This really began in the twenties. I had graduated from Anapolis and entered the Marines as a First Lieutenant in '19. I served thirteen months in Bagdad, before Iraq became the 51st State, was promptly sent to South Carolina where the action known as the Third Attempt at Secession took place. No big deal really. Fifty thousand white dudes began demonstrating after the first Black Governor moved into the mansion.  They really were not that upset with President Obama since they never really felt part of the country anyway. But this election really struck home, so to speak.

Well after all the Confederate Flags were finally burnt and that picture of Blind Justice became the official flag of the state, I fetched three more medals and they offered me a gig in Gitmo.  We had of course, years ago, normalized relations with Cuba, but they let us keep our little portion of the island as a military base as long as we protected them from those communists in Haiti.

I arrived by plane and was immediately whisked away in a limousine to see the commandant.

Major, how was your flight.

Lieutenant sir, but I did have a fine flight on this bright and clear day, thank you.

The General reached into his drawer and pulled out some insignias and handed them to me with a smile. Oh no, Major, it is good to meet you.

I was struck dumb. No kidding. Sir I thank you very much for the honor. But my interest is in this special assignment, everything was so hush hush you know.

Come with me said the General.  A small car arrived, but it looked like a cross between a jeep and a golf cart.  He took the wheel and we went on a road to the old cell block, one that had been empty for decades.

We pulled up, exiting right in front of the main entrance to this abandoned facility.

Follow me, said the General. And he led me through the open doors and to a stair case where we descended two flights and found ourselves in front of a check in desk manned by a Sargent and a corporal standing at attention with this rifle.  

The General saluted and he said: This is Major Thompson. He will be the Officer in Charge Sargent.

Thank you sir. Nice to meet you sir. Major, are you ready?

Yes Sargent, I said, not know what the hell he was talking about. The NCO pushed some buttons on the door after the corporal had stepped aside and this great door opened away from us showing a narrow walkway.  The Sargent led the way and we followed about three hundred feet to another door.  He again pushed the buttons and yet another door opened.

We proceeded down this new path and on the left, at the end was a cell with two iron cell doors with a window in between and looking through this strange window I saw him.  The one I had been taught was dead, dead for a decade.

On the far side was a bubble, a semisphere that was clear.  Inside were strange readings as well as machine like movements.  Coming from the sphere were two tubes of a sort leading to the prisoner.  One was somehow attached to his crotch and the other to his chest.  You could tell that the tubes were just long enough to let him get to his cot, his chair and small desk and his toilet.

The prisoner who was sitting looked up and stared straight at me. I had seen this scowl on old newsreels they show on the net. It sent a chill through me.

Do not worry, he cannot see you unless you push this button. But we all feel that he has the ability to somehow know you are there.  It is hard to explain.

You are going to be spending a lot of time here. And I have a number of tapes I want you to review tonight.  View them chronologically and you will see why that might be fruitful.

I went back with the General and was shown my quarters. Following the briefing and debriefing.

I went to my new office and began watching these videos.  The following represents some of my memories and a lot of my notes.  I spent a year at this strange place and now, after twenty years, feel a lot more comfortable getting this off of my chest.

The prisoner would arise at seven AM, the two guards would show up wearing earplugs. While the one stood guard the other present the man with breakfast, placed carefully on his desk.  Nothing was said. Not good morning. How was your nite. Nothing.

Following breakfast, the old man would stand and begin strutting back and forth, always looking at his window/mirror, TALKING TO HIMSELF. As you will soon see, he was always having a discussion with someone, but you only heard his side of the discussion and would have to guess who he was speaking with. Very strange.  I had read about some cases like this in Military Psychology, but had never witnessed it in the flesh and in the video.

Tape 1A: THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION

Rummy, this is really something is it not?  Yes, yes, I agree. But we are relatively young and this will not be our first chance to serve, you know.

Money, money is so easy to be had. You just do not take it while you are in office like that goddamn Spiro. You give it. You give out all the taxpayer money you possibly can with a smile.

And you do not even ask the outsiders for info. You give them info.

See, Rummy, they will wish to please you thinking that is what they are getting money for.  We are not that stupid. With the info we give them, we give them info we KNOW ABOUT THEM, that way, during those forays into the capital sphere, we will find all the money we will ever need ever spend.


Tape 2A: NIXON CONTINUED

Sure they are going to nail him Rummy. His mistake was never how harsh he was. How many laws he chose to break. His mistake was that he became fearful about being found out. Fuck em.

Let em find out.  But you burn the goddamn tapes. Right on the front lawn like that nut Buchanan says.  You call the media and say, here we are.

