Seven Days in May Page #9

Now it's a General Scott.

- Yes?

- General Scott is here, sir.

Send him in, please.

Good evening, Mr. President.

Sit down, General.

I'm glad you decided to call off

that fishing trip.

Don't bother about that.

We don't need it tonight.

We aren't going to have an alert tomorrow.

I beg your pardon, Mr. President.

You wish the alert cancelled?

I do. I intend to cancel it.

May I ask why?

Certain facts have come to my attention.

I won't waste time detailing them all now.

I'll simply say that

I want your resignation tonight...

...and those of Generals Hardesty,

Riley and Dieffenbach as well.

Either you are joking,

or you have taken leave of your senses.

I know of no reason why I should remove

my name from the active list voluntarily.

Or, for that matter,

any of the other Joint Chiefs.

You could give me the reasons, General.

But if you want me to itemize them,

I shall be glad to do so.

Please do.

You have used, without my authority...

...substantial sums from

the Joint Chiefs' Contingency Fund...

...to establish a base, and train

a special unit of troops whose purpose...

...and even whose existence,

was kept secret from me...

...from officials of the Bureau of the Budget

and members of the Congress.

And the name of the unit?

You know that unit.

It's designation is ECOMCON.

I'm afraid your memory fails you,

Mr. President.

You gave me verbal authorization

for the base and the unit.

As I recall, we covered many items

that day.

Perhaps you didn't pay much attention.

I assumed you'd inform

the Director of the Budget.

What was the date of that meeting,

General?

I can't recall exactly, but it was right here

in this office. Last November, I believe.

You have a record of the date and subject?

Certainly, Mr. President, in my office.

If you want,

I'll get it from the Pentagon now.

That won't be necessary, General.

No, it won't be necessary.

Colonel Murdock, my aide, is outside.

He sat in on the meeting.

He will substantiate my memorandum

as to the date and the discussion.

- I'll ask him in.

- That won't be necessary either, General.

You kept a member of the US Senate

forcibly detained at this base...

...and he will so testify.

That would be?

That would be Senator Raymond Clark,

the senior senator from Georgia.

I wasn't aware that Senator Clark

had ever visited the base.

He will also testify as to the collusion...

...between the commander of the base

and Senator Prentice of California...

...who with yourself and a handful of others

knew of the existence of the base.

Any other charges?

Would you like them

in chronological order?

The selection of a commanding officer

for a secret base...

...who is openly contemptuous

of civilian authority...

...and who's made statements that come

close to violation of the sedition laws.

I never discuss politics with my officers,

but I do demand the highest competence.

Colonel Broderick is an excellent officer

with a fine combat record.

And an interesting travel record,

you might add.

What was he doing on a motor boat

cruising around my island at Blue Lake?

Don't tell me that's my imagination

because I've got him on film.

What about the kidnapping and detention

of Colonel Henderson at the airport today?

I know about that case.

Colonel Henderson struck an enlisted man

and left his post.

He's now being held for disciplinary action.

Incommunicado, you might add.

So that he doesn't tell what he knows.

And then there are the wagering activities

of yours, General...

...particularly a betting pool

on the Preakness.

Come now, Mr. President.

Or perhaps more aptly classified,

your personal and private code.

It covers your plan

for the military overthrow...

...of the United States Government.

I presume, Mr. President,

you're prepared to back up that charge.

I am prepared to brand you

for what you are, General.

A strutting egoist

with a Napoleonic power complex.

And an out-and-out traitor!

I know you think

I'm a weak sister, General...

...but when it comes to my oath of office

and defending the Constitution...

I know how to salute a flag.

You don't know the democratic processes

it represents.

Don't you presume to take on that job,

Mr. President...

...because you're not qualified.

Your action in the past year

has bordered on criminal negligence.

The treaty with the Russians is a violation

of any concept of security.

You're not a weak sister, Mr. President.

You're a criminally weak sister.

If you will talk about your oath of office,

I'm here to tell you face to face:

You violated that oath by stripping

the country's muscles...

...when you played upon the fear

of the people...

...and told them they could remove

that fear by the stroke of a pen.

Then when this nation rejected you

and began militantly to oppose you...

...you violated that oath by not resigning

and turning the country over...

...to someone who'd represent the people.

And that would be

General James Mattoon Scott, wouldn't it?

I don't know whether to laugh

at such megalomania, or simply cry.

James Mattoon Scott hasn't the slightest

interest in his own glorification...

...but he does have a concern

about the survival of this country.

Then, by God, run for office!

You have a such a fervid, passionate,

evangelical affection for your country.

Why in God's name don't you have faith...

...in the system of government

you're so hell-bent to protect?

You say I've duped the people.

I've bilked them. I've misled them.

I've stripped them naked

and made them defenseless.

You accuse me of having lost their faith...

...and deliberately and criminally

shut my ears to the national voice?

I do.

Where the hell have you heard that voice?

In freight elevators?

In dark alleys? In secret places

in the dead of night?

How did that voice seep into a locked room

full of conspirators?

That's not where you hear the voice

of the people. Not in this republic.

You want to defend

the United States of America?

Then defend it with the tools it supplies

you with, it's Constitution.

You ask for a mandate, General,

from a ballot box.

You don't steal it after midnight

when the country has it's back turned.

Are you serious, Mr. President?

Are you honest-to-God serious?

I could walk out of here tonight...

...and offer myself as candidate

for the presidency...

...and by tomorrow, I'd be at that desk...

...with precisely the mandate

you hold so dear.

And what's more, you know it, I know it,

and the country knows it.

Don't say I'd have seized an office

tomorrow without the benefit of support.

If you had the guts to call for a show

of hands, you'd be on an airplane to Ohio.

You can ask for and get

your show of hands.

Wait a year and nine months

for an election.

By then, I don't think there'll be

an electorate, let alone an election.

I think we'll be sitting in our own rubble.

A minimum of 100 million dead.

And on the gravestone we can carve:

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes