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.

Commentary: This week’s entry is a bit different — a personal dialogue.  No characters.  No scenes in coffee shops or in the office.  Just personal dialogue.

What can anyone say to help clarify the chaos we’re living in?  While nothing seems appropriate or triuly meaningful, let me provide some perspective on a couple of issues.

I skipped an entry last week to work on two proposals: (i) help improve air quality by reducing emissions from aircraft; (ii) complete development of a remarkably simple micro-utility system that can help provide clean water and electricity to people worldwide.  I had drafted comments about Trump’s stupid idea to have a military parade down Pennsylvania Avenue but decided the comments were far less important than the proposals that could offer society some potential benefit.

Then came the week of February 12, 2018.  The week started with some people celebrating the birth of a truly great president…Abraham Lincoln.  The rest of the week, however, was mind-numbing blur of events…at least mind-numbing by pre-Trump standards.

The least mind-numbing was that Trump paid…excuse me, Trump’s lawyer paid an adult film star $130,000 to keep quiet about an affair with the Donald.  Just stop and think about the lawyer’s admission.  The to-be president had an affair with a porn star.  The affair started just after the current First Lady gave birth.  OK, so it’s not the first time a president has stepped out on his wife…but stepped out with a well-known a porn star? I mean really.  The Donald must have been seeking professional advice about sex that also included frequent practice sessions.

And why did the lawyer claim that he paid the porn star out of his own pocket with no reimbursement from Trump?  C’mon, such bologna.  The lawyer probably squawked because the Donald didn’t pay him back.

The week ended with indictments of 13 Russians and a couple of Russian-run companies for meddling in the 2016 elections.  So when the indictments were announced, how did the White House respond? Praise for the Justice Department?  Condemnation of Russian interference in the elections?  Nope.  Only a claim there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians since the indictments indicated the meddling started before Trump formally declared his candidacy.

If the White House only were staffed with people who had graduated from eight grade rather than just kindergarten.  Did anyone in the White House with half a brain listen to what Rob Rosenstein said?  The indictment was specific to a certain segment of Russian interference in the elections.  There was a strong implication in Rosenstein’s remarks of other indictments to come and those indictments would include a different set of characters.

The Donald and his incompetents club are not close to being off the hook.  Truth is Mueller didn’t exonerate Trump but tightened the noose a notch or two.

Either event – porn star or the indictments – could have toppled an administration in “normal” times.  But life in Washington and America after Trump – aka, AT – is anything but normal.  (And the new “not-normal”-normal is why the country is headed for its fifth revolution, the Revenge Revolution.)

What’s most disappointing in the AT era is not the behavior of the Donald.  Anyone mildly familiar with his past knew he was boorish, childish and incredibly insecure…although maybe not to the extremes of today.  To understand Trump, all one had to do was visit Trump Tower on 5th Avenue.  A perfect reflection of his personality.

So what’s most disappointing then is the behavior of Republicans in Congress.  And if you’re a hard-core Republican reading this, please no attempted counters that the Democrats are at fault.  Pal, Republicans control the House, Senate and the White House.  What more do you want?  Yet, the Republicans seem clueless…and have stopped thinking.  Did Trump suck out your brains so you can no longer think…and then take your morals along with the brains?

The lack of brains and morals was vividly displayed this week following the killing of 17 students and teachers in Broward County, FL. Look, I know the president is supposed to try to console the nation in times of such tragedies.  That’s not going to happen with the Donald.

So the job falls to those next in the line of succession.  Starting with the first in line, VP Mike Pence.  Did I miss something or did Pence seem to find some place to hide after his gigantic diplomatic faux pas at the Olympics.  Hey, Mike, if you can shake hands and support some real a-hole dictators elsewhere in the world, you can at least shake hands with the sister of a guy who has nuclear weapons and might be willing to use them on his neighbors and the US.  In case you don’t know it, talking to an enemy doesn’t cause people to die.  War is ugly and costly.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was talking out of his you-know-what, babbling incoherently about the usual Republican talking points – enforce the gun laws on the books, help the mentally ill and oh, yes, the Second Amendment is sacred.  Oops, I almost forgot, we need to pray for the families of the people killed.  While not next in line, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell repeated the meaningless drivel.

So, Republicans, where’s your spine…and your brains?  Here’s how the real world works.  Guns kill people.  Understand?  It’s not complicated.  One more time – guns kill people.

Guns are designed for one purpose…and one purpose only – to kill.  What’s more, weapons designed for the military – AR-15-like weapons – are designed to kills lots of people quickly.

For those gun supporters who have never been in the military, I suggest you watch a demonstration of the fire power that can be laid down by weapons carried by soldiers in a light-infantry unit.  The amount of firepower is breathtaking.

After you’ve been wowed by the demonstration, imagine yourself on the receiving end of all that firepower.  Yes, imagine yourself trying to get away and survive or even return the fire.  Let me tell you, if you’re up against anyone with a limited amount of military training in the light infantry, you don’t have a chance.  And having a bunch of people around with concealed weapons will make little difference…and could make your chances of survival much worse.

The more concealed weapons with the public, the more the shooter will position himself like the shooter in Las Vegas – barricaded and protected against return fire.  Argue all you want that more guns in the public’s hands actually save lives…but your arguments don’t hold water.  As awful and frightful as this sounds…and it is…I could go to a gun show and buy weapons that allow me to shoot down a commercial airliner.  What’s even worse, at most major airports I could position myself outside the perimeter of airport security and still be able to take down the airliner.  Scary isn’t it.

So what’s the solution?  (Continued)