Some comments and more story

So, since last night we have a couple of stories that reiterate the point I just do not understand why rational normal Americans are letting themselves be pushed around by our government.

The first is the latest and that is the protections now in place to prevent people from filing class action lawsuits against large institutions in certain circumstances. How on God’s Green Earth are we supposed to be able to protect ourselves if our government won’t?  The Senate passed it 51-50 and Trump says he will sign it. Of course, he will.  He is currently at a multi thousand dollar a plate fund raiser. Who are the people who can afford these fund raisers? Yep his good ole friends the billionaires etc. So why do people believe he has any possible motive for helping the majority of Americans, the working and middle class.

 The examples of how large of a disaster this can be are Wells Fargo and Equifax, yet this is just the tip of the iceberg in what can happen. And now who holds them accountable to the customers if they screw up in largess? No one now.

What would motivate people to actual action? Our values, our freedoms, our pocketbooks do not seem to mean much it seems. Historically pocket book issues would drive some action, however, recently not even that seems to spur a response. If it did, we wouldn’t have this convoluted tax reform that will do nothing for us. Again, the one percenters are at a fund-raising dinner for Trump. And they are all slapping themselves on the back, telling each other what a great job everyone is doing. Sure thing, more for them less for us. How can any average American person support one iota of the legislation being passed or discussed under this administration? I am for capitalism, yet capitalism that benefits the whole of the economy and country, not this anti capitalistic greed that permeates through Wall Street and the one percenters. Capitalism is not the hoarding of wealth, it is a way to move goods through the market and allows people to prosper….. and note the word people. Not too many people have the opportunity they did just a generation or two ago. And that opportunity is shrinking every year.  

And as always, I can go on, but all it does is tick me off, so enough for now (this is an ongoing disaster I can comment on any day) back to the story.

Paul’s Superior, normally a calm controlled person, very manipulative, yet calm was about to blow three caskets. There were enough problems trying to find out about Congressman’s Greg shooting, why he was shot, who was there, (one of his three caskets) and now the President had called him this morning. He was just there yesterday.

The President was always a loose cannon, but he was their loose cannon. Now though he was pissed and honestly so. He didn’t need problems. He did better when Paul’s superiors could hand him news he could share with the public that made him look good, really good. Today though he was handed bad news and he would look horrible. The Saudis were threatening him with worldwide oil shutdown if he didn’t send them troops immediately. They wanted a very visible reassurance that the United States would back Saudi Arabia against Iran. And with all the intel they were receiving about American overtures towards Iran. Yes, even just a little spy drama playing out was enough for them to put the squeeze on the President.

Paul’s superiors knew they could keep America in oil, prices would go up some. In the long run, this might benefit the American oil industry because fracking could be expanded significantly and more fields brought back on line and with the raised prices, solid profits would be wonderful. So, first glance this seemed like a threat the US could wait out. Yet Paul’s superior felt there was something missing. Maybe there was too much out of his hands right now and he was not accustomed to it. Or maybe he needed time to think and plan to put his world back in order. Either way, having the US send more troops to the region on some pretext wouldn’t cause too much concern. Unfortunately, he knew better and being out of sorts caused him to make the mistake and agree that the President should immediately reassure Saudi Arabia and send some troops. First, he did not know the scope of support they wanted and forgot to ask. Second Iran was already on alert due to the American spy connection rumbling about in the country and the controlling interests in the government not knowing the extent of it. Third, he did not know the intents of the Russian spy, Persian nationalist who had been near the Congressman when shot, only that he was trying to have him shot before he could contact Greg. Or at least that was the fear that the Spy was trying to contact Greg, they just were not sure why at the time.

Paul’s superiors had recognized the low-level spy following Greg around. Their Greg had been keeping tabs on the Congressman through his wife. He had planted surveillance equipment on their cars, in their house, and in Greg’s office. Paul’s superior did not like mavericks like Congressman Greg so he kept track of him. Since the spy was Russian and based on his contacts within the CIA, not a hot priority, Paul’s superior thought it would be a good idea for him to disappear if he got too close to the Congressman. The spy tried so he had ordered Paul’s group to remove him and lose the body. The Congressman being shot by someone and his own people weren’t sure what happened and thinking they did it, was the first mistake in now a long line of events that Paul’s superiors were none too happy about.

And Paul’s superiors also hadn’t planned on how fast the President would act. He always wanted to be the hero, so the President cooked up his own pretext for sending troops to Saudi Arabia and went on national TV that night to let the country know he was acting strong against threats against US allies such as Saudi Arabia. The Saud’s knew if they could manipulate the President quickly they could make a real showing with the US. So, they convinced the President Iran was preparing to shut down the gulf, cut off oil to the West on their own, or they would cut it off to “protect” their interests.

Paul’s superior watch in horror as the President came on TV that night and announced the US would be helping their allies in the Gulf against the very dangerous Iranian threat of shutting down the gulf so Iran could prepare for war against Saudi Arabia. He was not the only person watching in horror as both the leadership of Iran and Russia separately watched the same address. The phone call to the Kremlin from Iran happened about two seconds after the President went off the air.

The President told the Nation he was sending two aircraft carrier strike groups, one full army Corp with specialized brigades trained for the Iraq war so they would be prepared for the similar environment in Iran, which was another problem the President didn’t realize Iran and Iraq were not that similar, since this was done in a hurry there wasn’t much time for the military brass to explain to the President what would be efficient and practical. He ordered it, and this is exactly what the Pentagon contacts for Paul’s superiors were told when they started calling during the President’s speech. They asked separate contacts how could they allow the President to order such a force on a whim. The answer for good or bad, he is the President.

And Greg had been calling Sandra regularly trying to get some feel of the condition of the Congressman. He had no other task right now. He had not talked to his people in a few days and had no idea their current stress. He was following his last orders and since he was not getting an answer he became more and more belligerent with Sandra. She was distraught and now was not answering his calls. The messages he left her scared her, but not in the way he wanted them.

The Congressman was slowly coming around. He was still unconscious, yet there were responsive movements on his part when he was examined. His brain was not affected by the shooting so if the loss of blood did not cause an oxygen loss to the brain he should be fine if he did survive. All the major injuries were to internal organs and they were repaired. All anyone could do now was wait. Little did the Congressman know many people wanted to speak to him about what he knew. The doctor and sheriff still had a lid on people seeing Greg or the family. A small contingent of press was still in town, yet the news the President delivered had most of the nation’s press focused on Washington.