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.”
“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?”
Gelly: “Jordan, you have a call from a guy named Willie. Want to take it or should I…”
Willie: “Your voice mail said you wanted to talk about crypto-currency.”
Jordan: “In a way, the crypto-currencies remind me of the US prior to the creation of the Federal Reserve. Lots of variation in value and no one quite sure who’s in charge?”
Willie: “Another good question. A lot of the so-called crypto-currencies vanished early on. Some never got any momentum and some were never issued even after investor funds were taken.”
Willie: “A couple of crypto-currencies were backed by some assets. One was even backed by gold, but most were backed by nothing.”
Jordan: “While true that governments might have gone off the gold standard, governments do have assets…and a way to generate revenue. Governments can collect taxes. Save one or two, crypto-currencies had no assets and none had authority to collect taxes.”
Jordan: “Over the years you’ve dealt with the Federal Reserve. How did they view crypto-currency?”
Willie: “Two primary roles of the Federal Reserve are managing monetary policy and controlling the banking system. The already difficult job of managing monetary policy became much more difficult with the alternative-currency universe.”
Willie: “Most people did not fully appreciate how crypto-currencies forced the Fed’s hand. Crypto-currencies took a bigger and bigger slide out of the Fed’s monetary pie. In order to achieve the same result as before crypto-currencies, the Fed was forced to exaggerate changes in interest rates, both up and down. The exaggeration also affected Wall Street. As a result, the Fed was unhappy, Wall Street was unhappy, many investors were unhappy and the general public was unhappy.”
Willie: “Federal revenue. While the Fed is not responsible for collecting taxes, in order to manage monetary policy, the Fed needs to have a good idea of sources and uses of Federal funds.”
JC: “Grande, medium roast.”
JC: “And, so what?”
Sandy: “Hi, Jordan. If I recall, it’s JC, right?”
Sandy: “Sure you did. You wanted to ban the sale of all assault weapons…and even make owning one illegal.”
JC: “You’re right. I don’t understand. The assault ban still allowed ownership of all kinds of hunting rifles, shotguns, pistols. I’m not a hunter but why would you need an assault rifle to kill a deer? Where’s the sport in that? Maybe we should arm the deer. That would make it more fun.”
Sandy: “So why have a ban on owning assault weapons?”
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.
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.”
Matt: “While getting a coffee refill, I was thinking about what you just said.”
Jordan: “Keep in mind the time frame. I didn’t compare Trump’s first year to Hitler’s entire time as Chancellor. Just one year to one year.”
popular with his base, which made up about 25% of the population. While his overall approval rating was somewhat higher, his rating was lousy by historical standards for presidents after their first year. And as time went on his approval rating kept dropping…and the disapproval rating kept increasing.”
obfuscation and cover-up that was similar in many ways to Nixon and Watergate.”
Matt: “You mean the meeting with the infamous ‘why do we want to let in people from those ‘shithole’ countries?’…or something like that. I know the shithole countries part is right, and Trump’s shithole-countries included Haiti and parts of Africa.”
Jordan: “What about religion?”
Jordan: “So now we have the president openly expressing distaste for anyone other than white, western European Aryan-like immigrants. Except, the US population was full of all kinds of immigrants who didn’t fit Trump’s profile.”
Jordan: “As were our allies, which were doing a lot of head scratching trying to figure out what was really going on. In a normal administration, the allies would turn to the Secretary of State for some guidance. Where was Trump’s esteemed Secretary of State during this period…Mr. ExxonMobil himself? I think he was MIA.”
Matt: “You mean senators Perdue and Cotton? Purdue went so far as to wait a few days and then claim his colleague in the senate Dick Durbin was lying. As if someone would hold a press conference and claim the president would use the term ‘shithole countries.’ I mean Purdue seemed to be the one lying. Besides, how stupid did Purdue think the public was?”
Jordan: “No. But, I’m also saying Republicans in Congress did nothing to stop Trump. As we talked about earlier, look how senate Republicans, including Graham, acted like Trump’s puppets, trying to block the Mueller investigation. Republicans in Congress were complicit. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Trump got so out of control he was taken out…but no thanks to Republicans in Congress.”
Jordan: “And so, we had the Revenge Revolution…and after the revolution the beginning of a return to normalcy. Thanks goodness.”
Jordan: “And that is?”
Jordan: “The Republicans in Congress and some alleged grown-ups in the Trump Administration who put party loyalty over protecting the country. Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham were two perfect examples of party-loyal senators falling on their hands and knees in front of King Donald. Nikky Haley, then ambassador to the UN, was an example of an alleged grown-up in the administration who was acting like a child, claiming no one in the White House considered Trump a loose cannon. What were they all thinking?”
Jordan: “Support the president, support the Republican Party but endanger the country? The last time I looked, the oath of office for those in Congress and those in the administration is to uphold and defend the Constitution, not uphold and defend some idiot in the White House, even if a member of your party.”
Jordan: “Let’s start with Republicans ignoring and protecting Trump’s behavior. Despite the Donald’s repeated claims that he was a genius and mentally stable, he was neither. How much more obvious could it have been that the guy was thinking and acting like a whiny 3rd grader? How many presidents throw a tantrum every time they don’t get what they want? As far as being a genius. That’s laughable. Matt, you went to that other school in Cambridge. Do you think he could have held a candle to any of your classmates at Harvard?”
Jordan: “Incendiary by design. At the time the head-in-the-sand…maybe head up someplace else…senators Gassy, I mean Grassley and Graham were making every effort to divert attention away from Mueller’s investigation and possible collusion with the Russians. The two of them made a claim that some statements to some committee about the dossier could have, maybe, or in southern terms, might could have been just a bit misleading. No evidence to support their claim, just conjecture. All this noise while ignoring a legitimate investigation of actions by Trump, family and some in the administration that could have been treasonous. So why the diversion? What was in it for Grassley and Graham?”
Jordan: “Go back and think about when the article was published. Trump’s one year into office and hell-bent on destroying institutions that are the bedrock of America’s democracy and hell-bent on destroying America’s relationship with key allies. Remember all of what happened in just one year. On top of all that the guy is clearly mentally unstable.”
Jordan: “Just as Germany’s situation grew worse and worse. I haven’t done a line-by-line comparison but I’ll bet in the first 12 months in office King Donald did as much damage to America…if not more damage…than Hitler did to Germany within his first 12 months in office.”