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Guns and Mental Health

Is mental health a determining factor in shootings? Of course. But how are we going to go about addressing it?

We can’t force anyone to seek the benefits from mental health treatment. No, you have to persuade, you have to entice, you have to educate about the great healing possibilities that it offers.

Let us imagine an advertisement attempting to reach a possible shooter. “Dear sir, if you have a lot of guns and are piling up on ammunition and knives, you may be very angry about something that went wrong in your life. There is no point in giving your pain to others that have nothing to do with your own. Why hurt them? Why hurt the innocent? They have their pain to deal with, like every human being has. So please come to your neighborhood mental health center and ask to speak to a therapist. We will do what we can to help you find peace in your heart and not ruin your life. Please come see us.”

Will the person seeing or hearing such advertisement pick up the phone right away and make an appointment or go straight to the address listed?

No.

The person will take their time thinking about it, if he does at all, or will likely say, “It’s probably a ruse, a trick to take away my guns. Anyway, I can’t imagine anyone being able to help me with all this misery that I’ve been going through all of my life.”

But mental health treatment can help the person heal if they show up. If he shows up and stays in his seat, stays in the room and interacts with the person sitting across. And it will take time. Time. Which is what we don’t have.

To get us the precious time we need to reach these troubled souls we must put limits on gun purchases.

To get us the time we need to treat our fellow Americans seething with murderous rage we need restrictions on access to guns.

We need limits and restrictions on gun purchases until we find ways to educate our citizenry, ways to instill in them that no one should give their pain to others, that each person has to learn to process their own distress, and until we do so, having free access to guns is a prescription for endless suffering.

Yes, mental health is an issue. But are you willing to consent to every prospective gun owner getting a mental health screening?

I don’t think so.

So we need time. 

To all gun lovers in the land, please give us that precious time, and you will be acting responsibly to prevent the cowardly slaughter of our fellow citizens.

The White House is Empty.

After a short truce declared at the end of June, Trump decided to further raise tariffs in his ill-conceived plan to beat China regardless of the softening of the world economy. Last week the Federal Reserve Bank cut the interest rate in an effort to limit the damage the tariffs have been inflicting on our own economy. Then this last weekend we were struck by two back to back mass shootings, first in El Paso, Texas and then in Dayton, Ohio.

A deep malaise has seized the nation and yet, at this critical moment, we are, in effect, leaderless. There is no one in charge at the White House, no one with vision or moral courage.

The trade war with China was a bad idea from the start. There are plenty of other ways to address our differences but not at the expense of imperiling our economies. Furthermore, we will not beat China in a trade war, and we will not because they will endure more suffering than us.

But listen to one of the president’s advisers talk on the radio and one sees a common denominator: the effort to demonize. The adviser, Peter Navarro, spoke the other day as if the one objective driving China’s existence was to subjugate Americans, to get us down on our knees and beg for mercy. There was rage in the man’s voice as he spoke of Chinese soldiers devoted to hacking our systems, and of China’s massive shipments of the drug fentanyl to poison our hearts and minds. China, the devil incarnate. As if we were known for being helpless.

Not willing to back off, over the weekend China fought back against Trump’s raise in tariffs by devaluing their currency which will make their exports cheaper.

The financial markets, in turn, sensing the deep malaise, the uncertainty, the lack of perspective in the White House, the void of leadership, have responded with a sharp drop in the Dow.  

We will not win a trade war with China but a short sighted president with profound personal flaws keeps beating that drum in a vain attempt to deflect personal scrutiny. And as he does so he continues to undermine what had been an economy with steady growth.

This is the same man who rose to his position by way of inciting hate, demonizing immigrants and Muslims, and who has thus empowered those blinded by their hate.

Our president, himself filled with hate and unable or unwilling to defuse it, has by his example, given license to others who have weaker defenses against their unexamined impulses.

And so, no matter how many proclamations and tweets and executive orders come from the White House, if one takes a moment to sift through it all, it is clear that the Oval Office has been empty. There is no one there. Sure, someone goes in and out, sits at the desk and walks around, meets with foreign leaders and makes lots of noises, but there’s no one there with the brain needed to lead us. And because of it we are drifting dangerously, without a moral and intellectual compass to lead us into the future.

Where is the Rage?

In our darkest hour

Where is the rage?

In our darkest hour

Where is the rage in those

With the power to restrict access to guns,

Where is the rage?

Are they waiting for a brother to be struck,

For a daughter to be killed

For a son to be hit?

Where is the rage?

