Dinner with the Governor

February 18, 2011, 2pm PST

William Friedman and Chloe Gold are driving from Monterey to Sacramento in Friedman’s Mustang with the top down.

Chloe: [Breathes in deeply, her arms stretched above her head] I’d forgotten how gorgeous Monterey is. It’s been years since I’ve been there.

Will: The hotel was particularly beautiful. That view.

Chloe: [Contentedly] Indeed.

Will: I thought our presentation went well.  

Chloe: They did seem very enthusiastic. I wonder, though. At this point, don’t we have enough schools in the wealthy parts of California?

Will: Yes, especially now that we’re adding Berkeley, though Oakland is more mixed. Still, you’re right, the thing to do now — well, after we see how Berkeley and Oakland work out — is to try it in one of the really tough districts. Oakland should give us some interesting data; provide a bridge to the more difficult environments.

Chloe: How about Compton? Myron and his friends live there and have close connections with the students. They should be able to help us a lot.

Will: [Looking unhappy] I’m afraid that’s still premature. I was thinking of one of the white working class districts.

Chloe: Why? I can’t believe that it would be that much more of a challenge. Poor and middle class people are poor and middle class regardless of their color. Same needs; same concerns. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was because of…

Will: Racism? It is. But not on my part.  

Chloe: What, then? The State Legislature? The Assembly may be conservative but the Senate is still solidly liberal. And it’s not as if the Governor’s racist.

Will: Actually, it’s local law enforcement I’m thinking about. I just don’t see the LAPD agreeing to the hands-off approach in Compton that the model requires. At least, not now.

Chloe: I see.

Will: I’m hoping that if we demonstrate that it can work in a tough, white working class neighborhood, they’ll be more amenable to the suggestion of trying it in Black and Latino neighborhoods.

Chloe: But you’re saying that they still might not be amenable.

Will: That’s right.

Chloe: Well, that’s disgusting.

Will: [Grimly] Yes, it is.

Chloe: [Shaking her head, as if to dislodge the thought] So, why Monterey?

Will: We need to build support statewide, now that we’re seeing organized opposition.

Chloe: You’re talking about that miserable bitch…what’s her name? Sally Putrid?

Will: [Gives a short, bitter laugh] Shirley Putsis. Yes, her and that whole “Citizens for Character in California” gang. I mean, you saw the report on NRH TV a few weeks ago, didn’t you?

Chloe: Yes. It was revolting. I’m just wondering whether it wouldn’t be better to ignore them completely. It’s not like you’re ever gonna convince them.

Will: My intention isn’t to convince them. It’s to prevent them from convincing others. People who might be on the fence.

Chloe: I think we diminish ourselves by engaging with people like Putsis. Success is its own argument, and I know that Berkeley and Oakland are going to succeed just like we have.

Will: If success was its own argument, the entire South and Lower Midwest wouldn’t refuse to teach sex-ed.  

Chloe sighs.

Will: You can never ignore ideological commitments and personal narratives. They make people do incredibly stupid and destructive things.

Chloe: It’s hard for me even to imagine anyone wanting to live in a world like the one Shirley Putsis describes.  

Will: There’s no end-run around politics, I’m afraid. At the end of the day, no matter how good the ideas are, if you want a better society, laws have to be passed; institutions have to be created; regulations have to be put in place; all of it has to be enforced. And that means you have to fight.

Chloe: Feeling it isn’t enough. Being good isn’t enough.

Will: From what I hear, Steve had a pretty intense conversation on that very subject in his class a few weeks ago.

Chloe: [Closes her eyes and sighs again] Well, never mind. Screw those horrible people.

The two drive on in silence.

February 18, 5:00pm, PST

Location: The Governor’s Mansion. William Friedman and Chloe Gold have just parked the car and are headed up the front steps. It is strangely quiet.

Chloe: This was supposed to be a dinner party, wasn’t it?

Will: That’s what I thought [looks around], though now I’m not sure. I didn’t receive a formal invitation; just a handwritten note from the Governor asking us to come to “a dinner.” I may have over-interpreted the indefinite article.  

Chloe: There are only three other cars in the lot.

Will: Let’s see what’s up. [Rings the bell]

Chloe: [Gazing down at her silver cocktail dress and high heels] If this isn’t a party, I’m seriously overdressed. Or underdressed, depending on how you look at it.

