Westman, Part II: The Rising

[Mechaman]

February 18th, 1988
Republican Primary Debate:

Moderator: Alright gentlemen, as you know the House of Representatives recently passed the Omnibus Crime Bill, which would require the presence of armed guards for public political speech as well as banning assault weapons.  Starting with you Senator, how do you feel about the legislation?
Keating: Well I believe this is a step in the right direction.  It is about time we stopped empowering the violent and the restless from terrorizing society.  I am a law and order conservative all the way.  The longer we wait to tackle the tough problems of the streets the more they are going to impact the lives of everyone else.  It is time that the opposition in this debate recognizes that the world we live in is much more advanced, and as a result more dangerous, than it was a couple hundred years ago.  A one shot musket is much less a danger to the public safety than an AK-47 or a cluster grenade launcher.  And it is also time that we finally give our public officials the kind of on the job protections that they deserve!  It absolutely shames me the kind of risks that Governor Westman was putting himself in at that rally and how many of our young men and women running for office have been cut down before their prime thanks to lax security measures.  From Lyndon Johnson at the Silver Hall Inn in 1959 to President Kennedy in 1973 and his younger brother in 1981, it is a shame that we've lost such promising individuals in the prime of their lives!
Moderator: Mr. Bush?
Bush: Okay, I can't say I disagree much with what was just said.  We are the greatest country on earth for goodness sake and we still have a climate where any one of us can get willy nilly gunned down just for the act of presenting our political views!?  The lack of security for those who dedicate their lives to public service is just amazing!  It is so incredible that any one of our young men and women who may one day dream of becoming President or a Senate Majority leader can get easily gunned down by fame struck assassins looking to make the six o'clock news!  I think every decent person out there can agree that, despite our differences in partisan affiliation, that Representative Goldstein was absolute in the right!  I approve of what the bravery of that man's bill and wish that we had such principled congressmen earlier when it could've made a real difference!
Percy: Well I certainly don't want to be the odd duck out on this, but I am quite concerned by some of the implications of this bill.  Now, while I think I speak for the rest of us on the stage when I say the country is much better off without violent assault weapons that have taken so many lives over the past few decades, that there is a big part of me that doesn't feel safe with the provisions about public speech.  Yes, public officials should expect to have a high standard of protection, but not such that it goes against their principles or forces them to have a never ending security detail wherever they go!  This bill was obviously rushed out and ill thought out with the Congressman trying to quickly capitalize on a public official's injury, which is a shame.
Keating: Gary?
Moderator: Go ahead Senator.
Keating: Look Robert, you and I both know very well the dangers and risks associated with being a public figure.  We both live in a semblance of reality where dangers are very real and that we must cooperate with state of the art security details to keep us and our families safe and able to govern the nation effectively.  This almost comes second nature to us.  That doesn't mean that every single politician in this nation thinks the same way.  There are those, radicals among us, who insist on being populist personas who go out of their way to flaunt their disregard for their own public safety by holding impromptu campaign rallies in the middle of open air marketplaces with no guards!  None!
Percy: It is obvious that the Senator can not make his point without dragging up strawmen of the respectable opposition.  The tales that he has brought up are gross exaggerations of some meet and greets that were common earlier this decade before national security became such an overwhelming concern in the wake of 9/6.  It is incredibly intellectually dishonest on his part, and on the part of other opportunists in Congress, to legislate national laws that take away the freedom and liberties of an entire occupation on the paranoia of safety.  What Goldstein and his supporters have done is create what should've been a common sense gun safety law and throw in a gross perversion of privacy and civil liberties.  I will not stand for it!
Bush: Look Robert, nobody is disputing the right for privacy that we all must have.  However, you know how the saying goes, desperate times. . . desperate.. . . yeah.  It pains me that we live in such a violent society, where no politician or servant of the public good isn't safe in their own turf, but there is little we can do to preserve the laissez faire environment that we've had since time immemorial almost!  Weapons and assassins have become much more advanced and much too dangerous for us to trust just the individual judgment of politicians and public figures to themselves to be safe!
Percy: Whether rightly or wrongly, know that measures like these don't do much to save the rest of us and leaves us at a very real danger to a kind of police state.
Moderator: Onto the next question.  In 1985 President Crane and the Coalition controlled Congress helped pass the Flat Income Tax Act.  Despite overwhelming opposition from the public, the President and his allies to this day have defended the passage of this Act, which set tax rates at 15% across the board for all income rates.  Do you agree with this position, or do you have a better alternative tax plan for Americans?  Mr. Bush?
Bush: The answer here is no, and I'll tell you why.  THe idea, the notion that the poor ought to pay the same as the rich is just heartless, it's heartless and that is one of the reasons why I was one of the first in my party to denounce the organization alliance with the Conservatives and Phil Crane.  $15 is a world of difference from a rich man and a poor man and I think it's just wrong, just inhumane to expect that those of us who are barely surviving off of minimum wage jobs should pay the same as those of us who are making millions of dollars!  As President I would like to bring back the progressive income tax to the levels that it was before Flat Tax with the lower class and middle class paying less and the upper class paying more.  This isn't liberal dogma, it's the American way!  I don't think 40% is too much to ask from our wealthiest citizens, is it?
Moderator: Senator, I see that you are itching to respond to Mr. Bush.
Keating: Mr. Vice President, with all due respect the principals of revenues and job creation do not work like that.  Higher taxes on the job producing classes inevitably creates a dearth of employment, and thus tax revenue opportunities, from the poor.  Now, before anyone gets in a panic, I do disagree with the Flat Income Tax Act.  Truth is I disagree entirely with the idea of the Income Tax.  We've had income taxes for a little over seventy years, and what has it gotten us?  Deficits after deficits, year after year emboldened by ever increasing rates of inflation as well as a 12,000 pages of tax law by the IRS every year.  Why go through all of that effort, when all of our basic government functions and services can easily be paid off if we just go with a 23% national sales tax, thus freeing up our income and shortening the pages of the yearly tax manuals sent out by the IRS and strengthening and emboldening our dollar against the other currencies of the Gold Standard?  It's a win win for everyone, and the only time you will ever pay taxes is at the store!
Percy: Why Senator, that's about the most absurd thing I ever heard of.  In no way does a sales tax benefit society as a whole.  What we would be doing, if we entertained your theory, is simply transferring the bulk of taxation from the upper class and putting it on the poor and middle classes.  Income taxation, for whatever it's flaws, at least respects the fundamental ideal that classes out to pay their fair shares.  Your plan would only encourage a wider gap between the rich and the poor, and would prevent billions we would otherwise get from the upper classes go unaccounted for while we soak the middle and lower classes for all that they are worth.  I strongly oppose this idea and agree with the former Vice President that we need to return back to the system of economic fairness which is the Progressive Income Tax.

[Mechaman]

Moderator: All three of you oppose the Flat Income Tax Act.  My, times are changing.
Percy: It's about time they did.  We must strive in the fact that this is the Republican Party and not Phil Crane's Party.  He and his allies had their chance to improve our nation, and look where it has gotten us.  The very least that my campaign can, and will do, is to promise that we won't be cronies to the current administration which the allegiance of the Senator up here and others have done.  It is time that we undo the damage done to the cause of Republicanism.
Applause breaks out.
Bush: I have to agree with what the Governor has said.  While Republicans must be ever mindful of standing up for tried and trued principles of conservatism, we can ill afford the dangers of cross party alliances that cost us dearly in 1986.  We must stand up for fiscal sanity, foreign policy pragmatism for the future, as well as advancing the cause of social tolerance in every professional field and a re-dedication to the Women's Rights Amendment.
Keating: Something that I will comment on, that my opponents have forgotten, is that Americans need a Republican Party that will keep the nation safe and secure.  Sure, strict constitutional viewpoints may make us feel warm and fuzzy inside, but let us not forget that today's world is a much different one than the one of even ten years ago.  Our children are going to school in fear of whether or not they will make it home.  Parents are concerned whether or not they'll have enough in savings to put their kids through college.  Our healthcare system is riddled with corruption and special interest meddling.  In every field of American life there is a confidence gap.  I can be the candidate in this race who changes all of that.  First as the Director of the CIA and then as a US Senator I have consistently advocated for a more prosperous and safe nation for our children and our children's children to grow up in and be proud of.  Neither of these men can claim that, only offering fuzzy middle of the road rhetoric in a cynical attempt to win an election without a strong base.  I however, do have that strong base and my message is universal.  Whether or not they realize it, I have won.
Moderator: That's it for now.  And onto our commercial break.

[Mechaman]

Debate Continued:

Moderator:  Good evening everyone, this is Gary Lookhood and this is the Republican Primary debate preceding the next round of primaries that these three gentlemen are competing for.  As we all know there has been some considerable debate on union reforms these past four years.  With a Democratic majority in the US Senate this is becoming an even more open issue as they as some of the Senators have even gone as far as to suggest a repeal of Taft-Hartley.  Now, as Republicans, who have traditionally been at odds with unions, how would you go about addressing the problems facing our unions today and how would you go about winning over undecided union voters?  Governor, we'll start with you.
Percy: Well, I think it would help us all in the GOP if we strove to recognize the wants and needs of the unions and their members.  Combatting the influence of the AFL-CIO and other large unions is also a must, as we've seen smaller unions around the country see their numbers and influence overshadowed by monied corporate funded "unions" that have only advanced benefits and privileges for members of these "elite" unions.  The GOP position on unions has been wrongheaded for many years, and I hope with my record as a reform minded Republican Governor of Illinois who has made massive outreach to these voters and listen to their concerns I am the man to change the narrative between the GOP and unions.  We are not, and never have been an anti-union party.  A proper Republican party is one that respects both business and union concerns without letting an undue amount of corruption and special interests run amok.  As President, I would like to advance this policy of anti-favoritism towards it's logical conclusion.
Applause.
Moderator: I would ask that the audience hold their applause till the end.  Senator?
Keating: The Governor certainly likes to throw in a lot of meaningless words to describe his position on unions.  While I do agree that there is an inherent corruptiveness in big unions, the Governor also seems to go along the narrative of unions being thought of as groups first and not individuals.  Legislation like Taft-Hartley is necessary because we need to control and limit the amount of control that the unions have over their members and we should be defending the rights of American workers first, and unions last.  This is the only humane approach to the issue of unions, which has been presented by Democrats in a very intellectually dishonest way that should be reprimanded.  Nobody here is anti-union, what we are and should be is pro-worker.  The Governor's side stepping of the issue is naive.  Governor, you can't have it both ways.  You can't just say a bunch of nice words and hope the problems go away.  Corruption can't be fought by empowering unions, it can be fought by empowering workers.
Bush: I have to agree with the Senator on this.  The Governor's waxing on this issue sounds very much like one of those "reform" Democrats.  We need an individual specific policy that is clearly different from the collectivist bargaining viewpoint of most Democrats.  I believe very dearly that we need to combat the presence of special interests in the workplace, and we should do that by lifting regulations that inhibit communications between the employer and the employee.  No one should feel forced to join a union!
Percy: I just want to say, those are both intellectually dishonest ways of presenting my view on the matter.  Fact is, worker rights have been trampled on by monopolistic unions for the past decade and a half.  Those unions being empowered by Democratic urban machines and organized crime!  I know it's unpopular, I know it's not something "proper" Republicans should say, but the biggest victims of this are smaller unions, who represent the majority of blue collar union members.  These organizations help provide a bulwark of stability for many of our lower and middle class Americans.  We need to develop a better level of understanding with them, instead of resorting to socialist implications at every turn.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

23% sales tax!? God, why can't we do away with the damned things altogether...

