any sane person. The fact that you don’t grasp this worries me.
no his anti gun stance shows that he is not sane. his concept that he can send police to other states to buy guns in a legal way in said state but illegal in NYC and then claim that the person selling the firearm needs to be tried in NYC shows his insanity.
this article just vents about Bloomberg showing himself for what he is and then makes a ad hominim insult or two in the last paragraph. It comes off as shallow, and tangential to the point of the website. there is no discussion of his politics on guns, there is no serious discussion of the polices he has enacted its just venting in an unproductive manner.
You’re missing the point. Anti-gun nuts THINK that he’s sane because he’s anti-gun. If you show them all his other ludicrous ideas, then it’ll be pretty hard for them to try to claim that he’s a sane person.
I sent this article to Robert and it has everything to do with guns. His quote regarding having his own army in the nypd while i cant carry my gun in this city because its impossible to get a carry permit. The rant about Bloomturd is perfect. This guy and his buddies have armies meanwhile there were 2 armed robberies in the last few days a couple blocks from my house and i live in a nice neighborhood with no one to from his army to help those people. He could have kept it short put a link to the post article and wrote F-ck Bloomberg and his army.
dan, if you don’t like the article, DON’T F^CKING READ IT.
the only way to know if you like something is to read it. and is criticism so horrible of a thing that it makes adults act like 5 year olds? I didn’t ask anyone to agree with me, those that have been interested in discussing my opinion with me Im more than willing to discuss my opinion with on a slow work day.
I would beg to differ. The para-militarization of police and Mayors Against Guns are one of the most interesting and potentially dangerous threats facing us, the Armed Intelligentsia. The only caveat is that it takes a modicum of lateral thinking to see that.
Personally, I came for the gun articles, and come back for the politics. I love TTAG, my fiancé hates it. She says I give it more attention than I give her… And it’s true.
Dude, you really need to get your priorities in order.
Maybe [he] could call it Mein Stadt
Mr. Godwin might disapprove but an occasional Reductio ad Hitlerum can be amusing.
Mr. Godwin is simply an excuse to promote tyrannical behavior by making it impossible to point out someone’s tyrannical agenda without someone crying about a mythical “law”.
And lets not forget that story a while back where the NYPD claimed they had the ability to shoot down airplanes.
Monopoly-money Mike has more cash than God, so who knows, maybe he can shoot them down.
Narcissistic to a fault, clearly presidential material as evidenced by the current occupant. These people are dangerous to associate with as they suck the vital essence out of those around them. They fly into a rage when things or people don’t go their way. Typically deep seated damage done at a early age results in a lack of empathy, respect or concern for others. And they also think they are always right, privileged, special and have magic powers of reason and logic justifying their decisions. Spending a hundred million dollars to be mayor would not be out of line since you get to be King of NY once re-elected.
I’m glad he switched from R to I, add the no to that and you get RIno.
I lost all respect for this man when he told Guliani that he absolutely needed to step down at the end of 2001 due to term limits (Guliani offered to remain an extra six months for stability following 9/11), and then 8 years later abolishes the term limit rule for his own purposes. I agree that he is an imperialist and I feel for the residents of NYC.
“and I feel for the residents of NYC.”
Why? They elected this moron and KEEP electing him. They deserve whatever hell he unleashes on them.
Yeah, well ALL of us didn’t elect him. Many of us also successfully voted to keep term limits…TWICE! Yet that was ignored by him and he overturned it on his own.
So, many of us had to move away from friends and family and from the place we called home for over 40 years just to get away from this sort of mismanagement of power.
So, forgive me if I take offense at your off-handed, snarky comment about getting what we deserve. If your neighbors carelessly or criminally started a fire that consumed your house, despite your best efforts to keep a safe and well-maintained home, I wouldn’t comment about how you deserved it.
I’m a native New Yorker and have to agree with Jimmy Walker, a famously corrupt NY mayor, who once said, “the people always get what they deserve.” New Yorkers may think that they’re different and deserve better, but they aren’t and they don’t.
Well, I don’t agree with you & I don’t agree with Mr. Walker.
People don’t always get what they deserve, for better or worse. You work hard, you keep a good home, you get involved in your community and there is still the chance (by no fault of your own) that things will go bad for you. Whether by accident, circumstance or the utter stupidity of others…you don’t always get what you deserve.
As for your last line…I don’t remember stating, implying or alluding to anything that would suggest I’m somehow different than anyone else. Thanks for the label…but you can keep that too.
“Whether by accident, circumstance or the utter stupidity of others…you don’t always get what you deserve.”
You mean to tell me that you somehow weren’t aware of NYC’s long history of being absurdly liberal and anti-rights?
No, every place has a long history of things you may not like. You name a place & I’ll find something negative to say about it. That’s the easy thing to do. That’s why we haven’t found Utopia yet.
