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. Most entries are formatted as conversations. Characters appear in a number of entries, with many entries building on previous conversations.
Occasionally I break from the normal formatting and do a “sense check.” Auditing one’s own work is problematic but I try to be objective. Entries #300 and #301 are the most recent “sense checks.” Your thoughts are welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for your time and interest…and comments, please.
Scene: Jordan’s office, Washington, DC. Jordan having coffee with Walt, a friend from college days. Conversation begins entry #302.
(Last comment, previous entry. Jordan: “Walt, have you ever studied how people think after they’ve been brainwashed?”)
Walt: “Are you implying that I’ve been brainwashed?”
Jordan: “Just asking a question if you knew the logic stream of people who have been brainwashed.”
Walt: “Who else is in the office? Gelly still here?”
Jordan: “No, she’s got a meeting in another building and will be out for at least an hour. Why do you ask?”
Walt: “Because I’ve never told anyone…well other than the psychiatrist. Sure Gelly’s not here? And you’re not taping this conversation, right?”
Jordan: “She’s not here. I saw here leave. And, no, the conversation is not being taped. What’s the big deal?”
Walt: “OK, you’re right. I was brainwashed by Trump. It’s embarrassing to talk about it.”
Jordan: “I can understand that. How’d you figure it out?”
Walt: “I don’t remember exactly. It’s not like I woke up one morning and said, ‘Gee, I’ve been brainwashed.’”
Jordan: “Well, what did happen?”
Walt: “The realization was gradual at first, almost like baby steps. I do remember being taken aback in late summer 2018 when Trump started to yank security clearances from former high-ranking people who’d been in the FBI, CIA and NSA.”
Jordan: “What about Trump yanking the security clearances made you take pause?”
Walt: “I remember seeing an interview with John Brennan…might have been Clapper but I think it was Brennan. Anyway, the guy said a security clearance was not for the benefit of the individual but for the benefit of the country. I’d never really thought of it that way. And here goes Trump acting like a king and taking away security clearances from people who know more about threats to national security than he does.”
Jordan: “And…”
Walt: “…and I kept asking myself ‘Why take away the clearances?’ Then I began to think it was his fragile ego was hurt when some of these guys raised questions about the Trump Administration’s policies. It began to bother me that Trump’s actions to satisfy his ego could really hurt the country.”
Jordan: “After that revelation, did you change your mind about a conspiracy among the US national security agencies to get rid of Trump?”
Walt: “Not all at once. I bounced back and forth. It was as if I was playing ping-pong by myself. One day a conspiracy theory; the next day no conspiracy.”
Jordan: “But each day you were less and less supportive?”
Walt: “Gradually I became convinced there was no conspiracy. One day I said to myself, ’Self, Trump is the problem, not the FBI or CIA.”
Jordan: “Then what”
Walt: “When I started to put claims of a conspiracy theory into a different context, then a lot of other claims Trump was making started to fall apart.”
Jordan: “How long did it take you to change your mind?”
Walt: “Once I got though the conspiracy analysis, then like the baby who now knows how to walk, the pace picked up considerably. And finally, Trump became more like Humpty Dumpty.”
Jordan: “Did you talk to anyone about your change of support for Trump?”
Walt: “How could I? For three plus years…during the campaign and then when he was in the White House…I’d tweeted about why Trump was so, so right. To admit I’d changed my mind would have been embarrassing to say the least. In fact, I still can’t talk about it. You’re the first one who knows.”
Jordan: “Well, I’m glad we’re talking about it. But go back to the time you really started to change. How’d the psychiatrist get involved?”
Walt: “As I looked in the mirror, I just couldn’t believe what I’d been doing. I needed to find out why. What had made me act that way?”
Jordan: “So you found a psychiatrist?”
Walt: “I first did some research. In fact one of the experts on behavior modification was a professor who I think you took a class from at MIT. Ed somebody.”
Jordan: “Ed’s class was a seminal event for me. Very insightful and frankly, changed my life.”