[Dr. Cynic]

Will you be doing a Democratic debate as well?

[Mechaman]

Will you be doing a Democratic debate as well?

Yeah yeah man, of course.

[Mechaman]

Democratic Primary Debate
Bowling Green, Kentucky
February 22nd, 1988:

Moderator: Hello and welcome to the Democratic Primary Debate from Bowling Green, Kentucky.  Tonight we will be asking the candidates a number of controversial questions revolving around the general election and where to take the once again dominant, but deeply divided, Democratic Party in the future.  Given recent events, I would like to ask everybody what their views of the recent Omnibus Crime Bill is.  Senator?
Udall: I think it's damned preposterous!  You have any idea just how dangerous the scope of this bill is?!  Any sane politician still left in the Senate should vote against this, with gusto!  It's a shame and a travesty that this was ever passed and I deeply am concerned about the future of this country if such authoritarian legislation can be passed off of opportunistic public scaremongering after a politician was almost killed!  It's an insult and a great slander to the great Governor of Montana that such legislation will forever be linked to a personal tragedy of his!
Moderator: Senator?
Moynihan: See, this is the kind of thing we are up against in this country.  Men like the Senator up here and his pal in Helena are so far removed from the hazards that millions of Americans face that they continue to play ideological purists in an era where no American children can truly feel safe as radicals are waging a campaign of murder and terror throughout this nation.  I've had my differences with Westman, we all know that.  However, in this instance he was wrong, and he almost paid for such an error with his life.  If Westman had the proper protection, he wouldn't be in the hospital right now.  And a score of our most valued men and women wouldn't be lying on cold slabs, the victims of attention crazed crazy men and lunatics.  I find it ridiculous that the Senator from Arizona continues to sprout off such extremism in a time when Americans need to feel strong and united against the threats from the outside world.
Udall: I will not be ridiculed as an extremist!  I am the one calling for a restoration of common American rights that had been held sacred since the times of our Founding Fathers!  I will not stand by while men like the Senator from New York continue to propel our country into a police state, which is what people like the Taimid want!  They hate us because we're free!  They only love us more the more we surrender our rights to the almighty police state!
Moynihan: Oh Mo, quit being so rigod-
O'Sullivan: Whoa!  Whoa!  Come on fellas!  Must we be so rowdy!
Applause.
Moderator: Mr. O'Sullivan, will you please refrain from making statements on the simple whim of appealing to the audience?
O'Sullivan: Point is Mr. Moderator, is that these two old farts are what exactly is wrong with this nation.  It feels like I'm watching an episode of Grumpy Old Men where the two dudes are fighting over an old 1952 Chevy Thunderbolt ya know?  I come to this race promising a new direction and a new promis-
Moderator: Please Mr. O'Sullivan, something other than reciting vague campaign promises.  What do you think about the recent bill?
O'Sullivan starts waging his finger at the moderator.
O'Sullivan: And fools like yoooou!  aren't making this thing any better!  We've had nigh two decades of failed leadership in this country!  It seems like that we just have nothin' but hardon after hardon promising to do something to save this country, something to better it as long as we follow their limited and narrow view of governance and just do whatever they tell us!
Moderator: If you have a point Mr. Sullivan, please make it.  I don't have the patience for vague campaign talking points.
Audience loudly boos moderator for nearly ten seconds.  O'Sullivan nods with approval.
O'Sullivan: Youse see this reaction Mr. Moderator?  This is the disapproval of the American people, of America!  They are sick and tired of old establishment farts like you and the two men on this stage who have nothing better to do than to wave their sticks at each other trying to play themselves up as big men!  You know they have a word for that in my stick of the woods, and that words is BULLSH*Censor*!
THe Moderator looks very peeved, but only sits back and continues to take it, as if he was mesmerized by the epic ass kicking he just got.
O'Sullivan: The polls say that America is just in loooooove with this new Crime Bill!  But we all know that's bookus!  You know what they did with that poll?  What impartial independent examiners said about the poll that supposedly had 70% approval or whatever?  Apparently these bookus, in their search for a non-biased poll, went around a traffic circle in New Jersey randomly interviewing people.  Yeah, thats' a non-biased diversity of opinion right there!
Moynihan: Robert, as a native of Boston you as well as anyone should see the logic in a gun safety law.  I find it a certain kind of humor that you are being almost as hysterically opposed to it as our dear radical from Arizona.
O'Sullivan: Opposition to such strongman laws is not radicalism you Tweed!  It is American!  Besides whatever we may think of "Assault Weapon Bans", this also begs the question of what is even considered and "Assault Weapon!"  If I attack you with a wooden bat that is an assault weapon, by a strict definition!  Who the hell are we to dictate what is and what isn't in this case!  It's a big freaking damn wide bridge!  Who the hell are you people and who gave you your poli sci majors!?  Seriously!?
Crowd erupts.
Moderator: So it seems that we have two Democrats on this stage already who are more than just a little opposed to the crime bill.  The GOP candidates unanimously supported the Assault Weapons Ban.  Given that the Democratic Party is a more urban party than the GOP, I find that a bit surprising.
O'Sullivan: Nothing is surprising about it at all.  I'm not even sure there is a remotely constitutional argument for a gun ban.  This isn't about my own personal feelings about guns.  Personally I like them, I go clay pidgeon shooting all the time.  I would never use a glock for it, but I don't believe that it is prudent, or legal for that matter, for a federal government to outright ban whole classes of small arms.  It sets a very dangerous precedent and must be avoided at all costs.  We need to enforce common sense regulations instead, like background checks and loopholes that allow people to have undocumented gun purchases.  And you're right Dan, I am a Boston boy.  Born and raised, and still living!  We are proud of our patriotic history, and I intend to continue that as president by vetoing any authoritarian laws such as this that might emerge!
Moderator: Very well, Mo?
It was at that moment that Mo Udall knew that his campaign was history.

[Mechaman]

Democratic Primary Debate Cont.

Moderator: As we all know, taxation is a huge issue in this country.  Many Democrats, as well as several Republicans, have suggested going back to the Progressive Income Tax over the Flat Income Tax passed by the Congress in 1985.  Now, many of the public blamed the high taxation under Reagan for the failing economy, with rates as high as 78% on some millionaires.  With that said, there have been several alternatives to the income tax floated, like a national sales tax or a land values tax.  I'm curious as to what plans you, as Democrats, would suggest to fix our economy?
Udall: Well, as you all know I am an enthusiastic supporter of conservationism and renewable energy sources.  I believe that, in addition to a restoration of our progressive income brackets with the highest paying their fair 50%, that we add in pretty significant taxes on the usage of unleaded gasoline and other pollutants that cause cancer and other health defects.  THat way we can keep the air cleaner by discouraging the usage of harmful pollutants, while also help funding the social safety net that keeps many in the country fed and clothed.
Moynihan: While I do agree about the necessity of the Progressive Income Tax, I believe that the Senator's recommendations are inherently anti-business and will do much more to harm our economy than to solve the alleged problems of scarcity that he and his ilk claim exist for our virtually limitless supply of oil and gas.  The Democratic Party should be the party of all Americans, both rich and poor.  We must stand by our support of social welfare policies as well as support for a fair taxation system that makes the rich class pay more and the lower class pay less. However, we must also, at the very same time, respect the contributions that industry provides us with by enacting policies that will allow them to make enough money for profits and thus sell goods that will put money into the economy and thus more tax receipts.  It worked under RFK, and I see no reason for it to fail now.
Udall: Senator, scarcity is no myth.  It is widely acknowledged by even the most optimistic scientists of the International Science Inquiry Board.  Even the most pro-oil studies, done by your friends down in British Petroleum, estimate that at best we only have enough oil to survive us until 2010!  That's 22 years!  Of Oil!  There has got to be a better way!
Moynihan: Even on topics like tax reform you don't shut up about the environment.  Jesus, what is it with you people?
Moderator: This is a Democratic debate alright.
Moynihan: The Senator, and others like him, are so high and mighty on some sort of utopian fantasy world to consider the real world applications of their policies.  Senator, if you want real world research go to the library, don't go to Helena!
Light applause and cat calls.
Moynihan: Seriously what's next Mo?  A freaking land tax?
Moderator: Certainly one of the most radical tax ideas that have been floated out there recently implemented in Montana, home of the infamous Scott Westman.  Even there it has a majority disapproval, with consensus being that the Governor forced fed it to the people of the state to fund his enormous public works project.  Since the Senator brought it up, what are your opinions on it, starting with you Mr. O'Sullivan?
O'Sullivan: I don't really think it's too radical of an idea to be frank.  The only thing that has been radical about it though is the over-reliance that it's advocates place on it.  I believe that, yes, a national land tax would be most beneficial to the funding of our infrastructure as well as a fund for our renewable energy resources.  I believe that a flat land tax of 1.5-2% should generate enough sufficient revenue for these goals, along with a modest progressive income tax system.  I'm thinking maybe we cap taxation at 40% for the most wealthy, like the Economic Recovery Act of 1981 did.  That was a great compromise bill that gave us two years of record revenues and trade before the Cranites took it way too far by continuing down the slippery slope to the Fair Tax heaven.  We should not be overly reliant on any one form of taxation while also being mindful of the disparity between rich and poor.  Unfortunately, as long as we have hacks in power, the likelihood of somebody actually researching these issues and coming up with a common sense solution to our debt troubles is really low.  You people have my word that as president I will not needlessly shut my ear to the experts and carefully weigh the options on this issue.  Debt is a problem, so is inflation and unemployment.
Moynihan: The former Secretary is talking out of both sides of his mouth and trying to have it both ways.  A land tax is unbridled wealth redistribution and a treasure trove to for Republicans to attack us as socialistic extremists.  Sure they do that on other issues, but embracing a land tax is just so extreme that Soviet comparison are bound to be made!  And even so, how will people prepare for land taxes?  It isn't like it's taken out of their paychecks!
O'Sullivan: WEll then Danny Boy, how do they prepare for property taxes?  Or sales taxes?  Or Vehicle Tags?  You act as if the basic American working man and woman can't do basic math or that we need to handle the elite and the powerful with kid gloves!  Look around you!  If you added up all land that the wealthiest of the wealthiest held you would get up to 33% of the Continental US!  This is not socialist redistribution we are talking about here, it is basic economic fairness.  Some of these people own more land than some small European countries, for god's sake.  With that said, of course I won't support such a radical enforcement as Scott Westman did in Montana.  I am a populist at heart, but I am by no means a radical.
Moderator: Senator?
Udall: As much as I would like to support such an idea, I think it's just too unfeasible.  There are so many legality issues with taxing land instead of property that can come up.  For one, apartment owners and other mass lodging business would be subject to this tax.  While I can appreciate the good intent of people who propose these ideas, I worry that such an idea will only empower the rich and the powerful to use such taxes as an excuse to extort money out of their dwellers, in effect collecting their tax money via their tenants.  In the future we can revisit some ideas, but here in the 20th century, with our current governance and economic system, it's just too unworkable.
Westman: Moderate hero.

