Under The Influence

President McDonald was a desperate man. Judging by the polls he was the most hated president in American history. He could feel his hold on people slipping away. Sure, roughly forty percent were true believers and would believe whatever he told them. He'd claimed that his predecessor wasn't born in America and kept his mouth shut when people loyal to him spread the ludicrous lie that he was secret Muslim who would seize power and immediately declare Sharia Law. He had to chuckle at the pure lunacy of his and their comments; but his supporters believed every word he said and that gave him somewhere less than half the electorate. But, if he wanted to win the upcoming election he needed some of the sixty percent who thought he was full of it and disgraced the office of president. Damn this pandemic! He was holding his own until that descended on his carefully-constructed spell he had cast on much of the voting public, and his response was so terrible. It just wasn't fair!

 

Mike Simmons was so mad he wanted to hurl the remote he was holding at the television, but knew he wouldn't. President McDonald angered him unlike any person, let alone president, ever had in his life. Yet he felt so utterly helpless. Why couldn't people see him for what he was, a total Jim Jones con man, and a not very good one, who represented the worst traits of humanity? But, he had more immediate things to worry about, like the pandemic raging through all the world, but it was much worse here in America. A new plague was upon the world

 

At long last, the day had arrived, a vaccine, a miracle of science had been found and delivered in unprecedented amounts so that he, Mike Simmons, was about to be vaccinated.

 

Several days had passed since he's received the vaccine, it was was election day, and Mike was going to cast his vote, and it was a no-brainier; he was going to vote for the man who'd saved America from the pandemic and the evil influence the rest of the world, except Russia, was having on America. He truly had been sent by God to carry out his will.

 

President McDonald had agreed to listen and heard his advisor say, "Ronald, I don't know how our internal polling got it so wrong. Every one of us thought you'd get creamed in the election. I'm glad you won, but with EVERY vote? It's unbelievable. I guess what you told us about the vaccine being a game-changer proved more correct than I thought possible."

 

McDonald turned red with anger, his face screwed up in rage, and screamed, "I want, demand, and expect, you incompetent bastard, your resignation letter on my desk in fifteen minutes."