Walt: “Well, I poured through a couple of his books. Then I decided to see a psychiatrist.”
Jordan: “Good for you. How’d you find the right one?”
Walt: “Looked through their stated specialties and a lot about what they had studied and where they studied. Narrowed in down to a couple and then chose the one who was more familiar with Ed’s work…and who knew him professionally.”
Jordan: “Walk me through how you guys worked together.”
Walt: “First couple of sessions were really me laying out: (i) what attracted me to Trump, sources of information I used, what actions I took, etc.; (ii) how I felt when Trump took certain actions or made certain statements. Did I always support him? Did I have any doubts? The sessions were background information.”
Jordan: “Then what?”
Walt: “Next few sessions were trying to understand how I thought I had changed. Content was much like you and I have talked about but a lot more detail.”
Jordan: “After you laid out all the history, what was next?”
Walt: “The next sessions were fascinating, frustrating and embarrassing. Some of the time we talked about how people become brainwashed.”
Jordan: “You became your own case study.”
Walt: “I was a case study in a course I didn’t want to take. Anyway I really had no idea I was being brainwashed. For a long time, all Trump’s ideas seemed to make sense. Trump seemed so right…and everyone who didn’t support him seemed so wrong. The world was black and white.”
Jordan: “But somehow you managed to break out of the brainwashing. How did that happen?”
Walt: “Look, I’m no brainwashing expert but as was explained to me, there are ‘holes’ in most brainwashing caps. If reaction to an event or an idea goes through one of those holes, it accesses the pre-brainwashed mind. Think of it as a being on either side of a wall or maybe as separate partitions on a computer hard drive.”
Jordan: “For you the idea of Trump using security clearances for political reasons slipped through one of those holes.”
Walt: “Yep, and at least part of me was accessing a different partition of my hard drive. Part of me was back to my pre-brainwashed days.”
Jordan: “This discussion is absolutely fascinating…but I need a break bad.”
Walt: “Me, too, and I could use another cup of coffee. Now that I’ve confessed, I can quit claiming Starbucks is part of a liberal conspiracy and is just a coffee shop. Even more embarrassing for me, I like their coffee.”
(Continued)
Walt: “Great! Where’d you get it? Don’t tell me. It’s from that liberal bastion, Starbucks.”
Jordan: “C’mon. Stop me from banging my head against the wall. I admit I find your logic fascinating, even humorous at times…but your logic is also incredibly frustrating.”
Walt: “But it’s true.”
Jordan: “If the FBI was trying to get Hillary elected, then why did Comey hold a press conference a few days before the election effectively reopening an investigation about Clinton that found no laws were broken?”
Walt: “Same thing with Obama. He knew the Russians had hacked the Democratic National Committee HQ and were releasing emails to the public. But he didn’t do anything about it. Why not?”
Jordan: “Just for fun, please tell me, in Trump world, does the sun come up in the east or west?”
Walt: “A thorough investigation. Why should the FBI allow a foreign country, especially a known enemy of the US, try to influence the outcome of a presidential election? If the FBI didn’t investigate, it would be dereliction of duty. All of them should be fired…and some tried for treason.”
Jordan: “Yet, when the FBI had very credible evidence that the Russians had infiltrated the Trump campaign and the campaign was likely conspiring with the Russians, you supported the Republicans in Congress who objected. Those same Republicans thought the investigation should be stopped. Why did you support them when you just said there should be an investigation?”
Walt: “Not likely fake, it was fake. At least now you’re starting to understand.”
Gelly: “Nice to be back. Had lots of fun but sorta, kinda missed the office.”
Jordan: “Right. Walt’s coming over sometime late morning.”
Walt: “We had a great time and the fireworks at the club were sensational.”
Walt: “I thought Trump was a blowhard. More of a flake real-estate salesman than a conservative Republican.”
Walt: “Guess I never really considered the experience. Was more intrigued with the idea of change than the quality of the people involved or what they had to do to implement change. Sort of the ends justifying the means.”
