First-time readers, the dialogue in 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 Revenge Revolution and author, Entry #1. List and general description of entries to date. Annual assessment if Revolution plausible.
Note: most characters appear in a number of entries, with many entries building on previous conversations. Profile of characters. You’ll catch on quickly. Thanks for your time and interest…and comments.
Scene: Jordan’s office in Washington. (Series “Who Took Out the Donald?’ begins Entry #244.)
Gelly: “Alright, we’ve got our coffee refills. Now, JC, why do you think many of the Trump supporters were brainwashed?”
JC: “Simple.”
Greenie: “OK. I’m game. Why is the answer so simple?”
JC: “My research indicated the foundation for most brainwashing was the constant use of declarative statements.”
Jordan: “You mean like my mother used to say — ‘Do this. Don’t do that.’”
Greenie: “Now, Jordan, that was not nice. Besides your mother’s behavior was part of the cultural. She didn’t consider that brainwashing.”
Jordan: “OK, I’ll forget I said that.”
JC: “A key to brainwashing is always respond to a question without any hesitation and without any inkling the answer might not be correct. If you want to brainwash someone, start by acting as if your answers are always correct, even if their boldface lies.”
Gelly: “So, if I ask you a question and you want to start brainwashing me, you respond with a declarative statement, whether true or not. As a brainwasher, your focus is to make sure there is little if any room for the ‘brainwashees,’ as it were, to be able to think for themselves. Provide an answer and leave no room for questions.”
Greenie: “If I understand correctly, as the brainwasher you want your declarative statement to reinforce whatever your position is and not have the ‘brainwashee’ think about possible answers. Have I got it right?”
JC: “Yes, it is important to reinforce your position, even if the position has no basis in fact and is completely based made-up, or as the Trump Administration liked to call them, ‘alternative facts.’”
Jordan: “The brainwashing theory sounds OK but how about an example or two.”
Gelly: “JC, may I try to give an example, please?”
JC: “Fire away.”
Gelly: “Back before Trump became a serious candidate, he claimed president Obama was born in Kenya and therefore not a legitimate president.”
Greenie: “That’s seems like a good example.”
Gelly: “Trump continued to repeat that claim despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Trump even claimed, or at least implied, that the birth announcement in the Honolulu paper was false. So, when Obama was born…in Kenya, of course…there was a group that knew he would become president. To make sure the newborn Kenyan kid was eligible, the group wanting him to be president put a phony birth announcement in the Honolulu paper. That story makes perfect sense to me? I mean really, what idiot would believe that?”
JC: “Think about all the people who did believe it. In addition to Trump, the gold standard for objective and credible reporting, Fox News, kept repeating the story. And, of course, the Rush Man joined O’Reilly, Hannity, Breitbart and their ilk in reinforcing the bogus claim. And what happened? Many Republicans were brainwashed. How many?”
Greenie: “If I recall correctly, in the summer of 2016, more than 40% of all Republicans still believed Obama was born outside the US.”
Jordan: “Can that number be right, JC? More than 40%? What were these people thinking?”
JC: “The number is right…it was a little over 40% who bought in to the lie. My study suggested that the claim was so outrageous and so bizarre that only someone who’d been brainwashed would believe it.”
Jordan: “Let me give another example. Trump kept saying none of the employment, income and range of other statistics provided by the Federal government could be trusted.”
JC: “These claims are in addition to Trump’s declarative statements that global-warming was a conspiracy of what 3,000 scientists…sorry for the sidebar.”
Jordan: “As I was saying…I have an acquaintance, a former a high-school history teacher, who supported Trump and claimed no statistics from the government were credible. Here’s a guy that was supposed to be teaching our kids to think and understand how our country was formed and has continued to evolve. Whether he liked it or not, the very foundation of the United States was and is the Federal government. So what did he spout? That any information provided by the Federal government cannot be trusted.”
Gelly: “Fortunately, he’s no longer teaching.”
Jordan: “Let’s pause for just a minute and look at some history. Over the years some of the political claims in the US have been outrageous and patently false. Yet, the country survived. And so have a lot of other countries survived with brainwashing and false information. What was different about this effort to brainwash?”
JC: “Actually, nothing was different. Now, let’s look at what happened in these countries every time a large percentage of the population got brainwashed.”
Greenie: “You mean like what happened in Germany and Italy prior to and during WWII? OK, so we lost a few relatives. More like 6,000,000 Jews. Like what happened in Russia under Stalin. And maybe like what happened in the US south leading up to and during the Civil War? C’mon, these were only people that got enslaved or murdered. What’s the issue?”
Jordan: “I know you’re being serious and your point is spot on. What type event followed each time there was widespread brainwashing?”
Greenie: “Some type of anarchy and sometimes is was really, really ugly. The anarchy wasn’t some upset guys just hanging around a coffee shop. There were real hangings.”
Jordan: “JC, you’re the expert. Why does anarchy often follow the brainwashing? Why not a peaceful transition?”
