COVERT WRITERS TAKEDOWN - Joe Bergeron (different ereaders TXT) 📗

opportunity to control agendas, move
people to action, and cause enemies to commit errors.
He’d been briefed on Michael Courtney by two
close friends in Academia. From the first: ‘A thorough
mind, intuitive, capable of deep insight.’ The second,
more verbose, paraphrased the other: ‘This man can
cause things to happen through the written word. He’s
a Master of TAO XIA living by the fundamental truths.
He creates situations by using ultimate realities. He’s
one of a handful of humans who knows how to interpret
and use this set of Laws in practical applications. In
Western culture, we don’t fully comprehend people like
Courtney, but in the Orient, these people are highly
regarded as gifted.’
Speaking to himself, he repeated the words of
Andrew Jackson.
“One man with courage makes a majority.”
Walking across the Oval Office, he addressed a
question to the metaphysician across town.
“Do you have courage, Mister Courtney?”
Tuesday, May 23, 11;32 p.m.
She lay in his arms, head resting on his chest
while he caressed her back with her fingertips.
He’d given her all the logic, and all the
analysis. He knew she needed to hear one more
statement, something her father would have said in the
vernacular.
“Starting tomorrow Kay, we’re going to have to
kick some ass.”
201
Her response was silent, a thought to herself.
‘Starting tomorrow Michael, you’re going to
make some discoveries. I hope you do the right thing
with them.’
202
Part II
Action
Chapter 8
Fundamentals in Logic
Wednesday, May 24, 10:01 a.m.
From the podium, Pete Radler, Press Secretary
to the President of The United States pointed to the
Business Editor of THE HARTFORD COURANT, the
nations oldest daily.
He was one of thirty-eight Press personnel
allowed to attend this conference. He wasn’t a part of
Yankee Echo. The COURANT’s Editorial Editor was.
“Mister Winters?”
“Mister Radler, is our Secretary of Commerce
meeting with the President regularly, and has he
brought back any substantive contractual agreements
from his meetings with Vice President Belize?”
“I can tell you, Mister Winters, that, at this
moment, our Secretary of Commerce is meeting with
the President. I can also tell you that he’s returned
from Cuba with an option package that won’t be as
substantive as our American corporations would like at
this time, but it’s a package that the President believes
will finally open the economic doors of Cuba to
American interests. I’m sure you’re well aware that the
entire economic initiative supported by the President
needs approval by both the Congress and the Senate,
and that the appropriate Committee Chairman will
receive Mister Belize’s option package this week. I’m
sure you’re also aware of the fact that the United States
isn’t the only country interested in the new Cuban
democracy. Mister Belize is a very intelligent man, as is
Mister Santiago. They have interests to protect, and
I’m sure they are reviewing all the avenues available to
them in their pursuit of these interests.” 203
Press kits had been distributed following the Commerce
Secretary’s meetings on the island nation. Their
contents, all the same, were standard fare. Availability
of capital, interest rates, leveraged investments,
research reports on productivity, mineral rights,
shipping, distribution.
It was all a smoke screen, a clever
manipulation of words and figures to buy time.
Tollman needed ninety days. He had an amalgamation
of material that would take sixty to pigeon-hole in
committee, and another one hundred to receive action
from the political process. These same ideas, because
they’d been played out in the Press, and were now part
of the political consciousness, would receive intense
scrutiny and inspection by both the Congress and the
U.S. Senate.
Pete Radler fielded four more questions. In
capsulation they were, ‘how long’ - ‘how much’ - ‘when’ -
and ‘who’. He concluded by giving the attending Press
corps a set of stock answers, that, although were
contrived, we’re predetermined.
Editors and reporters hurried to the phones,
computer keyboards were punched, type was set,
galleys were laid out in newspaper composing rooms,
wire services were notified, presses were stopped and
restarted, and America had its dinner tables stories
that said little, mean even less, but filled space.
Wednesday, May 24, 9:54 a.m.
He dialed the Director’s private line
“Scott Orefice.”
“Scotty, I’m opening this line before he comes in
here. Stay on the other end. It’s on the speaker system
one way.”
“Yes, Sir. Have you been briefed on the
morning papers yet?’
204
“No, Pete Radler’s not coming in until I’m done
with our Secretary of Commerce. Why?”
“Because my people have shown me over thirty
morning editions from around the country - all very
positive stories regarding the Cuban Plan. Wirtham’s
told David Eisenberg more will come out as evening
editions.”
“What’s going on?”
“Wirtham said Courtney wanted to give the
plan a boost before he was forced to write the negative
articles. He’s eliminated a lot of newspapers based on
high circulations and demographic data hoping the
breachers won’t see the stories because he figures
they’re in a large metro area.”
“Scotty, this is going to put a lot of pressure on
me to be more assertive with my program, and I can’t,
not yet.”
“I understand, Sir. I’ve thought about that and
I’ve called Wirtham myself. I told him I’m going to send
someone to make contact with Courtney. He can’t slow
him down without revealing the size and scope of the
organization. Maybe we can. We need to direct him
away from Yankee Echo to focus on rescuing Pat
McKenzie.”
“How do we do that?”
