Real Characters Episode 51 the media is never on the right side

                Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa is sitting in his office with an incredulous look on his face.  Grassley has had a roller coaster of the last three years.  As a Republican, he is naturally attacked by the left incessantly regardless of what he says so he’s used to that.  It’s the right that frustrates him as they don’t seem to have any memory.  When he castigated the Democrat Senators during the Kavanaugh confirmation, they cheered him.  Then, when he was not opposed to the Mueller report because he believed that if the President was indeed innocent, an investigation wouldn’t matter, they viciously attacked him.  Once the Mueller report was over, he urged America to move on and the right was annoyed by that.  After two Inspector General reports that Grassley was able to decode as he is fully aware on how to read legalese and documents intended to obfuscate, he reamed the FBI for their FISA abuse and abusing their power.  Again, the right cheered him but he knew that if he agreed with anything a Democrat did again, the tide would turn on him on a dime.  Luckily, he did what all politicians should do; he gathered the facts and acted on what he believed to be true and advised and made policy to the best of his knowledge and ability.  Now, there is time to react once again as more of the Intelligence Community Inspector General Horrowitz report has been declassified; namely a couple footnotes and a letter written by the DOJ to the FISA court.  As these things are wordy and cumbersome to read, he also has his staff reading parts of it.  He gathers them in for a meeting to discuss the topic to see if they are as appalled as he is.

                Grassley starts the meeting, “Let’s start with the letter as that seems pretty much straightforward.  Can someone please tell me that I misread the part about Ohr?”

                There was a brief pause as people looked at each other afraid to speak.  A woman spoke up, “Well sir, from what I understood, the DOJ clearly stated that Ohr informed the FBI that Steele contacted him in late July 2016 about information that Carter Page was colluding with Russians.”

                “Right, and that information only exists in the dossier right?”

                “Yes sir.”

                “That would mean the FBI lied to everyone when they said they hadn’t received the dossier until September 2016.”

                “In fairness sir, I think that’s word play.  They didn’t need to see the document because they were talking to Steele themselves.”

                “I’m not interested in the play on words!  They illegally spied on a president.  Do you know how serious this is?!  Then it goes on that Ohr had already given most of the information to his handling agent.”

                The woman put her head down and didn’t want to respond.  A male staffer took over, “The letter is plainly written, sir.  Steele reported that the dossier information was given to the FBI over the course of several meetings between June 2016 and August 2016.”

                “When was the investigation open?”

                “July 31, sir”

                “So, when the FBI tells us the dossier had nothing to do with opening the investigation?”

                “It doesn’t appear that they have any way to make that claim now.”

                “What’s worse, now let’s move to the dossier, did you all read footnote 461?”

                The woman finds her confidence again, “Yes sir, it corroborates the DOJ letter.”

                “I got the same thing from my reading.”

                “There was something else about the footnote I found disturbing.”

                “That list is long with me but let me hear it.  That’s why I wanted everyone to read it.”

                “The FBI never bothered to ask Steele if he was the source of the Yahoo News article about Carter Page colluding with the Russians.”

                “At first, I thought that was the least of it as Steele’s FBI handling agent, Pientka, could still have plausible deniability.  It would make him a bad agent for not thinking to ask that question but at least he didn’t cover it up because he didn’t know that the article wasn’t corroborating Steele but that Steele was the source for the FBI and Yahoo News.”

                The man spoke up, “Respectfully sir, that revelation came in Chapter 4.”

                “I was getting to that.  What do we find out in Chapter 5?”

                “That there were drafts of the Carter Page FISA application on October 14, 2016 that Steele was responsible for the leak that led to the 9/23 article.”

                The woman sarcastically added, “But don’t worry, Horrowitz assures us that Steele was acting on his own volition and has since been admonished by the FBI.”

                Grassley declares, “It’s really disturbing that the IG could write all this and then tell the world that he didn’t find evidence of political bias.”

                The woman responded, “Well, in fairness, he did say at the trial that that wasn’t a fair characterization.  He was asked point blank if he didn’t find political bias and he said that he couldn’t say that.”

                “Given what he wrote and redacted from the public, it should have been a little more forceful than that don’t you think?”

                “I do sir.”

                “After that gem of a draft, the final draft to the FISA reads, ‘FBI assesses that Steele’s business associate or the law firm that hired the business associate likely provided the information to the press.’” 

                The man replied, “It’s one thing to reword it, it’s quite another to change pertinent information.  The final draft makes it seem like Steele may not have known that Glenn Simpson or Perkins Coie leaked the information to the press.”

                “Either way, they’re all working together.  Glenn Simpson owns Fusion GPS and used Perkins Coie’s money to pay Christopher Steele.  If any of the three of them leaked the information to the press, then it’s not corroborating evidence.”

                “They didn’t make that clear to the FISC”

                “Okay, so we all got the same interpretation.  The FBI has been lying to us for three years.  Is there any other way to look at this?”

                “No sir” came a communal response

                “Now, it’s time for action.  I have no choice but I need to write a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and tell him that he needs to turn over everything he had on Crossfire Hurricane.  Enough is enough.  We made a mistake confirming this guy.  This was not a good appointment by the president and we can’t count on Wray to clean his house and keep it in order.  We have to step in.  Is there any resistance or rebuttal to that conclusion?”

                Everyone in the room says ‘No sir.”

                As it turns out, Wisconsin Senator Johnson has a similar meeting with his staffers and came to the same conclusion and also wrote a letter to Wray requesting the same thing.  They both then send a memo to the President recommending him to terminate Christopher Wray.

