Category Archives: Diversions

#377. What’s the Con Man Hiding?

05 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by in Back Asswards Thinking, Diversions, Post Trump Presidency, Stupid Is as Stupid Does, Uncategorized

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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, a list of earlier revolutions and the author, Entry #1.

Periodically I write a “sense check” to assess whether in the next few years, a revolution in the US is still possible or whether the entire exercise is based on a statistical aberration — i.e., a roughly 50-year cycle between major upheavals in the US.  Most recent sense check, Entry #365.  

Some of the entries are part of a series.  Several series are available as easy-to-read booklets for download:

Prelude: there is an endless number of inconsistencies in information from the Trump administration about the spread of the coronavirus and/or actions to mitigate the spread. For this blog entry we take a look at trying to understand why Trump behaves the way he does.  What’s really behind his behavior?

ENTRY #377 BEGINS:  Last week I ended the entry expressing hope that the experience and sacrifices associated with the coronavirus would help bring the US populace closer together. Being closer, in turn, would reduce the severity of the likely Revenge Revolution. Behavior by most of the public this past week seems to reinforce that hope.

What is far less clear is understanding the behavior and decisions by Trump. You have to ask yourself, “Why such behavior?” It makes no sense.

My training in undergrad and grad school and most jobs in my professional career have been to analyze data and then forecast events/outcomes. The challenge with forecasting is to articulate reasonable, actionable actions before the situation becomes obvious and more difficult to control. In addition, recommended actions that provide the most lead time often are necessarily, but also may be based on seemingly disparate data points.

Those who make predictions understand their forecasts are almost always wrong. Naysayers and “Monday-morning quarterbacks” love to nitpick and point out errors in the predictions. However, those who make decisions based on predictions understand that a good, actionable prediction doesn’t have to be 100% correct. A good prediction only needs to presents reasonably accurate outcomes for the most relevant variables before the situation becomes obvious and actions to control the situation less effective.

With that background, let’s turn to the behavior of Donald Trump as president. From my perspective there is something or maybe a set of variables driving his behavior that is not obvious. If one steps back and analyzes the possible consequences of the behavior, the likely outcomes of Trump’s actions seem contrary to the best interests of the United States. So, why such behavior?

Yes, Trump’s narcissistic. Yes, Trump’s crude, rude and a bully. Yes, he’s under educated and lazy. And, yes, he’s a wannabe Mafia Don. But none of those traits explains his decisions in certain key situations and his relationship with certain people.

Following is top-of-mind list of behavior and/or decisions that to me are inexplicable. With a bit of work, the list would be at least five times as long. Here’s the very short list:

  1. Post-inaugural closed-door meeting in the White House with the Russian ambassador, a known spy. After the meeting the transcript was destroyed. Why?
  2. Public and intense alienation of NATO allies while publicly courting Putin. Why?
  3. Refusing to release tax returns. Then, when ordered to provide tax returns to a Congressional committee, which is written in the tax code, refuses to do so and takes case to court. Why?
  4. When signing the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus, adding an “executive exclusion” that claims the House of Representatives does not have the right of oversight for the expenditures and that he, Trump, will provide oversight. Why?
  5. Overruling vigorous protests by the FBI and CIA and issuing son-in-law Jared Kushner a top secret clearance. The agencies indicated Kushner’s behavior and associations disqualified him from such a clearance. What about the son-in-law’s behavior is so shady?
  6. Praising Navy SEAL Gallagher and then awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom when there was overwhelming evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Why go against the recommendations of the military?
  7. Trash-talking Navy Captain Brett Crozier of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt for trying to protect his crew from the coronavirus. Unlike Gallagher, Captain Crozier was praised as a hero by officers and enlisted sailors. Why praise Gallagher and trash-talk Crozier?
  8. Appointing cabinet officials with clear conflicts of interests, starting with General Flynn and his interactions with Russia and Turkey. Trump was informed of Flynn’s conflicts before the appointment, yet went ahead. Most of the Cabinet appointees have little or no experience in the department. In addition, Trump has consistently appointed “acting” staff members, apparently to avoid having the person be subjected to review by the Senate. Why?
  9. Claiming that he (Trump) had influenced the Saudis and the Russians to agree to raise oil prices. Just a few days before claiming he helped raise oil prices, Trump claimed that lower oil prices were like a tax cut for consumers. Whatever Trump offered the Saudis and the Russians didn’t work since the “deal” has been delayed. What was in this for Trump?
  10. Refusal to have the federal government take the lead in coordinating a response to the coronavirus. Only after extreme pressure did Trump invoke the Defense Production Act, which forced companies to make certain products and then sell the products to the Federal government at a certain price. But rather than the Federal government taking possession, Trump directs the companies to ship the products to private distributors, who are allowed to resell the products to the various states, often at 10x the price paid by the Federal government. Why?