Are they waiting for the NRA to give them permission

To raise their voices?

Where is the rage?

Are they waiting for the gun lobby to scream

Because it was their dearest kin

That was cowardly shot?

Are they waiting for the donors to their campaigns

To be the victims?

Where is the rage?

If in the darkest of hours

You have not found it,

Then you’re not fit to lead,

If you have the power to help restrict access

To the guns killing our daughters and sons,

Our sisters and brothers,

Our mothers and fathers,

If you have that power and you shield it

From the rage that fills the hearts of the nation,

Then you’re not worthy of calling yourself a leader

And you should resign,

You should step aside

To make room for those whose hearts beat

With the rest of the nation’s hearts.

If you are not burning with rage

At the senseless murdering and wounding

Of our fellow Americans,

Then please step aside,

Please let others who have not lost their courage

Step front and do what must be done

To stop the bleeding in our land.

In our darkest hour,

If your heart is not filled with rage,

Then it is not in you to lead,

If your heart is not filled with rage

Then move out of the way

So that others who have the courage

Can do what must be done.

On China

If we had been in China’s shoes, and it had been us having to offer the cheap labor, land and tax concessions to lure a better developed nation to come in with their expertise and set up factories and the like, we would have done exactly what China has done. We would have learned all there was to learn so we could copy what the more advanced nation was doing and then improve on it. And we would have stolen ideas and pressured them so as to gain an advantage as soon as possible.

Forty years of fast development and China is now a power to contend with. More than that, they are challenging us for world dominance.

Xi Jinping had the daring to announce the 2025 project for his nation to be tops in technology and robotics.

Something wrong with that?

China can’t dare to be tops if they’re not willing to invent and surpass us doing so.

Is there something wrong with wanting to be the best you can be?

China does not have the freedoms we have but they’re choosing to forgo them in the interest of economic and military advancement. At some point they will have to reckon with that but for now they’re pushing ahead.

In response, some sections of our country have chosen to panic. ‘We can’t let them do that, no, put tariffs on them, hold them back!’

Does that sound American to you?

It does not.

It seems to me that, aside from their lack of freedoms, in terms of their sheer ambition and willingness to work for it, China has become more American than us.

And rather than see their rise as a challenge and focusing on better developing and revamping our society, we’re choosing to bellyache. Put another way, some sections of our country are filled with envy of China.

Instead of rushing to our fellow Americans who were left behind by the initial phase of globalization and say to them, ‘here we are with all the training and support needed so we can transform you into world class workers,’ we instead have decided to complain that the Chinese want too much, that they need to stay ‘in their place,’ and tariffs is just one way to keep them in check.

But that strategy is cheap and, additionally, it won’t work. Forever and ever we’ve been the champions of free trade, now the envy of China makes us give up on what we have valued dearly.

Afraid to compete? Yes.

We have freedoms that they don’t have, but we’re not using them to answer their challenge.

We have been a magnet for talent from all over the world but now are paying attention to the chant of ‘send them back’ and believing it.

Immigrants have been an engine of progress but we are paying attention to voices that say ‘why can’t our immigrants look more like Norwegians?’

We have been a cradle for relentless innovation but now, some sections, are choosing to run scared.

Enough of it!

Our openness to the world has always been a treasure. Our willingness to be creative a source of immense pride.

China’s challenge should be welcome, not scorned. We can meet the challenge. But it will take for the bold and imaginative amongst us to step front, and for the resentful and short sighted to step aside.

Dear Elizabeth, (3), 2020 is the Year of the American Woman.

For a brief moment I had considered that Trump would make an effort to veer to the center by toning down his divisive rhetoric and appeal to voters outside his ‘base,’ since it alone is unlikely to win him the reelection. Now I think differently.

Trump does not seem able to help himself and will play the racist card as he sees fit. But it will only hasten his undoing.

During his two and a half years in office, he has already incited enough hatred for the country to take the measure of the man. Could voters be so gullible as to take the bait again? They just might.

So let us ask ourselves this question, between a man and a woman, who’s more likely to be duped by Trump?

I think a man.

During his tenure, Trump has been offensive to both men and women, but more so toward women. Thus, I believe women who voted for him in 2016 are unlikely to vote for him again.

With strong women candidates vying for the presidency – accomplished women without the political baggage that accompanied Hillary – women voters will have before them a range of choices they have never had before.  

2020 will then be the Year of the American Woman. And it could well become a campaign slogan of yours.

