It was not the debate that changed the landscape of the Republican primary, it was the after-debate. Daniel Carlson was smart and handsome. He had a great story. He fell in love with a widow, who lost her own love in a tragic death. He embraced her lovely children as his own. He was a man who accepted responsibility. A man who embraced leadership when others would reject it. When Daniel Carlson as a Senator stood up for a strong America against communist South Korea, he almost lost his life. So all the garbage came out. Daniel smoked pot after college. He didn’t serve in country. What else can they attack him about. He was a prosecutor. He was a Harvard law graduate and inherited a Senatorship, from a scandal borne Terrence Bratton? Daniel felt thoroughly attacked as number two. Daniel’s instincts to win kicked in when he heard the crowd. Daniel wondered if Skipper came to him and actually talked to him about whether Daniel Carlson, the man, wanted to be President of the United States, Skipper could have talked Daniel Carlson into dropping out. Now Daniel was hurt.
Daniel Carlson spoke to his constituents about his plans for the economy and foreign policy. His vision for America was lead by example. Keep America’s house clean and encourage other countries to do the same. The major criticism is that Carlson’s plans were too vague. What did that mean, lead by example? Carlson felt the economy was doing great. Don’t tinker with it. Now is the time to invest in innovation. Research and development is the key to long term economic health. The whole world should be studying and learning here in this country. The whole country should be a research triangle of the world.
Out of all the messages that were accepted, this war dodger crap was getting some play. It was being accepted. Because in the world of politics, you say something over and over enough times, it becomes accepted as true. Daniel Carlson presented the doctor’s report that showed he had a knee injury. He even was able to dig out high school track team records to show how he hurt his knee, but that wasn’t enough to debunk the myth. The majority likes scandal and controversy. Bored with their own soap operas, a person says it, it must be true. If it’s in writing, well then it’s gospel.
Speaking well is one thing. But, not everyone listens to the speeches. The long debates turn into sound bites. The majority doesn’t have the patience any more to delve into the issues. Daniel pandered in the past month, and he got off message. Roger Rock told Daniel to tell the majority what they want to hear, and Daniel went down in the polls and lost several states to Skipper. Daniel insisted no more pandering. He can’t do it. He’d been lucky enough to make it in his career by saying what he really felt, and it worked. Even with Daniel’s best, these men were running for the presidency. Good looks, a good speaker, and even a well-funded campaign weren’t enough. The majority had to believe he was a president. It’s an intangible. He needed a highlight.
Dean Skipper spoke of family values. Only he had them. Daniel didn’t have family values because he didn’t deal with families in business like Skipper did. Daniel was labeled a career politician. Manufactured by Senator Bratton like a blood pork sausage. Daniel Carlson wasn’t in touch with the people. Skipper knew the people because he was a teacher for three years about twenty-five years ago. Then he ran for the local school board, and so on until the Senate. Skipper was a Christian. Skipper was so devout he talked with God. Skipper spoke in code to the fundamentalists. “I pray every day, which I lead this country toward fundamental values that we are meant to live by. . . . I live by a code given to us by our Heavenly Father. We all should live by that code; it’s about responsibility and accountability. . . . It’s who you consort with that says a lot about your character. I consort with the people, and my opponent was raised by a man who hasn’t subscribed to the values of the Almighty.”
Daniel couldn’t believe that he was still meant to be paying for the sins of Terrence Bratton. Skipper Dean really scared Daniel Carlson. Scared is not an overstatement, because Daniel admitted to speaking with God on the campaign trail, but Skipper believed that God spoke back to Skipper. So when Skipper says that God will live in the White House if he’s President, Daniel believed him. That little voice in Dean Skipper’s head talks to him, and he thinks it’s God talking back.
Daniel was nervous that Skipper did well in the debate, and that would be good enough to be close in Florida. Daniel feared mortification if he lost his own State in the primaries. Daniel’s presidential bid would be over if he lost. There would be nothing but a repetition by Skipper of how he was more popular than Daniel Carlson in Carlson’s own State. As the debate ended, all the candidates began the light bulb screw wave, as they approached the front of the stage. As a plant, Dean Skipper had a supporter come to the front row with her baby girl. The mother handed Skipper her baby for emphasis that he is the candidate of family values.
With his hands held high, with the infant in between, Skipper made a strong statement. Family values! Family values, he screamed! He smiled brightly. Skipper had it locked up. He was on message. Skipper turned slightly as he held the baby high. Again, Family Values!
Several people flooded the stage. Family members of candidates and aides went on the stage. A lot of fake smiles and congratulations. One of Skipper’s aides went up to him with a bright smile and a slap meant for the back when Skipper turned. Daniel was standing next to Skipper when his aide appeared with the sharp show of confidence and approval. Daniel turned toward Senator Skipper when his aide came up behind him and slapped his arm because the aide yelled out yeah, in a sound of victory. Daniel instinctively looked up. Skipper’s arm slipped as it was hit, and lost hold of the baby. The baby facing toward the audience instinctively winced and then cried as he descended to the stage floor. As the baby fell, he grabbed the air with his arms. The baby’s mother looked up from below the stage floor, in the first row, and screamed. The cameras were catching frame by frame as the baby was falling. Daniel reacted with shock. He reached for the baby and caught her with both hands. As he could not bend at the knees, Daniel bent at his waist as he grasped.
