The Color of Your Dreams

It would be nice to see the opening poem (song) credited to the writer and copyright holder......in fact, I think it's legally required. You can use a title, just not the lyrics......without credit.
 
link schmink, you have to credit the author if it's not you. I know of one fan fiction website that got into a shitload of trouble over not crediting a Dido song (among others, they ended up banning using material from copyrighted songs). Is it that hard to go ("The Bitch Insists on Credit" by Desmirelle - whatever the song is and who the writer/s is/are) at the end? Not everyone can 'link' for various reasons. The impression is that Exitstencil wrote it and that's dishonest, even if that's not the intent. And I'm sure that is not the intent, it's a cool song. Loved it in "The Craft".
 
III
McCarthy had done the impossible, and won the election; now he just needed to figure out what he actually wanted to do. Described as "rudderless" by aides, McCarthy commanded his staff and Democratic insiders to bring him the finest, most qualified politicians, economists, philiosophers, whoever would be fit and willing to serve in his Cabinet. When they brought their findings to him, he was in no mood to deal with it, and simply rubber-stamped most of their picks. The initial draft of the Eugene McCarthy Cabinet, based on files released from the McCarthy Presidential Library in Watkins, Minnesota, looked something like this:

  • Secretary of State: George Ball
  • Secretary of the Treasury: Kermit Gordon
  • Secretary of Defense: James M. Gavin
  • Attorney General: Ramsey Clark
  • Postmaster General: Pierre Salinger
  • Secretary of the Interior: David Brower
  • Secretary of Agriculture: Carl Sanders
  • Secretary of Commerce: Gardner Ackley
  • Secretary of Labor: Sargent Shriver
  • Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare: Robert McNair
  • Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Ralph Metcalfe
  • Secretary of Transportation: Norbert Tiemann
  • Chief of Staff: Midge Miller
  • Director of the Bureau of the Budget: Brock Adams
  • United States Trade Representative: James J. Reynolds
The Cabinet was conventional in it's unconventionality: aside from Johnson alumni in Clark and Ackley, the men were brought together from former Kennedy aides, peace activists, southern reformers and even a legendary General in James Gavin. However, the oddest choice out of the bunch was Sargent Shriver: while itself not even close to being viewed as questionable, his placement was. Shriver had long served the chief architect behind LBJ's "Great Society" programs, and was long expected to end up heading the "HEW." Yet he was the Secretary of Labor, and the Governor of South Carolina and education reform advocate Robert McNair. McCarthy would be vague on his reasoning for his whole life, but those close to him say it was out of spite against the long-reaching influence of the Kennedy's. Whatever his reasoning, it did little to endear him to the Democratic rank-and-file. However, as they couldn't go public with their disapproval or risk destroying the fragility of their position, they hesitantly supported the choice, and would choose to exert their influence another day. However, while they had backed down, the real trouble would begin when the GOP got wind of the Cabinet. Before McCarthy had even been inaugurated as President, Congressional Republicans were attempting to organize a coalition of themselves, conservative Democrats and the odd Illinois representative angered with the pick of Chicago Alderman Ralph Metcalfe, a clear insult to Mayor Richard Daley, and his attempt to bring down McCarthy in the 68 DNC. However, they were blindsided by what amounted to a preemptive strike from the White House.

In a short press conference outside of Alexandria, Virginia, McCarthy, in a move "unprecedented in its level of transparency and openness, unrivaled in our history," made public his choices for the Cabinet, and even worse for the Republican Party, the American people was receptive and even was positive to the list of names given out. It was a brilliant PR move, something that promised a significant change from the disillusionment of the Johnson years and the base corruption of Nixon, something that promised change for America. And for all the change it signified, it was a far cry from the horde of long-haired hippies, smug leftist intellectuals and unqualified hacks Nixon had warned of during the campaign, and against every impression McCarthy had given up to that point, had managed to give a semblance of unity with the Democratic base, if not the actual Congressional group of the party. Southerners were shocked with the inclusion of former Governors McNair and Carl Sanders, both men who hailed from the "Deep South." Those who longed for the glory days of the Kennedy years were of course happy with Shriver's post, but even the nearly-ceremonial position of Postmaster General was viewed as important, as former Senator and Kennedy speechwriter Pierre Salinger would prove shortly. African-Americans were astounded with the unlikely ascension of Ralph Metcalfe (although his rise was fueled out of intra-party squabbling then out of desire for racial progress), and McCarthy's bread and butter of student activists appreciated prominent Sierra Club member David Brower's push for the Secretary of the Interior. All in all, the typically divisive President-elect had assembled a group of men that offered a little something for everybody, and when time came for hearings in late January and early February, Metcalfe and Brower were the only ones who faced significant opposition, and they managed to scrape through regardless. For all intents and purposes, the McCarthy Presidnecy was up and going without delay.

But while his successor had been focused on drumming up public support for his Cabinet, President Johnson had been near-silently working on something that he would hope would further cement his legacy: the appointment of Abe Fortas as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. There was only one issue: the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Comprised of mostly moderate Senators with the deeply conservative Senator from Mississippi James Eastland as Chairman, the Committee, renowned for its fairness and clean record, was intensely opposed to Fortas, somebody who they believed was all but a puppet for Johnson himself. Fortas had deep connections with the President, having served on his initial Senate team in his run in 1948, something that rubbed many on the committee the wrong way. So, Abe Fortas made history as the first Justice ever to sit before a Senate hearing on his "promotion," and to put it bluntly, they were not kind to him. Bombarding him with barbed questions on his financial dealings, his history in the Texas political machine, and the nature of his relationship with the sitting President, Fortas was left stunned, offering only meek responses to their harsh inquiries. He looked unprofessional, weak, and worst of all, suspicious. Johnson, himself desperately trying to cap off his term in office, made a last ditch effort to get Fortas in: he calls Eugene McCarthy.

McCarthy was actually opposed to the motion, initially; not for any ideological reason, of course, but because he felt that the duty of nominating the next Chief Justice should have fallen to the next President, himself. However, Johnson would not have any of that, and in one last ride in the last days of Presidency, he used some of the old tricks he learned back when he was the Senate Majority Leader. Although the Judiciary Committee held a wide range of political beliefs, he framed the issue has a battle between the right and the left, and if McCarthy struck while the iron was hot and took the opportunity to back Fortas, conservatives throughout Congresa would be weakened, allowing for him to take the middle and get his more controversial legislation through with little issue. While McCarthy was loathe to support Johnson, the offer was tantalizing, and after a day of deliberation, he accepted the deal, and made a call of his own. While we may never know the exact details of their conversation, what we do is that McCarthy personally threatened to destroy James Eastland's career no matter the cost, and that only a few days later, Fortas received his 2/3 vote to end all discussion on his nomination, and was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Johnson had secured his legacy before the tides of change could sweep him away, and when McCarthy succeeded him as President, he could rest easy knowing that his presence would still be felt on the Court, in Congress, and across the nation.
 
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