2030_ The Real Story of What Happens to America - Albert Brooks [168]
Senator Markum anticipated no problem with Congress. The only issue was whether the states would ratify it, but why wouldn’t they? They were all lining up to get their own makeovers. All that was needed was money. And a lot of it. This needed an expensive and well-organized campaign. Enter Nate Cass.
* * *
Charles Cass did not go to prison, but the embarrassment of his trial and the publicity that ensued only hardened his brother’s position against Matthew Bernstein. Nate didn’t know how or when he would pay the President back for not “thanking him,” but the stars aligned perfectly when he met Stanley Markum one evening at a charity event in the summer of 2031.
Cass never considered himself a conservative; he played the field and supported candidates he thought would be good for business. But he liked Shen Li. Li’s smaller health centers were catching on and Nate, who was big in this industry, saw a windfall in building and running these kinds of places; to him it seemed an even bigger idea than Compassionate Care.
After several umbrella drinks, Nate Cass and Stanley Markum bonded, and Nate thought that allowing a foreign-born naturalized citizen to run for president of the United States was a fine idea, especially if it was Shen Li, and especially if it was against Matthew Bernstein. It was at that dinner that Nate Cass realized exactly where he could spend his money and exactly how he would get even. He would contribute the lion’s share to the fifty-state campaign to ratify the twenty-eighth amendment to the Constitution.
All they needed were thirty-eight states, but both Cass and the senator thought they could get all fifty. If Los Angeles had not worked out, none of this could have happened, but because it was being perceived as a major success, it would show the other states what was possible with a man like Li. A massively expensive ad campaign, if it was handled right, would have Americans begging for the amendment. Cass was so enthused that night when he left the event that he almost felt sorry for the President. He said to his new wife, “If that son of a bitch had only helped me, I wouldn’t bring him down like this, but I have no choice. And it’ll be good for business.”
* * *
Three weeks after going to Chicago, Kathy Bernard was transferred to a state prison in Illinois. She shared a cell with another woman who was accused of murdering her husband. Kathy felt like her life had ended. Even the murderous cellmate looked at her with disgust because she had the label “terrorist” attached to her crime. The women in that prison were strangely conservative. You could kill another person, especially if it was a man, but try to take down the country and you were some kind of child molester.
Clyde Folsom had secured an attorney who came highly recommended. He took the lawyer to meet Kathy in prison and afterward she felt extremely depressed. She was grateful that Clyde would help her out with what would certainly be enormous fees, but she didn’t like the lawyer and thought he wasn’t smart. She couldn’t say anything—beggars can’t be choosers—but when Clyde came to visit her alone a week later, she expressed concern that the attorney was not good enough. Clyde was insulted, but he listened. He thought the lawyer was just fine and was a little miffed at Kathy for complaining.
“Kathy, he comes highly recommended. He has friends in the government. A lot of strings are going to have to be pulled to get this resolved. You know that, right?”
“Of course. I’m sorry. I just felt he wasn’t as passionate about it as you or I might be. I guess I was expecting something else.”
“Listen, dear, it’s not about passion. It’s about who you know and what favors you can call in, and from what I understand he is very, very connected. My God, he certainly is charging enough.”
Kathy realized that Clyde was right. Of course the lawyer would be fine. And without Clyde, God knows what