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 (see link at top of page).  You’ll catch on quickly.  Thanks for your time and interest…and comments.

Scene: Jordan’s Office, Washington, DC.  Typical morning with Jordan and assistant, Gelly.   

Gelly:  “Good morning, Jordan.  Have a nice visit yesterday with Greenie and JC?”

Jordan:  “Morning Gelly.  The visit was fantastic.  Lots of good information for Greenie’s articles about the Revenge Revolution.  Anything new with you today?”

Gelly:  “Nothing earth shattering.  On the way in I did hear an old song that made me stop and think about how the US used to be.”

Jordan:  “Not sure what you mean.  Used to be like what?”

Gelly:  “Like a place that welcomed immigrants.  A place where people from all over the world wanted to come.  Well, wanted to come BT…before Trump.”

Jordan:  “What song sparked all this?”

Gelly:  “Remember in the 1980’s Neil Diamond wrote a song called ‘America’?”

Jordan:  “Yes.  Really liked the song.  But, haven’t heard it in a while.”

Gelly:  “Neither had I.  When I heard it this morning, it seemed different.  Not the music, the words.  The words seemed much more powerful than what I remember.  In fact, I got all teary-eyed.”

Jordan:  “C’mon, Gelly.  Really?  Why so emotional?”

Gelly:  “Because, for the first time…and I don’t know why now rather than when I heard it years ago…for the first time I could picture my relatives on the boat coming to America.”

Jordan:  “You’re getting teary-eyed again.”

Gelly:  “Can’t help it.  My father came to America from Europe when he was 13 years old.  Travelled all alone.  Just think about that, Jordan.  You’re 13 years old, on a boat for the first time and heading to a new country where you don’t speak the language.  Some of your relatives must have done the same thing.”

Jordan:  “Mine came earlier…late 1800’s so not many stories about the ‘old country’.  The family seemed more concerned with assimilating.  Can’t blame them but a lot of history was lost.”

Gelly:  “That’s too bad.  What really bothers me is how the US went from a country where people wanted to come to a country where it was nearly impossible to immigrate unless you had a bunch of money or some special high-tech skill.  My father had no money and no special skill.  He worked his whole life as a laborer.  My mother could barely speak English.  Yet look at the family now.”

Jordan:  “In one generation you moved from parents with very limited education to all the siblings being college grads.  Your kids are all college grads.”

Gelly:  “That’s what’s so frustrating.  Why did the country turn against immigration?”

Jordan:  “You know why.  King Trump.”

Gelly:  “King Trump who would never admit his family name was changed to be more Anglicized.  Maybe the Revenge Revolution will help turn around attitudes toward immigration.  I hope so.  Otherwise, people like me…and you too Jordan…will never be part of America.”

Jordan:  “Gelly, excuse me just a minute.  I’m going to get a cup of coffee.”

Gelly:  “While you do, I’m going to download the words to Diamond’s ‘America’.  I’ll also get a link to YouTube so you can hear it.  After you get your coffee, do me a favor and, spend a few minutes listening to the song and studying the words.  And think about your relatives who made that journey.”

“America”, written and sung by Neil Diamond

Far,
We’ve been traveling far
Without a home
But not without a star

Free,
Only want to be free
We huddle close
Hang on to a dream

On the boats and on the planes
They’re coming to America
Never looking back again,
They’re coming to America

Home
Don’t it seem so far away
Oh, we’re traveling light today
In the eye of the storm
In the eye of the storm

Home
To a new and a shiny place
Make our bed and we’ll say our grace
Freedom’s light burning warm
Freedom’s light burning warm

Everywhere around the world
They’re coming to America
Every time that flag’s unfurled
They’re coming to America

Got a dream to take them there
They’re coming to America
Got a dream they’ve come to share
They’re coming to America

They’re coming to America
They’re coming to America
They’re coming to America
They’re coming to America
Today, Today,Today,
Today, Today

My country ’tis of thee (today)
Sweet land of liberty (today)
Of thee I sing (today)
Of thee I sing.

Songwriters: NEIL DIAMOND, © Universal Music Publishing Group