Chapter 16

DEALING WITH
NEGATIVES

Another press conference was scheduled for the next day. Maybe it wouldn’t be as contentious as the last one.

I stepped up to the podium. The press corps was all eyes and ears. Also on hand were military and White House personnel.

I began, “I’ll take questions when I’m through with my remarks. We live in radical times, don’t we? Times of massive change. Breakthroughs in our way of seeing things. Drastic new actions on the part of our government. I’ve been pleased to hear words of approval regarding this administration’s conduct. Though meanwhile, of course, the press has a proud and historically anchored duty to engage in inquiry. This was, of course, to be expected. You will inquire upon the pages of your publications, and you will inquire here, face-to-face with me. So in anticipation of your thoughtful and moral inquiries, please just allow me to say the following . . .”

I took a deep breath and continued, “Nothing I have ordered—not a single thing for which I have wielded our military’s talent and might—has had any negative impact whatsoever on the people whom I like to call ordinary Americans. Ordinary Americans constitute a rather large group. They’re you and me. They’re most of the folks watching this at home. They’re the people who fill our proud communities, large and small. They’re the ones who keep their heads down, do their jobs, take care of their families, and make a real difference. They make the world a brighter place. They exist in a positive spirit, one of health, heart, and stability. Now, I know ordinary Americans well because I am one. Though perhaps in recent days I’ve shifted to the “extraordinary column . . .”

Everybody laughed.

“But at heart, I remain a most ordinary and humble soul. Which is why I would not mess around with my ordinary American friends and neighbors. Accordingly, please allow me to make this perfectly clear: Eliminating our maximum-security prisoners has no bad impact on ordinary Americans, for most of us are not heinous criminals. Scaling back our entitlement programs has no bad impact on ordinary Americans, for most of us are not selfish freeloaders. Sending our illegal immigrants home and building an impenetrable fence to keep them out has no bad impact on ordinary Americans, for ordinary Americans happen to be, American!”

The audience laughed. Some applauded and cheered.

“So as you conduct your wise analysis, bear in mind the impact that I’ve had on ordinary Americans. In many cases, that impact has been entirely neutral. In many more cases, that impact has opened up staggering gateways toward greater opportunity and abundance. I mean, after all, I’ve redirected billions of dollars that were going to waste so that money can flow back toward the people! And just wait “till I fix baseball and those 4-hour long games.”

The audience laughed again and applauded. I can’t help myself; I have some comedian in me.

“I tell ya, that’ll be one heck of a job, fit for discussion at a later point in time, but for now, I promise you this much: Corporate tax rates will remain low so the jobs we saw go overseas can continue to come back home, where they belong. And the money that these corporations have been spending overseas can now be put back into our factories, for the sake of creating jobs—not lining the pockets of the folks up top. I’ll be very certain of that. Meanwhile, I know more and more questions keep cropping up about foreign policy. And I take them seriously, I do. But my aim from the get-go has always been to get our own house in order before we go out attending to the whole global neighborhood. And rest assured: If you think I was tough on our enemies here, you cannot even imagine what I have planned for the enemies that torment us from afar.”

I could tell the mainstream press wasn’t buying it. No matter what I said, they weren’t going to agree with me. I thought they hated President Trump, but they may hate me more. But like him, I at least had FOX news. They defended me most of the time, but of course they have to be fair and balanced.

I don’t waver and continue, “In conclusion, before I take your questions, I know I’m looked at in many circles as a madman. The press paints me as a monster. The leaders of the old political parties paint me as a fanatic. Religious leaders pray for my repentance. But as you go about the business of analyzing me, I want you to remember what I’ve said here and now—“

Gathering my breath, I said, “I am an ordinary man. I never had any political aspirations. I had artistic aspirations: to write a book. And then, wouldn’t you know it? One thing led to another. And here we are. Working to eradicate a system that I long knew was doomed to fail. The old way was self-serving, corrupt, and wasteful. It rewarded those in power and treated the criminals better than the victims. The old way offered a maze of complex regulations, far too obscure for the common man or woman to understand, and reliant upon costly lawyers for interpretation. The old way was a thorny tangle of red tape, slow progress, and checks and balances that threw us way out of balance. So, I’m begging you—just for a little while—to keep trying it my way. No red tape. No slow progress. No self-serving, mixed-up waste. ‘Cause if you think you’ve seen some interesting results so far, then you have no idea what’s on the way. God bless America.” I adjusted my tone, “I’ll take your questions.”

