Second Term - A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series Book 1) (20 page)

c.) The President
signed and faxed to the Speaker’s office the necessary appointment documents
naming a new Ambassador to Rome, a man whose sole prior experience in foreign
affairs, and particularly international relations with the nation of Italy, was
as a frequent diner at Newark’s several Italian restaurants. 

What went un-noticed
was the adoption by the House earlier in the day of a “simple bill for highway
beautification”, previously passed by the Senate. With the world’s attention on
the McAlister Bill, few in the media, the Congress or the nation, paid any
attention to an amendment that had been inserted in the highway bill, and
enacted into law. The amendment effectively prohibited any financial institution
with offices in the United States from transferring any funds by wire outside
of the fifty States to a foreign bank, without prior clearance and approval of
the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS had quietly requested the new law,
as the White House determined that nervous Americans were transferring too many
dollars outside of the country. The provision mirrored a currency control law
adopted by Germany in 1933.

The second part of
the quietly adopted amendment authorized the President, in his sole discretion,
upon determining that a “hoarding emergency existed, to suspend “the right of
private ownership of gold, silver, platinum or any other precious metal or
tangible asset.” The language of the new law authorized the Department of the Treasury
to redeem all such precious metals from private owners at a price to be
determined in the Order implementing the law as ordered by the President. The
introductory whereas clause of the second portion of the bill included a
reference to the historical basis of the new law, based on the suspension of
the right of Americans to own gold in the administration of Franklin D.
Roosevelt, who redeemed gold at $35 per ounce. The last section of the
amendment provided that if any litigation arose challenging the act, or the
valuation set by the President for redemption of precious metals, the case
would be removed and taken directly to the Supreme Court of the United States
for an expeditious decision. The Administration was quite comfortable with
review of new laws that it favored by the U.S. Supreme Court, upon which it had
a favorable working majority.

FORTY
FOUR

Dallas,
Texas

The longevity of an
American protestant pastor can frequently be stunted, cut short by internal
issues. It doesn’t have to be that way, as many evangelical churches with
long-serving pastors can attest. Pastor Jack Madison had originally started at
his Dallas church as a youth pastor, but when the senior pastor retired, he was
the natural choice for the job. Since becoming senior pastor Jack Madison had
developed a close relationship with his members and they with him. He was
trusted, respected and considered to be a reliable expositor of God’s Word.
Thus it was that Jack Madison strived to insure that the messages he delivered
to his congregation were as consistent with scripture as humanly possible. The
last thing he would knowingly do would be to misinterpret scripture. He knew
that he would someday answer for each word, so he anguished at great length as
he studied what the Bible said about the last days.

The seven members of
the weekly senior accountability group had convened in the Pastor’s office,
right on schedule at 6:30 AM, with hot coffee and Krispy Kremes in bountiful
supply. What was also in plentiful supply were opinions on the prophecy verses
they had all been studying during the prior week. After prayer, the Pastor
kicked off their discussion.

“Men, you can’t say I
didn’t warn you, now can you?”

Jim, consistent with
his known proclivity for prodding the Pastor, though in good humor, responded,
“Pastor, if I had known what you were getting us into, I would have missed the
meeting last week. Thanks a bunch.”

“I know, I know. I
had the same reaction, as I told you last week. I couldn’t sleep most of the
night trying to figure out what other country those mystery identity clues
could apply to, except for the U.S.”

“Pastor, when I was a
young Christian in Idaho we studied prophecy and our teacher told us that those
verses applied to the Catholic Church. That seemed at the time to make
sense….but as I re-read them, as a group of verses, that doesn’t really work.
Most of the verses refer to a nation, and the cities, plural, in the nation,
with ports and an army, all clues that can’t apply to a church.”

“You’re right, Jim,
for a long time, since the mid 1800’s, most Christians were taught that the
Babylon the Great verses in Revelation 17 and 18 applied to the church in Rome.
What I discovered in my research was that a pastor named Alexander Hislop in
1852 published a book called
The Two Babylons
. What he argued in his
first page or two was that the prophecies about Babylon the Great applied to
the Catholic Church, based on just one of the several identity clues.”