The door opens, and Will and Chloe are surprised to see that it is the Governor himself and not a butler or some other member of staff. He is wearing jeans with a blue blazer and open-necked shirt and has a somewhat distracted, disheveled air about him.

Chloe: [Under her breath] Definitely overdressed.

Governor Brown: [Brightly] Will! Great to see you! And this must be Miss Gold. [Extends his hand] A pleasure to meet you!

Chloe: [Shakes his hand firmly] Thank you, Governor Brown. The feeling is more than mutual.  

Governor Brown: [Looks them up and down] You two certainly are fancy.  

Chloe turns several shades of red.

Governor Brown: [Vaguely, to himself] Maybe it’s a New Ridgemont High thing. Everyone dressed like idiots in the 80s.

Will: We may have been under a misimpression.

Chloe: [Wrinkles her nose at him] Ya’ think?  

Will: You see, we thought that you had invited us to a dinner party. Hence, the whole dressed-up thing.

Governor Brown: Dinner party? Who on earth would want to have one of those? [Beckons] Come into the lounge, Susan’s already here.

The three enter the lounge, where Congresswoman Susan Best is sitting on one of several leather couches, sipping a drink. Like the Governor, she is wearing jeans, but with a black shirt and peach blazer.

Congresswoman Best: [Rises to shake Will’s hand] Will, a pleasure as always. [Turns to Chloe] Well, Miss Gold, it’s certainly getting big now, isn’t it?

Chloe: More exciting than big. We can take on just about anything.

Congresswoman Best: [Laughs] Spoken like someone who hasn’t received her first real ass-kicking yet. [Squeezes Chloe’s arm and raises her glass in a toast] And here’s hoping you never do!

Chloe raises an invisible glass and smiles.

Governor Brown: You probably want drinks.  

Congresswoman Best: It’s what one typically has when one is drinking, Jerry.

The Governor makes his way over to a stocked bar in the far corner of the room.  

Governor Brown: I know yours is Scotch, Will. [Pours a double Macallan and slides it to the end of the bar] And Miss Gold… let me guess [stares at her], wine…white…dry. [Pours from a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc that has been sitting in an ice-bucket]

Chloe: That’s incredible. How did you know?

Congresswoman Best: What’s incredible is that the Governor of California is giving a seventeen year old girl booze.

Governor Brown: A glass of wine Susan. Keep your shirt on. [Winks at Chloe]  

Congresswoman Best: [Suddenly serious] Look, this is a casual — meaning a candid — meeting. Serious talk. No bullshitting. Everything is off the record.

Chloe: Yes, of course. [Pauses, her eyes narrowing. Turns to the Governor] You want to brainstorm the politics of this don’t you? And the whole private dinner thing. You didn’t want the media or anyone else to know we were coming; that we’re working together.

Governor Brown: [Laughs] You were right, Susan. The girl’s a natural.

Will: You’re worried about the opposition. 

Governor Brown: [Snorts] The CCC? They’re a malevolent bunch. [Pours himself a Macallan and settles himself next to Congresswoman Best] And Shirley Putsis is the worst of them all.

Congresswoman Best: I agree that we have to take them seriously, but I think that you’re overstating the threat they pose.

Governor Brown: How can you overstate it? That mob has dirty tricks written all over it. They’re making it personal. Nasty.

Congresswoman Best: Personal and nasty have been the M.O. of the Republicans since Nixon, Jerry. Dirty tricks are all these people ever do.

Governor Brown: There’s another angle here, Susan. We’re dealing with kids now. [To Will] Are your students prepared for how ugly this could get?

Will: [Looking down] I don’t know.

Chloe: [Coldly] Those of us who need to be prepared are.

Will: I expected some opposition, but I thought it would be primarily on pedagogical or fiscal grounds. I didn’t expect anything like this.

Congresswoman Best: Then you were naïve.

Will looks crestfallen. 

Governor Brown: That’s not fair, Susan. Will’s a scientist and a teacher, not a politician. His job is to give us the best schools he can. Protecting those schools — and him — is our job.

Congresswoman Best: [Her face softening] I wasn’t criticizing you, Will. But you need to know what’s going on; what’s likely to happen. And the kids need to know too. The media has latched onto this story, and your students are gonna hear every salacious rumor and vicious slander that these bastards can dish up.