                As President Trump receives the memo, he shakes his head.  He is with his Wuhan Virus taskforce and he exclaims that he needs to get to that later because he needs to focus on the issue at hand.  He walks into the press briefing to update the American public on the latest regarding the pandemic.  Last night, he met with the governors and decided on a slow, sector roll out of the economy in the lesser affected states.  Just like every other day, he knows that the press is out to get him and they will ask trap questions but he is unafraid as he is a master of not being fooled into saying what they want him to say.  A reporter asks him about the pushback in states where the governors have gotten tyrannical by restricting what people are allowed to buy at supermarkets or fining people for attending a service in their cars with the windows up listening to the service on a car radio.  He finishes with, “How important is it for these people to get in line?”

                President Trump does not make any overt facial reaction to the question but inside he’s smiling.  He knows that if he praises the people, then the headlines will be that he was advocating lawlessness and chaos but if he condemns them then the headline will be that he approves of tyranny and told people they don’t have a right to push back or protest the government.  Luckily for President Trump, he has always been in tuned to what the American people are thinking and the pulse of the country he heads.  He calmly responds in a serious tone almost empathetic, “No, people are suffering.  You know staying at home isn’t completely safe either as people are still dying.  People want to go back to work, they don’t like being suppressed.  Our country wasn’t founded on that; in fact, it was founded on the opposite.  Some governors have stretched their power and people don’t like it.”

                The mainstream media does not put any tag line at the bottom of their screens and there will be no headline as there wasn’t much they could do with that.  Meanwhile, many watching nod their heads as the conservatives repeat to themselves that the Bill of Rights and the Constitution aren’t suggestions; they mean something and it is always applicable.  The moderates, on the other hand, tilt their head and think that they will get in line if the request is reasonable such as social distancing and working from home for a while but there’s a line.  If that line is crossed, however, then they will feel the need to push back. They know, though, that they’re not there yet.  The Democrats, on the other hand, frown.  They are not full leftists so they are still capable of rational thought.  They see the reaction to the president’s words and think to themselves that every tyrant has believed that their passion to squelch liberty will supersede the oppressed desire to not have their liberty suppressed.  History has proven that that is a fallacy.  What keeps Americans relatively peaceful and not revolutionary is the thriving and prominent middle class.  They have a lot to lose so they aren’t as willing to engage in revolutionary behavior.  Given the shut down and the mass forced unemployment by the government, this is becoming less and less true and if it is prolonged, a pushback seems inevitable.

                The press conference ends and President Trump is given a video of Joe Biden as it is now official that he will be his opponent in the coming election.  His staffer articulates, “Mr. President, I think you should see this so you know what you’re up against.”

                President Trump looks at the video that is only 11 seconds long.  Joe Biden is asked a question and he fumbles and mumbles his words as he loses his train of thought consistently.  If this was the first time, then it could be understandable but this is just another example in a litany of confusions and misstatements.  The staffer has a smile on his face but Trump grimaces.  He shakes his head and pronounces, “It’s really sad what the Democrats are doing to him.  He isn’t well and instead of getting him help, they nominate him so he can humiliate himself.  The only thing I can think of is they’re going to force Hillary or Michelle (Obama) to be his Vice President.  They want a figurehead for the presidency so that they can bring an unelected person of their choosing to be the real president.  It’s really a travesty.  The DNC are deranged people.  There is something seriously morally wrong with this.”

                The staffer’s smile runs away from his face and he feels embarrassed.  He opines, “It never ceases to amaze me how you get the liberals to expose themselves for the hysterical power-hungry or ignorant people that they are.”

                “You have to understand that before me, Republicans either ignored them or caved and apologized.  They’ve never encountered someone who hits back like I do and they don’t know how to handle it.  When they get confused how their well and tried and true tactics aren’t working, they can’t help themselves but to exaggerate them.  Before me, the Republican gave in or said nothing, which made them look weak so they never needed to raise the hysteria a notch.”

                “Well, the results speak for themselves.  They fall for it every time.”

                “If you don’t mind me asking, which hysterics are you referring to as there are so many to choose from?”

                The staffer laughs, “Their reaction to you defunding the WHO”

                “Oh that one.  Yes, they love their analogies like I’m banning firemen on 9/11.  The real analogy would be that the planes hit, the firemen came but instead of hoses and axes they started shooting flame throwers at the Twin Towers.”

                “I’m still in disbelief that they catered to Chinese propaganda and promoted false information.”

                “They knew it was false too.  That’s the disturbing part.  They kept saying that there was no human to human transmission. They attacked travel bans even though China banned domestic travel but allowed international, and all they could do was praise Beijing.”

                “China and the media keep lying about it only being three weeks.  They knew on December 21 and as late as January 21, they were still downplaying the threat and attacking you.”

                “January 21 is early.  That’s just when the first person arrived in the United States.  I think it took them seven weeks to admit it.  Seven weeks; that’s two more weeks than where we’re at now.  Could you imagine if I had denied the threat five weeks ago and I still was now and continued to for another two weeks?”

                “I’d rather not imagine that Mr. President.”

                “Yea, that’s a good call; I don’t really want to either.”

                President Trump goes back to the Oval Office and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani walks in.  “Good afternoon Mr. President.”

                “Good afternoon Rudy.”

                “Well, in light of the pushback we’ve been getting from defunding the WHO, I’ve been reviewing the legal justification for it.”

                “What did you find?”

                “You technically do have the power to reallocate funds in an emergency situation; which this clearly is.  You did it before with the border wall and this is a much easier sell.”

                “What about rescission?”

                “That one is a little more hairy.  You need congressional support for that so you’d have to send a memo to them asking for permission.”

                “That may not be a bad thing.”

                “It may not be too effective because they would have 45 days to respond.”

                “Is there any way that can be fast tracked?”

                “Of course; it’s even in the law.  That is perfectly within your rights.”