Oh, and do you live there? I mean, you are so quick to launch your opinion on “what we deserve”, I’d like to know what neighborhood you grew up in in Bklyn, or Queens or SI or the Bronx. When you live there, raised families there, have a history there, then you might be in a position to understand what we grew up in, versus what it has become. Then you might also understand that those of us who fought to keep the neighborhoods clean, safe and happy weren’t the ones voting in more and more radical leftists and turning a great place into a despicable nanny state.
Except you know (unless you’re foolish, which I’m assuming you aren’t) that you’ll never overcome the rich elite who think that they know better than you combined with the greedy uneducated who simply want to vote away your rights to protect your property and your income – thus the only logical choice is to GTFO (which you eventually did). You won’t change the city, so the smart choice is to move to a better place and watch them implode through their own stupidity.
Someone burning your house down and choosing to live in a city that’s known to be batshit crazy liberal to the point of self-destruction and then complaining about who they elect are two completely different circumstances.
Unlike most, you did the intelligent thing and moved – most just sit there and whine while refusing to DO anything about it.
Nope, it’s almost exactly the same thing.
What, you think Manhattan is the only NYC? Nope, it’s all 5 boroughs. How about SI? You know, the only place in NYC that to this day is strongly republican. But the neighbors with the matches and the poor sense of purpose are the same ones I mentioned to you. The ones that will burn your house down.
Unlike others, some people choose to stand and fight for their neighborhoods and try their best to get the change they need. I don’t feel good about leaving. I feel like I lost. But it was a fight I could no longer win so I had to do it.
But I take no pleasure in admitting defeat and losing a place I care about. I don’t call what I had to do, winning.
No, they’re not even close. One is people forcefully doing something to you (burning your house down) the other is you willfully living in a city that you know your views are a minority and will always be ridiculed and ignored. Contrary to how you’re trying to make it seem, people choose where they live – if you dislike the laws of your city, then you’re free to move.
Why you would care about NYC is beyond me, but hey – whatever floats your boat. Unless you start doing mass executions (not recommended), you’re never going to get enough of a sane population in NYC to start electing intelligent people and turn the city around – so why feel bad about improving your life instead of sitting there fighting a war that you know for a fact you cannot possibly win and it will serve no purpose?
I see Bloomberg has his own little Reich. Ah well… The Big Apple (struedel) will want the Feds to bail them out when they go broke.
The mayor with his two little pins looks sorta like a wanna-be Nazi or Soviet era leader posing with their coat full of medals on a parade day.
Godwin’s Law, man, Godwin’s law.
I’ll take a stab and say he’s more of a Huey Long wannabe. Except that the Kingfish actually did some good for the working class.
Godwin’s Law, son, Godwin’s Law…
I’ll take a stab though and call that New Yawwker an ersatz Huey Long. Except that Huey Long actually did some good for the working class. But I’ll cut mikey some slack. Maybe he was beat up by a cigarette smoking, transfat eating , deer hunter. It would explain his irrational fear/hatred of all those things.
Not only is Hizzoner a fool and a megalomaniac, he’s not too bright either. For him to consider “his army” the “seventh largest in the world” indicates that’s he’s an enumerate idiot too. The NYPD is roughly the size of the active duty Rwandan army.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_troops
“Where they can smoke.”
It’s probably more like telling smokers where cannot smoke so the rest of us non-smokers and asthma suffers don’t have to ruin our lungs and later suffer from cancer because of second-hand smoke. Good for Bloomberg. It’s nice to know that the jerk has at least one redeeming political value. Carrying a handgun in public is a completely different type of issue than releasing tobacco smoke into the air that will be breathed in by non-smokers.
Yep. Smoking affects the air quality for those who choose not to smoke. I have no problem telling smokers where they are persona non grata.
Its a slippery slope. But the bottom line is that if people want to inhale a substance, they have every damn right to, and no one should be able to tell them any different. The outcry of “Its for the public health/good/benifit” is the outcry of fascism.
There’s a big difference between saying “you can’t smoke” and “you can’t smoke where other people cannot reasonably avoid your presence and the known harms of secondhand smoke”.
Yes, because allowing businesses to choose whether or not they want smoking and you to choose whether or not to be around it, it’s much better to just legislate away private property rights. The idiots in my state forced through that unjust crap too – and no, I don’t smoke, I just believe in private property rights and personal responsibility.
Bloomberg is at thetop of my “Liberals I wish would die prematurely” List. Too bad Osama didn’t get him on Sept 9-11.
That’s a rather impolitic remark to make anywhere, let alone on a gun blog.
Have fun in Guantanamo.
While I don’t appreciate Mayor Bloomberg’s hubris, I DO applaud the NYPD’s counterterrorism unit – they are extremely proactive. It’s quite unfortunate that their Federal counterparts are often less than cooperative with them.
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