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: “Gelly, nice to have you back from vacation.”
Gelly: “Nice to be back. Had lots of fun but sorta, kinda missed the office.”
Jordan: “Glad to hear that. See you got new reading glasses while you were gone. Look very nice.”
Gelly: “Thanks.”
Jordan: “Anything special on the calendar today?”
Gelly: “Nothing special except your visitor.”
Jordan: “Right. Walt’s coming over sometime late morning.”
Gelly: “How’d he get the name Walt? That’s not his real name is it?”
Jordan: “No. The guys in the fraternity nicknamed him Walt. And I might have been the culprit. He was always dreaming about some big project…like Walt Disney.”
Gelly: “Hope you two have a good visit. Let me know if you need anything special. We can order in lunch if you want.”
——– Walt arrives ———-
Walt: “Jordan, great to see you. Been a while.”
Jordan: “Nice to see you, Walt. Last time was a couple of years ago when you guys came to Charlotte for the 4th of July.”
Walt: “We had a great time and the fireworks at the club were sensational.”
Jordan: “What brings you to town, anyway?”
Walt: “Trying to help salvage the right-wing of the Republican Party. Since the Revenge Revolution, the right-wing has been in shambles.”
Jordan: “You’ve got a tough job ahead of you. With that in mind, I have what may be a sensitive question.”
Walt: “You, concerned about being sensitive? Since when? Go ahead. We’ve been friends for too long to worry about sensitive questions. Besides, if I don’t like the question, I’ll just go run and hide.”
Jordan: “Think back to the 2016 presidential campaign. Did you originally support Trump?”
Walt: “I thought Trump was a blowhard. More of a flake real-estate salesman than a conservative Republican.”
Jordan: “But as the other candidates dropped out and the field narrowed…”
Walt: “…as the field narrowed, his appeal increased. Truth be known, I would have voted for a yellow dog rather than Hillary. I just didn’t like her.”
Jordan: “OK, so you committed to a Republican candidate no matter what. That candidate turns out to be Trump, who you thought was a flaky real-estate salesman.”
Walt: “Guess so.”
Jordan: “Then Trump gets elected. Were you pleased with the results?”
Walt: “I was pleased he was trying to make changes. You know, make the Federal government more efficient. And I liked the idea of draining the swamp.”
Jordan: “Were you pleased with his choices for cabinet secretaries? Think about Flynn, Price and Pruitt, for example. And what about bringing in the Trump family as close advisors? Were you satisfied with everyone’s experience in running large, government-like organizations?”
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.”
Jordan: “What about Trump’s attacks on the media, the FBI, the CIA…the entire intelligence community?”
Walt: “As time went on Trump’s claims about fake news and liberal bias in the media seemed to be proved right. The more I studied, the more I thought the FBI was really after him.”
Jordan: “As part of your ‘studying’, did you ever step back and ask yourself, ‘Gee, what Trump is claiming to be true is contrary to just about everything I’ve learned over the years. Wonder why I am changing my views?’”
Walt: “Didn’t ask any question exactly like that.”
Jordan: “Aside from Trump and his tweets, where’d you get your news?”
Walt: “Why do you care? Why the interrogation?”
Jordan: “No interrogation. What I’m trying to understand is why…and how…Trump gained such rabid support among hard-right Republicans when many on the right originally considered him a Democrat. I find the shift in attitude fascinating…and troubling.”
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?”
Walt: “On rare occasion the Wall Street Journal. The Times? Never. Run by a bunch of liberal NY Jews. Oops, sorry. But you know what I meant.”
Jordan: “Actually, I don’t know what you meant. Give me an example or two.”
Walt: “Take Paul Krugman in the Times. He’s way too liberal and always trashed Trump.”
Jordan: “Krugman is an op-ed columnist for the NY Times, not a reporter. The editorial and news gathering sections of the Times are completely separate.”
Walt: “I have no proof and therefore, to me, there’s no separation. If what he writes is in the NY Times, it means the NY Times supports it.”
Jordan (shaking his head): “Any other sources of info?”
Walt: “A few conservative websites that have their act together.”
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: “You got it right. All those non-Fox sources are too liberal…and fake.”
Jordan: “OK. Why don’t we take a break, get some coffee and, then, if ok with you, discuss the evolution of your views about the Mueller investigation.”
Walt: “OK, but you have to buy coffee…and I want a bagel, too.”
Jordan: “You do know those liberal NY Jews are the source of those bagels, right?”
(Continued)
Greenie: “I agree the president and cabinet need to pass the same end-of-year test given to 8th graders. Let me add another, ‘Duh, are you serious?’ idea.”
JC: “You mean the idea of treating your neighbor the same way you want to be treated?”
Greenie: “I don’t know if Sessions had kids or grandkids but do you think he’d want his kids or grandkids separated from their parents?”
