Alan Zendell, October 9, 2017

Many of the people who read this blog knew me first as a science fiction writer (https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=alan+zendell). Spending a lot of time with my mind in other universes may be the reason I can tolerate continued scrutiny of the alternate reality that is Donald Trump’s America. But having a peculiar mindset like mine also leads to flights of fancy which are actually last ditch attempts to explain the inexplicable, not that that makes the end product any less terrifying.

All good fiction is based on reality, right up to the moment it spins off the tracks into fantasy. My latest story arc, (pure fiction, I hope,) begins with the infamous golden shower dossier written by former British MI-6 operative Christopher Steele (http://www.newsweek.com/trump-russia-golden-shower-dossier-679973). Trump has strenuously denied it as totally made up fake news, though Robert Mueller has included the dossier in his investigation of collusion with Russia during the 2016 election.

We parallel reality until 2013, when business tycoon Trump allegedly hired two Russian prostitutes to come to the Moscow Ritz-Carlton’s presidential suite to perform for him. The dossier claims the hotel is controlled by the FSB (the successor agency to the KGB), and that Russian intelligence had studied Trump’s perverse sexual proclivities for some time and used them to lure him into a compromising situation because of his interest in doing business with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In my reality, the hotel room is actually a sophisticated spy lab equipped with everything James Bond and Q could only have wished for. It’s a virtual reality suite in which the subject (in this case Mr.Trump) is made to believe he’s experiencing what he paid for, while hi-tech Russian intelligence operatives transform him into a sleeper agent overnight. Think “Manchurian Candidate”.

Always known for playing the long game, former master spy Putin has been luring potential charismatic American leaders with sex for years, sending them home re-programmed to await his opportunity. Thus, the Donald, ecstatic with the prospect of Trump skyscrapers on the Moscow skyline, wakes up the next morning with his perverse sexual desires fully satisfied, totally unsuspecting that he is now the unwitting pawn of our country’s most dangerous adversary. Subtly embedded microchips lie dormant in Trump’s brain awaiting signals sent by FSB operatives stationed at strategic points throughout the world.

Understanding the American psyche better than it understands itself, Putin knows about the racism, gender bias, and xenophobia that lay just beneath the surface of American society. Sensing these same latent tendencies in Trump, combined with greed and extreme narcissism, the former head of the world’s most formidable intelligence organization knows Trump will be easy to manipulate.

If Putin understands anything, it’s how to foment revolution. He recognizes the transformation that Barrack Obama is attempting, which if successful will greatly reduce class inequality and strengthen the United States. While part of him admires the effort, he also understands that Obama is laying the groundwork for class and racial backlashes that could tear the country apart, and Trump is the perfect foil for heightening these divisions.

Carefully tuned signals sent to the appropriate receptors in Trump’s brain begin to stoke an irrational hatred for both Obama and everything he tries to accomplish. Trump’s narcissism is elevated to a nearly psychotic savior complex, and whatever filters previously tempered his public persona are melted away by judicious tweaks of those microchips. A boiling rage against the established order is kindled in Trump, and by June of 2015, Putin is ready to loose the monster he created on an unsuspecting American public. It’s a gamble, but Putin is ecstatic at the response to Trump’s speech announcing his candidacy for President. He has gauged things perfectly.

In a reasonable world, Trump would have no chance of winning, but Putin is prepared to unleash a bag of tricks that have been refined in a dozen countries over the past decade. He has identified soft spots in the American electoral process that he could drive a tank through, though with the insidious methods he has at his disposal, no tanks will be necessary.

He orchestrates a victory for Trump more shocking than Truman over Dewey nearly seventy years earlier, and few if any Americans have any idea of what has been done to them. But now the real battle begins. With Trump as his puppet, Putin has the power to wreck the American political system and destroy the respect America has garnered around the world virtually overnight. He directs Trump’s alienation of America’s allies while amusing himself by causing adoring words about Putin to be tweeted by @POTUS.

Then, he sets about his real task: turning a badly dysfunctional American government into a complete shambles. It doesn’t take long. Less than a year into Trump’s administration he has completely lost the support of the legislative branch, he is under attack by the FBI, and his behavior has people whispering in the corridors about how unstable he is. His out of control belligerence internationally has the entire world on edge, with high-ranking American officials worrying publicly about World War III. It’s a dangerous game, but Putin is confident he can take control when the moment is right.

Great plot, isn’t it? I can almost count the movie royalties. Hollywood loves derivative remakes. I only wish I knew how the story ended.