American women must be pursued vigorously, and reminded of how they can, through the power of the vote, have a say in altering the direction of our social and economic policies and thus the fate of the nation.

Either we continue on an isolationist path that seeks to divide and weaken the country, or we embrace a future where women will rise to positions of leadership in all walks of life.

A woman president will immediately, from day one, affect the composition of the cabinet. Immediately, from day one, a woman president will greatly influence the number of female appointees to hundreds of critical posts. And the nation will breathe easier, knowing that with a better male/female balance in the conduct of our affairs, both foreign and national, America stands a much better chance of steering an enlightened course, one that is in our best interest while at the same time remaining respectful of other countries’ concerns.

To remain a nation of the first order, actions like the current trade war are of no benefit. What will make a difference in the long run, will be to foster the creative potential of every American, man or woman, while keeping our minds and hearts open to the world.

Best

Oscar Valdes   oscarvaldes.net

Author of Brother Donald: Letters, and Helsinki.

Dear Elizabeth (2)

I read your proposals on immigration. They are balanced and filled with a sense of compassion. Thank you. The idea of creating an office for New Americans is a fine example of a future oriented imagination that seeks to inspire. Let that be the hallmark of your campaign. Thank you again.

The task now is to sell the proposals. I mean sell them to those who do not yet grasp the value of immigrants. I mean sell the proposals to Trump’s supporters.

I do not think that Trump’s ‘base’ should be conceded. Far from it. It should be actively courted because they are Americans left behind. They are Americans who, having been ignored by previous administrations, both Democratic and Republican, fell prey to the manipulations of the current president who, based on his actions, i.e. tax cuts that benefit the wealthy, seeks not to empower them. That task of empowerment will fall to someone who, like you, has a strong record of working to uplift our citizenry.

The ‘base’ was once sadly referred to by Hillary Clinton as comprised of ‘deplorables,’ a mistake that contributed to her losing her bid to be president. I have no doubt that, had a writer of yours inserted that word in the text of a speech, you would have immediately deemed it inappropriate and not vocalized it.  

The advantage of courting Trump’s base is that, in doing so, you would be actively engaged in the quest of attempting to unite the nation. Trump has shown no inclination to do so. He could but he doesn’t seem to grasp the essence of the concept. Part of the reason is that he is not an integrated man. He is intelligent and competitive, hard driving too, but his efforts appear guided by the desire to boost an ego thirsty for attention.

You, on the other hand, convey a sense of being a mature and well grounded person, someone not bedeviled by Trump’s affliction. Because of it, you can aspire to unite the nation. Which means reaching out to Trump’s ‘base’.

I do not think that the ‘base’ really sees the building of a wall on our southern border as a real solution to their problems.

The ‘base’ needs to gradually be guided to understand that their real freedom lies not in barring immigrants (though setting immigration limits is essential) but that it will come from their personal development; their real freedom will come from their efforts to nurture their productive capacities so they can feel they’re on a path to integrating with the rest of the nation and the world at large. Previous administration, both Democratic and Republican failed to assist them. Your administration will not make that mistake. You will engage the ‘base” and challenge them to be their best, offering the necessary means for them to realize their potential.

Men and women who are actively attempting to exercise their potential are not likely to fall prey to the fallacy of racism or white supremacy.

Reaching out to Trump’s ‘base’ with the firm promise of generous assistance for their personal and economic development stands the chance to not only engage them, but to signal to the rest of the nation that you are in the office of president to be an agent of change for the nation as a whole, and that you carry in you the spirit and creativity of a statesman like Franklin D Roosevelt.

Maybe there is a place for an office for Americans left behind by Globalization (as a counterpart to the office for New Americans) and for it to be the fountain of the effort to bring them on board.

There is a dynamic view of human beings that should be at the bottom of your programs and creative solutions. We human beings are always in transition. We are always desirous of improving ourselves. Sometimes we give up but the longings are always there. All of us, without exception, are eager to be better than we have been and, at bottom, want others to recognize us.

Essential to who we are is the need to connect to our fellow human beings, no matter what their color or origin. Racist beliefs are held by those who have temporarily given up on that fundamental quest.

Essential to who we are is the yearning to be validated by our brothers and sisters for there is nothing more satisfying.

Elizabeth, life has assigned you a gigantic task. But in its infinite wisdom, life has also chosen someone who is tremendously capable. So fear not that you lack the imagination, the daring and the compassion for the job. It’s all in you.

I see it. Others do too.

Best

Oscar Valdes

Oscarvaldes.net

Author of Brother Donald:Letters.