JC: “Maybe there would a cabinet officer or some high-ranking staffer whose job it is to go around and ask ‘Would you want this whatever-idea-is-being-discussed to happen to your family?’ The person could be titled the ‘sanity-check maven.’”
JC: “Let’s hope going brain-dead is past tense. We have a new opportunity to begin rebuilding American values post Revenge Revolution. Even if it is kindergarten like, using ‘treat thy neighbor’ as a check mark for policies and legislation seems like a good way to keep things from getting too out of control again.”
Greenie: “You mean like when public pressure force king Trump to stop separating children from families at the border?”
JC: “Don’t make me laugh? Not know what an 8th grader know? Still not sure what you’re talking about.”
JC: “Now I think I see where you’re headed. What about Trump implying…or at least asking…if Canada burned down the White House in 1812? No that was the British. Gee, Donald, in case you didn’t know Canada has been a long-time friendly neighbor. Canada is north of the continental US, except for one area near Detroit, and a major trading partner until you tried to ruin the relationship.”
Jordan: “So, Greenie, exactly what are you proposing?”
Greenie: “I don’t know how we’d test for some things but by forcing candidates for Federal office and Cabinet nominees to take 8th-grade end-of-year exams, you can assume that those who pass at least paid some attention to teachers along the way. And anyone who failed…”
Greenie: “Why not be straightforward? No reason to sugarcoat. I think we give some examples of basic information that Trump and the Cabinet members did not know. There are lots of examples where it looked as if they hadn’t graduated from 8th grade and/or should have been wearing dunce caps. It was embarrassing for the country.”
Greenie: “He retired from the House. I guess you call it retired if not seeking in November 2018 qualifies as retiring.”
JC: “C’mon, you love it. Now what’s the idea?”
Greenie: “Let’s keep in mind the past does provide some guidance to the future. You do agree with that, don’t you, Jordan?”
Jordan: “For one, Greenie’s articles about the Revenge Revolution. We might have more understanding about the causes of the Revenge Revolution than anyone in Congress, especially incoming members or staffers.”
(Following is the list from the brainstorming session about how to really make America great again. Over the coming blog entries, a number of these ideas will be discussed in more detail.)
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.”
Greenie: “OK, now that we’ve solved the mystery of the creation of the universe, I have another topic.”
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.”
Jordan: “I’d like to ignore your last comment but you’re correct. Anyone with a modicum of gray matter could have seen what was going to happen when you mess with Mama-Bear FBI.”
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.”
Trump: “The list is tremendous…very long, very long. For one thing employment is higher than it’s ever been. Just look at all the new employees we’ve added this past year. Tremendous, right?”
Board Member: “So you want to compare the number of employees added this past year to employment say 20-30 years ago when the company was much smaller. Did I understand you correctly?”
Board Member: “Is it true you had an affair with an adult film star?”
Board Member: “Like I said, Mr. Trump, could you please explain your relationship with Deutsche Bank?”
Trump: “All those bankruptcies were not my fault. If the other partners had just…”
Trump: “A decent interest rate. You know what a tough negotiator I am. The other guy always loses.”
Board Member: “Well, when people came to the Don…not you, the head of the Corleone Family…they were in no position to negotiate terms. The Corleone’s always ended up with more than what you label a ‘decent return.’”
Trump: “’Laundering money’ was a slip of the tongue. I corrected myself.”
Mr. Trump, we know how you are obsessed with trying to appear wealthy. So part of our investigation included following the money trail. If you’d like we can take our findings to the FBI or IRS.”
Trump: “I don’t care what the Board thinks. You’re supposed to do what I say, not what you want to do. You’re supposed to be loyal to me. I’m the king…I mean president and CEO.”
Gelly: “Your predictions were pretty accurate.”
Jordan: “I know what you mean. My answer is the Revenge Revolution would have happened anyway.”
Gelly: “Good morning, Jordan. Have a nice 
Jordan: “Not sure what you mean. Used to be like what?”
Gelly: “Because, for the first time…and I don’t know why now rather than when I heard it years ago…for the first time I could picture my relatives on the boat coming to America.”
Gelly: “That’s too bad. What really bothers me is how the US went from a country where people wanted to come to a country where it was nearly impossible to immigrate unless you had a bunch of money or some special high-tech skill. My father had no money and no special skill. He worked his whole life as a laborer. My mother could barely speak English. Yet look at the family now.”
Jordan: “You know why. King Trump.”
JC: “So we all agree…as did most of the public except the one percenters and Republicans inside the Beltway…that the Trump so-called tax reform act was not tax reform. It was a giveaway to the rich. The tax bill also gave extra special help, of course, to the downtrodden Trump family. Bless their little hearts.”
Greenie: “Alright, alright, let’s ratchet back to why we started this conversation. And what I’m trying to write about.”
