First-time readers, the dialogue in 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 if 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: Gelly, JC and Greenie having drinks with Jordan following a session in Jordan’s office.  Conversation starts Entry #244.

Waiter: “Would you folks like to order some food?”

JC:  “Yes, we would…right Jordan?”

Greenie:  “I agree, although I’d prefer some hors d’oeuvres to a full dinner.”

Jordan:  “So what do you guys want?”

Waiter takes order.

Gelly:  “I’m still a bit confused about who took out the Donald.”

Greenie:  “Do you agree it probably wasn’t the North Koreans or the Mexican drug lords?”

Gelly:  “Yes, either one of those groups seems unlikely, now, although I must say both seemed to be reasonable candidates at first.”

Greenie:  “Then if we stick to our list, that leaves the Russians or someone, some group inside the US government.”

Gelly:  “I guess that’s what’s confusing me.  I agree Trump was like a water bug when it came to international policies – he’d head off in one direction one second and then quickly shift to another direction.  But other than some blustery talk about bombing North Korea and the infamous wrong-way destroyer claim, he never caused any turbulence below the surface.  The diplomats and the professionals somehow handled the foreign-policy issues.”

JC:  “So you think the real danger was on the domestic side…to US citizens and the fabric of the country, right?”

Gelly:  “Seems to me that some of the Trump proposals, if implemented as drafted, would have completely split the country.  Even though some of the crazier the ideas were eventually watered down, we still had the Revenge Revolution.  Just how much carnage would there have been if had not been taken out?”

JC:  “Jordan, your turn.  You’ve been awfully quiet.”

Jordan:  “I agree the damage domestically could have been much worse had the Donald stayed in office.  Not worse than nuclear war, which I thought we might have for a while.  Fortunately, some cooler heads among the military top brass really got control of the all the nasty weapons.”

Gelly:  “Ya’ know, it’s probably not fair, but when I think of Trump as president I think of Howdy Doody.”

Greenie:  “That’s great.  Howdy Doody…and with a bad haircut!  What a great picture.  Now, as I think about it, I can’t decide whether to laugh or cry.  Maybe I should do both.”

JC:  “Back to you Jordan.  You’re a big dog inside the Beltway.  I mean you get calls from POTUS, visit the White House.  What really went on?”

Jordan:  “I was not part of the ‘in’ crowd during the Trump Administration.”

JC:  “C’mon.  Staffers and guys like you all know one another.  What went on?  Who took him out?”

Jordan:  “I’ll give you my take but your buddy here, Greenie, might know more than I do.  She’s the real insider.”

Greenie:  “Thanks for the compliment…but it’s been a while since I was an insider.  Anyway, I want to hear your take.”

Jordan:  “I think Gelly’s right.  Trump was like Howdy Doody.  A small group of puppeteers were pulling the strings and he would react accordingly…often without thinking or even understanding.”

Gelly:  “I know I said Howdy Doody, but wasn’t he smart enough to realize what was going on?”

Jordan:  “I don’t know what his IQ was but I do know he was woefully uneducated about a wide range of subjects…and especially about government.  I’m not sure he even read, let alone opened, the Constitution.  His knowledge of geography was breathtakingly and embarrassingly awful.”

Gelly:  “Didn’t he have an MBA from some top school?  What was the name of it?”

JC:  “Wharton.”

Gelly:  “That’s it, Wharton.  I remember he claimed he graduated first in his class.”

JC:  “Maybe first in not studying and first in narcissism.  But he’s no one’s academic.  And I’m sure Wharton would rather not admit he’s an alum.”

Greenie:  “You know the tell-tale signs of his lack of education were his statements that ‘Who knew health care could be so complicated?’ and ‘Being president is more difficult than I imagined.’”

JC:  “Duh, Donald, you been living in a cave?  What really scared me was I’m not sure he had any idea of what was really going on…other than playing golf at Mar-a-Lago.”

Greenie:  “Then the Howdy Doody president introduces two absolutely off-the-wall proposals – replacement for Obamacare and a tax plan.  Both would have resulted in huge transfers of wealth to the already wealthy, including the Donald.”

Gelly:  “What about letting oil and gas companies drill willy-nilly on public land?  We sure didn’t need any more oil or gas.”

Greenie:  “He claimed his actions were for job creation.  That claim was a ruse, if he ever understood what he was proposing.”

JC:  “Back to you, again, Jordan.  Who took him out?  If not the CIA, who else should we put on the list?”

Waiter: “Excuse me.  Here’s your hors d’oeuvres.”

Jordan (to waiter):  “Thank you.  Just one check and give it to me, please.”

JC:  “Thanks Jordan but just because we’ve got food and you picked up the tab doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.  Who besides the CIA could have done it?”

Jordan:  “What I heard is a couple of black-hole guys directed by the top-level adults inside NSA.”

Gelly:  “If that’s the case, what happened to the Secret Service?”

Jordan:  “They were likely told to discreetly disappear for a few minutes.”

