Chapter 12: Outcomes and Tomorrow

Jay, Bill, and I traveled and worked during the holiday season and in January to make our many assigned deliveries. Peter completed his trips by early January and filled me in via phone. About six weeks later, the delivery phase of harmless finished with a meeting and discussion – at a new coffee shop near Bill’s home – in the Avenues. It was an unusually warm early spring day, so we sat outside, away from the other patrons. The Salt Lake Valley had had another terrible winter inversion season. We were pleased that today the air was clean and relatively warm.

 

 

“I’m very happy to be here,” Jay said. “There were times I thought they’d get me.”

 

“Me, too,” Bill agreed. “Some of those local Congressional office staffers are scary. It was hard to fake it without really taking them on.”

 

“You can thank the Kochs and their libertarian study fellowships and professorships for providing such well trained staffers,” I smiled.

 

“Brain-washed staffers,” Bill corrected.

 

“Reminds me of a quote in Dark Money,” I said. “Back in 2009, Mayer writes, Charles Koch gave nearly $150,000 to Brown University’s Political Theory Project – a freshman seminar taught by a John Tomasi. She quotes Tomasi:

After a whole semester of Hayek, it’s hard to shake them off that perspective over the next four years.”

 

“Very effective brain-washing,” Bill added.

 

“I’m ready to take some notes – I need to hear your stories – for the book, of course. But for now, just a brief overview – brief summary.”

 

“Before they catch us, you mean, right?” Jay asked.

 

“I think we’re ok now. The riskiest time was during the delivery of Ananda’s potion. If they didn’t get us then, it’s unlikely they’ll get us now.”

 

“That’s not how I understand the statutes of limitations,” Jay said.

 

“By the way, Lucien tells me the traffic to anandaschocolates.com rose quickly as we hit the road and has continued to climb slowly.”

 

“I’ll bet they’re disappointed they can’t order some,” Bill said.

 

“So am I,” I said. “I wish we could continue to produce and give away our unique moksha.”

 

“Let’s do the numbers,” Jay said.

 

“Let’s hear about all of it …. this may take some time.”

 

 

We each reported on our state assignments, starting with Bill and California:

 

 

California          – Bill:                Issa, McCarthy + Valadeo, Rohrabacher, Walters, Justice                                                                         Kennedy (Bill) + Justice Scalia (Joe)

 

“I managed to get to their local offices,” Bill reported. “The staffers were all interested. It was good I had plenty of samples for them to smell and taste. The scenario was similar to our rehearsal scenario on Rodgers in Walla Walla.”

 

“Was there much security at Kennedy’s California State Bar award gig at the Anaheim Marriott?”

 

“Yes and no. I managed to befriend one of his clerks. I was outside the ballroom but could see Kennedy’s table up by the main podium. When this guy exited for the bathroom, I followed him in.”

 

“That was lucky – then what?”

 

“Easy. We were standing at adjacent urinals, I looked over and asked aren’t you part of Justice Kennedy’s group? He answered in the affirmative. So, after washing hands, I asked, does the Justice like chocolate? He responded, ‘how did you know? He’s always raiding Justice Roberts’ chocolate dish back at the Supreme Court Building’. From then on it was an easy sell.”

 

“It may have worked,” Jay said. “The Court’s last two decisions, related to promotional energy pricing and juveniles in prison, were reasonable, thanks in part to Kennedy’s vote. The prison decision suggests some enhanced empathy.”

 

“My experience with Scalia in Santa Clara wasn’t as smooth,” I reported. “I hung around towards the end of the Constitution Law class he was addressing, so I could see him and study his mannerisms, body language.”

 

“I hope his body language wasn’t as obnoxious as his oral language has been,” Jay smiled.

 

I continued: “I then followed the group over to the Recital Hall and got in, using my U ID and saying I was a visiting faculty member. Fortunately, the talk was not standing room only. I actually got to ask a brief question, which he summarily dismissed, as expected.”

 

“What did you ask him?” Bill asked.

 

“Is there anything about today’s world that might cause the Founding Fathers to reconsider anything they wrote into the Constitution?”

 

“Cool,” Jay said. “And?”

 

“He sort of shrugged, saying something like ‘I don’t have time to deal with fictions and speculation’. That was it. But I did get his attention. I did get close to him after the session, thanked him for responding to my question, and handed him two chocolates, saying he and his wife might enjoy this California treat.”

 

“No handlers or clerks took them away?”

 

“No, the security was modest. He actually slipped them into his coat pocket, and looked away.”

 

“No thanks?”

 

“No thanks.”

 

“Well, he’s had no new revelations in the last several months,” Bill said. “Maybe he gave them to his kids.”

 

“He did have a major ‘revelation’ a few days ago, as we all know. He died at a ranch retreat in Texas. He was laid to rest recently – and now there’s a big battle brewing because the Republicans in the Senate are refusing to even allow Obama to make a nomination – let alone even consider such a nomination.”

 

“As if the GOP didn’t have enough trouble with Trump, now they’re defining themselves as irresponsible and derelict by not doing the jobs assigned to them in the Constitution,” Jay said.

 

“The GOP is basically imploding – and we can’t take credit for that,” I said.

 

“I doubt Ananda had anything to do with Scalia’s demise,” Bill said.

 

“If it had, they would have discovered our wrapping and package insert near him.”

 

 

Colorado           – Joe:              Gardner + Bennett, Coffman

 

“Colorado was easy. I got to the three offices, telling the staffers what we rehearsed, and making specific reference to each of the Congress people – nothing unusual. They all got chocolates.”

 

 

Florida              – Joe:              Rubio, Bush, Koch + Curbello, Ros-Lehtinen

 

“Curbello and Ros-Lehtinen were also easy – no issues or problems. I decided not to get up to West Palm Beach, as we had already accessed Bill and David Koch in Centennial Valley.”

 

“How’d you get to the Rubio and Bush people?” Jay asked.

 

“Interesting. I got to Bush just weeks before he dropped out. The office was quite big. I noticed the cars outside and in the lot and realized there would be lots of staff inside. Upon entering the outer office area, I selected a Latina at an information table. Her nametag said Adriana. I said, ‘Hello. I’m very interested in Mr. Bush’, pausing and looking at her: ‘is it true his wife is a Latina?’

 

“Cool,” Jay said.

 

“She lit right up. ‘Yes, she said, ‘Her name is Columba – she’s from Guadalajara. She’s a great lady.’ Then I asked, ‘did they meet in Mexico, because I understand Mr. Bush speaks Spanish’. ‘Yes, yes!’ she said. ‘They were just teen-agers – it’s a great story’.”

 

“You are good,” Bill smiled. “Go on…”

 

“By then two other staff had gathered round. I asked if they knew Columba. They all responded, saying she comes to the office now and then, and that Columba’s been at several staff meetings and food gatherings. Then I pulled out enough chocolates for the three of them and two more for Jeb and Columba. ‘I make chocolates’, I said, adding I want to get some bumper stickers and lawn signs, gesturing towards another table, ‘Take these for yourselves, and give these to Columba and Mr. Bush. And tell them they’re for adults only!’ I winked.

‘Gracias,’ the first one said. Another said ‘Columba’s coming tomorrow night to meet with Latinas in West Miami. I’ll be there.’ ‘Gracias,’ I said – and went over to the other table to get the lawn signs.”

 

“I used a similar approach,” Bill said. “You focus on one staffer, get her eye, give her some real attention.”

 

“You know, since he dropped out, I bet she’s become the happiest Latina in Florida!”

 

“I’m sure of that,” Bill said. “Those YouTube videos of her leading Governor’s Mansion tours were very sad – she was so bored.”

 

“And Rubio’s office?” Jay asked.

 

“Similar, but very different. I got there just before the Iowa caucus, so most staff were in Iowa. Rubio’s office and staff seemed smaller than Bush’s.”

 

“Maybe because they were working Iowa, which may be why Rubio did so much better in Iowa – it was basically a three way tie with Cruz and Trump.”

 

“But otherwise, the strategy and approach was similar. I spotted a young Latina, Paolita, wearing a Crucifix at a table with pictures of Rubio and Pope Francis.”

 

“Clearly she wasn’t needed in lily-white Iowa!” Jay chuckled.

 

“I walked up and picked up a flyer related to Rubio’s Cuban and Catholic connections and said ‘Hello,’ while looking at a picture of Rubio and Pope Francis. ‘Did Mr. Rubio meet the Pope when he was in Washington, D.C.?’ I asked. She beamed. ‘Yes, he met Papa Francis. Here’s another picture,’ she said, reaching below the table. That one showed Pope Francis drinking something with a group of Congressmen, not including Rubio.”

 

“I don’t think Rubio was even there when the Pope was in town,” Jay said.

 

“No, he stayed away,” I recalled. Rubio explained that

… on moral issues, he speaks with incredible authority. He’s done so consistently on the value of life, on the sanctity of life, on the importance of marriage and on the family. [But] On economic issues, the Pope is a person.

 

“Rubio refuses to accept that climate problems are indeed a moral issue,” Bill added. “We, America, are most responsible for global climate change, but it’s the world’s poorest who are suffering – going to suffer – the most. If the Pope is indeed ‘infallible’ on moral issues, then we must do something about climate change. It’s the moral thing to do.”

 

“There were several events,” Jay added. “I know some of the other GOP Catholics also stayed away from his talk to Congress, for political reasons.”

 

“Well, she was convinced they’d met and interacted. So I continued, ‘Do you think the Pope likes chocolate?’ Now she really beamed. ‘I’m from Ecuador,’ she said. ‘We make the best chocolate in the world.’ ‘I make chocolates,’ I said, ‘and sometimes use dark chocolate from Ecuador’. I pulled out several chocolates. She noticed the name right away. ‘My name is Paolita,’ she said, adding ‘Ananda is not a common name.’ ‘And Ananda’s is not a common chocolate,’ I said. ‘It’s very special. Try one,’ I said, handing one to her. She didn’t open it, but did take it and smelled it. She didn’t look very Latina to me, but now knowing she’s from Ecuador, I tried the Latina line of conversation: ‘Isn’t Mr. Rubio’s wife from Colombia?’ I asked. She smiled. ‘No, not really. She was born in Miami. But her parents are both from Colombia, so we say she’s a Colombiana – a Latina.’ ‘Have you met her?’ I asked. ‘Sure – she often interacts with us, and helps out. She’s very friendly. She really is a Latina.’ ‘Maybe you could give her my chocolates,’ I said. ‘Her daughter – the oldest one – her name is Amanda,’ she said’. ‘Here, take three, one for Amanda, one for Mrs. Rubio, and one for Mr. Rubio.’ She took them, saying ‘OK, I should see Mrs. Rubio in a few weeks. We are having a holiday party for the office then.’ Then I added, ‘maybe you should have a summary of Pope Francis’ Laudato si encyclical on the table’. She smiled. ‘That’s a good idea’, she said.”

 

“I wonder what the response was to her encyclical summary suggestion,” Jay said.

 

“Maybe not entirely negative,” Bill added. “Rubio’s been getting input – and even some heat – from South Florida mayors on the region’s rising water issues – on climate change. Maybe he’s actually looking for a revelation excuse.”

 

“I just learned, via a Times article, of course, that ‘…climate change is included in Florida’s education standards’ and that some teachers include it in their teaching even though they often get some pushback,” I reported.

 

“Maybe Marco needs to go back to high school,” Jay suggested.

 

“Now who’s the optimist?” I smiled.

 

“I understand Rubio’s not running for his Senate seat?” Jay asked.

 

“Yes. I actually asked for a Rubio for Senate button from one staffer,” I said. “In case he doesn’t become President. I was promptly told he’s focusing all his energy on becoming President.”

 

“He’s made it clear earlier that he doesn’t like being in the Senate – that he wants to be in charge,” Jay said.

 

 

Idaho                – Peter:            Labrador + Simpson, Risch, Crapo

 

Peter had reported earlier on the experience he and Saul had in Idaho. They had similar experiences as Bill and I, except for Labrador’s office. Peter noted that the office was somewhat strange. It wasn’t as open, as inviting, as the other offices. There were several obvious security cameras, which Peter said they had noticed when casing the office just before they actually went in. So they actually disguised themselves a bit before approaching and entering. They each wore a ‘No New Taxes’ button they had obtained earlier when visiting Crapo’s office.

 

“That was clever – and resourceful,” Jay said. “If we ever do this again, we should have a supply of such buttons and pins to enhance our credibility.”

 

“I doubt we’ll be doing it again,” I said. “We don’t want to push our luck.”

 

Peter said the staffer he talked with didn’t know if Labrador liked chocolate. Saul said he was pretty sure that all Mormons liked chocolate. Saul mentioned his Mormon relatives in Salt Lake City as examples. ‘Chocolates and Jello,’ he said. Peter told me that was more effective than chocolates and wine – he’d save that line for Washington state. They finally got the young staffer to admit that he liked chocolate – and accepted one to taste. Then he took two Ananda’s for Mr. and Mrs. Labrador. Peter and Saul said they didn’t like the ‘feel’ of the office and were happy to leave.

 

“Labrador looks like a sweet, round-faced, young politician – like a younger version of Scalia,” Jay said.

 

“But he acts, like Scalia did, more like an unreasonable bull dog,” Bill added.

 

 

Iowa                 – Bill:               Ernst + Grassley, Young, King

 

“I waited to go to Iowa till after their caucus,” Bill said. “I learned that it was a ‘Grassley state’, meaning he’s very popular throughout the state.”

 

“I read that he visits all 99 counties every year,” I added. “And during the runup to the caucus, he helped host and introduce nearly every GOP candidate running in Iowa.”

 

“It was easy to get to the four offices,” Bill reported. “At each one I expressed my admiration for Grassley, and wore one of his 2016 reelection buttons. That was popular, especially at Grassley’s office. I was there before the Grassley-McConnell problem with the upcoming Supreme Court nomination.”

 

“At Ernst’s office I talked with the staffer about Joni and her positions. The staffer was a near chocoholic and immediately accepted the chocolate I handed her. She promised to give two each to Mrs. and Mr. Ernst. I felt a double dose can’t possibly hurt.”

 

“Did you know there’s a National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Iowa?” I asked. “Grassley introduced one of the GOP presidential candidates there just before the caucus. I sent the story on to my Czech friends.”

 

Bill continued: “King’s lone office staffer refused the chocolates, so I sent a followup mailing directly to King, with a return address within his district.”

 

“Did you see Egan’s column on Iowa?” Jay asked. “No wonder they need so much help. Iowa is almost all white, old and over half evangelical – and women are usually way in the background. Joni’s an exception.”

 

“But if she wasn’t white and evangelical, she wouldn’t have gotten anywhere in Iowa,” Jay said.

 

“Probably not. Egan went on to write:

... these demographics … produce candidates who deny that climate change even exists, who favor total bans on legal abortion, who are opposed to the most commonsensical reforms in gun laws, and who would require a religious test for entry into the country.”

 

“Thanks, god, for harmless,” Jay smiled.

 

“We try.”

 

 

Kansas             – Bill:               Koch, Charles + Pompeo, Roberts, Moran

 

“What is the matter with Kansas?” Bill asked. “I know that’s the title of a book, but now I understand why.”

 

“Did you get to Charles Koch,” I asked.

 

“Sort of. I didn’t try to get to his home. I had read about a little protest in 2010 – several California students tried to get a letter to Charles by going to the Koch Industries building. Apparently the strip of lawn adjacent to the road is public property – the first 18 feet of lawn adjacent to the curb – so the security folks couldn’t demand the kids get off the property.”

 

“Good homework. And?”

 

“In 2010 Koch knew the kids were coming, so security personnel blocked the building’s entrances and cars tailed the kids as they came to and then left the area – no big surprise given everything we know about Kochs and security. They didn’t know I was coming, so I got in to the main reception area. I played the same game we did with the Rodgers scenario and that we’d been using with most of the Congressmen – we want to thank him for all he’s done for freedom, liberty, democracy.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“And to look a bit more credible, and to boost my own confidence, I wore a large Rand Paul for President button.”

 

“Given how bad he’s been doing, that didn’t appear very controversial,” Jay said. “Did it?”

 

“No – and this was before Paul dropped out of the race. The receptionist who looked at it just smiled. I did manage to get to the Executive offices, but not any further, of course. I gave the lady in the Executive Offices reception area my spiel and asked her to get the gifts to Charles and Elizabeth. I assured her this was non-political, that I’d read his two books, and that Diana and I had driven through one of the firm’s ranches in Montana. I even showed her a photo of Centennial Valley and the Centennial Mountains. She was surprised to learn Koch Industries had a ranch in Montana. I did give her one of our staff chocolates, which she seemed pleased to accept.”

 

“Anything else?”

 

“No, that was it. No obvious cameras, no alarms or sirens. I did pick up a copy of the Koch Industries’ Newsletter on my way out, and then headed for the Congressional offices in town.”

 

“What was Pompeo’s place like? I’m curious because he was such a jerk during Gowdy’s Benghazi witch hunt on Hillary.”

 

“Lots of pictures of Pompeo, some with Gowdy, and one of Pompeo with Hillary in the background. I told the staffer I wanted to thank Pompeo for his work on the Benghazi Committee – and also that I had been over to Koch Industries. That impressed her. I told her I was from Portland, and I make chocolates, handing her one. She accepted. Try it, I said – and she did, smiling – and continued to smile. I have two for the Congressman and Mrs. Pompeo, I said. Could you see that he gets them? She accepted, assured me she’d put them and the card in his mailbox. The Two senatorial district offices – Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran – also went smoothly. The key, I’ve found, is connecting directly with one of the staff.”

 

 

Kentucky          – Jay:              McConnell, Paul + Guthrie

 

“Kentucky’s an interesting place,” Jay said. “It’s hard to believe Al Gore is from there.”

 

“McConnell has made a mess of the place,” Bill added. “He hasn’t done anything to move them forward – to get beyond constantly looking backwards and blaming Obama and environmentalists for Kentucky’s largely self-imposed problems.”

 

“Well, I did get to him – or rather to his Bowling Green office – as well as to Paul and Guthrie.”

 

“Go on,” I said.