                “Then that may be the better option.  If they approve it quickly, then there is less incentive for the left and Democrats to attack me just because it was me and I acted within in my authority but unilaterally nonetheless.  If they refuse or drag their feet, then you get congress on the record defending the WHO and the American people know that they lied to us for seven weeks.”

                “From a political standpoint, that may be the better option.   It’s easier to sell to the American people because they tend to approve of things more if congress approves and it helps in our quest to win back the house when they are on record defending an organization that led to the deaths of, so far, over 30,000 people.”

                “Then it’s settled.”

                “Yes, I guess it is.”

                Giuliani leaves the oval office and Trump turns on the TV as he knows his press secretary Kelly Ann Conway is giving a press conference.  Paula Rhee is in attendance and she asks Conway if she’s alarmed that when President Trump meets with CEOs and organizations that want to help; there is a predominance of white males in the group.  At first Conway tries to be diplomatic and explain that none of those people he’s meeting with were chosen by him.  They all volunteered to help and it’s not the president’s fault that the only corporations that volunteered to help were ones whose CEO was a white male.  Just as she did with Fauci and president Trump when she didn’t get the answer she wanted, she throws a child-like hissy fit and whines to Conway inarticulately prompting Conway to respond calmly and sympathetically, “Paula, I’m not sure what happened to you, respectfully, I don’t know why you changed and you’re in to reform screaming at Anthony Fauci and the President of the United States.  Quite frankly, I think it’s unbecoming.  I’m here to help the American people so that’s what I’m going to do but I think you’re here for a different reason these days.”

                President Trump’s eyes widen as he sits back in his chair.  He nods his approval and comments to nobody since he is alone in the room, “I stand corrected.  I thought that taking the high road with the liberals was stupid and came off as weak but she pulled it off.  I don’t think I could have done that.  She seemed genuinely concerned but still got her shots in and they cut deep.  Well done, Kelly-Ann, well done indeed.”

                The president is paged by his secretary who informs him that his economic advisor is waiting to see him.  He replies, “Send her in.”

                The economic advisor walks in and she asserts, “Good evening Mr. President.”

                “Good evening.”

                “I got some good news and some bad news.  Which would you like first?”

                “Always bad.”

                The economic advisor seems confused by the response and she looks at her notes.  “Ummm,  we’re running massive deficits.”

                “I figured that when I signed a two trillion dollar Wuhan Virus bill.”

                “Yes, as you know, the government doesn’t produce anything.  All we can do is take money from tax payers and due to the shut down, there aren’t as many of those.”

                “We knew that April would be rough.”

                “Yes sir, we did but here’s the interesting thing.  Federal Tax collections, despite the shut downs happening in mid-March, were still the highest we’ve collected in March since 2016.”

                “I broke my March record as president then.”

                “Yes Mr. President, you did.”

                “And I only had about 60% of the month.”

                “Correct, before the shut down.”

                “Not bad.”

                “Well, no it’s not bad when you just look at the revenues.  The first six months of the fiscal year was a record high.”

                “Yes, the economy was motoring faster than anything that anyone predicted so breaking records seemed inevitable.”

                “Yes, but most people don’t know that tax cuts normally lead to higher tax revenues because it seems counter-intuitive.”

                “It doesn’t matter if they realize it or not, the results are what matters.”

                “Well, quite frankly sir, that’s all well and good.  You know, $ 1.6 Trillion in revenue seems good on the surface but numbers are pointless unless you compare it to something.”

                “With all this good news you were telling me, I thought the bad news was over.”

                “I’m sorry sir.  It just seemed to make more sense to go with the good news first.  I’ll just say it.  We spent $2.3 Trillion in the first half of the fiscal year so we’re still running deficits.”

                “I did expect that with all the money we’ve been spending on this pandemic.”

                “Yes sir, but I’m afraid that we’re going to have no choice but to print more money and that will cause inflation.  People’s savings accounts are going to effectively diminished because the dollar will lose value.”

                “Correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t that mean our debt is lower too?”

                “Yes, but I’d rather us pay it off without hurting people who saved money.”

                “As would I but sometimes you need to look at the silver lining.  Once this threat has passed, we can get back to building the economy.”

                “Yes Mr. President but I’m afraid we dug too deep a hole.”

                “We did it once, we will do it again.”

                “Yes, Mr. President.  I do believe you are capable but you’re going to need to win the election.  We don’t really have enough time before November.”

                “We shall see how much time we have when the economy is fully opened up again.  Perhaps we won’t have to hurt people who have been responsible and saved their money.”

                “Speaking about savings accounts and retirement…”

                “You can speak freely.”

                “Well, I spoke to the Social Security trustees and since we have all these furloughed employees that have left the workforce, our social security revenue has plummeted.”

                “That makes sense.”

                “Yes, so now they believe that the Social Security fund will no longer be insolvent by 2035 but have revised it to 2033.”

                “In one year, we’ve lost two years.”

                “Yes Mr. President, it would appear that way.” 

                “There is no good way to handle that.  The best thing to do is inform people that are 55 and younger that we’re not going to be able to pay them.  We need to draw a date in the sand; tell the people born after that date, that there’s no money and they need to spend the rest of their time before retirement to arrange something else.”

                “You’d still pay those over 55?”

                “Of course; they have less time to prepare so we need to take care of them.”

                “I don’t advise that sir.”

                “Yes, I know.  The blow back would be intense and this time it would be legitimate.  They’ll accuse me of stealing their money.”

                “Well, in fairness, once we took it from their paycheck, it was no longer their money.”

                “Yes, but they entrusted us to keep it for them but instead the government spent it.”

