Chapter 45
Making the rounds of the Sunday morning talk shows was never pleasant, and this morning it was downright annoying. For one thing, the host usually selected congressmen or senators wholly intent on making complete asses of themselves. This was especially true of the guest on Vice President Gordon’s left on this last of his scheduled appearances. Senator Wilkins from Wisconsin not only strove to be an ass, he was wildly successful at it.
Charles Paul, the host of Sunday This Week, knew that the end of his hour was approaching, and since he had Senator Wilkins on a roll, he tossed out more raw meat.
“So, Senator, you are saying that even though the bulk of the scientific community around the world has embraced the environmental benefits of cold fusion technology, it is not as green as it seems?”
“Not only is it not environmentally friendly, this technology threatens all the gains made by the environmental movement this last thirty years.”
“How so?”
“Look, just producing energy cleanly doesn’t clean up the environment. Energy is the fuel of consumption, and rampant consumption is what drives the train of environmental destruction. This promise of clean, cheap energy is the siren sitting on a rocky shoal, calling us all toward an ecological shipwreck. It says, produce more. Consume more. No need to fret or worry about conservation.
“And all that stuff we are consuming is made from plastics derived from petroleum, or steel, which requires coal, or through the use of harmful chemicals. And that is without even mentioning the rape of the Earth's resources.”
Charles Paul turned to the vice president. “Mr. Vice President, your response?”
Vice President Gordon smiled. “I think that the worthy senator’s words speak volumes about his party’s true agenda. When he says consumption is the root of all evil, he means capitalism is the root of all evil. He and his allies would have us adopt a model of European socialism. Beyond that, they want the government to be able to tell the American people what kind of cars they can buy, how many of each item they can consume.
“And by his argument, if consumption is ‘bad,’ that must mean lack of consumption is good. But if nobody consumes, nobody buys. If nobody buys, nobody makes. If nobody makes, nobody works. His party’s policies, if followed to their ultimate conclusion, would have everyone walking or riding an animal to work, but only if that work produced things that nobody could consume and that were not made of anything.”
“That is ridiculous!” Senator Wilkins fumed.
“For once, Senator, I agree with you.”
“The fact that you and the president are in the hip pockets of the big multinational corporations makes everything coming from your mouth a product, bought and paid for by the richest of the rich.”
“Senator, I believe last year you were claiming that the president and I were both owned by big oil. Isn’t it odd that we are embracing a technology that will take the world off of fossil fuels?”
“You are merely helping those same corporations shift to new technologies.”
“And that is bad, how?”
Charles Paul interrupted. “Gentlemen, I am afraid we are out of time. I want to thank you both for coming here to discuss this important topic. To my audience, I say, have a good Sunday, and I will see you next week.”
The vice president reached across the table and shook the host’s and then the senator’s hand, enjoying the fake smile on the latter’s face. Then, accompanied by his secret service team, Vice President Gordon exited the building, got in the backseat of his limousine, and leaned back for the ride to the West Wing of the White House.
Another Sunday and another set of guest appearances down. The truth of the matter was that he and the president had a winning hand on the topic of cold fusion, and they intended to press that advantage home. True, it was not regarded by everyone as a beneficial thing. Even groups within the Republican Party were suspicious that it came from Rho Project alien technology.
Several Christian religious groups had come out in opposition equivalent to the fatwas being issued by radical Islamist groups. However, their loss of support was more than compensated for by the large numbers of Democrats and Independents that had come on board in support of the policy. Considering the rate of worldwide adoption of cold fusion technology, there would be no putting that genie back in the bottle.
The Middle East was a problem, but even that could be dealt with. OPEC was in disarray, several of the member states calling for an all-out ban on oil exports, but those voices could not overcome the group’s addiction to cash flow. Fact was, even though new cold fusion power plants were coming on line around the world at record pace, it would be several years before a portable power unit usable in automobiles was in mass production and affordable.
In the meantime, the second technology from the Rho Project was secretly getting ready to move to human testing next month. Vice President Gordon had no doubt about the outcome of that testing. He just needed to be a little patient. Let the world get accustomed to how great the first alien technology was before introducing the next.
Gordon clasped his hands behind his head as he looked out the window. He never tired of the sight of the White House from the backseat of the vice presidential limousine. Of course, it was only a matter of time before the “vice” came off the name.
Vice President Gordon smiled. He could afford to be patient.