 

“I got to Bowling Green just days after Paul dropped our of the presidential competition – pleasant city. The three offices were quite small. McConnell’s was the most well established, not surprising given his very long tenure in the Senate. There were only two people in McConnell’s office. I talked with an older lady, whose desk had a large picture of McConnell and his wife nearby. I asked her if she knew Mrs. McConnell. That was almost a mistake!”

 

“Interesting, how so?” Bill asked.

 

“She actually made a face, then corrected it. Noticing, I innocently asked ‘Does she ever come by and help out – or visit?”

 

“She said that Elaine Chao McConnell rarely comes to Bowling Green, but that she helped a lot with his reelection campaign. I didn’t sense any great interest or connection, so immediately moved on to chocolates.”

 

“Did she respond to chocolate?”

 

“A little. She offered me some chocolate chip cookies from a nearby table – for staff and visitors, she explained. She was curious about Ananda’s and did volunteer that Mitch likes chocolate chip cookies – and she’d put the chocolates in his mailbox with a note – and tell his chief aide.”

 

“OK, and the others?” I asked.

 

“Paul’s office was more interesting. The sole staffer there was much younger and seemed more committed and connected. There was also a cute photo of Paul with his family, with the youngest holding a soccer ball. Mrs. Paul is quite an asset.”

 

“And?” Bill asked.

 

“The staffer responded to the chocolates, said she’d pass them on with a note, and thanked me for coming by. I was wearing a Paul for President button, which may have helped. She said, with a sad look, ‘You know, he’s dropped out of the race for President.’ I said I knew, but I liked him and the button. She pointed to a clipping on her desk, the recent USA Today piece by Carroll on The rise and fall of Rand Paul’s Candidacy, noting Time calls him ‘the most interesting man in politics’. I think so, too, I told her.”

 

“I continued on to Guthrie’s office, which was a simple affair. I engaged the staffer in a brief discussion about coal and Kentucky’s future. He had an older brother who was a miner and was actually pleased to be laid off. I told him about Obama’s new initiative to help fund local actions to develop cleaner energy. He then said his brother was taking a course to become a solar system installer. He gladly took a chocolate for himself and his brother as well as the two larger ones for Mr. and Mrs. Guthrie.”

 

 

Montana           – Joe, Bill         Kochs + Tester, Daines, Zinke

 

“I focused on the Congress folks. Joe handled Bill and David Koch and the Oxbridge school,” Bill reported.

 

“After sending written invitations to Tester, Daines, and Zinke, I visited their local offices in Helena; Daines and Tester also have a Bozeman office, so I stopped there on my way to Helena. I had previously set up appointments with the key staffers, emphasizing the significance of the T-N Center, Beaverhead Ranch, and the Kochs. They were all very interested. They all got chocolates, of course, including some for their respective Congress bosses. Their bosses all made an appearance at the T-N Center, though not all at the same time. I served as their host and introduced each one to the key people present.”

 

“And they’re fairly reasonable folks, aren’t they?” Jay asked.

 

“Yes. They are all quite conservative, even Tester – who’s a Democrat,” Bill replied. “And perhaps they’re now more environmentally aware after the T-N experience.”

 

“And they all had more chocolates at T-N?” Jay asked.

 

“Of course.”

 

We went on to discuss Bill and David Koch and their families.

 

“The first contact was via the Oxbridge Academy Director and science teacher. They facilitated the introduction and connection to Brittany, and then to Bill. It took a lot of followup and gentle arm-twisting, but it worked. They agreed to bring their family – Bill, Jr., daughter Robin, and their youngest Kaitlin, or KK. I asked Bill to contact David regarding the event. He did; David agreed to come with Julia and two of their three kids. Horseback riding in the area was a key draw. The people managing Beaverhead Ranch were also in the loop, as well as the great folks at the T-N Center.”

 

“That was quite a communication and organizational exercise,” Jay said.

 

“Oh, that’s just the tip of the communication and logistics iceberg,” I smiled. “Bill and family arrived via private jet to West Yellowstone and then on to Lakeview via an SUV limo. David and family for some reason came the other way, via jet into Idaho Falls and then North by car to Lakeview. I think David’s pilot was a bit wary of West Yellowstone. David did have a near death aircraft experience in Los Angeles many years ago.”

 

“And the Montana Congressmen made their own way to Lakeview, with their staff’s help,” Bill added.

 

“And then it was largely up to the T-N staff, and the Beaverhead Ranch folks. They had put together a program, including activities for all on horseback, in the refuge and on the ranch, John Taft jeep rides and tours, discussions by the fire, and a brief ceremony by Bill and David honoring their tough father, Fred. The kids were shown pictures of their grandparents and missing uncles. And, of course, we had a good discussion of Ishmael.”

 

“And lots of chocolates?” Jay asked.

 

“Chocolates of one kind for the adults, and very similar looking but very different chocolates for the kids,” Bill smiled.

 

“And no Charles?” Jay asked.

 

“No Charles. David did talk with him about the event. I think he said something like, ‘maybe next year’. I was so pleased – and surprised – that David and his family came.”

 

 

New York City  – Joe:              Koch, David and Justice John Roberts

 

“I didn’t try to get to David Koch; we had considered trying to get our local U ballet friends to help via the American Ballet Company connection with him and Julia. But it would have meant another expensive trip and probably couldn’t be carried out. Since we got to him via the T-N Center gig, I felt that was sufficient.”

 

“I found only one John Roberts gig, although I’m sure there must have been others. He spoke at the NY Historical Society about Justice Charles Evan Hughes, a New Yorker who made it to the Supreme Court – twice – and ran for President. Interesting guy.”

 

“But you did get in?” Jay asked.

 

“Yes – it was at the NYU Law School, on Washington Square South. I used my U faculty credentials and mentioned several U Law School friends. They had called earlier to get my name on a visiting guest list. It worked.”

 

“Security was actually minimal,” I continued. “Again, no cell phones; this time no computers – I was able to leave my backpack with a lady at the sign in desk. My artificial hip again set off the screening machine, but the card from my doc took care of that. No frisking and no chocolate bulges.”

 

“Were you able to talk to Roberts?”

 

“Yes, surprisingly. He is really a charming guy. I gently pushed my way up to him just before he was introduced, mentioned I was from Utah, and had read several books on the Roberts Court. He interjected, ‘I hope you read the better ones’. I quickly noted that I understand he likes chocolate, while offering him one of my favorites. He actually took it but passed it immediately to a clerk or aide at his side.”

 

“And you chased down the aide later?”

 

“Of course. He was helpful. I began with sharing a quote by Charles Evan Hughes:

War should be made a crime, and those who instigate it should be punished as criminals.

He was unaware of it, which helped with some very brief conversation. I then explained a bit more about Ananda’s, saying I thought the Chief Justice would appreciate it, and gave him several more. He said he’d put them in the chocolate bowl in his office.”

 

“Perfect!” Bill said. “Let’s hope he doesn’t take two at nearly the same time.”

 

“I made it clear to the aide that one is sufficient – and pointed out the insert with more information.”

 

“Well, it apparently didn’t help in the Court’s recent ruling on the Obama coal requirements – a recent 5-4 decision.”

 

“Maybe he hadn’t eaten it yet!” Jay smiled.

 

“That was Scalia’s last Supreme Court vote – without him it might have been 4 – 4.”

 

 

Oklahoma         – Jay:              Inhofe + Lankford, Russell, Lucas

 

“This was an efficient assignment – travelwise,” Jay said. “One trip to Oklahoma City got me Inhofe and Lankford, the very junior Senator, as well as three of the five Congresspeople – Lucas, Cole, and Russell.”

 

“What were their offices like?”

 

“Interesting. Inhofe actually had some model airplanes hanging in the waiting area. He really is a very avid pilot. He wasn’t there, of course, but I struck up a conversation with an elderly receptionist. On the wall behind her was a framed photo of Inhofe aside one of his planes.”

 

“Not the one he landed on the wrong runway in Texas?”

 

“I don’t know. This one looked legally parked and secured. I asked her if she’d ever flown with him … ‘No, no,’ she said. ‘The staff are afraid to fly with him. In fact, he’s flying less and less now. Age is getting to him’.”

 

“I told her to thank him for his work, that I’d always wanted to learn to fly and was envious of his flying experience and skills, and suggested she give him these chocolates as a constituent thank you gift.”

 

“Anything else?”

 

“We talked a bit about the falling price of oil, its impact on the Oklahoma state budget, and even the recent severe weather events. I tried to educate her a bit on CO2 and climate change. She understood. There was no push back.”

 

“And Lankford?”

 

“What a piece of work!” Jay continued. “There were pictures of him with his bible camp subjects, reading from a bible and a pulpit, and brandishing a shotgun while bird hunting. Although this was his Senate office, I did see Lankford in 2016 materials, including a pin shaped like an open bible.”

 

“And the staffer?”

 

“Looked like a Mormon missionary – white shirt, name tag, dark pants, bible literally in hand, with that vacuous look that Homer Simpson often has. But he did take the chocolates and assured me he’d pass them on to The Senator.”

 

“By the way,” I said, “Lankford did say recently he’s ‘unlikely’ to support Trump, according to the Times – hinting that good evangelicals can’t endorse Trump.  And the Representatives?”

 

“The three different offices were in and near Oklahoma City – in their respective well-gerrymandered districts. They were all small, just one staffer, in mall-like environments. The staffers were responsive, after a bit of conversation. They seemed pleased to have someone to talk with. I gave them each personal samples. Oklahoma needs lots of chocolate!”

 

 

South Carolina  – Joe:              Gowdy + Peter, Graham

 

“My turn to report on Greenville, a nice Southern town,” I said. “I’d talked earlier with Bob Inglis to get some tips and insight – and he gave me his old campaign button for fun, which I didn’t wear.”

 

“Were Bailiff, Judge, or Jury helping out in Gowdy’s office?” Jay smiled.

 

“Nope, his dogs were nowhere in sight. There were two staffers – an older lady and a younger man – wearing a Cruz button. He came in after I was talking with the lady. I asked her about Bob Inglis. She perked up, said he was a wonderful man, that she’d worked with him during that last term and during his campaign. Her body language suggested that Trey Gowdy was not nearly as interesting or warm. Then the younger guy appeared and she went quiet.”
“You think he wears the Cruz button if Gowdy is in town?”

 

“Maybe. Gowdy did introduce Cruz at a Greenville event earlier in the campaign, but he does seem to be leaning towards Rubio now.”

 

“The young guy was very receptive to the chocolates. I gave a taster piece to each of them. He said he’d put the others in the mailbox for Gowdy. I did advise him that chocolates are very bad for dogs. He knew that, he said.”

 

“Anything else?”

 

“I was surprised to see a Tea Party poster with a Confederate Flag on the wall.”

 

“I thought South Carolina was now over the Confederacy, apparently not….And the others?”

 

“Ditto for Peter and Graham – conversation and taste chocolates for the staffers, Ananda’s for the Congressmen. No problem.”

 

 

Texas               – Jay:              Cruz, Smith + Cornyn, McCaul, Flores, Bills, Carter, Hurd

 

John Cornyn is reported to be the number 2 Senate Republican; he’s a main author of the criminal justice legislation. He is reported to have said, in an interview, that his job was to educate Republicans…that it could help Republicans by broadening their appeal to independents, Democrats and minorities who believe that the criminal justice system is unfairly tilted. Cornyn said:

It doesn’t hurt to show that you actually care … This is a statement that is not just symbolic, but actually shows that you care about people. It doesn’t hurt to show some empathy.

 

“Conservative Cornyn talks empathy, that’s interesting,” Bill said. Looking at Jay, he added, “You must have gotten to him.”

 

“I recall his Austin office, and a dedicated young staffer smelling our chocolate offering. That’s all I really know.”

 

“We’ll give you – and Cornyn – the benefit of the doubt,” I smiled.

 

“I flew in to Austin. I had planned to also get to San Antonio, but realized I’d only lose Hurd by not taking a day to do San Antonio, so I focused my time and efforts on Austin.”

 

“The San Antonio guy I missed is Will Hurd, District 23. He’s almost a conservative Democrat, on the far left of GOP plot with very low leadership score.  Since Cornyn is the well respected senior senator, I started most of the staff conversations with him, and with his quote ‘…it doesn’t hurt to show some empathy’. The Smith staffer I talked with was also a fan of Cornyn.”

 

“Smith’s district covers the wealthier sections of Austin and San Antonio,” I said. “Did you see anything interesting?”

 

“Not really, just pictures of him with his first wife, who died, and their two kids, who are now about 37 and 40. I think one’s a lawyer, the other may be an architect – not much info on line.”

 

“Grandkids?” I asked.

 

“Don’t know. They don’t seem to be society types. The staffer was quite interested in the chocolates …”

 

“…they all are,” Bill added.

 

“…so I gave her several extras. She did say she’d get them to the Congressman. Oh, I did see some award from an NRA-like group, the CCRKBA – he’s definitely an ardent gun supporter.”

 

 

Utah                 – Joe:              Lee, Chaffetz + Bishop, Stewart, Love, Hatch, Justice Thomas

 

“I did get to the BLM Committee meeting in St. George, which Stewart organized with Bishop. Chaffetz was also there. Mia Love didn’t make it.”

 

“Nor the Senators?” Jay asked.

 

“Nope. Mike Lee’s too busy extolling Cruz, and Hatch is now endorsing Rubio – perhaps angling for his long coveted Supreme Court appointment.”

 

“You mean things really can get worse?” Bill said.

 

“Did you see Stewart’s recent newsletter to constituents? He’s the new Trump – or Cruz. It’s full of battle words – he ‘grilled’ the Forest Service, he ‘blasted’ Obama.”

 

“Maybe he’s now on testosterone supplements?” Jay smiled.

 

“The Utah three mouseketeer Congressguys were easy to get to,” I reported. “First, there was little security; it was a southern Utah-style town meeting. Second, the three were to be on a panel, entertaining questions from largely anti-BLM, anti-Fed folks. And thirdly, as no one knows me down there, I just pretended to be on the building staff and set out bottled water and several chocolates on each panelist’s table space.”

 

“Cool,” Jay said. “But you could have been recognized and challenged.”

 

“Sure, but only by Democrats, who probably would not have interfered. You know, I only got two dozen or so votes in all of Washington County in 2012. Only Stewart would have recognized me, and I timed it so he wasn’t nearby.”

 

“And?” Bill asked.

 

“I saw Chaffetz and Stewart eat a chocolate about half-way through the session. There was one left at Bishop’s place after the event was over, which I picked up. Can’t say any more than that.”

 

“I guess our serving chocolates approach might be called Chocolate Roulette,” Jay smiled.

 

“A fair description. It reminds me of a Scalia story in USA Today, where Scalia, when asked about his nine kids, said something like ‘we are good Catholics – and play Vatican Roulette’.”

 

“And the others?” Bill asked.

 

“I did get to Mike Lee earlier, as well as Chaffetz and Mia Love, at Mike’s Christmas Party at the State Capitol.”

 

“Maybe that’s why Mia is starting to sound a bit reasonable. Her recent talk to the Utah Legislature sounded mature, civil,” Bill said.

 

“I let Hatch go,” I said. “He’d probably recognize me, he’s 80, and he’s tired.”

 

“But he still wants a chair on the Supreme Court?”

 

“Probably. He might not be too bad there – no worse certainly than Scalia was.”

 

“But he’s now saying he can work with Trump – he actually said, according to the Times:

We will have to work on changing some of his ideas. He’s a good businessman.”

 

“Jesus. That confirms that Hatch has indeed lost it.”

 

“Did you see the Trib report on what Stewart said at the Capitol the other day:

We don’t want any more wilderness. Not a single acre of wilderness.”

 

“No great surprise,” I said. “Reminds me of a quote I saw on an office wall this morning – by Aristotle: ‘We are what we repeatedly do’.”

 

“At least he’s consistent – Stewart, I mean,” Jay said.

Washington      – Peter:            Rodgers + Beutler, Newhouse

 

“Peter told me earlier that he used our early practice scenario.”

 

“Sure,” Jay said. “Those early discussions helped us all with our actions in the various district offices.”

 

“Well, the Walla Walla fiction was eerily right on,” he said “although there was no pouch or courier service to connect the office with the Congresswoman. He made his own Rodgers in 2016 label for the Rodgers office visit – and did similarly for the Beutler and Newhouse office visits.”

 

“Cool. That really showed how committed he was,” Jay said.

 

“How ‘committed’ he was, then – for those few minutes. He also picked up the official campaign materials, with fake enthusiasm, at each of the offices.”

 

“Did he ever do drama?” Jay smiled.

 

“Nope, but it’s never too late. I think all three Congressfolks will get their ‘delivered by Peter’ chocolates and Ananda’s Chocolates cards.”

 

 

Washington DC – Joe:              LaPierre, Norquist, Donohue, Justice Alito

 

“DC was tough and fascinating,” I reported. “I started with the Chamber’s annual Christmas Party, a lavish well attended affair presided over by Donohue. He’s an impressive figure – tall, loud, somewhat dominating.”

 

“Security?” Jay asked.

 

“Not bad. I went largely empty handed, except for chocolates in my pockets. I had the flatter versions that Lucien had made to use at events where we would likely be screened and frisked. No bulges and well sealed – no scent of chocolate.”

 

“Did they frisk you?”

 

“Fortunately not. My hip always sets off the metal detectors, but before entering I hand the screener a card with the U Health Sciences logo and my docs’ signature, saying I have an artificial hip. That usually takes care of the problem – and did so in this instance.”

 

“Interesting,” Bill said. “And having the hip issue to focus on probably distracted him from looking carefully at anything else.”

 

“Yes, I think so. In any event I got in without having to have a chocolate tasting at the screening barricade. I went immediately to the credentials table to find my name on an invite list, kindly arranged by my friends at the Salt Lake Chamber. Salt Lake didn’t have its own table, so I didn’t run in to any Utahns, but I did get a seat, and I was legal and legitimate.”

 

“Great, then what?” Jay asked, enthusiastically.

 

“Off to the podium and main tables to find Donohue. I did ask at the credentials table if LaPierre and Norquist would be attending. She said she couldn’t share that information, but her body language suggested that one of them might be there.”

