George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 101

George W. Bush’s Great America – Episode 100 (101/377)

< Episode 100 >

That day, the weather was annoyingly clear, and the breeze that brushed my nose felt pleasantly cool. It was the kind of perfect weather that might happen only once a year.

“Chief of Staff, what is that?”

Among the skyscrapers of documents, there was one that was particularly short. If the other documents boasted the majesty of the Empire State Building, this one had the presence of a villa.

Of course, even so, it was still too thick to fit in one hand, its thickness comparable to a law book.

“They’re all CIA-related reports. Didn’t you request some information?”

“Ah, right, I did.”

Where else would I entrust the secret intelligence network operating at home and abroad if not to the CIA? Bush had sent many requests to the CIA, and the CIA had faithfully carried them out.

Occasionally, they tended to go on a rampage, so the reins were a bit creaky, but so far, I had managed to keep them under control. Above all, the very act of ordering the CIA to do something actively stimulated Bush’s peripheral nerves. Isn’t the CIA a regular organization that always appears in movies?

Of course, I wasn’t ordering strange operations with the people’s hard-earned money; it was just a few minor administrative orders for their work.

Anyway, in short, these thick stacks were regular or completion reports on the tasks Bush had ordered. However, Bush couldn’t help but wonder how so much had accumulated in the meantime, even though he had been looking at them all along.

“The thickest one is domestic trends, this thick one is Philippine trends, this one is Korean Peninsula trends. What’s this?”

What Bush picked up was a single-page report. It was sandwiched in the middle, so he almost missed it, but it caught his eye because its format was a bit different. Well, even if he had missed it, the Chief of Staff would have noticed and given it to him later. But the report’s title was quite strange.

“What? ‘National Defense Enhancement Confinement Report’?”

If it’s confinement, it’s confinement, but why attach a name like ‘National Defense Enhancement’? The title was truly grandiose.

‘But confinement? Did I ever issue such an order? Well, maybe it’s a terrorist?’

A roar finally burst from Bush’s mouth as he scrutinized the contents.

“No, you crazy bastards. I told you to hold him until the Olympics are over, but why did you take him overseas and confine him in a secret room!?”

As everyone knows, unless something is absolutely certain, it’s best to listen to the experts on the details. Bush was no different, so he mostly delegated the work to the CIA.

Because all Bush knew was that the CIA operated according to the President’s instructions. This was no different whether it was Kim Bush or George W. Bush. Rather, it would be stranger if the President received reports on such minor details.

“It seems they misinterpreted the part about not being picky about the means.”

‘Damn it. What is this, some kind of summary judgment? These Judge Dredd-like bastards [referencing the comic book character known for dispensing harsh justice].’

It was the CIA’s fault, but it was also clearly Bush’s fault. He should have given proper instructions, but he ordered them not to be picky about the means, so they really didn’t care about the means. He should have been aware of the CIA’s nature and given the order.

Now that things had come to this, it was a bit much to just release James Hewitt. At least his identity hadn’t been revealed, and it was written that they were staging a situation where he was captured by a South American cartel. Since the main purpose was to hold him, it seemed they had applied psychological pressure but not torture.

“It can’t be helped.”

Come to think of it, didn’t this guy ruin the lives of several athletes? Do you know how athletes feel when they go to the Olympics? Isn’t the Olympics a place where they risk everything in their prime, with the qualification they earned through a lifetime of hard work?

That’s why so many athletes take drugs, even knowing they might get caught. Do you think the athletes vaguely thought they wouldn’t get caught if they took drugs? It’s because they absolutely don’t want to miss the opportunity that comes only once in a lifetime, or maybe twice at most.

He trampled on the lives of such athletes, so he deserved this much. However, apart from that, there was room for improvement in the CIA’s handling of things so aggressively. It was aggressive, but it had done its job, so it wasn’t necessary to completely overhaul it, and Bush thought it was necessary to change the guidelines to be a bit more lenient.

“Let’s deal with this matter in detail later. But what is this?”

There was something strange among the Korean Peninsula intelligence reports. It was intelligence, but it was like receiving a letter that would arrive in 10 days now?

“North Korea wants exchange students?”

North Korea hadn’t directly spoken to the United States yet, but the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as its name wasn’t just for show, was thoroughly shaking up North Korea’s situation from top to bottom. Again, it was a truly capable organization, except when it went on a rampage like a runaway train with broken brakes.

“It’s a kind of reverse role model experience. The planner is Kim Jong-il.”

