Category Archives: Politics

by | October 27, 2015 · 7:33 am

INSIGHTS 237 — POLITICS AND THE BENGHAZI COMMITTEE

Advisor's vault doorThe President and the Advisor were seated at the polished cherry conference table in the Advisor’s underground suite. Both were enjoying a rare moment of small talk. The President poured himself another cup of steaming dark Columbian and said, “I wish I could relax in the Oval Office as well as I do in your cave.”

The Advisor replied, “When people are in the Oval Office they want something from you and they all have their own agendas. Down here everything you say stays here. There is no need for you to perform and I have no agenda other than to help you in small ways to run the country.”

“Will you be here for my successor?”

“Mr. President, I’m not even sure I will last the rest of your term. Down here the aging process seems to accelerate. A new Advisor will be here for the next president. Our history of the Advisor activity shows nearly all presidents do not come down here in the first year or so of their term. This place is lonely enough even when you come down here three or four times a month. Without your visits, I don’t think I would have lasted this long.”

“It is very possible that my former Secretary of State will be elected. What did you think of her performance when she testified in front of the Benghazi Committee?”

“Congressional hearings are seldom successful. The format seriously handicaps disciplined, effective questioning. All the members are up for election every two years and, therefore, are constantly campaigning. Face time in front of the nation is too important an opportunity to focus on pure investigative examining of the witness. The partisan membership of the committee and the alternating rotation of examiners nearly ensures nothing definitive will result. Everyone going into the hearing knew the long history of the witness and her willingness to avoid the truth.”

“She and I have both been shaped by the teaching of Saul Alinsky. She had a long-term personal relationship with America’s most influential revolutionary. I never had the opportunity to meet this great thinker. But I’m still uncomfortable with her replacing me in the White House. While down here, I will admit to lying to the people on many occasions, I avoid the truth only when it harms my efforts to transform America into a socialist state with no more military or economic power than many other nations. I do not lie to benefit my personal wealth. My former Secretary of State and her husband never take their eyes off the money. From the beginning of their political careers it has been about the money.

“I’m sure you have noticed how she avoided spreading the Benghazi lie about the infamous video and instead recommended my longtime friend, Susan Rice, go out to sell the video lie to the nation on national TV. She knew much more about Benghazi than I even did. She undoubtedly knew security there was inadequate and knew requests for more security from the ambassador had been turned down. For my part it was less than 60 days before the national election. I probably wouldn’t have won if the nation knew the truth about Benghazi. My policies in the Middle East would have been discredited.

“Here, I followed my revolutionary mentor, Mr. Alinsky, that the issue is never the issue and the end justifies the means. Telling the truth that we sacrificed the people at Benghazi and never even tried to rescue or support them would have given the Republicans enough momentum to have defeated me and the process of transforming America. The creation of a new nation of wealth sharing, equal opportunity, and the replacement of capitalism with socialism would have suffered a very serious setback. Benghazi is a ‘bump in the road’ on the path to socialism. History is full of similar choices by leaders. I had no real choice.”

“I agree, your former Secretary of State does not share your ideological purity. It is more personal with her. I do not feel I could serve as her advisor. I also don’t think she will be able to carry on your transformation program. She doesn’t have the touch.”

“Right now, that problem bothers me more than all the other challenges I still face. I must go now, but will be back sometime next week.”

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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by | October 1, 2015 · 7:43 am

INSIGHTS 234 — RUSSIAN EMPIRE MOVES INTO THE MEDITERRANEAN

Advisor's vault door“Mr. President, I want to read something you said last week when I asked, ‘Are you using the leading from behind strategy in the Middle East and primarily in Syria?’ And you answered, ‘Of course. My objective is to change or transform the world order. How could I do that if I was openly leading the action? I’m leading from behind. Iran, ISIS, and Russia are doing exactly what I want. If Russia ends up being a power in the Middle East with warm water ports for their warships and control of oil from the region won’t that end the strife and lead to a world society where the people will be much better off and the world’s wealth and resources will be more equitably distributed?

“‘Russia will have what they have always wanted. They have no desire to occupy Europe. The balance of world power will be forever changed for the better. The need for vast military expenditures will be gone. Colonialism, capitalism, and imperialism will be history. Those are the real evil “isms” of our world. Progressivism is the natural ideology for a world of equals.’”

“Given the very aggressive move by Putin into Syria in the last two weeks with his demand that U.S. aircraft no longer fly over Syria, will you need to change your approach?”

“Putin is following a long developed strategy followed by all the czars. He is the first to succeed in actually establishing a growing military presence in the Middle East. The Russian fleet will now have an all-weather sea port for their warships. He will be popular at home for a short time. Then the people will find out what it costs them to sponsor another client state. Control of Iraqi oil fields may provide some funds for Putin’s military build up and support for a bankrupt Syria but that will not be enough.

“He will soon have another Afghanistan on his hands. Remember how they moved into Afghanistan unopposed in President’s Carter’s one term? He was surprised. I am not. This a perfect response from Putin who is unknowingly assisting me in changing the current world order. Whether he stays for a decade or more in Syria, the Middle East will never be the same. The Christian, imperialistic, capitalistic western power will be balanced by the growing power of the Islamic nations who actually live in the Middle East. Those people will be governing themselves and using their wealth and intellectual resources for the good of a previously oppressed people.