 

“You’re going to have to teach us about these body language assessments,” Bill said.

 

“I found Donohue, introduced myself as an aging chocolatier from Utah, and saying I’d like to talk with him about the international chocolate trade. He sort of dismissed me, but he did seem somewhat interested. I did say I’d stop by his office to drop off some background information. He nodded.”

 

“That seems like a good approach and plan. So?”

 

“On Monday morning, about 9 am, I was at the Chamber’s 1615 H Street, NW office – across the street from the White House. It was open and the lady at the welcome desk was most helpful. I said I enjoyed the Christmas Party, was with the Salt Lake City Chamber chapter, and had met Mr. Donohue, but we hadn’t time to talk. I further said he suggested I come by this morning to drop off my materials and schedule an appointment.”

 

“Smooth.”

 

“She chuckled, saying something like ‘He often does that – he doesn’t keep his own calendar, you know. He won’t be in today, but I can see that he gets your materials’. Thus began our international chocolate business brief discussion – and the Ananda’s samples. She was delighted.”

 

“Did you make an appointment?”

 

“Not exactly, I said I’d contact him later, via the Salt Lake Chamber, to present some information on the international trade in chocolate. I winked at her, saying ‘chocolate’s so much more satisfying than cigarettes, you know’. She understood and agreed, smiling. I then gave her my Ananda cards and samples. She assured me she would put them on his desk to see the minute he returned. She ate her sample on the spot and asked several questions. I gave her another card, referring her to the site. That was it.”

 

“Was LaPierre or Norquist at the party – or John Roberts?”

 

“I don’t think so. I should have asked Donohue’s receptionist that same question, but didn’t. I was looking for Susan LaPierre and Norquist’s Samah among all the men present, but didn’t see either of them.”

 

“And then?”

 

“From 1615 H St. to Norquist’s headquarters at 722 12th ST NW, Suite 400 – just a few blocks away. Again a receptionist to talk with, and me wearing my No New Taxes button. She smiled. I asked her if Norquist had been to the Chamber Party the other night. She didn’t think so, saying he and Samah don’t often go to DC parties – they’d rather spend the time with their kids.”

 

“That’s promising,” Jay said.

 

“I mentioned my visit to the Chamber and my interest in meeting Mr. Norquist, to thank him for his actions in behalf of small business and in minimizing corporate taxes. She couldn’t schedule a meeting, saying to call his appointments secretary later in the day. We talked chocolates briefly – she thought he was quite fond of chocolates. She was happy to accept and taste the sample – and said she’d deliver the chocolates and cards to his personal secretary. I added a sample for the personal secretary.”

 

“What did the office look like?” Bill asked.

 

“Interesting. There was a table for recent Norquist-ATR publications and news stories, including his recent Salt Lake Tribune op-ed telling the Utah Legislature to not tax internet sales.”

 

“I thought Hatch and Mike Lee opposed that,” Jay said.

 

“Yes, he noted that. But Chaffetz apparently supports it, together with several state legislators. In any event Norquist how has his eyes and hands on Utah.”

 

“After Norquist, I got on the Metro in the direction of Fairfax – to the NRA Headquarters. Norquist’s location and space seemed relatively modest. Donohue’s was more palatial – even ostentatious. But LaPierre’s! Wow.”

 

“I was near the NRA Building in Fairfax several years ago – I wanted to see what the National Firearms Museum looked like, ” Bill said. “Quite an edifice.”

 

“I did manage to find a Protect the Second Amendment button for the NRA visit,” I said. “Interesting that they screened everyone entering the building. You can’t carry guns into the NRA facility – but their employees can carry them in – it’s the law in Virginia!”

 

“Isn’t that hypocritical?” Jay smiled. “And the chocolates?”

 

“No sweat – their concern was with guns, cameras, cell phones – I did have to check my phone, but they let me in with my computer.”

 

“Didn’t LaPierre say ‘those with the guns make the rules’?” Bill asked.

 

“I think you’re confusing that with the plutocrat’s Golden Rule – those with the gold make the rules,” Jay corrected.

 

“The NRA site had some LaPierre video rants on Obama, which I watched. I tried to get to know him before any visit.”

 

“And?” Bill asked.

 

‘It was the same sort of interchange as with Donohue and Norquist: I’m here to thank him for his support of the whatever – in this case the Second Amendment and the right to bear armaments. And I wanted to ask him about the NRA going international – advocating the right to bear arms anywhere on the planet – at anytime. The receptionist didn’t even flinch.”

 

“I guess she’s heard it all,” Jay added. “Did you really say ‘bear armaments’?”

 

“Yes – and she didn’t flinch at that, either.”

 

“She said she’d pass on the chocolates, my card, and my thanks to his personal secretary. I said I’d follow up a bit later.”

 

“Did you get to Alito?” Bill asked.

 

“Yes, but it required a special trip – some weeks after the holiday season visit. He was helping judge a Constitutional Law Competition at the George Washington Law School – at 800 21st St. – in the Lisner Auditorium. It was a cool event.”

 

“Security?” Jay asked.

 

“Sure, but nothing onerous. It was similar to the other Justice gigs – look for his aides or clerks, follow and interact with one. Strike up a conversation – this time at the coffee and water table. Mention John Roberts and chocolates at the Supreme Court. The kid looked like a younger version of Mike Lee – but he was warm and personable.”

 

I continued: “He took a sample for himself and several for Justice Alito – said he’d get them to him and would emphasize John Roberts’ interest in chocolates. Alito actually told a ‘joke’ in his discussions with one of the competitors: ‘There’s a lot of injustice in the decision-making process, so get used to it.’

 

“That’s no joke,” Jay said. “That’s today’s unjust Supreme Court.”

 

“That’s like what Scalia used to say about his Gore vs Bush vote – ‘just get over it’.”

 

“Alito’s ten year Court stint was recently reviewed in USA Today,” Bill said. “Richard Wolf, the reporter, wrote:

his vote may be the most reliably conservative — more pragmatic than Scalia and Thomas, more predictable than Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy….he sees eye to eye with Roberts…A fan of caffeine…”

 

“He’ll likely need another dose or two,” Bill smiled.

 

 

West Virginia    – Jay:              Capito + Mooney, Jenkins

 

“On to West Virginia,” Jay said. “Charleston is the state Capitol, but not very large. I got to Capito and Mooney, but not to Jenkins. I had to get in and out quickly.”

 

“I’ve been to the other Charleston,” I said. “What’s the West Virginia one like? Isn’t it the one with the Chuck Yeager Airport?”

 

“Yes – how’d you know that?”

 

“As a kid I was nuts about airplanes – and Chuck Yeager was one of my heroes.”

 

“Wasn’t he part of The Right Stuff film?” Bill asked.

 

“Yes, the first guy to fly faster than sound – perhaps with a broken rib.”

 

“That takes cojones,” Jay said, continuing, “Charleston’s a pleasant southern-style town. Capito’s office was small – with one lonely receptionist – with a box of chocolates on her desk.”

 

“You’re kidding. A Christmas gift?”

 

“That’s what she said – from her boss, who apparently likes chocolates.”

 

“Bulls-eye!” Bill said.

 

“It was easy. We traded chocolates – one from her for me, and my Ananda sample for her. She was pleased to have someone to talk with – and said she’d pass our chocolates on to ‘the Senator’.”

 

“Terrific. And Mooney?”

 

“Also easy, because I started with a reference to Capito’s interest in chocolate. That opened up the discussion. Same deal – this middle aged lady will pass on the chocolates and card to Alex Mooney, who, she said, occasionally takes a chocolate when it’s available.”

 

 

 

 

Wisconsin        – Bill:               Ryan + Johnson, Sensenbrenner

 

“I did a two day trip, into and out of Milwaukee, with a side leg to Janesville again.  I got to Ron Johnson’s office in Milwaukee. The Sensenbrenner office in Brookfield, just east of Milwaukie, was the most interesting, because I ran into a young staffer who was a Biology major at Marquette University. We talked about plant biotechnology. He’d actually had a class from a former colleague working in plant hybridization. Small world.”

 

“You recall that Sensenbrenner wanted to be Chair of the House Science Committee?” I asked.

 

“Sure, which is I guess why he liked to have a few staffers with science interests and backgrounds. As I started to pull out and bring up the subject of chocolate, he even asked some good questions about cacao and its cultivation. Smart kid.”

 

“With that kind of rapport, you should follow up and continue to work with him,” I suggested.

 

“And work on him,” Bill said.

 

“But we have to be careful,” Jay cautioned. “We don’t want him or others to know too much about you, us, or Ananda’s.”

 

“Jay’s right, of course,” I said. “Best only a very minimal follow up, if any.”

 

“That kid was so personal that I’m sure he got the chocolates to Sensenbrenner. Johnson’s office was far less interesting. Just a bored receptionist with little interest in chocolates. I called her later using the hotel phone to be sure she’d passed the goods on. She said she had.”

 

“And Ryan?”

 

“A nice 90 minute ride to Janesville and back.  Ryan’s district office there had a great picture of him with his new beard – and there were materials out on his role and actions as Speaker – press releases, etc., and a cool family photo – complete with wife Janna and their three kids – and dogs. A young lady came up to me as I was looking at the photo. What’s their dog’s name, I asked. And that did it. She was a real dog fan. ‘The dogs are Boomer and Sooner’, she said. We got into chocolates via they are bad for dogs. I couldn’t get her to stop talking about dogs. I’m not much of a dog fan, but I didn’t let it show.”

 

“You got to him earlier at a cafe, right?” I asked.

 

“Yes, at the Citrus Cafe, with several of his staff. They all took chocolates then. But I didn’t go back there this time. Last time I didn’t visit his district office; I’d arrived after it closed. So this time I did the office – a new staffer – a new approach.”

 

“And hopefully another dose – this time as Speaker,” I smiled.

 

“I’m sure he appreciates the attention,” Jay smiled.

 

“I did something else – I left a new copy of Ishmael on the table next to the Ryan House reelection materials, just before leaving. The dog lady didn’t see me.”

 

“A little clandestine reading for the office staff,” Jay chuckled. “I hope it gets around.”

 

“I didn’t see anything about Ayn Rand,” Bill said.

 

“That’s good news,” I added.

 

“Then it was back to Milwaukee and the flight home.”

 

“I just heard something about a very interesting Wisconsin Congressman, formerly with the Freedom Caucus, who’s not running again. Reporter David Hawkings said that Reid Riddle, a three term Wisconsin Congressman representing District 8, and a close friend of Paul Ryan, will not run again. He’s tired of the partisanship and gridlock. Hawkings writes:

Soon after taking office, his hawkishness for reducing budget deficits led him to renounce his Americans for Tax Reform ‘pledge’ to oppose all revenue increases, which almost everyone else in the House GOP Conference has signed. He’s also been open to raising taxes on the rich to shore up Social Security’s solvency, by increasing the limit on income subject to the payroll tax.”

 

“So there are some reasonable Republicans,” Jay said. “Unfortunately, though, not very many.”

 

“Hawkings suggests that there’s a potential change brewing, that Ribble may not be completely unique. He quoted Ribble as saying, about Trump:

We can’t just be kicking sand in the sandbox and saying, ‘You’re dumb’ and ‘You’re a loser’. We actually need a grownup, not a 3-year-old in the White House.

 

“Wow, there is hope.”

 

“And maybe we did get to Ryan,” I said. “The Times piece on his budget strategy suggests he’s pushing back against the Freedom Caucus’ hard-nosed budget demands. Reality does sometimes influence ideology.”

 

“There you go again,” Jay said. “You know Ryan just said he would support Trump if he became the Republican nominee – in spite of Ryan’s recent holier than thou statements about bigotry and prejudice.”

 

“It’s the Party – uber alles,” I said.

 

 

Wyoming          – Peter:            Barasso + Enzi, Lummis

 

“Peter told me the Wyoming gig was more interesting than he’d expected.”

 

“Didn’t Liz Cheney just say she’s going to run?” Jay asked.

 

“You’ve got it. Lummis, Wyoming’s at large House rep, said she’s not running again, so Cheney’s angling for her seat.”

 

“From Lummis to perhaps Cheney…how could they be so screwed up there?”

 

“They’re not screwed up,” Jay said. “They’re exceptional – at least that’s the title of Liz’s book. Maybe her five kids will work on her campaign.”

 

“It never ends,” Bill said.

 

“Peter easily got to Barasso, Enzi, and Lummis,” I reported. “He figured that even with Lummis gone her office and staff would likely be inherited by whoever replaces her – even Liz Cheney.”

 

“Good thinking,” Jay said. “And Barasso?”

 

“Another office – another staffer. Peter said he started the conversation with questions about Wyoming’s coal stats – now that coal is dropping so fast, was Wyoming getting any Fed money to help with the transition?”

 

“Good approach,” Bill said “although it doesn’t seem to work on McConnell.”

 

“Peter said he did bring up Kentucky and McConnell – and that Wyoming has been a bigger coal supplier than Kentucky. He said it was a good, even substantive, conversation. The staffer was informed and personable – and accepted the chocolates. Ditto for Enzi’s office.”

 

 

 

We’d been talking for two hours, had very full bladders and were getting tired. We took a break, stretched, got more coffee.

 

 

“I’d like us to get up to the U Cancer Institute and see Tom again,” I said. “He’d like to see us and get a very brief summary of the project.”

 

“I understand he’s on a downhill slide,” Jay said.

 

“Yes, but still in good spirits – and mentally just fine.”

 

 

 

We met in the Cancer Institute fifth floor library the next day. Bonnie wheeled Tom in. He had an iv line, but looked fine. Amazingly he still had most of his hair and beard.

 

 

“It must be the Neanderthal in me,” Tom smiled, when I mentioned the beard. “At least the nurses help me keep it clean and trimmed.”

 

“It’s been a while,” Bill began, “a long while.”

 

“I thought I might have to visit you three in jail. But you’re free to come to me…to my jail,” Tom said. “Just kidding – they’re taking good care of me here.”

 

Bonnie said Tom could talk with us for up to an hour, more or less. She didn’t want him to get too tired. She said she’d be back. We gathered around a circular table.

 

“So, let’s hear it. It must have gone well cause you’re not in jail.”

 

“We’re assuming the national and homeland security drones don’t get into this building,” I said.

 

“But the NSA knows how to read the sound-induced window vibrations,” Jay added.

 

 

Bill proudly started the summary: “Sixteen states, New York City, Washington, DC, and up to 75 people treated – and perhaps another 150 or so ‘calmed’.”

 

Bill and Jay briefly recounted several of their more interesting encounters and experiences. So did I.

 

“We distributed some 300 full dose Ananda Chocolates – and ten or so Parmesan cheese-sprinkled dishes at sit down lunches and dinners,” I said, “and about 500 half-dose Ananda ‘samples’.”

 

“The half-dose were for staffers and the curious?” Tom asked.

 

“Yes. They allowed the staff and handlers to do their ‘diligence’ – assuring them that the ‘gift’ was not toxic or otherwise dangerous.”

 

“So if my head is still working straight, that’s about 50 grams of MDMA, right? That was about the yield of Batch 2.”

 

“The math and memory parts of your head are just fine,” Jay said. “Yes, we still have another 20 grams – essentially all of our final Batch 3.”

 

“Good, cause I’d like to have 20 or so full doses – in Ananda form – to use here – and for myself.”

 

“Consider it done,” I said. “We have about 100 full Anandas set aside for unique new opportunities. I’ll deliver a camouflaged box to you tomorrow. But why so many?”

 

“I’ve had some interesting discussions here with docs and nurses – and with patients. They know nothing about empathogens – or marijuana – or psilocybin. Nothing about MAPS, the PTSD trials, the autism studies – nothing.”

 

“So you’re informing and teaching them?” Bill asked.

 

“Yes – many of them. And they’re all interested.”

 

“And for yourself?”

 

“Well, I’m no Huxley, and MDMA’s not LSD, but when push comes to shove, I don’t want to be afraid to go. A little fear-removing MDMA should be very helpful.”

 

“It would probably help in ‘letting go’,” I agreed. “I was at my mother’s funeral a month or so ago – and talked with the priest who helped and encouraged her to become a community activist. He said Erma was the persistent ‘little old lady’ no one could say No to.”

 

“And she let it go?” Tom asked.

 

“Probably. I told the priest she had said she was waiting for God to take her, but I thought she’d be ok for many more months – even years. The priest said God sometimes requires ‘encouragement’ – ‘I’m sure it was Erma’s decision, not His’.”

 

“And I assume she let go without MDMA,” Tom smiled.

 

“Right. She never did like chocolate.”

 

“By the way,” Tom said seriously, “did you write her obit?”

 

“Yes, with my son’s help.”

 

“Could you help Bonnie write mine – in advance? I want to be sure my chemical skills and Shulgin-like looks are mentioned.”

 

“Of course,” I agreed. “But is there a rush?”

 

“To be on the safe side, come and read me a draft in two weeks, more or less.” He looked carefully at the three of us. “If you can, say something about me, MDMA, and State Change – harmless –  in it. I’d like the world to know that I am so proud to have played a role in the project.”

 

“It was more than a ‘role’,” I said. “Without you, it could not have happened.”

 

“I know you,” he smiled. “You would have found a way.”

 

 

We were all tearing up. I told Tom I’d like to talk with him about other means to synthesize important organic chemicals – to help enhance the availability of good, safe, useful, illegal drugs.

He was keen to meet soon – perhaps a week later.

 

I told Peter and Lucien about our meeting and discussions with Tom. They each said they wanted to see him, to express their thanks, and say their goodbyes. They said they’d be at next week’s meeting and discussion.

 

Homework.

 

 

Although making MDMA requires a skilled and talented organic chemist, there’s been a lot of work on chemical synthesis via automated multi-step processes – so-called robo-synthesis. No surprise, as we now have robo-based, automated approaches to complex manufacturing and even in certain areas of health care. The U main library has its own Maker-Space, where students and faculty can design and construct various machines. It has several 3D-printers with which to fabricate complex shapes.

