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. They just returned from getting a coffee refill. Conversation begins entry #302.
Walt: “I’ll tell you another event that penetrated the brainwashing cap. In fact, I still shake my head when thinking about it.”
Jordan: “Which was?”
Walt: “Remember when Rudy Giuliani, then Trump’s attack dog, stated on ‘Meet the Press’ that ‘truth isn’t truth’?”
Jordan: “Remember it well. I did not see the live broadcast…think I was doing something important like playing golf…but saw the video several times.”
Walt: “Did you see the look on the host’s face? What’s the guy’s name?”
Jordan: “Chuck Todd.”
Walt: “That’s it. Todd looked more dumbfounded than a deer in headlights. Then he tried to let Giuliani correct his mistake. But Giuliani in true Trump fashion, refused to admit an error and proceeded to straight-jacket himself.”
Jordan: “You know Giuliani was right…if you add just one word.”
Walt: “Not sure what you mean.”
Jordan: “Giuliani’s right if you state it as, ‘Trump’s truth isn’t truth.’”
Walt: “Hadn’t thought of it exactly like you phrased it but Giuliani’s comment was so stupid an alarm bell went off in my head.”
Jordan: “So you had two Trump-related brain-penetrating epiphanies in a couple of weeks.”
Walt: “Like I said before we went to get more coffee, after Trump’s order to revoke security clearances for high-level people who could protect the country, I began asking myself, ’Self, what have I been thinking?’ Then other Trump actions started to migrate from logical to questionable.”
Jordan: “You think Giuliani’s ‘truth isn’t truth’ could have accelerated the questioning?”
Walt: “Probably. But I’m still embarrassed to talk about my brainwashed state. I mean, when I was brainwashed, Kellyanne Conway’s claim about ‘alternative facts’ never caused me to pause.”
Jordan: “Not to press too much but didn’t you think Conway’s statements were pure BS?”
Walt: “No. I even repeated her stuff in discussions about Trump. One time while having coffee with a friend of mine the conversation turned to Trump. He made an assertion and I responded that you have your facts and I have mine.”
Jordan: “How’d he respond?”
Walt: “After I repeated the claim about alternative facts, he said I was brainwashed, then left the restaurant.”
Jordan: “Ever get back together for coffee?”
Walt: “The next time he asked me to provide a data source supporting some Conway-like claim I’d made.”
Jordan: “And…?”
Walt: “I asked him if he was calling me a liar. He asked again for the source of information. I repeated my claim he was calling me a liar…then I left.”
Jordan: “Seen him again?”
Walt: “No. Maybe I should call him. He was right all along. But see, that’s another example of being so embarrassed about past behavior. I mean, what do I say?”
Jordan: “Why not call him for coffee and let the conversation take its course.”
Walt: “Good idea.”
Jordan: “Were there any other what you might call epiphanic events that caused you to think you might have been brainwashed?”
Walt: “The incident might not qualify as an epiphany but one that I still find humorous.”
Jordan: “There was humor in the Trump fiasco?”
Walt: “Well, guys probably think it’s funny. Not sure about women. Most guys never progress beyond sophomoric humor.”
Jordan: “I’m game. What was the event?”
Walt: “Remember when Trump’s so-called confidants started to flip?”
Jordan: “Started with Michael Cohen. What’s so funny about Cohen flipping?”
Walt: “Nothing. What still makes me smile was when the owner of the National Enquirer was granted immunity.”
Jordan: “You mean…?”
Walt: “Yep. Who ever thought a Pecker could be granted immunity? Had we known a pecker could be immune from prosecution our college life could have been a lot more fun!”
Jordan: “That is pretty funny…and so sophomoric. Seriously, anything else stand out?”
Walt: “Once the brainwashing cap got penetrated, I started to look at the flood of Trump’s tweets a lot more critically. What I noticed was that virtually every tweet laid the blame for a problem on someone else or on some Federal agency. Trump seemed to forget he was in charge.”
Jordan: “So, now you’re beginning to view Trump a bit more objectively. What happened to your political position? Did you start to shift left? If so, how far?”
Walt: “I shifted to probably right center. Still basic conservative values but with a social conscience.”
Jordan: “Reminds me of how Bush43 tried to position himself – compassionate conservative. Then he got steamrolled by the neocons and lost focus.”
Walt: “Guess my ‘right center’ is more like pre-Reagan Republicans. That was before the party got pushed way right and eventually just refused to work across the aisle. I know the Democrats seemed to shift to but at one time the Republicans and Democrats actually worked together to get things done.”
Jordan: “OK, now we’re in a new era. Trump is gone and the country has gone through the Revenge Revolution. And you’re more open to crossing party lines. What about other former Trumpsters?”