Without thought, and only out of a reaction, so that a thing, like a glass, wouldn’t break when it hit the floor beyond the stage floor, Dean Skipper lifted his leg, to break the baby’s fall.
But Daniel got the brunt of the quick leg lift, and got a foot in the face. When Daniel got kicked in his jaw, he moaned. The camera shutters opened and closed and captured the as is looks of both Senator Daniel Carlson and worse yet, Senator Skipper Dean. The baby was fine as Daniel put her close to his shoulder when he recovered. The country would notice Daniel’s heroism and quick thought. Quick thought revealed true character. Daniel went to help the child and Skipper almost kicked her. The country learned for sure that Daniel wasn’t lying about why he didn’t serve in the military, he had a bad knee. The country also learned about Skipper’s family values, and Skipper knew it.
Dean Skipper knew in that moment it was over for him. He didn’t need a poll to know what the silent majority would think. Skipper looked at Daniel Carlson, nodded his head, grimaced to one side of his mouth, and conceded in what was the most sincere thing Skipper had said in months: Best of luck, Daniel.
CHAPTER 16
By Silent Minority
The three men knew each other but didn’t know that each was involved. Ben Bradford was in charge of recruiting the other two, and was allowed to communicate with them, but not reveal his identity. Bradford was recruited to help lead the other two into the group. Everything was very much on a need-to-know basis.
Eugene Poindexter Hawkins was one of the top computer programmers in the world. He was a software geek of the first order. Hawkins looks the part. He makes Bill Gates look like he should be on the cover of GQ Magazine. He has curly dark hair, black framed glasses from 1978. One would half expect a paper clip in the joint of the frame to hold an arm together. Hawkins really had a pocket protector in his white short-sleeved collared shirts. Hawkins demanded that he be called Eugene, not Gene. He was proud to be a computer geek.
He knew the other two geeks, and they knew him. The other two disliked Hawkins. He was odd and stood for outlandish things. Hawkins was motivated by unusual motivators, but Hawkins was transparent. Bradford knew how to motivate him.
Hawkins liked knowing he could slink in and around the computer world and invoke his own justice, at will. He was not Anonymous he just was himself, anonymously or not. To prove a point, Hawkins hacked into the bank that held Harvard’s Dean of Arts & Science’s personal account, and made a generous donation on behalf of the Dean to the Wigand Foundation to buy computers for inner city schools. Hawkins did it because he took an Art history class with the Dean, the one arts credit Hawkins needed to graduate. The Dean made the mistake of giving Hawkins a B+. Harvard never found out how it happened, or who did it. The Dean of course couldn’t ask for the gift back, and it ate the Professor up inside.
When the United States invaded Grenada and then traded arms for hostages with the Contras, Hawkins became perturbed and hacked into the Pentagon’s computer, human resources section. For three months every general in the United States Army received half a pay check. The other half went to the AFDC school lunch program. The military never found out how it happened, or who did it; so Hawkins confessed. He pled guilty to an indictment filed in Alexandria, Virginia. After six months in a low-level halfway house he was released. The government on its own motion sealed and then expunged his record. The National Security Agency then recruited him. Everyone hurt by the half-a-paycheck gag did not forgive, however. Three years later a general who had hell to pay when his wife found out that he went to Fort Lauderdale with his mistress brought pain to Hawkins. Because his salary check was not issued by the government, the general had to pay by credit card, which his wife discovered when the bill came. The general lured Hawkins to a hideaway in Seattle, and the general got his revenge: Army training. Hawkins was paranoid and feared he could be lured again.
The whole set up for this meeting made Hawkins extremely uneasy. When you’ve been an arrogant computer geek for most of your life, you never know who might be pissed off at you, and want revenge. Bradford didn’t worry. Hawkins would join the team, the Geeks.
The next techie targeted for the Geeks was William Goode. He was likeable enough, but only if you didn’t work in the computer industry. Goode brought out resentment in other techies because he was all talent and no hard work. He was awarded a PhD in computer science from M.I.T. when he was twenty-two years old. He just had a flair for the computer. He was the ultimate cognitive computer scientist. M.I.T. didn’t know what to do with him so they made him a professor. He taught so well that everyone got an A or B in his classes. This bothered the faculty because the professors insisted that a Bell curve must be used to evaluate performance. Professor Goode thought the Bell curve was stupid. You knew the material or you didn’t. Why make a test harder than you said it would be just to make sure someone gets a C. When the other professors tried to make the prodigy’s life difficult at the University, he responded in-kind.
Some professors in the mathematics department typed their exams on the computer and then printed them out. Goode published the answers to the chaotic math final exam via email to every student in the class. When the whole class aced the exam, a faculty summit was convened. An investigation was launched, but not a soul in the class revealed the answers were emailed before the exam, and not after, as was usually the case. Even a deep meta-analysis into the sending codes revealed the emailed exam answers were sent after the exam was administered. The whole faculty knew Goode was responsible, but not one tenured professor could prove it.