What the fuck good is power, if you are not willing to use it. Did not any of the sons of bitches ever READ MACHIAVELLI? I mean this is the most powerful nation on earth. We know the Ruskies are idiots and cowards and we can push and push and push and they will do nothing. Hell, you know Rummy what I would have done? I would have pushed the button on those motherfuckers in 69, some place way out in the tundra. Scared the shit out of them.

Tricky Dick knew how to use his powers. Get down to Argentina and kill the mfer. And at the same time shake hands with Bresnov. Yes.

Put more troops into the war, bomb the everlovin shit out of surrounding countries and smile and shake hands with Mao. Nothin wrong with that Rummy.

What? Oh Rummy, we want wars, we need wars.  How can we best pay off our newly found friends without wars?  Billions are just handed to those capitalist mfers. Billions. And people are employed and when you properly control the press, Rummy, you got it all.

You have to get your own people into the Times. Then rape em.  You want info, get your asses over here and I better not read one goddamnable bad thing about dead soldiers, or weeping widows or any of that crap.  And all our enemies are commies. The commies are out to get us. The commies are infultrating our government, our towns. The commies are infultrating our economy.  

That is how you do it Rummy.

What if somebody finds out the truth?  Rummy, wake up for Chrissakes. There is no truth, never was and never will be.  The truth is what WE say. Only others worry about the truth.

You deny, deny, deny. Never give up. When all is lost. Deny, deny, deny.

These Congressional hearings. Fuckem. Do not give em a goddamn thing, ever. No memos. And no testimony.  This Dean, I mean I would have had him offed. He is a traitor anyway. Hell, if they held a poll on that issue, we would win, hands down. But he never would have testified.

He is a goddamn attorney. If some drug dealer gets some protection from what he tells his attorney so should the prince.

Damn this stuff makes me mad.  Hey Rummy, how ya doin with those drug companies anyway? Did you read those files I gave you? Remember you just leak enough info to em to scare em. Right?

Oh and this Dean guy, he has an accident don't ya see? We give him a presidential funeral.
And Sirica, hell, you just find the coffee cup he dunks his bear claws in and all of a sudden he is incoherent and they put him in one of those new drug rehab facilities, talking to himself....    


Tape 2B: NIXON CONTINUED

Yes, it was very good for you to take the time to see me sir. Representative Ford, I always respected you. Yes.

Yes, we need a new way. A new way of looking at this office Sir and you are just the man to deliver.  Oh I do not feel that you are going to be vice president for that long really. I am getting a lot of information from my sources on this.  Stay away?

Oh sir, I am staying away from the President. No problem with that. I have hidden myself in the Pentagon for awhile.

For you. Work for you as Vice-President. Why of Course sir, I would be honored.

Tape 2C: THE END OF NIXON

Yes, its comin down Rummy. Its just about over.  The man just did not DIG IN. This is shameful.

I mean Nixon should be ashamed of himself. Really.

Oh not for those things for Chrissakes. The prisoner pisses himself.

Pentagon. Why did they always like me. And I am not a vet?  What a joke Rummy. You should have been way ahead of me on this issue.

Do you think that those generals give one goddamn about the soldier? Hell. Their retirement is all they care about.

Do you realize that I have already fixed up fifteen of them with jobs on the outside while they double dip into their pensions. I mean they love me. What is Dicky C. Doing today they say.
How do I know. Rummy, my men are in there. Ha

It is like you take either of our positions and you turn it into an employment agency.  See Rummy, the corps want ties to the Pentagon. As many as possible. They put two or three generals on their boards for peanuts-I mean five extra grand a month-and then these generals go to the bidding rooms and they go to the procurement rooms and they back all the programs (read wars) that will bring the most money into the corporation.

Now the corps have to do their part.  If they are getting the big k's, then the generals have to be given 'bonuses'. I can see in years ahead where the generals will see the way to millions of dollars instead of thousands of dollars.

Patriotism is an illusion. Always. Oh I am an American. Through and through.

But you know a doctor has to have some distance with regard to his patients. He must have psychological distance.  Except those lucky gynacologists of course, heheheheheheheh.

Well, in our position, we have to have some psychological distance from patriotism. Remember,

Rummy. What is is, and what is not, is not. It is the peasant that must carry the musket on foot.

That peasant does not matter a whit. Nothing

But we must preach to the congregation Rummy. Flag this. Our country that. Our free nation. Against those dirty rotten commies.

Rummy, we never believed it in the first place. But that is our job.

Oh yeah. I got Haldeman's old job. Yeah. Oh Jerry is a bit of a pussy. But he hates poor people, LBJ and FDR like all good millionaire repubs.  He will do fine. He will veto more bills in a year and a half than most presidents do in two full terms. Heheheheeheheheheheh.

It'll work out fine.  I will miss Tricky Dicky though.  He did make a lot of money for those capitalist bastards that are now throwing him under the bus.

But we learned some lessons here, Rummy. Some real lessons.



Next installment: The Ford Tapes