Chloe: NRH TV and The Standard have been offering quite extensive coverage, already, Congresswoman Best, and we’re handling it just fine. We aren’t a bunch of fragile flowers.

Congresswoman Best: No, of course not. I was just…Will’s gotten a lot of you kids involved in the running of the school. I don’t want to see you get hurt.

Chloe: [Steely] We wanted to be involved in the running of the school. It’s not like Will shanghaied us.

Congresswoman Best: [Her hands up] Okay, I’ll drop it.

Chloe: Do.

Governor Brown: What’s our move?

Congresswoman Best: There’s not much I can do from the Congress, Jerry, other than support the project with as much strength as I can muster. But the State Capitol? My influence there is limited. California state politics is your territory.

Governor Brown: Putsis is gonna’ win that goddamned Assembly seat.  

Chloe: I don’t see that mattering too much. The Assembly’s already lost to the conservatives. It’s the Senate you need to work on. That’s where you’ve got to stop them.

Congresswoman Best: She’s right, Jerry. It’s the same in Washington. The House produces one crazy bill after another and the Senate slaps them down. It’s a nail-biting experience, but it works.

Governor Brown: Okay, so I work the State Senate. [To Will and Chloe] And what do you guys do?  

Chloe: I said this to Will in the car and even though he was skeptical, I think it’s our best move. We lead with our best foot forward.

Governor Brown: Meaning?

Chloe: New Ridgemont High succeeds beyond everyone’s wildest dreams. Ditto Oakland and Berkeley. Gobs of graduating seniors head off to Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley… Let the facts speak for themselves.

Congresswoman Best: But you’ve got a high-quality newsroom. Don’t you think you should at least defend the school? Editorials, op-eds, that sort of thing?

Chloe: I think that we should use the newsroom, but not like that.  

Congresswoman Best: Then how?

Chloe: To document and highlight all of the amazing things we’re doing. Show them what goes on in the classroom; on the athletic fields; in the theater; the shop. Show them New Ridgemont High in all of  its glory.

Congresswoman Best: That’s all very well, but you have to remember that the image you present is going to be challenged. Putsis and her gang are telling everyone that what’s really going on in New Ridgemont High is sordid; criminal even. You can’t keep taking an attack like that in a defensive posture. You have to go on offense yourself.

Chloe: But don’t you see? By doing what I’ve described, we are refuting their characterization of us. After watching Kevin Reilly and Marty Savini fully restore a 1963 Mustang to mint condition, no one is going to say “Well, those are two real degenerates” or believe anyone who says it. No one who watches Jules Longo engaged in a serious class discussion on Madame Bovary, entirely in French, is going to say, “They’re getting a crappy education at New Ridgemont High” or believe anyone who says it.

Governor Brown: Demonstrated quality and dignity versus a bunch of baseless allegations? Sounds like a winner to me. [Points at Congresswoman Best] And they don’t get themselves dirty. Goddammit, Susan, those kid shouldn’t have to fight in the mud with these fuckers!

Chloe: You sound exactly like Will.

Governor Brown: Old hippies think alike.

Will: [Laughs] Hear! Hear! 

Congresswoman Best: The quiet man speaks. You haven’t said much, Will.

Will: I didn’t have to. Chloe said it well enough. Quite well, in fact.

Chloe: But in the car you said that the whole “success is its own argument” thing is bogus. You even gave me a counterexample.

Will: You’ve convinced me. And Jerry too. I don’t want you getting into political knife fights. Stand tall, proud, accomplished. Leave the dirty stuff to us.

Chloe: [Frowns] I’m not sure I like the sound of that. A bit too “Father Knows Best.”

Will: [Laughs gently] I’m agreeing with you Chloe. You’ll be more than a match for their nastiness and dishonesty. Dirtying yourself is counterproductive.

Chloe: [Smiles] Okay.

Governor Brown: [Mumbling into his drink] The fact that she’s even heard of “Father Knows Best” is reason enough to keep the damned place open.

The door at the far side of the room opens, and a stout woman, dressed in chef’s garb, announces that dinner is ready.  The four gather up their drinks and depart for the dining room with Will and Chloe bringing up the rear, arm in arm.