The Duck in Repose

Robert Shaw was enjoying himself, munching on a croissant while tossing bits of the bread to his collie. Across the table, next to the space recently vacated by the President’s wife, Alan Pearsall tried to decide whether he should try to maintain a dignified air, or play along with the President’s playful mood.

“Welcome to weird-out Wednesday, Al” remarked President Shaw, to which Pearsall did not reply.

“Yep, every loon and moron with a microphone and satellite feed to a TV station will be dissecting the election for the nation, with some of the wackiest conspiracy theories you ever heard of”, continued Shaw.

“Mr. President, you’ve been looking at Kos again?” inquired the Vice-President.

“Well, it does make for some good comedy” said Shaw, “and you should be flattered, Al. They think that since I’m leaving office, you’re going to ‘control’ the next President just like you ‘controlled’ me.”

“How is that?” asked Pearsall. “I have no connection to Governor Reynolds at all.”

“Ahhhh,” sighed Shaw, “but that just ‘proves’ that you’re subtle and devious, and so on.

“Now me, they still say it’s all luck that I won two terms and had a good run and all. That, or an evil plot of your machination.”

“Wait a minute, now I’m confused” said Pearsall. “Is that one from Kos, or CBS?”

“Well, they do both like the theory” admitted Shaw, “but it’s a bit more coherent than Helen Thomas these days, so I gotta guess it started with Kos.”

“So, anything special today?” asked Pearsall, though he knew the schedule already. Shaw sometimes liked to shake things up.

“As scheduled, we will meet President-elect Reynolds and Carol Green at 10, take some photos and start folks seeing the new POTUS in the Oval Office. Think I can sneak Bingo into the pics?” asked the President, as he scratched behind the collie’s ears.

“What about the Speaker’s request?” asked Pearsall, asking about the Speaker of the House Panini’s demand on television Tuesday, that President Shaw come to the House to answer questions from the Armed Services Committee about the Global Warming effects from military operations. Panini had implied that she would attempt to subpoena the President if he did not volunteer a visit.

“That’s why I’m in a good mood, Al” remarked the President. “In just a few months, the angry monkey parade will have a new Grand Marshal, and I can get back to being a regular guy again.”