By Silent Majority

by Robert Buschel

  The election was too close for Peter Spark. There were rumblings about a recount in Florida. But the election wasn’t that close. It was more than a one-percent margin, and under Florida law a recount was not authorized. Daniel Carlson had no idea what Peter was doing. President-elect Carlson was drunk with disbelief and the promise of power. Trumpets blared as Daniel Carlson walked into a party room at the Fontainebleau Hotel’s convention center. Carlson’s opponent was in no mood to be written in history’s book as the man who made a legal challenge to an election. Richard Nixon knew he was robbed of his rightful place a term earlier, by a corrupt Kennedy campaign. He didn’t want to be a part of a legal challenge to a Presidential election.

  Daniel Carlson took to the stage and in that moment, as he walked to the podium and to the microphone he became the President of the United States. He transmorgraphied into the living leader of the free world. Daniel Carlson didn’t look like a Senator. He didn’t look like a man and was larger than his body. His family was behind him, June, his lovely adoring wife; his two children, which now America must accept as his own. “Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States, President Daniel Carlson.”

  “Good evening!” The applause seemed endless. “I just spoke moments ago with my friend. And he has congratulated me as the President of the United States.” The room erupted like the Beatles, with John, took the stage in a surprise performance. “Things are going to be different, and I mean it. I’m going to be a different President. I’m going to be thinking about you, America as if it were the last and only four years I can serve as President. I will act like I don’t have to be reelected. I will be a true Republican. This is me. I will be a conservative economist while understanding there is a struggling working class that needs real opportunity to achieve. We level the playing field for all with education. We must prepare America for the future. If you trust me, I will be good for America. Thank you for your support.” Daniel was convinced the Silent Majority had lost, and the vocal minority has won. Tonight everyone in that room believed in Daniel Carlson. He made others nervous, the type of people that don’t like to be made nervous.

  CHAPTER 20

  The First 60 Days:

  The President’s Diary

  Day 1

  I am the President! What a miracle that is! I continue to write in my diary for myself as notes for a memoir of the future, which I am compelled to write at the end of my term as President. But I made it a promise to myself, regardless of how I may spin, don’t adulterate the truth in the future, for purposes known and unknown, I will write this journal with clarity and honesty.

  The first day as President was incredibly heady. It is probably the last day I will ever feel just plain glory. The bands and the receptions—my hand is swollen and my forearm is strained from the endless handshakes. My head is ringing. I felt like a child who has stayed up all night with a new toy, and still wants to play, but beaten by exhaustion, succumbs to the gravity of fatigue and goes to bed.

  I did do some constructive things today. I met with former cabinet officials from the last administration. I picked up a few hints from some wise men. I made a point to keep in touch with a few, on issues of upcoming importance. I also set up several appointments to speak with former Presidents by phone. Why repeat other people’s mistakes? Instead of touching the stove for myself, and learning that it’s hot, I’m going to get the most I can from others’ mistakes.

  It just dawned on me that I didn’t speak with any Democratic cabinet members. Why shouldn’t I? Behind closed doors, the old cabinet, as partisan as they are don’t put on a show for the camera. They’ll do it the second they leave my office, which is why I must be careful with these people, but they aren’t all like Mafioso chiefs, of the Brando mold, who as skilled as chess masters can at first appear to aid my administration, and then months later manifest the mines that were laid in following their advice. I’ve learned over the years, and I have to rely on my experience, that everyone has his spin on issues. This isn’t bad or good, just something that needs to be factored into a final decision.

  One mistake is not having people around whom a President can trust. As I’ve known for years, most people in Washington have their own canoe to paddle. I’ve been toying with the idea and I really want to establish an informal cabinet like the one Andrew Jackson had when he was President. I just want a bunch of guys sitting around shooting the bull, giving me some honest answers. A group of guys who are older, wiser, and simply interested in seeing my administration succeed. I’ll hold these meetings in a backroom in the East Wing.

  I slept well for the first time in a long time. I think I have conquered my Silent Majority.

  Day 2

  I think this was the longest day of my life. It was nonstop meetings and briefings. I didn’t think I would even have time to write today. I have to pick cabinet secretaries and undersecretaries. I have given deference to some people because of their involvement with the campaign. I have to now appoint people to very important positions, and I don’t know them very well, and then I have to trust them. I’ve learned about many agendas of many of the people who helped me get here. I barely won, and they act like the whole country gave me a mandate to do exactly what they or their little organization wants to get accomplished. Everyone is in their own little world. The Christian God Foundation has been bothering Peter to get a meeting with me. There is some prestige associated with meeting with the President within the first ten days of this presidency. Poor and happy Peter. The best decision I made was to put Peter in charge of it. I officially announced that Peter Spark would be the White House Chief of Staff.

  Day 3

  June woke up this morning the same time I did. She looked at me after I got dressed in my Brioni blue pin-striped suit and said that I looked transformed into the President of the United States. I did look good, and I wanted to look sharp today.

