it could have been this simple ...

bush had always been called stupid. he knew that's what people said, and he knew he was a lot smarter than they thought. laura was all he really needed anyway. she was the one that saw him through the darkest times. fuck cheney. that fat bastard was using him to bring his fat bastard dreams to fruition.

george thought about everything for a second, as he rose from his uncomfortable (or too comfortable?) bed in the west wing, and looked down on laura's naked body. he knew he was still in love with her. and he knew that she wouldn't take this shit, if she were standing in his shoes.

he thought the leak had been the straw that broke the camel's back. sure, the war in iraq was his idea. but he knew he didn't need a lot to go to war. he was a simple man, sure, but he read the art of war, and understood the aggression of alphas. but he didn't really understand time.

time is so simple in theory. but something is lost in the translation from the watch to the real experience. dick cheney seemed to understand time. and george stood there thinking about how he thought dick was so right when he said that we had to invade iraq soon, as time would run out before the blink of an eye.

and he had to be right. bush stood there thinking that saddam was done for. the old man didn't have many bullets left in the gun, but he had one last trick. and that he would sit silent for years, maybe even beyond the sanctions (enacting trade agreements that would allow russia access to a lot of oil). but then, without warning, saddam would just blow his wad. and bush coudln't wait for that day to happen.

he remembered that day he told dick to just get it done. he knew in the back of his head that he had used the wrong language for a man with such a violent tendency. he knew that what was really bothering him was that guilt eating at the back of his heart -- that's why he was having these silly but romantic feelings of devotion for laura ... she never made him feel guilty.

he decided right then that he was just going to take the bull by the horns. his father had put together his administration, and that if he asked it of him, the old man would do the same again ... on a moment's notice.


bush called a meeting that morning. he said his good mornings to everyone, and then immediately asked who had leaked the wife's name. but no one answered. he then patiently explained how he thought that joe wilson was simply trying to hurt him, but that there was a line that should never had been crossed.

"we are americans," he said. "when we stop being americans, we have gone to far. and i just don't see anything american about surrendering the name of one of our own intelligence agents."

dick was the first to speak up. "the reporters had the woman's name." he didn't get much else out of his mouth.

"just shut the fuck up, dick. i am not in the mood to be lied too. now i want the name of the leaker in front of me now, or you are all fired." no one moved. bush sat there for what seemed like an eternity, just waiting to see if anyone on his staff had the stones to step forward, but he already knew the answer.

he picked up the phone, and asked his assistant to get his father on the line. he looked around the room, and no one seemed to move.

when his father came to the phone he said, "daddy, i am going to fire my entire staff. can you help me put a new one together." that was when someone cracked ... it was dick.

"it was scooter. it was a number of us. you wanted him burried. you can't be mad at us."

"you're right, i am not mad. but it's time i stepped up and did what was right ... what my wife would be proud of. you're fired dick. i want your resignation on my desk by five tonight. anyone here that leaked that woman's name, you're fired too. if you think you can get away with it, go ahead and try. but the second i see the evidence, you're gone. it's best to confess now. waiting will only make it worse."