There are many other examples, including the behavior of Attorney General Barr. But in each case one must ask, why? If any of these actions were part of a presidential campaign platform, would Trump have been elected? Obviously not. Who would vote for a candidate, for example, who says, “I’m going to insult NATO allies, and especially insult the English, French and Germans. Then I’m going to cozy up to a known enemy of the United States, the Russians.”

Here’s my take on Trump’s behavior and no one should be surprised. The Russians, for sure, likely the Saudis, and maybe the Chinese have Trump by the short hairs. Why? Because of backroom unreported financial deals, which likely involve laundering money. Recall, the only bank that would lend Trump money after his series of bankruptcies and defaulting on payments was Deutsche Bank. Which bank has been indicted and fined for laundering money? (Guess Deutsche Bank.) Who did Trump appoint as Commerce Secretary? None other than Wilbur Ross, the former chairman of Cyprus Bank, a bank notorious for laundering money.

Don’t be fooled by Trump’s bluster and claim that he’s tough on the Russians and Chinese. Look behind the curtain and see the sanctions against the Russians are a farce. The tariffs against Chinese goods are more show than substance. Think about this. Could the tariffs have been part of a deal where Trump agreed to walk away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership? The agreement would have strengthened America’s influence in Asia. By walking away, did Trump let the Chinese begin to dominate trade in Southeast Asia in exchange for some payment to Trump?

Even without his tax returns, there’s enough evidence to indicate Trump is up to his eyeballs in debt. Trump, Jr even bragged at the private club Trump bought north of Charlotte that the Russians were the source of money for many Trump projects. There’s enough evidence to suggest the Saudis have also provided cash to Trump.

Before the coronavirus, cash flow at many Trump properties was declining, and in some cases, cash flow was negative. The drop-off in cash flow associated with the Coronavirus has made the situation much worse. On April 4, the Trump Organization announced layoffs of 1,500 people. And more layoffs are likely to come.

Let’s pause for now and just ask ourselves, why in Trumpland does everything seem backwards? Why in Trumpland does black look like white? Why in Trumpland does down look like up? Why is irrational considered rational? And endless other dichotomies.

Over the next week, step back and view Trump’s remarks in the context of the questions raised and why everything seems backwards. Stepping back might provide some interesting insight, or at least raise more questions. To be continued.

#348 More about EV1 (Electric Vehicles): Story Behind the Story (Part 3)

26 Monday Aug 2019

Posted by in Diversions, General Motors, Personal Stories, Uncategorized

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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, a list of earlier revolutions and the author, Entry #1.

Periodically I write a “sense check” to assess whether in the next few years, a revolution in the US is still possible or whether the entire exercise is based on a statistical aberration — i.e., a roughly 50-year cycle between major upheavals in the US.  Most recent sense check, Entry #332.  

The past few entries have been a break from the craziness in Washington.  In Entries #343-#345 I included some observations about my time working with Lee Iacocca, who died July 2.  Entry #346 started discussing another project that continues to generate considerable interest — the GM EV1, the first modern electric vehicle, which was introduced more than 25 years ago.

There are two sides to the EV1 story — product and non-product.  The product side has been reasonably well documented.  In my view, the non-product side of the story is far from complete, and what’s been told so far is misleading.  The next few entries — I actually do not know how many — will attempt to provide addition insight.  Stick around.  The series will be a good diversion from the madness in Washington and offer a good lesson or two, I hope. (If you have not read Entries #346 and #347, suggest you do so before reading this entry.)

In-house development of GM EV-1 begins. At the 1990 Los Angeles Auto Show Roger Smith, then GM chairman, introduced the first modern electric vehicle (EV-1) and proclaimed GM would produce it. As described in Entry #347, the concept car introduced in LA had been developed in secret by a company with no affiliation to GM. Formal development and production were to be inside GM.

Soon after the announcement in LA, the program kicked-off inside GM. The program manager was selected and then initial staff members recruited from different divisions. Additional staff was added as the program progressed. The EV-1 program was headquartered in the Advanced Engineering Building at the GM Tech Center. Being housed in the Advanced Engineering Building reinforced the impression, both inside and outside GM, that an Innovative product was being developed.

Another decision was to not assign the EV-1 to an operating division — Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, etc. On the plus side, not selecting the operating division helped avoid the EV1 being pushed aside by the designated division and having EV1 resources diverted for near-term marketing activities. On the negative side, not selecting a “division home” for EV1 reinforced the perception among many operating division executives that the EV-1 was part of Smith’s portfolio of projects that diverted cash from critical product development and marketing programs, which in turn, caused GM to lose market share.

One of the benefits of hindsight is the opportunity to ask, “What went wrong during the EV-1 program?” And then ask, “What did I do or not do that might have contributed to what went wrong?”

