[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
. She had made a point ofspecifying  private citizens in case it ever became necessary to attack thepersonal activities of a fellow politician.Kat did not want to have theirmoral stand in this instance misunderstood as general disinterest in themorality of public officials.Page 44ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlAfter sending out the press release, Kat fielded calls literally from A to Z,from Blue Danube Radio in Austria to ZBC Television One in Zimbabwe.Therewere also interview requests from all the American network morning and eveningshows.Kat declined to make the senator available to everyone but CBS EveningNews and Night-line.That would give them several hours to find out more aboutwhat had happened to William Wilson and to formulate a response.She E-mailedthat information to the staff.Senator Orr sat in his sunny, wood-paneled office with Kendra and Kat anddecided that Kat s plan was a good one.The senator would stick to the day sschedule.Wilson had not been a friend to the American economy.The onlyreason the Englishman had been invited to the party was so that key Washingtonbankers could make his acquaintance and try to discourage him from hisEurocentric banking plans.It was a delicate thing, mourning a man whoseinvention had improved everyone s quality of life but whose politics wereaggressively anti-American. I am curious, though, about who he might have met at the party, the senatorhad said. Any ideas? I had the photographer send over his shots from last night, Kat said. He talked to a number of women, most of them married. Which could be why there are no clear video images of her from the hotelsecurity system, Kendra remarked. She didn t want to be identified, the senator said. Well, hopefully, itwill not be our concern after today. Which is why I ve instructed the photographer not to provide any of thosepictures to the press, Kat said. The fact that he was here shows that youwere trying to be a mediator.That s a good thing.Photographs of Wilson atthe party will create a different impression. In what way? Kendra asked. I call it the stink of Pulitzer prize, Kat replied. What s the first thingyou think of when I say  John F.Kennedy? The Bay of Pigs invasion? The CubanMissile Crisis? Marilyn Monroe? The Zapruder film, Kendra admitted. And what do we remember Dallas for? I get it, Kendra said, nodding. Death resonates, unnatural or otherwise, and pictures reinforce that, Katsaid. Pearl Harbor, the World Trade Center, the Challenger and Columbia theemotional power of the end of something overshadows whatever else it stoodfor.Images strengthen that impact. But there s something we want to strengthen, Kendra said. The differencebetween what Wilson stood for and what the senator and USF stand for.Wouldn tthis be a good opportunity to do that? It would be convenient, but not good, Kat said. There is a certain levelof tawdriness in how Wilson died.We want to stay clear of that, especially ifit turns out he was ca noodling with someone from the gala.Page 45ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Couldn t we use that to cheapen him and his ideas? Kendra asked. That would cheapen us, I think, Kat replied. Yes, I have to agree with Kat on that one, the senator said.Kendra nodded. Okay, she said. I was just asking.Kat did not always like Kendra s go-for-the-throat thinking, but at least thewoman did not take the rejection personally.She was here for Senator Orr andthe USF, not for herself. There is also the chance that late-night comics turn on Wilson and his loverin a day or two, Kat added. If that happens, we risk becoming part of thejoke right when we are holding our convention. Another good point, Orr said. So how do we exploit the media exposure we ll have tonight? Kendraasked. If the senator condemns Wilson, he ll appear heartless.If he praisesthe man, we lose credibility.If he goes into his stump speech, then we reobviously exploiting the media exposure.Could we move the announcement of apresidential run? Ouch, Kat said. Why? Kendra asked. That would keep Wilson alive, Kat said. Wilson s death and the senator scandidacy become a run-on sentence, inseparable. I see it as planting flowers in fertilizer, Kendra said. Somethingwonderful coming from shit.Kat frowned. Who cares if we are linked to Wilson? Kendra continued. I see that as agood thing.Wilson s ideas were very bad for America.The USF is good forAmerica. But we ll be linked to his death, not his ideas, Kat said. We ll be seenas vultures, opportunists. Just having the senator on one of those shows will be perceived that way,won t it? Kendra asked. Not necessarily.The senator will be seen as a diplomat.He can say thingslike,  Mr.Wilson and I had a different worldview, but his contribution totechnology was invaluable, or,  Mr.Wilson was embarked on a path Iopposed.His genius was in other areas. You start with the negative to makean impact, then sugarcoat it so you seem magnanimous. I am magnanimous, Orr teased.The women laughed.It was true.Orr was a politician.Typically, that was nota good fit with idealism or philanthropy.All a philanthropist had to do wasconvince himself that something was worthwhile and make it happen.An electedofficial had to convince others, and there was often a considerable gulfbetween conscience and compromise.A man like Franklin Roosevelt may have feltit was the right thing to free Europe from Hitler.But he needed Pearl HarborPage 46ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlto make that happen.John Kennedy may have thought it was a good idea to sendpeople to the moon, but he needed the threat of a Soviet space platform to getthe funding.Fortunately, the senator cared more about getting his messageacross than about winning the White House. I agree with Kat, Orr said. I don t want to dance too enthusiastically onthe man s grave.But I do like Kendra s idea of making some kind ofannouncement as soon as possible.Kat, what USF personnel are we looking attoday? Just two, Kat said. A military adviser and an economic guru. The military adviser is General Rodgers, the deputy director ofOp-Center? Orr asked. That s correct, Senator. He took our boys into North Korea, India, Russia, the Middle East to stopthings from blowing up, Orr said. That s good.It would make a goodcounterpoint to what Wilson stood for.Kat, would you give him a call and findout what he thought about the party, see if there s anything we ll need toshow him or tell him to make him more comfortable?Kat said she would do that at once.The media portion of the meeting was over, and Kat left the senator withKendra.She returned to her office, pausing only to make sure the otherstaffers did not discuss William Wilson with the media.Orr s personal staffof three men and four women were pretty sharp.Kat did not think they wouldhave done that.But the D.C.press corps was smart, too.They had back-doorways of asking questions. I m not at liberty to say could be written as so-and-so refused to comment, which suggested that there was something tohide.For Orr s staff, the correct response to all questions about Wilson was, Would you like to talk to Ms [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]