I thought I had covered everything, but the press . . .

A reporter on the room’s left stood and asked, “Commander Marsh, the leaders from both major political parties have issued public statements pledged full willingness to cooperate with you and your administration. And yet they find themselves being ignored. Why not work with these leaders in a spirit of bipartisan compromise?

“Well, my friend, I’ve had many an opportunity to examine the historical record. And unfortunately, those parties blew the chance they had. That chance lasted for almost 250 years. For a lot of it, things went all right, but in general, compromise simply does not work within our system. If I have the solution to a problem, I sure don’t want to water it down by mixing it with someone’s bad idea on how to fix the same problem. This is just common sense. This is a concept foreign to liberal minds. Let me ask everyone in this room a question. I want everyone to pay close attention to this. SOME OF YOU IN THE BACK AREN’T EVEN LISTENING! I feel like I’m teaching a bunch of 8^th graders! I don’t care who you are, you need to hear this!”

I wanted to get their attention, and I had it now.

“So here’s my question: How will we ever know who is right?”

I paused and stared them down.

“How will we ever know who is right?” I repeated.

“The Democrats or the Republicans? The Liberals or the Conservatives?”

I paused.

“You see, in this polarized atmosphere, neither side gets to solve problems 100% the way they choose. So once again, I ask, how will we ever know who is right? At this moment in our nation’s history, an ordinary American Citizen is applying common sense to deal with the different array of problems in our country. If my solution doesn’t work, I will try yours, but I’m batting a thousand so far. Congress used to compromise and pass a few laws, but right now, Congress and the nation as a whole is so polarized that all we have is gridlock - and a terrifying budget deficit. Sound familiar? Next!”

A reporter on the room’s right stood and asked, “What is your reaction to the comparisons between you and Adolf Hitler?”

My expression went stoic and I replied, “Well, for one thing, I’m certainly not the first American leader to earn such a distasteful comparison. Seems all you have to do to drum up that remark is do something somebody somewhere disagrees with!”

Some of the reporters chuckle. I was sure CNN was loving that.

But I never wavered, “But in all seriousness, here’s what we have to understand: Hitler had an ill mind. He was a fanatic; he killed innocent people strictly on the basis of his/her religious convictions. Adam Marsh, on the other hand is ready to lay down his life for equality of religion in this country. Do I have a special place for Christianity? Of course! I’m Christian! So are most Americans. We put “In God We Trust” on our currency! And I’ve no shame in celebrating my Christian faith; yet, I bear no intolerance for any other religion our people choose to practice. It’s none of my business. As for those individuals whose lives have not continued under my leadership, we’re talking about a supremely violent class of savage criminals - friends to no one. Many of them handed light sentences for no good reason, or caught within our borders after being asked to leave. I eliminated them to bring money back to our decent, ordinary citizens, and to make room for homeless people and drug addicts to start climbing upward again. And the moment you catch me eliminating someone for a reason that does not benefit my friends and neighbors—or majority of decent, ordinary Americans—I invite you all to start calling for my head. Yet until that day, I’m sorry to disappoint you. But I think Adolf Hitler was a monster. Who’s next?”

The beautiful Madison Shepherd of Fox News stood, “Do you have a date in mind for when you might turn things back over to the people?”

“Madison, that is the best question any reporter has ever asked me.” I answered. “It will be soon, and I’m looking forward to the transition back to my normal life. Thank you for that great question.”

More reporters stood, but I waved them off. That question was a good one to end the press conference, so I shut it down. I really wanted to get through to those people, but it might not have been possible. I’d try again later.

Later that night in the Oval Office, I sat in a chair in the corner in my bathrobe, nursing a glass of milk with ice. The moonlight shone through the window. I had a faraway look in my eyes, thinking about the press. A knock landed on the door. I looked up, put my glasses on the windowsill and said, “Come in.”

General St. Claire entered the room.

