the consultant

Gretchen sat down after checking in at the flight counter and looked contemplatively out through the great glass windows of the airport corridor. The sky had a look of washed out blue as the sun burst through clouds like radiant silver. Looking out beyond the black runway at the bleach white snow remaining from the morning, she mused, 'This will be...'

A mobile rang, jarring her. Thinking it was her own, she instinctively reached into her handbag when she heard a strong Texas baritone drawl say 'Hello' from the seat behind her.

The strong voice continued 'yup ... yup ... an'?'

'If she wants a dog to kick, tell'er to go find one that's agreeable.'

'Hmm. She wants the burly butcher with the manhood of a eunuch.'

He chuckled.

'Politics is war, my friend, and she wants a tea party, so ...'

'No, Jack, and she ain't gonna win the primary by ... excuse me, Jack ...'

'Look what the other side of the aisle has. Those two aren't women. They're carnivores. Hell, they eat their own. And she hopes to be fightin' one of'em in the general.'

'Then tell her to fire her staff, and hire people with thick hides, stainless steel backbones, cast iron guts, and brawny brains.'

'Go soft soap someone else, if you think ...'

'It's possible.'

'Let's get things straight, Jack. I'll cancel this flight out and return, under these conditions ...'

'Wait a ...'

He breathed a deep sigh.

'I don't get involved in office politics.'

'You know my rule. I set up the expectations and contract to reflect it.'

'She knew my reputation comin' in. She knows how I work. I told her strategy, tactics, counsel, advice, recommendations, findin's, criticisms and critiques will serve her campaign, her platform, her personal interests, her alone, an'll be objective to boot. And one proof of it is that everyone in'er camp will probably find somethin' that'll piss'em off.'

'Their karma ain't tailored for me. It'll be their problem.'

'Then let me explain matters this way, Jack. She has a target for me to hit. She has one chance at it. I won't spend my time ridin' and guidin' an arrow to dodge in an' out, up an' down an' around some dumb jackass wannabe campaign gurus that get in the way of the bullseye. If I have to, I'll shoot'em first, then shoot the target. Get the picture?'

'You know better. I don't make friends with competin' agendas. And I can't be bought with a pretty face, so don't pull that bunny from the hat again. My name's worth more than a twenty minute carnival ride.'

His laugh was long and barely audible.

'Stop. You made your point.'

'Sure. Everybody wants the best. But some want the best advisor, others, the best mascot. She needs to make a choice and keep it.'

'I didn't hear ya ... she's on the ... take your time. I'll wait.'

'You certain?'

'Then she's mine, lock, stock and barrell. And she'll win. And, Jack, the fee just went up 20.'

'Yes. We understand each other. We always have.'

'Let me know if she accepts the bump.'

'Oh, I'll be here waitin'. Take all the time you need of the next fifteen minutes you got before this flight leaves.'
. . . . .

artificial intelligence

artificial intelligence: a semantic world that acts on how it feels no matter what it thinks.

the famished

Lacking knowledge and skills needed for the professional esteem they impatiently crave, the famished for identity earnestly seek. So they take and copy what they believe are the characteristics and vocabulary of those they find and deem competent. Yet the famished wish, while acquiring, to be regarded as complete, and any acquisitions to 'talent' incidental finishing touches that make them divine. While quietly building their house, they want us to keep our focus on their pretty picket fences.

innocence

Innocence is the absence of all virtues and the need for none.

lie in power

People occasionally need power, and in a lie they acquire it quickly. In deed, in an instant. Sadly they do not realize that the power is not in them but in the lie. They ride the tiger of their creation but are not its master; fall and they are its prey.

toleration terminal

Your unhappiness will extend as far as your toleration.

so what If you know

What good is it if you know everything about Ceasar, if you cannot think like him?

objects of remarks

He looked over the top of the magazine he was reading and added, 'After 30 years of practice, Freud couldn't figure out what women wanted.' With a shrug, she replied in a bored tone, 'It doesn't matter. They'll never get it.'
. . . . .

training the right person

Can train a hunting dog to be obedient, but you can't train a lapdog to hunt.

a prince in the household

If God in Heaven is the King of the Universe,
and I am a child of God,
then I am a prince in the household of God,
a nobleman in His kingdom,
and so I shall live this way among men.

love's essense

Love's essense is a continual promise continually satisfied.

the window

Be like the window; light passes both ways.

not accepting what is

We are motivated by not accepting what is.

common still

Though uniqueness is the preference of many, we are what we are because of the common.

statement by the chair

The old manager had a framed statement on the wall beside the chair job candidates were asked to sit. It read, 'I require much and offer much and only want people who want both.'

turn the knob to open

It's as though we have been sent from Heaven to live in a closet with instructions to turn the knob to open the door back to it.

first within

If a woman has no beauty within she has no beauty at all.

will

We live to learn to train our wills.