“Which one was it? I
didn’t see any of the clues that applied to a church, frankly.”

“Well, he took the
reference to seven hills in Revelation 17:9 and ran with it. Rome has seven
hills and the Catholic Church is based in Rome, so he made a leap of logic,
though not based on anything but location, and he argued that because of that
one clue, Babylon the Great had to be the Catholic Church. Plus, the verse he
leaned on actually translates as seven great mountains, not hills, maybe even
continents. There are seven of those.”

“That’s faulty
scriptural analysis, isn’t it Pastor? How did he explain all the other clues
that obviously don’t apply to a church?”

“He didn’t. He
ignored them. The balance of his book was just an attack on the beliefs and
practices of the church in Rome. The principle of scriptural analysis that he
violated is that no scripture is of
private
interpretation. All
scripture is God breathed, and it all hangs together. When you try to base an
argument on just one or two verses, and ignore other verses on the same issue,
you get in trouble and do violence to the Word. Not a good idea.”

“Pastor, admitted
that the identity clues don’t work for a denomination or a church, but why
don’t they apply to ancient Babylon? The name of Babylon and the two names
given in these verses are very similar.”

“Great question.
That’s an issue that occupied my study and research for several hours. There
are several reasons they don’t apply to ancient Babylon. First, of course, is
that the Daughter is not the same as the Mother, obviously. If the Lord had
meant these verses to apply to ancient Babylon, all He had to do was refer to
Babylon, and leave off the Daughter of Babylon reference. Secondly, ancient
Babylon has been gone since 331 BC when Babylon fell to Alexander the Great.
Why then did the Lord give us the several end times prophecies in Revelation 17
and 18, a book that was written three centuries
after
Babylon became two
piles of rubble? Why did He give us prophecy at about the time of Christ that
Babylon the Great will someday fall, if it had already fallen three hundred
years before?”

Scott added his take
on the issue, “Well, that makes sense to me. The verses that grabbed me were
the references to cities, plural. Babylon was one city. Plus, there were
references in the verses you gave us to being on many waters. Revelation 18 refers
to the ocean offshore from Babylon the Great. Ancient Babylon was not on the
sea, or even near the sea, nor on many waters, just at the junction of two
rivers.”

“True, but be aware
that the Revelation 18 verses refer to the fall of a city, singular, when it
refers to the merchants of the earth weeping and wailing once Babylon the
Great, the source of the business is gone.”

“Is that a
contradiction?”

“No, I think it
clearly refers to a huge trading city that is destroyed, along with the other
cities the verses refer to that will fall in Babylon the Great. They don’t
contradict each other. If Babylon the Great is America, New York City, the
center of world commerce, is an obvious candidate for the city pictured in
Revelation 18 that the merchants of the world weep over when it falls.”

“Alright, Pastor,
this is the first time you’ve indicated in our two meetings that you think
these prophecies may refer to the good ol’ U S of A. Do they? In your opinion?
That’s kind of heavy, you know, with what the verses say will eventually happen
to this prophetically described nation.”

“Over the next few
weeks I want us to concentrate on these prophecies, what our research shows us
and what we conclude, after a lot of study and prayer. I’m not ready yet to
come to a final conclusion, frankly, because I’m not finished with my research,
and I know you’re not. What I suggest we do is to divide this up into bite-sized
pieces and look at different parts of the mystery. God didn’t give us a mystery
without the ability to figure it out.”

“Didn’t he say that
He always tells his prophets before He acts, or something like that?”

“Correct. Amos wrote
in 3:7 that “Surely
the Sovereign Lord does nothing without
reveal
ing his plan to his servants the prophets.”