JC:  “More like, if you don’t disappear voluntarily, then you, too, will disappear.”

Jordan:  “I suspect that’s about how the conversation went.  Greenie, what have you heard?”

Greenie:  “I’d say your story’s about right.”

JC:  “Unfortunately, taking out the Donald didn’t stop the Revenge Revolution.”

Greenie:  “But as we talked about, can you imagine how much worse it would have been had he stayed in office?  I shudder to think of it.”

Voice: “Folks, you’re right about how bad it could have been.  But some of your story is wrong.”

(Continued)

First-time readers, the dialogue in 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 if 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: Gelly, JC and Greenie having drinks with Jordan following a session in Jordan’s office.  Conversation starts Entry #244.

Greenie:  “Jordan, if you don’t mind, I’d like to continue the conversation we began at the  office.  You know lots of the ins and outs of Washington…so why did the Donald get taken out?”

Jordan:  “Greenie, you’re more of an insider than I am.”

JC:  “Jordan, quit stalling and just answer Greenie’s question, please.”

Gelly:  “Yes, please.  I’m interested, too.”

Jordan:  “Simple.  Well, maybe not so simple…but easy to understand.  It’s the old adage of ‘Just follow the money.’”

Greenie:  “You think Trump was on the take when he was president?  Surely not.”

Jordan:  “Unlikely he was on the take per se…like Flynn and Manafort were on the take.  But Trump was up to his eyeballs in debt.”

Gelly:  “I thought he was some kind of billionaire several times over.  I mean with all those hotels and properties that he owned.”

JC:  “I hear you Jordan.  How much do you think he owed on those properties…and to whom?”

Greenie:  “A lot of the stories written long before he became a presidential candidate suggest his record as a developer was questionable at best.  How many times did he go bankrupt?  And didn’t he stiff a bunch of major US banks?”

JC:  “Why didn’t he ever release his tax returns?  The excuse about being audited was sheer baloney.  Besides why didn’t he release his 2016 return when he sent it in?  The IRS doesn’t start any audit until you file a return.”

Gelly:  “So you guys think he was heavily in debt.  If so, like JC said, money owed to whom?”

Jordan:  “I realize it’s a while ago but think back before the election in 2016.  There was strong evidence of people involved in the transition had links to Russian banks and to the Bank of Cyprus, which was notorious at the time as a haven for laundering money.”

JC:  “What was that guy on the transition team who had been some high-level dude at Bank of Cyprus?”

Greenie:  “That guy became what was it…Secretary of…?”

Jordan:  “…Commerce.  You mean Wilbur Ross?”

Greenie:  “That’s the guy.”

Gelly:  “Then are you saying then that the Russians took out Trump?”

Jordan:  “Not necessarily.  As JC said in the office, the Russians had the Donald by the short hairs.”

Greenie:  “Really, JC, such a nice girl like you.  You need to clean up your language.”

JC:  “What else do you want to call it?  It’s true.”

Gelly:  “If the Russians took him out, then wouldn’t they would lose their leverage with him?  Plus, maybe never get their money?”

Greenie:  “Agree, except maybe they still had their leverage.”

Gelly:  “I don’t get what you mean?”

Greenie:  “Remember a couple of months into the term when he did 180 degree turn on the Russians?  In just a few days the Russian went from good guys to bad guys…or at least that’s what the Administration wanted us to think.”

Jordan:  “Good point, Greenie.  I’ve always been suspicious about the sudden change in attitude.  And, then, within a day or so of the change in attitude, Secretary of State Tillerson is at the Kremlin and has a private, unscheduled, undocumented two-hour meeting with Putin.  That meeting doesn’t smell right.  How much of a bad-ass could Tillerson have been?  Just a couple of years before, Putin gave Tillerson a Russian Order of Friendship medal.”

JC:  “Whatever the Administration was trying to do, one thing’s for certain.  Trump was like a spinning top.  He changed positions constantly.  We never knew where he stood…or what he was thinking.”

Gelly:  “Or even if he was thinking.”

Jordan:  “Good one Gelly.”

Greenie:  “I agree Trump’s change of position on the Russians might have been a diversion.  Think about the growing pressure from the investigations into Russian influence on the election.  The Senate’s investigation was just starting.  He had every reason to try to make Congress and the public think he was being tough on the Russians.”

JC:  “Let’s say the diversionary tactic was true.  But what happens if the Donald then balks at paying his debt?  If he balks, then the Russians lose very little by talking him out?”

Gelly:  “Seems to me that once he realized he could use the military to his advantage – look at how he puffed up his chest using the military in Syria and to threaten North Korea – maybe he thought he could intimidate the Russians as well…and then he could walk away from the debt without any consequence.”

Jordan:  “I agree he might have thought he could give the proverbial finger to the Russians and walk away…but that’s not how it works.”

Waiter:  “Excuse me, folks, would you care for another round of wine?”

(To be continued.)

