Booktree.ng_Forgotten-Witness

CHAPTER 20
Ambrose Patriota stood at the bank of microphones. Clustered
behind him were seven of his brethren waiting their turn to
address the escalating NSA scandal. There wasn’t much to say,
actually. Every government listened in on every other
government, their own people, and their own lawmakers. Like
business, government was only as successful as the leverage it
wielded against its competitors. In the grand scheme of things,
this was a tempest in a teapot fed by a malingering media who
preferred the ease of a perceived scandal to investigating a real
one. They were so easily pleased and played so Ambrose did
what he did best: he said what the public needed to hear.
“I am distressed by the administration’s lack of transparency
regarding the NSA. However, I am not surprised. We have
seen this time and time again. The administration says one
thing and does quite another. The president of Brazil has
cancelled her state visit in protest. The foreign relations
committee will make recommendations, but we cannot reverse
an administration-sanctioned program. We can only register
our protest and try to convince the president that his ways
must change.”
“Senator Patriota, if you’re elected what specifically would
you do differently?”
“Senator Patriota, can you address the ramifications for our
foreign policy?”
“Senator Patriota, congress has threatened to subpoena your
records, will that–”
Ambrose ignored all the questions and spoke to his purpose.
No one, after all, expected specifics.
“Confidence in the United States has eroded to a dangerous
point. The president says he is not to blame. The buck must
stop somewhere, and if not with him then with who? I intend
to work with the House in a cooperative manner, not only to
find out who has ordered this egregious over-stepping but how
high it goes.”