Smartystan

President Glenn Goshen sat at his desk with his chief political strategist, Hayden Beckman. He was brown skinned and tallish. Young. He looked like he had prepared for this role as the president’s right hand since grade school. He held two masters degrees, one in history the other in political science. He looked at his boss.

“We’re not immune to anything, sir,” he said gravely, almost ominously.

“I know that. I’m not going to do anything in this second term that would warrant such actions against me. I don’t want to be immune. I want to be held accountable for whatever.”

“That’s a noble statement, Mr. President,” Beckman related.

“I don’t know. I just want the realm of possibility to be left open for as many of our constituents. I don’t care about poll numbers. We just saw what the Smarties think. I appreciate them for recognizing my vision yet again. But I’m no king. I know that checks and balances don’t mean cashiers checks and account balances.”

“You won’t have to worry about that, sir,” Beckman reassured. We’re going to have to just sustain the same pace we ran before even your first election. Nothing’s changed.”

“I’ve changed.”

“How so?”

“I’m older. Flabbier. I need to focus on getting the programs I want implemented into practice. We’ve already reversed the fossil fuel initiatives that have starved the States. We’re letting the oil, natural gas, and coal get produced freely and openly. We’re even setting up nuclear facilities. Those bastards screaming about global warming have no clue the power of the fuels pulled from the Earth.”

“Indeed.”

“So, we’ve got to come up with something even more specific and energetic. We’ve got to make it provocative. Even sexy. The people of Sub-Saharan Africa would love to live in a fossil fuel rich region, but the heretics to the church of reason want to scream about the glaciers melting and it getting a little hotter around here. They are so full of it, I could spit.”

“Don’t get too worked up. It’s all about whether we can continue to push our initiatives and sustain a better world and lead by example.”

“We’re not on the campaign trail anymore, Hayden. You can stop the politcalese,” Goshen smirked.

“My apologies, sir.”

“You don’t have to apologize. You’re just being honest. That’s a lot more than my other staff. At least you push back after I say something.” Hayden looked down and smiled. Goshen continued. “I’m going to increase the number of certificates that will be contracts to private companies for drilling. I’m going to make sure we have all the necessary tools for displaying our ability to break free from this solar-wind nonsense.”

“That’s astute. With that, we’ll have greater positioning when it comes to midterm elections for the House and the Senate. The new-fangled government is just an improvement on the American system, even though we’re technically covered by US policy,” Beckman explained.

“Yes, that is the case. We, though, have rights that the other States don’t. This mini-utopia is all about advancing the cause of liberty. The US used to be all for that as we know, but….”

“But they strayed from it. We don’t have to do that. We can show ourselves to be part of the big picture.”

“Okay!” Goshen exclaimed, excited to hear what Beckman had to say.

“We remind the Smarties that their republic is theirs. We just set a precedent. In a land where regulations and controls have all but been eliminated, there is a chance for one experiment to be held as the control on this continent.”

“That’s right. That’s right.”

“So, we constantly say in speeches and the rhetoric of our statements in the press, that this is a sovereign nation. It was built on selfishness and grit. And it allows virtually anyone into its borders to enrich it and make it grow even more.”

Goshen started to think. He wondered whether he could continue down this path that Beckman took him. It remained to be seen whether his recent second win of the electorate actually proved that he could set up for the next president a vision similar to his. He wanted to know.

“And the future?” Goshen asked.

“The future, sir?”

“Yes, tomorrow and the middle of next week. What do we do about subsequent nominees for this office? How do we ensure we know what we do now will continue?”

Beckman sighed. “We really can’t. But what we can do is lay out the proper terms of this office and create a rigorous and robust system of governance that can be emulated for generations to come.”

Goshen looked at Beckman. It was a look like a father to the son, a proud dad looking at his only offspring that made a difference in his own life.

“I should say, with all the people who want to enter this country-state, we’ve certainly got our detractors.”

“Yes, but they mean nothing. We’re the ones who can show, not dictate, the way to explore happiness and peace because of the notions of reason and self-interest. People are obviously going to be here and want to be as selfless and irrational as ever. That’s their prerogative. But we don’t have to support or condone either action, or both. We can write out a new way of dealing with the issues of this place and still march on knowing we implemented certain conditions that would allow us to say, ‘hey, we’ve got this covered.’”

Again Goshen became awe-struck at the chief of political strategy. “I’ll say that you’ve got the might and the will. Hell, what’s stopping you from running next?”

Beckman looked bewildered. “No, Mr. President. I know my role. I know I’m supposed to be in compliance with you and to focus solely on making sure your second term runs smoothly.”

Goshen laughed. “Yes, well if you ever decide to get on the campaign trail as the frontrunner, I’ll be by your side no matter the circumstances.”

“Thank you, Mr. President.”