Bank of America’s retreat show limit of corporate power

When Bank of America retreated from its plan to charge a $5 fee to its account holders who use debit cards, it was a victory for consumers. Bank of America’s announcement of the fee a month ago sparked widespread anger and was a factor in the birth of the Occupier movement.

Many on the left are suspicious and angry at corporations. A common theme among progressives is that the government is more responsive to the people because government officials are elected by and are responsible to the people. On the other hand, this view holds that corporations are responsible only to their officers and shareholders, people whom consumers have no voice in choosing. The Bank of America saga gives lie to this idea.

Even though Bank of America can rightly be considered an international mega-corporation, the prospect of hemorrhaging account holders and deposits brought it to its knees in a matter of weeks. Consumers exercise this same power over almost every corporation in existence. Consumers have the right to fire any company that does not earn their business. If the company is fired by enough customers, it will either change its ways or go bankrupt.  Corporations can only thrive and survive by giving people what they want.

A similar corporate turnaround occurred several decades ago with an Atlanta-based mega-corporation. In 1985, Coca-Cola decided to replace its century-old soft drink recipe with a new one. The introduction of New Coke went down in the annals of business history as “the biggest marketing blunder of all time.” It took Coke about six weeks to bring back the original formula as Coca-Cola Classic. New Coke has not been produced since 2002.

It is only in the rare case of a monopoly that companies have little incentive to try to please customers. There are very few monopolies today, however. Federal antitrust laws allow the government to veto mergers and break up companies that control too large a share of their markets. Standard Oil and “Ma” Bell Telephone are two examples of mega-corporations that were broken up by the federal government. Most monopolies today exist only in cooperation with government. Local cable television and telephone monopolies are examples.

Even where monopolies do exist, technology is making them less of a factor. Cable companies are vulnerable to competition from satellite television providers such as Dish Network and streaming web content on sites like Hulu.com. Landline telephones are increasingly an anachronism as they are replaced by wireless telephones and voice-over-internet phone calls.

The only real monopoly that exists in the United States today is government. No American has any choice when it comes to dealing with the government. Taxes must be paid to the IRS. Cars must be registered with the DMV. There is no alternative to participating in Social Security and Medicare.

In 2010, the federal government made a marketing blunder on the level of New Coke. Over the loud objections of a majority of the American people, Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare. According to Rasmussen, immediately after passage of the law, Americans favored its repeal by a margin of 55-42 percent. In the most recent poll, repeal is still favored by 54-39 percent, yet Congress continues to reject legislation to do just that.

It is true that elected officials can be fired by their constituents, but only at multi-year intervals. Many congressmen were fired in 2010 and, if the current mood persists, many more will be fired in 2012. On the other hand, the nameless bureaucrats that operate the machinery of government on a daily basis are untouchable to normal citizens and are even difficult for their bosses to fire. In contrast, normal citizens can fire any corporation that they do business with at any time.

Consumers should also remember why Bank of America decided to start charging the $5 fee to its customers in the first place. The move came as a result of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, which also became law in 2010. The law limited the amount that banks could charge merchants for using debit cards. Since banks couldn’t charge merchants, Bank of America decided to charge its cardholders. Despite the public outcry, Congress shows no signs of repealing this law either.

Read this article on Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/bank-of-america-s-retreat-shows-limits-of-corporate-power

Evil corporations

I have heard a lot of my liberal friends talk and post articles about how corporations are evil.  The large, multinational corporation has taken on the role of generic bad guy in countless movies from “Robocop” to “Wall Street.”  A memorable “Saturday Night Live” satirical commercial touted the Atlantic Puppy Grinding Company (slogan:  Sure, it’s evil, but think of the jobs).  In real life, liberals have deemed corporations from Big Oil to health insurance companies to be evil. 

Robocop (Karl Palutke)

My opinion has always been that corporations are like tools and other inanimate objects:  They are not capable of being either good or evil.  They only reflect the intentions and actions of the people that control them. 

Health insurance companies are accused of being evil because they allegedly profit from people’s illnesses.  In reality, health insurance companies come in at 90 when Yahoo Finance ranks industries by profit margin.  Ironically, this is significantly behind property and casualty insurance companies (ranked 65) that sell auto and home insurance and are rarely accused of being evil.  Health insurance companies have a net profit margin of 7.8 percent, which is far less than the 52.9 percent net profit margin of magazine publishers (ranked second), but most publishers aren’t considered evil either. 

