reinstate the budget cuts. But he had a politician's sense that there was another reason he was here.
'Everything we say here now is off the record,' the president said.
'Well, we did a sketchy profile of the killing scenarios,' Hood said.
'There is a very sketchy fit with Admiral Kenneth Link. Darrell is talking to him now.'
'An ambush interview?' Debenport asked.
'More or less,' Hood said. 'We may not have a lot of time on this, and Darrell did not want to be stonewalled.'
'Good thinking,' the president said.
That made two compliments back to back. Hood was convinced that the president wanted something.
'Going to talk to Link is a very encouraging development,' Debenport said. 'Is there any suggestion that Senator Orr might have been involved?'
'Senator, we're not sure whether there was anything for Donald Orr to be involved with.'
'You probably need to find that out,' Debenport replied.
That was unexpected. It was also a potential violation of district privacy statutes. 'If it becomes necessary, and if Op-Center has the manpower to spare, we will,' Hood told him.
'That's just the point,' Debenport said. 'It is necessary to expand the investigation.'
'On what grounds?' Hood asked. He did not like where this was headed.
'Do you have additional information?'
'Not as such,' Debenport replied.
'Then I'm confused.'
Debenport paced for a moment before continuing. 'Don Orr announced this morning that he will be running for president on the United States First Party ticket. Did you hear any of the senator's speech?'
'No,' Hood answered.
'Don Orr intends to promote an extreme form of isolationism,' Debenport went on. 'It may sound appealing to voters, but it will be terribly destructive.'
'The United States cannot disentangle itself from the global economy and international resources,' the president said. 'Even if we wanted to replace oil with nuclear or solar power and make all our computer and automobile components stateside, the tooling up period would take years.'
'It would also be extremely expensive,' Debenport added. 'Union workers and factories are not inexpensive.'
'All right,' Hood said. 'Senator Orr is misguided. I'm still not clear what justification Op-Center has to involve him.'
'Paul, the senator is not only misguided, he is dangerous,' Debenport said. 'Voters, God bless them, tend to respond positively to protectionist ideas, however unworkable they are.'
'That's their prerogative, God bless 'em,' Hood pointed out. 'Using a legitimate investigation to fling mud is also dangerous.'
'Well, there you get into the question of rights versus responsibility,' Debenport replied. 'Consider the judge who overrules a jury that has been manipulated by a skilled attorney. A skilled politician can do the same thing. He can sell a catastrophic agenda.
We need to take dramatic steps to undermine a seditious platform.'
'What's wrong with debates?'
'You were in politics,' Debenport said. 'It's very difficult to fight someone who is selling feel-good tonics in a red-white-and-blue package. It usurps patriotism and unplugs the brain by appealing to the soul.'
