Readers: this blog is set in the future (sometime after the year 2020).  Each entry assumes there has been a 5th revolution in the US — the Revenge Revolution.  More about the Revenge Revolution and author, Entry #1.  List and general description of entries to date.  

Note: most entries are formatted as conversations.  Characters appear in a number of entries, with many entries building on previous conversations.  Profile of characters.  You’ll catch on quickly.  Thanks for your time and interest…and comments.

Scene: Coffee shop near Jordan’s office, Washington, DC

(End of last entry) Matt:  “And we know Trump never, ever admitted a mistake.”

Jordan: “Never admitting a mistake was really his downfall.”

Matt: “In what way?”

Jordan: “All the investigations – collusion with Russia, money laundering, violating the emoluments clause, fraudulent tax returns – all of those investigations could have been avoided…well probably avoided…if he’d have come clean after he won the election and said…”

Matt: “…Let me guess. ‘I want there to be no question about the integrity of my business dealings or my taxes. I want to set the example. Let’s do an audit and I will fix any problems.”

Jordan: “Matt, you’re spot on. He could have been up to his eyeballs in shady deals. However, by offering to fix any problems he would have avoided the investigations.”

Matt: “Even better, by agreeing to an audit he would have looked like a hero to many Democrats.”

Jordan: “What a great way to start a presidency. Go to confession and beg for forgiveness.”

Matt: “But no, Donald being the Donald, he doubled down efforts to obfuscate all the shady deals. What happened?”

Jordan: “His agenda went nowhere, Republicans lost all kinds of seats in 2018, and eventually he got taken out.”

Matt: “Then we got the Revenge Revolution.”

Jordan: “In fairness to Trump…did I just say that?…in fairness to Trump, he didn’t cause the Revenge Revolution. However, he can take credit for speeding it up.”

Matt: “Sort of a perverse view, I suppose. Trump winning the presidency was a favor to the country since he accelerated the Revenge Revolution.”

Jordan: “I promise I’ll never tell anyone you said that.”

Matt: “Really, Jordan, think about it. Trump was so bad and so inept that he encouraged the populous to revolt and implement significant reform. Unfortunately, Trump and many hard-core supporters, probably think that only the Donald could force the country into taking such action.”

Jordan: “I know what you’re saying. Since Trump did the country such a favor, maybe we should put his face on Mount Rushmore.”

Matt: “Or maybe erect statues of him to replace the Confederate generals that were put in storage.”

Jordan: “Enough tongue-in-cheek comments, already. Can you think of any other Trump actions that really sent the public sideways? Not just Democrats but lots of Republicans, too. Anything come to mind?”

Matt: “Yes, the proclamation about DACA kids (Deferred Action for Child Arrivals).”

Jordan: “Why so?”

Matt: “First of all, if Trump really cared about these kids…actually many were young adults…he could have let Obama’s Executive Order continue or issued another one. What was so pressing?”

Jordan: “Well, he gave Congress six months to solve the problem. Wasn’t that a reasonable amount of time?”

Matt: “Might have been reasonable time if he had a good relationship with his own party and there weren’t a bunch of other pressing issues to get done. Just let Obama’s EO stand and work on the other issues.”

Jordan: “But something about the way he handled the issue really upset people. Whadda think it was?”

Matt: “Trump’s rationale wasn’t really about whether these children had legal standing. Trump’s argument was ‘those illegals’ were stealing jobs that Trump claimed rightfully belonged to Trump supporters. In reality the DACA kids were creating jobs and likely qualified for higher-tech jobs…jobs that many Trump supporters weren’t qualified for.”

Jordan: “Agreed. I think a wide swatch of the public understood the legal arguments and economic arguments were, as they used to say on ‘Car Talk’, ‘booooogus.’ Having Attorney General Jeff Sessions make the Administration’s announcement on DACA and then try to justify the decision based on economics would have been funny if the consequences hadn’t been so tragic.”

Matt: “The DACA Detour, as I call it, was an effort to steer away from the every widening Russia investigation. Many in the public realized the terrible precedent that DACA set. DACA finally got evangelicals off their butt and they started saying no to Trump.”

Jordan: “Fortunately DACA eventually got resolved. Anything else?”

Matt: “Least we not forget within a few days after the DACA Detour, Trump cut a budget deal with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. And how does he announce the deal? On camera without having told Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan ahead of time.”

Jordan: “The question is what did the deal accomplish? The Republicans would have passed legislation for the debt ceiling to keep the government operating, even if it took having Democrats join them. But Trump’s ego needed a fix, like right now, so he gave McConnell and Ryan the finger on camera and proceeded to play footsie with Pelosi.”

Matt: “And what happens? Rather than demonstrating how to work both sides of the aisle, Trump managed to continue his loose-cannon approach to strategy and ended up alienating virtually everyone in Congress and much of the public.”

Jordan: “Still amazes me how one guy could put so many nails in his own coffin.”

(Continued)