![\"110816-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/110816-1.jpg\")
\n(L-R: Jake, Jon-no-h-Mac and The Blonde. Photo Socotra).<\/p>\n
Editor’s Note: Seemed like it was appropriate on this day to re-live our last election day with Admiral Showers. It was November of 2011, and we gathered, as usual, at Willow for a festive glass and raucous conversation. mac was feisty and full of energy. <\/p>\n
I recall there was a sense of optimism in the air, something that appears to be distinctly lacking, given the general contempt the electorate holds for the major party candidates in this one. I think it is well-earned, BTW, and we will see what is what this evening. I am hoping that we can survive whatever it is, and we are nothing if not a resilient nation. But I also recall being assigned a textbook to read at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces: “Hope is Not a Method,” by retied Army General Gordon Sullivan. And it is not. Vote.<\/p>\n
– Vic<\/p>\n
Mac\u2019s Election Day<\/p>\n
\n(L-R: Jake, Jon-no-h-Mac and The Blonde. Photo Socotra).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is Election Day,\u201d said Mac as he climbed up on the stool next to me at Willow. \u201cSo I did some electing myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean, Sir?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to my oncologist loaded for bear. I told him that damned medication he had me on wasn\u2019t worth it. I want a glass of wine or beer once in a while, and I said I either wanted medicine that would let me do it or I wouldn\u2019t take any.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWow,\u201d I said. \u201cThat is a huge decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Not really,\u201d smiled Mac, looking over at our buddy Holly who was holding down the Amen Corner of the bar with her infectious smile and raven-dark hair. \u201cWhat is your Happy Hour Red?\u201d he asked her with a smile. \u201cIt turns out those who don\u2019t smoke and drink don\u2019t actually live longer. It just seems that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holly held out a bottle of pinot. \u201cIt is Spinnelli Montepulcinao D\u2019Abruzzo tonight,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is easy for you to say,\u201d I remarked, swirling my glass of Pinot Grigio. \u201cBut I have to say this is a real treat to be with you as you fall off the wagon, Sir.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot to catch up on, and I am determined to do it,\u2019 said Mac firmly. \u201cAnd I would like to see the Nosh menu, if you would be so kind.\u201d Holly obliged and slid the menus over in their Willow jackets. Tracy O\u2019Grady does a new menu every day, depending on what she can get.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Old Jim still boycotting the place?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is in West Virginia teaching his last seminar. And it is not a boycott. It is a principled statement that this is not the only bar in town. Plus, Tracy teased him with the Chinese duck tacos. He is not coming back until they are on the menu.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could you know if you didn\u2019t come in to see?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was talking about having a neon sign installed outside that Tracey could turn on when the duck is ready. Sort of like the sign at TasteyCream stores when the donuts are fresh out of the fryer.\u201d
\nMac snorted and then took a sip of the red. \u201cThis is nice,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has been a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt certainly has. We were last talking about Bronson Tweedy, Dick Helm\u2019s right hand guy at CIA who recruited you to come and work on the Intelligence Community Staff with General Jack Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s right. We met at a men\u2019s club downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Cosmos?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d frowned Mac, looking up. \u201cIt was the City Tavern Club, on M Street in Georgetown. Anonymous place, no signs to mark it. Supposed to be one of the last Federalist buildings in town. I had a hell of a time finding it. Bronson was one of the original Ivy League types who joined the Agency when it was founded.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI looked him up. He was in things up to his elbows, including the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in the Congo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac smiled thinly. \u201cYes, Bronson was an interesting guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOk,\u201d I said. \u201cThe ground rules were that we could talk about anything in your Navy career, the five and a half years at DIA, and your transition to the Intelligence Community Staff. What comes after that is off limits, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. There are still some things that may be sensitive.\u201d He told me one of them, and glared at me when I started to write it down. \u201cThat is why Bronson looked favorably on me. I made some friends helping the Agency on that one. That is why they contacted me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK, the Agency time is off the table. You were there for 13 years, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac took a sip and scanned the menu, settling eventually on the pommes frites with Truffle. \u201cIt has been a long time since I had a French fry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have never had a fry like these,\u201d I said. \u201cThey are to die for, which I imagine you could if you ate them all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have decided to elect for quality of life,\u201d said Mac, flipped the menu closed and gestured at Tinkerbelle, who was getting Jake a beer from the cooler in back of the bar. \u201cI believe we will have an order of the frites,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cComing up, Admiral,\u201d said Tink, sliding the Racer 5 bottle in front of Jake.<\/p>\n
![\"110816-2\"](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/110816-2.jpg\")
\n(Dr. Harold Brown as SECDEF in the cabinet of president Jimmy Carter, 1977. Image courtesy DoD).<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold Brown interviewed me to be Deputy Director at DIA,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a three star job at the time. I went in and there was Dr. Brown and another guy, who didn\u2019t say anything, I knew him from the neighborhood in North Arlington. We got to the question, Harold didn\u2019t like my answer and the interview was over.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was the question?\u201d I asked. My phone went off, and some lady in Colorado wanted to ask me some questions about the woman who runs my web site. Renee is dynamite, and we have been at this almost seven days a week for a decade.<\/p>\n
I stepped into the vestibule and completed the call with fulsome praise. \u201cWho else would have put up with my crap for so long?\u201d I finished with a flourish. \u201cShe is magnificent.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lady thanked me and I walked back to the bar, where several attractive women from Corporate were fawning over Mac.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what was the question?\u201d I asked, when I could get his attention again. He smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarold asked me what would happen if there was a disagreement between the Chairman and the Secretary, who would I support? Where would my loyalty be?\u201d
\n\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked if it was a disagreement over a military matter. He said it was, and I said I would have to support the Chairman\u2019s military judgment over that of a political appointee.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the interview was over?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac nodded. I picked up my pen and made a note as a basket of luscious pomme frites appeared in front of Mac. He took one of the fries out of the pile and popped it into his mouth. \u201cThat is delicious,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBest I have tasted,\u201d I said. \u201cJust not on my diet any more. At least if I want to keep drinking wine.\u201d I waved at Holly for more.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all make the elections we do,\u201d said Mac firmly. \u201cI am doing it now, and I don\u2019t imagine a glass of red and a couple fries will hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, what prompted your retirement from CIA?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen my wife Billie was diagnosed with Alzheimer\u2019s,\u201d he said. \u201cI was retired two years before the Iran Contra affair broke. I knew John Poindexter and Richard Secord and all those guys. I was pretty lucky on the timing.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"110816-3\"](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/110816-3.jpg\")
\n(Richard Secord and National Security Advisor John Poindexter at the time of the Iran-Contra affair. Photos AP).<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d I said dully, thinking of my own problems with Raven’s dementia and Big Mama’s gentler version of altered reality. \u201cBut what a time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac sipped on his wine. I will have to tell you tomorrow what he said about that.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2016 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n
VOTE!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Editor’s Note: Seemed like it was appropriate on this day to re-live our last election day with Admiral Showers. It was November of 2011, and we gathered, as usual, at Willow for a festive glass and raucous conversation. mac was feisty and full of energy. I recall there was a sense of optimism in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14499,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14495\/revisions\/14499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}