                “Well, technically, we took the money from them and put it in a trust fund.  The trust fund then bought Treasury denominated notes and then the government spent that money and handed the trust fund an IOU.”

                “An IOU they can’t pay because they no longer have the money.”

                “Correct, because they already spent it.”

                “You see how technically it’s the same thing as saying we spent the money we were supposed to be saving for them?”

                “Yes, because as the gap between the employed and the retirees closed, there were much fewer workers per beneficiary and that leads to insolvency every time; even in the government.”

                “Ponzi schemes still don’t work even if it’s the government running it.”

                “Yes.”

                “Well, since we can’t do what needs to be done, all I can do is bring back more manufacturing and increase the workforce so that the ratio of employed people to retirees starts growing again.”

                “Well, the pandemic has forced more beneficiaries because they can borrow it while they are furloughed.”

                “Well, hopefully we can get rid of that when we open.”

                “Yes, Mr. President.  Of course.”

                “Is there anything else?”

                “No, that’s all.”

                “Thank you”

                The economic advisor leaves the room and President Trump transitions to another item requiring his attention.  He is beginning to lose hope that anyone involved in SpyGate will be locked up but he can’t worry about that now as he needs to find a solution to places like New York and New Jersey who can’t seem to get the Wuhan Virus under control.

Fanis the Bodyguard Episode 47 180s and backlashes

                In London, England two American cousins are abiding by the ‘shelter at home’ policies that Parliament has put into place.  Kera, who owns the flat and employs her cousin Fanis as a bodyguard believes the precautions are necessary.  Fanis, on the other hand, frequently rails against it.  He says to his cousin, “I mean we are living in the city where V for Vendetta took place and the whole world has turned into that society.”

                “Calm down.  We’re not even listening.  We still travel the world it just takes a little longer because we have to go to decontamination chambers.”

                Kera has a right to be confused about his anger as his job is to be her bodyguard so is not affected by the shutdown at all.  He is still gainfully employed and his everyday life remains mostly unchanged.  Despite that, he shoots back, “That’s not the point. It’s the principle of what it does to society as a whole.  This can’t sustain.  Besides, when we go to these countries, I want to actually enjoy the country.  I’d like to do some site-seeing; go to a bar and talk to the locals.  You know, do things that people do when they travel.”

                “Well, we are going to Interlocken, Switzerland.  What would you have done there that you can’t because of the shut down?”

                “Is that a joke?  There are a lot of extreme sports there.  I’ve been hang gliding and canyon jumping there.  They got scenic lakes and the Alps.  You can go extreme sledding.  There’s all sorts of shit to do.”

                “There’s all sorts of shit to do in the winter.  First off, you don’t ski or snowboard so there actually isn’t much for you to do even in the winter.  Secondly, like you’ve said, you’ve done all those things so there’s no point to do it again.”

                “You can go skydiving out of a helicopter.  I’ve never done that.”

                “Yes but you have out of a plane.  Is it really that different?”

                “Not in the Alps”

                “When you jump out of a plane, I don’t think the scenery is what matters.”

                “It does after you pull the cord.  Besides, people claim that since a plane is flying horizontal, it eases your stomach when you jump.  A helicopter is hovering so you get more of the stomach in your throat feeling.  I didn’t get that at all when I skydove so it is different.”

                “After Kobe Bryant, you want to get in a helicopter?”

                “Yes, for the same reason I fly even if there was a plane crash somewhere in the world.”

                “Well, let’s see if you can do it.  I mean those places are losing money so maybe we can convince them to take you by yourself.  We’d probably get a good rate.”

                “We’ll see.  Anyway, Obama and Warren endorsed Biden today.”

                “Well, yea he’s the only Democrat left.”

                “According to Obama, he waited because Biden told him not to because he wanted to win fair and square.”

                “Well, that’s horseshit.  No politician wants to win fair and square.  Even if that was true, it’s better to not endorse him at all because now it looks like he was holding out for anyone better but nobody stepped up.”

                “Yea, I agree.  It makes him look worse.”

                “Anyway, get ready.  We’re going to Switzerland.”

                On the plane, Kera comments to Fanis, “The Washington Post just published an article that the Coronavirus may have leaked from a Wuhan lab.”

                “Aren’t they the ones that attacked Tom Cotton for saying the same thing a couple weeks ago?  They claimed it was a conspiracy theory.”

                Kera nodded her head, “It’s actually the same writer too; Josh Rogin.”

                “I’m sure Rogin was quick to explain his about face.”

                “No, no mention at all.”

                “That was sarcastic”

                “I know but I answered anyway.”

                “Given that you are this Chinese expert as you deal in Chinese art and that’s what allows us these fancy digs and travel arrangements, don’t you have insider information on this?”

                “Aren’t you the one that doesn’t want to know the intimate details of what I do?”

                “Yes, but this isn’t intimate detail.  Just, oh yea, it’s true or not.”

                “You do realize that if I knew the answer to that it would be a deep secret that many are claiming that the Chinese are covering up.  My knowledge of it would mean I’m highly connected to the Chinese government and know some highly classified information; information that when other people tried to tell people, they, allegedly of course, disappeared and were killed.”

                “So, you’re not going to tell me?”

                “Given the nature of your job, I think it’s in your best interest.”

                “You don’t care if I die.  That’s pretty much why you hired me.”

                “That, and  you’re the closest person I get to what could be considered ‘trust.’”

                “Yea, makes me kind of irreplaceable.”

                “Yes, it would be difficult.”

                “Besides, the point is for me to die so you could live.  Taking on the Chinese government, we both die.”

                “Yes, so it’s kind of pointless.”

                “Fair enough.”

                There was a brief moment of silence and then Kera declared, “I will tell you that a cable was given to the US state department about dangerous conditions in the Wuhan Lab.”

