The idea that we might have gotten involved in Somalia is not preposterous. We did it under two previous Presidents. For all that we can complain about the Bush/Cheney team getting us involved in Iraq and Afghanistan, the left-wing liberals have been screaming for just as long for us to ‘do something’ about the Horn of Africa. Many Hollywood celebrities had been begging for America to intervene in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia for decades. They have a lot of sway with the Democratic Party. In addition, during the fictional Buckman/McCain era military losses were kept at a very low level. There is every reason to believe that an administration with very little military experience would believe it was a cake walk, history notwithstanding, especially if they believe that UN interference is what caused the problems before.
Also, as I have mentioned before, I am neither a flaming radical left-wing Communist nor a founding member of the Tea Party. If I seem like I am bad-mouthing Hillary, how is that any different than in earlier chapters where I did the same to Bush 43? Personally, I think Mercutio had it right – “A plague on both your houses!” If you don’t like it, stop reading!
A final note on Baltimore County – several people have written me asking whether Carl lives in Hereford or Upperco. This is one of the curious items about Baltimore County. There are no incorporated municipalities inside Baltimore County, which means there are no formal borders to towns. Towns and cities don’t have boundaries and tend to flow together. It is not at all impossible for two neighbors to think they live in different towns. So, how do you know where you live? Maybe by zip code, maybe by school district, maybe by the volunteer fire company that puts your fire out! In Carl’s case, he and Marilyn moved to the area as adults, and his business, the local high school, and his polling place are in Hereford. His kids, on the other hand, started school at Fifth District Elementary, the Upperco feeder school to Hereford, and they think they live in Upperco!
It gets even stranger. Carl is old enough to remember when your telephone number was assigned based on the local exchange, which was given a name. Carl’s childhood address in Lutherville was in the Dulaney Valley exchange, and all the phone numbers were 82x-xxxx, for VAlley. Ads at the time might say “Call Valley x-xxxx for…” My grandmother, who lived in Highlandtown, had a phone number that started with 44, for the HIghlandtown exchange. Many people figured out what town they were in based on their phone number. Is everybody confused now?
Things are definitely getting out of control for Carl in Syria. I wrote about 95% of the Epilogue before Iraq came apart at the seams. I certainly never anticipated the group called ISIS, and it seems that Carl’s semi-partition of Iraq has come true, though in my story the Kurds grabbed more of Iraq than seems to be the case in real life. Life imitating art? Very spooky, and more than a little depressing.
I’ve had several comments on my portrayal of Hillary, specifically that Bill would be able to correct her and guide her somehow. I just don’t know about that. For one thing, I don’t think she is anywhere near as capable a politician as Bill is. Regardless of how you feel about him, and my own feelings are rather mixed, I think Slick Willie is the savviest politician since FDR. Hillary is not in his class, not by a long shot. Second, I can’t really understand that family dynamic. Do they even live together these days? Just how much does she listen to him?