BIG BLUE SKY: TWO

The Right despised him. The Left publically eschewed Arpel Bernstein’s blustering tirades as Chairman of the House Appropriations committee, while privately lamenting that they lacked the guts to be as honest and forthright. Ironic how those who condemned the idea of political correctness ( which was little more than pressure for idiots to manage their internal dialogue) fought to stifle Arpel at every turn. Truth was, Bernstein had no internal dialogue, least not that anyone could tell. His mouth, fully hidden beneath a brushy silver mustache, was on autopilot, fully connected to a heart that gave only passing consideration to his brain.
That mouth got him in a fair amount of trouble. It made him a favorite target for FOX and Right Wing radio, who painted him in some sort of commie cabal along with harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Twenty-four hours each day, seven days a week they held him up in digital effigy, rallying their base, many of whom came to see Bernstein as the complete embodiment of evil.
Truth of it was, Arpel loved the attention. He reveled in the protesters who berated and harangued him everywhere. At six foot four, two hundred and sixty pounds the star Minnesota Lineman was as outspoken about Republican corruption, a creeping military industrial culture as he was democratic spinelessness. The Marine platoon leader and former prosecutor didn’t help his image much with a well publicized affair, and an unabashed penchant for the ladies.
He had become the self-appointed crusader against fraud in the Pentagon budget defense contractors which he called the “highest paid welfare queens in the nation.” Remarks like that got him vilified by the Right who worked hard to frame him as a radical anti-capitalist, and a Leftist bullying American heroes risking their lives to keep America safe from Muslim terrorists. Progressive hosts, like Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz, who championed Arpel as a reformer and a patriot were all but drowned in the opposition’s virtual monopoly of the market.
It was warm and bright for an autumn day as Arpel stepped out onto the steps of the capitol, almost swaggering before clamoring throngs of media and protesters, and a handful of terribly outnumbered police. He came down to them, arms out stretched, as if they were subjects to his private court.
There was a reason for this raucous attention. His usual assaultive questioning had degraded to shouts and accusations with representatives of a controversial military contractor, and a target of the Left called FIRSTTHRUST INC. Scrutiny had grown through the summer after three WAR INC employees were caught on videotape executing a suspected Al Qa’eda operative after a gun battle with Taliban militants. It became further grist for Arpel’s mill. Tipped off by Bernstein, who warned of his own verbal execution C-SPAN carried the hearing live. By lunch it was making the blogs and all the cable shows. In a statement during a break in the hearings the good Congressman made a point of announcing he would make a public statement on the Capitol steps that evening. True to his word, he appeared within minutes, with a satisfied and electric expression.
An aid trotted down the gleaming white steps, the lights just coming up upon the tall marble pillars and great white dome behind. He planted himself strategically between Arpel and the mob, waving for them to quiet down. The protesters were having none of it, shouting and chanting louder.
“Traitor! Traitor!” they shouted, waving signs portraying Bernstein (whose parents had survived the holocaust) as Hitler, or with a target over his face.
“Please, please!” cried the Aid. “The Congressman will make a statement now.”
“Congressman,” shouted a FOX News reporter, “isn’t this simply a witch hunt designed to embarrass the last Administration?”
Arpel laughed mockingly. He frowned and shook his head at the reporter, making no mistake of his ultimate disdain.
“Points for creative hyperbole from the regressive media,” he shot back. I will not retreat from my utter contempt for FIRSTTHRUST INC and other taxpayer subsidized war contractors. I believe that contempt was clearly and purposely evident at the hearing today. There are critics who accuse me of being on a morale crusade. Let me say unequivocally that I am absolutely on a crusade against the dangerous and bloated war industry bilking the taxpayers, and which perpetuates a system of unlimited and unregulated warfare that is derogatory and dangerous to American democracy and prestige.” Boos and jeers followed. Arpel was undeterred.
“We cannot allow our national reputation and standing to be dictated and abused by an industry not under the direct control of the United States Military, and which is out of reach by American laws and justice. Even more troubling for our democracy is the growing presence of these companies operating on American soil.”
“Congressman, do you intend to Press charges on the woman who assaulted you?”
It seemed a far cry to call what had happened the two nights before assault, even by Arpel’s often embellished standard. A woman walked up while he was entertaining friends at a local eatery and doused him in the face with water. The police quickly wrestled her away. True to form, he collected himself quickly and, though obviously shaken, tried to brush off the whole incident.
“Next time someone throws water in my face,” he joked to his stunned guests, “if they could have a decent Scotch with it!”
On the capitol steps the Reporter pressed the issue. “Do you intend to file assault charges. The whole affair was already a toy for political posturing. The talking heads on MSNBC pointed to the Right’s increasingly violent tone. FOX portrayed it as frustration over a federal Government run amok. Too shrewd to be roped into something not of his making, Bernstein waved a hand in the air and trotted down to a waiting limousine. At the door he turned and looked straight at the FOX reporter.
“I hope she gets the help she needs, and that she can learn to find a more constructive way to express her obvious frustration.”
He paused again and grimaced slightly, as though struck by a sudden sharp pain. There was a flash of terror in Arpel’s eyes as the blood fled from his face. A moment later his body convulsed, as though struck by a shock. Arpel Bernstein’s final moments were caught by a dozen different cameras. He gripped his head and collapsed. The image of the dying congressman cradled in the arms of supports and police would be flashed around the world, with few if any realizing the historic proportions of his sudden and premature passing.