Chile-New York:The Eleventh Of September

Chapter One

It didn't take long for the sparks to fly between Travis Street and his editor, Dallas Clark, who thought he was being way too critical of Senator Edward Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat. After all, he is the brother of slain U.S. president John F. Kennedy, he has served the nation well as a liberal member of the Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate and he is a member of one of America's most influential families.

"You must be nuts," she said calmly. Wanting to scream at him, she held her true emotion in check. "I can't believe what you are saying or that you would want to put anything like that down on paper."

Her sharp rebuke didn't hold Street back. "Let's take a deep breath, step back a moment and put this in perspective, if we can."

"I've got to hear this. Please go ahead." She was clearly upset. "I respect the Kennedy family, I'm an admirer of the former president, and this is America. That means he [the senator] like anyone else has a right to his opinion and I defend his right even in disagreement. And I have no right to judge him personally or anyone else for that matter."

"But . . ." "I respectfully disagree with him on this issue. In other words, I challenge his ideas about Augusto Pinochet, but not Senator Kennedy personally. There is a difference." Anticipating disagreement with the writer, Dallas Clark had downloaded a brief encyclopedia piece off the Internet about Chile and General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte. "I've done a little research on my own, and if this information is correct, it would seem the Senator may be right."