Nothing IS... as IT seems...

The First time I heard his name...

During the period of roughly February 1992 to mid 1994, I was making frequent trips to Moscow, Russia, in the process of starting a software development joint-venture company with some people from the Russian scientific community. One of the men in charge on the Russian side was named V. M.; he had a wife named T.M.

 

V. was a level-headed scientist while his wife was rather deeply committed to the losing Communist cause - a cause she obviously was not abandoning.

 

One evening, during a trip early in 1992, the American half of our venture were invited to V. & T.'s Moscow flat as we were about to return to the States. The party went well and we had the normal dinner discussions.

 

As the evening wore on, T. developed a decidedly rough anti-American edge - one her husband tried to quietly rein in.

 

The bottom line of the tirade she started against the United States went something like this:

 

"You Americans always like to think that you have the perfect government and your people are always so perfect. Well then, why haven't you had a woman president by now? You had a chance to vote for a woman vice-president and you didn't do it."

 

The general response went something along the lines that you don't vote for someone just because of their sex. Besides, you don't vote for vice-president, but the president and vice-president as a ticket.

 

"Well, I think you are going to be surprised when you get a black president very soon."

 

The consensus we expressed was that we didn't think there was anything innately barring that. The right person at the right time and sure, America would try to vote for the right person, be he or she black or not.

 

"What if I told you that you will have a black president very soon and he will be a Communist?"

 

The out-of-the-blue remark was met by our stares. She continued, "Well, you will; and he will be a Communist."

 

It was then that the husband unsuccessfully tried to change the subject; but she was on a roll and would have nothing of it. One of us asked, "It sounds like you know something we don't know."

 

"Yes, it is true. This is not some idle talk. He is already born and he is educated and being groomed to be president right now. You will be impressed to know that he has gone to the best schools of Presidents. He is what you call "Ivy League". You don't believe me, but he is real and I even know his name. His name is uniquely different.  His mother is white and American and his father is black from Africa. That's right, a chocolate baby! And he's going to be your President."

 

She became more and more smug as she presented her stream of detailed knowledge and predictions so matter-of-factly - as though all were foregone conclusions. "It's all been thought out. His father is not an American black so he won't have that social slave stigma. He is intelligent and he is half white and has been raised from the cradle to be an atheist and a Communist. He's gone to the finest schools. He is being guided every step of the way and he will be irresistible to America."

 

We sat there not knowing what to say. She was obviously very happy that the Communists were doing this and that it would somehow be a thumbing of their collective noses at America: they would give us a black president and he'd be a Communist to boot. She made it quite obvious that she thought that this was going to breathe new life into world Communism. From this and other conversations with her, she always asserted that Communism was far from dead.

 

She was full of little details about him that she was eager to relate. I thought that maybe she was trying to show off that this truly was a real person and not just hot air.

 

She rattled off a complete litany. He was from Hawaii. He went to school in California. He lived in Chicago. He was soon to be elected to the legislature. "Have no doubt: he is one of us, a Soviet."

 

At one point, she related some sort of San Francisco connection, but I didn't understand what the point was and don't recall much about that. I was just left with the notion that she considered the city to be some sort of a center for their activity here.

 

Since I had dabbled in languages, I knew a smattering of Arabic. I made a comment: "If I remember correctly, that name comes from the Arabic word for 'Blessing.' That seems to be an odd name for an American." She replied quickly, "That is because it is 'African'", she insisted, "and he will be a blessing, for world Communism. We will regain our strength and become the number one power in the world."

 

She continued with something to the effect that America was going to be brought to heel.  It had grown soft and now Communism under the guise of "CHANGE" would be brought to BEAR with an IRON FIST.  Laughing, She said darkly, the very people who make up America will be declared enemies of the State.  Now, the soft lazy Americans, under the boot heel of "Change" will learn to suffer like the rest of the world.  The brutal lessons of Stalin will not be wasted upon them... 

 

This conversation happened in 1992..