Connie was summoned to the office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms for having leaked information about Senator Beale’s role in moving the administration’s agenda forward. This is her encounter.
“Ms. Simpson. You know why you are here. In a few minutes, I will be turning you over to agents with the FBI, but first I have a few things I want to say. In the many years I’ve had the honor to serve the senate, I’ve never had to deal with such an outright betrayal as yours. You have violated the integrity of this august body, one with a powerful history reaching back over two hundred years. It’s people like you, who smear the reputations of some of the finest public servants to have ever walked the earth. I can’t imagine why you’ve done this, but I hope you’ll spend an eternity in hell for the shame you’ve brought to this institution.”
Connie remained silent while enduring this man’s verbal assault. His face was red and puffy, only amplifying his moral outrage. He simply stared at her, awaiting a response, perhaps expecting her to fall to her knees and beg for forgiveness in a fit of tears and remorse. He was about to get something entirely different. She leaned forward in her chair, crossed her hands on the table, and in her most dignified manner, responded in a soft, calculated voice.
“Dear, sir. While I appreciate your frankness, I find your righteous indignation amusing. As long as you’ve been here, I have no doubt you’ve witnessed some exemplary statesmanship, but unless you’re the fool of fools, I’m sure you’ve also been privy to some of humanity’s most despicable treachery. I’ve worked in the senate for much longer than you. This august nature of which you speak is only an illusion and you should well know that. You are either a fool who is blinded by your idealism or you are party to the shenanigans, or dare I say it, the evil that haunts these halls on a daily basis.
“When you speak of the reputation of which I have supposedly tarnished, is it the one that has managed to garner a fourteen percent approval rating from the people it purports to serve? Is that the one? Have you considered just how sheltered you must be to consider that reputation something of which you should be proud? Do you not tire of the constant mental gymnastics it takes to convince yourself of your high-minded superiority? I know I did. I got tired of trying to convince myself that the vast majority of the country was stupid, illiterate, or simply incapable of understanding what was good for them. I became exhausted from convincing myself that lying and backstabbing was the only way to accomplish our lofty goals.
“I’ll admit, I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed. After all, it took me nearly thirty years to realize the error of my ways. But I’ll tell you this. Even knowing I will likely spend time in prison for what I’ve done, I’ve slept better in the last week than I have in my entire adult life. So, you go on deceiving yourself and others, pretending to be holier than thou. But in the meantime, save your breath. You’ll do no good trying to shame me. It simply won’t work. My head will be held high from here on out, thank you. Now, please leave me alone until the FBI arrives. I might be able to catch a short nap while I wait for them.”
The sergeant at arms was aghast. His puffery deflated, he huffed and mumbled something unintelligible, turned and walked out of the room as Connie smiled and leaned back in her chair, feeling better than she had felt in years. Good Lord, I wish I’d learned much earlier in life how refreshing it is to be released from the chains of deceit.
After another ten minutes, the door opened once again. This time, two men in cheap, wrinkled, black suits walked in, both expecting to find a frightened, little old lady, as though she’d worked in the church for thirty years and had been caught swindling money from the church coffers. Accustomed to sizing up their victims, they were rather surprised to find a smiling, confident lady who looked as if she had nothing to lose.
Connie answered their questions with absolute truth. As the questions went on, she became more emboldened with confidence. She actually found it exhilarating. This is the easiest interview I’ve ever done. This whole tell-the-truth thing is SO underrated. The agents were nearly taken aback with her honesty, almost disappointed that they didn’t have to employ their usual sneaky interviewing techniques to get the answers they’d sought. They had fully expected to arrest her on obstruction of justice charges, but that was clearly out. Now, they were simply left with a charge of leaking a government document. Technically, it was not classified, although she had clearly broken the senate rules. In the end, they actually had no charges that would hold up under judicial scrutiny.
Having finished their questions, they both looked at one another and shrugged. They thanked her for her honesty, told her she was free to go, and walked out of the room. Connie sat there for a moment, not sure what to do. Moments later, she stood, brushed off her skirt, and left the room, walking with her head held high, feeling justifiably morally superior to the sergeant at arms who watched her leave. She took time to savor the look of dismay on his face. Good God, I never realized how good it feels to best someone when you’re right, rather than through deceit and trickery.