This 44-part series began running in WCT Nov. 8. Readers can read all the installments to date at www.windycitymediagroup.com
From the journal of John 'Jack' Quincy Adams, Chief Secret Service Special Agent in Charge, The White House. Code Name: One.
Part 27. Christmas
Jack Adams, the Secret Service agent charged with assassinating President George W. Bush and being held for psychiatric evaluation, is telling about Christmas dinner with his family after the death of the Vice President.
The Vice President's death opened an extraordinary window of opportunity. If the president were to die while there was no vice president sworn into office, the next person in the line of presidential succession was the Speaker of the House. Since the Democrats won back the majority of seats in the House during midterms, they were about to elect a Democratic Speaker when they reconvened in January, and no one was challenging Nancy Pelosi's right to the title. I wasn't a Democrat and I wasn't working a political agenda. Rather than trying to make something happen, I was trying to keep something from happening, so I didn't care much who took over in that chair. So long as he wasn't supporting the Marriage Protection Act.
Could I do such a thing? Would I do such a thing? Why was I even considering it? I had four reasons: Abigail, Quincy, Jean-Paul and JJ, Abbie's kid. Five if I counted Jackson. But at the end of each day I pretty much decided that it was something I could never bring myself to do.
We all convened at Abbie's for Christmas as usual.
Television stations were running spots promoting the constitutional amendment. Jackson and I were watching a children's Christmas special with the kids while Vera, Abbie and Quincy were putting the finishing touches on dinner.
During a commercial break an MPA promo came on. First it showed several families walking into a Church on Sunday with the minister greeting them on the steps. Then it showed two men and a little boy walking past the church and continuing down the street, all of them holding hands. The voice-over said, 'This is the family they want to make the law of the land. And this is where they worship.' The film then showed the two men holding a glass door open and ushering the little boy inside before they, too, entered. As the door closed the camera panned back to reveal a blinking neon sign above the door. It read 'Adult Book Store.'
Jackson and I looked at one another and Jackson jumped out of his chair and ran into the kitchen just as Quincy was coming out with the last of the serving dishes.
'You won't believe what your father and I just saw on TV. I mean you literally won't believe it!'
Jackson proceeded to give a word-by-word, image-by-image description of the spot as we all took our places around the table.
'Where are the Democrats is what I want to know?' Abbie asked, leaning over to JP, who was now in the highchair next to her.
'They're keeping out of it, or so it would appear,' said Jackson. 'I think they don't want to be seen as soft on this issue, which is how these guys are portraying anyone who opposes the MPA.'
'Where are the polls these days?' Quincy asked the table at large. 'Do they have the support they need to pass it?'
'It's different in every state,' Jackson said.
'What about New York? I thought the polls at home were in our favor.'
'Last I read it was a dead heat,' Abbie said. Jackson nodded
'Pennsylvania is supporting it, but barely,' said Vera. 'Residue from the Rick Santorum years, I suspect. Thank God Casey put him out to pasture in the midterms. What I don't get is why there aren't more single-parent groups running ads.' I couldn't remember Vera being quite this progressive in her political attitudes when we were married, although she was always challenging my viewpoints.
'Where's Planned Parenthood? Where are the liberal churches? Where's Nancy Pelosi?' This was Quincy.
Just as he said that, we heard Pelosi's voice coming from the television we had forgotten to turn off.
'Fellow Americans,' she began. By now all the adults were scrambling to the archway between the dining room and the living room. 'There is a campaign afoot across our great land to legally oppress millions of our fellow citizens, including millions of little children and infants. A campaign that is so vicious, so wrong-headed and so well-funded I can hardly believe it is happening in America. This campaign, calling itself the Marriage Protection Act does anything but protect people. It means to deprive millions of adopted, fostered, and abandoned children the chance to have loving, caring, devoted parents.'
By now we were all standing in front of the television.
