owlsbooks Chapter 2218
Chapter 2218
Chapter 2218
"Kai..." Benjamin and Kai are friends. Kai even saved their family's life!
At the time, Kai was still a private in the U.S. Special Forces, and he was a new politician. He finally had time to travel with his family. At that time, Benjamin had already decided to run for election, so it was foreseeable that the focus of his life would be on work for a long time to come. So in order to compensate and to relax before the final sprint, he chose a cruise trip.
There are many types of travel, but Benjamin and his wife are not young. Although Benjamin is considered young among politicians, he is over 35 years old. Besides, they have children with them, so it is impossible for them to go on those "special forces trips".
What is a "special forces trip"? It means climbing the Five Great Mountains in four days, taking a round-trip trip from Xinjiang to Lhasa without a seat in one weekend, flying directly to a concert after work without delaying work the next day... This kind of travel that requires a lot of physical strength and energy can never be achieved by those who lie down, and it even makes you tired just by looking at it.
Old couples are really no match for young people. If they were still in college, they might really just leave with backpacks.
So is there a way to travel that’s suitable for people with less energy?
Yes, for example: taking a boat.
Ship is a means of transportation and a means of travel. Due to its slow and stable characteristics, some ships have gradually transformed into a nature mainly for viewing and playing. Luxury cruise ships are the best among them. Chinese painted boats also developed from "Fuxi carved wood into boats and Yan wood into oars, and the benefits of boats and oars were used to help the blocked roads." It can be seen that boat tours have been a consensus in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad. Many people's first impression of "cruise ships" comes from the Titanic. Cruise ships first emerged in the UK, and their main function was to carry mail and immigrants. Today, their actual meaning has become "Cruise Ship", a tourist passenger ship sailing in the ocean, that is, "cruise ship". Most of the mysteries of cruise ships are inside. Inside a ship-shaped shell, you can see a miniature of a modern city on land. Cruise ships generally have many floors, and people in the center seem to be in a city street. Theaters, food, song and dance shows, hot spring pools are all available, and they experience the joy of "intoxication and extravagance" in a place far away from the city. Outside the cruise ship, the sea slowly spreads out. There are sunrises over the sea, huge waves at night, and if you are lucky you may see schools of leaping dolphins. There are also countless circling seagulls near the port. The sea is vast and full of vitality.
Another issue is the cost.
Don't think that cruise travel is a money-burning thing. You can take a spontaneous sea trip for only three or four thousand yuan, and you can also check in at ports in several countries. Think about it, while you are struggling to get a visa on the shore, others have already finished their leisurely stroll.
Room? Don't worry, it's more spacious and comfortable than the youth hostel you live in. With the small balcony open, facing the sea breeze and daydreaming, this day is so envious of the office workers on the shore!
Food? It's so rich! There's plenty of seafood, and you can choose from Chinese and Western buffets. Want a French meal or an English afternoon tea? They have it all! Even the most discerning gourmets can find what they like. The entertainment is even more jaw-dropping. There are rock climbing, bumper cars, surfing, and everything else. Cruise travel is simply a mobile health center. Fresh air, blue sky and sea, and a relaxing and comfortable environment are a hundred times better than those extremely expensive health resorts! Exercise and relax, killing two birds with one stone.
Cruise travel saves you the hassle of arranging itineraries and carrying luggage. You don’t need to worry about packing and checking in. You only need to pack once for the entire trip and enjoy a relaxing travel experience. On a cruise ship, you can fall asleep in one place and wake up to the scenery of another country, enjoying a relaxing multi-country tour experience.
The most important thing is the children. The cruise ship provides a wealth of activities and food for children, as well as special childcare services, so that children can enjoy a happy time on board.
Benjamin is a person who has perfect plans for everything. In his opinion, this trip is absolutely perfect!
In fact, in the first half, it is true.
It's a rare occasion for the family to go out and play, and since we're on a boat, it's okay for the children to run around because there's no need to worry about them getting lost.
