An exclusive private club in New York City, where such conversations can be had in confidence

I have a good friend and trusted associate who is a server at one of the most elite private clubs in Manhattan. He overheard the following conversation between two of the most important club members. These people are so arrogant that they don’t pay any attention to the servers who are hovering over them, standing right behind them, waiting to jump to serve them. These two elite investment capitalists were discussing how to stop Mamdani and his movement. Here goes: (In case you are unsure whether this conversation is real or imagined, note that it is filed under “fiction truer than fact” and that the date of the alleged conversation is a week after the publication of this article.)

(Overheard on July 19)

Reid:
Sam, it’s good to see you again, my old friend. Part of the reason I came back here was to get your thinking on what’s happening in New York with this Mamdani character.

Sam:
You know, Reid, I’m getting really worried about him. I mean, we both know that Trump is a fool but he can be a useful fool. His claim that Mamdani is a “communist“ is really off the mark, and I have no idea whether he believes it or not. In fact, he believes whatever is useful at the moment. But maybe he’s right that he’s going to have to take direct control of New York in order to put a stop once and for all to this dangerous nonsense that Mamdani is spouting.

Reid:
Wouldn’t that require sending the National Guard, and maybe even the Marines into New York, Sam?

Sam:
Yes, it would, and on a greater scale than what Trump did in Los Angeles. Of course there would be some problems with that, but I think they could handle it.

Reid:
Well, sure they can handle it, but it seems to me that approach involves risks that I think are unnecessary at this point. You know, Sam, this morning when I arrived here in New York I talked with the chief of staff of the governor, up in Albany. And she and our governor seem pretty confident that they will be able to keep their people in line up there and vote down any tax increase on us and our people here in the state. If they do that, then 3/4 of Mamdani’s whole program disappears into thin air. And you know he’s got a lot of people quite excited about what he wants to do. But most of these people are pretty young, and have never been active in politics before, because they never saw any point in it. If and when their hopes collapse, won’t they just go back to partying or working out or whatever it is that they do in their spare time? In other words, leaving the field free for us and those in the political world who are more friendly to us.

Sam:
Oh, sure. Unless Mamdani spreads his brand all throughout the state, we can keep Albany pretty well in hand. But if you think that he’s the only one who is spreading this sort of dangerous nonsense I think you are mistaken, my friend. I think sometimes a firm hand is what is really necessary.

And let’s not forget something else, Reid: Here this guy is running for Mayor, and half his popularity is based on his opposing the whole concept of Israel. It’s not just that he is against the excesses of the present administration there. You and I both understand that that administration is doing things that are counterproductive. But Mamdani actually says that he is against the idea of a Jewish state and he gets support for that! We both know that if Israel is not a Jewish state, it’s not Israel! And what’s worst of all is that his supporters seem to agree with him. That is dangerous nonsense, and it must be stopped and stopped very firmly. As our good friend Joe Biden (rest his soul) has said many times, “if Israel didn’t exist, we would have had to invent it“

So we can like what that fool Netanyahu is doing or dislike it, but he’s still our fool. And if he’s turning our people here at home against the very idea of Israel, then we have to do whatever is necessary to stop that view. As you know, that is really important to us, and if that means making significant incursions into this whole democracy thing then so be it.

Reid:
Sam, my friend, we’ve had this discussion before, and we will have this discussion again. In fact, both of our grandfathers had a very similar discussion at the time that FDR was president. You and I both know perfectly well that it was your grandfather who asked that general… what was his name?

Sam:
Smedley Butler

Reid:
Right. Smedley Butler. It was your grandfather, who asked him to step in and remove president Roosevelt, and Butler not only refused, he actually blew the whistle on your grandfather and his associates. Of course Butler couldn’t prove anything so the whole thing blew over, but it shows one of the dangers in that approach. Furthermore, your grandfather and his associates were seriously mistaken. Yes, President Roosevelt and his associates went to excesses, but can you imagine what would have ensued if a general had tried to overturn him? We came through the Roosevelt era OK. It’s true that some of his excesses have hindered us for nearly 100 years, but even before Trump came into office we were starting to get those excesses in hand.

