| Brooks was very coy about the identity of this mysterious Perot-like figure. All we know is that he will be a billionaire. He will have answers to all of our problems. Hmm, who could it be? Do we New Yorkers ever recall running across somebody who fits Brooks' description?
Of course, Brooks' mystery man is none other than New York's own Michael "Berlusconi" Bloomberg. Bloomberg has previously purchased the pages of the NY Times, using them to promote his chosen candidates for the NY Senate, first Caroline Kennedy and now Helicopter Harold. Brooks' teaser seems to be in line with that. Our Berlusconi just hired Howard Wolfson for some BS job on the City payroll for around $200K a year. Why the people of New York City need Howard's pricey services is not entirely clear. Why Howard needs to raid the public fisc to support himself is also less than clear since Bloomberg just paid Wolfson a $400,000 bonus for his work on Bloomberg's latest campaign (again, it was really more of a purchase than a campaign). Well, Bloomberg must have thought that the election was such a nail-biter that Howard must have been worth every penny.
Is our Berlusconi really planning to purchase the White House? He's already bought Gracie Mansion three times. The last time was blatantly illegal but hey, a $100 million pay-off can work wonders to get the sherrifs to look the other way. After spending hundreds of millions of dollars to buy the Mayoralty, he's still barely scratched the surface of his personal fortune. The Supreme Court just gave the green light for him to tap into virtually limitless corporate coffers to promote his candidacy. And if the New York media is any indication, you can expect the road to the White House to paved with oodles of nauseating media adulation.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. |