“JGM’s Director of Internal Security is a man
named Andrew St. Croix. He’s a graduate of Annapolis
and a former member of a Navy Zero team. He served
two years as a Metaphysical Logistician for Naval
Systems and Naval Intelligence operations in Vietnam.
St. Croix has a lot of high-ranking connections in the
Navy. Wirtham says Courtney will use him to help as
soon as he identifies Pat McKenzie’s location.”
“Can they do it without your help?”
“Let me say this, Sir. I would create
Special Ops positions for either Courtney or St. Croix,
and I’d hire them tomorrow if I could. Yes, they can do
it.”
205
“If you think he needs to be contacted, do so,
Scotty. In the meantime, stay on the line while I visit
with George Tollman. There’s some kind of system in
this phone that I can turn on - in fact, I think McKenzie
industries made it - you’ll hear everything.”
Orefice knew the system - ‘anti-static’ - there
wasn’t one on his phone. He wouldn’t allow it.
“Yes, Sir.”
Wednesday, May 24, 10:00 a.m.
Very few people get to sit alone with The
President of The United States. Agendas are too broad
- situations too complex for one-on-one meetings.
This meeting was different. It was solitary by
design. In George Tollman’s mind, the fact that such an
important political issue be discussed privately with the
President, was interpreted as an indication of trust and
confidence.
The meeting lasted one hour and five minutes.
Most of what was discussed was spoken by the
Secretary. He not only thought he needed to convince
the President that he was right about immediate
involvement, but also thought he should reassure
Benson that any American investment at this time
would prove to be politically disadvantageous later on,
especially with the unions.
Benson listened patiently, as did an unseen
CIA Director, to a report on figures representing drops
in the index measuring U.S. consumer confidence. In
addition, Tollman produced reports clearly indicating
fewer orders for plants and equipment, certainly an
unequivocal argument that if American corporations
were not investing themselves on their own soil, they
should not do so on Cuban soil
Tollman cited faster vendor deliveries, which
indicated declining demand, once again supporting his
data on consumer confidence.
206
His series of evidence was well documented
with Commerce Department research data, white
papers, and economic reports.
He’d been logical, analytical, and empirical.
In any other set of ears, he might have made
convincing arguments. He would, in fact, deliver the
same message to Congressional and U.S. Senate
committee chairmen in his own offices on the following
day.
The President understood everything he heard,
but logic doesn’t always find its place in either business
or political decisions. He did, however, need to feign an
argument.
“George, your assertions are thorough and
complete, but I still question your conclusions. There’s
enough capital in U.S. industry right now to at least
begin the process of investment in Cuba. If we don’t do
it, the Germans and the Japanese will. I know you’re
telling me about our own economic situation, and I
know that politically it could be risky, but damn it, the
opportunities down there are far greater than the
risks.”
He sat back in his Oval Office chair.
“I’m going to continue to support and defend
my program, but I’m also going to take your advice for
the time being. I want you to see Pete Radler and go
over all of this with him. Tell him I want to low-key
this whole thing for at least ninety days. If the
economic indicators don’t show any appreciable gains in
the next three months, I’ll consider other options.”
He’d done it - he bought it.
“Thank you Mister President - I’ll see Pete
Radler as soon as possible.”
The President rose, signifying the meeting’s
termination.
The emotion of their parting handshake was
conventional.
Tollman left.
207
“Scotty?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“What do you think?”
“I think he believes he sold you.”
“So do I. We’re going let him keep believing
that. You know what you have to do.”
“Yes, Sir - I’ll be in touch Mister President.”
Wednesday, May 24, 10:28 a.m.
Law Fifteen
His left hand on a sheet of JGM letterhead, he
took the pen in his right.
The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mister President,
This letter will find you by special envoy. He
will be unaware of its contents. I am approaching you
through this channel to make a presentation of both
scale and urgency.
It is imperative I speak privately with you
regarding your plan to establish a United States
economic base in the new Democratic State of Cuba.
Presently, there is a highly-structured organization at
work which could destroy this initiative through the
power of the Press.
I know this may seem incredulous to you, but it
is, however, true. I would hope my ability to access you
establishes my credibility, and demonstrates the gravity
of this request.
May I meet with you soon?
Sincerely,
Michael J. Courtney 208
Letter in hand, he walked to the bedroom
where Kay had been studying photocopies of several
newspaper stories written long ago about horrible death
in the jungle.
“Kay?”
Her head lifted.
“Tell me what you think about this letter.”
She accepted the sheet of paper.
“It’s going to get a reaction, but I’m not sure
what kind.”
“I’m about out of ideas, Kay. We need a break
in this thing.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, eyes straight, his
mind searching for answers to questions he knew he
hadn’t yet asked himself.
He knew every problem had an answer, every
riddle a solution, and that every search for truth
required time.
Time had now become a pivotal component of
his inquiry.
Wednesday, May 24, 12:05 p.m.
In the 1960’s, Marshall McLuhan, Professor,
and Director of the Center for Culture and Technology
at The University of Toronto, developed a philosophical
theory in which he integrated the components of
deductive logic and inductive reasoning with electronic
communication systems.
He inferred that the acceptance of data was
made more relevant and more credible through the
medium used in its delivery. McLuhan said that if we
accept a proposition because we believe the premises, or
basic assumptions that created it, then we would be
inclined to be influenced by the proposition in direct
proportion to