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.”
Greenie: “You got it.”
JC: “We were trying to be more diplomatic post revolution. Won’t laying out the bare facts open old wounds?”
Jordan: “Greenie, you know better than I, but isn’t crafting an objective article oftentimes more difficult than say a pure opinion piece?”
Greenie: “Good question. Why? If the article is about lack of Republican leadership in the House and Senate, why hold back? Mitch McConnell did the country a major disservice by not squashing some of the cabinet nominees.”
Greenie: “The guy had been awarded some medal by the Russians. Look, I have no qualms about the head of ExxonMobil, or another oil company, working with the Russians. But don’t take the guy and put him in as Secretary of State. At State, he needs to protect American interests and not be concerned about personal or company interests. Making him Secretary created an immediate and obvious conflict.”
JC: “DeVos to be head of Department of Education was another lightweight. During the Senate hearings, Betsy, bless her little heart, couldn’t answer the most fundamental questions about how the education system works.”
Greenie: “But McConnell didn’t tell Trump. So Trump took the upper hand, berated McConnell publicly and McConnell shrank like a violet. In the process, McConnell became an enabler for Trump’s wacko behavior.”
Greenie: “The Speaker of the House appoints many of the committee chairs. Ryan could have gotten Nunes replaced with someone willing to pursue the investigation. It’s possible…and we need to check this for the article…it’s possible Ryan could have appointed Adam Schiff, a Democrat to lead the investigation.”
“OK with me. Anything in particular they want to talk about?”
Jordan: “Evangelicals must not have thought having multiple affairs constituted adultery. C’mon, only one of those affairs, as far as we know, was with a high-profile porn star. What’s the issue?”
Greenie: “Jordan, see what we mean? Repeated adultery, constant lying, publicly ridiculing people who had sacrificed a lot to work in his administration, mistreatment of women…and on and on. Yet, the evangelicals kept supporting him. Why?”
Greenie: “Good old Lincoln came to mind. And one of his famous quotes.”
Jordan: “But why do you think evangelicals were so easily fooled?”
JC: “Have you ever heard evangelicals question the fundamental tenets of Christianity?”
Jordan: “It’s as if the group was brainwashed.”
Jordan: “Let’s not forget evangelicals believing the absolute truths of the religious leaders of Fox News. OK, now how do you intend to write-up this politically incorrect analysis?”
Greenie: “OK, now that we’ve solved the mystery of the creation of the universe, I have another topic.”
JC: “You mean what event or action by Trump caused the FBI, or whatever group was responsible, to say, ‘enough, already. He needs to go.’”
Jordan: “Because by early 2018 it had become clear Trump was in the hands of the Russians…at least financially. They had him by the you know what.”
Greenie: “So why did Trump have Sessions fire McCabe? Firing McCabe accomplished nothing. Then Sessions got fired by Trump soon thereafter.”
Greenie: “Do you guys think Trump really understood who held all the cards? In the Washington poker game, Trump didn’t have a pair of deuces and Muller had a full house, yet Trump thought he could bluff Mueller.”
JC: “Pissing off mama bear is not smart. And doing so never has a good outcome.”
Greenie: “Most serious adults in the US…and worldwide…have great admiration for the FBI. I think it’s fairly well-known that when joining the agency you pledge to ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.’ The people who I know connected with the Agency take the pledge very seriously.’ Trump’s behavior violated the pledge and effectively left them no choice.”
Greenie: “Even after the transition from Trump, the country had the Revenge Revolution. Granted a few years later but probably a lot more peaceful that it might have been.”
First, it appears more and more people are realizing what the military and gun enthusiasts have known for some time – the AR-15 is not a sport rifle, is not a hunting rifle but is an assault weapon designed for killing as many people as possible in as short a time as possible.
Why such a harsh recommendation? First and foremost, these type weapons are not needed outside the military. For those who insist on firearms to protect self and/or property, hunting rifles, shotguns and pistols are more than adequate. For hunters, using AR-15’s is hardly sport, even if hunting elephants, lions, tigers or bears, which you shouldn’t be doing anyway.
Banning assault weapons is not unprecedented. Beginning in 1994 Federal law banned the sales of newly manufactured assault weapons. Former presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan, wrote to the U.S. House of Representatives in support of banning “semi-automatic assault guns”. The law passed with bi-partisan support. Congress let the law expire in 2004.
ll not be infringed.”
In that context, the Second Amendment seems perfectly logical. Guys, get it? The regular citizens of the country made up the military when the Constitution was written. And, if you’re a strict “Constitutionalist” and interpret the Constitution as originally written, the weapons were single-shot flint locks, not AR-15’s.
Get serious conservatives. If you understood government, you might realize that you already live in a country where the government allows you basic rights. That piece of property you think you own? Your right to ownership is a function of government. The freedom to travel? That freedom is a function of government. Hate to burst your conservative bubble, but the freedoms that you have are because the government lets you have those freedoms.
I hope these students ask their grandparents to coach them about how the grandparent protested the Vietnam War. Then the kids can go to Washington, march in front of the White House and chant, “Hey, hey, Donald J! How many kids did you kill today?”
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.
Board Member: “Mr. Trump, during the break did you think about your managers’ concerns? What about their concerns was so unreasonable that you allowed the company to effectively shut down?”
Trump: “You keep pointing the finger at me. I haven’t done anything.”
Board Member: “…Excuse me but I wasn’t finished speaking. Let’s see if you understand this. ‘Little Donnie, quit whining like a brat, and be quiet until the adults in the room tell you it’s ok to speak. Understand?’”
Trump: “You mean ‘The Buck Stops Here’ sign?”
Trump: “But I told you before about the plan to make the company great again. Step #1 is to change the compensation structure. The 1.0% management team needs more money. The peons who work for the company don’t really deserve any more money but we can throw them a few crumbs for a while…then gradually take it back. They’re too stupid to understand what’s really going on. Step #2 is…”
Board Member: “But what about their connections to shady Russian oligarchs, let alone Putin? Associating with the Russians will compromise the company.”
Board Member: “Mr. Trump, the trickle-down approach, which president George H.W. Bush called voodoo economics, has never worked. He was right. Trickle down has never worked in the US or anyplace in the world. The trickle-down approach slows economic growth, not accelerate it. You know that don’t you?”
Board Member: “You realize, of course, the workers contributed to their medical plan and their retirement plan. And they’ve done so for a long time. Your plan will basically screw them.”
company going forward.”
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.”