"Kim Stanley Robinson - Sixty Days and Counting" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robinson Kim Stanley)

and bountiful as the one we were born into. We are only the temporary stewards of a
mighty trust, which includes the lives of all the future generations to come. We are
responsible to our children and theirs. What we do now will reveal much about our
character and our values as a people. We have to rise to the occasion, and I think we
can and will. I am going to throw myself into the effort wholeheartedly and with a
feeling of high excitement, as if beginning a long journey over stormy seas.тАЭ



тАЬGood,тАЭ Charlie said into his phone. тАЬHeтАЩs still saying the right stuff.тАЭ
тАЬHeck yes,тАЭ Roy replied in his ear. тАЬBut you know the old saying: an ounce of law is
worth a pound of rhetoric.тАЭ Roy had made up this saying, and trotted it out as often
as possible. He was seated on the opposite side of the viewing stands from Charlie
and Joe, and Charlie thought he could just spot him talking into his cell phone across
the way, but with all the hats and mufflers and ski masks bundling the heads of the
audience, he could not be sure. Roy continued, тАЬWeтАЩll see if we can wag the dog or
not. Things bog down in this town.тАЭ
тАЬI think the dog will wag us,тАЭ Charlie said. тАЬI think we are the dog. WeтАЩre the dog of
the people, by the people and for the people.тАЭ
тАЬWeтАЩll see.тАЭ As chief of staff, Roy had already worked so hard on the transition that
he had, Charlie feared, lost all sight of the big picture: тАЬEverything depends on how
the start goes.тАЭ
Charlie said, тАЬA good start would help. But whatever happens, we have to
persevere. Right, Joe?тАЭ
тАЬGo Phil! Hey, Dad? ItтАЩs cold.тАЭ



The transition team had concocted its тАЬfirst sixty daysтАЭ тАФ a gigantic master list of
Things To Do, parceled out among the many agencies of the executive branch. Each
agency had its own transition team and its own list, which usually began with a status
report. Many units had been deliberately disabled by previous administrations, so
that they would require a complete retooling to be able to function. In others, change
at the top would rally the efforts of the remaining permanent staff, made up of
professional technocrats. Each agency had to be evaluated for these problems and
qualities, and the amount of attention given to them adjusted accordingly.
For Charlie, this meant working full-time, as he had agreed back in November.
Everyone else was up to speed and beyond, and he felt an obligation to match them.
Up before sunrise, therefore, groggy in the cold dark of the depths of winter, when
(Frank said) hominids living this far north had used to go into a dream state very
close to hibernation. Get Joe up, or at least transferred sleeping into his stroller.
Quick walk with Anna down to the Metro station in BethesdaтАФcompanionable, as if
they were still in bed together, or sharing a dream; Charlie could almost fall back
asleep on such a walk. Then descend with her into the Earth, dimly lit and yet still
lighter than the predawn world above. Slump in a bright vinyl seat and snooze
against Anna to Metro Center, where she changed trains and they went up in
elevators to the sidewalk, to have a last brisk walk together, Joe often awake and
babbling, down G Street to the White House. There pass through security, more
quickly each time, and down to the daycare center, where Joe bounced impatiently in
his stroller until he could clamber over the side and plow off into the fun. He was