Chapter Nine

“You’re going to embrace the conservatives?” Assange was shocked. “That isn’t going to be difficult for you Mr. President?”

“Oh, they aren’t such bad guys. They’re just…compromised right now. They’re figuring out hardball capitalism, but part of the learning curve is remembering who’s pitching.”

“Who is pitching?” asked Assange.

“Right now, those with the most money who want to make even more,” said the President. “You ever see Wall Street?”

“Sure. ‘Greed is good,’ right? Are you telling me Gordon Gekko influenced an entire generation of the corporate elite?”

“Not entirely, but inversely about as many of you who were inspired by Ferris Bueller.”

“Touché, ‘oh captain, my captain…’ Please, continue.”

“Let’s just say,” the president paused, “the last administration really did a number on the laws of the United States. Amidst all of the speculation on what they should accomplish, 9-11 ‘struck’ and suddenly, they had their belief system come fully into focus. National emergency equals unlimited impunity in regards to legal maneuverability.”

“They could substitute ‘war time rules’ for ‘diplomatic immunity’ like in Lethal Weapon II?”

"Good one, but furthermore, they realized it didn’t have to end with just navigating thru US law, it could include changing that law to fit their current agendas. Instead of just being allowed free range, it made more sense to rewrite the rules, so they couldn’t ever be prosecuted for breaking any of them.”

Assange’s eyes got big. “Cracking strategy. Immunity becomes unnecessary. Is this why you haven’t gone after the banking industry yet?”

“Yes, and no,” replied the President. “Yes, they de-regulated guidelines put there since the Great Depression and used their influence on whatever politicians they could to make more money off of those who weren’t aware of how it would end.”

“Because Gordon Gekko said so.”

“In a nutshell,” quipped the President, “how can I go after people who were simply abiding by newly written law?”

“Change the laws back?”

“Possibly, but what if other laws have been changed since to make sure that doesn’t happen?” asked the President.

“Like?”

“Do you remember Jack Abramoff?”

“That lobbyist who went to jail for buying off politicians? Sure.”

“His job was to meet with every member of the House and Senate and find out how much it would cost to bring them into the fold of his employers. He claimed that during his tenure, he personally corrupted 50% of them. Early on in the last administration, that was illegal. Now, it’s not. They re-wrote the law to allow for money to be paid for influence, and Jack says his former employers currently own over 90% of them.

“Christ, that’s audacity,” sighed Assange. “What’s the ‘no’?”

“No, I haven’t gone after the banking industry…yet. Some things need to happen first. Within our political culture, money controls power, and the wealthy are winning. The People have the true power, but money buys a lot dissemination and propaganda, and herds tend to feed on fear. What money can’t buy however is passion for truth. If I, the President ‘tattle’ on the government, big business or the military, I become partisan in a way that is devastating to my ability to make change. The status quo will stereotype me and put me in a box to be voted of office out as soon as possible. However, if a ‘citizen’ blows the whistle on what’s really going down, and a ‘journalist’ gets the word out to the People, they pick up on it on their own, and then the rush begins.”

“Wow,” mused Assange. “I always hoped you would just run up into Washington like JFK.”

“That’s why he was killed,” said the President. “He knew what the People wanted, but he had the braggadocio to believe that he alone could sweep aside an entire sub-culture of power. That sub-culture thought otherwise and proved him wrong. I want to be alive when all this goes down, so I must defend the old school, befriend them and even pass much of their agenda so the public sees for themselves what their government is really up to. Then I need you to be the People’s champion who exposes this behavior, that I can fight, and eventually unite with.”

“Once the People know, the government must adjust...”

“Or go the way of the Whigs and the Federalists.”