Michael Bloomberg is a Concern Troll

Michael Bloomberg wants you to know that he's concerned.

The New York Times reported on Monday that:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, sounding every inch the presidential candidate he insists he is not, brought his message of pragmatic, nonpartisan leadership to California on Monday, telling a crowd of Google employees that the nation was “really in trouble.”

In unusually stark terms, Mr. Bloomberg expressed his frustration with the state of the nation, touching on campaign-style issues like the war in Iraq, immigration, education, health care and crime before a crowd of more than 1,000 employees at the Google campus here.

Isn't that sweet? The man cares. And like most billionaires, he's been able to put his money where his mouth is. According to Newsmeat, he has. Since he became mayor, these are his leading campaign donations:

$250,000 to the Republican National Committee
$250,000 to the RNC Republican National States Elections Committee
$12,100 to Joseph Lieberman
$5000 to Rudy Giuliani's Solutions America PAC

He's also made major donations to:

George W. Bush, John Sweeney, Vito Fossella, Harold Dallas Rogers, Richard Shelby, John McCain, Peter King, James Walsh, Lynette Boggs McDonald

What do they all have in common? None are Democrats. And having done so much to enable the worst government in American history, what does he do when public support for that government collapses? He bails. Very noble. Very visionary. Such a brilliant display of leadership.

And, of course, that same vision accords well with the very best of the Bush Administration's war on the Constitution. As the New York Times reported:

Undercover New York City police officers have been conducting covert surveillance of political, social and religious groups since Sept 2002, after administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg persuaded federal judge to enlarge Police Dept's authority in wake of 9/11 terror attacks...

And as the Times editorialized:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's record on free speech is already pretty poor. Unless he wants to make a disregard for New Yorkers' rights part of his legacy, he should make sure that the police understand what civil liberties mean in a democracy.

But Bloomberg was still defending the policy, just a few months ago. In fact, his championing of basic police state tactics also extends to immigration policy, as the Associated Press reported, in 2006:

Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg thrust himself into the national immigration debate Wednesday, advocating a plan that would establish a DNA or fingerprint database to track and verify all legal U.S. workers.

And although he poses as a moderate, he refused to enforce New York City's domestic partnerships law.

So, let's not allow the corporate media to get away with painting Bloomberg in soft, warm hues. Let's also not kid ourselves as to the political impact, if he does run.

As the New York Times explained:

Several analysts argued that a three-way race with Mr. Bloomberg running as a third-party candidate could ultimately prove more of a threat to Democrats than to Republicans.

So, let's get this straight: after having strongly supported the Republicans (and their ally) who created the current disastrous state of the nation, he's now very concerned about it. He's left the political party he helped enable and is considering an independent run for the Presidency. An independent run that will do nothing but continue to help that disastrous political party.

Michael Bloomberg doesn't deserve our support, or even our consideration of support. Michael Bloomberg deserves our disdain.