“My concern is keeping the right wing ideologues from convincing my successor to oppose the Russian push into Syria. No matter what Putin does, I will not respond with American power. In a few more years American power both military and economically will be gone for good.”

“What about all the death and misery being inflicted on the people of Syria and Iraq?”

“It will pass in less than a decade. People always suffer when the tide of historical power shifts against existing rulers. Spreading Muslim people throughout the Christian world through chaotic refugee flows is not a bad thing. The shift in population demographics will actually act as a catalyst for a more rapid transformation in the Western world. I couldn’t be happier. Progress never takes place without chaos. The more chaos, the more rapid the pace of transformation can be.”

“Does anyone in your administration share your view of the world?”

“Really only one and she is constantly encouraging me to move more quickly.  A few others think they know but they don’t. Their thinking is still mired down in the Western approach of looking at governing as the constant solving of issues. As long as they stay out of the way, they do no harm in playing with transient problems that have no solution without transformation.”

“Mr. President, I think I’m safe in saying no other president has ever shared your view of America and the world.”

“I agree. See you next week. You are the only person I can truthfully talk to besides my co-partner in transformation. Good night.”

 

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

 

 

 

 

 

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by | September 28, 2015 · 9:26 am

INSIGHTS 233 — WHO SHUTS DOWN THE GOVERNMENT?

Advisor's vault doorThe President went down to talk with the Advisor the day after the Speaker of the House announced his resignation.  The Advisor asked, “Mr. President, do you believe the next speaker will be willing to shut the government down over the ‘Planned Parenthood’ issue?”

“That’s my decision, not the speaker’s. The Constitution gives the House the sole right to appropriate funds for the government. Early in my administration, the House forgot it had that power and did not use it. Power not used is power lost.

“For example, no one should blame the president for the current budget deficit. I can’t spend anything unless the bill originates in the House, is passed by the House and Senate, and sent to my desk. If the Republicans believe the budget should be balanced and the deficit reduced, why don’t they do it? The answer is simple, they just don’t have the political courage to make the hard choices. In the vacuum they created, I stepped in and am now governing as if I could appropriate funds.

“My base doesn’t want them to defund ‘Planned Parenthood’ so I said I would veto any bill that defunds ‘Planned Parenthood.’ Since they were planning to send the defunding issue up to me in the major budgeting bill, my veto of the bill would shut the government down. They are too dumb to change the messaging. It is not their fault I vetoed the budget bill. I vetoed the bill because it contained something neither I nor my base wanted. Ever since Speaker Newt Gingrich’s battle with President Clinton over spending issues resulted in a presidential veto and the shutdown of the government, all professional Republican politicians are in mortal fear of a presidential veto that results in a political shutdown of the government in the most painful way possible. I guarantee the pain part.

“Now I can control the legislature simply by threatening to shut the government down. In reality, taking $500 million out of a trillion-dollar budget would hardly be noticed. In this case they weren’t even cutting the funds, merely spreading the funds to other women’s health clinics. The government could go on as normal. The Republican Party members who fought so hard and successfully to win the House and Senate, now wonder what is the difference? The people we sent to Washington to represent us are not listening to us. In political fact, I now decide what to fund and the funding levels. I am Appropriator-in-Chief.”

“Will a new speaker be able to regain the Constitutional power to appropriate funds?”

“I doubt it. Maybe if the majority of the media supported the Republican Party, but I don’t think any of the contenders will have the courage to confront both me and the media. Rest assured, if I shut the government down over some funding bill I don’t like the media will blame it on the Republicans. Their own members and the conservative media will also automatically blame the Republican radicals for any shutdown. That is a strange but accurate view of the political scene in America. Senate and House leaders are playing the power game by traditionally cherished rules and procedures. I make my own rules and procedures. Therefore I win.”

Seeing the President check his watch, the Advisor said, “Mr. President, I fear you are needed back in the above-ground world. Thank you for the education. I don’t agree with your goals but you must be one of the most astute and aggressive presidents ever to play in the biggest of all power games.”

“I think that is a compliment. So thank you.”

 

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

 

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by | September 24, 2015 · 6:53 am

INSIGHTS 232 — CREATING CLASS WARFARE

Advisor's vault doorThe President had been so forthcoming during their last session, the Advisor thought, I’ve often wondered what the President knows about financial policies. Maybe, if he seems in a good mood, I’ll ask him to help me understand what he is trying to accomplish.

The soft buzzing of the warning the President is on his way sounded and the Advisor hurried to get prepared. Fresh coffee, a clean ashtray, and a freshly polished gleaming table top all set the stage for another of the unbelievable sessions he had been having with the President.

When the President was ready to begin, the Advisor asked, “Mr. President, with your permission, I would like to devote some time to understanding your financial policy.”

“Please go ahead. Financial policy is critical in the transformation process.”

“The basic principle of your transformation process seems to be the re-distribution of wealth from the haves to the have-nots. Yet, just the opposite is occurring. The people who have the money to invest in the stock market have done well while those who cannot participate in the buying and selling of stocks, commodities, and other securities are falling farther behind.”

