(1976) The R Document (4 page)

was quickly drowned out by the rising babble of voices in the room.

Collins came to his feet, ready to refill his drink. Karen had covered the top of her glass with her fingers, indicating she’d had enough champagne, so he left her and pushed between the other guests toward the makeshift bar on the Cabinet table. He saw that the President was in the company of his pollster, Steedman, as well as Tynan and McKnight, and he guessed that they were once more reviewing the pollster’s last-minute findings on the sentiment of the New York State Assembly.

When Collins returned to his chair, fresh Scotch in hand, and settled down, he could see that the television coverage had moved to a full shot of the New York Assembly.

‘What’s happening?’ he asked Karen.

‘Just about to begin,’ she said. ‘The floor debate is coming to an end. The last speaker is winding up his speech in favor of the Amendment.’

Collins downed a large portion of his Scotch and watched as the telecast now cut to a close shot of a dignified gentleman, identified as Assemblyman Lyman Smith, concluding his speech. Collins listened.

‘ … and while the United States Constitution as written by our forefathers is a noble instrument of law,’ the speaker was saying, ‘I once again tell you that it is not sacrosanct. It was not meant to be petrified by time. It was meant to be flexible - that is the reason provision was made for its amendment - sufficiently flexible, changeable to meet the needs of each new generation and the challenge of humanity’s progress. Remember this, my friends, this Constitution of ours was written by a group of largely youthful radicals, men who came to its signing in horse-drawn carriages, men who wore wigs, men who used quill pens. These men had never heard of ball-point pens, typewriters, electronic calculators. They never heard of television sets, jet airplanes, atomic bombs, or space satellites. And certainly, they never heard of the Saturday-night special. But they built into their Constitution the instrument for adjusting our Federal laws to whatever the future might bring. Now the future is here, the day for change is at hand, and the time

has come to modify our supreme law to suit the needs of our present citizenry. The old Bill of Rights, as set down by those founders in wigs, is too ambiguous, too general, too soft to meet the onrush of events conspiring to destroy the fabric of our society and the structure of our democracy. Only passage of the 35th Amendment can give our leaders a firmer hand. Only the 35th Amendment can save us. Please, dear friends and colleagues, vote for its ratification!’

As the speaker on the screen returned to his seat, the camera roved over the Assembly showing the thunderous applause.

In the Cabinet Room around Collins there was also hearty applause.

‘Bravo!’ the President exclaimed, setting down his Up-mann cigar and clapping. The President searched over his shoulder. ‘McKnight,’ he called out to his chief aide, ‘who’s that New York Assemblyman who just spoke? Somebody-or other Smith? Check him out. We could use a person in the White House who thinks that straight and is eloquent besides.’ His gaze went back to the screen. ‘Everybody, attention. The roll call is about to begin.’

It was already beginning, and Collins could hear the names of the Assemblymen, and their Yeas and Nays. From inside the room, he could hear Director Tynan predict that it was going to be a horse race. From behind him, he could hear Steedman’s clipped voice say it would take a while for the verdict since there were 150 members in the New York State Assembly.

Because it would take a while, because he was tired, Collins allowed his attention to drift from the screen. He fastened on Tynan, who was standing, his bulldog face flushed with anxiety, his eyes hooded, as he followed the voting. He looked over his shoulder at the President, whose countenance was granite, impassive, unmoving, as if he were posing for a carving on Mount Rushmore, as he concentrated on the screen.

Honest, dedicated men, Collins thought. No matter what others said on the outside - carpers like that Ishmael Young, or even doubters like Karen - these men were responsible human beings. At once, he felt comfortable in this circle of

power. He felt he belonged. It was a wonderful feeling. He wished he could thank the person who had put him there - Colonel Baxter, who was missing, who was lying in a coma on a hospital bed in Bethesda.

Collins had believed he owed everything to Colonel Baxter, but actually, examining it now, he saw that it was a series of accidents and mistakes that had elevated him to Attorney General. For one thing, he had been his late father’s son, and Colonel Baxter had been his father’s college roommate at Stanford and his father’s closest friend in their early, struggling years after graduation. Collins’ father, who had wanted to practice law, had turned to business instead and had become a wealthy electronic-parts manufacturer. Collins remembered the great pride his father had taken in his son, the lawyer. His father had always kept Colonel Baxter and other friends apprised of his son’s advancement and growing legal reputation.

