Second Term - A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series Book 1) (21 page)

FORTY
SIX

Phoenix,
Arizona

The
State Capitol-1700 West Washington Street

The President picked
up his desk phone in the Oval Office. He punched the red button at the bottom
right on the telephone console. The phone was directly connected to the
Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs at the Pentagon. In a brief conversation
he ordered that two companies of U.S. Army troops, three hundred in strength,
be dispatched to Phoenix, Arizona. The President’s orders were starkly simple –
arrest and detain the Governor of the State of Arizona. The Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs hesitated, then he requested a confirming written Presidential
Directive. The President assured the Chairman it was already on its way to his
office.

Lt. Colonel Alan
Swifton was not at all pleased with his orders, but he knew a valid and
authorized order when he received it. For almost a minute he considered
dis-obeying the order, resigning his commission and leaving the Army. Though he
didn’t understand the legal complexities, he didn’t think that as a soldier he
should be arresting an elected official, voted into office by the citizens of
Arizona. Plus, he thought that if the Governor had committed a crime of some
sort that he should be arrested by local law enforcement, not by the US Army.
But, his reluctance soon passed as he recalled that his entire military life he
had been taught the necessity of obedience to orders. This particular order, he
had been assured by his commanding General, based at Fort Huachuca, had come
down from the Commander in Chief himself.

Learning that the
President had issued the order to arrest the Governor didn’t make Colonel
Swifton feel any better. He generally kept up with the news, he had seen
footage of violence in the streets and watched on television as the President
declared martial law. Why should the Governor have to face arrest just because
he very publically fought the President in the recent unpleasant campaign? When
he had pressed that point with his General all the General would say was that
it had something to do with some secret executive order that the Governor had
signed. That didn’t help the Colonel feel any better. Why is that a criminal
matter, he wondered? Why don’t they just go to Court? Why take the Governor in
handcuffs to Fort Huachuca? Colonel Swifton didn’t like it, not at all.

The Humvees and
armored personnel carriers pulled up on Washington Street and parked in the no
parking zone in front of the State Capitol. Colonel Swifton selected fifteen
armed troops to accompany him into the building, knowing as he entered the
limestone building that he was about to make history.

FORTY
SEVEN

Dallas,
Texas

Pastor Jack Madison
had a rough few days between the weekly meetings of his senior accountability
group. He preached two funerals, one for a close friend who unexpectedly died
at work, performed a wedding, attended a regional pastors conference, counseled
with three couples in his church with family issues and prepared his Sunday
sermon. He realized late Tuesday night that he had not yet examined the
assigned verses for prophecies of civil disobedience. He also knew that with
his schedule he couldn’t hit the books for an extended late-nighter, and still
function on Wednesday. He did a quick overview, found an obvious verse that
seemed to apply, said his prayers and collapsed into bed, hoping the guys would
understand the next morning.

After explaining his
difficult week since they last met, Jack asked their forgiveness, which was quickly
granted.

“In the very few
minutes that I did have, men, I found a verse that seemed pretty obvious to me.
It’s in Jeremiah, in 51….look at verse 38….
‘Her people all roar
like young lions, they growl like lion cubs’. America has had a reputation as
rebels since its founding. Still does today. This verse says that the people of
the Daughter of Babylon will all roar like lion cubs. That sounds like
widespread dissension.”

“Pastor Jack, I came
across the same verse, and I agree with what you’re saying, but if you’ll look
at the next verse, verse 39, that makes an even stronger case.”

“What does it say,
Max.”

“Jeremiah in 51:39
describes the people of the Daughter of Babylon as being ‘aroused’. That’s the
NIV translation. The King James describes the people as being in ‘heat’. Sounds
like a nation that’s in turmoil, at least.”

“What else did anyone
see?”

“Well, Pastor, moving
down a little further in chapter 51 of Jeremiah, we come to verse 49, ‘One
rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of
ruler against ruler’. The Hebrew word translated rumor can also mean report or
a message transmitted. The phrase violence in the land is kind of dramatic. As
bad as things have been in the streets, this seems to indicate that it will get
worse, if America is the Daughter of Babylon. That is, increasing levels of
violence.”

“Yeah, and look at
the last phrase of that verse, ‘ruler against ruler’. Think about that for a
minute. This can’t just be reports of politicians arguing with other
politicians. That always happens. This implies rulers fighting rulers,
within
the nation described as the Daughter of Babylon. It could be like a mini-civil
war inside the end times nation. I think I mentioned at our last meeting the
rumors that leaked out of Washington about the President not getting along with
his new Vice President, Hilde Calhoun. I also referred to the stories about the
Governor of Arizona. Well, since our last meeting
that
was confirmed.
The Army just arrested the Governor. Wow. Doesn’t that sound like ruler against
ruler?”