Walt: “Some will never get it. Remember after Nixon resigned, there was what, 20-25% of the populace still supported him? So those people will stay in their Trump cave. But the rest of us need to start working together to avoid becoming a banana republic. People don’t think the US can slip that far but it can.”
Jordan: “I’m delighted you want to make the government work again. Now, what’s next?”
(Continued)
Greenie: “Before the break, I said I thought at first Jordan’s idea of reinstating conscription was stupid. Then I came around and supported it.”
JC: “What’s your logic? Something wrong with charter schools?”
JC: “Not that I disagree with you but why do you think charter schools are a band-aide?”
JC: “We need to get more specific about the issues. Besides we know that merely throwing money at schools does not necessarily make schools better.”
JC: “I agree that many were top-notch, especially those teaching math and English. To think we were so motivated we used to diagram sentences for fun!”
Jordan: “What about teacher pay?”
Jordan: “OK, I’ll be the bad guy. Why do we need free public education? What percent of the public thinks education should be privately provided and not publicly provided…forget who pays for it?”
Greenie: “…an educated populous. And how did the US populous become educated? Not just an education for the elite but an education for everyone, including immigrants, many of whom arrived here illiterate. They were educated through a free public education.”
JC: “While we’re throwing out ideas about education, what about banning busing? Busing seems like a waste of time and money.”
Greenie: “Tell me how a politician is going to campaign against free, quality public education for all? That type campaign, especially in this post-Revenge Revolution environment would be suicide.”
eenie: “Ready for another idea how to really make America great again?”
Jordan: “You mean like Trump, Limbaugh, Hannady, and the former right-wing truthsayer, Bill O’Reilly.”
enie: “Jordan, pulleeeze. Be a bit more diplomatic, will you?”
Jordan: “For now, we’ll include both men and women.”
Jordan: “Eligible at 18 but must begin service by say age 26. A person could get a deferment to attend trade school or college but would need to start by age 26.”
Jordan: “Federal agencies that have operations in most parts of the country. Agencies that serve people locally or work with the states to service people locally.”
Jordan: “Same with EPA. There are lots of areas where an ‘EPA corps’ as it were, could help gather data or fix an issue before it becomes difficult and costly to solve. Just like that old commercial, ‘pay me now or pay me later.’ But later is almost always much more expensive.”
JC: “I can hear it now. Some people are going to claim what we’re proposing will be taking away jobs from others. Or worse yet, conscription will interrupt little Johnnie’s or little Susie’s career that mommy and daddy paid so much to prepare them for. How are we going to counter that argument?”
JC: “…Let me try. #4, forced diversity. Exposure to a wide range of people and backgrounds never hurt anyone. Maybe we, that is societal we, could become a bit more civil if we understood others’ perspectives. Brilliant statement, huh?”
JC: “You know, the time might be right to reinstitute conscription. Since the Revenge Revolution people seem more willing to explore old and new ways of trying to solve problems.”
Gelly: “Jordan, you have a call from a guy named Willie. Want to take it or should I…”
Willie: “Your voice mail said you wanted to talk about crypto-currency.”
Jordan: “In a way, the crypto-currencies remind me of the US prior to the creation of the Federal Reserve. Lots of variation in value and no one quite sure who’s in charge?”
Willie: “Another good question. A lot of the so-called crypto-currencies vanished early on. Some never got any momentum and some were never issued even after investor funds were taken.”
Willie: “A couple of crypto-currencies were backed by some assets. One was even backed by gold, but most were backed by nothing.”
Jordan: “While true that governments might have gone off the gold standard, governments do have assets…and a way to generate revenue. Governments can collect taxes. Save one or two, crypto-currencies had no assets and none had authority to collect taxes.”
Jordan: “Over the years you’ve dealt with the Federal Reserve. How did they view crypto-currency?”
Willie: “Two primary roles of the Federal Reserve are managing monetary policy and controlling the banking system. The already difficult job of managing monetary policy became much more difficult with the alternative-currency universe.”
Willie: “Most people did not fully appreciate how crypto-currencies forced the Fed’s hand. Crypto-currencies took a bigger and bigger slide out of the Fed’s monetary pie. In order to achieve the same result as before crypto-currencies, the Fed was forced to exaggerate changes in interest rates, both up and down. The exaggeration also affected Wall Street. As a result, the Fed was unhappy, Wall Street was unhappy, many investors were unhappy and the general public was unhappy.”
Willie: “Federal revenue. While the Fed is not responsible for collecting taxes, in order to manage monetary policy, the Fed needs to have a good idea of sources and uses of Federal funds.”