On Iran. A Little Thought, Anyone?

                                                                                                        

When Trump decided to pull out of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran his objective was to boost his macho image on the world stage. The agreement, flawed as it was, had kept us in diplomacy. Trump’s choice to break away from the pact shut us out of it. I suppose he’s keeping some people happy with his decision but our nation as a whole is the loser.

It is so easy to lose perspective on the subject. Sure, Iran is funding Hamas and Hezbollah and is a foe to allies in the region, but are any of those allies not dictatorial, except for Israel? No. Realpolitik? Okay, but not to boost the flawed ego of a failing president.

It is so convenient to forget how we’ve treated Iran. In 1953 we joined with Britain to overthrow a regime that wanted to nationalize their oil production. We felt we had the right to bully another nation into submission.

We installed the Shah which was no great gift to anyone other than he was willing to do our bidding. Finally, the Iranians had had enough and revolted. But soon after we were backing Iraq’s Saddam Hussein in a long bloody war against Iran that cost hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides. No qualms of conscience. The war was far away from our soil.

As things went, it would not be long before Saddam turned against us, and so back in we went with guns blazing to attempt to mold another regime to our liking. Never mind the lack of evidence for Weapons of Mass Destruction.

After all that blood and treasure spent, can we say we have liberated Iraq? No. They will be very happy to see us leave and one day soon we will have to. Our legacy? Iraq has grown more sympathetic to Iran.

It is not difficult to see how a more thoughtful policy from the start could have delivered very different results and the Middle East would likely be a different story today. Where were the thinkers then? Where are they now?

Make America Great Again? Really. I see no trace of greatness in our record with Iran or Iraq.

But let us not lose hope.

The other day I saw that some people had come up with a line of clothing that said ‘Make America Think Again’. It might be the start of something.

Dear Elizabeth

The fight is heating up. As you go through it you will be tested again and again, and again and again you will overcome. It’s in you. And you will be the next president of our nation.

You are being entrusted not only with restoring sanity to our affairs foreign and national, but with the grander task, long overdue, of lifting American women to positions of leadership.

The nation will be richer, when we let women in as full partners, for she has been neglected and undervalued throughout the course of our history.

We have paid dearly for such sad neglect. Had there been the balance that women bring to policy making and executive decisions, there may not have been the debacle of Vietnam, the bloody mistake of Iraq. Had there been the balance that women bring to policy making and executive decisions, there may not have been the institutionalized racism that plagues us, or the economic inequality that haunts us.

We often hear the question, is America ready for a woman president? It has always been ready. What has blocked women’s ascent is masculine insecurity, the obsession that men have with domination, the obsession with control over others to be able to feel at peace with ourselves.

But the peace earned in such way is transitory. Personal peace that lasts comes from a sense that everyone has value, and from the knowledge that at any given time in a person’s development, each human being is endeavoring to express such value, thus the importance of education and of social supports, to facilitate such expression.

Elizabeth,

The field is crowded, but already we can see the differences. The lack of focus. The vain quest for attention.

Meanwhile, do stay centered. You have a clear advantage over everybody in the field. I see it. Others see it.

As to the debates with Mr Trump you will have nothing to fear. He does not have the depth that you do (he could reach for it but he chooses not to). He knows that, which is why he will do all he can to degrade the nature of an exchange with you for that is his only course. Let him do the jokes. Let him have the laughs. We have seen plenty of those under his tenure while the nation backslides.

What the county wants to see is the leader in you. But rest easy. In contrast to our president, you do not have to reach for it or invent it. You do not have to make it up. It is in you. It is you.

You do not have to have all the answers. Some of your approaches may not be accurate. But if you have the courage to listen to contrary views and weigh them, you will chart balanced courses of action. Your choices may have to change, for circumstances will shift, but if your rationale has been sound, the chances of success will be good.

Till next time.

Oscar valdes   oscarvaldes.net

Iran and the Shooting Down of a US Drone

Escalation, yes. A country with its back against the wall from the US imposed sanctions, could do a lot worse than shooting down a drone whose position in flight may or may not have been in Iranian airspace. And Trump could easily have retaliated with a strike against their military installations but did not.

Surely the hawks in his inner circle, Pompeo and Bolton, would very much have liked that choice. But the president, looking ahead to his political survival, made the decision that best suited his agenda: winning his reelection.

Trump weighed the pros and cons. An attack on Iranian installations, even if no lives were lost, an unlikely event, would have led to another Iranian response, and a chain reaction easily set in motion.