Over the past 20 years or so, I’ve been asked to discuss various aspects of the EV1 in different forums — public presentations, media interviews, guest lecturer at a university, even a movie. With each one of these “events,” I’ve tried to assess how different decisions might have affected the outcome of the program, both positively and negatively.

This series of entries, of which this is the third, attempts to analyze the “non-product” side of different activities. I have stated repeatedly in the various forums that I believe the technical limitations of the EV-1– limited range, 2-passenger seating capacity, e.g. — were not the underlying causes for GM pulling the plug on the EV1. Some of the technical limitations have been used as excuses, but were not really the causes.

What were the causes?  Before pointing fingers at others, it’s always a good idea to first look in the mirror. Most of my role at EV-1 the project was to help manage a team that focused on educating groups outside GM. The groups ranged from utilities to fire-and-rescue organizations to Federal and state-government officials to the media to the general public. While most of the efforts were in the US, we also met with officials in Europe.

The efforts of the team were incredibly successful. Even though our marketing and promotion budget was a mere fraction of the budget for the operating divisions, the team’s efforts, as measured by the amount of media coverage, resulted in a significant increase in the public’s awareness of electric vehicles and a significant increase in positive perception of General Motors.

If memory serves correctly, over a roughly three-year period, the EV-1 program generated more positive publicity for GM than the rest of the company combined. (As we’ll discuss in a future entry, all that goodwill and more was lost when GM decided to kill the program and crush all but a few EV-1’s.)

So with such a positive track record, what could have been done differently? Frankly, what did not occur to me at the time, and I don’t recall anyone else discussing this either, was the need to present to the operating divisions — Chevrolet, Buick, etc. — the same type of educational program about the EV-1 as we presented to outside groups.

While many staffers on the EV-1 program had been in the divisions that suffered because of cash diversions to fund Smith’s projects, I’m not sure any of us fully appreciated how negatively our former colleagues at the operating divisions viewed the EV-1 program. We were all enamored with the idea of an electric vehicle and assumed everyone else inside GM was equally excited.

Clearly not everyone was. An example was a return to my former division, Buick. After working many years helping position Buick for the future, I thought the EV-1 would be a perfect fit for Buick and its dealers, many of whom I knew personally. My thinking was the EV-1 could attract younger buyers to Buick, give dealers a sporty model in the showroom to attract new floor traffic and allow Buick to leverage interest in EV-1 among younger people to help build long-term brand loyalty. My rationale, however, when presented to the Buick general manager, fell on deaf ears. Buick was not interested in any association with the EV-1.

Buick and the other operating divisions were not alone in poo-pooing the EV-1. Somehow, we managed to get on the “Do Not Call List” for a number of staffs. Part of the conflict stemmed from assigned responsibilities. For example, EV-1 was the only group outside of the corporate staff whose responsibility included “government relations”. While our dealings with the government were restricted to topics associated with electric vehicles, we were allowed to approach legislators, government agencies and staff without first seeking approval of the corporate “government-relations” staff.

To me the limited scope of our government-relations activities made perfect sense. If a goal of the EV-1 program was for those in government to understand requirements for a successful introduction of electric vehicles, then the group charged with the introduction should be making contacts with various government entities. In my view we were judicious in our approach and diligent about keeping the corporate staff informed of our activities.

Were we successful? Like the group’s efforts in educating the public about electric vehicles, I think we did a good job educating legislators, legislative staff and a number of agencies. We also worked with other auto companies to ensure there was a consistent message to government about how it could help support the development and introduction of electric vehicles.

So what could go wrong? Let’s start with the relationship with the corporate government relations staff. I can state categorically there was no intent on our part to have the relationship go sideways…but it did.

Scene: Executive dining room at the GM Tech Center. Table for two. At the table are GM’s chief environmental lobbyist and me. Part way through lunch the other GM executive (I’m withholding the name intentionally) leans over the table and says, “Dabels, you’re my worst enemy.” My response, “How can that be? We work for the same company.” His retort, “You’re my worst enemy because my job is to convince Federal and state legislators there’s no demand for electric vehicles and you’re out there proving me wrong.”

The conversation continued, rather politely, but without resolution. The lack of resolution stemmed from our instructions. He was to promote a corporate policy that was in direct conflict with the policy the GM EV-1 group was to promote. We finished lunch and then left to carry out our respective instructions.

Inconsistent internal policies within GM were not uncommon. Another rift, which will be discussed in the next entry, was how the financial staff viewed the EV-1 as a cost center, and not a marketing opportunity. Focusing only on cost created an environment where the financial staff placed no value on improved corporate image, no value on increased future buyer potential, no value on brand loyalty, and no value on myriad other non-product attributes that often differentiate one brand from another and can lead to higher market share and earnings.

My view?  Supporters of the cost-center perspective ended up killing the program. The next entry will also provide some insight about what happened during the meeting the day the EV-1 music really died.

