Dave is in bed watching TV when Aimee walks into the bedroom.
Aimee: Whatcha watching?
Dave: Ah, nothing really. Just a talk show.
Aimee: Something good to fall asleep to, I guess. I love a good laugh. Though, I have work tomorrow, so I shouldn’t be up this late to begin with.
Dave: You don’t want to hear Eddie Marver talking about how terrible the president and trying to pass it off as comedy?
Aimee: No, I’d probably spend too much time agreeing with him.
Dave: Sweet dreams, dear. I love you.
Aimee: Love you, too. Just don’t keep the volume up too high and it’ll be okay.
Dave: I should turn in anyway.
Aimee: Don’t go to sleep on my account.
Dave: No, it’s late. I need the rest. Lots to do in the morning.
Aimee: Oh yeah, you’re helping my aunt decorate for Christmas. That’s more stressful than any job.
Dave: God, I forgot about that! I was mainly thinking about getting the kids to school on time. That’s easier said than done!
Aimee: They could always take the bus.
Dave: They don’t like the bus.
Aimee: All right. I’m not going to waste my precious sleeping hours trying to convince you to let out kids take public transportation instead of driving them out of your way every morning. That’s a personal choice for you. Goodnight.
Dave: Goodnight!
The next morning…
Geraldine: Aimee, avoid all press this morning. They are trying to get a gotcha moment on camera.
Aimee: Excuse me?
Geraldine: You haven’t heard?
Aimee: I just got in.
Geraldine: Keep it that way. I much preferred life before I was hounded by the media to give a statement about our president’s thoughts on a late night host.
Aimee: Huh?
Geraldine: What you don’t know can’t hurt you.
Aimee heads to her office.
Gwen: Have you heard what your party’s so-called “president” tweeted out this morning?
Aimee: No. I don’t want to know. I want to do my job. My job is not to hear any nonsense that man spews. And how’d you get in here this early?
Gwen: Denise let me in
Denise: I’m sorry…
Gwen: President Delphy, YOUR president, wants to have Eddie Marver pulled off the air for a joke he made last night.
Aimee: My president? I didn’t vote for him?
Gwen: Not the first time either?
Aimee: That’s neither here nor there.
Gwen: Either way, he’s a member of YOUR party.
Aimee: Gwen, it’s too early for this.
Gwen: He’s attacking freedom of speech.
Aimee: And that’s terrible! Let me have my coffee and I will look at the situation.
Gwen: It’s just detestable, what Delphy is doing. I suggest you have a statement ready, the press will be asking about it. I’ve already booked a spot on The View to talk about it.
Aimee: As one does when they’re serious about making change.
Gwen: Was that shade?
Aimee: It was not intended as such.
Gwen: I’m going to get going. Please look into this, our freedom of speech is under attack.
Aimee: I’m sure it is, and I will get on that immediately.
Gwen: Thank you.
Gwen leaves.
Aimee: What on earth was that about?
Denise: The president had one of his, uh… moments today.
Aimee: I don’t know what that means.
Denise: He melted down at one of his critics in a way that, well, some are concerned about a violation of the constitution.
Aimee: So Gwen’s rambling is actually hinting at a serious issue? That’d be a first.
Denise: It’s not good, Aimee. He directly told the FCC chair to “take care of it.”
Aimee: Take care of what?
Denise: Eddie Marver implied that President Delphy had committed war crimes over his actions in Azerbaijan. The president didn’t take kindly to that and called Marver “un-American,” said his comments are “probably illegal,” and said that the network has a responsibility to take “misinformation” like his show off the air, but added the FCC could do it for them and penalize USTV for keeping the show on the air. The situation is not good.
Aimee: God, Dave was just watching the show last night when I went to bed. He apparently didn’t see anything incorrect about it, he didn’t mention it at all to me this morning.
Denise: Nothing Marver said is really untrue. It was barely even a joke. It was pretty much just the general opinion of the internet. That’s what makes the entire thing so bizarre.
Aimee: I feel like this is going to be incredibly annoying for us for a little while.
Denise: Yeah, probably.
Aimee: Then again, it’s always annoying when our dear president is involved.
Denise: Should I prepare a vague statement condemning his comments?
Aimee: Don’t we have Delilah for that?
Denise: I never know where she is. I can do it.
Aimee: That feels like a problem, no?
Denise: Eh, it’s fine.
Aimee: I’m gonna go watch this “offensive”clip from the show and see what I make of it. You work one something and then we can fine tune it with my own thoughts before you post.
Denise: Sounds good to me.
Aimee: Although, is there really nothing better to do than worry about a late-night talk show?
Denise: It’s early December, nothing’s going on right now!
Aimee: Yeah, fair enough.
