In my previous article, I discussed a fascinating person who is one of my mentors, Robert McCall. He retired from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Nowadays, he spends his life trying to equalize society. He is fully aware that he won’t change the entire world. Nevertheless, McCall is determined to do what he can in the time remaining in his journey down the yellow brick road of his life.

Robert McCall

I grasp what motivated my mentor. I’m 83 and have led death on my dance floor of life twice. I’m fully engaged in life. I can hear my clock ticking louder and louder. Enter Joshua Abraham Norton (1818-1880); he was born in Deptford, England. It wasn’t long, only two years, before the Norton’s family sailed off to South Africa. However, the desire of Norton’s father was to make a fortune. He tried and failed. Nonetheless, Norton’s father was able to beget nine additional siblings for Norton in ten years.

Living in South Africa wasn’t what Norton wanted for himself. So, he boarded the Sunbeam in 1846 and sailed to Boston. Then off to San Francisco went Norton. There is a lack of a great deal of data about Norton while in San Francisco. However, he filed for bankruptcy in 1856.

In 1859, Norton took his financial problems and faced them. He walked into the office of The San Francisco Evening Bulletin with a declaration that he wished to be published.

Norton’s declaration that he wanted the paper to print read: “At the peremptory request and desire of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last 9 years and 10 months past of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these United States.” And the paper printed it. Later, he also declared himself Protector of Mexico.

John Lumea is a historian who developed The Emperor Norton Trust. He led the team of historians to gather what was known of Norton. He said that Norton “was looking for a way the country could bring order out of chaos – to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat, as it were – and thought that monarchy offered the most efficient mechanism for doing that.”

Interestingly, Norton was against slavery, along with treating women as second-class. He also printed his own money.

Norton’s note

This is another photo of Norton I.

Norton and his cane

Norton was very much like Robert McCall in the three Enforcer movies. Norton tried in his own odd manner to equalize society in the mid-19^th century. In the first part of the 21^st century, Trump wants to be the Emperor of the US, Canada, Venezuela, Greenland, and the rest of North and South America.

There seems to be a problem with our president’s priorities. He has a litany of issues about which he has no interest: the midterm election, working-class financial problems, racism, xenophobia, sexism, protecting our environment, the general health of Americans, and the list goes on.

That isn’t to say Trump isn’t driven. He is driven solely by his self-aggrandizement. Anyone else doesn’t register on his must-do-list.

This is Trump’s $250 note.

This is another version of Trump’s note. Trump campaigned on promising to release the Epstein files. For some reason, only half of the files have been released. Much of what has been released has been redacted. Nonetheless, Epstein is lurking in the background of everything in Trump’s world.

Trump is thinking, “I wish Jeff would get off my back.”

Trump is a busy emperor.

“I’m not sleeping; I’m deep in thought.”