#342 Big Bang Theory but Not the TV Show

07 Sunday Jul 2019

Posted by in Diversions

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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, a list of earlier revolutions and the author, Entry #1.

Periodically I write a “sense check” to assess whether in the next few years, a revolution in the US is still possible or whether the entire exercise is based on a statistical aberration — i.e., a roughly 50-year cycle between major upheavals in the US.  Most recent sense check, Entry #332.  

This entry has absolutely nothing to do with the potential for a Revenge Revolution in the US sometime after the year 2020. I thought a diversion would be welcome after Trump’s 4th of July “me, me, me” celebration and his claim the Continental Army guarded the airports. Is anyone really that stupid?

The thoughts in this entry started kicking around in my head many moons ago. Actually, it started the summer between my sophomore and junior years in college.

My job during summers in undergrad was working at a Pepsi bottling plant. The job combined moderate manual labor, some fun — especially when I was “promoted” to lift truck operator — and a chance to work with and learn from a crew of people with whom I had very little in common.

During one evening work session — a bottling plant works lots of overtime in the summer — I was assigned to make sure the bottles coming out of the washer — yes, soda was in glass bottles in those days — were the correct size and had the correct label for what was being bottled — Pepsi, Orange Crush, root beer, etc.

Watching bottles is not the most exciting job in the world so the mind has a tendency to wander. Sometime during the overtime shift, and who knows why, I started to think about events supporting the Big Bang and creation of the universe. Obviously, I’m not the first person to have thought about the Big Bang and I’m certainly no astrophysicist…but it is an interesting topic.

I could buy into the idea of a Big Bang and all the material then shooting off in various directions. All the stuff in the solar system had to get there somehow, right? But as I continued to try and reconstruct what happened, two parts stumped me that night watching bottles come out of the washer — and continue to stump me all these years later.

  1. Where did the material for the Big Bang come from? Religious beliefs aside, how did the ball of stuff that went boom get put together, let alone then go bang?
  2. How do we earthlings know the universe is not part of another object — like a chair? Or maybe part of an experiment?

Granted the universe is so large as to be unfathomable. But size is all relative. To humans, a molecule or atom is microscopic. Yet, in the human body there are millions, if not billions of molecules and atoms and other little creatures running around. Size and space are relative so for atoms, molecules and other creatures, our body might look like the universe does to us.

What about time? Let’s pretend we are a gnat. A gnat lives an average of 6-7 days. A human living until age 90, has a lifespan more than 5,000 times longer than a gnat. From a gnat’s perspective, if 6-7 days were the equivalent of 90 years, then a lifespan for humans would be nearly 5,000,000 years. Still very short by the age of the universe but an example of how time is relative.

Could life on Earth be part of an experiment? Could the Big Bang have been part of a science project in some college class with really large people? Could part of the experiment be to determine which objects after the Big Bang grow things, and what conditions are required for things to grow? Before you discount completely the idea of the universe being part of some gigantic petri dish, think again about how many cells are in your body, millions and millions if not billions.

Even though I’ve thought about these ideas over the years, I’ve still not come up with any logical conclusion. Further, I have yet to hear any reasonable non-religious explanation for where the matter for the Big Bang came from or how it went boom.

And even if one buys into a religious explanation, where did G_d get the stuff to start with? If he or she created it, how many more universes are there?

With each Hubbell-like telescope, we learn more about the universe and its components. During early 2019, we saw “pictures” of a black hole. According to a description in MIT Tech Review, the black hole is located…”inside Messier 87 (M87), a galaxy located more than 53 million light-years from Earth. It has a mass 6.5 billion times that of the sun.” Comprehend the relative size and distance of the black hole? You know, think about time in relation to a very long, multi-generation flight between JFK and LAX and size as a big beach ball compared to a grain of sand.

What does all this mean and where do we go from here? I have no idea. As far as progress in trying to understand the Big Bang and the universe, I might as well be back at the Pepsi bottling plant watching bottles come out of the washer. In fact, I might have regressed in some understanding since the more we learn about the universe, the more incomprehensible it becomes – at least to me.

What I do know for certain, there were no airports during the Revolutionary War and the words to the Star Spangled Banner were not written until the War of 1812. Seem to recall learning that in grammar school. Did Fred Trump buy Donald’s way out of grammar school, too? And it’s that kind of stupidity, demonstrated by the president and his hard-core supporters that will lead the US to a Revenge Revolution.

If you have any serious thoughts about the Big Bang, please forward. Thanks for your time.

#286 Diversion: Can We Talk Evolution?

11 Sunday Mar 2018

Posted by in Diversions, Personal Stories

≈ 1 Comment

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: Greenie, JC and Jordan having lunch near Jordan’s office in Washington, DC

Jordan:  “Greenie, glad you could break away for lunch.  You can protect me from your buddy here.”