  Today, my speech writers have agreed that I don’t have to regurgitate my inauguration spin off speech. Basically, the spin off speech is the key points of the inaugural address without having to repeat it. I can get into specifics and motivate my troops to push for the prescription medication bill. “No patient left behind.” Things are going to have to change around this country. I really want to represent this country. I’m a Republican, but I’m not here to just make corporate America richer. That’s not the Republican I want to be. I’m meeting with some CEOs of the six major drug companies today. They want to talk about government deregulation of prescriptions. I want to talk about Alzheimer’s and breast cancer medication, HIV and reducing the costs of medication. It can’t be profit at any costs. I want to stimulate research and development.

  They actually had the nerve to ask Peter if they can have “Government relations” people in the room during the meeting! No lobbyist gets direct access to the President, ever. So, our first joke broke out at the West Wing today. Whenever the term “Government relations” naturally comes up in a conversation, the person to the right of Peter has to say, “lobbyist.” No one really laughs, but we all pause to appreciate the moment. Business is going to change around the White House, and then the country. I’ve sobered up. Doing a good job as President is more important to me than getting reelected. I’ll be a better Jimmy Carter if that’s what’s meant to be. The big difference between me and the last guy who was in the Oval office is: I mean it.

  Day 4

  Budget talks are about to begin. I’m going to deliver a balanced one, so there is no talk of a balanced budget amendment on my watch. The round-and-round fighting that’s going to go on is going to be crazy. I’m not keeping in a bunch of multi-million dollar programs so that some Senator can say he delivered home the bacon for his home state. I need a formidable budget for the foreign intelligence services. I just have a bad feeling we’re behind. Learn much, take preventative steps, and avoid war. I got Peter started on proposals to revamp the whole intelligence communi
ty to eliminate the petty turf wars that exist among the agencies. I think the Director of Central Intelligence should have budgetary authority over all the agencies, and that would get everyone sharing information. I have different ideas about the military too. Yes, we need a big budget, but in times of peace, which is what I’m going for, I want the military to breed good will across the world toward the United States. It feels like everybody hates us.

  On a pleasant note, Elana Goldstein agreed to accept the position of Deputy Attorney General of the Civil Rights division. She should be approved very quickly because she is a Democrat. Not much of a roar over that from the Party. I don’t think they really care too much about civil rights.

  Day 5

  It’s only the fifth day as President, and the tension is unreal. I thought I had to put up with a lot of bull when I was in the Senate. Now all the bull is pointed at me. When I was in the Senate I always wondered what the hell is going on at the White House. Now, I’m wondering, what the hell is going on in Congress.

  It was just a rough day. The opponents of change were particularly united today against my crime bill. This one attacks the root of crime. It will take twenty years to see a difference. What these opposition people need to understand is that criminals are not our enemies, they are citizens too, at least the legal ones. Instead of putting them in jail for three years, how about really concentrating on rehabilitation. A real restructuring of the whole corrections system. Educate the juveniles so that they will have new values. Make them have hope they’ll live past twenty-five years old.

  The opposition profits from the fear, and I resent it. They profit from the rage. Their counterproposal is more death penalty for drug lords. That’ll work. It’s never happened. The other brilliant idea raises the sentences for offenses. We have no room in prisons anyway. Besides, these bozos know we can only raise penalties for federal crimes not state crimes. What a bunch of empty rhetoric. I’m getting a massage.

  Day 6

  I was speaking with a member of the armed services committee today. A general recently promoted was General Speiser. He was remarking about the good old days when research and development of the Star Wars program was making progress. I almost laughed at his sincerity. Wasn’t the strategic defense initiative an utter waste? He didn’t appreciate my lack of support. I think the only thing SDI was good for was bankrupting the Soviets. If we’re going to spend that kind of money, I want some potential civilian spin offs. Call me a bleeding heart, but we should not be moving toward preparing for war, we should be preparing for peace. I’m not naive enough to believe that we shouldn’t have a strong military. We must spend large amounts of money, because we need to spread democracy through a demonstration of peace. That is the only way that we can hope for peace in tumultuous regions of the world. No long draged out wars. Our foreign policy should be to stop atrocities and let countries deal with self-governance. Governments can’t murder their own people. That’s what we should be willing to fight for and die for. I was willing to fight and die for this country, no matter what they said about me during the campaign. I thought I died the day that doctor told me I couldn’t fight for my country. But I didn’t. It’s better that I lived. I’ve done a lot of good since then. The world would’ve missed me if I had died in war. I was a tad too young to die in Vietnam. Let the other man die for his country anyway.

  Day 7

  I flew to Florida today. This was my first trip as President of the United States. I’ve been on Air Force One before, but now, with all my ego, it is mine. It’s the Oval Office in a plane. I could have surgery on the flight. It’s amazing! I got a lot of reading done on the flight. I love that I don’t have to wait for the plane to get clearance to take off. When I get on the plane, there’s immediate clearance for takeoff. Heady stuff. If I need to talk to someone, that person comes along for the trip.