“Well, then, let’s study these end times verses and
see to which nation they could apply. I suggest we start by looking at what’s
happening and has been happening in the streets and public buildings. I’m
talking, of course, about all the street violence, and burnings of cars and stores,
and shootings….and I don’t have to even spell it out….you all watch the
news….All those demonstrations across the country. Don’t forget the rumors
about the President and the Vice President having real bad blood between them.
Then there were those rumors about the Governor of Arizona fighting with the
White House. Let’s go through the 223 verses and see if there’s anything in
them that looks like civil disobedience in the Daughter of Babylon/Babylon the
Great. Check it out, and we’ll talk about it next week.”

FORTY
FIVE

Washington,
DC – White House Rose Garden

Within twenty four
hours of the First Lady’s GWU Hospital bedside announcement that the President
would prioritize the abolition of guns upon his re-election, virtually every
box of ammunition in America not yet sold after the earlier shootings, was then
sold. The same phenomena had occurred during his first campaign four years
earlier, so no one was greatly surprised, and just as then, no media outlet
felt it worthy of reporting. Americans buying guns and ammo? Ho hum, so what?  Later,
within forty-eight hours of the introduction in Congress by Senator Blevins of
the McAlister Bill, virtually every firearm not yet sold by retailers, was then
sold. Again, no mainstream media attention. Not newsworthy.

One late show
comedian did mention that there were no guns currently available for purchase
from retailers, comparing the lack of supply to the rumor a few years ago that
toilet paper was no longer going to be available, thus clearing store shelves
nationwide. The comedian, not known for his propensity to favor conservatives,
said that guns and toilet paper served pretty much the same purpose, so it was
ok with him. His audience dutifully laughed, but supporters of the Constitution
were not amused. The highly paid comedian may have made light of firearms, and
their owners, for his late night audience, but he was highly unlikely to reveal
that he was routinely driven to and from his studio by a driver and an aide,
who were both armed in order to protect their celebrity boss.

Within twenty-four
hours of the narrow, one-vote margin adoption by the U.S. House of
Representatives of the McAlister Bill, the President had signed the Bill, converting
it into law. The widely covered signature event took place in the White House
Rose Garden, the weather cooperating, so that several hundred gun ban and
Administration supporters could be crowded into the event. After the President
handed signature pens to Senator Blevins, who was no longer in his wheelchair,
and Speaker Pelham, the next pen was handed by the President to Patrick
Humless, the Director of the Bradford Center to Prohibit Gun Violence through
Abolition of Guns. Humless frequently described the Bradford Center as the
nation’s largest grassroots anti-gun organization. His role in assisting the
President in lining up critical votes for the McAlister Bill was acknowledged
by the President, but with more than a ceremonial pen.

“Pat, we couldn’t
have done it without you and your Center. We needed votes. You and your people
worked tirelessly to get us the votes, and America will be forever grateful.
I’m a big believer in rewarding those who deserve rewards. So, besides my
signing today the McAlister Bill into the McAlister Act, which makes it quite
an historic day indeed, I am also announcing that I am today nominating Patrick
Humless as the new Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives, the ATF. Patrick will fill the position made vacant by the recent
resignation by the prior Director.

“In making this
announcement today of my nomination of Pat Humless as the next Director the
ATF, I want to state clearly what I expect him to do as Director. I’m stating
it, here, on the record, and for all Americans to understand, and understand it
without any question or doubt. Director Humless
will enforce
the hate
weapon elimination aspects of the McAlister Act. Not just on passing occasion,
and not just when gun owners feel like complying with the law. No, Director
Humless and his ATF agents, and other federal law enforcement agencies as
needed,
will
find and destroy
every
illegal hate weapon in this
nation.