092615_2031_Characters2.jpgGreenie:  “Now, Jordan.  Yes, it’s nice to see you but when did you need protection?  Has JC been harassing poor little Jordie?”

JC:  “See, Jordan.  You’re far too sensitive…and taking yourself way too seriously.  You need to get out of Washington more often.  You’re starting to act like some of those people in Congress.”

Jordan:  “Alright guys.  Enough kvetching.  What are we going to talk about over lunch?  What about…”

Greenie:  “…excuse me but if you were going to suggest discussing progress on my articles on the Revenge Revolution, please don’t.  I need a break.”

Jordan:  “OK, then what?”

092615_2031_Characters1.jpgJC:  “You want something far out…no pun intended.”

Jordan:  “Such as…and what pun?”

JC:  “Evolution.”

Greenie:  “Since when did you become the scientist?”

JC:  “Think about it?”

Greenie:  “Think about what, Ms. Einstein?”

JC:  “How could species evolve from a bunch of elements?  And how did the universe get started?

albert-einsteinJordan:  “Greenie, maybe Ms. Einstein is on to something.  I’ve never really bought into the Big Bang Theory.  Understand the theory but what I can’t figure out is where did the matter come from?”

JC:  “See, this might be interesting.  Where did all that stuff come from?  Nothing just doesn’t go bang.  Nothing had to be something before it went bang.”

Greenie:  “So, if you need something in order to have it go bang, then who or what provided the something?  Little green men?  ET’s friends?”

StarsJordan:  “Green is not my color.  I like ET’s friends better.  Seriously…if that’s possible with this group…I’ve always been fascinated by the number of stars.  Now after the Hubble telescope, we know there are even more billions of stars and millions, if not billions of galaxies.”

JC:  “And, if you believe in the tooth fairy, out of those billions and billions, earth is the only place where life exists.  Right.  Take another hit on that joint.”

Greenie:  “How does all this link to evolution?”

JC:  “Evolution, at least on earth, may not be so random.  What if we’re a science experiment of one of ET’s buddies?”

Jordan:  “If evolution is part of a science experiment, it explains a lot.”

Greenie:  “How?”

ETJordan:  “We know…let me rephrase that…there appear to be more than three dimensions.  We don’t know exactly how many but let’s say there are five dimensions.”

JC:  “So ET’s buddies could be operating in all five dimensions while we’re operating only in three.  And…”

Greenie:  “…Let me try.  We know time is relative.  A billion years to us might be 10 years to ET.  Like a gnat’s life is three days by our standards but maybe 100 years by gnat standards.”

Jordan:  “Keep going.”

Petri DishGreenie:  “One of ET’s buddies has this experiment.  And as part of that experiment there is a giant petri dish called earth.  ET’s buddy puts of few drops of something in the dish and things start to grow.”

JC:  “After a while some of the amoebas get bigger and eat other amoebas.  Over more time other amoebas take on different shapes and new flavors of amoebas evolve.”

Jordan:  “After who knows how long, the “generic man” amoeba evolves.”

Greenie:  “All this seems sort of weird, doesn’t it?  We’re an experiment in ET’s buddy’s petri dish.”

JC:  “Weird, yes, but have you got a better explanation?  Plus, who’s going believe this idea anyway?”

TurtleneckJordan:  “Does it really matter who believes it?  Probably not.  However, more people might be closer to believing it than we think.  I find it very interesting that when you look at the core beliefs of a bunch of different religions, there always seems to be some ‘super-power’ of sorts at the top.”

JC:  “And a belief in that ‘super-power’ makes life less complicated, right?”

Jordan:  “Yes, it seems to.”

JC:  “By the way, Jordan does this mean you’ve given up religion for a petri dish?  Next time we have lunch are you going to order a BLT?”

Jordan:  “You’re funny, JC.  No, religion is still very important. At a very minimum it provides great guidelines and boundaries.  And no BLT, unless its turkey bacon.”

Greenie:  “Whew, beginning to wonder about you, too.   C’mon, you really like turkey bacon?”

(End of discussion on evolution…at least for now.)    

 

 

#263 How Normal Citizens Started to Regain Control (Part 2)

13 Wednesday Sep 2017

Posted by in Causes of the Revolution, Diversions, Stupid Is as Stupid Does

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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.  You’ll catch on quickly.  Thanks for your time and interest…and comments.

Scene: Coffee shop near Jordan’s office, Washington, DC

(End of last entry) Matt:  “And we know Trump never, ever admitted a mistake.”

man-fallingJordan: “Never admitting a mistake was really his downfall.”

Matt: “In what way?”

