This 44-part series began running in WCT Nov. 8. Readers can read all the installments to date at www.windycitymediagroup.com .
From the journal of John 'Jack' Quincy Adams, Chief Secret Service Special Agent in Charge, The White House. Code Name: One.
Part 16. Strategizing in the Name of the Lord
Jack Adams, the Secret Service agent charged with assassinating President George W. Bush and being held for psychiatric evaluation, is telling the psychiatrist about one of the 2004 election campaign meetings he attended at RNC headquarters on Capitol Hill.
'I'm going to get straight to the point this afternoon because I know how valuable your time is, Mr. President,,' Gallagher said.
I knew as well as everybody else in the room—except maybe the president—that they didn't respect his time at all. They just wanted to go through the formality of making sure he was aware of what they were doing. The national committees of the two parties always wagged the dog. The trick was to make the dog think he was wagging them.
Gallagher laid things out succinctly. 'The Swift Boat Veterans are doing a terrific job of turning the spotlight around,' Gallagher said. 'We're starting to get the media off the war and onto Kerry's treasonous behavior when he got back from Vietnam. Finally.'
'It's about time,' someone at the far end of the table said.
'The Parenthood Council, Focus on the Family, and the NRA are doing a combined mailing over the next six weeks.'
'Sounds good to me,' Trailblazer said. 'What are we doing about Robertson and Falwell?'
'Well, sir, that's item number one on the agenda. We need to placate the die-hard conservatives, especially in the South and Midwest. More than we realized. We estimate there are over 2 million conservative voters out there who may not go to the polls because they think we're too soft on certain issues.'
'What issues?' Trailblazer asked, frowning. 'I've given them everything they've asked for. Stem cell research has been all but scrapped, we've spoken out against gay marriage.
'We want to go a step further, Mr. President. We think it's time for you to endorse the amendment.'
'What amendment?'
There was a groan at my end of the table, but Gallagher spoke quickly before it could register with Trailblazer.
'The MPA sir, the Marriage Protection Act. The constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman.'
'I thought the polls showed most people aren't in favor of it,' the president said, looking around the table again.
Dan Keller spoke for the first time. 'The polls also show that people don't care passionately enough to go to the polls to vote against it. So if the amendment is put before the voters in special elections, separate from either the midterms or the general election, then…well, sir, the truth is if they don't go to the polls, it doesn't matter how they would vote on the matter.'
'Because,' Gallagher said, finishing the thought, 'we only care about getting the conservative vote in this election, and the issue won't be on the ballot this time. The only thing in play this November will be your support of it, which won't be a deciding factor for moderates, but will motivate conservatives to come out and give us their vote. This is a huge issue, Mr. President. Conservatives are worried about the homosexual agenda.'
Mehlman said, 'Sixteen states are already drafting proposals in anticipation of the amendment and they are doing it in such a way that when people in their states vote on the constitutional amendment they'll also be voting on changing state laws, not only making it impossible for gays and lesbians to marry, but to adopt or foster children as well.'
'Really? Who's doing that?' Trailblazer asked, the wheels in his head almost visibly turning. One of the political consultants said, 'New Yorkers have over half a million signatures already on the petitions to outlaw adoptions. And that's a notoriously liberal state, as you well know.'
There was some nodding and chuckling all around. 'OK, then. Let's do it. Anything else?' Trailblazer asked.
One of Mehlman's assistants spoke up, obviously already designated as the one to bring up the next hot topic. 'Mr. Mehlman, don't forget about the letters you've been getting regarding the 22nd Amendment.'
'What letters? What about the 22nd Amendment?' the president asked.
'We've been getting tons of letters from all over the country suggesting that we should suspend the 22nd Amendment during this time of war so you can continue to serve as president until the war on terror is won, sir.' This was the assistant, sounding like a telephone solicitor reciting a rehearsed pitch.
Everyone waited while the president digested the idea. But by then I was tuning out of the conversation. By that point nothing these men came up with could surprise me, although before I went into my own reverie I thought they were now touching down on Planet Cuckoo. While they debated the chances of making Trailblazer King of the All the Americas, I was replaying the surprise visit I had four nights before.
See www.WindycityMediaGroup.com for past columns.
Follow this 44-part serialized book in Windy City Times for the next several months. See www.WindycityMediaGroup.com for past columns.