Walt: “We’ll talk about troubling later. As I said, I did my own studying trying to understand if Trump was real or not. I spent lots of time watching Fox – mostly Hannity and O’Reilly before he got unfairly railroaded out – and I’d catch Limbaugh on the radio a couple of times a week. The more I listened to these guys the more convinced I was Trump was on the right track.”
Jordan: “Did your studying include reading newspapers – let’s say the Miami Herald, Palm Beach Post, Washington Post, NY Times?”
Jordan: “If I understand correctly, your primary sources of info were Trump, Trump’s tweets, probably the White House press secretary – Sarah Huckabee – and a couple of commentators on Fox. No print media other than an occasional read of the Journal. And no other networks such as PBS, CBS, and say MSNBC.”
Walt: “OK, but you have to buy coffee…and I want a bagel, too.”
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 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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
one could have done it better. Now let’s adjourn and play some golf.”
Trump: “Why? I told you my performance was fantastic. Let’s go play golf.”
Board Member: “Just to be clear, the majority of the Board did not support you to be CEO. Only because we have an odd way of counting votes that were you elected.”
Trump: “There’s so many I don’t know where to begin. No other CEO has ever accomplished so much in such little time.”
: “The only thing I need to be more effective is total loyalty from everyone in the organization.”
Trump: “Experience running large companies doesn’t matter. I don’t need to know…in fact, I pride myself not knowing about lots of things you consider important. Remember, I’m a genius. Why waste my time learning anything new? I’d rather watch TV and play golf. What’s knowledge worth anyway? I go with my gut…and I’m always right.”
Trump: “In my way of thinking, all deals are zero-sum games. And I have to win. The other party in the deal needs to cave in to my demands.”
Board Member: “Mr. Trump, I think it’s time you put on your big-boy pants and quit acting like a whiny 8-year old brat. You realize that you don’t own those managers. Those managers are responsible to the company, the customers and the shareholders. The managers are not your servants. You do realize that don’t you?”
Greenie: “OK, in the meantime, I’ve got a culture we might want to explore…or at least I think it qualifies as a culture.”
JC: “You mean how much should regional cultures sorta blend in versus how much should these regional cultures should stay specific to the geographic area?”
Jordan: “I’m hardly an expert. My take is there are marked differences in cultures among East, Midwest and West and even differences within a region – the Northeast is a good example. As for Hawaii and Alaska…different still. But to me these differences seem more cosmetic than substantive. Yes, some areas are more liberal or more conservative than others but the differences don’t seem to alter the fundamental principles in how the region or the country should be governed.”
Jordan: “The South is a different animal.”
Jordan: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn what you think. Actually, the resentment is probably much greater and deeper than any of us can understand.”
Jordan: “Spot on, Greenie. His election and his rhetoric as president made perfectly acceptable any type of public display of resentment or even hatred of ‘non-true Southerners’. Look back at Trump’s public support of hate groups in Charlottesville.”
Greenie: “You know what I find ironic about ironic about the hard-core Southerners supporting the Donald? Many in the South still blame the North for lots of problems…and they really dislike people from New York. So who do they support? The Donald who was born and raised in NY. The Donald who dodged the draft, claiming bone spurs. The Donald who proposed policies as president that hurt rather than helped his supporters. The guy should have been despised by the people in the south. But no, they adored him.”
JC: “To the hard-core Southerner, he must have been considered a born-again Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee rolled into one. His supporters believed he was going to overthrow the very establishment that the hard-core blamed for destroying the Old South.”
JC: “Lincoln tried to set the stage for the country to heal. He might have been too accommodating. The hard-core Southerners still don’t understand and still can’t get out of the blame stage.”
Gelly: “Jordan, you’ve done it again?”
Gelly: “You mean the executives of the company that’s relocating. But I never though about the cost of these relocations to the people where the company left and even…”
Senior executives and sha
Many 
Taxpayers 
Do these relocations create a net gain to US societ
