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: JC and Jordan ordering coffee at shop near Jordan’s office in Washington.

Clerk to Jordan: “Hi Bubbles, the usual?”

Jordan:  “Yes, please.  And JC, what do you want?”

JC:  “Grande, medium roast.”

——– Have coffee and find table —————-

JC:  “OK, you’ve got to tell me.  Where’d the name ‘Bubbles’ come from?  You leading some kind of secret life none of us know about?”

Jordan:  “Nothing that exciting.  When I started coming here regularly, I asked them to top off the coffee…since I don’t take cream.  One day when they put on the lid, some bubbles oozed out of the drink hole and onto the lid.”

JC:  “And, so what?”

Jordan:  “That’s what I said, ‘So what?’  But apparently some customers are very picky and ask for a new lid if any bubbles ooze out.”

JC:  “So you, poking fun at those who take themselves too seriously, begin asking for bubbles, right?”

Jordan:  “And, voila, I became known as ‘Bubbles.’”

JC:  “Well, Bubbles, I think we’re going to have company.  An old friend of yours.”

Jordan:  “Hi, Sandy.  Long time, no see.  Have a seat, if you want.”

Sandy:  “Hi, Jordan.  If I recall, it’s JC, right?”

JC:  “Yes.”

Sandy:  “I really shouldn’t sit with you, Jordan.  I’m still mad at you.”

Jordan:  “For what?”

Sandy:  “Your efforts to overturn the 2nd Amendment and take away all our guns.”

Jordan:  “C’mon, Sandy, I never supported overturning the 2nd Amendment.”

Sandy:  “Sure you did.  You wanted to ban the sale of all assault weapons…and even make owning one illegal.”

JC:  “Excuse me, but you please help me understand something?”

Sandy:  “What would you like to understand?”

JC:  “How a ban on owning an assault weapon affecst rights under the 2nd Amendment?  I’m missing the link.”

Sandy:  “Because the ban was the first step toward a total ban on owning any weapons…and another major step toward a socialist state.”

JC:  “Sandy, let’s be serious, please.  No more NRA hype.  Remember there’s been a Revenge Revolution and the US political landscape is different now.”

Sandy:  “But you don’t understand.”

JC:  “You’re right.  I don’t understand.  The assault ban still allowed ownership of all kinds of hunting rifles, shotguns, pistols.  I’m not a hunter but why would you need an assault rifle to kill a deer?  Where’s the sport in that?  Maybe we should arm the deer.  That would make it more fun.”

Jordan:  “She’s right…well, maybe not about giving guns to the deer.  From your perspective, what was the real issue?  No civilian needs an AR-15.”

Sandy:  “Need assault rifles for protection.  That was the issue.”

Jordan:  “Protection from what?  You and I both know there’s no ad hoc civilian group, no matter how well armed, that has any chance against the military.  So really, what’s the heartache over the ban?”

Sandy:  “Well, you didn’t support protecting schools by arming teachers either.  Don’t you like kids?”

JC:  “Oh, Sandy, Sandy, please.  You don’t need to pretend to be a talking head on Fox or a politician who changes the subject and tries to blame someone else when he can’t answer the question.  What was the real issue?”

Jordan:  “Let’s take your comment about wanting to arm teachers…and even putting barricades around schools.”

Sandy:  “Good.  Now you’re talking some sense.”

Jordan:  “Tell me, what would either arming teachers or fortifying schools prevent?”

Sandy:  “Mass killings at schools.  Protecting our kids.  Why don’t you like kids?”

JC:  “He likes kids.  I need to understand what’s going to stop a shooter from hiding across the street from the school?  Or even sitting in the car and then shooting a bunch of kids when school lets out?”

Jordan:  “The shooter could also just fire a few rounds, blow out a window and then have a whole classroom of targets.”

JC:  “Jordan, that’s gross.”

Jordan:  “Gross, yes, but anyone with some infantry training in the military…and Sandy has more experience than I have…knows how to take out a bunch of people quickly, especially with an assault rifle.”

Sandy:  “Are you saying there’s no way to protect these school kids?”

Jordan:  “What I’m saying is a mass killing is much easier with an assault weapon.  And that’s the reason I opposed any ownership of assault weapons outside the military.”

Sandy:  “The ban won’t stop killing.”

JC:  “Oh boys.  Sandy, I think everyone agrees that the ban is not a silver bullet, as it were.  Some mass killings will continue to happen as long as there are so many guns around.”

Sandy:  “So why have a ban on owning assault weapons?”

JC:  “To help reduce the number of killings.  Here’s a comparison.  Mandating seat belts and air bags in cars and trucks didn’t eliminate some people dying in wrecks.  But as a result of the mandate, there have been far fewer deaths.  Got it?”