  I hit four cities in Florida: Miami Beach, West Palm Beach, Tampa, and Tallahassee. It was good to see home. It’s tough to tell if the country is ready for a new way of thinking. No one really wants to think that far into the future. The Asians see into the next quarter-century, and so should we. Enough with management by crisis. Education is key. Research and development is key for a competitive America. Republicans who want the profits through no regulation need to understand I’m the CEO, and we’re investing know-how for the future. How are we supposed to beat China, Japan, and Europe if we just threaten trade tariffs? Be the best and we’ll do the best. We say it, now we have to do it. But that’s the big lie. Corporate America says we’re the best, but doesn’t want to train to remain the best. What Corporate America wants from government is to tilt the playing field. My response is: I’ll give you the best equipment, you lift. I’ll give tax breaks for development of poor areas, so that jobs can be created, but I just don’t give something for nothing. Open a training facility, and then we’ll talk. Teach these people how to read, write, and use a computer. I’m exasperated by our illiteracy in America.

  Day 8

  I awoke at 3 a.m. today. A Korean airliner was downed flying over mainland China. By all indications, the airplane just crashed. I spoke to all the leaders in the region. I haven’t been able to force myself to speak to the leader of China since I don’t have enough for a murder conviction, but I have the sense that he tried to have me assassinated. He still vehemently denies it. Later in the day, the report from North Korean newspapers is that the plane crashed as retaliation from the United States. I know I didn’t order anything. I asked Peter, and he said it really was just a tragic plane crash. Peter doesn’t know it, but I can tell when he’s lying. It’s almost imperceptible, but his right eye slightly glazes over with a tear. I think it has something to do with how he got his scar on his face. Peter can control his breathing, he doesn’t sweat, he doesn’t miss a heartbeat, doesn’t blink, but he can’t prevent the neurological response in his eye. My guess is he doesn’t even know it himself. I know I won’t tell him. I accept Peter. He is my friend, but I know what he thinks about and what he wants. I’m going to Camp David tomorrow for the first time.

  Day 9

  Camp David is an incredible getaway. I spent the morning with the foreign affairs staff. We are preparing for a meeting with the South Koreans at the White House. Then a few weeks later the Palestinians. I took a long lunch, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. I was able to read on a hammock. It was wonderful. I was able to take a nap. I woke up from the nap and realized America needs to aide in the peace process for two reasons: It’s the right thing to do; and, America will compete better in peaceful regions of the world.

  Day 10

  We secretly got the Ambassador for South Korea up to Camp David today. We snuck him in without any press noticing. After really getting a look around the campus today, I wouldn’t understand why Castro wouldn’t want to sneak in and spend some time. But the real coup is getting the North Korean envoy in as well. The two of them talked alone for a while, and then I came into the room. Peter had a strange look on his face the whole day. He doesn’t believe in the whole negotiating process between the Koreans. He says the world and particularly the intelligence services don’t understand well enough that Asian cultures will lie about their feelings and thoughts as a matter of honor. Their cultures are honor-based cultures, not guilt-based cultures like in the West. Practically speaking, national pride is more important than being fair and honest. So today’s promise can be completely disregarded, because they have an agenda that protects their national sense of honor. I am more optimistic. I must defuse the airliner fiasco. I trust the plane just crashed. But what is the truth and what is perceived are two different things. The Silent Majority lives. Facts are facts. Yet, I must defuse perceptions.

  Day 11

  I think I’ve been photographed more in the last eleven days as I was in the entire campaign. Everything I do seems to be photographed. It was fun at first, but it gets a little wearing. I have my own White House paparazzi. Everyone wh
o shakes hands with me wants a picture. A picture communicates something. Prestige. In my mind, I’m just a teenager, who has big dreams for America. I’m a child in a very adult job. Making decisions in a moment that can affect the world. Three years from now, or ten years from now, I can learn that I made a very bad decision. How do I know if I’m doing the right things? I wake up in the mornings in fear. I feel depressed and sometimes angry that I’m in this position. Who put me here? Why am I here? What am I suppose to accomplish? I talk to God, but he doesn’t talk back to me. Some Presidents enjoyed a blissful ignorance. I know how much I don’t know when I make a decision. I know it can all go wrong, and a lot of it is about how much luck, divine intervention, and a momentum set a long time ago pushes things in motion. I don’t want to go to war. There is great pressure to make war happen. I hate those that want war to happen.

  Day 12

  I spoke to a special counselor in the White House. He’s a counselor to the President who happens to be a psychiatrist. I guess the President can’t speak to a psychologist, because we’re all suppose to have it all together, all the time. Tony Soprano can see one, but I cannot. I learned that visiting Florida a few days ago triggered my melancholy. The warm weather of winter in Florida. The salty air off the intracoastal. I’ve been thinking of the first time visiting my father’s grave. It was internally tumultuous.

  I think that it’s only part of the answer. In a few days, I have to finalize my decision on whether I’m going to send a Navy Seal team into Jordan to help the Israelis blow up the beginnings of a nuclear power lab. I have lots of confidence it’s there. We just can’t get caught. Congress will be pissed off. The rest of the Middle East will be angry. The oil people from Texas will be mad. I’ll be fine if I just don’t get caught. Peter is telling me not to tell the Congressional leadership, and let the Israelis do the damage and take the risk alone. Peter is good about not sugar coating his views behind closed doors. I think that is part of his Naval Intelligence training. Say it like it is and then advocate once all the information is out there.