When I got the call from Ross- I thought it was a prank call.
“You are offering me a job with the GL administration?”
I had just got out of the shower having arrived back late last night at my parents’ house in Florida.
“What the fuck are you smoking Ross? Didn’t I tell you how GL and your cult like worship of him made me sick to my stomach? Did you miss that?” I yelled.
“I may have gone a bit too far that night --I am sorry for firing you. You are a good worker--and you have helped me a great deal over the years.” he said using his most sincere voice.
“Look let’s put all that aside--I have been picked up by the GL administration for a high level job--Director of INS--Immigration and Naturalization Service--its the hottest ticket in the government right now. There’s a position for you if you want it as as press officer perhaps--handling all the media?”
“I would have to think about it. What happened in Columbus woke me up. It quite frankly scared the living daylights out of me. I saw my first glimpse of American fascism. I thought before he was a bit of a joke-- a clown show like a lot of people I guess. After he gave that Jan 6 style speech I was scared shitless about what might happen--and it did. Riots, burning down court houses and places where they do the counting and looting. But that wasn’t all. He riled up the crowd to go after his big enemy the media. He set his thugs on us and I ended up hiding in a closet with Frank. I managed to hide wrapped around an old piece of carpet--but the thugs hauled Frank away--fuck knows what happened to him.”
“I did not know all that happened. I just assumed you got out safely. By the way I am using a burner phone so we are safe to talk”
“Oh so top secret are we” I replied sarcastically.
“Got to be in the environment I am now in.”He responded nervously.
“After that amount of hate and fury streaming out of his demented head. No one was safe who did not wear one of his stupid hats or was basically white and male.”
“I’m really sorry this happened” he said quietly
“By the way--you going to offer Frank the same deal? He did nothing wrong--and who knows what happened to him--I think you need to give him the same deal” I said trying to exploit what I felt was my advantage—his willingness to apologize and take responsibility for his awful behavior that night.
“I intend to” he said a bit hesitantly.
“That would be only fair of you—but I am not sure if either of us want to join an administration and a leader that repulsive” I replied
“Both of you can get a nice job with benefits. In this economy its a rarity I know. Maybe end up in government as a lot of people do--with a nice pension?” he said a bit more sugar entering his voice than was to my liking.
“I would have to think about it” I said horrified at the thought but the thought entered my head maybe this was not the time for venting my true feelings. The thought occurred to me kthat maybe I could do some good from the inside. Turn over their apple cart. I needed time to think it through though.
“ I will give you 24 hours--let me know--this is the number to call me on. Otherwise this plum goes to 1 of over 2,000 candidates I have been given a eligible party workers and highly qualified.” he said without emotion.
“I’ll let you know and thanks Dave for thinking of me at least. Its been lets say a harrowing time. I hope you won’t turn the US into a police state” and then hung up.
Maybe I should not have ended on that bitter note. Maybe he would now think twice about offering me the job that I knew in my bones would not be good for me. I also contacted Frank. I needed to call him anyway because I had been so wrapped up with my own troubles I forgot he might for all I know be laying in a pool of blood somewhere--punched in the gut by those dimwit thugs.
He did not pick up for the first three tries but after the fourth he answered.
“Frank-its me Dana” I said
“Dana--how are you?Its great to hear from you”
“I survived Columbus--now back at my parents in Jupiter Florida.”
“You won’t believe what just happened!” I could yelped out not having the patience to ask how he was doing.
“What?”
“I got a call from Ross--he invited me to join him in the GL administration and he says he’s going to extend the same offer to you!”
“What? That can’t be right”
“Yes I got to give him my answer in 24 hours--whether I will accept some press officer position or something.”
“There’s something fishy going on” said Frank
“What do you mean?”
“I mean the whole thing stinks -either he’s fearful of being sued by us for letting us go without any cause or warning or notice that kind of legal shit or its a trap of some kind.”
“Maybe--the last thing I wanted to do was join the GL administration”
“Oh wait a moment--its Ross on the line--I will call you back”
He called me back several minutes later
“What did he say?” I asked before he could get word one out
“He gave me the same deal as you--I asked for 24 hours to think about it--He said that was funny because Dana asked for the same thing --the food did not seem to get it that we had talked together.”
“What position did he offer you?”
“Not Secretary of State unfortunately --but helping with “advance” -- you know booking flights and hotels and then securing the place maybe flying there first and getting the rooms all organized and do mic checks that kind of nonsense.”
“That sounds like fun”
“Fun if it was any other administration than this Third Reich reborn one.” he said
“I know what you mean but maybe there is something we can do to disrupt it you know put some spanners in their works. We don’t have much chance from the outside. I mean the media is starting to write positive stories about the GL administration--talking about the “boldness,” “new ideas” and “energy” we an expect--all that kind of shit --we know he’s going to have a honeymoon period--the country wants peace and order after the rioting and looting.”