I said, “Jeez, you weren’t kidding about that insomnia thing. What time is it?”

“I hadn’t heard from you all evening. I didn’t stay for the press conference.”

“Is something wrong?”

He stopped in the middle of the room and said, “No. I came to ask you that.”

“Oh, I’m fine,” I said. “The press is aggravating but I can handle them.” We both smiled. “Thanks for checking on me, though.”

“Of course.”

Smirking, I said, “You could’ve called though, General. Maybe sent a text message?”

With a smile in his eyes the General said, “I don’t text.”

“Didn’t imagine you would.”

He pivoted as if to leave, but said, “There is something that would be good to discuss in person.”

On edge I said, “Okay . . .”

He pulled up a plush chair, aligned it with mine and started, “Few weeks back in one of our meetings, I questioned your decision to invade a foreign nation and I shouldn’t have done that.”

I reassured him, “Oh, General. Come on; you don’t have to do this.”

He responded, “No, no. Stop it. I do. It was the wrong thing to say. And more wrong still to think. I wanted you in this position. We gave you the right. The system gives you the right.”

We made eye contact.

The General declared, “I was a fool to ever doubt you.”

“You weren’t a fool. You’re a wise man. Always have been. And besides, it’s not like you called me Adolf Hitler.”

I smiled, but he did not. We parted company and I tried to get some sleep.

The next morning, I called President Ortiz to let him know about the cash total. He was thrilled with the news, yet I sensed there was something bothering him. And then he asked if I was sitting down. That couldn’t be good.

“Commander Marsh,” he said, “I was a little premature in my assessment of your operation the other night. I indicated to you that no bodies were found, other than Cartel members. This turned out to be wrong. One of the labs had 6 women working a night shift preparing cocaine for shipment. Two of the women had to bring their children with them, since they had no babysitter. The children, three in total, were asleep in an underground, hidden room that your men must have missed. When the shooting started, they went to their children. None of them survived the missile attack that leveled the compound. Our authorities were notified that there were people missing in the adjacent town, and they feared those people were at the compound during the raid. We found the bodies all huddled together in the hidden room.”

I was at a loss for words. There was dead silence on the phone.

President Ortiz asked, “Are you still there, Commander Marsh?”

“Yes, sir. I am, but I am too sad to speak,” I answered. “This is very disturbing news and I feel responsible.”

“It’s not your fault, Commander, and your men would not have known where this room was hidden.”

“I take it the news media has picked up on this story?”

He assured me it has and there would be some backlash.

I told him I wanted to think about it for a couple of days and I would contact him later. We hung up the phone and I was paralyzed. I sent Jerry to find General St. Claire. I told the General about the conversation between President Ortiz and me.

“I knew it was too good to be true,” lamented the General. “It’s so very hard not to have collateral damage in an operation like the one we launched.”

I know what he said was true, but I was only interested in cleaning up the Cartels, not killing innocents. It was an unfortunate situation and I had to do something for the relatives of the deceased. Nothing would make up for the lives of those women and children, but I was going to try.

I called President Ortiz later that week and told him what I wanted to do for the town and for the families of the deceased. It was no fault of their own that they were working the night of the raid. President Ortiz had told me of the methods of hiring used by the cartels. They threatened the families of the women in nearby towns to force them to work long hours preparing the cocaine and other drugs for delivery. To resist meant sure death to those closest to these women. To protect their children, they must comply.

I sent the government a million dollars to purchase five acres of land where the compound had been. It was to be deeded equally to the families affected. Another million was sent to prepare the land and build a new road to the property. Six houses would be built for the nearest relative of each person that lost his or her life. I sent 3 million dollars to complete the houses with yards and landscaping. Another 5 million dollars would go to the town for any improvements they needed, but a memorial for the slain must be erected in their honor. I hoped this would be enough and that the people would never forget the misery brought about by the rise of the Cartels.

President Ortiz, thanking me for my generosity, said, “The world needs more men like you to lead. You are tough, but compassionate, and you lead using common sense. We will always be friends. Good luck.”

“Thank you, President Ortiz,” I said. “You can count on me, always. Good-bye.”

I told the General what I had done, and he approved whole-heartedly.