“The redistribution of wealth is a complicated process. You have described only one step in the process. Yes, the income gap is widening. And it will continue to do so. I cannot move the United States from capitalism to socialism and state ownership of the means of production without first creating a large angry group of people. I am doing that by deliberately stimulating the stock market while depressing the capitalistic economy through taxation and constant regulations. The majority of Americans are not investors and depend on a growing economy to prosper. As this majority loses wealth in an economy that is far weaker than the numbers we release indicate, they will become more and more strident. ‘Occupy Wall Street’ was just the warmup. When the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the country is ripe for a Progressive take over.

” You and 99 percent of the people are focused on the issue of growing the economy. I have used financial policies to create a large majority of Americans who see no downside in changing a failing capitalistic system for a socialist system that will greatly reduce the income gap. You see, ‘the issue is never the issue.’ I talk about doing everything I can to help the middle class. In fact, I’m destroying the middle class. They are an obstacle in the creation of a progressive system of government. I want only two classes, the growing class of have-nots and the rich who are the enemy.

“No party can overthrow a strong government with a historical belief in the power of capitalism and the free market. Progressive change depends on class warfare. There is no other way. We may need two more terms of progressive leadership of the American government before progressive socialism will be a welcome change. The more the Republican Party identifies with capitalism and the free market, the more they provide us with a perfect enemy. In my government there will be no place for people who resist socialism. It may be a good thing that I never closed Guantanamo Bay.”

“So, Mr. President, you do not believe the stock market is a true indicator of the economy?”

“No. And it has been a very long time since you could evaluate economic growth by the success of the Wall Street game. I hope that helps you understand how transformation works. If you’re still alive you may be the first person I send to Gitmo. You are just too intelligent and crafty to be running around in the world above this cave. Goodnight.”

 

 

 

 

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by | September 17, 2015 · 3:33 pm

INSIGHTS 231 LEADING FROM BEHIND STRATEGY

Advisor's vault doorWhile the President and the Advisor were engaging in a few moments of chatting about things that don’t matter, the Advisor wondered if he should ask the President a question he had had for a long time but was reluctant to bring it up. Finally he decided to be bold and ask. “Mr. President, you have used the term, ‘leading from behind’ in talking about foreign affairs. Just what does that mean and how do you use it?”

The President looked at the Advisor and said, “It is the core principle behind all my decisions. Under other Presidents this nation and the world has not fared well by the use of American military and economic power. How much better things might have been if they had been willing to exercise patience and let others advance their policy positions? You know the term came from Saul Alinsky. He used that strategy constantly when he was a community organizer in Chicago. I think it is a brilliant strategy. He would pick a subject he felt was important and work slowly behind the scenes to encourage others to adopt his ideas and take action to accomplish what needed to be done. If things didn’t go well, it wasn’t his fault, and he could quietly work to put his issues back on track. Often a breakthrough would occur that he hadn’t foreseen. And that was good. It indicated the value of harnessing the minds and energies of others to accomplish your objectives. At times he would pick the other side of the issue if the Progressives could use it to damage the opposition and clear the way for more ‘leading from behind’ probing.”

“What happens if the policy fails due to lack to leadership and direction?”

“If the strategy of leading from behind on an issue fails to advance Progressive goals it is because the people failed to understand the issue or were not adaptable enough in picking the tactics.  It is difficult for the opposition to defeat Progressive ideology and actions because it appears as if the movement has no single leader. And that is correct. Leading from the front often results in failure and the loss of leaders. In my way the leadership cadre is very broad and if the leaders among the people are adaptable enough to change messages and positions, the deep leadership ranks are protected even when the effort seems to fail. Failure is rare because even if an effort is defeated by our opponents, we have been able to dictate the agenda and make some small gains and that is all we need to do to complete our transformation process.”

“Are you using the leading from behind strategy in the Middle East and primarily in Syria?”

“Of course. My objective is to change or transform the world order. How could I do that if I was openly leading the action? I’m leading from behind. Iran, ISIS,  and Russia are doing exactly what I want. If Russia ends up being a power in the Middle East with warm water ports for their warships and control of oil from the region won’t that end the strife and lead to a world society where the people will be much better off and the world’s wealth and resources will be more equitably distributed? Russia will have what they have always wanted. They have no desire to occupy Europe. The balance of world power will be forever changed for the better. The need for vast military expenditures will be gone. Colonialism, Capitalism, and Imperialism will be history. Those are the real evil ‘isms’ of our world. Progressivism is the natural ideology for a world of equals.”

“Mr. President, I’m astounded at the breath of your response to my question. Do the leaders of your Administration share this view of the world?”

“Very, Very few. And that is good. Most of them would be more than astounded. They waste their time trying to either solve or pretend to solve the issues of governing. I only need a few people. The rest can mill about on trivial battlefields, as long as they do what they are told. Okay, I really have to go. Keep the questions coming. You help to keep me sharp. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Mr. President.”

The Advisor put his head down on the table and thought if you can’t handle the answer, don’t ask the question.

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80

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