                “When?”

                “Two years ago when a US embassy official visited a Chinese research facility in Wuhan.  They  made an official warning about the conditions.”

                “Ah, so that’s how it went from writing articles entitled, ‘Tom Cotton keeps repeating a Coronavirus conspiracy theory that was already debnked’ and calling it a fringe theory to admitting he was right without mentioning him at all.”

                “Well, it wasn’t just Tom Cotton.  An Arkansas congressman said it too.”

                “And the post and media attacked him for that too but now things have changed.”

                “What changed?”

                “Back then, the narrative was he was a racist and xenophobe that was trying to find a scapegoat. But now that he’s been proven right, the new narrative is that he knew and he did nothing.  This cable you speak of helps that.  Even though it only talks about a Chinese research facility not necessarily the one that leaked the virus and it was two years ago.  Furthermore, ‘dangerous conditions’ translating to ‘huge pandemic that will shut the world down’ is a huge leap.”

                They land in Interlocken and check into a hotel.  Kera informs Fanis, “Just so you know, they chose Intelocken precisely because it’s a rural city.  Geneva and Zurich are too crowded so my clients are still afraid of Covid.”

                “Why is that relevant?”

                “I don’t know.  You were bitching earlier about how you want everything opened up so you can enjoy our trips.  Keep in mind, travelling for business is very different from travelling for pleasure.  Most people never get to see the country that they travelled to for business.  You just forego sleep to make it happen.”

                “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

                “Whatever, let’s just get some dinner and go to sleep.”

                “How are we going to get dinner when we’re in a rural area?”

                Kera rolled her eyes and got ready for bed.  Fanis called out to her, “You know there’s a casino here but we can’t go because it’s closed.”

                “I don’t gamble”

                “But I do!”

                “Good night Fanis!”

                Fanis put on a sweet yet mocking tone, “Good night my wonderful cousin and employer.”

                The next day, Kera and Fanis head to her rendezvous.  Fanis greets the Swiss bodyguard and he responds, “Good morning sir.  How are you?”

                “I’m doing well.”

                “Is this your first time in Switzerland?”

                “No, I’ve been here before.  I travel a lot actually but I got to say the people in Switzerland are the nicest people than anywhere else I’ve been.”

                “Well, thank you.  I hope I can measure up.”

                “Well, you’re one of the first opposing body guards that didn’t start the conversation establishing I’m an American.”

                The Swiss guy smiled, “Well, I didn’t really feel the need to ask a question I already knew the answer to.  I’m Alessio by the way.”

                “I’m Fanis”

                “Nice to meet you”

                They bumped elbows as is the new way to shake hands even in Switzerland.  He responded, “Likewise.”

                “America has been hit pretty hard by this virus.  Is it as bad as the news suggests?”

                “Well, we live in London so I don’t really have firsthand knowledge but from what I hear, no, it’s not.  Most of the hospitals are empty.  It seems like they over-prepared for it.  Also, they put a rule that you get more money if people die from the virus so all of a sudden people aren’t dying from strokes, heart attacks or diabetes.  It seems they are inflating their numbers to get more funding.”

                “It doesn’t matter where you are; such is the way of government.”

                “I couldn’t agree more.”

                “It does upset me to hear that though.  Here in Europe, we look to America as the last beacon of hope against this corruption and oppressive governments.”

                “We take that very seriously as well.  That is why you are seeing a lot of Civil Disobedience.”

                “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that term.”

                “When a bunch of people peacefully but purposely break a bad law in order to sue the government later for enforcing the bad law.”

                “I can honestly say that is an American thing.  If you tried that elsewhere, they’d laugh at you at best.  In some places, they just straight up kill you but you’re telling me this is so common in America that they have a name for it?”

                “It was more popular during segregation and Jim Crow laws but every time the government tries to infringe on our rights, we push back.”

                “Is it successful?”

                “Yes, that’s how marijuana became legal.  That’s why we no longer have segregation.  It is quite effective.”

                “This is fascinating to me.  Can you give me an example of this during this crisis?”

                “In Greenville, Mississippi, there was a church service for Easter.  People came in their cars and kept their windows rolled up and listened to the pastor over their car radios.  The police showed up and issued them all fines.”

                “Then what happened.”

                “The Department of Justice, the police for all of America, got involved and told the Mississippi government they can’t do that because they have Freedom of Religion.”

                “Yes, that is a big thing with you Americans.”

                “Yes, it is.  Hence, it was the very first amendment.”

                “Then it still does work.”

                “Oh yea but their argument was solid.  Restaurants nearby had drive ins and people ate in their cars and were allowed to leave the windows open.  How are you going to say that restaurants can have a bunch of cars eating in the parking lot with windows open but people can’t listen to a service with the windows up?”

                “I’m not saying it doesn’t make sense but hypocrisy has never been a problem with government here.”

                “Nor in America but we can fight it more.”

                “I mean, we have protests too but we don’t purposely break laws and expect the law to change.  Do you have any other examples?”

                “Well, remember, people are still scared.  Once things open up again and people are less scared then they’re coming after the government for this.”

                “Okay, so right now, that’s the only one.”

                “No, people are petitioning for the governor of Michigan to resign.  First, she banned a treatment that has been shown to work in several studies, and then she went to grocery stores and stopped people from buying what they wanted.  She forced them only to buy ‘essential items’ so they want her gone now.”

                “Did it work?”

                “Honestly, it probably won’t work.  They did the same thing to the governor of Virginia for a bunch of things but he’s still there.  They just wait it out and people get bored and move on.”

                “Yea, having someone voluntarily give up power is tough.”

                “Especially a politician.”

                “Yea, I think Kentucky is in trouble too because they banned drive in church services.  That’ll probably come back to bite them in the ass.”