The two of them can even experience a rare world of two of them!
Then they encountered the horror of the deep sea. The family was almost eaten by a giant octopus!
Fortunately, Benjamin was favored by various bigwigs in the party. In order to save them, the bigwigs in the party directly mobilized their military connections and sent out a special operations team!
Some people say, nonsense, isn’t the US military prohibited from intervening in politics?
On the international stage, the United States' hegemonic position is indisputable, and the national army, as the support and symbol of this hegemony, has become the focus of world attention. However, on this huge military chessboard, what kind of game is the mastery of power? This is a curious and thought-provoking question.
The White House and the Department of Defense, these two institutions, are like two giants on a chessboard, but they are also a battlefield of political intrigue. The White House represents the center of political decision-making, while the Department of Defense holds the power of the military. However, under this seemingly clear division, the boundaries of power are vague and confusing.
There has always been a delicate and complicated relationship between the White House and the Department of Defense. This is not just a struggle between the executive branch and the military, but also a love triangle of politics, military and national interests. Power struggles are intertwined in international affairs and military decision-making.
In fact, the US military is not not involved in politics, it is just more covert and circuitous.
In fact, both parties have a large number of supporters in the military, but in many cases, the military will not really intervene in the election because it is not in their interest. They prefer to use the military-industrial complex to achieve their goals.
At the same time, the military will occasionally do things for political parties or even private politicians.
The rescue of Benjamin was actually a private job of this kind and would not appear in formal military records at all.
After all, the military sent a special operations team to rescue the politician's family, but ignored the other people on the ship. Once the news gets out, it will be a devastating blow to both the military and the politician himself!
In short, Benjamin's family was rescued by Kai and his team in this disaster.
This was also the beginning of their friendship...at least that's what Benjamin thought.
But in fact, Kai was dismissive of it.
He didn't think Benjamin would consider them friends because of this.
The simplest example is that during this rescue operation, Kai's team offended Lieutenant General Ross.
A typical senior US military officer!
What is a typical senior military officer? That is his father or his wife's father, definitely a senior military officer!
One of the "Soviet jokes" made by the United States in the last century said: "The general's son asked if he could become a general, and the general said no problem. The son asked again if he could become a marshal, but the general replied that he could not, because the marshal also had his own son!" Ironically, this joke could not satirize the Soviet Union, but it could laugh at the United States itself. Almost all the generals and commanders of the Soviet Union were born in civilian families and won their own military exploits, while the father of the American "five-star general" MacArthur was a lieutenant general and the president of the West Point Military Academy. In the United States, it is not uncommon for officials to be second-generation, third-generation, or even tenth-generation officials. The academic community and the media named the clans in the American officialdom as political family or political dynasty. One is called family and the other is called dynasty, which shows the strong feudal remnants. If the standard is that there are more than two family members serving at the congressional level, there are at least 700 political clans in the United States. If the conditions are relaxed to the state level and various government departments and judicial organs, the number will be even greater. Of course, having only two congressmen is not a good enough level among the political families. The real big families either have members of Congress for more than three generations, or father and son have been elected governors for decades and can be called military governors, or even have produced multiple presidents.
When it comes to political families, we have to talk about the "Four Major Families" in the United States. As a veteran powerhouse, each of them is extremely powerful. The first is the Adams family at the beginning of the founding of the United States. Samuel Adams and John Adams were both founding fathers, and their descendant Quincy also served as a congressman, secretary of state and president. The second is the Roosevelt family. It goes without saying that they have produced two presidents. The third Kennedy family, as a rising star, has also produced presidents and several members of Congress. Currently, there are still 26 people active in politics. Finally, there is the Bush family, starting from the ancestors who served as advisers to President Hoover, to having two presidents. Bush Jr.'s brother also participated in the 2016 election and almost achieved the feat of three presidents from one family.