“It’s now illegal, a
felony, for a private citizen to own and or possess a firearm in this nation,
except under very limited circumstances that we all know about, similar to the
exceptions in other countries. I won’t allow America to become a nation of law
breakers. This new law that I have just signed as President requires that every
American turn in their firearms, and that they do so within the time limit set
in the McAlister Act, that is, within 180 days. After the 180 redemption
period, I have instructed Pat to instruct his ATF agents and employees that
they are to vigorously follow up on
every tip
the Bureau receives that
an American has violated the law by refusing to comply with the law and failing
to turn in their firearms. Our government employees will enter any home,
business, farm, church, synagogue or other building where we have reason to
believe there is an illegal firearm being retained. We will not abide any
violations of the law that I signed today as your President.

“Monetary rewards
will be promptly paid to Americans who turn in law breakers, once the hidden
firearms are located. I have also instructed my Attorney General to prioritize
the bringing of felony charges, by the various District Attorneys across the
nation, against any American who does not comply with the law, and who is found
to still have a firearm in their ownership and or possession after the 180 day
redemption period.  The Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader have assured me
that the funds to be paid to Americans for their firearms will be appropriated
next week. These funds will be made available to pay Americans for their
firearms because our Constitution, requires that property owners be paid just
compensation for their property when seized by the government. We honor our
Constitution and its requirements, when those requirements, of course, conform
with the vital needs of our current culture. We will shortly detail our Administration’s
efforts to enforce the hate speech aspects of the McAlister Act. Ridding our
nation of hate speech goes hand in hand with abolishing hate weapons. No more
gun violence in our streets.

“Finally, let me just
say that as your President I am pleased that the American economy will get yet
another jump start when these gun funds begin circulating and Americans all
across the country use these dollars to buy goods and services for their
families. It’s a win-win, as I see it. No more hate weapons, no more gun
violence and an improved economy. Thank you for coming today to the White House
on this very historic day in my Presidency. Patrick, any brief comments on your
new job?”

Humless, an enormous
smile across his face, stepped forward to the Presidential podium, the world’s
most watched. Humless was stocky, with greying curly hair and was liked by his
gun abolition supporters for his ribald sense of humor. This was his day. “Mr.
President, you not only do me great honor with this nomination, you also are
acknowledging and honoring the tens of thousands of supporters of gun control
across the country.”

The President’s Chief
of Staff, standing a few feet from the podium, inwardly groaned. Humless, he
thought, was not off to a very good start. He had been well briefed before
today’s announcement to avoid the use of the phrase, ‘gun control’. After the
McAlister Bill was introduced, most areas of the country were flooded with
bumper stickers opposed to the Bill, which said:

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION WOULD HAVE

NEVER HAPPENED WITH GUN CONTROL

GUN CONTROL IS USING
BOTH HANDS

GUN CONTROL IS HITTING YOUR

TARGET REPEATEDLY

Yet, here was the
President’s nominee for the job of taking away Americas’ firearms talking about
gun control
, a phrase the President was careful never to use publicly.
Humless bubbled on effusively for a time about how his nomination meant so much
to so many (particularly,  he was thinking as he spoke, to enhance his ability
to sell books after he left office, detailing how he had disarmed an armed
nation). Then he came to remarks that had been carefully scripted by the White
House.

“Our President has
given me specific instructions to fully and timely implement the McAlister Act,
passed yesterday by Congress, and signed into law here today here at the White
House. Let’s be very, very clear on this subject. I didn’t spend the last seven
years of my life fighting to rid America of hate weapons, weapons of violence,
to now fail to finish the job. So, my suggestion to any gun owner who is
even
considering
not turning in your gun, is,
think again
. This nation
has spoken through its elected representatives. It has spoken through our
President, who has been elected by the people twice now, and who has just
signed the law. This nation will witness
the ATF enforce the law.
Turn
in your guns in
the next 180 days
at the designated redemption centers
or get ready to spend
over 3,650 days
incarcerated in a federal
facility. It’s your choice.

“Thank you again, Mr.
President for your confidence in me and in the Bureau to get the job done.
We
will get the job done
.”

Many of the gun
owners watching the news event from the White House felt like they were now
living in a different country, certainly not the land of their youth. The days
ahead would only confirm their worst fears.