Jim relied, “That’s definitely
ruler against ruler, Pastor, look at the verse. It describes rumors of these
things happening. As you said, that word can also mean reports or message
transmitted. So what does the roaring by the young cubs really mean? Is there
any explanation?”

“This is all we’re
given on this subject. What we can validly assume is that the people, all of
them, in this rich, powerful, influential end times nation, will roar, as in
widespread societal discontent. And the land will be filled with rumors or
reports of violence, which apparently won’t come as a surprise, so there must
be violence in the land, as well as officials fighting each other, or at least
widespread reports that they are. That sounds to me a lot like what we’ve been
experiencing across the country. We’re still under martial law, for crying out
loud. We’ve seen tens of thousands of people in the streets, all over the
country, in about every State. If we are in fact the Daughter of Babylon, it
sounds like what we will witness more of that in the future.”

Jim smiled, “You guys
are a bundle of joy. Can I just say I hope that these verses apply to ancient
Babylon, and not to us, today? But, we covered that last week. The verses just
don’t work for what is now just some piles of rubble in Iraq. But, they clearly
do apply to an end times nation. These prophecy verses, after all, are set in
the end times.”

“I’m with you,
brother. Every time I read how these five Prophets described the Daughter of
Babylon and Babylon the Great, I get chills, or goose bumps, or however you
would describe a serious case of the heeby-jeebies. John, Jeremiah, Isaiah,
Zechariah and the writer of Psalms were all in agreement about this end times
nation. Scary.”

“I think we agree
that internal dissent and violence is one of the several clues that the Bible
gives us for the mystery identity of the rich, powerful and influential nation
that’s described by the Prophets in these verses. We’ve seen some of that in
the US, particularly lately, and are quite likely to see more. Let’s keep
studying and keep our antenna up for anything else that looks like fulfillment
of prophecy in our times.

“I’ll send out an
e-mail with our assignment in the prophecy verses for when we meet next. Let’s
all make a list of today’s nations that the verses might apply to. Particularly
look at these five clues: ‘the hammer of the whole earth’….‘the great voice’….‘significant
Jewish population’….‘center of world commerce’....’where the nations stream to
meet’. Let’s all list any other country in the world that these prophecies
could possibly apply to, that is, besides America….OK?....Let’s pray, guys.
‘Lord, give us wisdom as we study the prophecies that you have given to us.
Keep us from error. Direct us to the research you would have us study. Keep our
hearts and minds on You. In Jesus’ name, amen.’ ”

FORTY
EIGHT

GWU
Hospital – Washington, DC

Vice President Hilde
Calhoun knew instinctively that no good thing could come out of the President’s
invitation to meet him in his office in the West Wing. It had been, after all some
time since she had been sworn into office and then promptly tried to arrange a
coup d’etat to remove the President from office under the Twenty-Fifth
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The President had refused to meet with her
in the intervening time since her conspiracy was leaked with the President
replacing the entire Cabinet, except, of course, the leaker. So, what, she
pondered, does he plan to say to me? Why invite me to the Oval, after all these
weeks? She knew she needed to discuss it with Wilbur, who was frequently not
lucid. When he was thinking straight, Hilde thought, Wilbur was the best
political mind in DC, but when he was out of it, his ideas were just unusable
and potentially quite harmful. Still, it’s time to talk to Wilbur, and hope
he’s in his right mind.

“Honey bunch, how ya’ll
doin’? Ya look just terrific. Prettiest Veep in the nation’s history, by far.”

Good sign, Hilde
thought, he’s using that same old dumb line that he thinks is so funny. Better
pick his brain quick before he lapses into goofiness, again.

“Wilbur, we need to
talk. The President’s invited me to the Oval at three tomorrow afternoon. Put
on your political hat. What do you think he’s up to? He hasn’t met once with me,
as we knew he wouldn’t, since I tried to organize the Cabinet to throw him
out.”

“Hilde….it’s….sure….obvious….at
least to me. Ya’re too close to it to see his next move. The leaks and rumors
of what happened at the Cabinet meeting, which y’all both denied, of course,
have all died down. Most people have forgotten it. That NBC poll I saw on TV
said most folks didn’t believe the rumors, anyway. So, I can figure out what he’ll
do next, it’s what I’d do if I were in his position.”