 

There are now machines for auto-synthesis of DNA fragments, of peptides, and even of small proteins. You specify the final product and the software codes a set of instructions to the robo-synthesizer. Hit start and it begins to pump, deliver, and react – dozens or more chemicals – resulting in a sequence of reactions, purification steps, etc – to deliver the final chemical desired.  Chemical synthesis machines are now being used to make new organic molecules, which are being evaluated for drug activity.

 

There was a recent New York Times story on do-it-yourself diabetes care, and mentioned a bio-hacking group – the Open Insulin Project. Their goal is to produce modified cells to produce insulin, and even culture and grow them in the home environment.

 

It’s not so far-fetched. I attended a remarkable seminar at the U the other day, titled Mammalian Synthetic Biology, by an MIT bioengineer who is developing a toolbox with which to modify – to engineer – cells to do new and specific tasks.

 

There was a recent set of stories called ‘brewing bad’ – about scientists engineering yeast cells to make narcotic drug precursors – sometimes called ‘pharmabrewing’. There are on line reports on using modified bacteria and yeast to host parts of the LSD and psilocybin synthetic pathways. A young Stanford biologist, Christina Smolke, and her team – according to NATURE, in late 2015 – put together

…a pathway of 23 different genes from plants, mammals, bacteria and yeast to produce the world’s first narcotic through synthetic biology.

There is an annual conference titled Synthetic Biology: Engineering, Evolution & Design (SEED). One conference track is: Enabling Technologies and Platforms.

 

Interesting.

 

The MIT prof is actually developing the software – the instruction – toolkit for such activities. Those genetically and/or chemically modified cells will then be cultured, grown, and their secretions or internal products isolated, purified, and used – personally and individually. The era of full cognitive liberty – and libertarian chemical freedom – will then arrive.

 

Legality? Regulation? Control? The FDA?

 

 

“Brewing Bad will not be that different from growing your own marijuana,” Lucien said, “- now legal in several states.”

 

“Or growing your own ‘magic mushrooms’ – not legal, but widely done,” Bill said. “You know, there seems to be less of a stigma in dealing with illegal mushrooms than in dealing with illegal synthetic drugs.”

 

“Automated chemistry is basically a robotic Shulgin on a cart,” Tom said. “We organic chemists can simply become molecule designers, rather than hands on synthesizers.”

 

“Remember George Whitesides from Harvard? We interacted back when we were looking at PEO for protein resistant-surfaces. He was quoted in a recent NATURE piece titled Why Synthesize? saying making molecules is just another kind of manufacturing technology.”

 

“And remember Mathematica, and what it did for Mathematics?” Bill asked.

 

“Yes – and now we have Chematica which, together with the synthesis machines, will likely revolutionize organic chemistry.”

 

“No smelly chemicals; no disposal issues; no long, late night stays at the lab; and less jobs,” Lucien added.

 

“There are upsides and downsides – winners and losers,” Peter said.

 

“But I think the good news for us is how can you outlaw, say, MDMA, if anyone can make it in their science museum or even local library? In addition to Maker-Space services, we’ll soon have Chemistry-Space resources,” I suggested.

 

“There was a cool piece in the Times the other day,” Bill added, “discussing the wide range of stuff some libraries now make available – musical instruments, sports equipment, tools, on and on. So it’s reasonable to expect even chemically-related equipment could be checked out.”

 

“Or used on site,” Lucien added. “And don’t forget ‘Tool Libraries’.” Lucien is an avid volunteer with the Portland Tool Library system.

 

“So harmless gets it all going, ‘demonstrates’, semi-secretly, the potential, and then society takes it from there – towards an empathogenic society.”

 

 

The robo- or auto-chem technology keeps evolving. New Scientist just had a piece, Dial M for Molecule, presenting another system for doing automated chemistry. There’s now a group and project called Dial-A-Molecule, encouraging collaboration on chemical synthesis machines. Maker-Chem activities and workshops will likely become common in libraries, science museums, and even high schools throughout the country. The New Scientist piece concludes with:

            …perhaps the real promise of automatic chemistry lies in democratising the power to make and break chemical bonds. …anyone, scientist or layperson, can make a new molecule.

 

 

“We may end up with a chemically literate segment of society,” I concluded, “…where anyone could synthesize almost anything very easily.”

 

“Meaning organic chemists join up with software folks and fluidic engineers to make programmable synthesizers,” Tom added.

 

“Yes, after you organic chemists work out the reactions needed – steps, sequences, reagents, etc.” I said. “A paper in NATURE recently presented a technique to encapsulate air or moisture sensitive reagents so they can be stored indefinitely, and then added to a reaction when needed.

Such methods will make the development and use of automated chemistry far easier.”

 

“You can buy 3-D printers on Amazon,” Bill said. “Why not buy an MDMA Machine?”

 

“Not yet, but perhaps soon,” I said.

 

“There was a recent Dilbert cartoon,” Jay said. “The online robot pharmacist told Dilbert his mood-altering drugs were being delivered via his home 3D printer.”

 

“Not so far off.”

 

“This is all positive for drug costs,” Bill noted. “The Times just had a story on the exorbitant increases in specialty drug costs. A bunch of oncologists are asking for legislation to help counter the trend. It seems that the costs reflect mainly what the market – and patients – will bear rather than the costs of R and D and reasonable return on investment.”

 

“It might be cheaper for the patient’s family to invest in a synthesizer and an organic chemistry consultant and simply make the drugs directly,” Tom said.

 

“It’s not just cancer drugs,” Jay added. “Another Times piece talked about the high costs of drugs for treating Hepatitis C and, of course, AIDS. A typical 3 month treatment with Hepatitis C drugs is now costing $100,000!”

 

“And a local court in Brazil recently ruled that an experimental cancer drug being studied at the University of Sao Paulo – a simple phosphoethanolamine – has to be made available to terminally ill patients who want it – even though it’s not approved nor even been tested on humans yet,” I said.

 

“Some drugs are molecules readily made by the new equipment and instructions now becoming available,” Tom added.

 

“And if patients do it clandestinely, then patents be damned,” Jay added. “And the FDA and DEA can do nothing – other than try to prosecute.”

 

“I’ve been following the stories on these financial crooks who buy small drug firms making important drugs, and then greatly jack up the prices,” Bill said.

 

“Yes – and one of them has now been arrested for financial misdealings, right?” Jay asked.

 

“Yes,” Bill said. “But these actions have led a to a real anxiety among patients and doctors. The Times just ran a story about patients fearing spikes in the prices of old, established drugs.”

 

“It’s so easy to synthesize many of those drugs. A good robo-chem facility could solve the problem.”

 

“You can copy stuff for personal use, in spite of Copyright. It’s called the Fair Use Exclusion. Why not for chemicals.”

 

“That would make for an interesting legal case…from information to matter, via RoboChem and 3D printing,” Jay smiled.

 

“Patents are highly overrated,” Tom said. “There’s almost always a way around them. What makes them really useful is an army of lawyers and handshake agreements among the drug companies.”

 

“So you plan to make your own?” Bill asked.

 

“It’s probably too late for me,” Tom said. “Most of these very high cost drugs actually do very little for cancer patients – just extend the inevitable by a few months. Better to spend the time and effort with family, friends, and finishing your bucket list – while you can.”

 

“And enjoying chocolate,” Lucien smiled.

 

 

Bonnie came back in. “Times up, boys,” she said. “My chemist needs some rest.”

 

Lucien and Peter crowded around Tom, gently shook his hand, and thanked him for making harmless – State Change – possible.

 

“Don’t forget your writing assignment,” Tom said, looking at me. “See you next week.”

 

 

We continued talking after Bonnie wheeled Tom back to his room.

 

“What do I do with all those frequent flyer miles?” Jay asked, jokingly.

 

“Plan to go off somewhere when Salt Lake’s air turns crappy again.”

 

“I’m heading for Baja,” Bill said. “La Paz should be ideal for a few more months.”

 

“Diana and I will get back to Pacific Grove, and that wonderful bluff walking trail. With no chocolates and no recollection of harmless or of State Change.”

 

“And I’ll probably get down to Kanab for Earthfest – and some Grand Staircase adventures,” Jay said.

 

“I’ll continue to keep track of our 29 – and most of the others – for the next three months or so to determine if harmless had any obvious effect – or impact. There are already some hints of change.”

 

“We each have our Google Alerts on our specific patients. As clues come in, we’ll continue to let you know,” Jay said. Bill agreed.

 

“Best to send those in semi-code,” I cautioned. “Use the list of our patients – the 29 and the collaterals – and the semantics we agreed to earlier. First names and numbers where possible. First name and Congressional District number generally works.”

 

“Hey – and on the book?” Bill asked. “Why not approach Catapult?”

 

“It’s crossed my mind,” I said. “Although Charles didn’t make it to the Centennial Valley gig, David and Bill did – and were fairly open about politics, environment, and legacy.”

 

“They both understood, and responded – more or less openly – to your brief talk – Soddy, Smith, and Economics. David’s comments suggested that Charles is indeed mellowing his hard core Libertarian stance a bit, just as we surmised from that Forbes interview.”

 

“We should have invited Elizabeth and Chase, as well as Charles,” Jay said.

 

“I doubt they would have participated without their parents, ” I said, “even Elizabeth.”

 

“David’s and Bill’s kids were great – they got along, were very interested in the refuge, and generally understood the discussions,” Jay added.

 

“And processed them,” I said. “There’s hope that they may use their inheritances and legacy in a more socially responsible manner than their parents have.”

 

“It may still be reasonable to approach Elizabeth and Catapult on the book, especially if there’s any inkling that Charles is beginning to mellow – if he seems to be adjusting or changing his ideological stance,” Jay said, encouragingly.

 

“His recent Washington Post op-ed about Sanders was encouraging,” Bill noted, “saying

The senator is upset with a political and economic system that is often rigged to help the privileged few at the expense of everyone else, particularly the least advantaged. He believes that we have a two tiered society that increasingly dooms millions of our fellow citizens to lives of poverty and hopelessness. He thinks many corporations seek and benefit from corporate welfare while ordinary citizens are denied opportunities and a level playing field.

I agree with him.”

 

“It’s a good start toward his revelation – maybe there is hope for him.”

 

“The Catapult label, and Elizabeth’s obvious interest and endorsement, would be very significant for State Change,” Bill said.

 

“And perhaps guarantee she’d be fully cut out of his will,” I smiled.

 

 

 

The Salt Lake team had another brief meeting prior to seeing and talking with Tom – probably for the last time. This time in the U’s new Law Building, outside the cafe.

 

“Let’s get into …if we were to do this all over again, what might we do differently?” I asked.

 

“Well, we likely wouldn’t have Tom – and I doubt you have another chemist friend with comparable skills and convictions,” Bill said.

 

“Correct, which means we wouldn’t have access to high quality MDMA.”

 

“We might not need MDMA – maybe we could go with psilocybin,” Jay said. “We don’t need a chemist to grow mushrooms.”

 

“We just need a good mycologist to teach us to identify – and cultivate – the right ones,” Bill said.

 

“And – thanks to Lucien – we know about Paul Stamets, his book, his kits, and his workshops.”

 

“And Lucien’s early experiments in blending Psilocybe cubensis powder in chocolate.”

 

“Peter reported he could still taste the mushroom component, which wasn’t pleasant – but those experiments used a fairly high dose.”

 

“If we were to use them for non-hallucinatory excursions, we’d use lower doses and the bad taste would be easier to mask,” Bill said.

 

“psilocybin is not considered an empathogen – rather it’s an entheogen,” I said. “But that may be sufficient.”

 

“One of our critical confidantes for harmless said he didn’t think MDMA was ‘strong’ enough to facilitate the rewiring – the revelations – we want. He suggested psilocybin or even LSD – in milder doses than used for psychedelic tripping.”

 

“I recall the PTSD and autism studies using psilocybin,” Bill said. “It might just do the job.”

 

“Entheogens may work, and we know that empathogens – MDMA – works, but there’s over half of the population that may not need them,” I said. “They’re just not in charge.”

 

“You mean the half with lower testosterone…”

 

“And higher estrogen,” Jay added.

 

“For example, our 29 included only three women: Capito, Ernst, and Rodgers. We didn’t have Sotomayor, Kagan, Ginsburg, or Hillary Clinton in our 29 because they didn’t qualify – they don’t need empathogenic therapy.”

 

“There was an old TED talk I saw,” Bill said, ‘a discussion between Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.”

 

“I’ll bet Jane did most of the talking,” Jay added.

 

“Yes, but she did say ‘it’s women who need to change the world’.”

 

“Did you see Michael Moore’s newest – on invading other countries to get ideas to help save the USA?”

 

“He sometimes rubs me the wrong way,” Jay said.

 

“I saw it. Yes, he’s almost embarrassing, but the film is really good,” Bill said. “Especially the part on Iceland and women in government.”

 

“Go on….”

 

I reported: “In the film, Moore sits down for an extended conversation with Vigdís Finnbogadóttir the Icelandic politician who served as their fourth President from 1980 to 1996. A single mother with a seven-year-old daughter at the time she was elected, she began a strong women’s equality movement in Iceland. Moore also has a discussion with other prominent Icelandic women – they say they feel equal with men and have no motivation to live in America. ‘You couldn’t pay me to live there’, one says.”

 

“Iceland had an early bank collapse – and prosecuted and jailed the males responsible for it – one of the only countries to do so,” Bill noted.

 

In the film Iceland’s former Director of the Chamber of Commerce, Halla Tomasdottir asks:

I had to question whether this growth journey we had been on was really a successful business strategy. I had somehow missed this approach to business when I got my MBA education. Is it a relentless pursuit in order to get big? Or is this just a great big penis competition?

 

“The testosterone, again,” Jay smiled. “I understand that the one Icelandic bank that didn’t fail was the one run by women.”

 

 

Steven Holdren reviewed the film for the Times, when it was released late last year:

The key to [Iceland’s] resilience and stability, Mr. Moore concludes, is its strong female leadership, and he goes on to suggest that testosterone drives a patriarchal society to violence and irrational risk-taking. In his view, the world would be peaceful and just if women were in charge.

 

“Nicholas Kristof has been writing for years that women and girls need to be educated, empowered, and encouraged to take part in their societies – and especially in their governance,” I concluded.

 

“Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton, and Vigdís Finnbogadóttir all agree – as well as Michael Moore,” Bill said.

 

“And Diane Eisler, I’m sure. But it will take time. We still have to deal with the testosterone-fueled bigots, the fear and paranoia crowd, the conspiracy theorists, and the dejected, poorly educated white males who cannot see or think beyond their myopic present. And at least some of those may be helped by MDMA, psilocybin, or marijuana.”

 

“I read a Times story recently, about a neuroscientist who had, temporarily, lost her mind,” Jay said.  “She had brain cancer which provoked a type of mental illness –

…the fear and confusion of living in a world that doesn’t make sense. … when my guesses were wrong, conspiracy theories crawled in, she said.”

 

“I like the phrase ‘…conspiracy theories crawled in’,” Bill said. “It’s like the paranoids have spaces or holes in their brains – stuff they simply do not, perhaps cannot, understand. Their brain makes up conspiracy stories to fill the vacuums in their brains.”

 

 

Moore’s film included a segment on Portugal – on its now fifteen year old policy of drug decriminalization. Even the Utah Legislature voted recently to move marijuana from a Federal Class 1 drug to Class 2, so it could be used for research studies – but it eventually failed. MAPS is making progress to make MDMA a prescription drug, and there is great interest in the therapeutic potential of psilocybin.

 

 

Tom and I met again at the U Cancer Institute; this time Bonnie stayed with us.

 

“I only wrote two paragraphs -,” I said, “ specifically on your chemistry work and on harmless.”

 

“That’s fine. Bonnie will deal with all the family, personal and other stuff,” Tom said, weakly.

 

Bonnie confided that he was doing poorly. Treatments have stopped. He’s now on ‘comfort care’. Although he’s still eating, he is losing weight. She said he’s accepted his fate – he is ‘ready’.

 

I showed him the paragraph I’d written. “Read it to me,” he said.

 

I read slowly:

Thomas L. Borodin received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Utah in 1971. His thesis supervisor was the well known natural products chemist Henry Goldstein. After a one year post doctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Borodin accepted a position at the University of Utah in its new Department of Bioengineering, working in the new field of biomaterials with Joseph Decoto, a young assistant professor. He worked with Decoto for seven years, working on novel hydrogels for artificial heart and kidney applications. Thomas then left the University to join a startup company, Novel Biomaterials, which later became Process Analytics, a firm using Raman Spectroscopy for analysis of organic compounds. He retired in 2005 at the age of 64. He continued to work in organic chemistry as a consultant and advisor to industry and with University researchers.

 

In 2010 his former collaborator, Decoto, introduced him to the work of Dr. Sasha Shulgin, a Lafayette, California independent chemist working on psychedelic and empathogenic drugs, including psilocybin and MDMA. Borodin and Decoto never met Shulgin, who died in 2014, but who lives on via his several authoritative chemistry reference books. Borodin and Decoto then joined with four other friends to develop a project they called ‘harmless’ to produce and deliver MDMA to a wide range of political and social leaders suffering from Empathy Deficit Disorder (EDD), with the goal of aiding their transformation to become more effective public servants. Borodin’s chemical synthesis talents and skills were essential to the project. Borodin was quoted as saying ‘It was the most important work I have ever done. I’m very proud of being a key part of the harmless effort.’ The harmless project concluded in early 2016, at about the same time as Borodin’s liver cancer reached the terminal stage. He was comforted in his final days by means of the very MDMA he had synthesized earlier.

 

“It’s a little long,” Tom said, “but I like it. Couldn’t have said it better myself.” He smiled. He looked at Bonnie: “Be sure to use that in the final obit.” She was crying, as was I.

 

I said my goodbyes to Tom and Bonnie. His death occurred a few days later. I told the harmless team about his final days and the obituary paragraphs.

 

Bill, Jay, and I agreed to meet one last time at Coffee Noir. I had put together some readings and perspectives to help put an optimistic perspective on our very disconcerting politics and world condition.

