The Dinner Roll

[hammerforged]

I know this belongs in the Political Room but thought it would get more traffic here. Mods, feel free to move it.

The Dinner Roll ..

Once upon a time I was invited to the White House

for a private dinner

with the President.

I am a respected businessman, with a factory that

produces memory chips for

computers and portable electronics.

There was some talk that my industry was being

scrutinized by the

administration, but I paid it no mind. I live in a

FREE country.

There's nothing that the government can do to me

if I've broken no

laws. My wealth was EARNED honestly, and an

invitation to dinner with

an American President is an honor.

I checked my coat, was greeted by the Chief of

Staff, and joined the

President in a yellow dining room.

We sat across from each other at a table draped in

white linen. The

Great Seal was embossed on the china. Uniformed

staff served our

dinner.

The meal was served, and I was startled when my

waiter suddenly reached out,

plucked a dinner roll off my plate and began

nibbling it as he walked back to

the kitchen..

"Sorry 'bout that," said the President. "Andrew is very

hungry."

"I don't appreciate..." I began, but as I looked

into the calm

brown eyes across from me, I felt immediately

guilty and petty. It was

just a dinner roll. "Of course," I concluded, and

reached for my

glass.

Before I could, however, another waiter reached

forward, took the glass away

and swallowed the wine in a single gulp. "And his

brother, Eric,

is very thirsty," said the President.

I didn't say anything. The President is testing my

compassion, I

thought. I withheld my comments and decided to

play along. I

don't want to seem unkind..

My plate was whisked away before I had tasted a bite.

"Eric's children are also quite hungry."

With a lurch, I crashed to the floor. My chair had

been pulled out from

under me.

I stood, brushing myself off angrily, and watched

as it was carried from the

room.

And their grandmother can't stand for long."

I excused myself, smiling outwardly, but inside

feeling like a fool.

Obviously I had been invited to the White House to

be sport for some

game. I reached for my coat, to find that it had

been taken.

I turned back to the President.

"Their grandfather doesn't like the cold."

I wanted to shout, "that was my coat!" But again,

I looked at

the placid smiling face of my host and decided I

was being a poor sport.

I spread my hands helplessly and chuckled.

Then I felt my hip pocket and realized my wallet

was gone. I excused

myself and walked to a phone on an elegant side table.

I learned shortly that my credit cards had been

maxed out, my bank accounts

emptied, my retirement and equity portfolios had

vanished, and my wife had

been thrown out of our home.

Apparently, the waiters and their families were

moving in. The

President hadn't moved or spoken as I learned all

this, but finally I lowered

the phone into its cradle and turned to face him.

"Andrew's whole family has made bad financial

decisions. They

haven't planned for retirement and they need a

house. They recently

defaulted on a subprime mortgage. I told them they

could have your

home. They need it more than you do."

My hands were shaking. I felt faint I stumbled

back to the table and

knelt on the floor.

The President cheerfully cut his meat, ate his

steak, and drank his wine..

I lowered my eyes and stared at the small grey

circles on the

tablecloth that were water drops.

"By the way," he added, "I have just signed an

Executive Order

nationalizing your factories.

I'm firing you as head of your business. I'll be

operating the firm now

for the benefit of all mankind.

There's a whole bunch of Erics and Andrews out

there and they can't come to

you for jobs groveling like beggars...we need to

spread YOUR wealth

around..."

I looked up. The President dropped his spoon into

the empty ramekin

which had been his crème Brule.

He drained the last drops of his wine. As the

table was cleared, he lit

a cigarette and leaned back in his chair.

He stared at me. I clung to the edge of the table

as if it were a ledge

and I were a man hanging over an abyss.

I thought of the years behind me, of the life I had

lived. The life I

had earned with a lifetime of work, risk and struggle.

Why was I punished? How had I allowed it to be

taken? What game

had I played and lost? I looked across the table

and noticed with some

surprise that there was no game board between us.

What had I done wrong?

As if answering the unspoken thought, President

Obama suddenly cocked his

head, locked his empty eyes to mine, and bared a

million teeth, chuckling

wryly as he folded his hands.

"You should have stopped me at the dinner roll," he

said.

WAKE UP AMERICA !!!