When carefully considered, it is apparent that health insurance companies do not profit from people’s illnesses.  When people get sick and go to the doctor, the insurance company has to pay money out, so the insurance company loses money if their policy holders get sick.  If too many policy holders get sick and the insurance company has to pay out more money than planned, the company does not make a profit at all. 

Similarly, some insurance companies have been accused of denying claims in order to save money and increase profits.  Claim denials happen for several reasons.  A common reason is that the claims paperwork is submitted incorrectly.  If the doctor’s office puts the wrong code on the claim form, then the insurance company will normally deny the claim. 

A second common reason for denied claims is that the service is not covered by the policy.  Simply put, an insurance policy is a contract and both the policy holder and the insurer must abide by the written contractual agreement.  If an insurer refuses to pay legitimate claims, it will not only find itself without customers, it will also run afoul of the courts and state regulators.  If your health insurance claim is denied you can appeal or complain to state regulators.  In Georgia, you can contact the state Insurance Commissioner at gainsurance.org.  Many claims are paid when resubmitted after an initial denial.

(Chad Teer)

In 2009, Politifact.com examined an ad by a California nurses union that stated that insurance companies denied over twenty percent of claims.  Politifact found that the ad counted numerous claims that were denied to bureaucratic errors such as sending the claim to the wrong company and that were later paid.  Two other studies showed that the actual denial rate was much lower, between two and six percent.

In reality, health insurance companies aren’t evil.  Health insurance companies help people to pool their resources to allow them to cover health expenses without having to drain their bank accounts or sell their assets.  Health insurance companies provide a valuable public service. 

Oil companies are another industry that is commonly believed to be evil.   There are several categories of oil and gas companies on the Yahoo Finance list, but the Major Integrated Oil and Gas Companies, ranking 106, is comprised of what most people think of as Big Oil.  This industry has a net profit margin of 6.5 percent, even less than health insurance companies. 

One reason that oil companies are considered evil is simply because oil and gas prices are high.  In reality, over the last half century many oil producing nations have nationalized oil fields and refineries and renegotiated contracts with oil companies.  OPEC, a cartel made up of twelve of the world’s largest oil producing nations, controls about 75 percent of the world’s oil reserves according to Harvard International Review.   According to National Journal, OPEC members account for over forty percent of world oil production.  This means that OPEC exerts a powerful influence on oil prices.  To a great extent, oil companies must take or leave the price, called the basket price, set by OPEC. 

One way to solve this problem is to expand the supply of oil not controlled by OPEC.  If the US expands oil exploration and drilling domestically, it will reduce the power of OPEC and help to bring oil and gas prices down.  Americans for Tax Reform estimates that offshore oil drilling in Georgia’s coastal waters would be worth $79 million annually to Georgia’s economy.  President Obama opened Georgia’s waters to offshore drilling in 2010, but after the BP oil spill the federal government all but stopped issuing permits for new offshore oil wells.

Oil companies are also considered evil because they are perceived to be polluters and environmentally irresponsible.  It is true that there have been a number of high profile oil spills that were catastrophic in nature.  However, the Manhattan Institute notes that these catastrophic accidents typically occur twenty to thirty years apart (although there are smaller spills on a more frequent basis) and are becoming rarer.  The institute also notes a study by the National Research Council that found that the ocean floor naturally seeps more petroleum than is spilled by humans.  The difference is that this seepage does not normally rise to the surface and is not readily apparent.  Drilling may actually reduce natural seepage by relieving pressure of the underground oil reservoirs. 

Oil companies aren’t really evil either.  They just provide a product that most of need to go about our daily lives.  Without oil, not only would most of us not be able to go to work, we may not have jobs to go to.  In addition to fueling vehicles and machinery, petroleum is used in the manufacture of thousands of products from medicines to cosmetics to clothing.  Further, at present there is no viable alternative to using oil to fuel modern society.  No other energy source is as cheap, plentiful and efficient as oil.

Corporations can do evil things.  Corporations sometimes break the law.  They may pollute, embezzle funds, or mistreat employees.  These examples may be the result of carelessness rather than intentional evil, however.  This might also be caused by a small number of company officers acting on their own rather than representing the policy and goals of the company as a whole.  Doing a bad thing doesn’t necessarily mean that a company is evil.  So are there any truly evil companies?

