Greenwell said casually, 'I happen to have some information that the President's chief of staff, that man Dazzy, has a somewhat messy personal life. His wife and he quarrel and he sees a young girl.'
Oh shit, Mutford thought, I have to get them off this. Jeralyn Albanese had told him all about Christian Klee's threat.
'That's too minor,' he said. 'What do we gain even if we force Dazzy out?
The public will never turn against the President for a staff member screwing a young girl, not unless it's rape or harassment.'
Audick said, 'So we approach the girl and give her a million bucks and have her yell rape.'
Mutford said, 'Yeah, but she has to holler rape for three years of screwing and having her bills paid. It won't wash.'
It was George Greenwell who made the most valuable contribution. 'We should concentrate on the atom bomb explosion in New York. I think Congressman Jintz and Senator Lambertino should create investigating committees in the
House and in the Senate, subpoena all the government officials. Even if they come up with nothing concrete, there will be enough coincidences so that the news media can have a field day. That's where you have to use all your influence,' he said to Salentine. 'That is our best hope. And now I suggest we all get to work.' Then he said to Mutford, 'Set up your campaign committees. I guarantee you'll get my hundred million. It is a very prudent investment.'
When the meeting broke up, it was only Bert Audick who considered more radical measures.
Right after the meeting Lawrence Salentine was summoned by President Francis Kennedy. When Salentine appeared in the Oval Office, he saw that Attorney General Christian Klee was also present, which made him even more wary.
There were no civilities; this was not the charming Kennedy but, Salentine felt, a man seeking some sort of vengeance.
Kennedy said, 'Mr. Salentine, I don't want to mince words. I want to be absolutely frank. My Attorney General, Mr. Klee, and I have discussed filing RICO criminal charges against your TV network and the other networks. He has persuaded me that it may be too harsh a punishment.
Specifically you and the other media giants were in a conspiracy to remove me from the presidency. You supported Congress in their impeachment of me.'
Salentine said, 'It was in our function as a media company to report on a political development.'
Klee said coldly, 'Cut the bullshit, Lawrence, you guys ganged up on us.'
Kennedy said, 'That's past history. Let's go on. You media companies have been having a picnic for years, decades. I am not going to allow a corporate umbrella to dominate the communications media of this country.
Ownership of TV stations will be limited to TV. They cannot own book companies. They cannot own magazines. They cannot own newspapers. They cannot own movie studios. They cannot own cable companies. That is too much power. You run too much advertising. That is going to be limited. I want you to take that message back to your friends. During the impeachment process you unlawfully barred the President of the United States from the airwaves. That will never happen again.'
Salentine told the President that he didn't believe Congress would allow him to do what he planned. Kennedy grinned at him, and said, 'Not this Congress, but we have an election in November. And I'm going to run for reelection. And I'm going to campaign for people in Congress who will support my views.'
Lawrence Salentine went back to his fellow TV station owners and gave them the bad news. 'We have two courses of action,' he said. 'We can start helping the President out by supporting him when we cover his actions and his policies. Or we can remain free and independent and oppose him when we feel it necessary.' He paused for a moment and said,
'This may be a very perilous time for us. Not just loss of revenue, not just regulatory restrictions, but if Kennedy goes far enough it may even be our losing our licenses.'
This was too much. It was inconceivable that the network licenses could be lost. It would be like the homesteaders in early frontier days seeing their land go back to the government. The granting of TV station licenses, the free access to the airwaves had always belonged to people like Salentine. It seemed to them now a natural right. And so the owners made the decision that they would not truckle to the President of the United States, that they would remain free and independent. And that they would expose Kennedy as the dangerous menace to American democratic capitalism that he surely was. Salentine would relay this decision to the important members of the Socrates Club.
Salentine brooded for days on how to mount a TV campaign against the
President on his TV network without making it seem too obvious. After all, the American public believed in fair play; they would resent a blatant hatchet job. The American public believed in the due process of law though they were the most criminal populace in the world.
He moved carefully. First step, he had to enlist Cassandra Chutt, who had the highest-rated national news program. Of course, he couldn't be too direct; anchor people jealously guarded against overt interference. But they had not achieved their eminence without playing ball with top management. And Cassandra Chutt knew how to play ball.
Salentine had nurtured her career over the last twenty years. He had known her when she was on the early-morning programs and then when she had switched to evening news. She had always been shameless in her pursuit of advancement. She had been known to collar a Secretary of State and burst into tears, shouting that if he did not give a two-minute interview she would lose her job. She had cajoled and flattered and blackmailed the celebrated into appearing on her prime-time interview program and then savaged them with personal and vulgar questions. Salentine thought Cassandra Chutt the rudest person he had ever known in the broadcasting business.
Salentine invited her to dinner in his apartment. He enjoyed the company of rude people.
When Cassandra arrived the next evening, Salentine was editing a videotape.
He brought her to his workroom, which had the latest equipment in videos and TV and monitoring and cutting machines, all accompanied by small computers.
Cassandra sat on a stool and said, 'Oh shit, Lawrence, do I have to watch you make your cut of Gone with the Wind again?' By way of answer he brought her a drink from the small bar in a corner of the room.
Salentine had a hobby. He would take a videotape of a movie (he had a collection of what he thought were the one hundred best movies ever made) and recut it to make it better. Even in his most favorite movies there would be a scene or dialogue that he thought not well done or unnecessary, and he would remove it with editing machines. Now arrayed in the bookcase of his living room were one hundred videotapes of the best motion pictures, somewhat shorter, but perfect. There were even some movies that had their unsatisfactory endings chopped off.
While he and Cassandra Chutt ate the dinner served by a butler, they talked about her future programs. This always put Cassandra Chutt in a good mood.
She told Salentine of her plans to visit the heads of the Arab states and bring them together on one program, with the president of Israel. Then a program with three European prime ministers chatting with her. And then she was exuberant about going to Japan to interview the Emperor. Salentine listened patiently. Cassandra Chutt had delusions of grandeur but every once in a while she came up with a stunning coup.
Finally he interrupted her and said jokingly, 'Why don't you get President Kennedy on your program?'
Cassandra Chutt lost her good humor. 'He'll never give me a break after what we did to him.'
'It didn't turn out so well,' Salentine said. 'But if you can't get Kennedy, then why not go to the other side of the fence? Why not get Congressman Jintz and Senator Lambertino to give their side of the story?'
Cassandra Chutt was smiling at him. 'You sneaky bastard,' she said. 'They lost. They are losers and Kennedy is going to slaughter them in the elections. Why should I have losers on my program. Who the hell wants to watch losers on TVT'
Salentine said, 'Jintz tells me they have very important information on the atom bomb explosion, that maybe the administration dragged its heels. That they didn't utilize properly the nuclear search teams, which might have located the bomb before it exploded. And they will say that on your program. You'll make headlines all over the world.'
Cassandra Chutt was stunned. Then she started to laugh. 'Oh, Christ,' she said. 'This is terrible, but right