Jordan: “All the investigations – collusion with Russia, money laundering, violating the emoluments clause, fraudulent tax returns – all of those investigations could have been avoided…well probably avoided…if he’d have come clean after he won the election and said…”

Matt: “…Let me guess. ‘I want there to be no question about the integrity of my business dealings or my taxes. I want to set the example. Let’s do an audit and I will fix any problems.”

Jordan: “Matt, you’re spot on. He could have been up to his eyeballs in shady deals. However, by offering to fix any problems he would have avoided the investigations.”

Matt: “Even better, by agreeing to an audit he would have looked like a hero to many Democrats.”

ConfessionJordan: “What a great way to start a presidency. Go to confession and beg for forgiveness.”

Matt: “But no, Donald being the Donald, he doubled down efforts to obfuscate all the shady deals. What happened?”

Jordan: “His agenda went nowhere, Republicans lost all kinds of seats in 2018, and eventually he got taken out.”

Matt: “Then we got the Revenge Revolution.”

Jordan: “In fairness to Trump…did I just say that?…in fairness to Trump, he didn’t cause the Revenge Revolution. However, he can take credit for speeding it up.”

Matt: “Sort of a perverse view, I suppose. Trump winning the presidency was a favor to the country since he accelerated the Revenge Revolution.”

Jordan: “I promise I’ll never tell anyone you said that.”

Matt: “Really, Jordan, think about it. Trump was so bad and so inept that he encouraged the populous to revolt and implement significant reform. Unfortunately, Trump and many hard-core supporters, probably think that only the Donald could force the country into taking such action.”

Mt RushmoreJordan: “I know what you’re saying. Since Trump did the country such a favor, maybe we should put his face on Mount Rushmore.”

Matt: “Or maybe erect statues of him to replace the Confederate generals that were put in storage.”

Jordan: “Enough tongue-in-cheek comments, already. Can you think of any other Trump actions that really sent the public sideways? Not just Democrats but lots of Republicans, too. Anything come to mind?”

Matt: “Yes, the proclamation about DACA kids (Deferred Action for Child Arrivals).”

Jordan: “Why so?”

Obama Exec OrderMatt: “First of all, if Trump really cared about these kids…actually many were young adults…he could have let Obama’s Executive Order continue or issued another one. What was so pressing?”

Jordan: “Well, he gave Congress six months to solve the problem. Wasn’t that a reasonable amount of time?”

Matt: “Might have been reasonable time if he had a good relationship with his own party and there weren’t a bunch of other pressing issues to get done. Just let Obama’s EO stand and work on the other issues.”

Jordan: “But something about the way he handled the issue really upset people. Whadda think it was?”

StealingMatt: “Trump’s rationale wasn’t really about whether these children had legal standing. Trump’s argument was ‘those illegals’ were stealing jobs that Trump claimed rightfully belonged to Trump supporters. In reality the DACA kids were creating jobs and likely qualified for higher-tech jobs…jobs that many Trump supporters weren’t qualified for.”

Jordan: “Agreed. I think a wide swatch of the public understood the legal arguments and economic arguments were, as they used to say on ‘Car Talk’, ‘booooogus.’ Having Attorney General Jeff Sessions make the Administration’s announcement on DACA and then try to justify the decision based on economics would have been funny if the consequences hadn’t been so tragic.”

DetourMatt: “The DACA Detour, as I call it, was an effort to steer away from the every widening Russia investigation. Many in the public realized the terrible precedent that DACA set. DACA finally got evangelicals off their butt and they started saying no to Trump.”

Jordan: “Fortunately DACA eventually got resolved. Anything else?”

Matt: “Least we not forget within a few days after the DACA Detour, Trump cut a budget deal with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. And how does he announce the deal? On camera without having told Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan ahead of time.”

092615_2031_Characters12.gifJordan: “The question is what did the deal accomplish? The Republicans would have passed legislation for the debt ceiling to keep the government operating, even if it took having Democrats join them. But Trump’s ego needed a fix, like right now, so he gave McConnell and Ryan the finger on camera and proceeded to play footsie with Pelosi.”

Matt: “And what happens? Rather than demonstrating how to work both sides of the aisle, Trump managed to continue his loose-cannon approach to strategy and ended up Nail in Coffinalienating virtually everyone in Congress and much of the public.”

Jordan: “Still amazes me how one guy could put so many nails in his own coffin.”

(Continued)

#190 Big Bang Theory at a Bottling Plant? (Part #2)

27 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by in Diversions, Personal Stories

≈ Leave a comment

First-time 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 Revenge Revolution and author, Entry #1.  List and general description of entries to date.  Annual assessment whether 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 invited to dinner at the White House. POTUS’ family is away and he and Jordan are having dinner in the living quarters. POTUS asked the conversation not be about politics and suggested discussing a more fun topic such as the formation of the universe. Conversation begins #189.

Jordan: “By the way, what’s for dinner?”

PigsPOTUS: “For you, North Carolina pork BBQ. Just kidding. But we are having beef BBQ – Texas style.”