The closest thing that I can think of to a truly evil corporation or industry is the tobacco industry.  According to tobacco.org, as early as 1855, a report of the New York Anti-Tobacco Society called it a “fashionable poison” and warned against its addictive properties and the high death toll it caused among smokers.  By 1950, scientific studies were showing the links between smoking and lung cancer.  In 1957, Leroy Burney became the first US Surgeon General to publicly state that there was link between smoking and cancer.  In 1965, Congress passed the Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act which required warning labels on cigarette packages.  By 1999, even tobacco giant Phillip Morris had to admit that “there is no safe cigarette.”

When confronted with the news that their product was killing their customers, the tobacco companies were faced with the choice of changing their line of products or trying to make them safer.  Instead of diversifying into nonlethal products, they chose to cover up how dangerous tobacco is.  Leaked documents cited by “Frontline” on PBS, such as the Addison Yeaman memo, show that the tobacco companies were aware of unhealthy effects of nicotine and tobacco as early as the 1960s, even though tobacco company executives denied, under oath, that tobacco use was addictive while testifying to Congress in 1994 and again when forty states filed a class action suit against the tobacco industry in 1998.  Instead of educating consumers, the tobacco industry created the Tobacco Institute to create friendly research studies and counter reports that showed the dangers of smoking.  The Tobacco Institute also allegedly pressured scientists to “take a more advocative position” against anti-smokers.  The institute was disbanded after the Master Settlement Agreement in 1998, but according to a 2004 Reuters report archived by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the pressure on scientists continued as the tobacco industry fought to prove that second-hand smoke was harmless. 

In addition to covering up the effects of smoking, the tobacco industry actively tried to make it harder for smokers to quit.  WebMD cites studies by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Harvard School of Public Health that showed that the average nicotine levels in cigarettes increased by eleven percent over the seven year period from 1998 to 2005.  Nicotine is the substance in tobacco that produces good feelings and causes an addiction for smokers.  By increasing the amount of nicotine that is absorbed by a smoker’s body, the tobacco companies made their product more addictive and, consequently, made it more difficult to stop smoking. 

Among its other effects, nicotine also may increase the body’s metabolic rate, which is why some people smoke cigarettes to lose weight.  However, as howstuffworks.com notes, smoking to lose weight “doesn't give you any of the health benefits that you'd get if you were losing weight by exercising -- it actually does the opposite.”  Nicotine can increase the level of bad cholesterol and lead to damage to the arteries.  This leads to an elevated risk of heart attack and stroke.

The resistance of the tobacco companies helped to make tobacco the leading killer in the United States.  According to the CDC, 443,000 Americans die prematurely from tobacco use every year.  Another 8.6 million live with serious illnesses caused by tobacco use.  Many of these tobacco casualties are nonsmokers, including children, who are exposed to secondhand smoke.  Diseases linked to tobacco include heart disease, lung cancer, emphysema, respiratory infections, cardiovascular diseases, ear problems, asthma, and even sudden infant death syndrome. 

As older smokers died and fewer adults started smoking, tobacco companies targeted children, women and minorities.  The American Heart Association points out that ad campaigns like the one featuring Joe Camel were specifically aimed at young people who could not legally buy cigarettes.  If kids start smoking before they know better, the chances are pretty good that they will be hooked for decades, if not for the rest of their lives.  The AHA notes that other ad campaigns also targeted members of minority groups and women, particularly those of limited education and low socioeconomic status.  The Georgia Department of Community Health agrees that Georgians without a high school education are more likely to smoke than those who have graduated.  Ironically, Georgians without health insurance are more than twice as likely to smoke as those who do. In Georgia, a smoker’s average lifespan is sixteen years shorter than that of a nonsmoker.

Tobacco use is a personal topic for me.  Tobacco cut a giant swath through my family in northeast Georgia.  Both of my grandfathers died tobacco-related deaths.  My father’s father, Pelham Thornton, died in 1965 before the effects of smoking were commonly known.  A farmer in Elbert County, Ga., he smoked Camels, chewed cigars, and rolled his own cigarettes made from Prince Albert tobacco.  In his last years, he coughed and hacked a lot, as well as having problems with his arteries. 

My mother’s father, Lonnie Denney, was a store owner in Vanna, Ga.  He smoked Lucky Strikes.  Lonnie wasn’t a heavy smoker.  My mom says that one pack would last him several days.  After suffering several lip cancers, he began using a cigarette holder.  On a trip to Helen, Ga. my mom heard him say that he was smoking his last cigarette and watched him grind the butt into the ground with his shoe.  Unfortunately, the damage had been done.  The next day he suffered a massive heart attack.  It did not kill him, however.  Lonnie would suffer a total of seven heart attacks and a stroke before he passed away in 1972 when I was one year old. 