They were even actively promoting it. The justification, as written, was ‘Go and see the reality of the American imperialists who build tall buildings by sucking the blood of the lower classes!’ but it was like they were introducing themselves. So, I don’t know what they’re trying to do.

Isn’t Kim Jong-il the person who should be blocking exchanges with the free world the most? The withdrawal of the reign of terror and the abolition of isolationism would mean the end of the Kim regime. So, it’s a good thing for the United States, but I can’t figure out what Kim Jong-il is thinking.

“Is it like a fun deathbed experience with the Grim Reaper on the road to the afterlife?”

“Excuse me?”

“No, well, yeah. Keep talking.”

“So, the conclusion is that North Korea has decided to send about thirty exchange students to American universities. As it says there, most of them are children of high-ranking officials who admire foreign cultures.”

‘What? Has Kim Jong-il finally gone senile? Or has he reserved a ticket to the Samdo River [a metaphor for the afterlife in Korean folklore] in advance?’

“Why do you keep making that face?”

“No, it’s nothing. If they want to send them, we should let them. I doubt there are any students in our country who would voluntarily go.”

Who on earth would want to go to North Korea? Maybe, just maybe, if you search the entire vast land of the United States, you might find one or two people who are blinded by North Korean propaganda and moved by Kim Jong-il’s Juche [North Korean ideology of self-reliance] ideology. I don’t know if that person would be a student, though.

“I think there might be quite a few if you look.”

“What? Why?”

“Whether they like it or not, you’ve become famous by being tossed around by you, Mr. President, and thanks to that, North Korea is becoming more famous than South Korea. This was already the case, but it’s getting worse.”

This was a completely unexpected side effect. After all the commotion at the Olympics, there was no place that didn’t know about the Korean Peninsula. And even the fact that the Korean Peninsula is divided into South and North Korea.

“And they know they’ll be treated well if they go in this situation.”

‘Well, I don’t think so.’

You have to have something to treat them with in order to treat them well. What can North Korea offer to Americans who have lived a prosperous life? Maybe if they’re living in a slum and starving.

Come to think of it, high-ranking officials spend more than $2,000 a day on meals. Considering this, if Kim Jong-il intervenes directly, it might be a pretty luxurious study abroad, but at least the fundamental and most important emotional and intellectual conversations of studying abroad will be limited, and they’ll likely just be pampered and return.

Or maybe they’ll just be shown around the research labs and North Korean universities to see North Korea’s basic science capabilities.

‘Or is that the purpose?’

Maybe what Kim Jong-il is thinking is a campaign like, ‘North Korea is doing so well, so please spread the superiority of Juche ideology to the United States!’ This is a tactic that North Korea often used against South Korea in the 60s and 70s. In short, ‘You don’t have this!’

Back then, they mainly used wristwatches, but there’s nothing among North Korean products that Americans would particularly covet. Unless it’s a North Korean-made gun. Rather, that could be sold as a collectible for a decent price.

“I’ll order you to investigate this part in more detail. And refrain from illegal and inhumane means in the future. What’s with kidnapping law-abiding citizens?”

Bush read through the CIA report and quickly wrapped it up. The rest of the reports were the same as usual. However, the Philippine report was set aside to compare with other reports.

“Next.”

I ate a villa, so now it’s time to eat a building. It felt like a building-eating game, but the thought of reading each and every page made me so happy that endorphins were running wild in my body.

Some might say that endorphins are a kind of defense mechanism that the brain releases as a last resort when faced with a stressful situation, and that what’s circulating in Bush’s body might be dopamine, which is released when feeling happiness. But no matter how much you like something, if it becomes your job and you’re given responsibility, the place where dopamine used to be disappears, and endorphins take its place.

Of course, endorphins might not actually be flowing, but at least it was certain that Bush was experiencing great joy and great stress at the same time when he was working.

‘Ah, damn it. I wish this was all money.’

Thinking about it again, the thought crossed my mind that if I wanted to, I could build an even taller tower with $100 bills. People in the presidency can move a lot of things, so they mix and match a lot of things, right? Bush was also human, so he wasn’t immune to temptation.

‘Well, what would I do with even more than this?’

Even now, if I just disposed of the rights that the Bush family had, I could build a tower with bundles of bills as much as I wanted. It’s not just any conglomerate, it’s an oil conglomerate. It’s not that I’m not interested in wealth, but I don’t particularly want to covet more wealth than this.

And if I had that much money, Bush would gladly invest it in national defense and build another aircraft carrier, rather than accumulating illegal wealth.

“No, what’s this again?”

“China’s silver purchases have reached their peak.”

“What the fuck!? You should have told me this first!”