Does Trump want a protracted war on his hands as he tries to rally support for his reelection?

No.

Additionally, on June 18-19 when the G-20 meeting takes place in Osaka, Japan, all eyes will be on Trump and Xi Jinping regarding a possible resolution to the ongoing trade war between the two countries.

A war in the background likely weakens Trump’s position, so he chose to be sensible and hold his hand.

Apparently cyber attacks were ordered and further economic sanctions imposed as a result of the drone attack, but no lives will be lost.

Iran has been funding terrorist actions in the region and that has been going on for years. Empowering the people who are targeted by those actions will be the best way to counter them.

And so, too, inside Iran itself, for eventually it will be up to Iranians to confront their leaders and demand a regime change.

Current events show us that this is possible and likely more fundamental in its effects than the intervention of a foreign power in a nation’s affairs.

Today, in Turkey, the city of Istanbul got a new mayor who is a member of the opposition to Erdogan’s ruling party and was bitterly resisted by him. It is a great moment for Turkish democracy.

Last weekend, the people of Hong Kong came out in great numbers to oppose a rule that would have allowed the extradition of a resident of the city to the mainland. The rule was clearly a move to undermine Hong Kong’s democratic institutions. And the people responded with an enormous display of courage. What an inspiration for the rest of China and for the world.

The Strait of Hormuz. The Bombed Tankers and the World’s Supreme Power Broker.

Now and then power politics needs a crisis. It helps the ‘leaders’ better play to their respective constituencies. And so the tankers that cross the Strait of Hormuz, with the price of oil low and the pressure on Iran high, offer a wonderful opportunity. So why not rattle the world’s nerves and remind them of all their distinguished heads of state do for them?

On June 13th two tankers were bombed, and we were shown videos of people in a boat, likely Iranian, casually taking down limpet mines (so we are told) from the side of a tanker, and then leisurely sailing off. Were the mines the culprits? Japanese sources, who own one of the ships, say their vessel was hit from the air.

American officials were quick to talk about how there would be hell to pay, and troops have been mobilized, with Trump saying he didn’t want war but, well, the US can only take so much.

Iran is denying any involvement. The European Union has warned to go slow, ‘don’t forget the rush to war with Iraq in 2003 and the price paid’.

Meanwhile, ‘exhaustive’ investigations continue with the promise to get to the bottom of it.

Lots of news coverage and people running around. As if we didn’t have better things to do. Like feeding the hungry of the world, educating them, inspiring them to better themselves, so they can learn to think and not let others deceive them.

But power is too seductive to pause for such paltry considerations.

The next day, June 14th, Rouhani, Iran’s president, met with Putin and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Both dictators vowed to continue their support of Iran and the 2015 nuclear deal that the US has pulled out from and to stand by Iran in the tanker dispute.

But who started it?

Iran could well have said, ‘We’re suffering with the American sanctions and the oil prices being low. Let’s get a band of men to hit the tankers, oil prices will go up, then we go to Putin and ask for his help. He saved Assad in Syria from extinction and surely the great man will do us a good turn, too.’

Netanyahu, in Israel, who’s also good friends with Putin (he plays both cards) and in need of help too, could well have said, ‘I need to get reelected in September and Trump is on my side, so why not get some folks to go in and plant some explosives, then blame it on Iran. A lot of threats will get made and surely my numbers will go up. We know Iran is not crazy, not yet anyway, so they won’t escalate.’

Then there’s Trump who, in need of boosting his own numbers, and given that he has accomplished little during his term and is under the constant threat of impeachment and, on top of that, has a phalanx of democratic contenders uniformly decrying his performance, could well have said, ‘why not go along with Netanyahu and bang the war drums? Brinkmanship. Talk tough, push people to the edge, then let up for a while and crank it up again. Why, the press loves my tweets. Anyway, the Iranians wouldn’t dare start a fight with me, unless they want to commit suicide and I don’t think they do, which gives me the advantage.’

And he sits back and reflects. ‘Ah, the perks of power. To be able to manipulate public opinion. All the resources at my disposal… the CIA, the military, Fox News… how can I lose?’

Just days before, Trump had announced, braggingly, that he did not mind getting dirt on his American political opponents from another nation. Having got flak for it, he quickly reversed himself saying he would let the FBI know instead but, would you believe him?

Upon learning of Trump’s statements, I could see Putin smiling and thinking to himself, ‘Ah, I knew he would give me the green light to help in the next elections, not that I needed his approval.’

