American Exit Strategy: Book 1 (6 page)

The two of them turned their attention back to the television. Patrick James was still talking. "Security personnel are coming out of the White House door in the Rose Garden. That probably means the President will be out directly behind them. A crisis like this could not have come at a worse possible time for the election. The Administration will want to carefully craft the damage control. I see Treasury Secretary Melinda Chang coming out the doors right now. White House Press Secretary Armando Sanchez is directly behind her. It appears he is going to give some opening remarks before President Al Muhammad makes his statement. We will listen in now."

White House Press Secretary Armando Sanchez walked to the podium. He was flanked by Treasury Secretary Chang and Secretary of Health and Human Services, Gerald Brown. Sanchez positioned the microphone and began his speech. "We are issuing a brief statement for now and will hold another conference tonight where we will be taking questions from the press, but we will not be taking questions after this statement.

Late last night, unforeseen events caused a temporary setback in funding for the Supplementary Nutritional Assistance Program.  Despite the glitch in the system, we were still able to fund the benefits at a reduced rate. SNAP benefits that are allocated to EBT card holders whose card number ends in the digit "1" received their reduced benefit at midnight last night. Tonight at midnight, card holders whose cards end in the digit "2" will be credited at the reduced rate as scheduled. Holders of cards ending in each subsequent digit will receive their reduced benefit on the corresponding day of the month. Let me be clear, funds are available to pay out the reduced rate benefits to each card holder on the day they are scheduled to receive their benefit credit. We anticipate having the funding complications ironed out by the 15th of the month. At that time, the balance of the funds promised to each American who depends on the SNAP program will be credited to their EBT card account. There is absolutely no reason for people to be panicking. Statements made in last week's debate have caused much confusion and anxiety. President Al Mohammad has promised that everyone will get the benefits they have been promised. We are simply asking the American people to remain calm and be a little bit patient as we work through this minor difficulty. If your normal benefits typically last you the entire month, you should have no problem getting to the 15th of this month on the reduced rate. At that time, you will receive the balance of your benefits. Once again, we want to emphasize how important it is to keep a cool head and not get caught up in the rhetorical fear mongering that was so rudely displayed in last week's debate. This irresponsible language has triggered some hysterical behavior across our nation. There is absolutely no need for it and no truth to the statements made by Senator Paul Randall. No one is going to die. We will get through this just as we have always gotten through trying times. I thank the members of the press for coming out and we will let you know what time tonight we will hold the conference for questions and answers." Sanchez quickly turned his back to the reporters and walked inside as they demanded "Where is the President?"

"Did he just blame this on me?" Paul Randall said with his mouth wide open and his brow furrowed. "They have blamed every problem for the past eight years on the previous administration and now they are trying to pin this one on me! They can't admit responsibility to anything. They never know what is going on and it’s never their fault. And what happened to Al Mohammad? I thought he was supposed to be making the statement. He just drove this country over the cliff and then sends his henchman Sanchez out to blame it on me? Are you serious?"

Sonny knew when not to engage. This was one of those times. He kept silent, poured himself a glass of water and walked over to look out the window. It was best to let the Senator digest this allegation for a while.

CHAPTER 9

“Be courteous to all but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence; true friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to appellation.”

- George Washington

Karen sat on the couch in the living room with Miss Mae, while Matt paced back and forth from watching the television in the living room where they were, to the office computer checking his list of alternative news sites. "Come sit down by us." Karen said firmly. "You are making me dizzy. Watch the news with us for a while, and then go check your computer for a while. You’re just walking back and forth right now. You’re not going to stop whatever is going to happen, so just relax. Sanchez is claiming that the balance of the SNAP benefits will be reimbursed on the 15th. I don't think it’s going to be that bad."

"I hope you're right." Matt said doubtfully. He walked over to his easy chair and sat down next to Karen and Miss Mae.

Ed Nolan was on earlier than normal to head up the special coverage CNC was dedicating to today's events. "We will be bringing you a live feed from KWXT in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit Mayor Melvin Jones is giving a press conference in just a few minutes. Detroit Police have just calmed a riotous situation at a Detroit Walmart. The discount chain store is located in a predominately urban area where 80% of the population relies on SNAP benefits to make ends meet. Police had to use tear gas and rubber bullets to subdue the crowd. Those arrested were loaded into buses. A source working inside the Detroit correctional facility told CNC that the jails were filled beyond capacity prior to the outbreaks of civil unrest today. The source said he expects the perpetrators of today's violent reaction to the benefit reduction, to be processed and released by tomorrow morning. Patrick James will be broadcasting live from downtown Detroit to get the reaction of residents to the cuts tonight at 8:00.

We will direct you back to the live feed from the Detroit Court House. Mayor Jones is stepping to the podium now.

"Detroit will be imposing a dusk ‘til dawn curfew effective immediately. We are asking all Detroit businesses to cooperate with city officials and to close their doors until tomorrow morning. Beginning tomorrow, we will have officers staffed at the entrances and inside all grocery stores and large retailers to help maintain an environment of peace and safety. We thank you for your cooperation and will open the floor for a very few questions." Jones Said.

"Mr. Mayor" a local reporter called out "What about the Walmart on Eight Mile Boulevard? It was the location of a very rowdy incident today. Will it reopen tomorrow?"

The mayor chuckled and smiled as he said "A rowdy incident is a very kind description of the event Sam, thank you for that. To answer your question, I do not expect that particular Walmart to open tomorrow. There was some fire damage, Detroit Fire and Rescue did come out to extinguish the fire or fires. It is my understanding that there will be a cleanup effort there for several days. The Detroit Building department will be working with Walmart management to ensure the store is up to code, safe and ready to start meeting the needs of those people in that community that depend on it as soon as possible. Next question."