Two favorite uncles were also victims of tobacco.  Singleton Jarrett Waters Hunt, lived in Wilmington, N.C. after retiring from the army.  Uncle Sing smoked Chesterfields.  One day while eating in a restaurant, he realized he was having a heart attack and drove himself to the emergency room.  When he went inside, the attendant on duty refused to let him park in front of the ER in spite of his attempts to explain that he was having a heart attack.  When he failed to persuade the attendant, he went back outside, moved his car, and then went back inside where he was finally treated.  After surviving this heart attack, I remember him describing how a doctor told him that he could either “quit smoking or quit living.”  Uncle Sing also quit, but died a few years later in 1993 of another heart attack or a stroke.  I’m not sure which.

Another uncle, James Starr of Royston, Ga. was a retired postal worker who smoked Winstons.  Uncle James was a heavy smoker, but was finally able to quit.  Like Lonnie, however, it was too late.  Several years later, he contracted throat cancer and died two days before Christmas in 1995.  I remember many others as well.  I can only guess how many members of my family were killed by tobacco that I don’t remember.

My own father, Don Thornton, was a pipe smoker and user of chewing tobacco when he was younger.  He successfully quit using tobacco to set a good example for my brother and me when we were growing up.  After having quit using tobacco at a younger age, my dad is still alive and healthy.  He and my mom own Nuberg Bargains and Treasures, an antique and secondhand store, in Dewy Rose, Ga.  I will always be grateful for the extra years that he gained by quitting tobacco, as well as the good example that he set. 

Untold thousands of people around the world grew up not knowing their parents, grandparents, or other relatives because the smoker did not know the dangers of tobacco until it was too late.  How many people, like my grandfathers and uncles, would not choose to live an extra fifteen to twenty years and see their children and grandchildren grow up if they had the chance? 

The good news is that the smoking rate is slowly declining.  The CDC reports that only twenty-one percent of adults currently smoke.  The bad news is that almost twenty percent of high school students have smoked cigarettes within the past month.  Given the addictive properties of tobacco, it seems that the tobacco companies are growing a new generation of tobacco-addicted Americans.  In Georgia, the Department of Community Health estimates that eighteen percent of Georgians currently smoke cigarettes.  Disturbingly, the highest rates of smoking are found in younger Georgians.

Even in the face of overwhelming evidence of the dangers of smoking, tobacco companies continue to sell their products.  The Master Settlement Agreement of 1998 cost the industry $246 billion through 2025, but they continue to sell their products, probably in part because all levels of government depend on the tax revenues from tobacco sales.   As tobacco use has declined in the United States, the tobacco companies have increased tobacco exports to developing nations.

Tobacco is one of the few, perhaps the only product, that when used as intended, results in harm and possibly death to the user.  In effect, tobacco users are paying for the privilege of poisoning themselves with tobacco products.  Even in the case of guns, the product does not necessarily injure or kill people when used correctly, although like many other products, including everything from cars to chainsaws to a simple knife, they can be extremely dangerous when used incorrectly.  A moderate amount of alcohol can be beneficial, but even one cigarette per day can seriously damage your health.  More than anything else, tobacco companies are like the street dealers who sell illicit drugs.  The big difference is that their product is legal.

So when faced with the fact that their product was killing their customers, tobacco companies first covered up the evidence for almost half a century as the people who used their product died by the thousands.  When they could not cover up the dangers of smoking any longer, the tobacco companies increased the addictiveness of their cigarettes to make it harder for smokers to quit.  They also targeted students who were less likely to be aware of, or care about, the long term negative effects of smoking, as well as exporting their wares to other, less developed, countries.  Fifty years after the links between smoking and premature death were inextricably proven, the tobacco companies are still selling billions of dollars worth of tobacco around the world each year.

Maybe some corporations are evil.

A world without America

The President awoke with a start. His head swam for a moment as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and tried to remember where he was. He was in his bedroom in the White House, of course, but what had awakened him? As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw a dim figure standing beside his bed.

Not recognizing the man, he tensed. “Who are you? Who let you in here?” he demanded. Where was the Secret Service when you needed them?

He could see more clearly now. The man was an elderly white man dressed in an old suit, bow tie and fedora. Tufts of white hair could be seen under his hat. At the sight of his kind and friendly face, the President relaxed somewhat.

