True Lies - Redux

"Unfortunately modern liberalism is an almost complete inversion of classical liberalism. Modern liberalism has been suborned by Marxism and various other "isms" that can all sure sound like great improvements over the simple Christian based moral and philosophical basics, but inevitably support real evil totalitarianism sooner or later. Modern liberalism is advancing on all fronts and slowly gaining political control of the United States. We can't stop that, if it eventually succeeds legitimately - through the standard voting and political process - and we aren't trying to fight that. However, we WILL monitor and interfere with any and all non-legitimate processes to accelerate this destruction of classic liberal USA, and that's happening on all fronts in many ways as well. And especially involving now foreign polities and worldwide socio-religious groups like radical Islam and Comintern.

"Ultimately we will probably fail. And when the leftist "liberal" dictatorship finally arrives, you and I and all our comrades will be hunted down ceaselessly and eliminated ruthlessly. You've studied the French and Russian Revolutions, yes? It will be like that or worse.

"So - you can leave now and just focus on your personal life and troubles, if you want to. We can even help you out a lot - with a very high-paying and prestigious position at a well-known conservative NGO - $300,000 a year to start. Even with your wife, at least. We can even bring down that asshole Grayson Peterson III in a very public and embarrassing way and eliminate him from your wife's life. I guarantee it. Consider all this merely what you've really already earned plus a bribe to insure your own continued discretion about all this. So?"

There was silence for more than a few seconds as I digested a lot of this. I wasn't really all THAT surprised. You can learn a lot just keeping your eyes and ears open and your mouth mostly closed. Sure, intelligence agents needed SOME level of secrecy and privacy to merely guard against revenge and payback to oneself and family - but what I had to live with was really exceptional. I even had a "double" that filled in for me in a kind of shadowy way whenever I was out of the country for a week or more. Not that he ever slept with my wife or anything - just seemed to be me arriving and leaving "home" when both my wife and I were absent - her legitimately for work and me overseas on some assignment or other.

Finally I just said, "Or? Is there a second and maybe a third door? What if I want to stick around?"

"Then I'd say your marriage is definitely over, at least for now and probably permanently. That's not negotiable, by the way. You never should have married and certainly not someone like her. We probably slipped up letting that happen, but in all honesty your training officer never thought you could pull it off anyway..."

Damn. He was right and I knew it. I didn't even want to think back to those halcyon days - not right now, it was all too painful. Time to bite the bullet.

"OK, damn it." Sigh. "I'm in. All the way. I'll start the divorce tomorrow."

"Are you absolutely sure? If you change your mind later, I can't promise it won't be quite a bit messier than right now..."

"As long as you're not shittin' me. If I start feeling about anything at all that you haven't been straight with me - well then, all deals and all vows are off. Right?"

"Fair enough. This is all pretty much Gentlemen's Agreement and it has to be. And it's always trust but verify with all of us. We keep each other honest - peer to peer and top to bottom but also bottom to top.

"Now. Business. First of all, don't file for divorce or anything else with Rachel. Let that play out a little bit and Rachel and her new paramour are actually "people of interest" to us right now. He's a player in that whole current Iran fiasco and she and her law firm are now as well. Nothing about this whole stinkin' mess seems to be in the best interests of the USA or any true liberal values worldwide. Can you play the role of whiny depressed dumped husband OK? Be honest - I can get you some excellent help - counseling AND acting - if you have the slightest doubts?"

"I can do it. I won't slip up like I did at that softball game last night and even by cold bloodedly leaving her as I did. I'll act like I was just faking it and be all distraught from here on out with her, while pumping her for info as much as I can. Can you help me by getting some pictures of her and him in the press together, maybe with some ET "gossip" plugs or blog articles? I don't want her to even think I've hired a PI or anything like that getting the dirt."

"Let me consult with my people and I'll let you know. I think it's also time to move you out of that GSA building and into another one of our even more secure locations and I'll assign you a real case manager for this and some other things that are now in the works. We'll make it seem like an actual demotion and you'll be getting less "official" salary, but you'll also receive an unlimited AX card you can use for anything and everything. The best thing about it is that YOU won't ever actually see the bill or have to pay it."

"I'm glad - and honored - you decided to stay with us. We've invested a lot in you and we have always felt you had great potential for doing good - and for all the best reasons. I hope it works out well for us all but I am just afraid we're only plugging a few of way too many holes in the dike against encroaching darkness. Ah, well - I get too pessimistically philosophical at times. Where can I drop you off, now? Just back at your former work building?"