[Mechaman]

After the Debate:

Moynihan is in a campaign van with his closest advisors watching the tv:
Anchor: Consensus is, overwhelmingly, that the former Secretary of State was the clear winner in the debate.  Polls now show that Udall, once considered the best of the liberal wing and anti-establishment alternative to Moynihan, has now gone down to a mediocre third place.
Moynihan: Have they gone f***in mad?  Were they watching the same debate we were?
Frank L. Clement: Well, he appears to have tapped into a certain spirit of populism among our voters.
Moynihan: F*** populism!  THat kind of dumb mass marketing has no place in the Democratic Party of today.  WE should be the party of solutions, not the party of proletarianism just because!
Clement: Well, look at it this way. . . . . . . .we are guaranteed most of the states on Super Tuesday.  The Southern Electorate is overwhelmingly pro-law and order and are economically moderate compared to our radical parties in the West and in the Plains.  There is a certain type of morality that we can appeal to that is morally superior to both O'Sullivan and Udall.
Roger L. Derrick: What about that f*** Udall?
Clement laughs.
Clement: Not a problem.  O'Sullivan has made him a total joke by comparison.  Besides, who the hell is he going to win in the South?  Blacks?  Don't make me laugh.
Derrick: Well, maybe we can improve our numbers with them.
Moynihan gives him an incredulous look.
Moynihan: Have you gone mad?  An Irishman popular with Southern blacks?
Derrick: RFK was good with blacks.
Moynihan: He also had joke opposition.
Derrick: And a good anti-crime policy that appealed to them.  Besides, we need to think about this fundamentally.  In other words, what works for black voters?
Clement: Anger and resentment of course.  They like to get all in a puff and accuse people of racism while raiding the public coffers.  Animals the lot of them.  Again, I don't see the point of appealing to them.
Moynihan looks highly offended at what he just said.
Moynihan: If I didn't know better I would hit you in the face right now.  THat is the wrong kind of attitude to have.
Clement: Oh yeah, and showing up on tv with your bright shiny happy paddy reformist face saying you love blacks is going to do it!  THere is a reason why Republicans, with their extreme depth of intellectual dishonesty, have been able to win the vote down there since time immemorial.
Moynihan punches Clement.
Moynihan: You bigoted f***!  Stop drinking!
Clement puts down his glass of whiskey.
Derrick: Well I hate to say it, but Frank makes a really good point about what campaign we should pursue.  We need to connect Udall with the racist statements and policies supported by the radical Scott Westman and others.  The resurrection of populism among the radical fringe in this country could help us come back to glory this season.  We need to convince blacks that Udall is not the right candidate for them by any stretch and we also need to turn some of O'Sullivan's radicalism against him.
Moynihan: So basically, we turn over blacks fully to right wing reactionarism?  We validate some of the dishonest statements of Republicans that liberalism in this country has no place for the black man?  So we align ourselves with the WASP Bankers?
Derrick: Sh*t, most of the blue collar unionists already think you are one of them.  We might as well start looking for a new coalition to overcome the miscreants who are rising up against the DAA.
Moynihan: Might as well go full lace curtain now.
Anchor: And now reports that O'Sullivan is actually closing in on Moynihan's lead in several southern states.
Moynihan looks shocked.
Moynihan: How.  The.  F***?

[Mechaman]

After the Debate:

Udall is back in the campaign trailer with his son US Senator Mark Udall of Colorado.
Mo Udall: Jesus, it's like he stole the campaign from us.
Mark Udall: Could be worse, pops.  Could be worse.  At this point in time I think it's never too late to mount a comeback.  You got a pretty good record of supporting anti-poverty legislation that has helped millions in the South, especially African-Americans who are likely to overwhelmingly support this campaign.
Mo: Do you think they still will after Moynihan and crew discloses that my church doesn't allow them in leadership positions?
Mark laughs.
Mark: Would it hurt to convert?
Mo: At this rate it would be far too late to.  They would likely interpret such a move as being indecisive and ask why I didn't do it years ago when I wasn't running for President.  Besides, I still believe that the best effort can be made as an official member of the church.  Brigham Young might've been one of our founding members, but he was also like many men of his time a very bigoted man and I don't answer to him.  I answer to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, not the words of a mortal and flawed man who lived hundred and fifty years ago.  It is time, and I figure there is no better way than through the vehicle of this campaign, to set the record straight.
Mark: Are you saying that you intend to address this issue before it's even brought up?
Mo nods.
Mark: Well, controversies tend to die pretty quickly when it's brought up by the politician themself.  Look at Scott's career.  I think the controversy of him having Patrick out of wedlock was over quicker than. . . .well the relationship with Laura.
Mo: Enough reminiscing about old times and enough about Scott Westman.  This is our campaign not his!
Mark notices that his dad is stressed.
Mark: It's getting to you, isn't it?  All the comparisons. . . . . .
Mo: We are two different politicians.  Two very different ones!  Yet they expect that me and him are connected at the hip!  Why isn't anybody commenting on my connections with Larry?  Why?!
Mark: Scott Westman is a very easy target these days.  That's why.  You are a man of good reputation who has wide respect across the aisle.  It only makes logical sense to link you with someone perceived as . . . . . radical.
Mo: My boy, Scott Westman is no radical.  He's a pragmatist who thinks he's a populist!
They both start laughing.
Mo: I mean me personally?  Go ahead and get rid of those assault weapons, ya'know?  I wouldn't miss them and I don't think any decent American would either.  They take too many lives and offer no practical purpose!
Mark shrugs.
Mark: Yes, I agree.  It's a shame that they have to link that kind of issue with outright fascism.  Now we do sound like a bunch of hacks for the Gun Owners of America.
Mo: I mean, why does Scott have to be so adamant about still supporting the Republican movement?  I mean, can't he comprehend how bad it'll look if he gets on stage in 1988 and tells the whole world, in the midst of our war with the Taimid, that he thought that the Treaty of Belfast was an imperialist sham?  Does he know how bad that makes the rest of the movement look?
Anchor: It seems that O'Sullivan has taken over the lead as the civil libertarian candidate, as polling shows that a plurality of college students now prefer him over Udall.
Mark: Well look, who says that we have to be more "left" than O'Sullivan?
Mo looks at him incredulously.
Mark: We don't have to try to out civil libertarian him.  I mean, did either of those guys touch environmental issues?  At all?
Mo: No I don't think so.. . . . . my boy!  You're a genius!
Mark: I mean, consider all of the projections that we will be entering an era of scarcity by 2008.. . . . and does it really seem like something that people shouldn't be paying attention too?  I thought that your debate performance was very underrated and that we shouldn't rely too much on debate polling.  We were at a natural disadvantage in New Hampshire!  All the nearby media clearly favored O'Sullivan.
Mo: Well, then what in the heck happened in Iowa?  What was it about that state that so clearly favored O'Sullivan?
Mark: Well, that was just out and out chaos.  I would say that, in the grand scheme of things Iowa doesn't matter that much.  We can still make a difference in these races.  We are the underdog in a three way race that still has months to go. With only two primaries down we certainly can turn the tide.  O'Sullivan seems like a flavor of the month club candidate to be honest.
Mo: Very true.  His momentum seems to be purely of the moment.  People are only flocking to him because he was in grade school when I was in my first House term.
Mark: Yes, age seems to be all the rage these days.  Nobody wants an old man in office any more.  Funny, how bad the younger ones were.  They don't want old men like you or Dan around.  Seems to be a trend.
Mo: How ridiculous!  We don't need the US House filled with 27 year olds!  As much as I like Larry.  The Cult of the Young is an annoying obsession.  Anyway, we should see what happens with Darkwater's Senate speech later.

[Mechaman]

O'Sullivan Van

Daniel R. Radcliffe, Senior Adviser: Very good sir.  Very very good!  We are now holding a consistent lead in seven of the twelve states for Super Tuesday!  It's almost like the people are suddenly taking a hold of our movement.  At this rate Udall will be yesterdays news!
O'Sullivan: You know I wasn't sure about this strategy of going against public opinion on practically every issue, but it seems to be working!
Radcliffe: I know right?!  People these days are so stupid and vulnerable to loud yelling and emotional appeals!  You could've supported the death of the Jews and still won the debate!
O'Sullivan: Perfect!  Perfect!  What should we do next!?
Radcliffe: Well, Governor Westman is set in his ways.  If we wanted an endorsement we should've asked for one. . . . . in January 1987 or something.
O'Sullivan: You talked to the man?
Radcliffe takes off his glasses.
Radcliffe: One of our people inside the Westman organization confirmed to me that the Governor is resolute in supporting Udall.  He further said that he would consider endorsement, but only in the event that Udall drops out. He is a man of his word.
O'Sullivan: Has Darkwater made an endorsement?
Radcliffe: Word is that he is thinking of a filibuster of the Crime Bill.  I suggest we wait and see the reaction to it, if it occurs.  If it's too radical we proceed as normal with our current strategy.  If there is a public movement towards it and if the bill gets less than 60 votes we appeal to him.
O'Sullivan: Good plan.  If the filibuster is an absolute failure we don't want the endorsement of Westman Jr.  The man needs some teeth.
Radcliffe nods.
Radcliffe: Yep.  Oh look, it's happening!
The two men watch as the tv starts showing images from inside the US Senate, where Killian Darkwater is standing before the Senate.
Darkwater on tv: In regards to this Omnibus Crime Bill currently in debate, I've come to a decision.  And that decision is FILIBUSTER!
Radcliffe: Oh this is good!

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

If I remember correctly it wasn't Joseph Smith but Brigham Young who instituted the ban on black priests.

[Mechaman]

If I remember correctly it wasn't Joseph Smith but Brigham Young who instituted the ban on black priests.

Thanks

[Mechaman]

Bells
First Aired: February 26th, 1988

The sound of church bells are heard as the camera rolls over pictures of past Church of Mormon leaders.
"Mo Udall claims to be a proud member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints since he was a boy. He has never in his 65 years of his life ever distanced himself from that church or renounce his faith. He has even gone as far as to say that his Mormon faith is the guiding force in his life."

You must be logged in to read this quote.

"Such a fascinating statement, given the long history of the Mormon's church's embrace of racial segregation.  Even to this day black people are denied leadership positions in the church and prevented from some temple ordinances.  Outside of the explicit references in the Book of Mormon of the black race being successors to Ham, the immoral son of Noah, many of the Church's leadership still believe firmly in the innate inferiority of blacks.  Senator Udall, who has bragged long and hard about his support of Civil Rights, has said very little of his own church's long time racism against blacks.  He has also done very little, staying a member well after the spread os Civil Rights to practically all other aspects of society.  And he wants you to believe that he is the strongest choice for Civil Rights and equality?

Don't be fooled by mere rhetoric.  Dan Moynihan has had a long and consistent record of Civil Rights advocacy and for fighting the ails that affect millions of minority Americans.  He is a leader in the fight against urban crime and decay and a leader in the education reform for the benefit of minority Americans.  He has proven through his long record, which included standing up for oppressed minorities overseas and at home, that he is the Democratic candidate for all of us!

Vote Smart, Vote Moynihan."

[Mechaman]

Senator Darkwater's Filibuster:

The Montana Senator's filibuster, though widely anticipated, didn't quite live up to the high expectations expected.  This was due to a variety of factors, though the biggest one seemed to be the Montana Senator's overconfidence in his ability to stay awake during the filibuster after having a few hard drinks.  Overall, the much awaited "filibuster" would last five and a half hours, certainly impressive given the Senator's state much certainly falling short of any record books.  Some would argue that ironically, it was the Senator's usage of alcoholic beverages that actually helped keep up his enthusiasm and actually keep him coming up with talking points over what would've been an otherwise forgettable "hey look at me I want to be a big star" kind of filibuster that went on during the Civil Rights Era.

