Chapter Twenty-Eight
General Jackson woke up after a full and uninterrupted night’s sleep for the first time in longer than he cared to think about. It felt good. He had to admit he wasn’t as young as he used to be, and that sleep was now more necessary than ever to keep his mind sharp.
He didn’t need a fully connected eight hours, in fact, he usually survived on catnaps whenever and wherever he could grab them. There was a war to fight but even Generals needed to sleep. This was especially true given the upcoming massive air battle being planned. He needed all the rest he could get in anticipation of some very long days ahead.
He heard the television on downstairs and realized his wife, Mary, must be watching the news. It was part of her morning ritual. He usually never watched any news but decided this morning that he had spent so little time with her lately that he would go make her a cappuccino, then join in her morning routine. Perhaps when this war was over he would finally retire and do that every morning. Retirement, now there was a nice thought. If only the world didn’t need people like him any longer. That was a pleasant thing to think about, a world at peace.
He entered the living room. It was decorated with family photos depicting decades of life on a variety of military bases. The typical subject matter was their kids, and now grandkids at various ages and stages of life. He sat down on the leather sofa next to his wife, “I made you your favorite cappuccino. Someday you will have to learn to operate that machine for yourself,” he took a sip of his own coffee. “What’s going on in the world?”
She kissed him, and predictably ignored his comment on cappuccino machine operation, as she always did when he made the joke even he had to admit was stale, “You probably know what is going on in the world better than these people. But, it appears some university kids are upset about the whole War and decided to stage a protest. They even have a guy about to give a speech. I think for once they are going to carry the whole thing rather than just slicing it up, so at that’s a plus I guess.”
He focused on the TV and saw a headline reading, “Harvard Square.” He thought to himself two things, HDTV was not the kindest thing in the world to some news anchors who always tried to hide imperfections with way too much makeup, and where better in the country to get a protest against a War the United States was actively engaged in than in Boston. People were permitted to hold their own opinions, and voice them, but it wouldn’t stop him from doing his job.
The country was, essentially, started by another protest held in that very city. Given the Constitutional rights General Jackson believed in with every fiber of his being, these people were living the life he was proud to defend. He may disagree with what they say, but he couldn’t and wouldn’t deny their right to say it.
The news crew was filling airtime with meaningless chitchat in the final seconds before the protest’s headliner began speaking. Suddenly the chitchat ended and the anchor said, “Here we go, it appears to be Professor Edward Hinkle coming to the podium. As we all know he has been an anti-war advocate since Viet Nam. Yes I think he is about to start speaking to the crowd of roughly 1,000 people.”
They cut to the Professor who stood at a podium with a bank of microphones. The protestors had claimed this was an impromptu event. The Chairman could not help but wonder that if it were as impromptu, as they claimed, where did the large bank of microphones, with the logos every major news agency come from.
“We are here today to tell the world what they all need to hear. That this young upstart of a President, Scott Press, should never have been sworn in. The Vice President had just been killed, and they rushed him into office in a complete and total usurpation of power so that his party could take over and enforce a radical agenda. They did so without regard to the electoral process or traditions.
“What they should have done was waited. They should have allowed a new Vice President to be put in place and then have this new person, of our choosing, of the voters choosing, to transition into that office. This is an illegal President put in power by a conspiracy to oppress the American people!” The crowd predictably roared with excitement to the level that the General wondered if there were an applause sign somewhere out of the camera shot. He also wondered if they taught Constitutional order of Presidential succession at Harvard. There was also a slight problem of his method of replacing a Vice President was not written into law anywhere.
“What has he done to clean up the radiation effects that are killing people? Nothing. He claims that there is nothing that can be done. He expects us to believe that with all that modern technology has accomplished this we can’t do. It’s a lie!
“All he has done so far is to send a bunch of scientist to look at it. Get started sir! What are you waiting for? More Americans to die? Another attack inside our borders?
“They had to know this attack was coming! Billions of dollars spent on the Intelligence agencies. They had to know it was coming.
“Scott Press let it happen! It happened on his watch. He thought it would solidify his chances for re-election. Maybe he even helped plan it!
“Congress should investigate this man’s illegal activities right now! Congress should move to impeach! Then, our duly elected President can get back to work and appoint a new Vice President allowing a normal, orderly, transition of power to take place.”
The General wondered if the man had ever read the Constitution, or maybe he just made up rules as he went along to suit his own desires. He guessed that with enough years of tenure you could say whatever you wanted, as long as it wasn’t in print no one would hold it against you. Perhaps even if it was in print it wouldn’t matter.
“What does he do after the attack? He has our soldiers go and bomb them! Like that is going to get them to stop! What did he do next? He sends a CIA kill squad into their country to murder innocent civilians. Now what kind of destruction will they bring to our shores because of his actions?
“Mark my words there will be retaliation. We are going to march on the State Capital and make our voices heard from here to Washington! Let’s GO!” The entire crowd started to move down the street and out of the camera’s view.
Mrs. Jackson turned off the TV, “I am sorry you had to hear that honey.”
“Oh, who cares? I have had to listen to this stuff for a long time. You know the truth. We don’t murder people. We keep people safe by doing our jobs, and unfortunately sometimes that job isn’t horribly pleasant. He can talk all he wants and I will continue to defend his freedom to sit in his nice comfortable university office and act like a complete and utter moron,” he smiled at his wife.
His cell phone rang, as it did so often, “I swear my dear, next year I will retire and throw this damn thing away.”
“Good, so I won’t have to bother learning how to operate that damn coffee machine,” she mumbled as he left the room.
AP NEWS FLASH: There have been protests in several U.S. cities concerning the War. They claim the President is in office illegally. The former President has said that he should be appointed as Vice President and the current President should resign, for the good of the country. Then an orderly succession could take place. Constitutional scholars maintain that the order of succession prescribed in the U.S. Constitution has been followed. The White House has declined to comment beyond starting that such claims are a distraction by people wanting to see their names in the news.