JC: “When brainwashed, the populous acts more like robots, not really thinking about what they’re doing. Then at some point, things start to get so far out of whack that more and more people get jolted back to reality.”
Gelly: “Like having an ‘ah ha’ moment?”
JC: “Exactly. After the ‘ah ha’ moment, people feel duped and betrayed. They are so frustrated and so angry at the country’s leaders…and even themselves…that a peaceful transition is nearly impossible.”
Jordan: “I can buy that logic for most egregious situations. But do you think the same type anger occurred after the FBI took out Trump? After all, the main culprit was gone.”
Greenie: “So you’re asking why we still had a Revenge Revolution. Once Trump was out, why didn’t people just let go and move on?”
JC: “My view is the Trump supporters also felt duped, really screwed, by a lot of Republican members of the House and Senate, state representatives and even some local politicians. Many of these politicians supported….and even enhanced the Trump lies. A good example is how many of these Republican politicians kept claiming for a long time that Donnie Junior’s meeting with the Russians was no big deal and it was just part of a witch hunt.”
Greenie: “Then a lot of Republicans began to realize the significance of the meeting. It was the intent, not the outcome.”
Jordan: “Trump’s argument was so incredibly phony – nothing of value came out of the meeting. Trust me, he claimed. Well, Junior, try your logic on the police after you tried to rob a bank but the walked away empty handed. ‘Gee, officer, I’m not guilty of attempted robbery because I didn’t the money.’ The officer replies, ‘Excuse me, Donnie Junior but attempted robbery is a felony. Do you understand?’”
Gelly: “His agreement to meet the Russians also violated some statutes affecting national security. So why did it seem to take people a long time to understand what was really going on?”
JC: “Brainwashing is very effective…up to a point. Finally, at least for a lot of people, the situation becomes so out of kilter that the regular brain kicks back in. When many of the Republicans finally woke up to the Trump shenanigans, they had become so angry they couldn’t just let it go. Even though Trump was gone by then, people still felt the need to revolt and throw out many of the Republican politicians.”
Greenie: “So as part of throwing da bums out, we got the Revenge Revolution. And, now, JC, we need to have our own revolt and get out of here. It’s been a pleasure.”
Gelly: “Thanks very much for staying after I got back. Come back soon, please.”
Jordan: “Come back any time.”
Greenie: “Unfortunately, by the time the FBI took Trump out, the damage to the country was too great…and we had the Revenge Revolution.”
JC: “Think about it…and I know you realize this. The Donald was more of an enabler for the Revenge Revolution rather than the cause of the Revenge Revolution. For 20+ years before Trump, the Republicans had been moving farther and farther right. The Donald let the Republicans do a really hard-right turn.”
Greenie: “Exactly. I know you think the comment about brainwashing was tongue-in-check but I really believe many who claimed to be Republicans were brainwashed.”
Matt: “So the total was 1,000 but I guess each team earned 500…right?”
Jordan: “That’s exactly what happened. One team negotiated supposedly in good faith…and then at the last allowed negotiating session told the other team they were being bombed.”
Jordan: “After the class found out about the bombing, people no longer trusted members of the group that bombed. The change was immediate. The entire class has a casino party on Saturday night, the day after the bombing. Some members of the group that bombed staffed the casino tables – dealing cards, for example. And guess what?”
Jordan: “I can still tell you the names of the key players in the group that bombed. What’s more I can tell you their careers were not much different that their behavior in that group. I’m still friends with two of the three key guys but I would never work with them.”
Matt: “Alright, so you had an interesting exercise or even informal final exam. Now bring that exercise back to the Trump administration. You think there were parallels?”
JC: “Agreed, but the Democrats didn’t seem vicious like the Republicans.”
JC: “Republican leaders crafted the proposals to reward the very wealthy and screw the very people who voted them into office. I recall one of the Republican senators who crafted their bill in secret making the following statement, ‘Medicaid does not pay doctors enough per visit.’ Followed by ‘The proposed bill cuts Medicaid payments by hundreds of millions of dollars.’ Duh, oh wise senator, do you understand what you just said?”
Jordan: “Fortunately for them, Trump had so many other personal conflicts that affected the presidency, especially financial links to the Russians, the FBI had to take him out.”
Greenie: “JC, I agree that a lot of people in Congress have been influenced by money. Trump certainly was, too. But…”
Greenie: “The movie director’s problem? He was either too stupid to realize the potential consequences or had too much hubris. And look what happened to the director’s prized possession.”
Matt: “Since when did Fox News become a real news organization? Anyway, Comey’s testimony did not provide clear-cut evidence of obstruction of justice. Questionable behavior by Trump? Definitely, but no clear-cut evidence of obstruction.”
JC: “But, no, the Donald thought he was doing another episode of the ‘Apprentice.’ Scowl and look mean. For some reason he couldn’t apologize and took the opposite approach by ratcheting up the negative rhetoric.”
