The Fires of November

Headaches

Headaches, nothing but headaches all day. A continuous throbbing pain forced its was to front of my skill and each passing moment I thought it would break through. I can handle pain, but this was unbearable. Nothing seemed to stop it; pain medication, lying down, or a head message. Not even the cool touch of a passenger side window helped. As my head filled with pain like the forced laugh of movie patrons I could only hope that it would pass before subjugating myself to an onslaught of questions, cameras, and studio lights, Jason and Katherine went ahead to negotiate the amount of lighting. No matter, at that point sitting in the car the slightest increase in ambient sound or light was death. All I could was close my eyes and pray the headaches stopped and that my driver stop hitting every bumb imaginable because the next one could be his last.

“How are you feeling?” asked Ken from the rear of the vehicle, the only voice worth hearing at the time. I remained motionless with my head firmly planted against the window; I could not would not budge. “Are you alive,” was his retort to my silence.

“Barely,” was all a managed to squeak out of my clinched mouth, now hating every inch of my existence and by extension everyone else.

“Did you take anything before we left?”

“Katherine gave me something, they went ahead to see if they can do anything about the lighting.” Ken knows enough that convincing me to cancel is useless, no sense in going back. A painful reassurance, “I’ll be fine” as I opened my eyes. It was like opening them for the first time as light flooded my sockets and I kept them open long enough to think they were going to burn right out of my skull. Ken continued to ask me questions as I slowly retreated deep within myself, hoping to die at any second.

A sudden jerk in the motion of the car indicated to me that we had stopped. I remained motionless, head still firm against the glass that lost its cool soothing touch. The car door opened altering me out of my hibernation and catches myself falling out. I grasped the framing of the car erecting myself upright and raised the other shielding my eyes to reveal a figure standing before me.

“Am I dead?” I asked.

“No such luck,” responded Jason’s tough familiar voice.

“Too bad,” I replied.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better, I think whatever Katherine gave me worked, that and pressing my head against the glass to the point of breaking.”

“Good, because we didn’t get anywhere with the studio, not that we expected to.”

Helping me out of the car, I take a moment for a needed stretch and take in the situation. Not too many people around, a good thing. A crisp breeze descended upon me while taking a deep breath and turning to the sun felt its energetic rays. The sun has always been a source of comfort for me, especially during cold winter mornings. There is just something refreshing about it.

“Ready?” Jason asks, breaking my brief moment of tranquility.

“As I’ll ever be.”

Since my explosive and surprising, so they tell me, emergence in Kansas City there have been demands for interviews and this morning we make our way to a local television station the day before Super Tuesday. There is meager excitement among the television staff and crew, not a good sign when running a political campaign. The set looked like all news and political commentator programs with a clustered desk, an uninteresting backdrop with possible views of the local and national capitals, and enough lights to reclassify the establishment as a tanning salon, so much for moderate lighting. After a few introductions and handshakes, the show began.

“Today we have Republican presidential candidate Ryan Donnell who’s turned out big crowds across the state…” the commentator continued his teleprompter diatribe while I concentrated on the remaining pain in my head, “can you elaborate on remarks regarding your views on Iran’s nuclear activity?”

“I thought I was clear in the interview, we must give sanctions time to have an impact on the country. As I mentioned, the nation is experiencing social unrest potentially causing a governmental change. My fellow Republicans are loosely talking war for political purposes.”

“So you would say that your opponents are getting it wrong when it comes to Iran?”

“Yes, there is very little evidence to suggest that Iran is nearing the completion of a nuclear weapon. Many people throughout the country and international community are pushing the United States, Israel, and Iranians themselves into taking military action on each other. Furthermore, the very notion that the Iranians will not retaliate is nonsense and follows the same sentiment that the Cubans and Soviets would not respond to an American attack during the Cuban Missile Crisis. We forget that the Iranians are fully capable for attacking bases and oil fields in Saudi Arabia and Iraq.”

“What of the current conditions in Syria and other nations facing social unrest due to the Arab Spring?”

“The events in Syria are unfortunate and the lack of a US response is allowing President al-Assad to continue his tyrannical rule over his people. However, there are two points regarding this situation. First, the United States has adopted a joke of a foreign policy when it comes to the Arab Spring movement under this Administration. For instance, we did not make a serious effort to support rioters in Egypt until it became apparent that Mubarak would leave and now it looks like the military will not be removing itself from power. Unrest and riots spread to Libya, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Bahrain. The only country we took action in was Libya because it was easy to build a coalition and support for attacking a long time enemy of the United States while we sit back and do nothing throughout the rest of the Middle East. Second, now that unrest has escalated throughout the country it is now increasingly difficult to take military action in Syria. Establishing a no-fly zone and launching air strikes could result in infrastructural destruction and the accidental killing of rioters. Also, I would like to know why Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham have been largely silent on the social unrest in throughout Africa and the plight of Tibetans.”

“Many believe that Mitchel Robertson is the likely nominee and that you and Richard Stanley will be fighting for the number two spot, what do you have to say about Richard Stanley?”

“Stanley has led a great campaign and if he is willing to bend the definitions of the law regarding his time as a lobbyist making $65,000 to $142,500 from the lobbying firm American Continental Group and CONSOL Energy.”

“So, you would take the stance of the Robertson campaign in calling Stanley a lobbyist?”

“The Lobbying Disclosure Act states that a person qualifies as a lobbyist if their activities constitute roughly 20 percent of their dedicated services for a three month period on behalf of their client. Judging Mr. Stanley’s record, he qualifies as a lobbyist.”

The remainder of the interview focused on my time in Kansas and what the campaign plans on doing after Super Tuesday. Reassuring the commentator that we intended to stay in the race through the convention, the interview wrapped up. After receiving thanks from the commentator, a portion of the television staff and crew gathered for handshakes and photos. Thanking them for their time and this tremendous opportunity, we exited the building.

“How’s your head?” asked Katherine as we made our way into the car.

Looking over the hood of the car I commented, “Better, much better.” Feeling relaxed, I took a brief second to fell the warming energy of the sun and smiling my way into the car I looked across to Jason, “what’s next?”