 

We talked about Nicholas Berggruen, a relatively young German-American billionaire who

set up the Berggruen Institute in 2010, recently launching its Philosophy and Culture Center, with an initial focus on China and the United States. The Themes of the Center resonate with the goals and concerns of harmless, including empathy, morality, and ethics.

 

Another initiative is Stanford’s new Knight-Hennessy Scholars and affiliated programs – a nearly billion dollar effort to recruit and trained advanced undergraduates from around the world.

 

“That all sounds great,” Bill said. “I hope Knight, the other donors, Hennessy, and Stanford’s new President Tessier-Lavigne really mean it – and manage the program effectively.”

 

“I’ve seen too many programs spouting innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship, technology, etc. that just train people to develop more relatively useless widgets, apps, and gadgets,” I said. “I hope they get those ‘scholars’ to understand and appreciate Soddy, Sustainability, and Planetary Wellbeing.”

 

“That means they need a good dose of the humanities – and the social sciences,” Bill said.

 

“And that reminds me,” Jay offered, “of a little hierarchy we discussed in the early days of harmless. Remember our State Change hierarchy:

Mental

Individual

Cultural

Political

National

Global.”

 

“I do remember. harmless has dealt mainly with Mental and Individual. If tipping really does occur, that will help with Cultural and Political. Truly National and even Global will require much more work,” I said.

 

“Maybe we could talk with Knight, Hennessy, and Tessier-Lavigne about it,” Bill suggested.

 

“I’ll send them each a copy if and when State Change is published.”

 

“Just finish it and get it published,” Jay said. “Just say it’s a work of fiction. It can’t do harmless – or anyone else – any harm now.”

 

“It could do some harm. It could stock the fear and paranoia crowd – they’d charge that some group is ‘poisoning’ our political patriots,” I said. “It could set back the efforts at legalizing MDMA, the MAPS programs.”

 

“Honestly, I don’t think it’ll have that much impact,” Bill said. “If it’s published, it becomes semilegitimate. You can send copies to the 29 – to the entire 74 – to Hennessy, to Elizabeth Koch. If it’s not out there, they’ll never get the message.”

 

“And even if they did get the message via Ananda, seeing the book will reinforce it – will remind them. Having the story out there is essential to the impact, the effectiveness, of all we’ve done. And a legacy for Tom.”

 

“A friend of mine just published via Amazon’s CreateSpace,” Bill said. “Another resource is Lulu. We could have it out within two months of hitting Submit  – about the time of the 2016 conventions. And if Amazon or Lulu balks, because you don’t have ‘permissions’ from our 29 ‘celebrity’ patients, you can self-publish directly using the U library’s ‘Espresso Book Machine’ – and just give the books away.”

 

“And make it available for free – on line at www.statechange.us ,” Jay added.

 

“You’re right. I know Lucien and Peter will agree – and Tom would if he could. I’ll get it ready for ‘publication’ and distribution.”

 

 

After a long pause, Bill continued: “Do you think we’ve done any good – so far?”

 

“We’ll never know,” I said. “We can’t take credit for the current implosion of the Republican Party – for its fragmentation and disarray. Fear, paranoia, demagoguery did that.”

 

“I’m sure we did no harm -,” Jay offered, “not even to Scalia.”

 

“We planted some seeds, “ I said. ‘Francis Fox Piven is one of my favorite activists. Regarding Occupy, she said:

The great protest movements of history … did not expand in the shape of a

simple rising arc of popular defiance. Rather, they began in a particular place,

sputtered and subsided, only to re-emerge elsewhere in perhaps a different

form, influenced by local particularities of circumstance and culture.”

 

“And Martin Luther King said the same thing – in different ways at different times.”

 

“The awareness, the potential, the recognition of action, of potential change – it all stays in the culture. It gets picked up, reused, recommunicated. I’ve always loved the spirit and the words of Steinbeck’s Tom Joad, from The Grapes of Wrath:

 

I’ll be all around in the dark – I’ll be everywhere. Wherever you can look – wherever there’s a fight, so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad. I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry and they know supper’s ready, and when the people are eatin’ the stuff they raise and livin’ in the houses they build – I’ll be there, too.

 

 

We had a final, Skype-assisted talk at my home – with Lucien and Peter.

 

“We began with ideology, denial, gridlock, malaise, fear, and desperation – and opted for illegal, clandestine, undemocratic, chemically facilitated empathic and moral enhancement,” I surmised.

 

“And it may be working,” Bill said. “Some of our patients are saying things far more reasonable and helpful than they did earlier. Revelation engineering may be working.”

 

“That’s real progress – and hope,” Jay said. “The USA Titanic may be slowly turning.”

 

“And I’ve become a chemist of sorts, thanks to Tom’s expert teaching,” Lucien said.

 

“And,” I smiled. “We’re not in jail, not even arrested; not even being investigated.”

 

“As far as we know,” said Jay.

 

“We’ve been lucky. As harmless evolved – and as we implemented our plans – State Change took on a mind of its own. We’re seeing parallel sentiments and even actions. The strategy is spreading and expanding,” I said.

 

“And we each have a good stock of Ananda’s Chocolates – we can continue to deliver treatments as the opportunities arise,” Jay suggested.

 

“I’ll continue to treat patients using MDMA and Ananda’s Chocolates,” Lucien said, “but I’ll also expand my work with psilocybin via mushrooms. We’ve learned so much about packaging and delivery that can be easily applied to magic mushrooms.”

 

“We lit a fuse – and we hope and expect the actions to continue,” Bill added. “It’s easier to do via mushrooms – no synthesis, not much ‘street’ competition and uncertainty.”

 

“Yes. Hopefully that will encourage and empower others to build upon our efforts and experience.”

 

“Thanks to MAPS and the many researchers and practitioners we’ve learned about, MDMA should soon be legal – at least for therapy in medically licensed settings.”

 

“But, unfortunately, I doubt we’ll see any Eleusinian-like ceremonies soon,” I said, “Although, if it does become legal, it’s reasonable to expect Eleusinian-like labs and ceremonies in college seminars, workshops in places like Esalen, and maybe even training sessions for newly elected politicians.”

 

“I wish I had your optimism,” Jay said.

 

“Enough…. No celebrations, no Tweets, no congratulations,” I said. “Keep it secret, just like the Media burglars did.”

 

“And maybe I can star in a documentary in 2040 – titled 2015,” Lucien said. “I may still be here.”

 

“And the rest of harmless likely won’t be there,” Bill said.

 

“I’ll now start working on State Change: Act II,” I said. “But this time I need to work solo.”

 

“How about another hint – beyond just saying it’s about evil?” Jay asked.

 

“It’ll begin with explosives – bullets and armaments – and the evil folks who profit from them,” I answered.

 

“Let us know if you want help,” said the harmless, ‘or just need to talk.”

 

“And the 29?” Bill asked. “Where did the magic number come from?”

 

“My little idea to give recognition to Shulgin and MDMA – 14 big atoms – carbon, nitrogen, oxygen – plus 15 little ones – the hydrogens.”

 

“And that happens to be a prime number – and a prime empathogen,” Bill smiled.

 

We said goodbye. Lucien and Peter signed out. Bill, Jay, and I hugged and shook hands. They walked away, each with a small bag of chocolates.

 

 

 

The End

 

Chapter 11: Delivery and Treatment

“Let’s talk about Centennial Valley,” I said. “It needs to happen by mid-September or it’ll be too late for harmless. September 23 is father Fred’s birthday, I think.”

 

“I read it’s the 26th,” Bill said. “I’ve talked with the Manager of the U’s facilities in Lakeview. They have space available in September, which is nearly ideal for early school year events.”

 

“Terrific. I’ve been doing the homework on Bill Koch’s Oxbridge Academy of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, especially on the science and environmental studies teachers and courses. I’ve made contact with several who are very interested. I’m now working on getting the idea to Bill Koch, perhaps via his wife or son. School starts in early September. Once we book the school – and hopefully Bill – then we can work on his brothers.”

 

 

Koch Industries’ Matador Cattle Company operates three ranches: Beaverhead near Yellowstone National Park in Montana, Spring Creek in the Flint Hills of Kansas, and Matador Ranch in Texas.  Beaverhead Ranch is located on more than a quarter million acres in Southwest Montana. It stretches along a 90-mile road from Dillon to the Idaho border then east to Yellowstone Park.

It was acquired between 1941 and 1952 by Fred C. Koch and today totals nearly a half million acres of owned or leased land.

 

The U’s Taft-Nicholson Environmental Humanities Education Center (T-N Center) is located in Montana’s Centennial Valley, a 6,000 foot high and 60 mile wide wetlands east of the Continental Divide on the North slope of the Centennial Mountains, an East-West range. The Center is named for John and Melody Taft and their friends the Nicholsons.

 

The Valley includes the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, created in 1935 by Franklin D. Roosevelt, to provide habitat for the trumpeter swan, then facing extinction. The swans now thrive in the refuge.

 

 

“The Centennial Valley refuge is really beautiful,” Bill noted. “The majestic Centennial Mountains are on the South, forming part of the Idaho-Montana border.”

 

“Refuges have been in the news,” Jay said, “especially the Malheur one in SE Oregon, where God apparently sent Emmon Bundy to occupy it and throw out the Feds.”

 

“Did you see the cool Bagley cartoon on ‘I am doing God’s will’? Bill asked.

 

“Yes,” I said. “God not only sends Bundy, but also ISIS, Kony, Boka Haram, and Warren Jeffs, among others.”

 

“I wonder who He’ll send next?” Jay smiled, seriously.

 

“The New York Times op-ed on Myth vs Anger, regarding the Feds and Western lands, tries to put the ‘protest’ in historical – and economic -perspective.”

 

“And it recently turned bloody. A 55 year old rancher named Lavoy Finicum, with eleven kids, was shot resisting arrest.”

 

A recent Times op-ed by Quammen provides some perspective. She had earlier interviewed the Bundys, writing:

…a sense of entitlement that they believe is anchored in their deep history in the region. They also embrace a strange amalgamation of Mormonism, libertarianism and a rightwing reading of the Constitution.

 

The Times also noted that the Bundy Facebook page was providing updates on the Malheur protest, including a brief eulogy for Finicum addressed to Federal officials: ‘You cannot defeat us. Our blood is seed’.

 

“The ‘our blood is seed’ phrase is often used by those promoting martyrdom,” Bill said. “Pope Francis has even used it.”

 

“I see another interpretation,” I said. “Finicum has eleven kids. Clyde Bundy has fourteen. I recall a quote in Weisman’s book, Countdown – on overpopulation. He quoted Yassar Arafat as saying ‘The Palestine Liberation Organization’s best weapon is the Palestinian womb’.”

 

“Suggesting that Mormons and other far right folks may also be using overbreeding for political ends,” Jay added.

 

“You said it,” Bill smiled.

 

“Brain washing is something all parents do – often inadvertently,” I said. “The kids tend to grow up with the values and politics of their parents. Only in mid-adolescence, assuming they are not already rigid believers, do they begin to question and rebel.”

 

“Why is why young Mormons go on missions and the far right folks are so adamant about home ‘schooling’,” Jay added.

 

“Yes, which reminds me of a great teacher quote by Amanda Waterhouse,” I said, “ – a letter from a teacher to parents:

 

Dear Parent or Guardian:

 

         I have your child.

 

         Be assured, he is physically fine,

         But he is in great danger: his mind is exposed,

         his thoughts vulnerable. 

 

         I threaten the ideas you taught him.

 

         You will see your child at night, early mornings, and weekends,

         but the rest of his time belongs to me.

 

         I am not asking for money or making demands. 

         Like it or not, I will change him;

         and when I am done,

         He will be a little less yours.

 

“That’s so cool,” Bill said.

 

 

Adjacent to the Red Rocks Refuge Visitor Center is the T-N Center. Frank Carter is the Bozeman-based regional director for communications and development for the Taft-Nicholson Center. Speaking with great enthusiasm about the Center and about John and Melody Taft, he calls it the ‘perfect collision’ of sciences and humanities. The Center is surrounded by the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and close to the Koch’s Matador Ranch. One of the Center’s goals is to educate and empower a generation of environmental leaders. Carter says:

            What we’re trying to do here is create those big ideas as a community of

people by bridging the sciences and humanities. I think it’s critical work. It’s the work of

the future.

 

Author and poet Terry Tempest Williams, on the U’s Environmental Humanities faculty, participates regularly in the Center’s summer courses, workshops, and meetings. Referring to the recent Reimagine Western Landscapes Symposium, in which the Times Timothy Egan also participated, she said:

 

I think that our greatest task is to listen to the land, to the people who have been here a long time and to the wildlife. This is a place of refuge and I think we have to remind ourselves of that and be respectful of that. I see it as a privilege. I see it as a story emerging.

 

One of her books is called Refuge.

 

The Center is open June through October and hosts an average of 300 participants per season. It is located between West Yellowstone and Montana’s Interstate 15, 28 miles east of Monida.  Driving in from the Interstate, from the West on South Valley Road, you pass the Koch Brother’s Beaverhead Ranch. David Nick and his wife Jessica manage the cattle operation and have attended lectures at the Center.

 

John Taft first experienced the Valley in 1964, on a National Audubon Society project. A Big Sky Journal article recently covered part of the history. Realizing the Valley was half in private hands, Taft returned to the Valley in 1972 and purchased property on which he and Melody built a home. He also bought Lakeview, a ghost town which was on the Stagecoach run from West Yellowstone to the west. The Tafts worked hard to protect much of the Valley from development by encouraging the purchase of private lands by Federal agencies, The Nature Conservancy, and private individuals who implemented conservation easements. They repaired and renovated the structures at Lakeview and built log cabins to accommodate guests. After an enormous amount of work, they realized that the facility could be best used via a University connection. The Montana schools they approached were not interested – then.

 

 

“The U’s then new President and its Dean of Humanities did have some interest. The U had its Environmental Humanities program, but no field or ‘laboratory’ facility,” Bill noted. “The meetings and discussions started. Our friend Merry, who by then had left The Leonardo, helped encourage the relationship, and the T-N Center came into being. It’s now a satellite campus of the U – in another state!”

 

“And it’s been a great success. You were the connector. Congratulations!” I said. “And maybe now the Center and Centennial Valley can help save the planet – via harmless.”

 

“William, the Connector – that’s me,” Bill laughed.

 

 

“Back to Bill Koch and Oxbridge Academy,” I said. “Bill is the founder and the money behind Oxbridge; its President and CEO is Bob Parsons. They now have a formal Montana connection! Oxbridge students are doing fieldwork in Yellowstone National Park via the Missoula-based Ecology Project International (EPI). The Oxbridge effort is led by a Dr. Teresa Thornton, a science-environment teacher at the Academy.”

 

“So doing something with the T-N Center and the Red Rock Lakes Refuge should be an easy sell,” Bill said.

 

“I hope so.”

 

“The challenge is to make the trip and event happen this year while harmless is still operational,” Jay cautioned.

 

“Well, if the kids are going to Yellowstone anyway, via the EPI gig, perhaps we can talk EPI into routing through the T-N Center, where they might interact with both the Wildlife Refuge staff and the T-N folks, as well as perhaps participate in a reception hosted by the Kochs and their Ranch. EPI’s main office is in Missoula – that could be where the Oxbridge activity trip might originate.”

 

Montana is also the home of VoteSmart, www.votesmart.org , founded by Richard Kimball in 1992. VoteSmart works with interns to provide information on candidates for responsible and interested voters.

 

In 1986 Kimball ran unsuccessfully for one of Arizona’s two U.S. Senate seats. In a candidate’s debate, he described the campaign process to prospective voters:

Understand what we do to you. We spend all of our time raising money, often from strangers we do not even know. Then we spend it in three specific ways: First we measure you, what it is you want to purchase in the political marketplace — just like Campbell’s soup or Kellogg’s cereal. Next, we hire some consultants who know how to tailor our image to fit what we sell. Lastly, we bombard you with the meaningless, issueless, emotional nonsense that is always the result. And whichever one of us does that best will win.

He lost the 1986 election to John McCain.

 

VoteSmart established its headquarters and research center in 1999 at the Great Divide Ranch near Philipsburg, Montana. About halfway between Missoula and Butte and NW of Dillon, it is in near wilderness, accessed via the town of Phillipsburg. The staff and interns mostly live at the ranch in rugged conditions, working largely for room and board. They have produced a web-based resource with a range of current and effective tools for voters.

 

 

“You told me you visited them some years ago,” Bill recalled.

 

“Yes. Diana and I were driving from Portland to Victor, Idaho to attend a friend’s wedding. We routed through Phillipsburg to visit VoteSmart and on to Lakeview to experience the Refuge and the U’s T-N Center.”

 

“The T-N Center was just getting up and running. John Taft took us on an incredible jeep tour of the entire area.”

 

“He sure likes driving that jeep!” Bill smiled.

 

“I tried to connect Kimball and the T-N Center, since they are not that far apart, but I don’t think they ever connected. At that time I didn’t know about EPI or we would have visited them, too.”

 

“Montana is an interesting place, with some very creative and independent-minded folks. We’ll need to invite their delegation to our T-N /Beaverhead Ranch event,” Bill suggested.

 

Homework.

 

Montana’s senators are Democrat Jon Tester and Republican Steve Daines. Daines was elected in 2014 . He is very conservative. The state’s single at-large Representative, first elected 2014, is Ryan Zinke. His ideology and leadership scores are in the middle of the GOP distribution – an average Republican. His office locations include Missoula and Helena. Tester is a fairly conservative Democrat. He said recently, regarding GOP stonewalling of any Obama Court nominee:

this is why people hate the Senate. Elections are about accountability. We have a job to do and we need to do our job. People are going to ask … Why aren’t you doing your job?

He has offices in Bozeman and Butte. He is a farmer and a former music teacher.

 

Daines has a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Montana State. He and wife Cindy live in Bozeman; they have four children: David, Annie, Michael and Caroline. Daines’ Washington DC office hosts a one hour coffee breakfast for the delegation and visitors when the Senate is in session.

 

Zinke, Tester, and Daines all represent Beaverhead County in SW Montana; they should know about Beaverhead Ranch, the T-N Center, the Red Rock National Wildlife Refuge, EPI, and VoteSmart.

