George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 164

The Congress was in considerable turmoil. I had always anticipated they would eventually target the courts, but I never imagined it would happen so soon. That was the first issue. Until now, the allure of Chinese money had allowed most issues to pass smoothly, regardless of party affiliation, but now they were bracing for a full-scale confrontation. That was the second issue.

President Bush stood at the podium, remaining silent for a long time, simply standing there blankly. No one had any idea why he was acting that way, and silence filled the chamber.

‘100 senators. All present.’

He was deliberately trying to be annoying, though they didn’t realize it. Bush wanted their composure to completely crumble.

As ten minutes passed and someone was finally about to speak, the President’s lips, which seemed as though they would never open, parted, and the seemingly hopeless congressional address began.

In a very rare move for President Bush, he openly lowered his head and gaze to the podium and began to read his speech. This hadn’t happened even once since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“There are so many bills tied up in filibusters [a tactic used to delay or block a vote on a bill]. All sorts of social security programs, Medicare, and five gun control laws.”

After saying that, his lips closed again, and he picked up the ‘Filibuster List’ from the podium, which looked incredibly thick. The stack of paper was so thick that it didn’t even flutter properly.

“I could list more here, but frankly, my mouth hurts, and I don’t want to talk.”

As always, he casually tossed the speech aside. However, this time, because the speech was bound in a thick nalclip [a type of binder clip], it didn’t scatter in all directions but fell to the floor with a dull thud.

“What do you all think?”

The senators remained silent, avoiding eye contact. They had reasons for feeling uneasy themselves. They couldn’t very well just explain it as ‘good things are good,’ could they?

Of course, there were a few other valid reasons. A prime example was the problem that would arise if they reformed the state courts. To discuss this, one would have to understand why state and federal courts were separated in the first place. Even before the United States was established, anti-federalists consistently obstructed the establishment of federal courts.

It was due to the issue of each state’s autonomy. Thanks to these individuals, the U.S. government ultimately stipulated during its founding that only local residents could become judges in local courts. And they founded a political party called the Democratic-Republican Party, whose descendants are today’s two major parties, the Republican and Democratic parties.

Because of this, all state governments have strong autonomy. It’s the most powerful federation in the history of the Earth, created by anti-federalists, which is quite ironic, isn’t it? Anyway, to explain the complex and elaborate American judicial system they created, while cutting out as much technical jargon as possible, state courts have local, high, and supreme courts. The federal system has district, circuit, appellate, and supreme courts.

The federal courts only deal with laws related to federal law, and all other laws are dealt with in state courts. The legal code totals 200,000 pages, and the table of contents includes 51 titles, from health law and education law to war law and the addition of national and commercial space programs. By 2019, it had grown to 54 titles.

In any case, state courts cannot simply be reformed like state police. Rather, if you touch them the wrong way, it’s not just stirring up trouble; the entire United States could become a mess.

“Do you have anything to say about this?”

“I do.”

“Speak.”

That’s why they were curious about the President’s plan. At least, since he had rolled up his sleeves to reform, it meant he had already planned out how he would reform, right? Or at least some part of it.

“How exactly are you planning to reform it?”

“Reform? That choice of words is quite inappropriate.”

Surprisingly, he didn’t disappoint. It’s not a reform anymore.

“Pardon?”

“I’m not going to reform it. I mean to set it right.”

“So, what do you mean?”

When they didn’t get the answer they wanted, or even anything close to it, one senator shouted in frustration. There was an edge to his voice, a low growl that evoked images of a heavy broadsword or mace rather than the sharpness of a rapier.

“The issue I want to address is this: some judges have been taking illegal lobbying from some wealthy individuals and issuing acquittals or reducing sentences. Don’t you understand that this is what I’m trying to fix?”

Upon hearing this, they realized that the issue was on a much larger scale than they had thought. Originally, the senators thought that he would use this as an excuse to strengthen the power of the federal courts.

And, at the same time, further strengthen the President’s own power, which was already becoming absolute. If the judges were all fired, most of them would certainly be people who suited the President’s taste, so his power would naturally be consolidated. Maybe not in the future, but at least for now, he could gain a strong image as the ‘guardian of the law.’

If I were the President, it would be quite tempting. If the people who had to be at odds with this were not the core of power and the very foundation of support. It wasn’t that other presidents didn’t want to do it; there were reasons why they couldn’t.

“So, what are you going to do with those judges? Are you going to fire all the judges in the federal and state courts?”

The absence of court personnel was not a problem that could be solved simply with a temporary general election. Was the President going to demolish all the courts in this country? Had a latent anarchist awakened? And what would he use to demolish the courts? Tanks? Bombers? Or ICBMs [Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles] ?

