THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

From the journal of John 'Jack' Quincy Adams, Chief Secret Service Special Agent in Charge, The White House. Code Name: One.

Part 6. Spying on the Boss

Jack Adams, the Secret Service agent charged with assassinating President George W. Bush and being held for psychiatric evaluation, is telling the psychiatrist how he came to spy on the President of The United States. The Director of the Secret Service, Mark Samson, has called Jack into his office the day before George H. W. Bush is to be inaugurated as president. He is talking to Jack about what a patriot Bush has been. Jack has cut to the chase and told Samson that he assumes what he's really referring to is Iran-Contra.

'President Bush has survived it all, Jack,' Samson said, frowning for emphasis. 'All to protect the American way of life. Not only as vice president, but at the CIA, the U.N., everywhere this man has gone.'

I wanted to laugh, but of course I didn't. I mean, come on, I'd been protecting Bush for four years. I knew exactly what he had been up to and why. I also knew that he and his friends had profited handsomely from many of his 'patriotic' dealings. But, hey, I'm as pragmatic as the next guy. You can't be in the political stew and not get some gravy on your tie. I was with the program as much as the next guy. 'Sure, John, I understand that.'

'History will show that he kept Communism from crossing our borders. The Sandinistas would have taken over not only Nicaragua, but all of Central America had we not stopped them. Had he not stopped them. It's a fact, Jack.'

'Right,' I said and took a quick sip of Scotch to keep him from seeing my smirk.

'It was brilliant, really. Our hostages in Lebanon were freed, the terrorist bombings in Europe came to a virtual standstill, and Nicaragua was liberated from the Communist Party, which eventually would have led the armies of Central America north to our borders if he hadn't stopped them.'

'Sure, but what does that have to do with me?'

Samson began to pace. 'We need to make sure the intelligence stays top secret. You see?'

'Not really.'

'The position of POTUS is one in which a man sometimes has to compromise. And if POTUS was to share his knowledge about Iran-Contra it would be disastrous for us. For the SS, for the CIA, even for the FBI.'

'Since when do we care what happens to the CIA or the FBI?'

'Jack! Jack! We're all in this together, don't you see? What happens to one happens to all. It's a house of cards we're living in, Jack. Nothing but a house of cards.'

In other words somebody at CIA had something on Samson and was threatening to spill the beans if the Iran-Contra thing got out. It was already all over the papers, but no one had anything concrete. No one that is except Bush, and rumor had it that he might give it up if he could make political hay with it. If, for example, he could lay the blame on North, Noriega, and a few stooges in the CIA, then he could save his own hide from being shredded by historians. He knew all the moves and had access to all the intelligence.

'How can I help?'

Samson then went to the fireplace mantle and retrieved a small box and handed it to me. 'You can take this,' he said.

I opened the box and found a Secret Service American flag pin, the kind all agents on protective duty wear, only this one was slightly thicker. 'I already have one of these.' I grasped and extended the lapel of my suit to show him my flag pin.

'Not like this one, you don't.'

So that was the game then. Even the president wasn't safe from his own web of intrigue. The chief was going to be spied on by his number one agent.

'You swore to protect and defend the country and this is the best way now. It is the highest calling, Jack. The very highest calling.'

I think he might actually have believed that, too.

'If he asks you to leave the room while he's having a discussion with other people, especially if they're from CIA, FBI or particularly the RNC, find a way to leave your jacket on the chair and turn your receiver to 'Loop', understand?'

'Loop' was the setting where an agent would get feedback from his own transmitter, so I would be able to hear what my own microphone was picking up.

'It's important that you hear everything. Do I make myself clear, Jack?'

'You don't think this smacks just a bit of a Banana Republic or the KGB?'

'Don't be melodramatic, Jack. Will you do it?'

'Do I have a choice?'

'Jack, Jack. Of course you have a choice. This isn't Communist China here.'

Could have fooled me.

Follow this 44-part serialized book in Windy City Times for the next several months. See www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com for past columns.