 

 

I proceeded to contact and talk with the EPI people in Missoula and – at nearly the same time – with Teresa Thompson at Oxbridge, suggesting the Centennial Valley and T-N resources. I also sent a note to Bill Koch, via the school’s CEO, his good friend Bob Parsons, noting the Ranch, T-N Center, and Wildlife Refuge connections with Oxbridge and the Missoula group. I referred to Bill Koch’s father, Fred, his Sept. 26 birthday, and to Bill’s own writings about his father and the ranch. I also suggested that Bill’s kids and grandkids might enjoy seeing the place that helped form Bill – and that helped save the trumpeter swan. I also suggested that his twin brother David and his family might like to participate. Then I waited.

 

While waiting I contacted Vanessa Rogers, a reporter-writer for Florida Weekly, and suggested a story on Bill Koch’s and Oxbridge’s Montana connections – and on the Beaverhead Ranch where Bill spent five summers working very hard – also that his boat (one of them) is named Matador – for the Texas ranch. I also contacted Lisa Rab at New Times Broward – Palm Beach; she did an extensive 2011 story on Bill’s legacy. I suggested she do a follow up and mentioned the Montana – Oxbridge connection; I said the same to Alex Leary, Tampa Bay Times, who did a 2014 story on Bill.

 

 

“And, surprise!” I said. “In doing the Oxbridge homework, I learned they just hosted a Sea Level Rise Symposium.”

 

“A Koch brother is now hosting talks on sea level rise?” Jay asked. “Maybe he is concerned about his own Palm Beach mansion and property.”

 

“Doesn’t that have something to do with climate change?” Bill smiled.

 

“And CO2?” Jay continued. “And doesn’t twin brother David also have a mansion nearby, which will also start going underwater?”

 

“He does – about two miles away.”

 

 

The Oxbridge Academy and Youth Environmental Alliance hosted the 3rd annual Sea Level Rise Symposium some months ago. During the daylong symposium, participants worked to build resiliency and reduce carbon emissions. Topics included new energy policies, social and environmental justice, and adapting to change. Workshops included coastal restoration, disaster preparedness, and local artists reflecting on climate change.

 

 

“And this was in Marco Rubio’s Florida – just up the road from Miami?” Jay asked, smiling again.

 

“Yes, and some months later – in December, it was 75 degrees in New Hampshire and New York City. Rubio’s poor kids didn’t see snow during a New Hampshire campaign gig,” I said.

 

“And, about the same time, the New Yorker ran Elizabeth Kolbert’s article on The Siege of Miami,” Bill said. “- a seige via sea, of course.”

 

“If Rubio’s nominated, he’ll pull his head out of the denier sand in time to try to compete with Hillary,” Jay added.

 

“Sure, he can cite his climate change – related work in the Florida legislature – and Florida’s ‘new’ reality,” Bill said.

 

“Revelations happen.”

 

 

 

“We’ve got competition,” Jay said, “from movies and TV – and from Stephen Colbert.”

 

“How so?” Bill asked.

 

We were meeting again at Coffee Noir, sitting outside – it was unseasonably warm.

 

“There’s a film, called Limitless, and now a TV show with the same name, which uses brain enhancement.”

 

“And our competition?” I asked.

 

“The key character takes ‘NZT’, which allows him to greatly enhance the use of his brain. It allows him to access music, language, observation, and analysis skills way, way beyond the normal.”

 

“And the NZT – sounds like a new neurodrug?” I asked.

 

“No details, only that it’s hard to get unless he cuts some sort of devil’s bargain – details to come as the series progresses.”

 

“And NZT is fiction, right – doesn’t exist?” Bill asked.

 

“Apparently so. It would be a great adjunct to MDMA,” I said. “MDMA for the empathy, openness, and compassion – NZT for great mental and intellectual skills.”

 

“If it did exist, it would be illegal.”

 

“But while on NZT the character is so smart, he helps the FBI solve difficult crimes. It reminds me of Cumberbatch’s Sherlock – his savant-like mind processing data and connections at incredible rates. So now the FBI will be interested for its agents and for law enforcement, of course.”

 

“Sounds to me like MK-Ultra has come full circle,” I smiled.

 

“That was the sixties era Army – CIA truth serum work, right?” Jay asked.

 

“Yes, based mainly on LSD. We talked about it briefly many months ago – and now a modern version is on TV. Cool!”

 

“Maybe NZT is a new CIA/NSA – funded agent?” Jay smiled.

 

“Both Cheney and Kissinger are still alive, so anything is possible,” I said.

 

“And that’s what Colbert suggested the other day,” Jay smiled. “He said many of the ISIS terrorists are likely on meth, making them feel powerful and invincible.”

 

“I’ve heard that before – it’s a reasonable supposition,” I said. “There’s an old drug, Captagon – actually a pro-drug, which is both meth and caffeine. Fighters and terrorists like to take it. It’s apparently quite popular among the Syria ISIS guys.”

 

“There’s more. At the end of his short Tonight Show segment, Colbert suggested ‘bombing’ ISIS-active areas with Ecstasy pills – to make them feel compassionate and empathetic – much less aggressive.”

 

“A Cruz ‘carpet bombing’ plan that might actually work!”

 

“Did Colbert do any follow up – like asking the Secretary of Defense to comment?” Bill asked.

 

“Not yet. Perhaps he got some negative backlash about promoting illegal drugs.”

 

“Illegal drugs that should be legal – to fight ISIS.”

 

“And to fight the Tea Party!”

 

“Does Colbert’s skit now make us followers rather than leaders?”

 

“We’re not followers or leaders – we’re implementers,” I said. “And it’s now time for us to implement rapidly. We’ve got our patients selected; we know quite a bit about each of them; the party season is nearly here; and the NSA world is distracted by ISIS and domestic terrorism.”

 

“And by Trump, Cruz, and Rubio – and now David Duke.”

 

“We’ll send Colbert a heads up as soon as we’re finished delivering Ananda’s treatments,” Bill said, “- and thanki him for his thoughtful and practical suggestion.”

 

 

We understood that there will be situations where Ananda’s Chocolates may not work as a delivery method. Lucien and Peter had worked on another approach which could be easily made, transported, and used somewhat unobtrusively: MDMA powder in Parmesan cheese – ideal for Italian dinners or even salads. They chose a somewhat spicy and salty Parmesan flavor – from Trader Joe’s – to more effectively mask the bitterness of the MDMA. Roughly a tablespoon – or two – of the Parmesan provides a good dose of MDMA, assuming most of it is ingested.

 

When we learned that Paul Ryan likes Clif Bars, we tried, unsuccessfully, to learn his favorite types and flavors. We have now acquired several of their many different products, including mini-bars, and developed ways to get MDMA into and onto them – as well as how to open the package, remove the contents, reinsert our modified bar, and reseal. We were getting good at this.

 

 

“I love the Parmesan brand – map of Italy, flag, and a pasta dish.”

 

“You know, once harmless is over and when MDMA becomes as legal as marijuana, we’ll have a cool business.”

 

“Let’s hope so,” I said. “Colbert could be an investor.”

 

 

The initial background work on the selected 29 was now complete. We needed to assign responsibilities and to continue the research on each subject. We need to know and understand them in order to most effectively deliver Ananda’s materials and insure an effective treatment.

 

 

“We needed to get to three of them right away,” Bill said.

 

“It’s a good thing we, rather, you, got to Boehner early; our effort may have impacted his interactions with the Pope – and his resignation from Congress,” I said.

 

“And your treatment probably aided in his efforts at getting the budget and debt issues partially resolved before then handing the gavel to Paul Ryan,” Jay said.

 

“Boehner said that the Pope’s Washington, D.C. visit was the highlight of his career in Congress,” Bill continued.

 

“And it’s good we got to McCarthy early as well, because he was – and is – Majority Leader in the House. His therapy likely had some effect on his actions, too,” Jay said.

 

“YOU got to McCarthy,” I smiled.

 

“And Bill also got to Ryan. He did two needy birds – Boehner and Ryan – in one trip.”

 

“Which is the efficient way for us to proceed,” I said. “Plan and focus on a major target – but also deal with other needy targets in the same area on the same trip.”

 

“One air fare, one car rental, perhaps one night in a motel,” Bill smiled.

 

“Good plan,” Jay said. “Now we need to get to the rest of them.”

 

“And quickly,” I said. “Once our chocolate gifts start to become known, they’ll get more curious – and start asking questions. The sooner we do the treatments, the better.”

 

 

When harmless realized that the Freedom Caucus was threatening Boehner, just before the Pope’s visit, and as the speculation began as to a replacement if Boehner was forced out, we immediately fast-tracked the treatment for Boehner, McCarthy, and Ryan.  Bill went off to Dayton and Janesville, and Jay off to Bakersfield, with our then very limited supply of Ananda’s Chocolates. We hadn’t even finished the labeling.

 

 

“How did you ‘access’ Boehner?” I asked.

 

“In Andy’s bar-cafe in his district. Boehner worked there as a kid. My experience in rowdy Australian pubs came in handy,” Bill said. “Talk about a blue collar world! Boehner wouldn’t take a chocolate just for him – he insisted on some for his bar mates.”

 

“So how many did you treat?”

 

“Three plus Boehner. Most beer drinkers aren’t too keen on chocolates. But the wine drinkers are responsive. Boehner’s a fan of Merlot, remember?”

 

“Any effects?” I asked.

 

“Not immediately, of course, but I left about fifteen minutes later. I had a beer with them. Plus, I was out of chocolates,” Bill responded.

 

“Well, a week or so later he looked even more teary than his usual self – and even compassionate – when with the Pope,” I observed. “And then – almost as soon as the Pope boarded his plane back to Rome – Boehner resigned!”

 

“I do think Ananda had something to do with it.”

 

“It was good you could get to McCarthy before he was to be elected Speaker,” I said – looking at Jay.

 

“Bakersfield’s not my favorite place, but I think it worked. Good chocolates are somewhat rare there.”

 

“How’d you get to him – via the local office?”

 

“Yes, his Bakersfield office. It was actually through a staffer. The poor guy was bored and happy to have someone to talk with.”

 

“Cool, but how did you get his confidence and trust?”

 

“I said I was from Utah – and curious about Valley Fever. McCarthy’s constituents are all scared of it, for good reason.”

 

“I read that he’s even attended some workshops and meetings on the problem.”

 

“Well, that’s all it took. The kid was immediately responsive – said he’d be sure to give the chocolates to McCarthy and his wife.”

 

“Great. And how did you get to Ryan?” I asked Bill.

 

“Same trip as for Boehner. I flew from Dayton to Milwaukee – then by car to Janesville. I had previously checked out his schedule via the Janesville office – and learned he likes the Citrus Cafe, lunching there regularly with staff. He, too, wouldn’t accept without some for his staff at the table. Fortunately, I had – to use Sara Palin’s phrase – reloaded – with Ananda’s Chocolates.”

 

“And maybe Ryan’s treatment helped him decide to take the call to be Speaker – to do something very significant for Congress and Country.”

 

“It apparently helped him loosen up – and grow that new beard,” Jay smiled.

 

 

When Boehner was in the process of resigning as Speaker, in response to the strong arm pressures of the hard right Freedom Caucus, he was very concerned as to who might replace him. He knew McCarthy was the likely leading candidate, but apparently wanted better. So he worked on Paul Ryan, telling him

You have no choice, this isn’t about what you want to do, this is about what God wants you to do, and God told me he wants you to do this. Ryan is also a Catholic. Boehner said, later, in an interview ‘I laid every ounce of Catholic guilt I could on him’.

 

 

“Perhaps there’s some hope for Ryan,” Bill said, smiling. “In his ‘Agenda’ speech to Congress, he said ‘… we have to make sure populism doesn’t trump individual rights…. It’s a distraction to prey on fears’.”

 

“Was that before or after he said           ‘ … you turn on the TV and you see ISIS, you see San Bernardino and you see all these security threats, and it’s like the world is on fire’?” I asked.

 

“Just after – right at the end of the speech – a good, positive note.”

 

“He also said in the same speech, ‘I come from the pro-growth wing of the Republican movement’. His Libertarian-based fantasies will be difficult to correct,” I said.

 

“Maybe he needs a second dose,” Bill recommended.

 

 

We agreed we needed to get to the five chosen Supreme Court Justices before the beginning of the Court’s fall term – and that the Red Mass venue would likely not be productive. So we focused on their public schedule. Thanks to SCOTUSmap.org we had reviewed their entire lecture schedule and already had selected those events and locations most efficient and effective for harmless.

 

We reviewed the full 29 patients we had selected and studied and began the process of planning how to access and treat every one of them.

 

 

“If we access them in their home states, that means visiting 17 different states – probably over a two to three week period,” I said.

 

“But that’s not all. Each trip can be used to treat perhaps several additional patients – others with offices nearby who also need treatment,” I said. “And that takes more research, study, and planning.”

 

“And there’s New York City for David Koch. Washington, D.C. may be the best location for our five Supreme Court Justices,” Bill mentioned.

 

“As well as for LaPierre, Norquist, and cancer-salesman Donohue,” I added.

 

“Jay, could you get to Kentucky right away?” I asked. “McConnell is critical to the 2016 budget process and needs to be more cooperative with Ryan than he ever was with Boehner.”

 

“Consider it done,” Jay said. “I’ll finish the homework and make reservations right away. And I’ll try to treat several other relevant Kentucky folks on the same trip.”

 

“Do include Rand Paul.”

 

“Of course.”

 

“I’ll try to get to Scalia’s gig at the U of Santa Clara. He’s to visit a constitutional law class and to speak to students, staff, and faculty in the university’s Recital Hall. I’ll be in Fremont checking in on my Mom – she should be celebrating her 95th birthday at nearly the same time,” I said.

 

“Wow. Those are good genes,” Bill said.

 

“I hope so. Hopefully I’ve inherited some of her longevity. This project has taken much longer than I’d envisioned. And the next one is even harder.”

 

“We won’t ask,” Jay smiled.

 

“If Santa Clara doesn’t work, then I’ll arrange my DC visit to synch with one of Scalia’s DC gigs – perhaps the Georgetown Law lecture.”

 

“I’ll be up around Minneapolis for harmless soon, so if needed I could arrange to get to his Minnesota Law School Stein lecture.”

 

“Maybe do several,” Jay smiled. “He’ll need at least several treatments.”

 

“What about security?” Bill asked.

 

“Fortunately for us, the Times had a short piece on Justice travels and security,” I noted. “When the justices leave Washington, the US Marshals Service takes over, and local police departments help, too. When Thomas lectured at the U of Florida attendees were screened and their cell phones had to be checked before entering the room.”

 

“On Kennedy, I have to get back to Issa in Southern California,” Bill said, “so I can get to Kennedy’s Anaheim Marriott event.”

 

“He’s receiving a medal from the California State Bar, so it may be highly restricted,” I cautioned. “But do try.”

 

“I’ll try to make friends with some of the Marriott serving staff – it’s probably a lunch or dinner event.”

 

“I can arrange to get to his Human Rights Beacon Prize gig in Washington, DC,” I said. “That’ll probably be less restricted.”

 

“Please do, just in case I can’t access him. And two separate doses can’t hurt,” Jay said, again smiling.

 

“Regarding Thomas, the SCOTUS listed gig I saw is perfect – a BYU dinner in Salt Lake at the Gross America Hotel,” I said.

 

“You do mean the Grand America?” Bill asked.

 

“Of course. I call it gross because it’s so ostentatious and overdone. The event is a Founders Day dinner sponsored by the BYU Law School. I’ll see if I can get one of my U law school friends to get me in.”

 

“A substantive donation to BYU Law should suffice,” Jay said.

 

“Right. I’m not above that – it’s for a good cause.”

 

“Look for Mike Lee there – he’s an alumnus.”

 

“If you do get to Thomas – and his Mrs. – give them each two,” Bill advised.

 

“Will do.”

 

“Roberts doesn’t seem to have much on his speaking and appearance schedule,” I said. “SCOTUS only noted one upcoming event – at the NYU Law School on Washington Square South in New York City. I’ll try to get to him there – before or after working on David and Julia Koch.”

 

“There have to be other gigs. He’s a popular and charismatic speaker. There should be other gigs coming up,” Bill said.

 

“I think so, too.”

 

“Alito likes to talk even more than Scalia,” I said. “He has lots of events on SCOTUS.”

 

“Well, he’s much younger and probably more energetic,” Jay suggested.

 

“If he’s easy to access, two separate doses could really do him some good,” Bill added.

“He has several upcoming events in DC and one in New York City,” I said. “I can arrange to get to one or more of those. One of the DC gigs is a Moot Court Competition, where I assume he’ll be judging briefs and presentations.”

“I noticed he’s doing a two day meeting at Notre Dame in Indiana – a book review and discussion with law students,” Bill said. “I’ll be back in that vicinity soon and could get to those if needed.”

“And those are likely to be more open and accessible,” I said. “I’ll let you know if we need to go there.”

 

“That’s it for our five Supreme Court Justices – for now. We should be able to easily get to all five via the public gigs. The challenge is to get them treated before the fall court sessions get fully underway,” I said.

 

“It looks like it’s you and me for the Supreme Court,” Bill said. “I’m on it.”

 

“While we’re on the travel needs and plans,” I said, handing a thick envelope to Bill and one to Jay, “these each have $5,000 in hundred dollar bills. Deposit it in your personal accounts. Be careful in how you use your credit cards to book the trips. Maybe routing via PayPal or a related service might help slow down the snoops. I’m sure you’ll go through that amount and them some for the therapy trips. I suggest trying to use cash for the rental car and hotel fees, unless it’s just too cumbersome.”

 

“We each need to visit three or four states,” Jay said, “because Tom can’t travel, and Lucien would rather not travel – he’s beat up his body playing soccer and can’t stand long plane trips. I’m game, of course. What do you suggest?”

 

“How about I do Utah, Colorado, Washington D.C., Florida, New York City, and South Carolina? Bill – you continue to cover Ohio, California, and Wisconsin, and add Iowa and Kansas? Jay – you’re dealing with Kentucky and West Virginia – and can you also do Texas and Oklahoma? Peter has some travel constraints, too – but he’s working with Saul and Lucien to do Idaho, Washington, and Wyoming.”