However, there was a moral victory that came about from the filibuster.  A kind of moral victory that was rarely accomplished by the act of filibuster.  Darkwater's filibuster, though it lacked the immortal speech and rhetoric of many who came before him, re-opened what many assumed was a settled debate.  With one filibuster Darkwater had brought back to the forefront an issue that many Americans had seemed to be over, even with nationwide candidates campaign against violations of privacy and constitutional abuses.  Arguing strongly against what he called "the anti-American state", Darkwater made a compelling detail by detail attack on the failings that he saw in the Crime Omnibus Act of 1988 in a way that made a number of members on both sides of the aisles quiver in their shoes about their future electoral prospects.    What was once a "public safety" debate had suddenly become a debate about "government control".

And with that filibuster, Darkwater finally had the opportunity to get from out of the shadow of Scott Westman and establish himself as a committed ideologue in his own right.  The video images of the Senator collapsing upon himself, just seconds after struggling through a statement on municipal rights, along with some Capitol Hill staffers bring him out of the Senate on a cot, sent shockwaves through the airwaves.  In his failing, Darkwater had accomplished a lot more than many a man had before him who had stayed awake much longer.  A grand irony, considering that Darkwater was pretty much told to filibuster by the aforementioned Governor himself.

The next week when the Senate vote was held. . . . . the Omnibus Act failed with a majority of Senators voting against it.  To have the Act fail by a Senate majority was a great blow to the supporters of the Act, who expected the majority Democratic chamber to back the legislation.  However, in the end nearly every Democratic Senator west of the Mississippi voted against the Act along with a large number of Republican Senators.  The results were shocking to advocates, who expected that the Democratic Senate would naturally be more receptive to a crime law than the Coalition House that had large numbers support it.

The Vote:

US Senate as of February 27th, 1988:

Alabama:
Class 2: Howell T. Heflin (Constitution) Aye
Class 3: Jim Folsom Jr. (Democratic) Aye
Alaska:
Class 2: Nick Begich (Democratic) Nay
Class 3: Tony Knowles (Democratic) Nay
Arizona:
Class 1: Morris Udall (Democratic) Nay
Class 3: Arnold J. McKitteridge (Democratic) Nay
Arkansas:
Class 2: William J. Clinton (Democratic) Aye
Class 3: Dale Bumpers (Democratic) Aye
California:
Class 1: Ricardo Montalban(Republican) Aye
Class 3: Robert R. Debs (Democratic) Nay
Colorado:
Class 2: Mark Udall (Democratic) Nay
Class 3: Gary Hart (Democratic) Nay
Connecticut:
Class 1: Lowell P. Weicker (Republican) Aye
Class 3: Christopher J. Dodd (Democratic) Aye
Delaware:
Class 1: William V. Roth (Republican) Aye
Class 2: Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (Democratic) Aye
Florida:
Class 1: Paula Hawkins (Republican) Aye
Class 3: Bernard Stone (Democratic) Nay
Georgia:
Class 2: Patrick R. Geary (Democratic) Nay
Class 3: Paul Rumble (Democratic) Aye
Hawaii:
Class 1: Gary Chong (Party for the People) Nay
Class 3: Jonathan Paulson (Party for the People) Nay
Idaho:
Class 2: James A. McClure (Republican) Nay
Class 3: Frank Church (Democratic) Nay
Illinois:
Class 2: Paul Simon (Democratic) Aye
Class 3: Paul Wight (Democratic) Aye
Indiana:
Class 1: Danforth Quayle (Conservative) Aye
Class 3: Kenneth A. Falk (Democratic) Aye
Iowa:
Class 2: John Kyl (Republican) Aye
Class 3: Mark Gladden (Conservative) Aye
Kansas:
Class 2: Robert J. Dole (Republican) Aye
Class 3: Jan Meyers (Republican) Aye
Kentucky:
Class 2: Mitch McConnell (Republican) Nay
Class 3: Nick J. Clooney (Democratic) Aye
Louisiana:
Class 2: Moon Landrieu (Democratic) Abstain
Class 3: Raymond Creascaunt (Democratic) Aye
Maine:
Class 1: Roger J. Braddock (Democratic) Nay
Class 2: William Cohen (Republican) Aye
Maryland:
Class 1: Beverly Byron (Democratic) Aye
Class 3: Hogan Flannery (Democratic) Nay
Massachusetts:
Class 1: Daniel M. Lynch(Democratic) Aye
Class 2: William Saltonstall (Republican) Nay
Michigan:
Class 1: Lenore Romney (Republican) Aye
Class 2: Frederick N. Fassbender (Democratic) Nay
Minnesota:
Class 1: Peter F. Federov (DFL) Nay
Class 2: Paul K. Vernor (Republican) Nay
Mississippi:
Class 1: Robert Jarrell (Republican) Aye
Class 2: Helm Mundstream (Democratic) Aye
Missouri:
Class 1: Adrian Moore (Democratic) Nay
Class 3: Patricia O'Dell (Democratic) Aye
Montana:
Class 1: David Mansfield (Democratic) Nay
Class 2: Killian S. Darkwater (Democratic) Nay
Nebraska:
Class 1: Virginia Smith (Republican) Nay
Class 2: Paul Mercanti (Republican) Nay
Nevada:
Class 1: Mike O'Callaghan (Democratic) Nay
Class 3: Paul Laxalt (Republican) Nay
New Hampshire:
Class 2: Thaddeus Michaels (Republican) Nay
Class 3: Warren Rudman (Republican) Aye
New Jersey:
Class 1: Augustus J. Donnelly (Democratic) Aye
Class 2: Bill Bradley (Democratic) Aye
New Mexico:
Class 1: Raul Ramirez (Democratic) Nay
Class 2: Harrison Schmitt (Republican) Nay
New York:
Class 1: Daniel P. Moynihan (Democratic) Aye
Class 3: David P. Killian (Democratic) Nay
North Carolina:
Class 2: Harvey Gantt (Democratic) Aye
Class 3: Rachel K. Carlsberg (Democratic) Nay
North Dakota:
Class 1: Robert Stroup (Republican) Nay
Class 3: Michael H. Celsius (Republican) Nay
Ohio:
Class 1: Robert Taft Jr. (Republican) Nay
Class 3: Tony P. Hall (Democratic) Aye
Oklahoma:
Class 2: Frank Keating (Republican) Aye
Class 3: James R. Jones (Democratic) Nay
Oregon:
Class 2: Mark Hatfield (Republican) Nay
Class 3: Doyle Colleary (Democratic) Nay
Pennsylvania:
Class 1: H. John Heinz III (Republican) Aye
Class 3: Lawrence Watson (Democratic) Nay
Rhode Island:
Class 1: Gerald "Gerry" K. Walsh (Democratic) Nay
Class 2: Edie L. Finneran (Democratic) Aye
South Carolina:
Class 2: Joseph J. Tierney (Democratic) Aye
Class 3: Donald Mickaelson (Democratic) Aye
South Dakota:
Class 2: Larry Pressler (Republican) Nay
Class 3: Sean O'Brien (Conservative) Aye
Tennessee:
Class 1: John Duncan, Sr. (Republican) Nay
Class 2: Howard Baker (Republican) Nay
Texas:
Class 1: Ronald E. Paul (Republican) Nay
Class 2: James Wright (Democratic) Nay
Utah:
Class 1: Orrin Hatch (Republican) Aye
Class 3: Quentin Maxwell (Conservative) Nay
Vermont:
Class 1: Major Derrick (Democratic) Aye
Class 3: Richard W. Mallary (Republican) Aye
Virginia:
Class 1: John Warner (Republican) Aye
Class 2: Tobin MacMahon (Democratic) Aye
Washington:
Class 1: Allan B. Swift (Democratic) Nay
Class 3: Harry Callahan (Republican) Nay
West Virginia:
Class 1: Robert Byrd (Democratic) Aye
Class 2: Robert K. O'Delahey (Republican) Nay
Wisconsin:
Class 1: Tommy Thompson (Republican) Aye
Class 3: William R. Goodman (Republican) Aye
Wyoming:
Class 1: Alan K. Simpson (Republican) Nay
Class 2: Wilhelm L. Reuters (Republican) Nay

Ayes: 48 Votes
Nays: 51 Votes:
Abstain: 1 Vote

Breakdown by Party:

Democratic:
Ayes: 26/54 (48.15%)
Nays: 27 (50%)
Abstain: 1 Vote

Republican:
Ayes: 18/39 (46.15%)
Nays: 21/39 (53.85%)

Others:
Ayes: 4
Nays: 3

The results were shocking to everyone, especially law and order Democrats.  That Democrats and Republicans seemed to have such powerful pro-civil liberty wings, even in the face of possible nuclear terrorism, was a testament to strength of the movement.  The failure of the bill, which many of it's supporters admitted afterward was worded way too broadly, showed the nation and the world that opposition to the DAA was, above all things, a bipartisan affair.  And more than that, it showed the clear divisions evident in the party between poor vs. rich, rural vs. urban, libertarian vs. authoritarian, and most of all West vs. East.

[Mechaman]

DNC Headquarters:

US Senate Majority Leader Tobin MacMahon: What in the blue f*** were those wankers thinking?  We are Democrats!  We are supposed to be united!
DNC Head, Lloyd Bentsen, who was MacMahon's predecessor as leader of the Senate Democrats, takes a drink from his gin glass.
Bentsen: Tobin, we need to consider the margin of the defeat and really the haphazard way that it was sold.  Looking back on this it would've helped us immensely if Dan or one of those guys had tried to modify some of the points on public appearances.  I mean good lord, the implications were pretty scary, even for those of us who aren't bleedingheart Westman Socialists.
Tobin laugs.
MacMahon: Of course!  That lace curtain motherf***er suddenly thinks he's some leftist hero who is out to save the common man by. . . . . get this, opposing every single common sense public safety bill that Congress proposes!
Moynihan comes into the room.  MacMahon gestures to him to sit in a chair, while taking a shot of rum.
MacMahon: You just came in time old friend!  We're talking about our old friend, the infantile incompetant from Hippiesville, USA!
Moynihan laughs.
Moynihan: Oh you mean that one guy who got stabbed and hasn't been able to make public appearances, which is really more devastating to him I imagine than the actual physical injury, for the past two or three weeks?  Oh and what was that about his illustrious "New England tour"?  Ha!  He truly has gone off the deep end.
Bentsen: Laugh as you might Dan, that radical malcontent's boy in DC was able to sway enough votes to take what should've been an easy passage and turned into an embarrassing defeat.  As long as Westman has his lapdog Darkwater in the Senate, as well as his three cronies in the House, he can cause untold damage.
Moynihan laughs.
Moynihan: You give him far too much credit.  I know Westman, it's only a time before he is caught saying something about "them Jew boys" before his momentum goes dead.  Sure, he has his wild following in that little crackpipe state of his that likes to elect Democrats who consistently give their national party the bird, but they don't go anywhere.
MacMahon: Well yeah obviously.  We are talking about a man who barely got elected to the US Senate in a state that at the time had a barely functioning Republican Party, lost his re-election to a third party conservative, and won perhaps his only real victory in a three way race where he still fell five points short of a popular majority.  Sure, all indications are that he is going to destroy whoever the opposition is in this re-election, but they were saying that before in 1982.  And even if he does win, again that is in Montana.  Scott Westman doesn't have near the political ability or influence to be as grave of a danger as many seem to think he is.
Bentsen: You seem to be in a world of denial here Tobin.  Every single western Democrat voted against the recent Omnibus bill.  You kept bragging about how with a Senate majority we'd be able to pass a decisive law and order platform and that we would beat Crane and his cronies at their own game.  Yet you forgot that many of those Democrats west of the Mississippi got elected running anti-authoritarian campaigns and promising to undo the damage their Republican predecessors caused by voting for the DAA.  And they've been campaigning as left libertarians since 1982, so you really got no excuse.  It doesn't matter that among the voting public opposition is only popular among gun totting potheads in Montana and Washington state, because they now hold a sizable chunk of our party's votes.  And worst yet (turns to Moynihan), they are starting to give off this populist image.
Moynihan chuckles.
Moynihan: Are you referring to O'Sullivan's upset victories?  Ha, trust me it's normal for such eccentrics to get a few in almost every primary season.  However, rest assured my war chest is much bigger than his and we got a lot more establishment support.
Bentsen: Dan, you are aware what a lot of the activists are saying about you right?
Moynihan gives a sneer.
Moynihan: Oh yes oh yes, "the Rockefeller Democrat".  Well I paid that no heed, because it's blatantly false.  I have nothing in common with those plutocratic parasites.
MacMahon: I know exactly how you feel Moynihan.  When I got into politics nobody seemed to care that I pretty much survived in Tralee by fishing and that my total savings would've amounted to barely ten American dollars when I came to this country.  Instead they prefer to label me a "lace curtain bastard" just because I am not exactly like some of the scum of the street that call South Boston and Newark their home.  It's hard to be successful and respectable in this country, unless of course you're Scott Westman.  And then everybody wants to suck your cock and proclaim you THE KING OF THE WORKING CLASS!
Bentsen, sensing the resentment in the room, interjected.
Bentsen: Before you go further with your self-deprecating monologue, let us get back on track.  Dan, these anti-Mormon spots you are airing. . . . . . . I'm not sure these are the right way to go.
Moynihan laughs.
Moynihan: Why not?  Those people are freaks!  And the world needs to know that they are electing a man who believes a book that says that when we die and go to heaven we will become gods of other planets!  I mean really, what bullsh*t!
Bentsen: Seems a little, I don't know. . . .prejudicial?
Dan laughs again.
Moynihan: Say we had a closet KKK member running, would you have the same self-righteousness if I ran ads that depicted how horrible the Ku Klux Klan is?  Face it pal, this cult which a lot of people mistake for a legitimate christian denomination, is so out there and so racist it's incredible that we've had several legitimate presidential nominees get this far while claiming to be Morons, I'm sorry I mean Mormons.  We should thank our lucky stars that Robert Kennedy won in 1968 instead of that Saturn worshipping crackpot George Romney!
Bentsen was amazed how abusive Dan Moynihan, a man usually known for being a pragmatic and well spoken man, was getting about Mormonism.
MacMahon: I know you might think it's dirty Bentsen, but just because they get tax code exemptions doesn't mean we should leave that issue off the table.  Many people want to take the high road because of "Freedom of Religion" while also forgetting that it is a double edged sword.  Sure, he can be a follower of that. . . group, but that doesn't mean that society as a whole should keep quiet about the negative qualities of that religious text and their practices.  We are not campaigning dirty here, if anything we are showing a fundamental truth about Mo Udall.  A man who would so strongly identify with a discriminatory religion while claiming to be a civil rights hero deserves to be outed as the weak man he really is.
Bentsen: Yes, but that just makes us look petty.
MacMahon: Let me tell you something, when I first ran for office I was attacked both as a "nlover" and a "childlover" so don't give me any of that sh*t about playing nice and fair.  We need to rip the spinal cord out of Udall's movement as soon as we can and end him.  THe last thing we need is a third wheel in this contest.
Moynihan: Exactly.  We need to use the post Jim Crow establishment to crush the left wing in this primary.  They pose too dangerous of a threat to our agenda going into the general election.  If we have to pull every race card in the book to do so, so be it.  O'Sullivan doesn't have a squeaky clean record either, and we can take his adopting several Westman positions as indication that the two men are eye to eye on some unsavory things.  For instance, Scott Westman never participated in the Civil Rights movement, other to pen a lengthy diatribe against Affirmative Action being race based and he has made numerous strongly anti-Jewish arguments on foreign policy.  I've already accepted that this might make me unpopular among a number of blue collars, but I'm hoping that my record as an advocate for all will make up for it.  I've managed to win election after election with stronger support from the old neighborhood. . . . . . well I used to at least.
The room gets quiet.
Bentsen: Well okay, not sure about running an entire campaign against somebody's religion.  I mean, say it's 1928. . . . how would you feel?
Moynihan laughs.
Moynihan: Just no, please no.  There is no comparison between the completely legitimate and pro-social justice message behind American Catholicism and the outright ridiculousness that is the Mormon religion.  Besides, the Republicans got their just desserts just four years later anyway.
Bentsen: And what if we get ours?

[Dr. Cynic]

Loved it. Gotta say though, those kinds of attacks on his "father figure" Udall are the kinds of things that would cause Watson to lose his temper and he'd probably try to, I don't know, maybe get MacMahon ousted...

Food for thought

[Mechaman]

The Conservative Republican Montana Gubernatorial Primaries:

With Scott Westman's approval staying consistently above 50% throughout 1987 going into 1988 as well as the passage of Green Montana, the largest statewide public works project in history, Conservative and Republican leaders called a truce on controversial social issues and other issues of disagreement to run a "united field" to find a candidate worthy enough of disposing of Westman.  As of April 1988, here are the major candidates for the nomination:

Former US Congressman Alexander Van Guy of Billings: Considered one of the strongest conservatives in the Republican Party, Van Guy is running off of a platform that stresses returning the state to one of "limited expenditures".  He has stated that once in office he would examine all possible routes in postponing the enactment of the Green Montana Act and appoint justices to the state supreme court who would rule against the constitutionality of the act.  Van Guy, a Dutch Catholic, is noted for being strongly pro-life, going as far as to sign on with John Ashbrook's attempt to pass a "Human Life Amendment" in 1983.  His anti-abortion views, along with his anti-capital punishment stance, make him one with the Democratic Governor, though whether this is an advantage (the possibility of gaining pro-life moderates and conservatives who would otherwise lean Westman) or a disadvantage (possibility of losing pro-choice moderates to the less anti-abortion Westman) is not clear yet.  His stance on the DAA is also a concern for hardliners, as he was one of a few Congressional Republicans to oppose the Act (though he joined his two Democratic colleagues from Montana in opposition, making Montana one of a very few states to have a Congressional Delegation to vote unanimously against the DAA).  His record on guns in the US House matches Westman's previous Senate record almost exactly, which makes him an odd bedfellow on a number of social issues with the blatantly liberal Governor.. . . . . a comparison that opponents in the primaries can turn up to eleven depending on their campaigns.  Van Guy is hoping that his economic and fiscal records would speak for themselves, as he had one of the highest ratings from the US Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Limited Government for consistently advocating a smaller more limited government and less taxation.  "When it comes to issues that affect everyday Montanans, like the big government socialism being openly advocated in Helena, me and the Governor are worlds apart.  Scott Westman is the most left wing Governor in our state's history, and we need a true conservative to win the race.  And when it comes down to it, wouldn't you prefer somebody who has a consistent record of attacking state socialism than paternalistic businessmen and lawyers, religious fundamentalists, or irate pot smokers?"-as the man himself says.

Former President of Rousseau Marketing Strategies Vincent K. Rousseau of Billings: The twin brother of the well noted philanthropist and libertarian Republican advocate Peter Rousseau, Vincent is running off of a platform that critics label as "an open endorsement of the Classical Liberal Party platform of 1980."  A man who openly admitted in 1985 to voting for Scott Westman for US Senate in 1976 and in 1984 for Governor, Rousseau has entered the primaries already on rocky ground with the rank and file of the party.  His social issues positioning is outright libertarian, which is either a minus or plus depending on the issue and the area.  Records of his campaign contributions shows that he sent over $10,000 to various congressional candidates to vote against the DAA and he recently helped fund a nationwide ad against the most recent Public Safety Omnibus Bill.  He is also a prolific gun rights and marijuana rights advocate, having funded Republicans Senators and Representatives in the state legislature (such as Helen Brisco and Mendelik D'Israeli) who supported liberalization of guns and drugs.  A loyal member of the national party, he supported D'Israeli in 1980 and backed the party ticket over Phil Crane in 1984 when many Republicans had crossed over.  While he would be good at swaying more fiscally moderate Westman supporters and independents, many worry that a Rousseau candidacy would alienate many Conservatives who might feel inclined to sit out the election especially as Rousseau's twin brother is a close friend of Scott Westman and openly pushed for the election of Westman back in 1976 and campaigning viscerally against his Republican opponent.  Supporters, however, hope that his past with Westman might prove to be more of an advantage than a disadvantage, as it would allow them to use the argument that Westman has gone too far left for even many of his past supporters.

Former US Senator Maxwell Baucus of Helena: A former Democratic Senator, Baucus made a lot of noise last November when he defected to the Republican Party and announced his bid against Westman.  Backed by the moderate faction of the party, Baucus is running off of a platform of lower taxation, ending the Green Tax passed by Westman, overturning the Green Montana Act, taking a stand against marijuana legalization efforts, and limiting the influence of unions on the state government.  He faces strong opposition, due largely to his status as a longtime politician of the opposite party who in the past advocated policies that are the opposite of what he is proposing now.  His advantage, however, is in his established donor base and his lingering reputation as a widely popular moderate politician (despite his landslide loss to Westman in the Primary in 1984).

Former Lt. Governor Mendelik D'Israeli of Bozeman: Westman's former Lt. Governor and a noted adamant libertarian in the Republican Party.  Noted for his personal animosity of the incumbent Governor, with many people who think that Westman banged D'Israeli's wife, he seems to be pulling out all stops to attack the Governor as much as possible.  Compared to the other three he seems to be a longshot candidate, and it is highly unlikely that he and his supporters would back a united Conservative/Republican ticket.  Still, party leaders are hopeful that after he makes his futile run that they can get him in a safe location and away from the cameras.

More to possibly come.

[Mechaman]

June 13th, 1979
The Office of Ernest Derringer
Washington D.C.

