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The President was sitting in a lounge chair on the foredeck of the Eagle, earnestly promoting his Eastern European aid program to Marcus Larimer and Alan Moran. Suddenly he came to his feet and stepped to the railing, his head tilted, listening. A small herd of cows were mooing in a nearby pasture. He became momentarily absorbed; the problems of the nation vanished and a country boy surfaced. After several seconds he turned and sat down again.
"Sorry for the interruption," he said with a broad smile. "For a minute there I was tempted to find a bucket and squeeze us some fresh milk for breakfast."
"The news media would have a field day with a picture of you milking a cow in the dead of night." Larimer laughed.
"Better yet," said Moran sarcastically, "you could sell the milk to the Russians for a fat profit."
"Not as farfetched as it sounds," said Margolin, who was sitting off to one side. "Milk and butter have all but disappeared from Moscow state food stores."
"It's a fact, Mr. President," said Larimer seriously. "The average Russian is only two hundred calories a day from a starvation diet.
The Poles and Hungarians are even worse off. Why, hell, our pigs eat better than they do."
"Exactly my point," said the President in a fervent voice. "We cannot turn our backs on starving women and children simply because they live under Communist domination. Their plight makes my aid plan all the more important to echo the humanitarian generosity of the American people. Think of the benefits such a program will bring in good will from the Third World countries.
Think of how such an act could inspire future generations. The potential rewards are incalculable."
"I beg to differ," said Moran coldly. "In my mind what you propose is foolish, a sucker play. The billions of dollars they spend annually propping up their satellite countries have nearly wiped out their financial resources. I'll take bets the money they save by your proposed bailout plan would go directly into their military budget."
"Perhaps, but if their troubles continue unchecked the Soviets will become more dangerous to the U.S" the President argued.
"Historically, nations with deep economic problems have lashed out in foreign adventures."
"Like grabbing control of the Persian Gulf oil?" Said Larimer.
Constantly dangle. But they know damned well the Western nations would intervene with force to keep the lifeblood of their economies flowing. No, Marcus, their sights are set on a far easier target. One that would open up their complete dominance of the Mediterranean."
Larimore’s eyebrows raised. "Turkey?"
"Precisely," the President answered bluntly.
"But Turkey is a member of NATO," Moran protested.
"Yes, but would France go to war over Turkey? Would England or West Germany? Better yet, ask yourselves if we would send American boys to die there, any more than we would in Afghanistan? The truth is Turkey has few natural resources worth fighting over. Soviet armor could sweep across the country to the Bosporus in a few weeks, and the West would only protest with words."
"You're talking remote possibilities," said Moran, "not high probabilities."
"I agree," said Larimer. "In my opinion, further Soviet expansionism on the face of their faltering system is extremely remote."
The President raised a hand to protest. "But this is far different, Marcus. Any internal upheaval in Russia is certain to spill over her borders, particularly into Western Europe."
"I'm not an isolationist, Mr. President. God knows my record in the Senate shows otherwise. But I, for one, am getting damned sick and tired of the United States being constantly twisted in the wind by the whims of the Europeans. We've left more than our share of dead in their soil from two wars. I say if the Russians want to eat the rest of Europe, then let them choke on it, and good riddance."
Larimer sat back, satisfied. He had gotten the words off his chest that he didn't dare utter in public. Though the President fervently disagreed, he couldn't help wondering how many grass roots Americans shared the same thoughts.
" Let's be realistic," he said quietly. "You know and I know we cannot desert our allies."
"Then what about our constitution," Moran jumped back in.
"What do you call it when you take their tax dollars from a budget overburdened with deficit spending and use them to feed and support our enemies?"
"I call it the humane thing to do," the President replied wearily.
He realized he was fighting a no-win war.
"Sorry, Mr. President," Larimer said, rising to his feet. "But I cannot with a clear conscience support your Eastern bloc aid plan.
Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll hit the sack."