 

“And how do those relate to our 29?” Jay asked.

 

I summarized the States, the assignments, and the 29 priority patients.

 

 

 

Diana and I rented a small home for a week, to spend New Year’s with Lucien and our Portland family. A beautiful clear, sunny cold day. We just had to hike the Neahkahnee Mountain trail – so we did. Peter shared the MDMA trip experience his friend had some months ago, using the capsule provided to me six months earlier. She said it was not an ecstatic experience, that it was uncomfortable, introspective, and not pleasant. She added that it was empowering in the sense that it allowed her to consider some fairy tale – like aspects of life and deal with it more realistically – as it really is. We discussed the issues associated with off-the-street sources and with individual responses to the experience.

 

Peter and his brother-in-law, Saul, whose mother lives in Boise, agreed to visit Raul Labrador’s office. They’re working on the best date – to hopefully matchup with a weather window and with holiday parties by Labrador. They want to drive. The weather in Eastern Oregon, and even SE Idaho, can be very problematic during the holidays. Saul is familiar with the Idaho all Republican delegation, including Representative Mike Simpson and Senators Risch and Crapo.

 

Peter’s interested in the Washington delegation, so, he’ll do Washington’s evangelical Congresswoman Cathy Rodgers in Walla Walla. They’ll also get to Dan Newhouse in Richland, and Jaime Beutler in Vancouver.

 

This one road trip can access two Idaho Senators and five Idaho/Washington Representatives.

 

 

“Raul Labrador has a small stable of kids, some fairly young. We want to minimize the possibility – the risk – of excess dosing – or ingestion by small children,” I said.

 

“I’ve been considering that,” Lucien said. “The template will include a field for restriction or caution. We can use phrases like Only One! For Adults Only! Recommended Dose – One per adult per day.”

 

“I like ‘For Adults Only – but Only One!”

 

“OK – we’ll use that as the default entry for that field – we can easily change it.’ Lucien continued: “Given the patients selected and our homework, I’ve been thinking about how to use the brand to facilitate their acceptance of the treatment (the chocolate) and their transition to a more empathic perspective.”

 

“Great. Go on,” I said.

 

“The brand needs to reflect and recognize their conservative bent and suggest a more empathic, compassionate, direction – without being overly obvious or threatening.”

 

Lucien does know something about marketing – and design. He went on: “Assuming even the most hard-nosed deniers are ‘softening’ their denial, but are too politically fearful to admit it, I don’t think we should overplay their existing hard right stands – so I suggest revising our brand ideas.” He showed us:

 

Freedom and Liberty

Heavenly  (for evangelicals?)

For Adults Only!

Mormon Mysteries

Ayn Rand Collection.

 

We reviewed the information on Idaho’s Labrador, as well as on Simpson, Risch, and Crapo, and Washington’s Newhouse, and Beutler.

 

We agreed that we need to be very familiar with the ideology, positions, opinions, legislation, etc of every Congressperson’s office we visit. . The staffers we talk with will likely be of very similar political persuasions. We have to seduce them with our knowledge of and commitment to such persuasions, so they feel comfortable with us and with our reason for visiting the office.

 

 

“You – we – need to review the Congressperson’s .gov website just before each office visit, to carefully check recent press releases, statements, interviews, etc. We need to be absolutely up to date on what they are believing and saying.”

 

“Let’s walk through several delivery scenarios,” I continued. “I’ll be a staffer in the local office. You come in the door without an appointment. You walk in the door – pleasant and modestly well dressed, and ask – since most of our therapy visits will be after Congress recesses – is Congresswoman Rodgers in or likely to be in this afternoon?”

 

“No, sorry. She normally works out of her Spokane office,” I – the fake staffer – said, continuing “This office mainly deals with constituent requests and needs. But I could get a message or note to her.”

 

“And perhaps a small holiday treat? We – and our wives – just want to say how much we appreciate her work. We also hope and expect her to run again in 2016. This is for her and her husband – just a small recognition and thanks for her hard work,” Peter said, handing him (me) a small package containing two doses and Ananda’s card.

 

“Well, she normally doesn’t accept gifts, but as it is near Christmas,” fake staffer said, “perhaps she’ll make an exception. I’ll put it in the envelope for the courier. It smells like chocolate?”

 

“It is chocolate – a special new brand, Ananda’s Chocolates.  Supplies are still limited, so there’s just one for her – and one for her husband.”

 

“It does have a delightful smell. I should do some due diligence on source and contents,” fake staffer smiled.

 

“Just go to www.anandaschocolates.com . The taste is incredible. The best due diligence is to open and taste; this smaller sample is for you.”

 

“Thank you.” He carefully opened the half-dose sample, unwrapping the tissue, seeing and picking up the folded mini-insert, and then opened the foil, smelled the chocolate, and slowly consumed it, smiling. “Wow, it really is delicious. It even seems to relax me.”

 

“Good chocolate does that – makes you feel relaxed, even blissful. There’s some information on the insert,” Peter said, pointing it out. “Chocolate, in small quantities, can be very good for you,” Peter finished, preparing to leave.

 

“I believe that,” fake staffer said. “Merry Christmas to you both. Before you go, do sign our Visitor Book – and note that you left the chocolate samples.”

 

“Sure. Say, I may have to get up to Spokane next week. Might she be in that office then?”

 

“Call them directly when you know your schedule,” Mr. Fake Staffer said, handing out cards. “They’ll know her schedule. And by then she’ll certainly have received the courier delivery.”

 

“Many thanks.”

 

“Your fake staffer act reminds me of an old Rachel Maddow report or skit,” Jay said. “Some days after the 2010 BP oil blowout in the Gulf, she did a Fake President Oval Office speech to the nation. Terrific. It’s exactly what Obama should have done – but didn’t.”

 

“I remember that,” Bill said. “That link went viral – we all got it several times.”

 

We discussed several other possible scenarios, including:

 

“Sorry – she can’t accept any gifts, even simple snacks or candies.”

 

We might respond with:

 

“Many Congressmen have candies, chocolates, other snacks available for their visitors – why not something from a visitor? Chief Justice John Roberts has chocolates, Ronald Reagan had M and M’s, I think. Speaker Paul Ryan has mini-Clif Bars.”

 

“And if the staffer still refuses,” I said,  “give him or her a sample and Ananda’s card. We can then attempt to follow up with a mailing and direct note, saying something like:

 

“We tried to thank you for your wonderful work – in words and in chocolate – at the Walla Walla office, but the staff said they couldn’t accept it for you. So here you are. Please enjoy a unique Ananda’s Chocolate. Thanks for all you do so well.”

 

 

When we had to sign a Visitors List, we used the addresses of a VRBO property we found in the districts represented by our various patients, and the names of people who had rented the property and provided ratings and evaluations. Lucien made up and printed a dozen or so fake business cards for Ananda’s Chocolates and for the VRBO-based names and addresses we used – for every one of our patients. We destroyed the extra cards after the contact was made.

 

We left no email trail. We paid for gas via cash – no VISA card transaction trail. We had the GPS off on our cars and phones. And we parked a block or so away from each office so the staff could not see the vehicle nor could most surveillance cameras record it. We tried to dress and look differently from our normal selves, using a variety of wigs, moustaches, facial hair growth, hats, and clothes. We sometimes wore glasses with different frames than we normally use.

 

 

“The problem with samples for the staffer is that they may want more,” Jay suggested.

 

“We can afford to give half-dose samples to others in the office,” I said. “And I don’t think they’d raid the Congressman’s sample. The half-dose should relax them but is unlikely to generate any revelations – it will just assure them that it’s not toxic or otherwise disagreeable.”

 

“After each visit and delivery, let’s each keep track via Google Alerts of the patient’s statements and actions, looking for any evidence of change or modification in positions or beliefs,” Bill said.

 

“Let’s start the Google Alerts now, before we make the treks and provide the treatments, so we have a baseline to compare with,” I said. “Set them up over a several week period to perhaps minimize Google itself taking much notice.”

 

“Or the NSA,” Jay smiled.

 

 

We looked at each other, understanding where we were – and where we were going.

 

Lucien had become a successful chocolatier – he had befriended several chocolate pros in the Portland area and come up with a range of taste types. He and Peter had developed several ways to distribute the MDMA within and throughout the chocolates, masked a bit via other additives and flavors. Lucien and Peter had made the chocolates, packaged the full and half-doses, and distributed them to each of the team – one bag of chocolates for each of the 29 patients visits, as well as several spare bags for other ‘opportunities’.

 

 

“Remember our earlier cognitive liberty discussion?” I asked. “And the work of Leicester University’s Charlotte Walsh?”

 

“Yes. And recently Mexico’s Supreme Court agreed with her with respect to personal use of marijuana,” Bill said.

 

“The Court opinion said such activities are a basic human right,” Jay added.

 

“Richard Friedman, a Times columnist, has argued for National Cognitive Therapy. He says:

… the whole point of terrorism [is] to subvert our sense of the normal, to make us afraid of improbable dangers and invite us, in our fear, to overreact in ways that are destructive to our lifestyle and that will not make us any safer.

He thinks our fear easily gets out of hand – and that we need to control it.”

 

“And what does he suggest?” Bill asked. “A fear-reducing treatment using MDMA?”

 

“No, he said:

we need President Obama to be our therapist in chief and give us all a dose of cognitive therapy… Cognitive therapy identifies mistaken and distorted thoughts that

generate distress, and then challenges and corrects them. What the president needs to say to all Americans — over and over — is that although terrible, unpredictable things have happened, the country is not in peril. Such attacks are incapable of destroying us or coming close to bringing down Western civilization.”

 

“So he said nothing about real cognitive therapy,” Bill said.

 

“He did say something about the treatment of fear and phobia – in another Times’ piece,” I noted. “But not via an empathogen. He reported on the use of propranolol, a beta blocker sometimes used to ‘treat’ performance anxiety.”

 

“And a legal drug?” Jay asked.

 

“Yes. It apparently works via a memory blocking mechanism, involving norepinephrine.”

 

“Meaning it’s a neuro-drug,” Bill said.

 

“Yes, again. There are lots of neuro-drugs – some legal and one of the best – MDMA – very illegal. But some of the legal others could be helpful.”

 

“Psilcybin isn’t legal but it can be more accessible than MDMA – you just grow and harvest the right mushrooms,” Jay said.

 

“Back to the therapist-in-chief concept,” I said.  “Obama’s Oval Office talk after the San Bernardino massacre wasn’t very effective. I don’t think the president is up to serving as the Nation’s Therapist in Chief.”

 

“Perhaps the head of the FDA or the NIH could be Therapist – and Pharmacist-in-Chief, dispensing MDMA?”

 

“That would certainly be more effective,” I said. “Actually, Colbert would be the most effective, if we could just get Ananda’s Chocolates to him.”

 

“Maybe. Let’s at least let Friedman and Obama know harmless is doing real cognitive therapy – via fear awareness and management,” Jay smiled. “And the heads of FDA and the NIH as well.”

 

“They’ll know, eventually,” Bill said. “Let’s get to work.”

 

 

We were now studying each of the 29, state by state, to select the additional collateral patients for those trips. In alphabetical order, by state:

 

California          – Bill:               Issa, McCarthy, Justice Kennedy (Scalia via Joe)

Colorado           – Joe:             Gardner

Florida              – Joe:              Rubio, Bush, and Koch, Bill

Idaho                – Peter:            Labrador

Iowa                 – Bill:               Ernst

Kansas             – Bill:               Koch, Charles

Kentucky          – Jay:              McConnell, Paul

Montana           – Joe, Bill         Kochs, Montana Congressmen

New York City  – Joe:              Koch, David; Justice Roberts

Oklahoma         – Jay:              Inhofe

South Carolina  – Joe:              Gowdy

Texas               – Jay:              Cruz, Smith

Utah                 – Joe:              Lee, Chaffetz

Washington      – Peter:            Rodgers

Washington DC – Joe:              LaPierre, Norquist, Donahue; Justice Alito

West Virginia    – Jay:              Capito

Wisconsin        – Bill:               Ryan

Wyoming          – Peter:            Barasso

 

 

California’s primary therapist is Bill, though I’ll get to Scalia in Santa Clara. Bill will get to Issa and perhaps again to McCarthy. Depending on timing and other variables, he might also access:

 

David Valadao,  District 21, elected 2012. Although the district is mainly North of Bakersfield, it includes SE Bakersfield, via a careful gerrymandering. District 21 nearly encircles the city, coming in from the south and east. He has an office in Bakersfield. He is slightly left of the GOP center with a below average leadership score.

 

Devin Nunes, District 22 includes Tulare, Clovis, and Visalia, and gets close to Fresno. He is slightly left of the GOP center ideologically and above average in leadership. His closest district office is in Visalia, about 80 miles north of Bakersfield. Nunes seems to be fairly reasonable, so he’s not a very high priority for harmless. He was first elected in 2002.

 

One trip to Fresno or Bakersfield will get us to McCarthy again, and to Valadeo and Nunes.

 

Dana Rohrabacher is near Issa in District 48, which includes Newport Beach, just north of Issa’s district. He’s so Libertarian that it actually pushes his ideology score slightly to the left of the Republican center. He is an Inhofe-style climate denier. He claims climate change is a hoax – and that a Russian official told him so! He once arm-wrestled Vladimir Putin and is supportive of Russian forays in the Middle East. He ran for Chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology in 2012-2013, together with Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, but Lamar Smith got the job.

 

Mimi Walters, District 45, Irvine; elected in 2014. She’s almost a far right Democrat – she’s to the far left of the GOP Govtrack ideology plot. She has an office in Irvine, about 23 miles north of Issa’s office in Dana Point.

 

One flight in to John Wayne Airport will get us to Issa, Rohrabacher, and Walters.

 

 

Colorado’s therapist will be me. Cory Gardner is the primary patient. The others are:

 

Mike Bennet, Colorado’s other Senator – a Democrat, but on the conservative end of the Democrat distribution, with a low leadership score. He has an office in Denver. Bennet claims to be targeted by Koch money, even though he is already fairly conservative.

 

Mike Coffman, Republican, is the District 6 Representative; the district includes Aurora (East Denver suburbs). He has an office in Aurora in the SE Denver metro area. Coffman’s ideology score is the average for Republicans.

 

“Gardner may be salvageable, in spite of his attention from the Koch apparatus,” I said. “His renewable energy interests merit cultivating. I’ll get to him, Coffman, and even Bennett. Although ostensibly a Democrat, Bennett could benefit from some chocolate. One flight to Denver will get me to each of them.”

 

 

Florida’s therapist will also be me; the primary patients are Jeb! Bush, Marco Rubio, and perhaps  Bill Koch.

 

Rubio and Bush are in the Miami area; Bill Koch is up in West Palm Beach.  Miami and Palm Beach are about 70 miles apart. Florida has one Republican Senator – Rubio, of course. Govtrack places Rubio roughly in the GOP middle with a slightly above average leadership score.

 

There are 27 Congressional Districts – 17 of which are filled by Republicans, and only two of those are in our Miami – Palm Beach target area:

 

Carlos Curbello represents District 26. His ideology score is to the left of the GOP center, with a low leadership score. He was elected in 2014. He also has an office in Miami.

 

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen represents District 27. Elected 1988, her ideology score is the left of the GOP distribution – she’s almost a conservative Democrat. She has a very high leadership score. Her main office is also in Miami.

 

One trip to Miami gets me to Rubio and Jeanette, Corbello, and Ros-Lehtinen, and possibly to Jeb Bush – and Columba. One short road trip gets me to Bill Koch’s home and Academy in West Palm Beach and to David Koch’s estate, just a mile or so away.

 

 

Idaho’s therapy will be via Peter and Saul via a road trip to Boise. Although their primary patient is Labrador, they’ll also try to treat the others in the Idaho all Republican delegation.

 

Mike Simpson represents District 2, with offices in Lewiston and in Meridian, just west of Boise.

His Govtrack ideology position is roughly in the middle of the GOP distribution. He is

…one of the House’s leading advocates for a new energy policy and a renewed commitment to research and development of improved nuclear energy technologies.

He and his wife of 40 years live in Idaho Falls, home of the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory – with a focus on nuclear and geothermal energy.

 

James Risch is a Senator, mild denier, pro-nuclear, anti-EPA, anti-CO2 regulation. He’s been recognized as the ‘Most Conservative’ Senator for two years in a row. He is to the very far right of the GOP Govtrack ideology plot – way out there with Inhofe. His leadership score is essentially zero. Risch was elected to the Senate in 2008, after serving as Idaho’s 31st governor. He serves on five Senate Committees. Risch and his wife Vicki have been married for more than 40 years. They have three married sons and six grandchildren. They live on a ranch outside of Boise. Risch has a Senate office in Boise.

 

Mike Crapo is Idaho’s senior Senator, in office since 1999. He is to the GOP right and average in leadership via the Govtrack plots. He is a climate change denier and very critical of the EPA. He served as Idaho’s 2nd district Congressman from 1993 to 1999. Crapo is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Harvard Law School. He became the first Mormon to represent Idaho in the Senate. He was unopposed in the 2004 election, a rarity in the Senate, and was re-elected in 2010 with 71% of the vote. In  2013 he voted against the bipartisan Toomey-Manchin Gun Control Amendment, which would expand federal background checks to include gun shows and online sales. Crapo married Susan Diana Hasleton in June 1974 and the couple has five children. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1999 and treated.  The cancer recurred in 2005. He advocates early detection tests for cancer and other treatable diseases. His main Idaho office is also in Boise.

 

 

Iowa’s therapist is Bill, with Joni Ernst as the primary patient.

 

Ernst’s offices are in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Davenport, and Council Bluffs.

 

Other needy Iowans include:

 

Charles Grassley, Senator, elected in 1981, and up for reelection for a 7th term in 2016! He’s in the rough center of the GOP ideology plot with an above average leadership score. He has a major office in Des Moines. He’s a key figure in the McConnell – Obama standoff regarding the nomination and consideration of Scalia’s replacement.

