Chapter Twenty-six

“They have to be working together!” There, Cheney said it. “There are too many coincidences between Obama and Assange going on. Their ideals, backgrounds and practices are similar enough that I want more checks of their whereabouts on dates when they could have met!”

Rove rolled his eyes and wondered if Cheney was finally losing what little sanity he had left. He looked older than he did just from their last meeting. He noticed his hair line was continuing to disappear into the back of his head. Was that a coincidence? The pigeons didn’t care. They flocked to Dick for the free popcorn.

“Don’t you get it?” Cheney continued, “he’s about to win a second term, and the GOP is more toxic than ever. Most of our guys are gonna be tossed into the wind, and that’s too many leak-pluggers leaving. All it will take is for Obama to switch his stance on whistle blowers and the ship WILL go down!”

“There, there Dick,” Rove attempted a soothing voice, “we have plenty of time for damage control when the time comes. I can’t say I entirely agree with you, but I am concerned about Assange and his Ecuadorian stand-off. He’s too at home in life and death situations…I bet he’s a new level of ADHD.”

“Does he take medication?” Cheney asked.

“No,” Rove rolled his eyes again, “and no, we aren’t going to try to poison him in the embassy.”

“Come on Karl!” Cheney looked agitated. “We’ve got to look at the big picture. Assange is making whistle blowing look cool, and HE’S STILL ALIVE! In 2009, it was cute, but it’s 2012 now…what the fuck does the most powerful country in the world have to do wipe him off the map?”

“We need leverage,” Rove looked up from under his brow, “and I believe the murder of Chris Stevens may be enough.”

“The Libyan ambassador?” Cheney’s eyes darted around the park and his hands shook. You gotta pull yourself together, thought Rove. You’re a shark that’s scared of a firefly.

“Wasn’t that guy taken out to make Obama look vulnerable?”

“That’s one level of seeing it,” said Rove, “but what else was Stevens known for?”

“Get to the point man! I’m not in the mood for rhetorical questions!”

Rove sighed and continued. “Stevens wrote several government cables concerning Libya and Qaddafi, WikiLeaks published them, and considering all that talk about putting Americans’ lives in danger…”

Cheney instantly brightened. “We finally have a precedent! Karl, you’re a genius! You are still the Architect! Good old Turd Blossom!” He continued to shake.

“Why kill only one bird with a stone when you can kill two?”
Cheney was out of popcorn, so he balled up the bag and tossed it at the flock in front of him. The pigeons easily dodged his attack and continued to titter amongst themselves.