Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Learning the DC Shuffle: The Gods of Ruin


The Gods of Ruin
JSB Morse
CoDe Publishing (July 4, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1600200486

Newbie Senator Commodore de Groot is an ex-Basketball star minor celebrity recruited by the party, blessed with good looks and great schmoozing skills but little real understanding of the political scene. He's a big fan of “Big Brother,” REAL-ID type centralized security, including internet monitoring to “smoke out” terrorists. Considered a loose cannon, with a short temper, he's not expected to win, but, against all odds, he does.

His old flame from school, now a lawyer, Cate Heatherton -- described disdainfully by his staffers as one of “those crazy libertarians,” and/or a “Soviet spy,” is a link to Com's past, and stands opposed to nearly every issue in his campaign, but she arrives in time for the election after-party. Cate wants only one thing from him: a promise to do NOTHING with the power he now has access to. No more spending, no more bailouts, no big security juggernauts. But Com just made a lot of promises to the folks (and big donors) who elected him, and much as he cares for Cate, she can't change his mind. He's going to make changes in how Washington works, and use legislation for better purposes than his predecessors.