Don’t misunderstand me. Neither your forefathers nor mine ever had any illusions in mob rule. That’s why we made sure to install the best representative we could possibly find as the first president of the United States. Now as you know, some of them wanted to install the father of our country, George, Washington, as King. That would have been a disastrous mistake in my estimation and the estimation of many at that time, because they never would’ve gotten away with it. As a result, you cannot name me one single country in the world that has been ruled as well, where our influences have been as sure and steady, as the United States for something like 200 years now.

So my point is, Sam, that National Guard/martial law card is one that we have to keep in reserve, but the time to play that card is not now.

Sam:
Well, Reid, maybe you are right, but let’s realize that our president has gone far further than either of us or any of our friends and associates ever thought he possibly could. I’m not at all convinced that this reserve card would not be possible and we could not get away with it. And anyway, what drives me to distraction is the two alternatives Adams, and Cuomo. Why in the world is it that we can’t get the two of them together and get one of them to drop out for the mutual benefit of all of us, themselves included? I mean, they both know that they would be well taken care of if one of them were to drop out for the benefit of all. Why is it that they are only thinking of themselves? Why is it?

I understand that whoever drops out, his political career is over. But if they both stay in the race, then that almost guarantees that Mamdani will win and then for both of them, their careers are over. So what are they thinking about? Or are they both on drugs or something?

Reid:
Well, Sam, you must admit that we and our associates, those of us who have been so central for their up-to-now-largely successful careers (with one or two little hiccups for each of them along the way) have not exactly set an example for them. Who amongst us, after all, has not tried to cut a special deal with our president or his associates for their own personal benefit at the expense of the benefit of the capitalist system under which we all operate? Who, Sam? Our good friends at the Wall Street Journal made that exact same point as far as how the tariffs would be used.

So, let’s be honest about it, Sam: these are not the days of the outmoded idealism of JFK and company. No, we are not trying to save the world, or even make it a so-called “better place”. We are doing the best we can for our own selves. So why should we expect our political representatives to be very much different?

Sam:
(Emits a long sigh)I suppose you are right. After all, weren’t you doing the same thing amongst some of your representatives out there in order to secure certain tax benefits for yourself? And didn’t you have to encourage the most self-centered motives amongst some of your own representatives in order to secure those tax benefits? So please don’t blame it all on President Trump.

Reid:
Nobody is blaming it all on President Trump. Nor am I putting all the blame on each of us looking out for our own interest. That is inevitable under our system of governance. And there is more to be said. I would not like to see the consequences of a full revelation of who actually were the actual close friends and clients of our former friend Richard, who met such an unfortunate and self-inflicted demise when he was behind bars.

Sam:
(With a rising voice) are you referring to my uncle’s alleged associations with Richard? Because if so, I think that an investigation of some illicit substances, and the dealers of those substances amongst some of your own family members might reveal some uncomfortable truths.

Reid:
Now hold on a minute, Sam. If the shoe fits wear it, and I have never been an advocate of the hedonistic lifestyle of either some of my own family members or anybody else. And as far as who might be on a list of closest associates of Richard, the main one I was thinking about is old man Ehud, who would be a prime replacement for that bumbler Netanyahu.

Sam:
And while we’re at it, Reid, this is something that I have been meaning to say to you for quite some time: I did not appreciate how you secured those tax benefits for yourself at the expense of myself and some of my close associates. Nor did I appreciate how you prevailed upon some of our representatives in Washington DC – our representatives from my state here in New York – to take up your cause.

Reid:
Well, Sam, I was looking out for myself just as you are looking out for yourself, and I suppose Eric and Andrew are doing the same.

At this, Reid waved his hand in the air and said to the server who was hovering behind him, “bring us two more of the same”

An exclusive private club in New York City, where such conversations can be had in confidence