 

Three of Iowa’s four congressional districts are held by the GOP:

 

Rod Blum, District 1, NE, Cedar Rapids – not very close to Des Moines; we’ll let him go for now.

 

David Young, District 3, SW, Des Moines; he’s to the left of average with a low leadership score.

 

Steve King, District 4, NW, Sioux City, close to Des Moines. He’s far to the right, with a high leadership score. He has an office in Ames, 37 miles north of Des Moines.

 

One Des Moines trip will cover Ernst, Grassley, Young, and King.

 

 

Kansas’ therapy will also be via Bill. The primary target is of course Charles Koch who lives and works in Wichita – in District 4.

 

Mike Pompeo is the District 4 Republican representative, who’s become somewhat well known for his pompous actions on Gowdy’s Benghazi Committee. Pompeo is quite far to the right on the ideology plot with a slightly above average leadership score. He was first elected in 2010.

 

Pat Roberts, Senator, elected in 1996. Roberts Ideology is very far right. He has a Wichita office.

 

Jerry Moran, Senator, elected in 2010, is more in the center of the GOP distribution; he also has a Wichita office.

 

A visit to Wichita gets harmless to two senators, one very needy representative, and hopefully to Charles Koch.

 

 

Kentucky’s able therapist is Jay. McConnell and Paul are his two primary patients.

 

Rand Paul was Presidential timber, but he’s also a Kentucky Senator. Govtrack rankings place him right of GOP center ideologically, with an average leadership score. He was discussed  earlier under Presidential Candidates. His major state office is in Bowling Green.

 

Brett Guthrie is the District 2 Congressman, covering roughly the central part of the state. His district office is also in Bowling Green. His ideology score is to right of GOP center and sports a high leadership score.

 

As Mitch McConnell has a major state office in Bowling Green, that seems to be the best access location for harmless.

 

 

Montana’s eager therapists are Bill and I, mainly via the Centennial Valley event, which

includes Montana’s Congressional delegation and several other Koch-friendly invitees. The primary targets are Bill and David Koch, perhaps Charles, and their children.

 

Jon Tester is Montana’s senior Senator – a fairly conservative Democrat. He is a farmer and a former music teacher.

 

Steve Daines was elected junior Senator in 2014, after serving a term as the state’s Representative. He is very conservative. Daines has a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Montana State. He and wife Cindy live in Bozeman; they have four children: David, Annie, Michael and Caroline. Daines’ Washington DC office hosts a one hour coffee breakfast for the delegation and visitors when the Senate is in session.

 

Ryan Zinke is the state’s single at-large Representative, first elected 2014. His ideology and leadership scores are in the middle of the GOP distribution – an average Republican.

 

Zinke, Tester, and Daines all represent Beaverhead County in SW Montana; they should know about the Beaverhead Ranch, the T-N Center, the Red Rock National Wildlife Refuge, EPI, and VoteSmart.

 

We’ll access them in Lakeview at the T-N facility, assuming they attend.

 

 

New York City therapy will be provided by me. My major objective is the treatment of David Koch and his wife Julia, and Chief Justice John Roberts. We do no not plan any additional activity in NYC at this time.

 

Oklahoma’s therapist is            Jay – and the challenging Jim Inhofe is his primary patient.

 

James Lankford, Oklahoma’s other Senator, was elected in 2014. He has a BSc in Secondary Education from the University of Texas-Austin in 1990, and a master’s in Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1994.

 

“Lankford has great needs,” I said. “He served in the House for 4 terms. His credentials for that job were running a student ministry for the Oklahoma Baptist Convention for some 14 years. He lists his occupation as ‘youth worker’. Personal faith is one of his core values – and he ‘enjoys shooting’.”

 

“Jesus,” Jay said. “He’ll need more than one dose.”

 

“Only one,” I said. “He’ll be up for reelection again in 2016; he’s serving only a partial term.”

 

Lankford lives in Edmond, an Oklahoma City suburb, with his wife Cindy and their two daughters: Hannah and Jordan; his Federal office is in Oklahoma City.

 

All five House Districts are held by Republicans:

 

District 1: Jim Bridenstine; part of NE.

District 2: Mark Wayne Mullin; Eastern Oklahoma.

District 3: Frank Lucas; North and West but near Oklahoma City

District 4: Tom Cole; South part but near Oklahoma City.

District 5: Steve Russell. The District includes Oklahoma City

 

Russell has a Govtrack ideology score to the left of the GOP center and a very low leadership score. He has an office in Del City, very near Oklahoma City.

 

Cole’s ideology rating is just right of the GOP center, with an average leadership score. His Norman office is the closest to Oklahoma City, but not particularly convenient

 

Lucas has an average GOP ideology score and a very low leadership score. His office is in Yukon, which is just west of Oklahoma City.

 

“Good luck,” I said. “Lankford’s ultra-conservative on almost all issues. And the Congress-guys are also very conservative.”

 

“Oklahoma’s going to need lots of chocolate! A single gig to Oklahoma City will do the job,” Jay said.

 

 

South Carolina therapy will be provided by me. My major patient is Trey Gowdy. Other needy SC politicians are:

 

Tim Peter, Senator, Gowdy’s good friend. Govtrack ideology score: middle to right of GOP population; average to low leadership score; upstate office is in Greenville. Peter and Gowdy seem to support Ted Cruz for the GOP nomination, further documenting their ultra-right conservatism.

 

Lindsay Graham, Senator; office in Greenville; ideology score is slightly to left of GOP center, with a modest leadership score.

 

One trip to Greenville should access Gowdy, Peter, and Graham.

 

 

Texas – Jay will provide therapy to very needy Texas, focusing on Smith and Cruz.

 

Ted Cruz, junior Senator, was covered earlier as a presidential candidate.

 

John Cornyn is the senior Senator.

 

They are very conservative Republicans. In spite of how hard right Cruz has been on his GOP campaign, Govtrack ranks him just to the right of middle on the GOP ideology spectrum, with a sub-average leadership score. That is interesting. Govtrack puts Cornyn right of Cruz and with a stronger leadership score.

 

25 of Texas’ highly gerrymandered 36 districts are filled by Republicans.

 

“Wouldn’t it be cool to treat all Texas districts,” Jay enthused. “Maybe we could flip the state.”

 

“Now who’s doing wishful thinking,” I smiled. “But let’s at least do a limited workup of those Texas ‘candidates’.”

 

The Austin area’s five Republican districts include:

 

Michael McCaul, District 10: slightly right of center with a good leadership score. His district office is in Austin.

 

Bill Flores, District 17: very far right with low leadership; Austin office.

 

Lamar Smith, District 21; his details are in Chapter 9.

 

Roger Bills, District 25: center of the GOP distribution; office in Austin.

 

John Carter, District 31: right of center with modest leadership; office in Round Rock, near Austin.

 

San Antonio area’s six districts include two Republicans:

 

Lamar Smith, District 21; offices in Austin and San Antonio.

 

Will Hurd, District 23: almost a conservative Democrat, on far left of GOP plot with very low leadership ; office in San Antonio.

 

It’s about 80 miles from Austin to San Antonio – so one trip gets harmless’ attention to six needy representatives and two senators, one of which is a major presidential candidate.
 

Utah is a very needy state, which I know well. Although my focus will be on Lee and Chaffetz, the entire delegation is deserving of revelation enhancement:

 

Rob Bishop, District 1, elected 2002; denier.  He now chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources, including public lands. Govtrack ideology position is similar to Chaffetz: to the right of the GOP average; leadership score is average.

 

Chris Stewart, District 2, elected 2012; denier. Gov track positions very similar to Bishop and Chaffetz.

 

Mia Love, District 4, elected 2014. Her Govtrack scores are somewhat preliminary as she was recently elected; she is to the left of the GOP average and very low on the leadership scale. Her district houses the NSA’s major Utah facility in Bluffdale.

 

Orrin Hatch – a very senior Senator, elected 1976; reelected for a 7th term in 2012. His ideology score is in the middle of the GOP distribution – with a high leadership score.

 

I’ll get to all of them via my Salt Lake City location.

 

 

Washington’s therapy will be provided by Peter and Saul. Rodgers is their primary patient.

 

Jaime Herrera Beutler – Washington District 3. She’s a little left of the GOP ideology average, and low leadership score. She has an office in Vancouver. At 36 Jaime is one of the youngest women currently serving in the U.S. Congress and the first Hispanic to represent Washington state in the House. She was named to MSNBC’s ‘Top 10 Latino Politicians to Watch’. Jaime attended the University of Washington, earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications.

 

Dan Newhouse represents Washington District 4, with offices in Richland. His Govtrack scores are similar to Jaime Beutler’s. He’s a farmer – attended Washington State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics. Dan and his wife Carol have two adult children. The Newhouse family continues to operate a 600-acre farm where they grow hops, tree fruit and grapes.

 

Access will be via Portland to Vancouver, Richmond, and Walla Walla.

 

 

Washington DC’s therapist will be me, focusing on LaPierre, Norquist, Donahue and Justice Alito.

 

 

West Virginia therapist is Jay, focusing on Capito, with an office in Charleston.

 

All three West Virginia representatives are Republicans:

 

David McKinley, District 1, northern region, with Morgantown. He is to the right of center with a high leadership score. He’s too far from Charleston to be treated.

 

Alex Mooney, District 2, central part, including Charleston. He’s slightly to the left of center with low leadership; office in Charleston.

 

Evan Jenkins, District 3, southern part, with Lewisburg. He’s almost a Democrat, on the far left of the GOP distribution, and very low leadership efforts. Closest office to Charleston (about 50 miles away) is in Huntington, in western part of the state.

 

Jay is getting to Capito and the District 2 and 3 representatives via a single trip to Charleston, WV.

 

 

Wisconsin’s therapy is continuing to be handled via Bill. His key patient was and is Paul Ryan. The others are:

 

Ron Johnson, Senator, has an ideology score similar to Wyoming’s Barrasso, but lower in leadership. Johnson has offices in Milwaukee and Oshkosh.

 

  1. James Sensenbrenner Jr., District 5, North of Janesville, and close to Milwaukee). He has an office in Brookfield, just east of Milwaukee. He’s in the GOP center ideologically, with a high leadership score. He ran for Chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology in 2012-2013 but lost to Lamar Smith

 

The other Wisconsin districts are not convenient to get to. Milwaukee to Janesville is about 76 miles; normal Janesville access is via Madison, about 40 miles. Bill’s access has been via Milwaukee. This next time he’ll treat Johnson and Sensenbrenner in Milwaukee, then Ryan again in Janesville.

 

 

Wyoming’s therapist is Peter, focusing on Barrasso.

 

Mike Enzi is other Wyoming Senator – and even further to the right than Barrasso! They both have offices in the Federal Buildings in Casper and Cheyenne. They are both on the far right of the Govtrack ideology plot. Enzi is married to Diana Buckley, has three children, went to University of Denver, and is also Presbyterian. He’s signed the Norquist no taxes pledge, is a strong supporter of the coal industry, against alternative energy, very anti-abortion, and against gay marriage. He’s also ranked very highly by the NRA.

 

“They’re both about as conservative as they can be,” Jay said, referring to Enzi and Barrasso.

 

“Casper and Cheyenne are easy to get to,” Bill said, ‘and holiday parties are coming up.”

 

“Just watch out for winds and ice on I-80,” I said.

 

Cynthia Lummis is Wyoming’s single at large representative, elected in 2009. She is very far to the right, with an average leadership core. Her district offices are in Casper, Cheyenne, and Sheridan.

 

“Looks like a visit to Cheyenne gets us all three,” Peter said. “I’m on it.”

 

 

We understood that the collateral people are secondary priorities. The goal is to get to the primary 29, with the hope that their treatment will be sufficient to help facilitate a political tipping point. The more of the collaterals we can treat, the greater the probability of achieving a more significant transformation – a substantive tipping point. We discussed the lists, the office locations, the travel cities, and the logistics. – and summarized the effort – state by state.

 

 

We wanted the packaging to appeal to various ideologue populations. Lucien suggested The Patriot Line of Ananda’s Chocolates – targeted for NRA/Libertarian types, like Norquist or LaPierre or their clones. Peter suggested the Ayn Rand line – picturing a beautiful, teutonic Atlas with chocolates in his large hand! There were many other suggestions, including invisible hands, red wine, cigarettes,…

 

 

“How about a special package alluding to the Pope – for other Catholics? Papa Francis did discuss empathy in his talk to Congress,” Peter said.

 

“Cool. Bliss, compassion, empathy – Pope Francis is all of these.”

 

“Maybe Hatch could partake. He used the Pope’s visit to give a set of speeches on religious freedom.”

 

“The arrogant bastard!” Jay said.

 

“The humanist columnist Luis Granados says Hatch was talking about ‘religious privilege’ – ‘the privilege of religious people to ignore laws that apply to the rest of us.’ Granados also tears apart Hatch’s massive misquoting of American history – including Mormon history.”

 

“Perhaps Ananda’s new Mormon Mysteries line of chocolates could help him.”

 

“Mysteries? or Mistakes?”

 

“I’ll put together an Ananda’s Chocolates template for our various ‘lines’ or sub-brands,” Lucien said. “We can easily customize the branding/labeling as needed.”

 

“There’s a whole new tourist industry in the Yakima area – red wine and chocolate pairing and tasting,” Peter added.

 

“Hey, The Leonardo is now doing similar events,” Bill said.

 

“Maybe Chocolates and Jello for Utah?” Jay suggested.

 

“Hey, have you heard about Mike Lee’s Jello with the Senator weekly parties?” Bill asked. “Wednesday afternoons, 3:30 pm, in the Senator’s DC office. All are invited.”

 

“You’re serious?” I asked.

 

“It’s official – on his web site. If he’s in town he’s there. Otherwise, his staff hosts it.”

 

“Since the DC Jello parties are largely over for the season, get to his local Christmas gig,” Bill recommended..

 

“Where and what is that?” Jay asked.

 

“At the State Capitol. Senate Building, from about 5 to 6 pm. Mike says in the announcement that it’s for ‘good conversation’.”

 

“And good chocolate!” Jay added.

 

“Ask him about his Heritage Foundation tirade against Obama’s climate efforts,” Bill said, looking at me.

 

“Changing the subject a bit – although Lee’s three kids are older, the oldest perhaps 20 or so and the other two in their late teens, here’s a serious consideration,” I said. “We want to minimize the possibility – the risk – of excess dosing – or ingestion by small children.”

 

“The template now includes a field for restriction or caution. For Adults Only! Recommended Dose – One per adult per day.”

 

“I like For Adults Only – but Only One!”

 

“OK – that’s what I’ll use.”

 

Lucien had earlier set up the Ananda’s Chocolates website, so we used the url www.anandaschocolates.com on the packaging. Tom, Lucien, and Peter – the Portland team – will finish the preparations, preliminary testing, packaging, and labeling.

 

 

 

We had largely finished the patient selection process, assignments, and delivery strategy and plans. harmless understands that the more patients we treat, the greater the probability we’ll be ‘discovered’ – and likely go to jail. The first such discovery will generate media attention and a huge backlash against such treatment, against moral enhancement, against MDMA. So we must be very careful – and very selective. We have selected our patients very strategically. We want each treatment to lead to a revelation – to lead to a change in behavior which itself generates media attention. We want to do this quickly but not hastily – and very carefully.

 

 

“Centennial Valley is next weekend,” Bill said. “It’s a four day event, Friday through Monday.”

 

“Terrific – who’s been invited and what’s the tentative plan?” I asked.

 

“No Oxbridge kids – too expensive to travel and too soon in their school year, but we have science teacher Thornton and Anne Reilly, her Department science chair, as well as Bill and Brittany Koch and the two youngest kids. Two folks from EPI are coming as well as Richard and Alison Kimball from VoteSmart.”

 

“Phenomenal. And David and Julia?”

 

“Yes – both, and their two younger kids.”

 

“And John’s planning an open-air jeep safari for all of them?”

 

“Of course – he’s as excited as they are. We expect the ladies – Melody, Brittany, and Julia, as well as Merry and Terry Tempest Williams – will have their own discussion and ‘light’ chocolate tasting in the Taft’s spacious family room.”

 

“And the politicians?” I asked. “The local Montana ones, yes – they all said they’d try, especially knowing that David Koch was planning to be there.”

 

“But, when Charles said he and Elizabeth couldn’t come – meaning that their kids Chas and Elizabeth R. wouldn’t either – I felt that it would be cumbersome to try to have the Koch-backed candidates without their major backer.”

 

“That may be fortuitous,” I said. “I’d hate to have Joni and Gail Ernst riding their motorcycles all over the refuge and the ranch!”

 

“Right. Or Jim Inhofe trying to land his plane on an unregulated and unmaintained nearby dirt strip,” Bill smiled.

 

“Or doing even more damage at the West Yellowstone airport,” Jay added.

 

“Say, don’t forget an Ishmael gift for the kids,” I said.

 

“They’re already wrapped, with their names on the packages,” Bill smiled. “I’m inviting them to a special Ishmael discussion on Sunday – after they’ve had several days to read the book.”

 

 

 

“We need to each have a strong alibi for what we’ve done, so if one of us gets caught, we don’t incriminate the others. We have to work independently.”

 

“We are loners. There is no group, no conspiracy, no organization – and thus no way to trace to others – to incriminate others.”

 

“We are each on our own – ideal Libertarians!”

 

“Once we start the extensive delivery phase of harmless, we need to communicate less and less. What little communication we do have has to be with secrecy and security.”

 

 

Harmless hit the road, just in time for the busy pre-Christmas parties – extensive travels to the major cities selected for access to the 29 and to their collateral patients. Over an extensive two week period – during a very unusual winter – we bought tickets, rented cars, and stayed in hotels, using cash, where possible. We repackaged Ananda’s Chocolates in conventional Walgreen and Walmart chocolate boxes, saying they were gifts for family, unsealed so the TSA could inspect them. Fortunately chocolate is not restricted by TSA. We minimized cell phone use, kept the GPS on our phones off, used ‘dummy’ email accounts, and generally minimized use of wi-fi and bluetooth connections.