rlfj: Blog

Not a whole lot to blog about. Everybody seemed to enjoy the direction I took the story.

The Al Sharpton episode was suggested by a reader, and I thought it was delicious and hilarious – and probably quite accurate. Mister Sharpton has a flagrant disregard for the facts if they get in the way of his narrative. I remember the Tawana Brawley case quite well.

A surprising number of questions have been raised as to Presidential succession. Several readers have argued that Carl is not allowed to name a new VP. Let’s set the record straight! Presidential succession deals with two specific pieces of legislation. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947, passed after the death of FDR, outlines who becomes the President, and in what order. If the President dies, the VP gets the job. If both die, it’s the Speaker of the House. If all three are gone, we go to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. After that you go to the Cabinet, in the order of seniority of the department: State, Treasury, Defense, etc. That’s the sort of thing that happens only in thrillers about Washington being destroyed.

However, if the VP slot is empty, which has happened several times, the 25th Amendment applies. Section 2 states that the President will nominate a candidate and then both houses of Congress vote on him/her. This has happened twice since then, when Nixon named Ford, and then when Ford named Rockefeller. Several people stated that Ford got the job because he was the Speaker of the House. That is incorrect. Ford was the House Minority Leader; the Speaker was Carl Albert, a Democrat.

One of the more controversial aspects of 9-11 was the Able Danger issue. There really was a DIA program called Able Danger, relatively new, that used data mining techniques to try and identify terrorists. In 1999 this was a very new idea. It came to light in 2005 and the DIA ordered it shut down and the records destroyed and the operators to refuse to testify. Supposedly the program identified some possible terrorist names, though it never determined what actions they were going to commit. I am not a conspiracy theorist! This was a real program with a real Congressional investigation. It never went anywhere, and without any records, it was a dead end. However, if Carl were to learn about it, I think his actions would be as I’ve described.

Bonus points if you recognize who President Blue was.

Several people wanted me to delay Carl being sworn in as President. In one case, if Carl delays long enough, he can run for reelection twice. Mind you, a constitutional argument could be made that his term of office began when he became the Acting President, but I’m not a lawyer. In another case, the argument was that the end of the week was too soon for people to accept. My response is that nature abhors a vacuum. For right or wrong, leaving Carl as the Acting President denies him legitimacy, and makes him into a caretaker. Somebody else, probably from Congress or the Cabinet, is going to move to seek political power at his expense. No, he needs to nip that in the bud immediately.

Several readers pointed out that in real life FBI Director Freeh had been gone for a few months, and that Mueller was in at the FBI by a week or two. That doesn’t work out so well for me firing people off. Therefore, we are holding onto Freeh for a few months longer, and that got written into the story.

The reader who reminded me of Asimov’s Foundation made me curious, so I spent a couple of nights rereading my well-worn copy. The reader attributed the quote (“Never let your sense of morals stand in the way of doing what's right.”) to the character Hober Mallow, but that didn’t seem right to me. It was actually said by the character Salvor Hardin, who had other pithy comments credited to him. Others which might prove helpful to Carl would be: “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”, “An atom-blaster is a good weapon, but it can point both ways.”, and “It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.”

So much to write about with these chapters!

Much of what occurred in the NSC meeting is factually accurate. Leaked minutes of the NSC meetings reveal that an Iraq invasion was being contemplated as early as February of 2001, long before 9-11 happened. Additionally, Paul O’Neill was horrified by what was happening with the budget, and after making some public remarks about the effects of the tax cuts, was forced to resign in 2002.

In the beginning of 137 I mention that the intel was being gamed in order to justify an invasion of Iraq. Again, this has been proven to be true, in multiple instances. The CIA was providing intelligence that matched what Bush and his handlers wanted, not what was true. The Valerie Plame Affair was simply the most egregious example.

Am I being too rough on the Secret Service? I don’t think so. By every report from neutral observers and reporters, there is a level of institutional arrogance and conceit that is astonishing to behold. George Will once reported on the ABC Sunday morning show that Bush once came to his home for a dinner party. Before he arrived, however, an advance team of agents scoured his neighborhood and ordered, on pain of arrest, everybody to leave their yards and go inside their homes and close the drapes! I can’t make this shit up! In another case, a writer said she had left a book as a personal gift in a protectee’s mailbox, and then was gang-tackled afterwards as a terrorist.

