The OBAMAS' 250,000M Netflix gig: new POWER BASE?

Obama's coming to town.

When the Obamas signed up with  Netflix for a wad of doe, my pals in the US and I bad-mouthed the couple for cashing in. The SHARK had a  different idea. She thought they might be setting themselves up for a new political base. They are both smart and must know that the Democratic party needs help. Hillary is a spent force. She can't stop blaming others for her loss. And Bill C. ain't much help. While touting his new book, The President is Missing (co-author James Patterson), he bungled questions about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.  And finally walked out.

The Obamas are the only Democratic Big Names who have the clout and the popularity, at least for now, to be de-facto leaders of the party. But the pompous, above-it-all name of their new production company, 'Higher Ground' is a wimpy first shot. Trump's vulgar, in-your-face, down-and-dirty bully-tactics are gaining. And now he's pulled off the ultimate media coup: hugging up to the world's Dictator-in-chief, who promises (word-of-honor), to de-nuclearize. Trump's famous takeaway from the tryst: ''I trust Kim'. But that just a throwaway. Only one rule counts: Dominate the media. King ME*. 

Still, the Shark may be on to something. The Obamas have been quiet since exiting office in 2017.  But they stayed in Washington D.C., unusual for an ex-pres.  The Netflix gig gives them a huge communication network. And it sounds like they have carte blanche to do what they want. Maybe a Dem version of Fox & Fiends? Amazon's founder and owner of the Washington Post, Jeff Bezos (on Trump's enemies list), is building a house in the same poshWash D. C. neighborhood as the Obamas.

Netflix, the liberal Post and the liberal New York Times* (both newspapers are good at sniffing outTrump & Co. skullduggery) would make a powerhouse backup trio for the Obamas. The 2018  midterm election should have been a slam-dunk for the Dems to win a majority, at least in the house. With less than five months till the voting day the Republicans, now known as the Trump party, are creeping up in the polls. Eki didn't think T would last out his term. I'm afraid he's on his way to a second. Unless the cavalry, led by Bobby Three Sticks (Robert Mueller III) rides to the rescue. Or the Obamas pull a rabbit out a hat.

*King ME: in case you missed last week's TIME magazine, the cover was a hoot. Trump looking in the mirror at himself in a royal robe and crown.

*New York Times: 'Fourth Estate', a four-part series about a year covering President Trump. Directed b Liz Garbus.   Produced by Showtime. Airing on the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

Sources: the Shark, CNN, Time Magazine, New York Times, Washington Post


PS: Eki and Riikka are celebrating a century 50/50. Cheers!

Littlemrgieblog will be on vacation until 15 August 2018


Notes: The idea of Obamas producing content sounds interesting. As a Netflix subscriber, i'll definitely give the shows a watch.

 I haven't seen that original Clinton interview, but i did see his comments on the Late Night show - which don't seem that unreasonable to me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5vcgT-Ud4c

I still do not think Trump will last the first term. He will be impeached, if not else, as soon as the Dems get the majority - which might well happen in the midterms. He may also get jailed if the Mueller investigation's results are what i suspect them to be. There's already a lot in that front the investigation has accomplished (Trump's campaign manager already in prison and so on), and more is to come. Interesting times.

Oh, and as The Shark told you, Obama will come to Finland soon, to give a talk on a business forum.

Finally, thanks for the Cheers - it's actually a 110 party: 50+50 for our ages, and +10 extra years for the length of our wedlock so far. If stars align correctly, we will actually hold the party on our anniversary day.

- Eki

Drowning in the YOUTBE ocean

When we finished 'ABE LINCON TWEETS' we watched it over and over. Then Eki did what he always does: posted it on YOUTUBE. And I said what I always say, 'Maybe this one will go viral'. Eki poked a hole in my balloon. 'If it does, it has to do it in the first thirty minutes.'  It didn't. What a contrast. Abe's common sense is like a cool glass of cool water on a blisteringly hot day. Compared to the Tweeter-in-chief.  Abe was cool under fire, in spite of having a crazy wife, scheming advisers and a war that cost more than 600,000 lives.

I visit ABE LINCOLN a lot. Sometimes to watch the video, but mostly to check the number of hits he's got: 110 by the last count, with one 'like' ('by contrast 'Abe Lincoln Mean Tweet' has 43,944).  With most of our videos we post them and go on to the next project. But I can't stop checking up on Abe. Youtube keeps track of my visits and tells me 'you've visited this page many times'. They note the last date. It's creepy. But Googles over-the-top 'Do No Evil' reassures me. Sort of.

I wonder what the percentage is of trash to good stuff in the YOUTUBE ocean. If it's anything like the rest of the oceans it is full of junk mixed up with some gems and treasure. If your brain is fried from junk- overload checkout what @abelincolnsez. And no matter how much google tracks me, I will keep visiting ABE. He 's like a well-worn, highly-polished pair of boots handed down from your grandfather.  Versus TRUMP, who claims to be the greatest president after Lincoln is the crystal-covered-plastic CROCS that were the shock-rage a couple of years back. The new hot must-have shoe is the ugly ZCOL.  Batten down the hatches, it could mean rough seas ahead.

News, views, boos
Next week: The OBAMAS' new gig: NETFLIX

Note to Eki: Well you were half right. But that other half...Thanks for the quick retraction so readers won't think I'm a complete idiot.

Note: Well, perhaps not in the first thirty minutes... but in a day or so perhaps. There's just SO much stuff that gets uploaded there. Some say, an hour's worth of new videos every second. If the thing does not catch attention right away, changes are, it never will. It's very cool that everyone has a worldwide platform for publishing video content now, free to use. The problem is just that everyone will thus compete with everyone else in the world for the 15 minutes of fame there. You indeed are more likely to drown than float in this ocean of media. It's a lottery of sorts. Your video is just one in billions (yes, literally), and every hit you get is a win.

- Eki