The Echo of the Whip by Joseph Flynn Read Free Book Online

the president and McGill in the wake of the impeachment vote. Hugh would give an arm and a leg — someone else’s — to get video of McGill actually punching a member of Congress in the nose, but as far as he knew that had yet to happen.
    In the meantime, he’d scored a big “get” for Didi DiMarco’s new Sunday morning show: First Thing. As in the first thing you did to keep up with the world, you watched Didi’s show. As her premiere guest, Didi had another scrappy character, Vice President Jean Morrissey.
    Who knew? By the next time Ms. Morrissey appeared on the show, she might be sitting in the Oval Office running the country. Wouldn’t that be a lovely coup to put Ellie Booker and the rest of the rabble back in their places?
    Hugh watched from the control booth as his new show went on the air.
    Didi gave the viewing audience a polite smile and got right down to business.
    “Good morning. I’m Deirdre DiMarco and this is the first show of the program we call First Thing. The focus here will be to bring you the most important news stories of the upcoming week in a substantive but succinct manner. Our first guest is the vice president of the United States and the former governor of Minnesota, Jean Morrissey. Good morning, Ms. Vice President.”
    Jean’s stylist had set her up with a well-coifed but not overly severe look.
    Feminine but not concealing the VP’s athletic muscle tone.
    “Hello, Didi.”
    “Will you tell our audience, Ms. Vice President, how you think President Grant’s impeachment will affect her, the Grant administration, our country and you yourself?”
    “Of course,” Jean said, “and I should let you know that in accepting your invitation to appear this morning, the president and I discussed what the country might like to know about the situation and I’m authorized to tell you the following: The president will continue in her role of commander-in-chief of our armed forces and as the chief architect of our foreign policy without any diminution of those responsibilities.”
    “I’m sensing a ‘but’ coming next,” Didi said.
    “You’re right about that. As a matter of practical politics, the president has to prepare to defend herself in the matter of her trial in the Senate. She also doesn’t want to be seen as conducting any political disputes outside of the context of that trial.”
    “For fear it might work against her?” Didi asked.
    “Because it’s neither the time nor the place for her to do so.”
    “And where does all this leave you, Ms. Vice President?”
    “The same place it always does, a heartbeat away from the presidency. However, with the extraordinary demands currently being placed on President Grant, I’ve been asked to step up to first place in making sure there’s continuity in the president’s domestic agenda.”
    A small smile played on Didi’s lips. “With the hostility between the majorities in Congress and the president, and adding in the spectacle of the trial in the Senate, do you think you can get anything accomplished in that area?”
    “Well, you’re right about the hard feelings. It used to be we had opposition parties in this country, and that’s a good thing. Ideas should contend and compromises should be worked out. But in the past several years, and especially since Patricia Grant became president, the members of Congress on the other side have become more like enemy forces. Doing whatever they can to destroy Patti Grant politically has become the order of the day. The impeachment is just the latest example.”
    Didi, one smart cookie, felt something good, something big, was coming from Jean Morrissey. She did her best to ask her next question with a straight face. “How do you, with your enhanced responsibilities, intend to respond to such a harsh political environment?”
    “Well, you’re right that Congress isn’t going to pass any law that the administration favors. So that leaves only one tool to use: executive action. I’ll