“That’s nice, Wilbur,
but would you mind cluing me in as to what you two Presidential geniuses would
both do to punish ol’ Hilde. I’m more than a little interested, you know.”

“Sure. Sure….Here’s
the deal. He moved ya out of the White House West Wing, which was only a big
deal to ya and y’all’s staff….and to me, of course, but it was a smart move,
though, I’ll say that. What he will do at tomorrow’s meeting is tell ya that
he’s moving ya out of the Old Executive, I know, I know….it’s now called the
Eisenhower Executive Office Building….But….think from his viewpoint…. Ya and
y’alls staff are still too close to the President’s White House. Ya can look
out y’all’s window and watch the West Wing, and who’s coming and going. He’s
gonna’ have to move ya out. Y’all still have ya office in the Capitol, but he
needs to send ya a message….a big message.”

“Wilbur, dear, I’ve
gotten
the message. I know that he hates me and he….”

“No, that’s where
ya’re wrong. He doesn’t hate ya, he wants to destroy ya. Ya represent a
continuing daily threat to his power, to his position, to his very future as
President. Y’all have to be marginalized, suffocated into nothingness. He’ll
cut ya Secret Service contingent to just one agent at any given time, then
he’ll leak that out, hoping it will encourage a nutcase to take ya out.”

“No….He wouldn’t.”

“Yes….he will, and
worse. He will tighten the screws so tight ya’ll gonna’ wanna’ quit. He’s gotta
try to destroy ol’ Hilde Calhoun.
So
… ya gonna’ have to see
the
Commandant
.”

“
What
? Have
you totally
lost
it? What kind of drugs are they giving you in here,
Wilbur? The Commandant of the United States
Marine Corps
?”

“There are only two
Commandants I know of, of the Coast Guard and the Corps. I don’t think ya wanna
try and float a couple of Coast Guard cutters up Pennsylvania Avenue to bombard
the West Wing.
Of course
, I mean the Marine Corps. Wes is not only the
Commandant, he’s also one of ol’ Wilbur’s closest friends….and ya’s too, of,
course, honey bunch. He was our Adjutant General back home for how many years? Most
of both of my terms? Seven years? Hilde, Wes is our bud.”

“Wilbur, I’m as tight
with Wes as you are, but that’s not the real question. If I understand your
proposal, you want to remove the President….
by force of arms
? Using the
Marine Corps?
Good grief
, Wilbur, we’re not Venezuela, we’re not a
banana republic. We’ve never had anything even close that kind of turnover of
power?”

“
Really
,
Hilde,
really
? Ya may not have used the military, but what do ya call
how y’all on the Hill ganged up on ol’ Tricky Dicky Nixon and bounced him out
of office. Forced him right out of the White House. Let’s be honest, they had a
lot more on me than they did on….”

“
Wilbur
. Stay
on the topic. I could never be part of encouraging the use of the military to
remove the President.
Never
gonna’ happen. Come up with a better idea.
Think.”

“Honey bunch, what do
ya think I do around here, besides talk to the cute nurses and watch the news?
I’ve been doing nothing but thinking since ya first told me about ya aborted little
effort to bounce the man at the Cabinet meeting. Here’s the deal, Hilde, ya
made ya move and the President blocked you with his threat to bring two trucks
of soldiers into the White. He then had to remove the Cabinet, just he did,
except for the weasel, of course. So, ya can’t take him out under the
Twenty-Fifth Amendment and you certainly can’t impeach him. The House of
Representatives under Nadia Pelham would never,
never
vote to impeach
this President. Under different leaders with different Members they didn’t have
any problem impeaching me, but I….”

“Wilbur….again….stay
on topic. Finish your analysis.”

“Sure, sure. OK, so
here’s the bottom line. Ya got no choice. None. The Cabinet’s out. The Congress
is out. It’s three plus years before his second term ends. So, I’ll just ask ya….Ya
know more about what’s really happening out there in America than almost
anybody….Do ya really think this country will survive
three more years
of violence in the streets, and martial law, and shootings, and shredding the
Constitution, and….”

“I don’t think we’ll
survive
three more months
, Wilbur. You watch the news, you know what’s
happening. I
fear
for my country. We’re
imploding
.”

“Exactly. Hilde, you’re
simply the only person in the country who’s in a position to get us out of this
mess. All ya gotta do is just act dumb. Ya know nothing. I’ll talk to Wes. Ya’ve
got nuthin’ to do with it. It’ll just be ol’ Wilbur talkin’ to ol’ Wes.”