The man began to speak in quiet tones. “Well, good morning, Mr. President. Don’t worry. I’m not here to hurt you. But don’t worry about calling for help. You are the only one who can see or hear me.”

“Who are you?” demanded the President again.

“Why, I’m an angel. Name’s Clarence. Don’t you recognize me?” the man replied.

“Is this some kind of joke?” the President barked. The man did look like the angel from that old movie. But that would be crazy.

“No joke, Mr. President. You are being given a gift. My Boss saw your interview last night. The one where you said that America is exceptional in the same way that the British believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. You told the interviewer that the US is arrogant. My Boss thinks you see your country as international bully.”

The President thought before he spoke. “Well, that is somewhat true. This country is just a country. I love this country, but it is no better or special than any other country. In fact, we’ve done a lot worse than many countries. We’re imperialists and our corporations spread greed and misery around the globe. We almost annihilated the Native Americans. And, what’s more, if I lived a hundred and fifty years ago, I might well be a slave. Why the world would probably be a better place if America never existed. There would be more peace and stability in the world.”

Clarence smiled, “Well, that’s the gift that I brought you. You and I are going to see what the world would be like if the United States of America had never existed. Are you ready to fly?”

“Fly? I didn’t think you had wings,” the President replied. “Besides, I think I’d better stay here. I don’t want to upset the Secret Service.

“Oh yes,” Clarence answered. “I got my wings years ago. I’m an excellent flyer now. And don’t worry! We’ll be back before anybody knows you’re gone.”

Clarence snapped his fingers and suddenly he and the President are flying through the night. The President realized that somehow he is now dressed in his suit and tie. Both men were wearing overcoats against the cold night wind.

After a short flight, they arrived in a bleak war-torn city. It looked to the President like the fighting has passed long ago, but its effects were never fully erased. Soldiers patrolled the streets while civilians carefully avoided them as much as possible. The President saw soldiers taking handcuffed civilians from an apartment building to waiting trucks.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“This is one of many cities in this shape in Europe,” Clarence answered. “It doesn’t matter which one. These countries have been fought over repeatedly in twentieth century. Do you realize that the United States has saved the free world no less than three times in the past hundred years?”

The President answered, “You’re talking about World War I and II. I know history. But there was no third world war.”

“Wasn’t there?” Clarence asked. “You’re right that the United States arrived just in time to break the deadlock of WWI. Then, in WWII, it entered late again before riding to the rescue. Before entering WWII formally, the US still provided aid to England and Russia through the Lend-Lease Act that enabled them to survive until the US entered the war.

“But don’t discount the Cold War. Stalin would have taken Europe – and as much of the rest of the world as he could – just as Hitler tried to do. It was the United States that kept the communists in check, mostly through peaceful means, but occasionally through military action. Even with America countering them, the communists killed far more people than the Nazis. Imagine the horror if America had not existed.

Clarence went on, “Without the United States, not only was there no force to tip the scales against the armies of darkness, there would also have been no aid to rebuild Europe. The American military prevented ruthless dictatorships from sending their armies and secret police to crack down on the people who lived here. The American Marshall Plan provided money to help rebuild the wreckage of Europe. Without America, there is no freedom here. There is only poverty and fear.”

“Okay,” said the President. “I admit that our help was valuable against the Germans and the Russians, but we’ve lost our way today. We are engaged in imperialist wars and globalism that we created is causing problems around the world. Remember Abu Graibh?”

“That’s not quite true, Mr. President,” Clarence answered gently. “Both the wars that we are fighting now are really part of one war. It is a struggle against Muslim extremists. These people are like the Nazis and communists in that they have no respect for human life and are bent on control of the world. Resisting them is protecting the world just as surely as fighting Hitler was.

“Abu Graibh was a terrible tragedy,” he went on, “but torture was not part of US policy. Even waterboarding was only used on very few prisoners and then only when time was of the essence in order to prevent attacks and save lives. Now, let’s go fly again.”

From the bleak police state, Clarence and the President traveled to a small jungle village. The men are no longer wearing their coats. In the jungle heat, their shirt sleeves are rolled up, though they still wear ties.

The President noted the flimsy huts. The villagers wear threadbare, tattered clothing and most have no shoes. Their gaunt frames show that food is in short supply. The President hears wailing and turns to see villagers bearing the body of a small child, ready for burial.

“What is this place?” the President asked, shaken at the sight of the dead child.

“This is one of thousands of villages around the world,” Clarence answered. “That child could have been saved if America existed.