Dr. Derringer, one of the top psychiatrists in DC, took a look at the tall redheaded man lying down on the couch next to him.  US Senator Scott Westman, a regular patient of his.  It had been some time since he last saw Westman, as the last he heard the Senator had a new roommate at his townhouse.  A model or archaeology student, or both.
Derringer: OKay Scott, besides the alcoholism driven by your own inner lack of sexual confidence, what else is wrong with you?
Westman wipes his face with one of his sweaty hands.
Westman: Doc, I don't even know where to begin.  I just pray that you keep an openmind with this sort of thing.
Derringer: Why wouldn't I?
Westman: Well okay, a few months back there was this girl who moved in with me, you see?
Derringer: Oh so this has nothing to do with work?
Westman: Well yes, work does come in quite a bit.  I'm finding it hard to adapt to my newfound success and the two seem to be converging more than I would like.
Derringer: Leave the psychobabble bullsh*t up to me, alright?
Westman: Well okay, I met this girl like months ago and she had lived me for awhile.
Derringer: This isn't a question about sexual confidence is it?
Westman: Well kind of, alright.
Derringer: Senator, when will you heed my advice?
Westman: Oh and what is that!?
Derringer: Quit the drinking.
Westman: Oh f*** you.  I'm not doing that.
Derringer: You either do that or you find yourself in a grave by the age of 45.  At the latest.  Nevermind that it enables your own daughter's Elektra Complex.
Westman: You know what youse a sick f*** youse know that.  Saying my daughter sexually desires me?  What a sick bastard, why do I keep coming here?
Derringer: Once again you have a very idiotic interpretation of generally accepted psychiatric principles.  Anyway continue.
Westman stammers nervously, the coke hit he took before he got in was now catching up with him.
Westman: Anyway, doc, I'm with this girl for months and nothing happens.
Derringer: Well that's a shock.
Westman: Are you my doctor or are you just a track-by-track commentator?  Will you allow me to finish the f***ing story?
Derringer: Alright, proceed.
Westman: Anyways, this girl is putting me off for months.  She continually just acted like this tease ya'know?  I didn't know what to make of it, I thought maybe she was gay or something.
Derringer: Yes, they do tend to act odd when they are around someone they are not sure how to sell themselves as.  There are a lot of ignorant people out there about homosexuality you know?  It's totally natural and not at all a mental disorder.  Some people are just too obsessed with the whole traditional sexual orientation paradigm!
Westman: Well yeah boss, that's what I thought at first ya'know.  One day I just ask her if she is one of them, and she laughed in my face.  And anyways, I know she's not gay any longer.  WE are in a relationship now.
Derringer gives Westman a look of surprise.
Derringer: Oh so you are intimate with her?  Well I guess it took a little bit longer than usual, but. . . . what's wrong with that?
Westman: WEll Ernest, the thing is I couldn't really.. . . . . do anything with her until yesterday.  We had been kind of dating for about a few days-
Derringer: Well that's a lot faster than most men can do, don't be too down on yourself.  Maybe you gave it a lot of thought.
Westman: But you see, that's the thing.  I'm not sure how much thought I gave it.  I mean .. . . . . . i don't feel entirely secure with it.  I just decided I wanted to and it just happened.  I guess like a serial killer just suddenly decides to snap.  She wasn't ready for it, either.
Derringer: Maybe it's just the stress of the expectations that are on you since you passed that bill a week or so ago.  It's not entirely uncommon to feel some apprehension about yourself during these times.  It's over and done with, and it sounds like you found someone.  What is the big deal?
Westman nervously chuckles.
Westman: Well, not really a big deal.  Kind of small actually.  It's just. . . . . I don't know if what I did is entirely normal or if I have some psychological issues.
Derringer: Maybe I'm missing something, can't you just say it.
Westman stammers.
WEstman: Well I mean she just has this odd. . . . deformity that makes intimacy a little difficult and I feel uncomfortable with it around-
Derringer gives him a look of sudden understanding.
Derringer: This girl of yours. . . . . . she's not entirely stuck in her own body, is she?
Westman puts his face in his hand.
Westman: Oh Jesus, please just tell me I'm not gay Doctor.  Please.
Derringer takes off his glasses, laughing.
Derringer: Oh boy oh boy, this is some great stuff.  I'll have to push back my four o'clock appointment, just for you.
Oh great.

[Mechaman]

June 13th, 1979
Office of Ernest Derringer
Washington D.C.

Derringer leans back in his chair, taking in what he just heard.
Well, this is a first.
He looks at Westman blankly.
Derringer: Well, this is a first.
Westman looks at him weird.
Westman: You're f***ing kidding me, right?
Derringer laughs.
Derringer: Well I mean, I have a lot of pretty common issues pop up.  Divorces, alcoholism, drug abuse, does my kid hate me, you know that kind of thing.  And occasionally some gay stuff.  But. . . . . this?  This is left field!
Westman seems amazed.
Westman: So wait, you mean after all the years you've worked, in Washington D.C., this is the first time you heard of a man-
Derringer: Well, Steven Holt usually handles the really bizarre cases and trans individuals make up like .01% of the population or something.  It isn't really that weird for it to be such a rare thing.  I have to say, even for you I didn't really expect this.
Westman: What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Derringer: Well, there are hundreds of terms used in this profession, and I've probably assigned well over 30 of them to you already.  You are a brain case.
Westman: So?  I like alcohol and women!  More than others!  What is so dysfunctional about that!?
Derringer laughs.
Derringer: Oh yes oh yes, still in the denial phase.  Alright Senator, you're not gay.
Westman: YES!!!!!
Derringer: Poofs don't go after this (points on picture of Calpernia), heterosexuals do.  It isn't like she is exactly advertising "Hey I got a dick!"
Westman: I know right!  But society doesn't understand!
Derringer: However, I"m not entirely sure you're straight either.
Westman: What!?
Derringer takes off his glasses.
Derringer: Well first off, how long did you know she had a penis?  ANd don't lie.
Westman: Well, for only a few days Ernest.  She told me a few days a-
Derringer: Don't bullsh*t me Scott, you would've noticed a lot earlier, especially if she lived with you.
Westman gulps goddamn it.
Westman: Well. . . . to be honest about the second week she lived here.  We were lying down and I guess something slipped out of it's place.  I went into denial for a few months, telling myself I probably had too much to drink or that it was her wallet or somethin'.
Derringer: SO in reality, you'd been playing this scenario, the possibility of making love to this woman, for months?  Thinking about what to do if she had a unit?
Westman: Damn it, yes okay?
Derringer: So when you forced yourself on her after your Senate victory. .. . .
Westman: I was so overwhelmed with power at the time that I was thinking "screw this, I'm taking this broad!", regardless of what she had.  I only stopped because she slapped me.  It was only after she opened up that I decided I needed to think more about what I was gonna do.  But it still didn't stop me!
Derringer: Well, I think you're a sex addict with a Spartan sexuality.
Westman looks at him perplexed.
Westman: What!?
Derringer: Going off of your relationships with guys like Thad O'Connor and Larry Watson reveals that you tend towards a deep seated kind of psychological narrative about having dominance over other men-
Westman: What the f***!?
Derringer: -usually this manifests itself in politics or friendship, where you are the one calling the shots or being "over" them.  There is a part of you that is fulfilled, both mentally and sexually, by having power of them.
Westman: F*** you doc!
Derringer: The same is true about your women, but due to previous conversations about how your height made it very hard for you to properly dominate women you were with you were never really able to dominate them as effectively as you thought.  I also believe that you have pedophiliac urges, given previous statement on the shortness of the women, your preference for girls in their teens, and your own previous political scandals.
Westman: I pay you for this sh*t?
Derringer: Your continuance of encouraging your daughter's Elektra complex, which I warned you could lead to the wrong sort of affection, is also symptoms of a man who is strives to have total and complete control of his kin.
Westman: Screw you, I give Brea lots of freedom!
Derringer: Due to your young age and your spoiling of her, she will soon start to see you more as her lover than her father, if that hasn't happened already.  But, it wasn't until this latest story that I could put all of this together and realize that your ultimate sexual fantasy, as a classic dominant masculine persona, was to dominate your partner totally and completely.  In bed, in finances, and in decision making.  This is where you have totally dominated Calpernia Weils and will not dominate anyone else.  Her height allows you to be the sexual aggressor that your previous women prevented you from being, her lower socio-economic status allows for her to be your economic dependent as a young model, and your natural tendency to decide for others and her submissive femininity makes her the perfect subject to submit to you.  But most of all, and perhaps you won't like hearing this, she fulfills your ultimate fantasy of total domination of another genetic male, something you can't fulfill with Thad O'Connor, even though he relies both on financial assistance from you and is the Robin to your Batman in decision making.  Again, this doesn't make you gay, or even bissexual for that matter, but of a domineering Spartan personality.
Westman looks like his mind was blown.
Derringer: You can either accept that you have the same personality as the bloodthirsty King Leonidas, or you can say "f*** you" like you usually do and storm off in a huff.  Just pay me this time.
Westman gets out a bunch of dollar bills and hands it to the doctor.
Westman: Fine, keep the change you filthy animal.

[Mechaman]

February 27th, 1988
Burlington, Vermont
About 9:30

The plane lands on the airstrip at Burlington Airport.  On the tarmac there stands a man with gray hair and a stately stature.  He has a very no-nonsense air about him.
He watches as the door on the plane opens up and a tall redheaded man steps out onto the stairs and makes his way down.  FOllowing the man was a young woman, also with long fiery hair, who looked to be in her 20s.
Scott Westman
He approached the Montana Governor and shakes his hand.
Christopher Garrett, Governor of Vermont from 1971-1975: Governor!  It's a pleasure to see you!  It's been awhile!
Westman grins.
Westman: You're telling me old man.  I remember when that hair of yours was brown.
Garrett laughs, surely this radical had come a long way from wearing inflammatory shirts and making rousing speeches at the Las Vegas Convention Center to being the Governor of a Mountain West state.  He knew that Westman had fire, but damn was he impressed.
Westman looked at the gray old man and was arguably even more impressed.  The first statewide Democrat elected in Vermont since before the Civil War.  How'd he do it?
Garrett: Well, welcome to Vermont.  This is enemy territory I tell you.  We'll be lucky if we pull this one off.
Westman laughs.
Westman: Well, we hope.  However my plan is more extensive than what happens this year.  I want to build a permanent winnable coalition here.  One that stretches tradition.
Garrett laughs.
Garrett: Well, you got to have just the right kind of combination to win here.  Republicans here, they can surprise you.  Lots of anti-war, pro-marijuana folks up here.  Some of them are even suspect to left wing economics.  I mean, who knew?
Westman looks intrigued.
Westman: Yes, we've been doing some research and believe that the national party is skipping out on a big opportunity here.  I mean after all, FDR won at least 40% in all four of his elections.  Kennedy won the state in 1972!  I mean really!  The party is shooting itself in the foot if it continues to ignore the possibilities here!
Garrett: Well, the way they look at it it's just three freaking votes.  The way we look at it, it's three votes towards a more permanent future left wing majority.  With the GOP inevitably heading towards conservatism, we have the potential to make some major gains in upper New England I tell you.  Lots of interesting populism here that no one acknowledges.  Did you know that we have socialists, yes socialists, running for mayoralships in several places?  And polling quite strongly?  You would never guess by the way the morons back at HQ speak of this place.  National healthcare polls quite strongly too, but I guess nobody tells you that.
Westman: Yes I know.  I was just blown away by my past reception here that I had to check it out.  Also, I got several people on the inside of both parties.  I am going all out to make sure that the Congressional Representation of this state votes the right way.  We need to blow down the walls of tradition and show that we are no longer the party of slavery.
Garrett: You're telling me man.  I had to run pretty hard against that label when it was thrown at me by my opponent in '70.  With the current brand of Democrats though I fear it will be harder than we can hope for.  They think the national party is too authoritarian to trust with civil liberties and other concerns.  But I got to ask you, Layton?
Westman: Yes what about him?
Garrett: I mean, Jesus, is he your best choice?
Westman: Look, I didn't tell him to run.  He was already in the race.  I have to work with what I have.  You of all people should know that in Vermont we don't exactly have a wide pool to choose from.  How big is the Democratic representation in the House?  20%?  18%?
Garrett: 30%, we got a majority in Burlington.  Which wouldn't be possible if it weren't for my reforms as Governor which made the state system more democratic.
Westman: Yes of course, but what good is it if most Democrats are lucky to place 40% of the vote?  The Republican nature is so ingrained in these people that it will take more than a couple of somersaults to get the poison out of their system.  Besides, Jack is only part of the plan.
Garrett: Well, you better hope Coventry wins.  Cos no way I see him winning against Jeffords.
Westman looks at him funny.
Westman: Really?  You think Coventry is a weak candidate?
Garrett looks at him oddly.
Garrett: Well, let's just say he has kind of a reputation around here as an unlikable heartless jerkass.
Westman: I don't get it, he's pro-gun rights, pro-choice, anti-DAA-
Garrett: He's also one of the most conservative congressmen in the house.  At least on economics.  He's called "Congressman No" for a reason.  Hell, even many Republicans don't like him.  Especially the moderate establishment, who are angry at the pork bills he denied this state and the libertarian agenda he is pursuing in Congress.  He has managed to piss off both the workerist left and the affluent right. . . . .who the hell is he trying to win in Vermont?
Westman smiles at him smugly.
Westman: Everyone else?
Garrett: Maybe, but for us it's good if he wins.  We need an extremist to run against Layton.
Westman: Again, what is wrong with Jack?
Garrett: Well, he is running as a Canadian Social Democrat in Vermont.
Westman: Yeah, so?
Garrett: Well, that is boring.  And he is boring.  THat is my main point.
Westman: Yes but he has heart.  Which is what is most important in winning elections.
Garrett: Well it just looks kind of bad-
Westman: Didn't you used to teach about Communism during the height of the Red Scare?
Garrett: Yeah, so?
Westman: Did you ever stop teaching cos "oh no, it isn't popular!  This looks bad!"
Garrett: Well no, but-
Westman: We need to put on a brave face to beat Derricks and try to restore the VT Democrats to their old state of glory.  Major Derricks was the first Democrat to be elected a US Senator from Vermont, and I intend for it to stay that way.
The two men get into a nearby jeep, and drive off.