                “This isn’t an accusation but I’m truly curious.  Does your constitution protect freedom of speech and religion no matter what?  Christianity I get but some religions sacrifice people.  Are there any limits?”

                “Yes.  I can’t threaten to kill you.  The most common example is screaming ‘fire’ in a crowded room when there isn’t one just so that the room is no longer crowded.  As a rule, in order to deny a Constitutional right, you need two things.  The first is a compelling interest.  In this case, you can spread a deadly virus.  The second one is that it needs to be done via the least restrictive means.  In this case, Mississippi picked the most restrictive.  The least restrictive is like “Hey, don’t all gather inside or asking them to disperse.  When you actually punish them, that’s about as restrictive as it gets.  To be honest, I don’t even think they have an argument for the second part.”

                “Power to the people right.”

                “Yes, see, at first I was worried because this forced shut down reminds me of socialism and the Democrats have been advocating socialism for a while.  Then I realized that there’s another aspect to American society that I normally don’t like but may help us in this case.”

                “What’s that?”

                “We’re a very litigious society.”

                “My English is good but I don’t know that word.”

                “We love suing people!  There’s always someone to blame and some judge will be willing to listen.  Who knows, you just might convince one.  In America, it’s never your fault. It’s always someone else’s fault.  If you trip and fall on the sidewalk, you sue the city, the store the sidewalk is in front of, the guys who poured the cement to make the sidewalk and everyone else you can think of.”

                “We don’t really do that here.”

                “I know but I think it will save us from becoming V for Vendetta if you saw that movie.”

                “I did.  I don’t know though.  This is a global pandemic.  How can you blame people for being worried?”

                “9/11 was a terrorist attack. It wasn’t New York’s fault yet 19 years later, people are still suing saying that their cancer was because they lived near the building and they breathed in the dust.  People will be suing New York for a long time because terrorists decided to fly a plane into a building.  At first, we came together and united as Americans but now that that’s over, they are looking for any reason to sue.  If you were a fireman or one of the people that responded and you ever get cancer during the course of your life, a lawyer will take the case and will take the city to court.”

                “Based on that, you’d think America should be the nicest society.”

                “And yet, we are not.”

                Alessio laughed and Kera exited her meeting.  She was on the phone speaking Mandarin and Fanis gave her a quizzical look as she rarely left a meeting on the phone.  He gave a quick good bye to Alessio and followed her.  She got off the phone and sighed as she gave Fanis a dirty look.  Fanis returned with a puzzled look and asked, “What did I do?”

                “Your boy Trump cut funding to the WHO”

                “Good; that saves us $500 Million dollars.  You know, just 4,000 more just like it and we covered that stupid stimulus bill we signed.”

                “Well, China is pissed.”

                “Of course they are.  The organization that they had cover up the Wuhan Virus and promote their propaganda has just been punched in the mouth.  The WHO did this to themselves when they thought China’s $ 44 Million was worth more than our $ 500 Million.”

                Kera slapped Fanis across the face.  “You don’t understand!  Like it or not, you work for China.  China is my fucking livelihood and you gave up your fucking life to protect me so it’s your livelihood too.  Putting the WHO in a position where they have to choose between China and the US hurts us because we’re Americans working for China.”

                “Make no mistake about it Kera; you work for China; not me.  If that fucking country collapses I wouldn’t care.  I can find other work.  I have two degrees and work experience before I decided to help you.  The WHO gave us no choice when they attacked President Trump’s travel ban and told us for a month that the virus couldn’t be transferred from human to human.  Then, when President Trump criticized us, the motherfucker Tetros or whatever his name is threatened us.  He told us that if we keep calling it the Wuhan Virus when he told us not to, then there will be more body bags.  Trump should have pulled funding the day he fucking said that. This is long overdue.”

                “Well, Trump did say that it was just on hold pending an investigation on if they covered it up.”

                “I hope they never fund them again.  While we’re at it, we should stop funding the UN and have whoever decides these things give New York back the land so we can have nice east river front property.  Anyone that would have a country that just unleashed a pandemic on the world on their human rights council should not be an organization we are a member of.”

                Kera’s body tensed up and let out a guttural roar as she slapped him across the face again.  “I tolerate your shots against China a lot but not right now.  I’m not in the fucking mood.”

                A large Swiss man approached them.  Based on his accent, Fanis could tell he was from the German side of Switzerland whereas Interlocken is closer to the Italian border so is on the opposite side.  Technically, it would be considered the French side.  He barked out, “Hey, leave the nice lady alone!”

                Fanis gave him a confused look, “Dude, she hit me.  I didn’t touch her.”

                “You must have done something to make her hit you.”

                “Yea, I offended her.”

                “Then you deserved it.”

                “No, not really.”

                Kera smiled and her tone softened, “I appreciate it sir but he’s my cousin.  Everything is fine here.  I just have a really bad temper.”

                “No, you don’t have to defend him.  I hate how men like this beat woman into submission and they stand by them and defend them.  No real man hits women.”

                Fanis pointed his finger and made circular motions as he countered, “See, I agree with that but again, she hit me.  If I really was abusive, do you think she would have hit me?  Probably not; she would have been too scared.”

                “Are you threatening her in front of me?”

                “I’m beginning to think you don’t want to talk about this.  You seem like you just want to fight.”

                Kera snapped, “Boys! Calm the fuck down.  Nobody is fighting here.  He would never hit me that’s why I hit him; twice in fact.  He’s actually my bodyguard.  I travel with him specifically to make sure nobody hurts me.  Again, thank you but it’s really not necessary.”

                “Bodyguard?  What are you guys FBI?  Are you like Strzok and Page?”

