Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [69]
“Those are great questions, but ones I’m not fully prepared to answer at this time. I deeply respect and support the policies of President Burkmeister, and I see no reason to change anything right now. It may even be advantageous to avoid ties to the rock-hard dogma of either party. That said, I’ll look for the best minds in all parties to craft policies that seem best for the country.” He paused for a moment to think about what he was about to say.
“These are difficult times for America and the world; the questions you’ve asked reflect that. The Chunxiao Incident and its economic ripple effect; skyrocketing gas prices; and now the illness of our president and the succession that will follow—these are the issues that really count. Bottom line, these aren’t Democrat, Republican, or Independent party issues, they are American issues. It’s time to put party squabbles aside and concentrate on what’s best for the American people. President Burkmeister’s shoes will be hard to fill, and I’m going to need all the help and support I can get from all parties and, most of all, from the American people, whom I’ll do my very best to serve.”
25
Hart Senate Office Building
26 September 2017
Senator Tom Collingsworth’s office door was closed, and he was taking no calls. Hugo was on his second double shot of scotch, and the senator might have been one or two up on him before they sat back to regroup from this crushing blow. He wondered how the fates could be so cruel as to allow Burkmeister to go and die at a time like this.
“Senator,” Bromfield said, slurring a bit, “the president has now become a martyr. We can’t attack martyrs. We can’t even attack that commie lover McCarty because he’s the new knight in shining armor here to save the nation. We have at least two immediate problems to address. First, we need to put the kibosh on our resolution to censure Burkmeister, and that will take some doing because I’ve already sent it around to members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”
Collingsworth groaned. When the media found out what he was about to do to Burkmeister, it would be his own bloodbath. Even his sympathetic friends in the senate—and there were precious few—would drop him like a hot potato.
“Second, Senator, we’ll have to pull the plug on our arrangement with Wellington Crane.” It broke Hugo’s heart to say it, but he didn’t know what else they could do.
“Let’s give Wellington a call and see what he has to say about it,” the senator replied. He clicked the intercom on and shouted for his secretary to track down Crane. Senate staffers were proficient at catching their prey, and within minutes Wellington Crane was on the phone.
“Wellington, my friend, thanks so much for getting back to me. Hugo and I just finished watching the BM boys do their grand finale together, and we were interested in your take on the news. Where does it put the Save America tour?”
Wellington responded with bravado and clear disdain for their weak-kneed response. “If you’ll pardon the cliché, Senator, we are going to make lemonade out of this lemon. In time, we’ll be in a far better position to get our story across with a commie liberal like McCarty in the driver’s seat than we would have with Burkmeister. Think about it, man! Burkmeister is the nominal leader of your own party. As long as he’s there, the best we could hope to do would be to garner a fringe share of the Republican Party and maybe some undecideds. We’d be attacking his judgment, of course, for bringing a commie like McCarty into the White House, but it would only be a deflective blow. Now, we’ll have the real thing to attack. What’s more, we’ll blast away at the McCarty brothers. I’ll make them look like Al Capone and his gang before I’m through—mark my words!"
“I see your point, Wellington, and it’s a good one,” Collingsworth replied, a new glimmer of self-confidence rising in his voice. “Initially, we’ll have to lay low. Anything negative we say will look almost anti-American. I may take some hits, though, if the press picks up on the censure resolution I was preparing