Jordan: “What a pleasant surprise. But I never think of BBQ and White House dinners in the same sentence.”

POTUS: “Usually not. In the living quarters, life is different. We try to eat like real people.”

Jordan: “Funny you mention that.”

092615_2031_Characters10.gifPOTUS: “You mean real people or food?”

Jordan: “Both. The other day someone asked me about the most fun time I could remember when food was involved.”

POTUS: “…and?”

Jordan: “I could remember the occasion but not what food was involved. What stuck Turtleneckwith me was the fun with friends, not what we ate.”

POTUS: “So food doesn’t really matter?”

Jordan: “I’m no one’s connoisseur of food or wine. But I’ve eaten all over the world — in some great restaurants and not so great restaurants.”

POTUS: “So the food doesn’t really matter to you.”

Jordan: “The food can’t be awful. For me, though, the best part is being with friends.”

POTUS: “You told me one time about a group of friends that got together for dinner pizza-007once a month. Some or all of the group met during the week for pizza. You had a funny name for those pizza dinners.”

Jordan: “We’d meet on Tuesday and the dinners were known as Crappy Pizza Tuesday.”

POTUS: “That’s it, Crappy Pizza Tuesday. Was the pizza that bad?”

Jordan: “Not really. We needed a name for the evening and Crappy Pizza Tuesday seemed to stick.”

POTUS: “Give me another example where you ate out, but food didn’t matter.”

Jordan: “When I worked in Manhattan and we lived in Connecticut, a group of guys diner-counter-fifties-sixties-complete-accessories-36259280used to meet Saturday mornings at the Driftwood Diner in Darien.”

POTUS: “Sounds like fun.”

Jordan: “It was great. We still see each other periodically but also all miss kibitzing at the diner.”

Waiter: “Mr. Abel, another glass of wine?”

Jordan: “Yes, Andrew, please. And where did that wine come from?”

Andrew: “Another one of your spots, sir. Sonoma County.”

napa_2_139373Jordan: “It’s very good. Do either of you know what they make in Napa?”

Andrew: “Wine, sir?”

Jordan: “Nope. They make auto parts. An old Sonoma County joke.”

POTUS: “On that note, let’s eat and get back to our earlier conversation about the universe.”

Jordan: “Alright, back to using my brain again.”

POTUS: “Your question about where the matter for the Big Bang came from – when did you first think about that? Some physics class?”

Jordan: “Want the truth?”

POTUS: “Please.”

Jordan: “During summers when I was in undergrad, I worked in a Pepsi bottling plant.”

Pepsi_LogoPOTUS: “A real mentally taxing job.”

Jordan: “With one year of college I had more education than everyone on the floor except the plant manager. But I liked the guys and we had great fun.”

POTUS: “What’d you do at the plant?”

Jordan: “I moved up from loading trucks by hand to lift-truck operator. We worked lots of overtime so I would switch jobs occasionally. One night I was monitoring bottles coming out of the giant washer…”

POTUS: “…sounds really boring.”

Jordan: “It was boring. So I used the time to think about different things.”

BigBangTheoryPOTUS: “That’s when the question about the Big Bang hit?”

Jordan: “Sort of an odd place to think about how the universe was formed, but, yes, that’s when the question hit me.”

POTUS: “You’re not the first guy to ask the question.”

Jordan: “Of course not. So far no one seems to have a credible answer.”

POTUS: “Some people might argue a higher being as responsible.”

Jordan: “I agree with that idea. Still the question remains, where did the higher being get the stuff for the Big Bang?”

POTUS: “If I interpret you correctly, you think earth could be part of an experiment in some being’s laboratory?”

Jordan: “Think about it. The universe is, in many ways, structured like a bunch of atoms and sub-atomic particles. The primary difference is size.”

Milky WayPOTUS: “Interesting point. We think sub-atomic particles are small and the universe as large. To someone else the universe could be small.”

Jordan: “Ever look through a microscope at say water from a murky pond?”

POTUS: “I did in biology class. Amazing all the little creatures that live in a few drops of water.”

Jordan: “To those little guys, how big does the pond seem…let alone a lake or ocean?”

amoeba_14653_lgPOTUS: “Huge. To an amoeba, the distance from one side of a pond to another must measure billions of something.”

Jordan: “Distance is a relative measure. To the amoeba, the pond might as well be the Milky Way, maybe larger.”

POTUS: “Never thought about it before but what if humans are amoebas to some other set of beings?”

Jordan: “That’s my point. We don’t know. A lot of people on earth think humans are the highest level in the food chain – and the smartest.”

POTUS: “They also believe no human-like creatures exist anywhere else in the universe.”

chanceJordan: “To those who believe humans are unique, I have two questions: (i) what do you think the probability is that life exists only on one planet out of how many universes – millions, if not billions?”