Denise: Besides, an attack on freedom of speech is a major deal. Protecting free speech is a guiding principal of conservatism.
Aimee: Does anyone really view either of us as conservatives anymore?
Denise: It was a guiding principal of the form of conservatism I once subscribed to, at least.
Aimee: Things have changed. I try to still view myself as a conservative, though. A true conservative, not someone who just agrees with whatever Brian Delphy spews.
Denise: You are the Republican conference chair, after all.
Aimee: Yeah, how the hell’d that happen?
Denise: The perks of befriending the incoming minority whip.
Aimee: That, and I was our party’s shiny new toy for a while. I was the only bright spot after a terrible midterm election. And then the guy that caused that terrible midterm somehow got re-elected. So here we are.
Aimee walks into her office and pulls up Eddie Marver’s monologue on her computer.
Eddie: So President Delphy’s got a bit of hot water today. No, The Hague didn’t announce he was being put on trial for war crimes, apparently Mrs. Delphy just found out that he’s been having an affair with his thirty year-old assistant! When asked about the affair, Catherine Delphy allegedly said “I’m just glad to hear it still works!” Come on, guys, we all know it’s a marriage of convenience! No one would actually be in love with that man!
Aimee: That’s the big offensive monologue?
Eddie: But really, about this Azerbaijan situation, think about it, folks. The president alleged that a foreign country’s leader was killing Christian citizens. As a response, our president bombed several villages that just so happen to be located near fossil fuel deposits. Now, I’m not saying our president started a war with Azerbaijan to steal oil, but I’m not saying he didn’t do that. After all, stealing energy sources is the family business! But really, the affair’s the major story here. They definitely didn’t leak that in order to cover up the war crimes, and they definitely didn’t make up racist smears about the country in order to justify the war crimes. And he definitely didn’t need Congress’s approval to do it, because it’s not a war! It was a special operation! See, no biggie! Just be glad he saved Christmas, folks! Yep, he designed the White House Christmas tree himself, and we know because it’s all he talks about! Which, again, is certainly not just a cover to try and avoid the press asking him about any of his crimes! Did you guys know the last woman he had an affair with is our Ambassador to France?
Aimee: Crap, I voted to confirm her.
Aimee walks back out to Denise.
Denise: So what’s up?
Aimee: I mean, I didn’t find it “funny,” per se. But yeah, he shouldn’t be fired over it. Everything he said was true. I do see why the president is offended, though. He kinda hit him over all the chaos that’s surrounding him now. I’m sure our friend at 1600 Penn is very stressed over all the mess he’s caused himself.
Denise: So, what do you want to say?
Aimee: just ad that I believe in free speech and I support Eddie Marver’s unrestricted right to speak his truth, regardless of whether I agree with it or not.
Denise: That sort of implies you disagree with him.
Aimee: It implies that all speech, not just the speech I agree with, should be protected. And that’s the message to send right now.
Denise: All right, I’ll add that in and send it out.
Aimee: Did you ever think we’d be needing to comment on late night comedy shows while we’re working in Congress?
Denise: I really hoped we wouldn’t.
Aimee: Yeah, it’s not ideal.
Later that night…
Victoria: Aimee, did you hear the terrible news?
Aimee: There’s terrible news every day. You have to be more specific. Is this about anyone I know?
Dave: Sort of.
Victoria: He’s on our TV every night, it sure feels like we know him.
Aimee: Oh boy.
Victoria: Yeah, they sacked Eddie Marver. USTV called his rhetoric “divisive” and not representative the network’s views and said they “couldn’t allow” him to go on the air again and “risk tearing the country further apart.”
Victoria: I feel so bad for his little German sidekick Wilhelm. He was so funny.
Aimee: Wow, that’s, uh… insane? Is that the best description?
Victoria: It’s terrifying. The president has demanded that a TV host be taken off the air, his FCC director acted on it and put out a statement online demanding the network acts on it, and within hours, the network’s fired said host. We can’t just accept this and allow the president to decide who does and does not get to have free speech.
Aimee: I’m going to do everything I can to fight it.
Dave: Oh, Aimee. You don’t have to -
Aimee: No, I do. I’m in a position of power. I can’t sit idly by and pretend it’s acceptable.
Dave: I admire your bravery.
Aimee: It’s not brave. I was elected to the office of senator, and as such, I’m uniquely positioned to speak out about this and try and make change. I refuse to sit back and allow the president to attack the freedom of speech.
Victoria: If you need my help preparing a statem-
Aimee: No.
Victoria: But I -
Aimee: No.
Victoria: Okay, but I think you’re making a -
Aimee: No.
The next day…
Lynette: Can you believe him?
Alec: This is too much. We have to have the votes to impeach him.
