Breakfast at the White House (continued…)

One hour after Steve had left, Ursula was asked to go in for her interview; smart as always, I figured the exercise would take me one hour or so and when I’d be done, it would be time for lunch. I tried to read a book I had picked up at the Salt Lake airport, but couldn’t really get into it. That Justin was still watching me and thinking all kinds of stuff I didn’t like. After waiting for 45 minutes, I heard a commotion in the hall and a conversation buzz coming from Justin’s earpiece. When I looked at him, he simply said that “the German gal didn’t feel well…” That’s when an older lady came in and asked me to follow her. She did take me through a bunch of corridors and we ended up in some kind of a “prep” kitchen, not into the oval office, as I thought I was supposed to have my meeting. In that small room stood President Bush, Alberto Gonzales, Condi Rice and what seemed like a bunch of technicians; all of them wearing white garb. When he saw me entering the room, Bush exclaimed: “Welcome to our last test-case for the morning!” A female technician named Abby explained briefly that our former Attorney General upon returning to civilian life had started a new company aimed - as she put it - at: “Redirecting paradigms and improving the way people think.” Without wasting much time and letting me a chance to say anything, they sat me on a recycled dentist chair, strapped me in, put me some sort of “Abu Ghraib” hat, plugged me in, and turned on the switch. I experienced a formidable jolt, was blinding by a sudden flash of light and for a very short moment saw Dick Cheney dancing with the devil. I must have passed out, because when I came back, George Bush was staring at me and asking me how I felt. Without hesitating, I exclaimed: “I guess I’d say like you Mr. President; mission accomplished!” and went on to explain that “I had now completely forgotten how bad the war in Iraq was” and I started to see that: “any smoking gun left unattended could turn into a mushroom cloud.” This latter comment brought an enormous smile on Mr. Bushes’ face and he told Condi, “I guess we’ve cured that one!” I felt a bit tired, but relieved that I had made it through and thought it was time to bid farewell to my hosts. As a parting comment, I simply said to George W.: “Just don’t go nukular on us!”