Two distinct events, a few years apart, had further brought him to Colonel Baxter’s attention. One was his brief but well-publicized tenure as an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer in San Francisco. He had successfully defended the civil rights of a thoroughly fascist right-wing American organization, because he believed in free expression for all. It had been a matter of highest principle rather than principals. Colonel Baxter, a conservative, had been impressed for the wrong reasons. Shortly after, when serving as the new District Attorney in Oakland, Collins had gained national attention by successfully prosecuting three black killers who had committed particularly horrendous crimes. This had impressed Colonel Baxter even more, showing that he was no bleeding heart meting out more compassionate justice for blacks than for whites. What had never got into print was Collins’ true feelings: that these impoverished, ill-raised, illused blacks had been the real victims, the victims of society. The law, unfortunately, had no mitigating provision for the lucklessness of possessing the wrong genes.

Yes, it was the headline achievements that had impressed Colonel Baxter. The fact that Collins, in private practice in Los Angeles, had also successfully defended the rights and lives of several organizations of blacks and Chicanos, and

saved the necks of dozens of white dissenters had been regarded by Baxter as a youthful aberration or a sop to a rising young attorney’s conscience. Thus, backed by these credentials and his father’s old friendship, Collins had been summoned to Washington to become, eventually, Colonel Baxter’s Deputy Attorney General, and thus by chance, by a flaw in the Colonel’s arteries, he had become Attorney General of the United States and a part of this elite company.

The thoughts in his head seemed unnaturally loud, and then he realized this was because the Cabinet Room had become unnaturally hushed. He started to look around, when suddenly he saw the President leap from his chair, and heard a tremendous cheer go up in unison.

Bewildered, he looked at the screen, then at Karen, who was not cheering, and she whispered, ‘It just passed. The New York State Assembly ratified the 35th Amendment. Can you hear the announcer? He’s saying that means only one more state is needed to put the 35th over. They’ll be switching to Columbus after a station break and a brief sum-up by the network panel.’

Everyone was standing, jubilant, and Collins’ view of the screen was momentarily blocked by Steedman, who was addressing the President. ‘Congratulations, Mr President!’ the pollster was saying. ‘I will admit that was a definite upset, a surprise. Our percentages allowed for it, but there was no clear indication that it would happen the way it did.’

Director Tynan gripped Collins’ shoulder until he winced. ‘Great news, old boy, isn’t it? Great news!’

‘Vernon -‘ It was the President addressing Tynan.

‘Yes, Mr President?’

‘ - you know what did it? You know what swung New York to our side? It was that last speech delivered by that Assemblyman, that Smith fellow. That speech, it was perfect. It was just as if you had written it yourself.’

Director Tynan grinned broadly. ‘Maybe I did write it myself.’

All the others, listening, laughed knowingly, as if enjoying a shared secret. Collins laughed, too, because he didn’t quite understand and wanted to continue to belong.

A shrill voice interrupted. ‘Buffet dinner is ready!’ It was

Miss Ledger, the President’s personal secretary, directing the guests to the far end of the Cabinet table. ‘All prepared specially so you can put your plates on your laps. No knives, just forks. Better get your food before the Ohio vote starts.’

Collins took Karen’s arm, and they came to their feet. He could see the portion of the Cabinet table that had been converted to a hot buffet. He and Karen were almost the last in line, and before they could reach the food the others were rushing back to find their places. Apparently the Ohio vote was about to begin in living color.

Soon, his plate heaped with chicken linguine, cold poached salmon with cucumber sauce, mixed green salad, and fresh fruits - but devoid of bread - he was following Karen back to the semicircle of guests around the television set. He saw that President Wadsworth had taken his old seat, so he guided Karen to two empty chairs in the rear. He peered between the guests in front of him.

From the podium of the Ohio State House of Representatives, someone was reading the resolution. Collins gave up trying to see, and sat back to listen, as he consumed bites of the chicken linguine.