Aimee: We can’t impeach him now. He was just re-elected to a second term!
Alec: It’s something! We can’t just ignore what he’s doing!
Aimee: We’d get a few weeks off and then he’d be back with a vengeance.
Alec: We could wait to remove him until after the inauguration!
Aimee: That would be subverting the will of the voters, no?
Lynette: Besides, I don’t think this is necessarily “impeachment-worthy.” Just despicable.
Aimee: Yeah, say every Democrat votes yes - not a guarantee. The three of us take it to sixty-three… sixty-four votes. You’re still a few short. I don’t know who else you’re getting to impeach over this. We have to speak out and be vigilant about it, but we can’t take a legal approach. Eddie Marver certainly should sue, but we can’t impeach. I have a speech prepared, though.
Lynette: That’ll fix it!
Aimee: I don’t know what else to do. I’m going to request time rom Greg and just go off on Delphy. It has to be known that there is great disapproval from this chamber over this strong-arming of free speech.
Alec: I heard the FCC chair, Jim Aidan, threatened to revoke USTV’s broadcasting license if they didn’t fire Marver. That has to be a crime.
Aimee: It probably is, I don’t know. Ask the Supreme Court.
Lynette: Ha! Good one!
On the Senate floor…
Aimee: Greg, yield to me. I have something to say.
Greg: What about?
Aimee: Uh, the tax bill.
Greg: Oh, great. We have to expose the Democrats’ faulty fiscal policies.
Aimee: Yeah, sure do.
Ten minutes later…
Greg: I yield five minutes to the Senator from Washington, Mrs. Ferrera Donohue.
Mildred: Senator from Washington is recognized for five minutes.
Aimee: Thank you, madam president. I rise today with dismay and disapproval. Not or the tax bill which I know we are all debating, but for the president of the United States who is hellbent on removing our ability to criticize him and our speak our mind. In America, we are allowed to speak freely, without the fear of retaliation from our government. That was the dream of our founding fathers, and it’s still the American dream. I won’t pretend that Eddie Marver is any more important than anyone else in this country, but I’d be speaking up to defend anyone fired because the president personally demanded it because he didn’t like how they used their free speech. Eddie Marver spoke up to criticize our unauthorized military operations overseas, and the president’s personal life. The president responded with angry social media posts and threats from government agencies, demanding his firing. I’m sure after seeing this, he will demand my firing. To that, I say: I will not back down to wannabe dictators, and I won’t allow a dictator to gain power in my country. I will stand in his way every step of the way, and I know I have dozens of colleagues who feel just the same. This was an abhorrent attack on free speech, one the president freely did in public! He feels so invincible, he doesn’t even try to hide his attacks on the free speech o his political enemies. I stand proudly for free speech, and against government suppression of it. We all have a duty to stand up and say that this is not okay. Eddie Marver has the right to speak and the right to not have the government order his firing because they dislike what he said. I will be filing a resolution in defense free speech in the coming days, and I yield the floor.
Later that day, Aimee gets a call from Cherie.
Cherie: Honey, what did you do?
Aimee: Why do you ask?
Cherie: We keep getting calls. Calls from reporters, angry calls from people that hate you… one person even called to say I “should have swallowed.”
Kimmy: Ew.
Cherie: Imagine hearing it on the phone!
Aimee: The president isn’t happy with me.
Cherie: Not again.
Ernesto: Give him hell, kid!
Aimee: I spoke up in defense of Eddie Marver. He’s not happy about it. He wants me removed as Senate Republican conference chair.
Kimmy: So he got criticism rom all sides of the aisle because he punished someone for speaking out against him, and his response is to do it again? Makes sense.
Aimee: He’s a very odd man. And he’s tweeted about me like eight times today, so I think the harassing isn’t going to get any better anytime soon. I’m sorry.
Cherie: It’s fine. We’ve learned to ignore it.
Kimmy: And it’s killing them! They’re such boomers, they have such an urge to answer every phone call!
Ernesto: I don’t want to miss anything important!
Cherie: Well, I’m sure you’re having a stressful day. I won’t bother you anymore. Take care of yourself, and let me know if you need to talk.
Aimee: I will. Thanks, mom.
Cherie: Any time!
Aimee hangs up.
Aimee: Oh, Dave. Did I mess up?
Dave: No, you stood up for what’s right. That’s exactly what you should do. I’m proud.
Aimee: I might lose my spot in leadership over it.
Victoria: If they take that job away from you for speaking up for free speech, then it was never a conference worthy off your leadership to begin with.
Aimee: I appreciate that way of thinking. I don’t know I anyone else thinks that way, but I’m glad you do.
What did you think of this episode of Evergreen Aimee? Let us know in the comments and make sure to read a new episode next week!