                Fanis responded, “No, they were fucking each other; we are not.”

                “How are they not in jail yet?  You have their texts.”

                Kera giggled, “How did we get here?  Look, they were tricked by the Russians.  It happens to the best of us.”

                Fanis tilted his head, “That’s bullshit.”

                The Swiss-German queried, “How would you know that?”

                “Like you said, we have the texts.  In September 2015, way before the election, Strzok texted Page that Putin is good at disinformation and they had to be careful not to be suckers.  They were already nervous about it so how would they fall for it later?”

                “Because they’re morons.”

                “Yes, but they were only morons because they were blinded by their hatred for President Trump.”

                “That is a weak argument.”

                “Oh, I got more.  July 28, 2016, Page texts Strzok how she loves the first line of an article as it made her smile.  Strzok responds that he thinks it makes Comey look good.  They even text a link to the article so we know which one they were referring to.”

                “That would be….”

                “’What does the US Government know about Russia and the DNC Hack?” in Lawfare.  As for the line that made Page smile, ‘Potentially unpleasant news for Jim Comey; we may need you to intervene in the 2016 election again.”

                “Wait, so then you’re saying Comey purposely interfered in the election.  It wasn’t an accident?”

                “Yes, sorry, I thought it was clear.  In English we say that it was malfeasance not misfeasance.”

                “What’s the difference?”

                “Well, let’s take this situation.  Misfeasance would be that you saw a woman hit a man and believed the man was about to hurt her.  You don’t want to get involved so you just keep walking and let it happen.  Malfeasance would be that you saw the same thing then walked over and helped the guy beat the shit out of the woman.”

                “The first one you’re not the one that caused the problem you just did nothing to stop it.  The second one, you actively participated in the problem.”

                “Correct”

                “So, you were going to hit her back before I got involved.”

                “Are we still on this?  I thought we covered this.  No, that’s not what happened.  I don’t know what it is you think you saw but you didn’t.”

                “Any more texts you just happened to have memorized.”

                “Several.  August 28, 2016 Strzok texted Page, ‘I’ll send separately to Andy, McCabe, the Deputy Director of the FBI and their boss, I’m sure Bill will be okay.  That’s Bill Priezstep, McCabe’s boss.  We’re dumping Hillary angle and going with an article entitled, ‘A powerful Russian Weapon: The spread of false stories.”

                “Wait, so these texts are saying that they knew what Russia was trying to do.”

                “And they were saying they weren’t going to fall for it.”

                “Did any of these texts have to do with the dossier?”

                “A lot of texts are redacted but there is one from July 18, 2016 that I think does.  There are a whole bunch of them that are redacted fully then at the end, Strzok tells page, ‘Don’t want to miss Melania’s big speech.  And fuck the cheating motherfucking Russians.  Bastards.  I hate them.’ Page simply responds, ‘I’m sorry; Me too.’” 

                “How does that have anything to do with the dossier?”

                “July 18 is the day before a memo is written in the dossier.  Remember, the dossier is just a collection of memos.  On July 19^th, a memo is launched in the dossier called memo #94.  This would be the first time that Carter Page is mentioned and it’s about the alleged bribe between Carter Page and Roseneft.  That’s probably what the redactions were about.  They were discussing that.  Problem is those shares that Rosneft, Russia’s largest energy company, offered Carter Page were worth several million dollars.  I actually don’t remember; it might actually have been over a billion.”

                “You remember all these dates but not the amount of the bribe.”

                “Well, I know that the allegation was full of shit so there’s no point to remember the details of a complete lie!  Speaking of lying; what makes these redactions even more interesting is that this conversation was in July but the FBI has always claimed that they didn’t get the dossier until September 2016.  If they were discussing the content of memo #94 then how did they know?  Were they talking to Steele and finding out from him and telling him what to write in the memo?”

                “You really are interested in these texts.”

                “The morons unraveled and revealed the entire hoax to each other.  They were dumb enough to put it in writing on FBI phones knowing the FBI had access.   Hell, they were the FBI.  They thought that Hillary would win and all of it would be covered up so they were sloppy.  Now that she didn’t, we know everything.  The thing that upsets me is Barr hasn’t declassified everything.  He should.  It’s time.”

                “Well we all know that Trump didn’t collude with the Russians so is there anything in the texts that isn’t widely known?”

                “Like I said, a lot of it is redacted but of the unredacted parts, there’s one on May 9, 2016.  The date is weird because it’s the day before they opened investigations on Carter Page, George Papadopoulos and Paul Manafort but they are texting each other about a Romanian named Guccifer. Both of them are talking about how much they hate Romanians and how sleazy they are.  They compare them to the crookedness of a Russian and the entitlement of an Italian.  I don’t know how Romania has anything to do with this.  I’ve heard Australia, and England played a big part.  Russia actually didn’t play as big a part as the Democrats will have you believe but Romania?  How do they fit in?”

                “Romanians are feisty people let me tell you.”

                “Have you heard anything?”

                “No, this is new to me too.”

                “Yea, I never got an answer for that.”

                The Swiss-German turned to Kera, “Miss, I have been distracting him so you could get away.  Why are you still here?”

                Both of them rolled their eyes.  Fanis exclaimed, “Jesus Christ, you’re still on this.  What is wrong with you?”

                The Swiss-German shoved Fanis and Fanis instinctively chopped his hands away and drove a palm into his chest.  The Swiss-German backed up taking heavy breaths trying to get the wind back that was just knocked out of him.  Fanis exclaimed, “I always said that if a Swiss ever hit someone then I’d join in because they must have done something shitty but man, I guess there are exceptions to every rule.”  Fanis put his hands up, “I don’t want to fight you.”

                “Too bad” he snapped as he charged at Fanis tackling him to the ground. 

