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: Jordan’s office, Washington, DC. Conversation began Entry #289.
JC: “I agree that Paul Ryan could have set an example of leadership for generations to come. But, what did he do?”
Greenie: “He retired from the House. I guess you call it retired if not seeking in November 2018 qualifies as retiring.”
JC: “Whatever you want to call it, he bailed out. Seems like Ryan ran away from the bully Trump. Not what you call a good example for future generations, and not what you call a good ending to your political career.”
Jordan: “Enough of Ryan and McConnell. I’ve got an idea.”
Greenie: “You’ve got an idea? JC, did you hear that? Jordan has an idea.”
Jordan: “Why do I hang out with you guys? Such abuse.”
JC: “C’mon, you love it. Now what’s the idea?”
Jordan: “Looking in the rearview mirror and analyzing the past with a critical eye is important, but as we’ve talked about before, it’s hard to drive very fast by always looking in the rearview mirror.”
JC: “Tell that to some of the cable news talking heads. A lot of them can’t stop driving fast and looking backwards at the same time.”
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: “Very much so. And that’s the foundation for the idea. I think we should provide to the post-Revenge Revolution members of Congress a list of suggestions.”
JC: “What kind of suggestions?”
Jordan: “For lack of a better phrase, because I hate to say it, credible suggestions for really how to make America great again.”
Greenie: “I agree with the idea, but please, we need a different slogan. I mean, we don’t need to reincarnate the Donald.”
JC: “You guys serious? What makes us qualified to suggest anything to Congress? Granted none of us is the dullest crayon in the box but what gives us special insight?”
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.”
Greenie: “I vote, yes, let’s make a list of suggestions. If nothing else making the list will be cathartic…and will make us seem smarter at parties.”
Jordan: “JC, you, in?”
JC: “OK. How do you want to start?”
Greenie: “Why not have a brainstorming session? You know, just blurt out ideas and write them down. We can sort the list later.”
(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.)
- True leadership starts at the top.
- Congress needs to work as a unit and with independence from the Executive Branch. Not everyone in Congress will agree, nor should they agree, on every issue but Congress must function separately from the Executive Branch.
- Relationship building is critical. Presidents and administrations that reach out, listen and act for the good of the people are far more effective.
- Re-establish the independence of the judicial system. The White House and Congress need to respect the system, the law and quit trying to influence cases.
- Public’s confidence and other countries’ confidence in the White House will take several administrations to rebuild – probably 15-20 years.
- Adults with demonstrated skills should be selected as cabinet members.
- Time devoted in teaching civics needs to increase in grammar, middle and high schools.
- Conscription should be reinstituted. An alternative to military service would be a civilian corps.
- Widespread infrastructure programs need to be initiated – think WPA approach.
- Increase research and development sponsored by Federal government, with particular emphasis on pure research.
- Reinstitute environmental and financial regulations…judiciously. Companies and industries have proved repeatedly an in ability to manage themselves.
- Increase tax rates across all quintiles with the highest rate increases on upper incomes. Use part of revenue to fund infrastructure and part to help offset the negative long-term effects of Trump tax cut.
- Make all elections for Federal office publicly funded with no private contributions. allowed.
Jordan: “OK, let’s take a break. When we get back, we can clarify the wording of some of the ideas, maybe add a few others. We also can start digging a little deeper on these ideas.”
(Continued)
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.”
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.”
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?”
JC: “Fun not being around you.”
Greenie: “Yes, we did have a good time last night. Ordered in and had some wine.”
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.”
Greenie: “You mean about the crab barrel?”
Greenie: “Your question might be the answer?”
Gelly: “The tribes experienced more than just moving. If I understood Wolf Man correctly, he said the tribes on the reservations…apparently for many years…were prohibited from practicing many of the customs and ceremonies central to the respective tribes.”
Gelly: “If they built a new culture, would they still have a tribe?”
Jordan: “And you have an example?”
Jordan: “But why didn’t Indians keep their traditions…the glue…that held them together.”
Greenie: “Yes, independency is a real word. And your point is well taken. Have we…the victors in the Indian Wars…so restricted the tribes that the original culture has been lost? By our own actions, have we destroyed one culture and replaced it with a culture of dependency? That’s a depressing thought.”
Greenie: “Not finding the right balance between what part of a culture should melt in the US melting pot and what part of a culture should not melt might have larger impact on the cause of the Revenge Revolution than I first thought.”
Wolf Man: “Met Gelly. Chatted with Greenie but never met her.”
Greenie: “One of the first steps is trying to understand how much of a particular culture has melted into the US melting pot…and also understand how much should not have melted. We’d like your perspective on how much culture of Native Americans has melted into the US melting pot.”
Gelly: “And what different about the white man’s perspective?”
Wolf Man: “Simple. The white man took the best land from the natives and then created reservations for natives on crappy land. The reservations had few resources, lots of bad water and created an environment of marginal subsistence.”
Jordan: “So we, societal we, basically turned the tribes from being self-sustaining to being a welfare state, save a few tribes with highly profitable casinos. That analysis seems like such an exaggeration.”
Jordan: “That’s a bold statement. Is there any way to turn this around? Might be a long process but surely something can be done.”
Jordan: “I’m shaking my head. Wow, what a problem. Is there anything that can be done to change this attitude?”
Greenie: “Jordan, while Gelly and I were getting coffee did you get ahold of Rock Man and Two Dogs?”
Jordan: “Gelly, here’s a story that illustrates the point. The scene: the inauguration of the first Jewish president. A lady turns to the president-elect’s mother and says, ‘The first Jewish president. You must be very proud of your son.’ The mother turns and says, ‘Yes, I’m very proud of him…but you should meet his brother, the doctor.’”
Greenie: “To me, the link is an understanding by many rabbis and many Jewish families that education has been and continues to be a way to break from the past. Much like leaving Egypt was a way for Jews to break away from physical slavery, education has been a way to break away from economic slavery.”
Gelly: “That’s interesting. So, if I interpret you correctly, understanding how to break away from adverse circumstances without completely throwing out the old culture is a key lesson. In a way the lesson is a balancing act — in the US understanding what part of the culture should melt into the melting pot and what should not melt. Being able to create such a balance might be a key lesson for other groups – blacks, Native Americans, etc.”
Greenie: When you talk to them, could you please remind each of them we are only in the data-gathering phase? Let them know we are trying to determine if our assumption has any validity. If it does, we’ll need more guidance from them and help from some of their contacts. I just don’t want them to think the call is the end of the study. It’s just the beginning.”