A voice from the television set was droning:

‘Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing for domestic security.

‘Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, two-thirds of each House concurring therein, that an amendment is hereby proposed to the Constitution of the United States which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by three-fourths of the legislatures of the several states. Said amendment shall be as follows:

‘The 1st to 10th Amendments to the Constitution shall be superseded in time of internal national emergency by the following new Amendment.

‘Section 1. Number 1. No right or liberty guaranteed by the Constitution shall be construed as license to endanger the national security. Number 2. In the event of clear and present danger, a Committee on National Safety, appointed by the President, shall meet in joint session with the National

Security Council. Number 3. Upon determination that national security is at issue, the Committee on National Safety shall declare a state of emergency and assume plenipotentiary power, supplanting Constitutional authority until the established danger has been brought under control and/ or eliminated. Number 4. The chairman of the Committee shall be the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Number 5. The proclamation shall exist only during such time as the emergency is declared to be in effect, and it shall be automatically terminated by formal declaration upon the emergency’s resolution.

‘Section 2. Number 1. During the suspensory period, the remainder of all rights and privileges guaranteed by the Constitution shall be held inviolable. Number 2. All Committee action shall be taken by unanimous vote.’

Collins had read about all this before, several times, but somehow hearing it aloud made it seem harsher, and he sat worried, picking at his food.

‘There’s the call of the House,’ he heard the President say. ‘They’re beginning the roll call. Well, this one’s a cinch. We’re in. The 35th is in the bag. Okay, here they go. The names of the ninety-nine legislators are being called off.’

Collins set down his plate, and was again fully attentive. He could see the close-ups of the various representatives on the Ohio State House floor pushing the buttons at their desks. He could see the votes being registered on one of the two huge boards at either end of the chamber. Ayes and Nays, about even, very close.

Except for the occasional interruption of the television newsman’s voice repeating the progressive tally, the Cabinet Room was silent. Minutes ticked away. The voting continued relentlessly to its finish. The big board reflected the votes. Aye. Nay. Nay. Nay. Aye. Nay. Aye. Nay. Nay.

The announcer’s voice broke in quickly over the voting. The Nays have just gone ahead. This is a surprise. Ratification seems to be slipping away. Despite the pundits and pollsters, an upset seems in the making.’

More minutes. More votes. As suddenly as it had begun, it was over. The 35th Amendment had been voted down, rejected, by the Ohio House of Representatives.

There were audible groans, and outcries of disappointment and disgust, from those in the Cabinet Room. Unaccountably, Collins felt his heart pounding fast. He cast a sidelong glance at Karen. She was composed as she tried to suppress a smile. Collins frowned and looked away.

Everyone was beginning to rise. Almost everyone appeared crestfallen. Puzzled, most of the guests gathered about the President.

Shrugging, the President looked to his pollster. ‘I thought it was in the bag, Ronald. What went wrong?’

‘We had projected a win by a comfortable margin,’ said Steedman. ‘But our last sampling of the House members was thirty-six hours ago. Who knows what variables were not taken into account or what may have happened among the members during the last thirty-six hours?’

The President’s aide, McKnight, was waving his arm. ‘Mr President, the announcer - he seems to have some kind of answer—’

The President and his guests, Collins included, turned back to the set. The network newsman did, indeed, seem to have some kind of explanation.

‘ … and this word has just come up to us here in our booth. We haven’t been able to confirm it yet, but several legislators indicated to our floor man that there had been an intensive lobbying campaign last night and throughout this morning here in the state capital - a blitz effort by Anthony Pierce - Tony Pierce, head of DBR, that national group known as Defenders of the Bill of Rights - who only a month ago started a campaign among legislators of the most recent states to vote on the Amendment and who has just had his most resounding success in Ohio. We’re told that at the eleventh hour, Pierce met with many fence-sitters, and even backers of the Amendment, and briefed them with documentation to show how the 35th Amendment would do irreparable damage to the country, and apparently he was successful in swaying a sufficient number to help vote down the Amendment, which, an hour ago, appeared unbeatable in Ohio. Tony Pierce, as most viewers will remember, is the onetime FBI agent who turned successful author, lawyer, and civil rights advocate. His record -‘