If these big families are too far away from ordinary people, then the famous movie star Schwarzenegger is a good example. His inspirational story from a bodybuilder to an actor and then to a governor is inseparable from his good wife. Schwarzenegger's wife Maria Shriver is a member of the Kennedy family, and her mother is President Kennedy's sister. Maria's father Sargent, as the son-in-law of the Kennedy family, was also active in politics as a vice presidential candidate in 1972. Schwarzenegger can become the rich son-in-law of the Kennedy family, so it is natural for him to become a governor.
The politics of aristocratic families has allowed a few people to monopolize government positions and hold power through blood, marriage, and protégé relationships. Stephen Hess, an insider who has been immersed in the White House for many years, once investigated this phenomenon. He found that "in Minnesota, the sons of two congressmen are competing for seats; in Virginia, the son of Lyndon Johnson (former US president) became the lieutenant governor; and the son of President Carter is also serving as a state senator." In another survey of Louisiana, scholars also found that among 785 public officials, at least a quarter have relatives who also hold public office, and among 209 decision-making positions, each person has at least two to three relatives holding public office. And among these people, at least one-third of the positions were "inherited" from relatives. Among the 22 aristocratic families with the largest network of relationships, 107 officials have emerged.
In addition to these traditional nepotism, the United States also has a novel "widow inheritance system." After a congressman dies in office, his widow can often take over the position, and they can also inherit the family's political influence.
The same is true within the US military.
They are also divided into aristocratic families, with many so-called generals!
This is the case with Ross's family. Ross was able to become a lieutenant general because his father was a general and his father-in-law was an admiral!
As a result, he offended Ross because of this rescue operation.
They beat up Ross!
The reason for this incident was Benjamin's family. At that time, Kai's mission was to save Benjamin's family, while Ross's mission was for something else. In order to keep it secret, Ross planned to kill everyone on the ship, including Benjamin's family.
In order to protect Benjamin's family, someone in Kai's team was seriously injured.
But afterwards, Benjamin and his family just walked away.
Not only did he not help Kai and his team, he didn't even take any action to hold Ross accountable. You know, Ross was planning to kill people to silence them!
This is a political creature!
In short, there is a huge difference in cognition between the two.
Benjamin thought the two were close, but Kai was... just so-so.
In fact, when Benjamin met Kay again, he did think about deepening their relationship.
But when he became president and then Kay saved the White House twice, the two grew apart.
The problem of being difficult to act is a bit like the difficulty ancient emperors had in rewarding their ministers for their great achievements.
In short, as Kai's influence grew, Benjamin became more and more distant from Kai.
Now that things have come full circle and the request has come to Kai's head, Benjamin feels very uncomfortable.
He was not a thin-skinned person... A thin-skinned person could not be president. But he did a lot of things just to get rid of his dependence on Kai, but he didn't expect that the more he did, the more he asked Kai... This made it very difficult for him to stay calm.
Carter raised her eyebrows, but she did not comment on Hill's suggestion.
In fact, the relationship between Carter and Kai was very ordinary. The two had met each other, but for some reason, when Carter and Kai met, he always felt that this person did not take him seriously.
This made Carter feel... strange.
You know, no matter how you look at it, Carter is a legendary figure. Wherever she goes, although she won't cause a sensation, as long as people know her identity, no matter it is true or false, they will be courteous to her... Carter is not a vain woman, but when a person lives in a specific environment for many, many years, he will subconsciously take everything he encounters for granted.
Like many celebrities, they do things that are difficult for ordinary people to understand, or even think are stupid.
But he himself took it for granted.
It's not that he really has a problem with his brain, but the environment he is in gives him a feeling that he is superior to others, and he deserves to enjoy privileges that others cannot enjoy, and it is taken for granted.
The same is true for Carter. For a long time, she has enjoyed the admiration of everyone as the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the widow of Captain America.
But she happened to meet someone like Kai who was very disapproving of her and had no intention of hiding it at all.
It would be strange if she didn't find it strange.