Jordan: “Greenie, you’re two for two. Take diplomacy. In short order, Trump managed…in the most polite terms…to give the finger to our strongest allies – Germany, England, France and Israel. Then he chastised Qatar for supporting terrorists. Did he realize the US had a major military base in Qatar?”
Matt: “He did make Tillerson and Mattis each look like a fool. Each had worked hard to convince NATO allies that the US was committed. Then during the meeting at NATO, Trump claims…incorrectly I might add…claims that US taxpayers were footing the bill for other NATO countries. Worse still, at the NATO meeting he refused to support Article 5…the key to NATO.”
Greenie: “Can’t have the Attorney General following the law. Have to be tough.”
Greenie: “Mid-June. I remember because we’d just moved to Alexandria…Virginia, not Egypt.”
Greenie: “Think about Trump’s meeting with the Russians in the Oval Office. No reporters except for a Russian photographer. Only when the photographs were published by the Russians did the US public know who really attended the meeting.”
Greenie: “So Trump slobbers all over the Russian’s the Saudi’s and then a few days later trashes our allies in NATO. Trump was clearly not working for the best interests of the United States. His argument at NATO about the extra burden on US taxpayers was wrong. A week or so later his argument to drop out of the Paris climate accord was completely false. That’s why I believe there was lots of money funneled to the Trump family.”
Matt: “And you think Pence and Sessions were in on the deal, too?”
Jordan: “Let me jump in. Yes, the tax returns would have helped. Highly likely that most, if not all the foreign payments were never reported. Releasing the returns would have subjected Trump, and probably Kushner and other family members, to income tax evasion. In addition to tax evasion acknowledging payments from foreign governments would have violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution.”
JC: “Supporters claimed the events were left-wing hyperbole and the actions by Trump were meaningless or innocent. I don’t buy in. There was a pattern. Too many so-called “odd” events in such a short period of time not only doesn’t smell right…but it defies logic.”
Jordan: “I’d say the odds were well beyond 1,000,000:1 and likely well above 100,000,000:1.”
JC: “Let me guess. #1 is supporters didn’t really understand the issues. Recall Trump saying something like, ‘Who knew healthcare was so complicated?”
Matt: “I agree with one exception. People with a college degree who continued to support Trump after the first few months in office. It’s impossible…or at least I think it is…to go through college and not develop some understanding of how events are linked.”
JC: “Yes, Fox News. I’m not certain that was the intent of Fox News, at least when it was started.”
Jordan: “I agree the other channels could be a bit biased at times, but not like Fox. You know as well as I that Fox should have been called the ‘pants-on-fire’ network.”
JC: “That’s my point. Fox routinely made up stuff and presented as hard facts. Trump supporters actually considered Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity as serious journalists.”
Matt: “Let me go back and ask again. What about certain members of Congress…McConnell, for example. Was he brainwashed? Is that why he stonewalled any investigation of Trump? What about Pence and Sessions? Were they brainwashed?
Jordan: “Gelly, good idea about ordering coffee. Waiter, when you get a chance, I’ll take the check, please.”
JC: “Get to the point, please.”
Greenie: “Of course, Trump never produced the tapes. In fact, from what I understand from the few people I still know in the right places, the FBI was likely taping Trump’s conversations. I don’t know if the Donald ever understood how sophisticated the FBI technology was for listening in on conversations.”
JC: “Remember, he’s Trump. He’s the center of the universe and everyone else revolves around him. He probably thought Comey would act all the other munchkins Trump employs or calls a friend…do what the boss man wants and don’t ask question.”
Gelly: “Look, I’m not the brightest crayon in the box but I look like a genius compared to Trump.”
JC: “So instead of being adults, these guys played hide-and-seek behind some fence. In the meantime, Trump got more and more out of control.”
Sandy:
JC:
Greenie:
Greenie:
JC:
Greenie:
Gelly: “Jordan, the dynamic duo is here to see you – JC and Greenie.”
Greenie: “I’m visiting JC for a few days. She offered to edit some of my articles on the cause of the Revenge Revolution.”
JC: “So…Jordan, does Captain Queeg’s behavior in Caine Mutiny remind you of anybody who used to be in Washington…you know, like…”
JC: “I’d forgotten how wacko those guys in the White House really were…starting with the Donald.”
Greenie: “When there was no evidence of a wiretap, he claimed the former Attorney General broke the law by doing her job and should be put in jail.”
Greenie: “Queeg….I mean Trump was really dangerous. What I think was even worse – a lot of supposedly responsible people, including Republican leadership in the House and Senate….didn’t want to admit how much Queeg and staff really were out of control.”
Jordan: “Well, I really hate to say this…I mean I’d better think about it.”
JC: “Let me guess. One is the Russians, which seems like an obvious choice. From what I can tell, they have him by the short hairs.”
JC: “You thinking an inside job…like someone from one of the intelligence agencies or the special ops guys in the military? Yikes, the thought of that makes me squirm.”
JC: “It was. But now all that’s over. To end on a more positive note, the country survived after president Queeg. Lots of turmoil and the Revenge Revolution but we survived.”