[Mechaman]

Meanwhile, in Denver:

It is a cold night at the Denver Police Department with Sergeant Frank O'Halloran looking at some old files.  He picks up a pink folder and opens it, looking at some photos of a dead man with a ring lodged into his eye socket.
O'Halloran: August '82, that was a brutal time.  Never solved this one, what a pity.  We think that it might've been an organized thing gone south.  But we never got the go ahead to proceed and the laws at the time had us handtied in what we could do.
Private Jackie LaGuardia, a young nubile brunette with delightful olive skin, gave a nervous smile.  O'Halloran was really turning up the juice tonight, trying to see if he could unbuckle this one later tonight after third shift.  Playing with privates was always the most fun, he figured.  That was the one thing he loved about the job, and the one thing that they never show you in police shows, is the amount of free tang a man can get at the office from over eager beavers in the patrol outfits.  Did taking advantage of such vulnerable young ladies make him a horrible man?  Most likely, but he needed the excitement every once in awhile.
LaGuardia: What about the Nightstalker?  Didn't you handle that?
O'Halloran moans.
There was nothing he disliked more than the outcome of the Nightstalker case.  All of this time, with nationwide manhunts and the whole palooza, it ended with a disgraced cop on probation who had a weakness for pretty hookers and alcohol knocking in the hotel door and taking the bastard out.
Talk about anti-climatic.
Now sure, given the targets it was somewhat comedic.  Apparently the Nightstalker had a thing for he-she freaks or whatever you want to call them.  A pretty bad thing for them, if he had to guess by some of the old photos he saw.  Yeah, the Nightstalker was found dead alright, but all they could find at his house was a journal that had some iffy writings.  If the man had some sort of elaborate plan, he really kept it away from view.
But what was the point anyway?  The killer was caught redhanded and was shot dead.  End of discussion.  As far as O'Halloran was concerned it saved the courts many thousands of dollars and months of waiting and deliberating.  Sometimes he wish that they all could end like that, in a matter of seconds with a bullet hole through the bad guy's brain.
He takes out the picture that showed Calpernia Weil's unconscious body.  The way that "she" laid there was so disconcerting, like she had got hit by a brick from a twenty story window.
O'Halloran: Yeah here is the picture of the near vic.  Luckily we had come just in time.  The driver's license says that she is a female and weighs 140 lbs.  Ha, those Californians are fruits, thinking they can just claim whatever they want on their license.
LaGuardia giggles.
LaGuardia: Haha you're telling me!
O'Halloran: Anyways, it looks like "she" was getting real passionate for somebody to show up.  Probably a gay lover or something.
LaGuardia: How'd you know her lover is gay?
O'Halloran touches her on the shoulder.
O'Halloran: Doll, what else would they be?  Two sausages, a couple of pairs of buns.  Sounds grade A gay to me.  But anyway, if you look at this picture (shows picture facing mirror) you will notice that.. . . . .wait a minute.
O'Halloran notices something in the picture.  Wait, how did we, did anybody.. . . .sh*t.
O'Halloran: Oh my.. . . . .this is juicy.

[Mechaman]

February 28th, 1988
Burlington, Vermont
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

As the choirs die down, the Cardinal signals for everyone to sit.  Looking over the crowd, he gives a small gasp while perusing the crowd.  He looks towards the front and sees the special guest, the tall fiery man with the hair.
Never wise to mix faith with politics, but it's for a good cause.
Cardinal Farrell takes the stage.  After decades in the faith he had few dark hairs, but he still had the passion, the fire.
Farrell: We all, as good Catholics should, remember to approach each day as it comes and as it goes.  Asking ourselves what the Lord, the Christ, expects out of us in each situation.  Now days we have found ourselves in a moral quandry as Catholics.  The Lord tells us to take care of the weak and the disadvantaged, and not to allow to rise a system of abuse.  Yet we live in a world where it is almost preached upon us to stay quiet and shut up.  We are told that our duties to the State is a bit more pressing than our loyalties to the directive of the maker.
An odd silence comes over the crowd.
Farrell: We should be, both as Roman Catholics and as residents of this great state of Vermont, a state which has had total suffrage and freedom for every man in it's great laws since time immemorial, ready to defend a strong cultural heritage that tells us to advocate for the freedom and liberty of every man.  Regardless of government coercion, force, or pressure.
Westman sat there with a grin on his face.
Oh this is amazing PR, amazing!  This will totally work into the Independent narrative!
Farrell: But of course I would be remiss if I acted as if those in power those in authority have lived up to that standard.
Audience gasps.
Farrell: You may shudder and all I will say is that yes, this is a political sermon!  And this is coming from the pulpit!  All too often we have been told that our duty as good Catholics and as good Americans is not to question our government.  Well, when our ancestors came to this land long ago, did they stay quiet when the "natives" try to impress upon them their innate "superiority"?  No we did not!  We rose, we rose up and let our voices be heard!  Let them know our protest, our anger!  We have a right to be upset, we have a right to be angry with the direction of this country!  And I am sick and tired, as a loyal citizen of this country and a loyal American Catholic, to see those in charge to continually wage a war on our rights to due process.  We are at a war with absolute evil, and those in charge only seem fit to surrender to such passions!
The Cardinal closes a book, and then looks directly at Westman.  And then he smiles bigly.
Farrell: But there are men out there, brothers and sisters, who do wish to liberate at us from such bondage!  Men and women who are ready to take on the good righteous cause, like those who voted down the fascist agenda of the Elites!  We owe these men and women our thanks and respects.  But we must always remember that we can only expect such men to succeed with the proper support.  SO I must urge each and every single one of you to back god fearing men who put their loyalties to a God given right to freedom and liberty over those of pragmatic statists who wish to pervert the foundations of power in this country!
Now with that said, let us discuss the values of sexual purity.
Clever bastard, aren't you?

[Mechaman]

November 9th, 1979
Office of Scott Westman
US Senate Building:

Scott Westman is having a drink while reading a particularly dirty novel.
Hey it's a slow day!  You try writing legislation all day!
Suddenly a knock on the door.  THe Senator quickly readies himself.
Westman: Come in!
The door opens as a man who looks to be in his late sixties or early seventies with obviously dyed hair (did he use shoe polish?) comes walking in.  He comes over to Westman and offers him his hand.
Westman: Scott Westman!  And you're?
In a pretty good timey English accent, the man speaks.
Desmond J. Brisco: Oh my bad!  Name's Brisco . . . . . Desmond Brisco!
The name sounded very familiar.  He thought he had heard it back home some time ago.  Probably one of those wealthy oilmen in the eastern part of the state.
Westman sits back down, leaning back.
Westman: Alright, so what can I do for you?
Brisco: Well this is very odd for me to say, Mr. Westman, I'm not used to speaking with the other party for favors.
Westman laughs.
Westman: Let me guess?  You resource extraction?
Brisco chuckles.
Brisco: You could say that.  I consider it to be a whole new game really.  I'm more into geothermal.
Westman: So you mean like, ground energy?
Brisco: Exactomundo.  Everybody else is looking all pie in the sky with these solar and wind energy projects.  I myself own several wind farms in this part of the country as well as some oil operations in Alaska and Wyoming.
Now he knew where he heard him from.
Westman: Oh yes!  You are that guy who owns half of Wyoming!
Brisco: Not quite.  But a pretty big portion you could say!  Anyway, I won't take too much of your time Senator-
Westman: No no no, don't be ridiculous!  Get a drink!  Settle in if you have to!
Brisco takes the Jameson from Westman's desk and pours it into an 6 oz glass.
Westman seems very intrigued.
Westman: You a whiskey man, Desmond?
Brisco: What?  Did you presume a man of means as myself would be drinking something different?  There are two things I like to have when I'm off work: the nice cool breeze of the Montana air. . . . and a nice fiery glass of some fine Irish Whiskey.
Westman pulls out a bottle of rum from below him before pouring it into a nearby glass.
Westman: I'm more of a rum guy myself.  Anyway, tell me a little bit about yourself, Mr. Brisco.
Brisco laughs.
Brisco: It's a very long and convoluted story.  I'm sure you would rather hear why I flew thousands of miles to speak with you.
Westman: No please, I insist!
Brisco: Well okay, I came over to the US when I was a spry young man to work in the then infant energy industry in 1932.
Wow, he is old.
Brisco: Leaving home wasn't easy, but some rough circumstances at home forced me over here.
WEstman: So, was your father a drunk asshole?
Brisco laughs.
Brisco: Not quite, my good sir.  My father died during the Great War, sadly.  Fighting in trenches wasn't a healthy career decision.  I hardly knew the old man.
Westman: Oh. . . . sorry.
Brisco: Anyways, me and a number of my associates in the late 30's started considering a form of alternative energy to the dangers of coal and oil.  An energy source that was both healthy to the human soul as well as efficient.  It was then that we found the energy source (stomps foot) right under our feet!
Westman: Sir, I don't meant to interrupt, but geothermal plants?  In Montana?
Brisco laughs.
Brisco: Oh right!  WE got a few small sites up, nothing real excessive at the moment.  Unfortunately, due to the crudity of drilling technology as well as the risks involved in resource extraction we haven't had as much opportunity at expansion as the folks in northern California did.  Our first advocate was Governor Ford, as you surely would know.  The Ford administration gave us enough funding for a few startups in the eastern part of the state.  However, once he was out of office we were suddenly at the mercy of Big Coal at the hands of McGuinness and his allies.  With pro-coal Democrats representing the state in the Senate and Congress, as well as domination of the Governor's mansion and the State Legislatures we haven't had a chance at a significant expansion of geothermal in the state.  Sure, we got our plants in western Oregon as well as our large scale oil operations in Alaska and Wyoming, however we cannot afford to rely on Big Oil much longer.  The societal and environmental costs are just too large.
Westman: Well sir, I am quite humbled by that admission.
Brisco stands up, looking out the window.
Brisco: Petroleum has always been a necessary evil.  Necessary, but still evil.  This land belongs to all of humanity, and the scourge of dirty fuels ruins the common land.  What I aim for is a source of energy that harnesses the very ground we stand on!  There is no other source of energy that is as clean, as efficient, and as plentiful!
Westman chuckles.
Westman: Yet capital costs for geothermal plants are much higher than most other forms of energy and have been linked with spikes in seismic activity.  Color me a skeptic, Des.
Brisco looks horribly disappointed.
Westman: There is certainly a much bigger opportunity to be made in Solar Energy.
Brisco looks dumbfounded.
Brisco: SOLAR!?  SOLAR!!!!?  No offense Senator, but you need to stop reading sci-fi and overly optimistic news reports.  Solar is in it's infant stages and won't be as near as efficient as a power supply as geothermal or nuclear until well into the middle of the next century!  Now, we certainly are too budget conscious to even attempt nuclear energy and Wind farms are godugly eyesores.  Bring yourself back to reality and realize that for your alternative energy agenda you have no better source available than that which comes from the ground.
Westman: I'll need more than wordy platitudes and blanket statements not backed up by statistics before I go whole hog on a funding bill for geothermal sources, if that is what you're asking.  Besides, with my track record you are only asking for an attempt at yet another energy bill that will likely fail.
Brisco chuckles.
Brisco: Senator, I hope you will find that my influence, and my money, goes much further than just the Idaho border.  I am a prominent Republican donor with billions of dollars at hand.  With just a word I can swing the western caucus behind you.
Westman: That's good and all, but what about. . . y'know Democrats?  You know how weak I'll look if I get minimum party support for this?  Or did you forget that I have a donkey registration?
Brisco: Understandable.
Westman: Baucus will use such an instance to nail my head against the Senate chamber doors.  He is a pro-coal hack all the way.  Butte already wants me dead for supporting axing their subsidies.  Imagine the target on my head if I not only come out with another alternative energy bill, but one that directly favors a Republican leaning energy sector over a Democratic one?  Hell, many Democrats throughout the nation are outright dirty energy hacks.  I'm sorry Mr. Brisco, but if this is what you intended on doing with your trip, it was wasted.
Brisco: Very well!  I must admit I enjoyed the trip over!  Hey, do you want to go to the bar?
Westman looked intrigued.
Westman: You're not trying to marry me, are you?
Brisco: No!  Dear lord no!  I just didn't get to tell you the rest of my story!  Surely you'd like to hear it!?
Westman, knowing that staying around longer would subject him to a pissed off call from a constituent or a fellow colleague, shrugged.
Westman: Aww what the hell?  The miss is out on a modeling tour anyway.  You got any family Desmond?
Brisco: Why yes!  I got a hot Swedish supermodel wife who makes me oysters for breakfast every morning!
Westman looks at him with disbelief as he holds open the door and turns off the lights.
Westman: Bullsh*t, man!
Brisco: Oh right that is bullsh*t.  She's an American girl.  Nothing like 'em in the world.
Fascinating.
Brisco: Here, I got a picture of her.
Westman sees an old photo of a slim young woman (probably in her early twenties at the time of the photo) in a bikini and jean shorts with a sun hat on holding a yellow daisy.  She had light brunette hair and a dark tan on what Westman presumed was pale white skin.
He licks his lips.
Westman: Um yummy Desmond!  Just my kind of gal!
Brisco: Whoa settle down cowboy!  She's older than that now!
Westman: Ugh, thanks for reminding me.  You got any kids, Desmond?  I got a daughter.  She's so cute I spend an ungodly fortune to make her look pretty.
Brisco: What'd you know!?  I got a daughter too!
Westman: Well that's cool!  You spend a lot of money on her?
Brisco: OH ho yes!  Those law degrees aren't cheap buster!  And what's worse?  I have to pay for that son of a bitch that she's married to now cos his parents are a couple of cheapskates!
A light goes off in Westman's head.
He looks back at the photo really closely.  And then he looks at Desmond's face, noting the glint of his eyes.
Westman: No.  F***in'.  Way.

[Mechaman]

Forty Minutes Later
Some Bar in DC:

Westman is seated in a booth opposite the elder Brisco, who is gazing greedily into a glass of whiskey and coke.
Westman decides to speak.
Westman: So. . . . . did Helen ever speak of-
Brisco: Yes, she did.  Honestly, I thought that given her personal connection to you it would help with my personal appeal more.  I guessed wrongly.
Westman: Sorry man, there are many Briscos in Montana.
Brisco: Yes, but did she not mention that I'm richer than cowsh*t?
Westman laughs.
Westman: Well, actually yes she did.  I just thought that there were a bunch of you rich f***s who lived in the state now.  I mean, how do you tell Rockefellers apart?
Brisco nods.
Brisco: Fair enough I guess.  She speaks highly of you, you know?
Westman felt a rush of relief.  So I guess that she has kept our few. . . . episodes to herself.
Westman: Oh really?  She doesn't talk about how I'm a drug addicted hippie or nothin?
Brisco: No, she just mentioned that you would be interested in advancing and alternative energy solution and that your views on the land issue match up with mine.
Westman looked intrigued.
Brisco: I know, I'm a Montana Republican.  How can I endorse such radical nonsense?  In my defense though, it isn't exactly like there are strict guidelines to how left and right wingers should identify in this country.  I mean hell, we have that George Norris guy in Nebraska-
Westman: Yeah, that guy died a long ass time ago.  I think it's a little more clear now days, Des.  Though I guess in this state, with the pro-mine fetish of the Democrats, you don't really need an argument for your partisan ID.
Brisco: I'm surprised you haven't heard of me, Westman.
Westman: Probably have.  But I know thousands of people and have read up on them.  It's hard to keep random mentions to the side.  Though I can say that this first meeting is better than I expected.
Brisco: Oh really?  How'd you expect the first meeting to go?
The answer was obvious, but Westman didn't want to speak aloud.  He had imagined that this man would have come to his office demanding that he stay the hell out of Helen and Daniel's marriage.  That's what any sane parent would do.
Westman: I don't know.  I guess Helen mentioned that she came from a rich Republican family and I made stereotypes and sh*-
Brisco:-you didn't expect a pro-leaguer, did you?
Westman laughs.
Brisco: You want to know why I'm a Republican?  Sam Ford is why.
Westman chuckled.
Westman: The last Republican Governor?  Ha!  Of course he would be.
Brisco: Sam was a fascinating man.  A true freedom fighter who put his state first over politics.  He put state infrastructure high on his priority list, while not straying too far away from the bedrock principles of fiscal responsibility.  Further, your party's record on Civil Rights is not the most promising.  Word has it that more than one northern Democrat was dragged kicking and screaming into voting for the CRA.  Meanwhile, the GOP, as bad as it's economics were becoming, voted unanimously for it.
OH great, not this sh*t again.
Westman: Well Desmond!  YOu really got me there!  Yes we hated black people!  But I suggest that before you get on your might high horse that you examine who ultimately supported the damned starvation masters more.  As well, I suggest that you take a good long hard look at your own civilizations history before throwing out the bigotry card.  Your people killed and slaughtered countless millions and have waged a parasitic war against all culture not their own that continues to this day.  Don't you lecture us because we hanged a few ns a hundred bleedin years ago.
Brisco: My good man, I am very regretful of the crimes that the British Empire has caused to many.  Let me just say that while many of my fellow Englishmen were going raw raw raw nationalism that I actively supported the Republican movement with all of my heart.  I've still got the scent of my beloved Niamh on my jackets and in my cigar pipe!  Don't you lecture me about bigotry!
Westman: Sure thing, just don't bring up the Civil Rights bullsh*t.  That is a cheap political ploy and you know it.
Brisco puts his hands up in surrender.
Brisco: Okay fine, whatever.  For what it's worth, you could be a lot worse.  You could be that son of a bitch that my daughter is married to!
Westman: Thank you!  I mean, what is so horrible about Daniel?  He seems like such a sweeeeeeell guy!
Brisco is grinning ear to ear.
Brisco: You are a very funny guy you know?  You know what, hell. . . . why don't you just f*** her already?
The air suddenly stopped.
Westman: What!?
Brisco: You heard me.  F*** my daughter Westman.  That trite bastard deserves it to happen to him.  And frankly, she probably wants it to happen to, the way she talks about you.
Westman couldn't believe the turn in this conversation.  It was like the Heavens were aligning to his favor tonight.
Westman starts roaring with laughter.
Westman: Man you got to be f***ing kidding me.  I mean seriously!
Brisco: That wanker's parents, the snob bastards they are, pressured the bleedin kids into something neither of them wanted.  Just so that bastard could get hold of me money!  She hardly mentions him nowadays over the phone.  But why should she?  He's like a tenth grader and an incompetent to boot!  He's just so weak and unmanly and devoid of all the pleasant qualities of a man.  I'm serious, get a redeye home tonight and just go into her like a rabbit in heat.
Westman puts down his glass.
Westman: Look mate, I sympathize with you.  I really do.  Daniel Weathers seems like a real useless c*nt.  He does.  However man, did I mention that I'm in a loving relationship right now?  I mean yeah, Cal is a very nice and sweet young woman who is very permissive of having multiple sex partners, but I love her man.  If I was with your daughter, it'd have to be real.  I'd have to give her everything.  I don't want to give her second hand offerings.  I want her to have the best.  I want her to have all of Scott Westman, not just some of him.
Brisco: You're a good man Scott Westman.  I'd prefer that you not mention any of this to the inlaws.
Westman: Oh those motherf***ers?  Hell no!  I can't stand them!
Brisco laughs.
Brisco: Oh so you met them?
Westman: Unfortunately yes.

Earlier that year
A political function:

Westman is sitting down at a table with a couple in their early fifties who are holding wine glasses.  The man, with salt and pepper hair and effeminate glasses, speaks up.
Chester A. Weathers: You know, the stock market has some real viable options as of late.  Say, have you thought about getting some new suits?
Westman: F*** off.
Virginia W. Weathers: What crude animalistic speech!  Have you thought about getting a haircut?
Westman: Have you thought about giving my gooch a nice licking?  Proctologists insist that it's quite stimulating.
Chester: Disgusting manners!  Unbelievable.  I don't know what she sees in you!  We're out of here!
The Weathers leave in a huff.
Westman lights a cigar as they leave and then slips his hand up the dress of his party guest.

Back to the present:

Westman: Yes I agree, they are wankers.  So, what is your advice on the race tracks in Billings?
Brisco: Fifty on Lightspeed and Twenty on Newfoot.
Westman puts his hand on his shoulder.
Westman: My man!