The next reporter asked "Mayor Jones, the Detroit Police Department has already been severely understaffed since the bankruptcy. How will you be able to effectively enforce a curfew when crime is already tearing this city apart?"

Not quite as amused by this question, Jones said "Our City Law Enforcement Officers have been doing more with less for some time now. They are among the best trained and loyal officers in America. They know what is expected of them and they consistently deliver it. I did not intend to announce this until all the details were ironed out, but to put the residents of Detroit at ease, I will go ahead. We are finalizing an agreement with the National Guard to help us enforce the curfew. If all goes well, they should be here by midnight tonight." The Mayor had already been pushed into saying more than he wanted to say, so he closed the press conference abruptly. "That will be all for tonight. Thank you."

Matt looked over at Karen. "Sounds like Jones just declared martial law in Detroit."

"Martial law is when the military takes over?" Karen asked.

"Yes, it's when the military takes over enforcing the law." Matt answered. "The military is trained to kill people. They lack a certain 'finesse' that one would like to see in a civilian law enforcement effort."

“Doesn't that violate Posse Comitatus?" Karen asked.

"The way the law reads now, Posse Comitatus Act doesn't prohibit the National Guard from stepping into a civilian police function as long as they are acting in their own state or are invited by the Governor of a neighboring state." Matt answered. "I just saw Jack’s van pull in. I’m going to see what he thinks about all this."

Jack Mason was the Bair's next door neighbor. He was a general contractor and liked working with his hands. Jack was a very intelligent guy but paid little attention to news and politics. He was a stocky guy with a beard and very nice. If he saw anyone in the neighborhood working on a project, he would always offer a hand or to lend out a tool.

"Jack" Matt yelled as Jack stepped out of his work van.

"How you doing buddy?" Jack responded.

"I'm good. What do you think about what’s going on."

Jack looked around as he asked "Why, what’s going on?" With the recent string of crime in the neighborhood, he assumed something else had happened in the area.

Matt proceeded to fill him in on the recent news. He had tried to engage in topics of this nature before with Jack, but he showed very little interest. Now that it was happening, Jack listened a bit more intently.

"OK, some of that was a bit over my pay grade, but it sounds bad. Still, I don't think anything like what happened in Detroit will happen here." Jack concluded.

Matt then filled him in on his adventure at the Publix grocery store earlier. He explained the situation with the separate lanes and the fight involving the stock clerks and the manager against the trouble makers.

Jack started to come around to reality at that point. "I still have a week's worth of stuff left over from what we bought when it looked like Hurricane Lucinda was going to hit us."

"That’s a start" Matt said, "but it could get worse than a week."

"Maybe I'll head over to Winn Dixie after dinner." Jack stated.

Blaine Phelps was walking his two Huskies and came over to say Hi. "You guys see what's going on in Detroit?"

Jack wanted to seem like he knew what was going on and gave Blaine the abbreviated version of Matt's Publix story.

"No kidding!" Blaine responded. The conversation turned to provisions and Blaine explained he had a couple of weeks’ worth of dry goods he had bought for hurricane season. He also mentioned that he had a revolver and a shotgun if things got nasty. Matt smiled and gave a nod but didn't tip his hand. Part of the prepper code was to maintain operational security or OPSEC which entails keeping your mouth shut about what you have and how much of it.

"Are you guys all set?" Blaine asked.

"We can get by for a while." Matt said.

"Can you take care of yourself if things get bad?" Blaine inquired of Matt.

"We have a pistol." Matt said. "And then some." he thought to himself.

Jack thought about it, then said. "Things are getting kinda rough around here anyway. Maybe I should get something. What do you guys recommend?"

Blaine started ".357"

".357  is a nice gun" Matt commented, "but it only has six rounds. And it takes a while to reload. Glock makes a .45 that takes a 13 round magazine plus one in the pipe. Once those are out, it’s a matter of seconds, not minutes to change the magazine. It’s a popular gun which makes it easy to get extra magazines and parts for it. They are also the gun of choice for many law enforcement agencies and militaries around the world because of their dependability."

"Wow" Blaine added, "I hope I never need 14 rounds."

"I hope I never need one round." Matt chuckled.

CHAPTER 10

"The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty."

Proverbs 22:3

Matt went to the shed and got the hurricane shutters out. He started to place them on all of the windows that were inside of the back fence.

Karen came out and asked "What are you doing?"

"Just putting up the hurricane shutters to harden our house. It will make it harder to get into and also bullet resistant to most handgun and shotgun ammo." Matt replied.

"Do you think it’s going to get that bad here?" Karen asked.

"I don't know. Do you put your seat belt on because you expect to get into an accident?" Matt replied.

"Good point." Karen said.

Matt finished with the back shutters and took the shutters for the front windows in the house. He set each set of steel shutters next to the corresponding window. "I will put these up inside if it gets bad. It will just take a few minutes to screw them into the walls. I don't want to do anything that would mark us as having something worth taking. It’s a delicate balance between looking like a hard target and looking like you’re fortifying because you have something to protect. Besides that, the shutters will be harder to get through if they are on the inside."

Karen was concerned. “Will they leave holes in the walls?"

"There are worse places that could end up with holes than the walls." Matt replied.

"You mean us." Karen knew what he meant.

After he was finished with the shutters, Matt and Karen started to move all of the extra food they had purchased earlier that day into the office. They did not have a huge house and all of their storage areas were full. They stacked the bags of rice on top of each other and then stacked the beans on top of the rice. The canned goods were stacked along another empty space on the wall.