“That he fucking caused”
“Right on that” he replied
“Well how are you now?” I asked
“I managed to escape for now from the thugs.” He said
“Did they beat you up?” I asked
“A bit— but I escaped them as they placed me in the back of a truck to my apartment in Arlington--they wanted me to get them jobs ironically in the new GL administration--what a complete farce. “He chuckled
“A woman and her incredible dog helped me out. The dog took a bite out of one of them. But they are still around still going to try to menace me--the bastards” He continued
“You are kidding me”
“No ma’am —I can’t help thinking that its people like Ross that made GL possible--to serve in his disgusting regime I would have to throw out all that I ever believed in. I have to say no.”
“But how about those guys. If you stay with the GL administration you will be more protected. You can always string them along or introduce them to someone else and get them off your back at last. If you don’t I think you are in more trouble.”
“Perhaps” he said losing energy.
“I will give you a call in the morning—you sound tired”
“Sleep on it and I will as well.”
We hung up.
Bad dreams haunted me all night. I imagined myself in a Nazi style parade carrying a flag that said Make America Strong Again. I had the Nazi jack boots on up to my waist and there was a marching band behind me playing the Yankee Doodle Dandy and people were cheering but instead of waving the regular Starts and Stripes flag they were waving Swastica flags. I woke up in a cold sweat my heart was racing.I couldn’t possibly do this --as Frank said--sell my soul to the devil. Sooner or later you have to take a stand.
I called Ross back after first taking a shower and drinking a cup of coffee--just to make sure I was in my right mind. He answered on the first ring.
“Dave--I appreciate the offer but I can’t in all good conscience take it--I have to live with myself”
“You are making a huge mistake” he said with some dark menace attached
“Why?” I asked as innocently as possible.
“Because I have to tell you something that you had better keep secret--they very much want you inside the tent--if you choose to be outside you will regret it--that.s sort of what the higher ups said. Your safety maybe endangered”
“What?”
“You heard me --and it applies equally to Frank--for some reason --you are both on their “hit list”--I cannot say more than that.
The word “hit list” got through my carefully prepared defenses.
“So why do they want me as you say ‘inside the tent’ ?” I asked in as polite manner as I could muster.
“Don’t know I think its because you are better off inside where they can watch you”
“Do some mind control?”
“Maybe but you are strong enough-anyway you got me on a burner phone so I don’t have too many more minutes on it. Come in and we will see what we can do together. Quite frankly I never quite imagined what they had in mind until I spent a few days here at HQ, Get that message over to Frank too-I know you two are in touch.”’
“So I presume the answer is yes?” he asked tentatively
As reluctant a “yes” as its possible to get without it being “no fucking way Jose” I said injecting some
“Someone will be contacting you and tell Frank also from GL HQ -make sure you both answer the phone and both toe the line. You never really have let me down. I am sorry for what happened lets see what we can do to set things right.”
He hung up.
What an incredible call. What a country! I could not believe we are now going through a repeat of Hitlers’ Germany. As I recall from the history books the strongest opposition to Hitler came from the inside--the 42 assassination plots --(I quickly checked this number on Wikipedia) the other rebellions were crushed mercilessly. I started reading about the Third Reich all day, we had a copy of Shirer’s Rise and Fall of the Third Reich in the house and the story it was telling seemed eerily familar —no one paid attention to the warning signs even though all the lights were flashing red. I knew I needed a burner phone before calling Carla or Glen and telling them the news and checked on line as to where to get them --I ordered five phones just to be sure everyone could talk to me securely.
There was first the poisining attempt in 1932 Hitler and several members of his staff fell ill after dining at the revered Hotel Kaiserhof in Berlin. Poisoning was suspected, but no arrests were made. Hitler himself seemed least affected because he was a vegetarian. Note to self -check out GL’s diet. Also in the same year Asner a member of the Bavarian State Parliament sent Hitler a poisoned letter from France but was intercepted because of a tip off. The Brits turned down an effort in 1939 to have a sniper take him out at his Birthday parade. The sniper was expertly positioned over the parade ground yet appeasement minded Britain rejected the idea on the grounds that "We have not reached that stage ... when we have to use assassination as a substitute for diplomacy.” ha ha. LOL. In 1939 a Swiss theology student Maurice Bavaud posed as a reporter and planned to shoot Hitler from the reviewing stand as he passed through the parade. The plot failed because he was blocked by the unwitting crowd and he was forced to abandon the plan. The list of plots show the ingenuity of the human mind when confronted with a devil. People are prepared to act at their own peril --take Henning von Tresckow and Fabian von Schlabrendorff tried three times to kill the bastard without success. Everyone who tried gets executed or sent to a concentration camp after being tortured. But there was food for thought.
I called Frank after picking up a burner phone from a store down the road that also happened to sell weed and told him he had what the Brits called a Hobson’s Choice to make. I added the part where he could feel more protection from the yahoos who wanted to kill him if had the protection of GL’s police state. We could also work effectively from the inside now we knew that Ross was not now a 100 percent GL loyalist.
“We are all fucked now” was all he said.
“Could not agree more--we now have to wait for our calls from the GL administration.
“I guess so”
The call came the following day. I was not expecting the way they would contact me.