Raymund Eich

The Twenty-Eighth Amendment: A Political Science Fiction Short Story

Ebook

President Archer faced an imminent war in the Middle East. The audio-visual recording crew following his every public move limited how he could resolve the crisis. Or did they?

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Description

America’s founding ideals clash with shadowy statecraft in this near future short story of political science fiction by the author of New California and the Stone Chalmers series.

President Archer faced an imminent war in the Middle East.

The audio-visual recording crew following his every public move limited how he could resolve the crisis.

Or did they?

Sample of “The Twenty-Eighth Amendment”

1. Each person holding an office established under Articles One, Two, or Three of this Constitution, or holding an office to which he or she is appointed by the President with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall at all times be subjected to the following, except as exempted in Section 2 of this article of amendment: A. Videography and audiography of his person and his or her utterances; B. Recordation of his or her telecommunications to and from all other persons; and C. Copying his or her non-electronic communications to and from all other persons; with the products of Subsections A-C being immediately provided and archived in electronic form, to which access shall be granted without restriction to any citizen of the United States. 2. Each person subjected to Section 1, Subsection A of this article of amendment shall be exempted therefrom under the following circumstances, provided a log of all persons whom he or she met during the period of exemption, is kept and provided under Section 1 of this article of amendment: A. If he or she is an Ambassador, when outside the United States, when speaking with an officer of a foreign government; B. If he or she is the President, a Minister having authority over foreign affairs or war, or a member of Congress authorized by Law to monitor foreign affairs or war, when discussing a foreign government, after a state of war with that foreign government has been declared under Article One, Section 8 of this constitution, until such state of war has ended; C. When alone or only with members of his or her immediate family, when at his or her residence, or at a place provided for his or her rest or recreation. President James Archer held his umbrella with his left hand while using his right to scroll through social media messages on his smartphone. October rain plopped on the deep blue plastic, barely audible over the engines of the Marine One helicopter fleet idling on the White House lawn. The grass slapped his black leather shoes with rainwater. He walked with a straight back, smartphone held at eye level. Have to look presidential, strong posture, for the cameraman ten feet to his right. Beads of water on the lens would give the video a somber reality. It would look good in the history videos, President Archer, resolute during an international crisis. Next message. @POTUS why dont you just wetwork Abdullah? Solve #KurdistanVsMesopotamianRepublicCrisis with 1 bullet? President Archer pressed the home button. “Tuxi,” he said to the software assistant, his voice deep and rich for the parabolic mic pointed at him by the soundman, “compose a reply. ‘@USAFan_65706, it’s illegal for me to target a foreign leader unless we declare war. Mesopotamia will comply with treaty obligations without need for war.’ Post it.” The steel blue hulk topped with white of his Marine One loomed ahead. President Archer slipped his phone into an outer pocket of his overcoat. At the foot of the stairs, a Marine in dress uniform, tanned face impassive in the rain, snapped a salute. President Archer returned the salute, then trotted up the stairs. He handed over his umbrella to the purser, said “Yes, black” to her query about coffee, and took a seat on padded beige leather at the rear of the cabin. The moment of privacy ended when the cameraman and soundman stomped into the cabin, dripping rainwater on the entry mat. The black circle of the lens and the white plastic mic dish swung instantly into position. Back in the damn fish bowl, but he kept the thought away from his face. At Camp David, he would have more than enough privacy.

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Additional information

Format

Ebook

Writer

Raymund Eich

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