As questions bred more questions among the senators, President Bush, upon hearing the answer, wore a truly dumbfounded expression.

“No, are you saying that all the judges in our United States are corrupt? To the point that the courts can’t handle it if a few corrupt judges are removed?”

The senators thought that the most high-ranking President was subtly criticizing them by pretending not to know that all the courts were corrupt, and President Bush sensed that the story wasn’t adding up. If the scale Bush was thinking of was a cozy family garden, the scale the senators were thinking of was like a million Super Bowl-sized football stadiums combined.

It was understandable that the senators thought this way. He usually ignored the words of those around him and tended to proceed with things on a grand scale, independently. He had even completely dismantled and then reconstituted the state police, which was thought to be impossible, so it was only natural to think that way. No, it would be stranger not to think that way.

Bush’s idea was roughly this: first, as an example, he would cut off all the corrupt judges who had favored certain individuals, even if they weren’t wealthy, and then enact complex and powerful laws to prevent them from doing so again.

Of course, since these were people who made a living solely from the field of law, no matter how perfect, powerful, and coercive the laws were, they would eventually be circumvented. But that’s something to be dealt with then. If you can’t even lift a finger now because you’re thinking too far into the future, that would be all for naught, wouldn’t it?

“Then what has the Congress been doing to let it get to this state?”

Even as he said this, Bush was sweating behind his back. But he couldn’t back out now, could he? Even if he had to push it in the way he envisioned later, he had to clean up this place first.

Of course, even if Bush had done it according to his original plan, it didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be a filibuster. Whatever the case, it would touch on the autonomy of the state governments and the sensitive parts of the senators.

Still, he didn’t want this kind of scale. Even if it wasn’t legislation, the most dangerous thing in politics was when something you started completely exceeded the scope you could control and was completely out of your hands.

“Oh, and there will be no filibuster this time. Because I’m going to leave first. Farewell.”

The frozen atmosphere instantly boiled over at the unprecedented declaration that he would end this short speech and leave immediately. In fact, a speech that no one would listen to was just empty words.

“What?”

“What did you say?”

Bush began to leave the Congress with a very hurried pace. What had been half-doubted when he declared it was actually happening in reality. But they couldn’t very well go and grab him to stop him, so they just stared blankly.

Then, suddenly, Bush turned around as if he had remembered something and returned to the podium. They were relieved, thinking, ‘Of course, he couldn’t end it like this.’

Anyway, Bush brought his head close to the microphone and said this:

“Oh, and drink some water on your way out.”

Whether they liked it or not, they had to maintain silence because the President had returned and opened his mouth again. It was easy to control because there were only 100 of them, not 1000. And everyone was wondering about the word ‘water,’ though they didn’t say it out loud.

Frankly, they didn’t even know if the President was really talking about water or if he was using a metaphor. However, since it was something that man was doing, they just expected it wouldn’t be ordinary.

“Don’t worry so much. It’s just tap water. The water that ordinary people drink.”

They were even more puzzled when he said it was tap water. Why suddenly drink tap water? Still, limiting it to tap water gave them some idea. They sometimes held events with the purpose of experiencing the lives of ordinary people, so it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

However, as expected, he uttered words that far exceeded their imagination.

“You are plants.”

“Excuse me, what?”

The words were so absurd that someone finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and voiced their question.

“The work you do is legislation, but because of the filibuster, the laws that should be enacted are not being enacted, so how are you any different from the plants out there? So, drink plenty of water.”

It was a verbal abuse that metaphorically and directly fed water to the entire Senate. For these words, he had actually prepared 100 glasses of tap water in advance on the way out. President Bush himself was flustered and almost forgot to say it, but he was able to slap the senators on the back of the head with only words and small actions.

As everyone became quiet again, President Bush continued.

“If you are the kind of people who are interested in filibusters, you might find it interesting to read that thick list. Then you might be more like people than plants.”

President Bush glanced over there, and the reactions were varied. Some couldn’t hold back their laughter any longer. Some were genuinely ashamed. Some were terrified because they were guilty. Some were outraged by this absurd presidential address. And some took the President’s words seriously.

The latter were the people who had been arguing that filibusters should be abolished.

“As you might have guessed, next time, I will bring a bill to abolish the filibuster, separate from this.”

Originally, President Bush was going to clean up the courts and then abolish the filibuster, but the order was changed. He left only political chaos in Congress and disappeared back to the White House.

This time, he didn’t come back to the podium, saying he had forgotten something.