Professor Goode was tired of sleeping with female techies. He wanted hot girls. He referred to them as straight girls. In his mind, that took money. Not that he needed to buy prostitutes; he just knew that hot girls required entertainment money. He still dressed like a grad student, flannels over a T-shirt. So on a suggestion of a girlfriend he bought himself a G belt from Gucci on a whim. He couldn’t believe a belt could cost so much money. He wore it around campus, and it made a difference. Women took notice off campus as well. Goode became hooked. With the clothes comes the car. With the car came the first hot girl. Then they loved him for his mind as well as his Beemer. Goode would join the Geeks because $10,000 a month continually was deposited into his personal savings account for the last year. He would at least have to show for the meeting.
The ostensible leader of the Geeks was Benjamin Bradford. He was motivated by the power. He was promised a position in the White House. Bradford was taking it all on faith because even he hadn’t met the man behind the scenes. Money was showing up where it was needed. Bradford didn’t know who was his benefactor, but he challenged his benefactor to prove his worth. Bradford had a friend that was a long shot for an appointment for judge in a suburb of Seattle. Not a problem. Within one month, Bradford’s friend was appointed by the governor of Washington State. Bradford told his friend that he was going to make him a judge. That he had connections that can make it happen. Bradford liked the power of his unknown benefactor, and his word. In exchange for his friend becoming a judge, Bradford had to appear for the meeting of the Geeks, and make sure the other two would show up. Bradford kept his part of the bargain. He had to assure Hawkins that Bradford was involved. Goode didn’t know Bradford was involved because Goode didn’t insist on knowing.
Bradford never got indicted and never hacked into any computer for no reason even though he knew he could. He designed the software program that could do it. It’s now the standard in the hacker industry. Hawkins would never admit that Bradford created the Hackman program prototype that is still used today, but Hawkins knew it. And Bradford knew that Hawkins knew it. Bradford also created the Dark. The Dark is where the few who were invited could remain, program, and hack under the cover. That’s why among the Geeks, Bradford could be boss.
Bradford was benevolent and accepting but could be vindictive, however. Bradford hacked into the University computer once to change a grade. To get a student to secure an interview for a friend who wanted to be a professor at the University of Massachusetts. Bradford knew the student, Alfred Dias. Dias’ father was Dean at U of Mass. Dias had real pressure to live up to his father’s expectations. An A in advanced thermodynamics would be perfect. Bradford hacked into the computer and changed Dias’ grade from a C to an A. Bradford told him that he spoke to the professor who was a close friend. In turn, Dias tried to get Bradford’s friend an interview. It didn’t happen. For some reason, Bradford’s friend didn’t get the job. Bradford was embarrassed, and didn’t like that Dias didn’t keep his word. Bradford responded by changing Dias’ grade again, to a C–. When Dias learned the following semester his grade changed and for the worse, he confronted the professor. The professor didn’t know Bradford, denied talking to him, and told Dias he kept the raw copy of the exam and he got a C–. The professor did his own computer check and it turned out the history on the software revealed no tampering and no history except the one entry of a C-. The professor told Dias to produce the hardcopy of the report card, but Dias had forwarded it to his father. His father didn’t keep the report card and gave him hell for what Dias’ father considered a failing grade in thermodynamics.
Bradford lived in Seattle since attending M.I.T, so he just drove to the designated location. He was the first one. It was in a warehouse district, and it was pretty deserted. All he could hear was a garage band in the distance. The main door was red and unlocked. He had parked ten spots away as directed. Bradford shut the door behind him.
“Stay where you are. Lock the door behind you.”
Bradford did what he was told because he recognized the voice from the two years of phone calls.
“Relax, your eyes will adjust in a moment.”
“I’m fine. You’ve gotten me this far,” Bradford replied. “You know a lot about me, what about you?”
“No so fast. I’ve decided you will be the only one who knows who I am. And o
nce you know who I am, you’ll know what I do.”
“I know what you can do. I just don’t know why you are doing it,” Bradford said.
“I’m trying to recruit you for a mission.”
“What’s the mission?”
“Whatever I say it’s going to be. But for now I want you to research how to hack from remote locations. I mean not having a computer plugged into the wall.”
“You mean wireless? We’re there. Why would you want to do it from a remote location?” Ben realized who was talking to and figured it out. It would be tougher to leave footprints, and this guy doesn’t want to get caught. Slowly, Bradford’s eyes adjusted and could start to see who he was looking at. It was no one he’d ever met. No one that he recognized. “It’s important that you tell me what you want exactly.”
“I need you and your friends to be able to disrupt simple accounting software programs in progress. The encryptions will be difficult to read and alter. They will be designed by different companies, so chances are there won’t be much in common.”
“Which companies?” Bradford asked.
“Don’t know yet. They’re not even in existence.”
“Do you even know if they’re going to be in existence?”
“I have a good feeling they will be. I just know things about how society thinks. Which direction it wants to go.”
Bradford was slightly amused by cryptic talk but was holding back on being annoyed. This person was right about a lot of things the last two years.
By Silent Majority Page 18