“American farmers help to feed the world,” said Clarence. “If the United States existed here, these people might not be starving. The US is one of the largest agricultural producers in the world. It is a top producer of most major food crops. When there is a disaster, much of this food goes to those in need. Remember the famines in Ethiopia and Somalia, the Southeast Asian tsunami, and the Haitian earthquake? American food and aid was there.

“America didn’t just bring food and medicine, though,” Clarence continued. “American ingenuity has led to countless inventions to raise the standard of living around the world. These American ideas make life easier as well as save lives around in villages like this. When the miners were trapped in Chile, it was American companies that made the mining equipment that helped to rescue them.

“Without America, many medicines are never invented. Twelve of the top twenty pharmaceutical companies in the world are American. Admittedly, these medicines cost money. Without earning money for its products, the drug companies couldn’t research new medicines. But to balance that out, Americans are the most generous people on Earth. America gives more to charity than any other country. The second-place nation gives less than half of America’s contributions.

“On top of that, Americans volunteer at a rate higher than almost any other country. Many of these volunteers are part of religious groups that raise their own support to come to small villages in every corner of the world to teach children, build bridges, show more efficient agriculture techniques, or help the natives reduce disease through modern sanitation,” Clarence said.

“But what about the greedy multinational corporations?” the President blurted.

“Globalization has been good for the world’s poor,” Clarence answered. Much of the world is still poor, but the countries that take part in the world economy have better standards of living, better schooling, and longer life spans than those who don’t. American multinational corporations could be providing jobs for these villagers. The best welfare is a good job. What seems like a low wage to westerners can be a huge boon to family in a third world country.

“What you see as greed is in most Americans a drive to better themselves. They want to work hard to make a better life for their families. American ingenuity is comprised of a competitive streak to find a better, cheaper way to do business. When businesses are successful, they provide jobs for others to support themselves and their families. The money made and paid by businesses also fuels more charity.”

“But you never answered my original points,” the President objected. “This is still a racist country that enslaved Africans and killed Native Americans. We are imperialists who have attacked peaceful nations for oil.”

Clarence shook his head sadly. “No, America is not racist, though there are racists who live there. Slavery was a fact of life around the world for centuries. In fact, it was Americans who banded together to form the first anti-slavery society in the world. Long before slavery was banned in the America, the US Navy was trying to stop the slave trade.

“The Indian wars were tragic also, but again were not a uniquely American evil,” Clarence said. “All around the world, ‘civilized’ nations collided with natives and the natives always lost. At least in America, there were always people who tried to assimilate the Indians, rather than kill them. And don’t forget that the Indians were fighting among themselves long before the white settlers arrived.

“As far as imperialism, the United States has never been much of an imperial power,” Clarence said. “Oh, there have been a few presidents who thought otherwise, but generally American soldiers leave a conquered country better than they found it. They go where they are sent, and they aren’t sent to peaceful nations. When the fighting is over, they rebuild what was destroyed, train a new army and government, set the country on the course to democracy, then leave, keeping only enough territory to bury their dead.”

As he finished speaking, Clarence again snapped his fingers and the President was suddenly back in his White House bedroom. He looked down and realized that he was back in his pajamas. As he looked around the dark room, he saw the sleeping form of the First Lady. The White House was quiet. There were no alarms, no frantic activity. Clarence had been right. He had not been missed.

Clarence still stood before the President. He looked at the President with serious eyes. “I hope that you have seen a different side to your country. It has been a special nation in history and in the eyes of my Boss.”

“Yes,” the President nodded. “I see it with different eyes now.”

“Good,” Clarence nodded approvingly, “because I have another gift for you. The Boss gave me a special message for you. He wants you to know that He has special plans for America. I don’t know what they are -I’m not privy to that- but He is keeping a close eye on you. You will be facing some big decisions in the next few years. Don’t forget that you can talk to the Boss anytime. Good luck.”

With that, Clarence gave the President a cheery wave and disappeared like smoke being dispersed by the wind. The President stood for a moment, staring at the empty space that Clarence had occupied a few seconds before.

Gradually, he stirred himself to movement and walked across the room to an intercom. He pressed the button and said “hello” into the box.

A voice at the other end answered, “Yes, Mr. President? You’re up late this evening.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” the President replied. “Please send in some coffee. I think I’m going to be up for a while rewriting that Veteran’s Day speech for tomorrow. Those guys don’t get nearly enough credit.”

==

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real people is coincidental.