                Fanis rolled with the blow and positioned his right leg against the Swiss-German’s thigh and lifted his leg up causing the Swiss-German to flip over his head and land on his back.  Kera stood in the middle and screamed, “Stop it!” he turned to the Swiss-German, “I’m fine.  Listen to me.  He has never and would never hit me.”

                “What happens if you don’t say that?”

                “Nothing!”

                The Swiss-German darted forward and spun avoiding Kera and going right around her.  He wound his fist and put his full body behind a punch.  The Swiss-German was 6’4” on a broad muscular frame compared to Fanis who also had a broad frame but was only 6’0.”  Fanis lifted his hands making a fist with his right hand by his chin and his left hand on the back of his head.  The Swiss-German right arm collided with Fanis’ elbow stopping the momentum and the fist never collided with Fanis’ body.  Fanis twisted his wrist to grab a hold of the Swiss-German’s sleeve at his bicep and twisted his arm to cause him to be off balance.  Fanis yanked him to his left putting his left foot at the Swiss-German’s knee tripping him but continuing his grip on the arm.  Fanis then unleashed punches to the Swiss-German’s face in rapid succession.  He tried to coordinate his blows with each syllable of, ‘I do not hit women’ but his rhythm was off.  The Swiss-German managed to shove Fanis off him with his left arm but his face was now a crimson mask.  Fanis let the man get up and when he did he walked over him and shot his right hand to the Swiss-German’s neck gripping his carotoid arteries and squeezing.  Fanis then dragged the struggling Swiss-German as he gurgled as his brain was screaming at him that he needed blood and caused his body to go into a panic.  Fanis brought him to the edge of a lake and tossed him in.  Immediately geese started pecking at the Swiss-German and he waved his arms trying to make them go away but Swiss geese were fearless. 

                Fanis shook his head and walked away with Kera.  Kera interlocked her arm in his and turned and smiled at the Swiss-German and skipped to Fanis’ pace.  Fanis turned to her and chuckled, “What the hell was that?”

                “Seems like someone wants your job as my bodyguard.”

                “I guess so.”

                “It was kind of sweet though don’t you think?”

                “No, I don’t”

                “I don’t know I like the idea that a perfect stranger was willing to defend me.”

                “You do know that after he did, he probably would want to fuck you right?”

                “Well, if he really saved me from an abusive guy or stopped me from getting my ass kicked, raped or mugged, then I think I’d owe it to him don’t you think?”

                “I never got that logic.  Someone stops a man from raping a woman so the woman, who wasn’t planning on having sex with the protector previously, now has to fuck him out of some sense of obligation?  Either way you fuck someone that you weren’t attracted to.”

                “How do you not see the difference?  In the first instance, I have no control.  He would be able to do anything he wanted to me and I’m helpless.  In the second, I’m in control.  I can tell him to stop and have reasonable confidence he will.  Besides, I would be turned on if a man saved me from being raped.”

                “You weren’t turned on by that guy.”

                “He didn’t save me from anyone or anything.”

                “He thought he did.”

                “That doesn’t count.”

                “I guess not.”

                “Anyway, I found out where we can get food.  After we eat, do you want to see if I can figure out how to let you jump out of a helicopter?”

                “No, that’s okay I wasn’t really interested.  I just want to know I had the option rather than the government telling me I can’t”

                “Gottcha.”

                They spent the rest of the day walking and taking in the scenic landscape of the mountains, valleys and lakes.  Afterward, they returned to the hotel and talked until going to bed.  The next day, they were back on the plane heading to London.  Kera queried, “Do you think the US will be able to vote in person by November?”

                “Not if the Democrats can help it.”

                “Why would they want to stop in-person voting?”

                “It’s easier to rig an election with mail in votes.  The potential for fraud is enormous.”

                “That’s just fear mongering.”

                “No, there are many cases.   Voter rolls are very rarely updated for when people move or are deceased.  The only way they confirm a mail in vote is comparing signatures and I highly doubt they are either highly qualified to do so or take the time to do every single one.”

                “Also, it’s easy to forge a signature if you know the person.”

                “Exactly.”

                “The Republicans can cheat too.”

                “Traditionally, Republicans don’t cheat nearly as much as Democrats.  In LA, a bunch of Democrats went to the homeless people and offered them a dollar or cigarettes to fill out a mail-in ballot.  They also promised them that they would reduce their jail time and forged signatures so they could vote from jail.”

                “Yea, but they got caught.”

                “Who cares?  They did it.”

                “In-person voting doesn’t go completely flawlessly either.”

                “Traditionally, it’s twice as safe as mail-in voting.”

                “This virus is going to come back though.”

                “Hopefully we learned from our mistake and we don’t shut down in November.”

                “I don’t think it was a mistake to shut down”

                “I do.”

                “I guess we’ll just see in November.”

                “Yea, it sucks.  Never before have Americans bent over and taken it up the ass from the government like they are now.  They are sacrificing their liberty for the illusion of security.  The founders were very clear that if you sacrifice liberty for security, you’ll have neither.”

                “I think Benjamin Franklin said that and he wasn’t a founder.”

                “Still made it on our money.”

                “The highest bill no less.  Well, it doesn’t really affect us.  We’re in London so we have to vote by mail.”

                “Yes, it should still be an option but this sending a ballot to all voters is a bad idea.  It should be the way it is now; you have to ask for one.”

                “I’m okay with that.”

                “Alrighty then.”

                They land in England and go through a decontamination tent.  Afterwards, they go back to the flat to decompress.  As they sit on the couch watching TV, they wonder what the world will be like once everything opens up again.  Fanis is hoping it happens sooner rather than later.  Kera, is still unsure when she wants it to happen.