And so, Donald Trump, the 45th American president, will go down in history as the one who, by his actions and inactions, elevated Russia’s dictator to the position of World Power Broker.

In the face of overwhelming evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 elections, Trump could not bring himself to be honest with all Americans and say to us, ‘There was interference and given my slim margin of victory (he lost the popular vote), it is quite possible that Russia’s actions got me the presidency. But now I am in and I vow to be president to all Americans and defend our interests’. But he could not do it. Sadly, it is not in the man.

Iran’s Rouhani and Khamenei, knowing this, and aware of the dire consequences of an escalation of the tanker incident, would have had planned, all along, to turn to Putin for help, knowing that the world’s greatest power broker would be ready to do his best.

Let us listen in on the possible conversation between Trump and Putin.

Sitting in the Oval Office, feeling pretty smug and relaxed, the 45th president is suddenly interrupted by a staffer. ‘Mr President!’ the person exclaims anxiously as he steps in.

‘Yes?’

‘Mr Putin is on the line, should I transfer the call?’

‘Sure,’ says Trump.

The staffer exits and a moment later the phone rings on Trump’s desk.

He picks up.

‘Donald!,’ says Putin.

‘Vladi!’ replies Trump.

‘How’s your golf game?’

‘Better by the day,’ replies the 45th president.

‘Good to hear that. Listen, Iran is worried that you’re serious about war.’

‘Well… I am and I’m not… it all depends on the evidence… then there’s the polls… my base…’

‘Of course,’ says Putin. ‘But here’s my point… you don’t have to worry about getting reelected.’

‘I don’t?’

‘Of course not.’

‘How come?’

‘I have dirt on the democratic candidates. Real dirt. You’d be surprised.’

‘On whom?’

‘The leading ones… so don’t worry… I’ve got you covered. All you have to do is keep the contest close… and you’ll get in.’

Our president mulls this over.

‘Warren too?’

‘Of course.’

‘I think she’s going to get the democratic nomination,’ says Trump.

‘She’s looking good. Donald, you don’t record your calls, do you?’ asks Putin.

‘I don’t record anything. Learned from Nixon. Do you?’

‘Never,’ replies Putin.

Trump is relieved.

‘About the tankers,’ resumes Putin, ‘why not ease up on the war talk, just a little, and I’ll tell the Iranians to back off… what do you think?’

‘I don’t want any more ships being hit,’ says Trump.

‘Of course. I don’t know why they didn’t come to me first,’ says Putin.

‘I know I’m squeezing them but I have an election to win… and then there’s Netanyahu to think about. Iran needs to get over it. Say, did you hear that the Israelis are naming a section on the border with Syria, “Trump Heights?”’

‘I did. Congratulations. Very nice.’

‘Thanks. We’re tight, Bibi and me.”

‘I’m envious,’ says Putin.

‘We’re good too, Vladi, you know that.’

‘Thanks. But listen… it occurred to me, why don’t you let the Iranians sell some of their oil to Kim Jong Un, he’s hurting badly. I’m sure Xi will pick up the tab.’

‘That’s a thought.’

‘For a while at least… and that would give both Iran and Kim a breather.’

‘Hmm.”

‘Think of it this way… we’re all trying to stay in power.”

Trump laughs.

Putin laughs too. ‘We should all get together more often. Xi too. Need to bond.’

‘Say, what did Xi tell you when you last saw him?’ asks Trump.

‘He knows he has to play ball with the tariffs but doesn’t want to be humiliated. He’s got to save face. And now there’s the protests in Hong Kong to worry about.”

‘I understand. I’ll think of something.’

‘Believe me, he’ll appreciate it.’

‘Sure he will.’

‘You know, Americans are lucky to have you, Donald… they just don’t know it yet.’

‘That’s what I say.’

‘Which is why I’m glad to help. Give them some time. Americans have always done the right thing. Well… I know you’re busy, so I’ll let you go. My best to Melania, Ivanka and Jared.’

‘Thanks.’

They hang up.

In his office in the Kremlin, Putin picks up another phone and says, ‘Did you get all of it?’

‘Yes,’ replies the voice at the other end.

Putin sits back and smiles, ‘He’s no longer the apprentice. Once he gets reelected, he’ll be on his way. But really, who would’ve thought of it… America, the great democracy… on its way to becoming America, the great monarchy.’

Putin laughs loudly.

Oscar valdes. Oscarvaldes.net   Author of ‘Helsinki,’ a play on the fallout after Trump and Putin’s meeting in the Finnish capital.