A number of people have written that Carl is being much too hard on Bush. George was actually really smart but managed to surround himself with a bunch of evil geniuses who led him to the dark side. He had a lousy ability to figure out who he should listen to, etc. If that helps you sleep at night, fine by me. I am going to lose a bunch of readers with this chapter anyway. On a personal note, no, I am not a Democrat! I think Obama has been a lousy President. I also think more than a few of the Republican challengers would have been even worse. Why anybody would actually want the job is beyond me in any case!

I have had a number of people wonder how Carl was going to become President or otherwise take the reins of power. I told you it would be a dark place, but some of you just didn’t listen. On the plus side, you won’t have to read any more rants about Bush! There’s a positive side to everything.

Could the ‘football’ ever be forgotten like that? Yes! It has happened several times, in fact.

To those who thought Carl couldn’t be that ruthless or cold, that has been his history from almost the first chapter! In school, when he got in fights, he didn’t just beat up the bullies, he crippled and maimed them! Some of those injuries I described would leave people with lifelong damage. After Lieutenant Numbnuts told the narcos in Nicaragua they were Americans, Carl murdered them, and there is no getting around that. Likewise, rather than let his brother go, Carl murdered him as well. Carl doesn’t leave an enemy upright and has no compunctions about it. As Asimov wrote in Foundation, “Never let your sense of morals stand in the way of doing what's right.”

Well, Carl is still alive, and apparently the Vice President. What kind of trouble will he get into now? There will be surprises coming up, and Carl goes to a dark place. You’ll know soon.

For the nitpickers on 135: It would be Cheney as Secretary of State who would have chewed on the Nicaraguans about the warrant. Bush might be President but Cheney would have the State Department make it work.

I received a couple of notes that after 18 months Charlie would have made it to E3, Lance Corporal. In my defense, I reply that I had earlier received a note that he wouldn’t have made it by then but would certainly make Lance Corporal by the end of his first hitch. I am leaving it as it is. By the next time we see Charlie, he will be a Lance Corporal.

For those curious about the statement that Doctor Buckman was qualified to teach half a dozen subjects, this is accurate. At one time I was an adjunct at a community college. The big thing about teaching college is the degree the teacher has. A master’s degree is needed at a community college and a doctorate at a four-year school, but once you’re in, it doesn’t matter what you teach. He would certainly be qualified to teach mathematics and computer science. Being a self-made multibillionaire qualifies him to teach business or finance. Being a vet with a medal lets him teach military science (ROTC). Five terms in the House and election as Vice President would let him teach political science.

Quite a few readers have wondered how much influence Carl will have on Bush. Some have envisioned him being the eminence grise, the power behind the throne. The role of Vice President has varied greatly in the last century. John Nance Garner was one of FDR’s Veeps and he described the office as ‘not worth a bucket of warm piss’, usually euphemized as ‘spit.’ FDR changed his VP candidates twice and never had much use for them. Truman wasn’t even told about the atomic bomb until after being sworn in as President. Likewise, JFK and Johnson despised each other, and Johnson was cut out of most things. On the other hand, Cheney and Biden were highly trusted advisers and intermediaries. Cheney eventually fell out of favor, but he had a long run pulling Bush’s strings.

For those who think I am being too hard on Bush 43, sorry, but every interview and report I have read on the man shows he was not intellectually gifted. Even some of my readers have met him and agree with that. He had wonderful political instincts, a photographic memory for names and faces, and could schmooze with the best of them. Otherwise, he really didn’t know the difference between a Gentlemen’s C and a real C and thought the degrees his father bought him were earned.

And finally, for everyone who wondered if the twins were going to show up anymore, you are getting your wish, in spades!

Could the recall to active duty and court-martial actually occur? Actually, in theory, yes. Carl has certainly completed his active-duty commitment, and his medical retirement wipes out his inactive commitment. However, you are an officer for life, unless you actually resign your commission, and are thus theoretically subject to recall. Historically a number of retired officers have voluntarily asked for recall, usually during wars, to help. I think we can safely say that Carl wouldn’t have resigned his commission. In any case, while it might be far-fetched, it would be possible. Currently the Trump administration is attempting to recall to active duty the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Milley, and several Congressmen who were in the military, all so they can be court-martialed.

Chapter 134 is the end of Book 6. Do we get a repeat of what happened in Carl’s first life, with Gore recanting his conciliation, or did Bush actually win? What would a Bush Presidency look like with Carl around instead of Cheney? Momentous times are ahead for Carl and the nation, and Carl will be going to a very dark place.