The essay is another of my Kierkegaardian stories...on steroids. This first section of the article deals with the reality that our president, the very stable genius, never watched any of the three Equalizer films.

Ginger, my Irish Settler, and I have watched all three movies many times while we had dinner together. Sometime this year, Equalizer 4 and Equalizer 5 will be released. I can’t wait.

While I impatiently wait to see both of the new releases, this article is about Equalizer 3. The one scene that really stood out is near the very end of the movie. Robert McCall visits CIA Officer Emma Collins in the hospital. McCall and Collins worked together to stop the Mafia in Italy, who were hacking into a company’s pension accounts. McCall leaves her with $366,400, which she takes to a retiree who lost his pension due to these Mafia hackers.

Robert McCall spends his retirement years equalizing a litany of situations where some tough guys oppress ordinary people. Unfortunately, Trump didn’t see Equalizer 3 or any of its predecessors. Trump isn’t interested in equalizing the lives of Americans.

Trump is on his high horse as he galloped on his retribution and revenge tour. It is his means to rewrite history since the January 6 insurrection. It wasn’t a rigged election. Of the 62 cases, all but one found no evidence that the election was rigged.

Trump began his tour in his second term. He went after anybody or group that would not kowtow to our very stable genius. Many universities, media companies, and state and local leaders needed to kiss his ring to curry his favor. However, many have stood their ground. They include Jack Smith, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Benny Thompson, the Clintons, Dick Gregory, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Dr. Fauci, Lt. Col. Vindman, James Comey, John Bolton, Mark Esper, John Kelly, Mike Pence, Mark Milley.

This part of the article deals with interesting parallels between Robert McCall and my life. You can tell a great deal about anybody based upon who that person has as role models or mentors. Interestingly, the Equalizer series started a dozen years ago; that same year I met my family in Myanmar. I have repeated this story so many times over the years that I am reluctant to write about meeting a nine-year-old kid who was home on winter break.

Moh Moh was my tour guide, and she had to pick up my itinerary after leaving the Inle Lake area. We walked into their home and were greeted with this question. “Hi! My name is Ti Ti. Do you want to play some games?”

It was then that I realized that I met my family of five. Several years later, I returned to visit my family and discuss the idea of sending Ti Ti to college. That meant she needed to attend a college prep high school.

Moh Moh and Ko Ko, her parents, met while they were in college. However, Myanmar is a developing country like 2/3 of the world. Any American who lives in a home or an apartment processes more than my family and most of the world. Name any appliance in your home. They don’t own one, nor do most of the vast majority of the people in Myanmar or the rest of the developing world. They do have electricity for lights but not for heating and air conditioning. They also have water, but they can’t drink it.

On my last trip to Myanmar, our family of five went on our family trip together. We stopped at a small village called Set Set Yo. It was there I met my great-granddaughter, A Ngal Lay, the little one. She has a sister and parents, which means my entire family consists of nine members.

What would Robert McCall do if he met my family? He would be driven to equalize their station in life. McCall would be impressed by following my mentor. For over a decade, I have sent money to my family for housing, food, medicine, clothes, and education.

And where did I get all that money? I used money that I was paid to teach. When that wasn’t enough, I took out a second mortgage. That home equity loan has reached the point where it has been drained.

Now, I could have told my family a decade ago that I loved them, but when I die they will get their share. Ethically, that is a non-starter. They would have suffered for over a decade.

If Robert McCall were in my place, what would he do? I know what he would do. Start a fundraising drive with GoFundMe.

If you happen to run into Robert McCall someday, he looks somewhat like Denzel Washington. Tell him that Campbell is trying to equalize his family of nine in Myanmar.

What do you think McCall would ask you?