Prescient of the United States

Back in high school and college, I was a big fan of the political thriller novels by Fletcher Knebel. His name isn't particularly known these days, though his best-known book is, Seven Days in May, which he co-wrote with Charles W. Bailey II -- and which was made into a great movie that starred Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster, with a screenplay adaptation by Rod Serling. The two men co-wrote another political thriller that I dearly loved, though it isn't known today, Convention. It was gripping. and I suspect it would still make a great movie. Why it wasn't at the time, I have no idea, especially coming from the writers of Seven Days in May.

This isn't about Fletcher Knebel, so bear with me, I'll get to that in the next paragraph, but the background to the point is helpful. On his own, Knebel went off and wrote several other political thrillers. One of which, The Zinzin Road, was particularly special to me for a very unexpected reason. The story dealt with a Peace Corps worker in Africa, and the character was referenced as having gone to New Trier High School, which was where I had gone, as well -- albeit in real life.

But it was his novel, Night of Camp David, which has stuck with me most of all his solo political thrillers. And although it too isn't a book that is likely much-known today, it might at least be known slightly for a very specific reason. And part of that reason is when Rachel Maddow brought it up on her show one night. I remember eating dinner at the time, and quickly sitting up with a happy -- and shocked -- "Oh, my God!" when she discussed it.

But it's what the story is about why the book might be known a bit today as much as for Rachel Maddow mentioning it, in relation to Trump. Why? Well, consider the promotion line they used on the book's cover -- “What would happen if the president of the U.S.A. went stark-raving mad?”

I should add that when Rachel Maddow brought up the thriller, it wasn't recently or even since Trump got re-elected. It was actually back during Trump's first term! And it leaped out to me, not just for what she said and because I'd read and loved the novel when I'd read it about 30-40 years earlier, but (if memory serves) I'd already started writing on my site about Trump having dementia.

Making this all the more notable, if not prescient is how the novel is described by the publisher on its Amazon webpage --

"Senator Jim MacVeagh is proud to serve his country—and his president, Mark Hollenbach, who has a near-spotless reputation as the vibrant, charismatic leader of MacVeagh’s party and the nation. When Hollenbach begins taking MacVeagh into his confidence, the young senator knows that his star is on the rise.

"But then Hollenbach starts summoning MacVeagh in the middle of the night to Camp David. There, the president sits in the dark and rants about his enemies, unfurling insane theories about all the people he says are conspiring against him. They would do anything, President Hollenbach tells the stunned senator, to stop him from setting in motion the grand, unprecedented plans he has to make America a great world power once again.

"MacVeagh comes away from these meetings increasingly convinced that the man he once admired has lost his mind. But what can he do? Who can he tell?"

Prescient? It's like Trump is guilty of copyright infringement. Indeed, beyond just the story, note the review quote on the cover from the New York Times -- "A little too plausible for comfort."

I should note that that quote was written when the book was published, in 1965. Man, that reviewer had no idea how "a little too close" it was for comfort. The only significant difference between then and now is that the book concerned just one member of Congress who realized that the president was "stark-raving mad," but didn't know who he could tell. That was 60 years ago -- my, how things have changed. Now much of the world has a sense of it. Now, it's broadcast daily on television. Now, Trump openly posts it on social media for all to see.

And expert psychologists have written books and articles about how Trump has dementia, which is degenerative. And written that Trump shows signs that he's a malignant narcissist, which is a medical condition. And it's discussed regularly on television news, in online publications, across social media and joked about on late night TV shows. Just last week, there was video of what was described as Trump "glitching" again on words, though it isn't mere glitching, but paraphasia, a medical symptom psychologists describe for dementia, where the person is unable to think of a word and instead quickly makes up a fake jumbled one. And video of this got replayed over and over -- as did video of Trump yelping out an unintelligible sound on a couple occasions, also a symptom of dementia, also shown repeatedly on TV. Not to mention his weird, new obsession focusing on men's "asses" and body parts.

Not to mention Trump himself actually saying the quiet part out loud just two weeks ago at the Rose Garden, October 16, because he so often seems unable to stop his impulses, and (for some reason) after noting addictions he doesn't have, told those at the event, "I have other problems. I have some very severe problems."

What would happen if the president of the U.S.A. went stark raving mad? Well...for one thing, his approval would plummet to 30%. And for another, the public would be headed to flip control of the House and very possibly the Senate, as well, in what appears to be a Blue tsunami.

If you'd like to get a copy of the book, it's available here.

Or...you can watch the free adaptation on TV every night.