First-time readers, the dialogue in 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’s office, Washington, DC, start of work day.  (Conversation starts Entry #225)

Gelly:  “Jordan, could we hold off the discussion about lessons learned re economic policy decisions and the Revenge Revolution?

Jordan:  “Sure, but why?”

Gelly:  “Something about presidential elections has bothered me for a long time.”

Jordan:  “Such as?”

Gelly:  “Why aren’t presidential candidates subject to an impartial, rigorous physical exam…and mental exam?  I mean. Given the responsibilities of the president you’d think…”

Jordan:  “…excuse me but let me back up.  Did you say presidential candidates should be subject to a rigorous physical and mental exam?”

Gelly:  “Yes, and here’s why.”

Jordan:  “But there’s already a provision in the Constitution to address your concern.  If something happens to the president, the vice president takes over.”

Gelly:  “I understand.  If the president dies, there is a clear line of succession.  A dead president makes it easy.  I think everyone supports the VP as successor.”

Jordan:  “Then what is the issue?”

Gelly:  “Really, the issue is when the president is not dead but mentally incapacitated.  There are no clear rules so the line of succession does not necessarily apply.”

Jordan:  “You have an example?”

Gelly:  “Ronald Reagan, toward the end of the second term…and probably earlier…showed signs of Alzheimer’s.  Nancy Reagan tried to mask the problem.  And credit to her, I think she did a good job.”

Jordan:  “You’re getting on thin ice discussing mental acuity.  How are you…rather how are we the public…going to measure mental acuity?”

Gelly:  “You know I’m not a psychiatrist or any kind of medical doctor.  But there must be some tests for early-stage dementia — Alzheimer’s or whatever.”

Jordan:  “Reagan was president in the 1980’s.  Your example is what more than 30 years ago?”

Gelly:  “We have a more recent case…at least I think so.”

Jordan:  “If I do a quick review of presidents since Reagan, the only one who seems to qualify as one of your ‘dementia candidates’ is Donald Trump.”

Gelly:  “You’re right.  And here’s my logic.  First, his father, Fred Trump, had Alzheimer’s.  I read that in his obituary in the NY Times. (trump-fred-obituary-nyt)  Not sure if Trump’s mother had Alzheimer’s.”

Jordan:  “From what I’ve read, the chances of having Alzheimer’s are greater if one parent has Alzheimer’s.  Even higher likelihood with two.  But still, even with two parents that’s not a guarantee.  What else?”

Gelly:  “Look at his pattern of behavior – before the campaign, during the campaign and after becoming president.  Each period he exhibited an inability or unwillingness to concentrate and/or study.”

Jordan:  “C’mon, a number of people have trouble concentrating or studying.”

Gelly:  “True.  But those people are not running for president…or elected president.”

Jordan:  “What are you basing your conclusion on?”

Gelly:  “To me the most striking behavior was how Trump’s position on an issue seemed to reflect ideas of the last person he talked to.  Trump would proclaim one position then change his position after talking to someone with a different view.  Then he might change again after talking to someone else.  No one knew which Donald Trump was going to show up.  Just listen to some of the White House staffers talk about the chaos that was created by the inconsistency of positions.”

Jordan:  “Maybe that behavior is characteristic of a person who changes as he or she studies the issue.  What else?”

Gelly:  “Jordan, quit being so PC.  What was equally scary was his seeming inability to comprehend complex issues.  When presented with complex problems, he was like a deer-in-the-headlights – frozen.”

Jordan:  “Many of his supporters thought Trump was able to simplify issues that others made complicated.”

Gelly:  “People who thought that way either didn’t understand reality or didn’t want to face facts about Trump’s mental capacity.”

Jordan:  “What else?”

Gelly:  “Trump could not stand any criticism…so thin-skinned.  Complex issues could not be openly discussed and decided because the ‘decider-in-chief’ relied on either ‘gut feel’ or the last person’s opinion rather than objective analysis.  When someone challenged Trump’s opinion, he would often act like a bully, openly humiliating the person…sometimes even on Twitter.  You cannot run an organization like that, let alone a country.”

Jordan:  “Maybe his management style was bad but do you think that behavior is a symptom of dementia?”

Gelly:  “What I know is this.  The kind of behavior Trump exhibited…not just once but consistently over time…put the US and many countries at great risk.  The behavior seemed to be outside the bounds of what I’ve read most psychiatrists consider ‘normal,’ with ‘normal’ constituting a very wide band.”

Jordan:  “Well, there’s little doubt that some of his erratic behavior contributed to the Revenge Revolution.  Not the only cause, obviously, but certainly a major factor.  Is the lesson that we should take away — presidential candidates need to receive a thorough and objective physical and mental exam?”

Gelly:  “Yes.  Ideally the exam would be private and before the candidate made any public announcement.  So if the exam suggested potential problems, the candidate could consider not announcing.”

Jordan:  “Gelly, your idea is thought-provoking.  A great next step would be to get people talking about the mental health of the president.  Won’t be easy but it might catch hold.  Now, can we get back to lessons learned from economic policy decisions?”

To be continued)