The Last Thing He Wanted

Some real things have happened lately.

First, I wanted to know who.

Who chose money over life?

Steel and lead over blood and spirit?

Who was it overlooked...

the living?

Who let distance and basic difference

decide whose man was left behind bleeding out,

and whose men medevac'd to safety?

Who the war pig?

Who the profiteer?

Who the cold heart?

The vapid soul?

And second...

Second, I wanted to know why.

For a while, we thought time was money.

Find the time, the money comes with it.

Moving fast.

Get the big suite, the multi-line telephones.

Get room service on one, get valet on two, premium service,

out by nine, back by one.

Download all data.

Uplink Prague, get some conference calls going.

Sell AlliedSignal, buy Cyprus Minerals, work the management plays.

Plug into the news cycle,

get the wires raw,

nod out on the noise.

Somewhere in the nod, we were dropping cargo.

Somewhere in the nod, we were losing infrastructure,

losing redundant systems,

losing specific gravity.

Weightlessness seemed, at the time, the safer mode.

Weightlessness seemed, at the time,

the mode in which we could beat both the clock and the affect itself.

But...

I see now that it was not.

I see now that the clock was ticking.

I see now that we were experiencing not weightlessness,

but what is interestingly described

on page 1513 of the Merck Manual, 15th edition,

as a sustained reactive depression,

a bereavement reaction...

to the leaving of familiar environments.

I see now...

that the environment we were leaving...

was that of feeling rich.

I did not see it then.

This should have alerted us.

Should have been processed.

There were hints all along,

clues we should have registered, processed,

sifted for their application to the general condition.

But we were moving fast.

We were traveling light.

We were younger.

I was younger.

Well, I'd hate to speak about that, but of course, uh,

we'll look into it. Um...

But the actions that we have been forced to take in that area,

obviously, have been justified.

Japanese government vis-à-vis trade is complicated,

but the simple answer is,

we're hoping that with the shift from a distinctly liberal apparatus

to a conservative one,

Japan will shift away from its nationalistic tendencies...

- Hi. - ...to a system more in tune

with free trade to North America.

Not just us,

but Canada included.

- What did I miss? - One more question.

So far, nothing.

Why am I not surprised?

Apparently, spring is a great time

to talk to Japan face-to-face.

- Oh. - Cherry blossoms, temples at Mount Fuji.

I believe it's called international diplomacy.

...my sense is that that is the direction we're headed.

I believe we have time for one more question.

Okay, The Atlantic Post.

Yes, thank you. Elena McMahon. Uh...

Mr. Secretary, with regards to the Pacific Rim,

where, as you put it, "We've lost so much ground,"

how might you address reports

the CIA is laying underwater mines in Nicaraguan ports?

Does Washington have any control over mining operations in Nicaragua?

I don't have any comment to make.

No? Care to comment on what the purpose of the harbor mining is?

Doesn't turning a blind eye

to the blocking of major shipping channels seem counterintuitive

for an administration interested in improving trade?

You'd have to ask the Contras about that.

Uh, sir, with all due respect,

the President has said on television, and I quote,

"I, too, am a Contra."

Look, uh...

It looks like their purpose may indeed be

to somehow interrupt the commerce of the country.

And is this at the bequest of Washington?

Again, there's no answer I can provide there.

Ladies and gentlemen, we need to be mindful of our time.

So, Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for being here today.

Thank you so much for your time spent during lunch.

Uh, from the Press Club, we'd like to thank everybody for your questions.

Shultzy and the rope-a-dope.

Saved by the bell, I think.

Our special guest will be United Nations Secretary General

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar.

Thank you very much for attending.

Not with a ten-foot pole, Treat. The hell I will.

Understood, George, but we need a narrative.

A story?

Treat, you and I both know what's going on down there.

It's just another manipulation

they expect me to wrestle with on their behalf.

Nicaragua is a cancer in our own land mass,

and it's gotta be cut out, plain and simple.

The tide will ebb away from us.

Meanwhile, if a little intel leaks here and there,

as long as it helps push the notion that we're a stabilizing factor

in the zone, it's a positive.

Important thing is to control it, keep it headed in that direction.

This whole goddamn operation's gonna blow up in somebody's face,

and I will not let it be mine, not by a long shot.

You boys figure it.

Don't think your vote isn't needed.

Go and vote!

And take others with you...

- Hi, kiddo. - Hi.

How was the funeral?

Well, it wasn't exactly a funeral.

I just went to Grandpa Ward's house

and he showed me a tiny urn with some of Grandma's ashes in it.

Were you sad?

I was. I was something like sad.

Why not sad? Why just something like it?

Well, I thought a lot about you.

And that helped keep me thankful.

- Really? - Mm-hmm.

Like, how?

Like how you look so much like your grandmother.

Your smile, your eyes.

And that helped keep me happy.

Wish I could have gone.

You do?

Yeah.

What are you doing right now?

I really want some lechón from Versailles.

Oh, baby, me too. Me too.

But I'll tell you what.

I'll get you real lechón from Havana

just as soon as there's a bureau spot for me.

Okay. I should.

- McMahon. - I'm gonna have it filed in an hour.

McMahon, here, now. Come here, come here. In, in, in, in.

Uh, listen. Close the door. Sit down.

Okay, um, how did everything go with your mom? You doing okay?

- Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. What's up? - Good.

That move to reopen Central American bureau, it's just not happening.

Says who?

- Please. No, don't... - Stewart, what the hell?

I've been trying to convince you, Grant, everybody,

since we left San Salvador two years ago.

We ID'd those bullet casings to Missouri, we have tracked airstrips, munitions.

Just this morning I was in touch with my Hill source who...

- Who hasn't stepped forward. - Who's about to step forward.

- Oh, come on. - He's legit. He's reliable.

I just confronted Shultz over the mined harbors and he nearly shit his pants.

If am doing this stuff from here, imagine what I could do on the ground there.

- I gotta move you to the campaign trail. - No!

No, there's an entire room.

- What about Joanne? - Sprained ankle.

- What about Chris? - He's filling in for Joanne.

Well, I don't care. Put a stringer on it.

You can't wipe me from this, Stewart.

I gotta freeze the whole desk, not just you.

Freeze the desk?

Look, our reporting on Central America

is being pointed out as too soft, sympathetic.

Says who?

Off the record, Grant was here this morning.

People on the Hill are pressing.

Of course they are, Stewart. They're being exposed.

That's the whole point, right?

Be that as it may, they're the ones who can break the bottom line here.

You know how it goes. Grant moves with business people,

politicians, lobbyists.

He's not gonna cut those ties for your reporting.

Sometimes...

it's just business.

It's not just business, it's real people's lives down there.

You can't just look away.

It's been ringing ever since I got back.

- I take it you talked to Stewart? - I'm done.

You quit, right?

Tell me you walked.

I'm taking a vacation.

Oh, Jesus Christ, Alma, he froze the desk, for fuck's sake.

Do you know how many months I've accrued over the past three years?

It's appalling.

Come on.