All Hail The Chief!

Presenting the 46th President of the United States, Michael Richard Pence....wha....what?  Not yet?  Six more months?  Oops....never mind.

It's looking like President Donald Trump's worst enemy is turning out to be his own family.  To supposedly be so smart they're turning out to be serial dummies.  The smart Trump kid has been in the news every day this week, and every day he keeps on digging a deeper hole. 

"I never heard of her."

"She was just some Russian Lawyer lady who wanted us to adopt some kids."

"She said she had some embarrassing stuff on Hillary, but never delivered anything."

"She was a Russian Government lawyer who (promised) documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and be very useful to Daddy."

"Oh, and did I mention it was ultra-sensitive stuff and part of Russia and its government's support for Dear Papa?"

"But like I said, other than that, I never heard of her."

"Trust me....I'm a Trump."

It looks like it's a GREAT time to be a Washington or a NY lawyer!  *cha ching*  Now son-in-law Jared is scurrying for cover, too.  Even the Trump Administration's Deputy Assistant to The Third Proxy In Charge Of The Copy Machine is lawyer-ing up, and more importantly, leaking incriminating info to the media as fast as he/she can.

If this much scandalous (?) information about Trump, Inc has fallen into the laps of the media and in turn, us peons, just imagine how much info the FBI and Special Counselor Robert Muller have been able to uncover?  Start the countdown clock, and put the fat woman on standby to sing "Turn out the lights..."

But then will come the hard part.  Somebody is going to have to tell Vladie Putin he isn't going to be the 46th President of the United States.  Ouch!  You think he'll demand a refund?  (Rumor has it he has a temper, a shovel, five acres behind the Kremlin, and an alibi.)

S

Son of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Master spy novelist John le Carre in Hamburg, 1964

You might be good, Mr. le Carre, but I think this one is even beyond YOUR imagination.  The embryonic plot:  A neophyte politician shocks the world and is actually elected President of the United States.  He's strong in economic theory and practice, but has to depend on others to give him advice on foreign matters.  But who?

Enter a former Navy SEAL, let's call him "Eric", working on behalf of the President-Elect, who travels quietly to The Seychelles, a small island archipelago in the Indian Ocean, to meet with a representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Oooo....let's have the meeting be set up by a Middle Eastern Prince!  The purpose of the meeting is to establish a "back channel for high level communications" between the two powerful leaders.  Or is it?  

Eric is adept at working in the shadows, having founded a "dark" para-military / security firm (something sinister sounding....Blackwater!) that makes him a fortune thanks to years of lucrative US government contracts.  Some of it, say a quarter million dollars, is later donated to the campaign of the President-Elect.  Oh, and to pique your interest even further, let's have Eric's multi-billionaire sister be the new President's Education Secretary, and a major campaign donor herself.

At about the same time, the President-Elect's National Security Adviser-designate, "Mike", a former 2 3-star Army General (Ret), makes some "innocent" phone calls to the Russian Ambassador to the United States, Igor...no...SERGEY Kislyak to wish him a nice Christmas holiday.  Later they talk again, this time their conversation centers around "logistics", nothing more.  Or does it?  Mike tells the new VEEP and others that it is an innocent enough visit, just part of his job to meet & greet.

But Mike, after spending a career in national security and counterintelligence, somehow forgets (?) that the Russian Ambassador's phone is always tapped, and on one of his innocent calls he is recorded discussing with Sergey the possible removal of the crippling economic sanctions the US imposed on Russia after they invaded a neighbor.  When his lie becomes known, Mike is dismissed by the new President after only 3 weeks on the job. 

Still, the press, smelling there is more to Mike's past, keeps digging.  They soon learn that while he is advising his neophyte American candidate (who was elected by promoting "America First"), Mike is accepting a half million dollars in remuneration for advising someone "close" to the autocratic leadership of Turkey, too.  In fact, after an attempted coup in Turkey, Mike meets with senior Turkish representatives to suggest how the suspected coup leader, now residing in Pennsylvania, USA, could be quietly "removed" from the US without going through the proper American extradition process.

Mike is a surprisingly sloppy intelligence operative, failing to file the proper paperwork with the country whose uniform he wore for 33 years, as representing a foreign government.  Mike also attends several events in Russia, having dinner seated right next to none other than the Russian President himself, while actually receiving $33,000 from the Russian government-controlled TV news outlet RT for his attendance.  

Claiming innocence, Mike files his paperwork late, but fearing he (and his 6-figure military pension) might be in serious trouble, offers to tell all he knows about....he won't say exactly what....in exchange for legal immunity.  (Should Mike now have a surrogate start his car for him?  *boom!*  Interesting subplot?)

Still another Presidential adviser, "Rock",  no, even better, Roger "Stone" admits he met up numerous times with a known Russian spy years ago, but shared nothing of value, claiming he just thought his "friend" was part of the Russian UN delegation.  Even though the Russian spy was recorded as saying he thought Mr. Stone was an "idiot", Roger is later brought on board to advise the new American President "how the world works."

Not enough....I need more intrigue?  OK, so how about if the President's own son-in-law, "Jared" (no, not the Subway perv), a young real estate mogul of note, quietly meets with a Mr. Sergey Gorkov, Russian President Putin's hand-picked man to be the CEO of state-owned Vnesheconombank.  Jared says it is to discuss personal banking matters, never mind that Vnesheconombank is itself on our officially sanctioned "do not touch" list.  Sergey, however, apparently doesn't get the memo, and tells us all it was to discuss those same sanctions that General Mike somehow forgot to mention.

Shortly after, our lame duck President, in his last days in office, expels 30+ Russian diplomats as punishment for Russia's meddling in the recent American election.  Vladimir Putin just smiles, looks the other way, and doesn't retaliate, greatly pleasing the new President-Elect. 

Whew!  Enough?  OK, so how did the neophyte politician ever manage to get elected in the first place?  By a stroke of supreme luck he manages to hire Paul, an accomplished political handler, away from ousted Ukrainian President (and confidant of Russia's Putin), Viktor Yanukovych.  And just like that....Wah La....Hail To The Chief!

Now my mind is truly mush.  I'm exhausted.  I'll have to finish my work-in-progess after I get some much needed sleep.  Maybe I can watch the news tomorrow and get some more inspiration.  *wink*

Nite all.  :)

S