Greenie: “Interesting question — to what extent was assimilation forced? We know from Wolf Man Native Americans were forced to give up native culture. What’s worse is even though much of the culture is gone today, many native tribes never assimilated. The culture disappeared and the Indians have nothing to show for it. Not a good combination.”
Jordan: “I’d say yes, the parties did force assimilation. Let’s start with recent history. The fourth US Revolution, aka Cultural Revolution, took place in 1960’s, early 1970’s. During that period Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and some other anti-discrimination laws. Plus, the courts started to force compliance with Brown vs. Board of Education. The question for Greenie’s articles, ‘did those laws somehow force assimilation’?”
Jordan: “Correct. The legislation had strong support among Republicans and Democrats…but only Republicans and Democrats from northern and western states. Southern Democrats and the then rare Southern Republicans were nearly unanimously opposed.”
Jordan: “Parallel with the migration of southern Democrats to Republicans was creation of new a new definition for the word ‘conservative’. So-called conservative Republicans were not really conservatives, either by the dictionary definition or by the traditional political definition.”
rights, except of course, the right for even the mentally ill to own a 50-calibre assault weapon, and disregarded fiscal conservatism. Reagan, Bush 43 and Trump all proposed legislation that resulted in huge deficits.”
Jordan: “We can go through the details if you want. I think one of the best indicators why I labeled Republicans radical is debt as a percent of GDP. I carry this chart around to remind my Republican colleagues that Reagan and Bush were not really fiscal conservatives.”
Greenie: “Don’t you think just as important was how Republicans behaved? During the Obama Administration, Republicans bragged about blocking every effort by Obama to govern, no matter what the issue. The net effect of Republicans was a negative effect on growing societal wealth, not positive.”
Greenie: “Maybe the baby got thrown out with the bath water because Republicans either didn’t understand what they were doing…gee, that seems rhetorical…or had no kahunas to stand up to King Donald…or both. But how did actions by Trump and the kahuna-less Republicans affect assimilation? Was assimilation affected positively or negatively?”
welfare queen driving a new Cadillac…unproven, of course…and his constant harping that government was the problem and not the solution. Dear Ronnie’s rhetoric caused an uptick in discrimination. Discrimination seemed to bounce along until Trump opened the floodgates. I still shake my head over his remarks about Charlottesville.”
Greenie: “If the elections were fair, then why were there states, including Jordan’s home state of NC, where somehow the total number of votes favored Democrats…and sometimes overwhelmingly…yet the Republicans managed to control the state House and Senate, occasionally with veto-proof margins. That math doesn’t work, unless of course, districts are gerrymandered.”
Jordan: “Please, my home state is not North Carolina.”
JC: “You mean outside on who really got the tax breaks. Outside when Trump stated that voters in Alabama should support a pedophile so Trump could be assured of a majority in the Senate? You mean outside when they realized Republicans in Congress were going to pay for the tax giveaway to the wealthy by cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits of everyone else? You mean when Trump supporters realized Trump gave oil-and-gas companies and mining companies carte blanche approval to basically destroy public land and keep all the profits? You want me to keep going?”
Jordan: “I’m hopeful that the Revenge Revolution ends the Trump vision and encourages members of ethnic groups to…what would you call that…dis-assimilate. Whatever the right term, I hope ethnic groups begin clustering again. Remember places that used to be known by their cultural heritage – Little Italy, Chinatown, Greektown? Somehow we’ve got to keep working to reduce discrimination and to encourage people to display their cultural heritage. Am I crazy to suggest that?”
Jordan: “Give me an example, please.”
Greenie: “People like to belong to a group or groups because it helps them with their identity. By joining you can be ‘this’ or ‘that’ rather than just some individual. Plus, belonging to a group and just talking to other group members can make life easier to understand…at least some of the members think it can. Group think can take away much of the pressure to think as an individual.”
Greenie: “The conclusion seems logical but this idea was birthed last night after a couple of glasses of wine. We’ve done no research.”
Greenie: “Go Back to Trump’s proposals. His hard-core supporters were going to get screwed if the Affordable Care Act was cancelled. They were going to get screwed even more under the proposed so-called plan to reform taxes.”
JC: “One issue we have to address…and it shouldn’t be that difficult to determine…is whether the rank-order of affiliations has changed over time.”
Jordan: “The phenomenon might apply to more than just ethnic groups. People seem to crave some type of affiliation. I still shake my head over a college fraternity brother. At some point in life he pledged another fraternity…the Trump-is-king fraternity. Once he joined, he supported his fraternity brother no matter how bizarre King Trump’s behavior or decision. He stuck with Trump when Trump denied campaign cooperation with the Russians; when he denied any hanky-panky with beauty contestants; and when he denied illegal financial transactions. Whatever King Donald claimed or did he supported.”
JC: “Jordan, what about your buddy…I think he was a former high-school history teacher…who called you a liar for asking for data to support some outlandish claim he made. At some point he pledged the Trump fraternity. Some friend.”