POTUS: “Chances are just about zero. What’s the second question?”

Jordan: “Why should earthlings be the most advanced?”

POTUS: “You’re saying if there are 100 planets in the various universes that have life — 100 is probably low number but stick with it — then earth would have 1 in 100 chance of being the most advanced.”

Jordan: “Now you got it.”

POTUS: “All this while watching Pepsi bottles coming out of a washer?”

Jordan: “Strange, huh? Andrew, could you please…”

.

#189 A Diversion. Questions about the Universe. (Part #1)

20 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by in Diversions

≈ 2 Comments

First-time 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 Revenge Revolution and author, Entry #1.  List and general description of entries to date.  Annual assessment whether 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 has returned to Washington after recovering from surgery. During an earlier call, POTUS asked Jordan to let him know when he had returned.

Jordan: “Gelly, could you please let POTUS’ staff know I’ve returned? I’d call but I’m not sure they know who I am. And you know most of them.”

092615_2031_Characters7.gifGelly: “They know who you are, Jordan. But, yes, I’ll call. When should I book the meeting?”

Jordan: “Any time. I’ll work around POTUS’ schedule, of course.”

Gelly: “Nice to hear you’re so accommodating to the president.”

Gelly: (30 minutes later.) “You’re set for tomorrow night. You’re going to have dinner at the White House.”

Jordan: “Informal dinner, I hope.”

Gelly: “Yes, in the living quarters. You must be a big dog now.”

092615_2031_Characters10.gif(Next evening Jordan is escorted to a private dining room in the White House.)

POTUS: “Good evening, Jordan. Glad you’re feeling better. And glad you are back in the land of make believe…I mean Washington.”

Jordan: “Thanks, Mr. President. Looking forward to chatting. Where is everyone?”

POTUS: “We’re it. The family is at some function where my presence would cause too much disruption…or at least that’s what I’m told. So, I get to kick back, relax and have dinner with a friend.”

TurtleneckJordan: “Well, I’m honored. This should be a fun evening.”

Waiter: “Your usual cabernet, Mr. Abel?”

Jordan: “Yes, Andrew, please. Nice to see you again.”

Andrew: “Nice to see you, too, sir.”

POTUS: “Jordan, so here’s the agenda for the evening…”

Jordan: “Discuss plans to rebuild US manufacturing and the middle class?”

POTUS: “Nope. Not tonight. We’re going to discuss fun stuff. No politics, no Rantcomments about Senate Republicans ranting about a qualified Supreme Court nominee, no discussion of some long-term economic plan. Nothing serious…or at least nothing we can do anything about.”

Jordan: “Ok, then are we talking sports?”

POTUS: “We could. What about something a little more cerebral…like the universe?”

Jordan: “Huh? The universe? Where’s this headed?”

122913_1337_14BringingU2.pngWaiter: “Your cabernet, sir.”

Jordan: “Andrew, you arrived just in time. My head was starting to spin.”

POTUS: “Well it was Pi Day a few days ago.”

Jordan: “You serious about not being serious?”

POTUS: “Yes, Yogi, I am serious about not being serious. Now, let’s talk about the universe.”

Jordan: “What prompted this discussion, anyway?”

POTUS: “Seems as if every few weeks or months anyway there is another revelation about the vastness of the universe. It’s really mind-boggling.”

albert-einsteinJordan: “I hear you. A few years ago – what 2015 or 2016 – they confirmed Einstein’s theory about black holes. The data came from some galaxy that was a few billion light-years away.”

POTUS: “That’s what I mean. How far back does a million years go, let alone a billion?”

Jordan: “A million years ago we’d be more concerned about dinosaurs than crazy politicians.”

POTUS: “Think about what we call space. Billions of light years in diameter.”

Jordan: “Wonder if the circumference is 3.14 times the diameter?”

POTUS: “Makes me realize how small and insignificant we all are.”

Jordan: “Tell that to some congressional reps.”

POTUS: “So here’s earth, just a very small party of the Milky Way. And then there are Milky Waymillions, if not billions of other galaxies.”

Jordan: “Some of the galaxies must be like the Milky Way.”

POTUS: “With some type of functioning inhabitants…like on earth. And some of those inhabitants are likely far more advanced than humans.”

Jordan: “Here’s what I’ve never been able to understand. Really two things I can’t understand.”

POTUS: “Only two things you don’t understand? That was too easy, Jordan. I couldn’t pass it up. OK what are they?”

BigBangTheoryJordan: “If there was a big bang, which seems to be the prevailing theory, then where did the matter come from that exploded for the big bang? There had to be some matter. So where did it come from?”

POTUS: “What’s the second item?”

Jordan: “How did plants and animals evolve?”

POTUS: “Can we hold those questions. Andrew says dinner is ready.”

(To be continued)