Second Term - A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series Book 1) (32 page)

SIXTY
NINE

Denver,
Colorado & Washington, DC

Violence begets
violence. There is something in the human psyche that raises the blood level
and the propensity for violent behavior when one witnesses violence, particularly
when coupled with perceived injustice. When television newscasts showed Rodney
King being assaulted by police officers, widespread violence by others soon
followed. Likewise, when Americans who still possessed guns saw the shootings
by the American military of three gun rights protestors at the Montana State
House, the fuse was lit for even more violence yet to come, in a nation which
had witnessed unprecedented levels of blood shed by Americans in the streets of
its cities and towns.

Three days after the
Saturday shootings in Helena a powerful bomb blew apart the front two-thirds of
the ATF field division offices in Denver. The bomb went off at one in the
morning. If it had ignited during working hours it was estimated that over four
hundred would have died, counting those in adjoining offices. Two days later a
similar device exploded, demolishing the ATF offices in Little Rock. This time,
the bomb, which ignited at just after 9 PM, killed two persons passing by the
offices. One day later, the Portland, Oregon ATF field division offices were
decimated, but the bomb went off at just after 6 PM, killing three late workers
and five in an adjoining office’s conference room.

The next morning the
President summoned the national media to the White House to issue a statement.
As he approached the podium his expression could only be described as one of
fury, absolute rage. He seemed to almost spit out the few words of his brief
statement which he uncharacteristically made without a Tele-Prompter.

“I have a statement
to make. These bombings of federal offices are an unacceptable atrocity.
America is under a domestic terror siege. I will protect and defend our
government from these….these….haters. Deprived of their gun hate weapons, they
have now turned to more serious and violent hate weapons, bombs. I have called
up an additional troops to be used to restore public order in the US. In
addition, I have just signed an Order providing arrest powers to members of the
CCC. Any criminal act, in word or deed, witnessed by a Conservator can now be
the basis for immediate arrest. The haters are warned.”

The President turned,
abruptly exiting the White House Press Room, followed by numerous shouted
questions, the loudest of which was, “Mr. President, do we have any evidence
who planted these bombs? Could they have been by outside terrorists, or someone
not part of the right wing? Do we know anyth…..”. The President stopped short
and turned, glaring at the reporter, whose well known voice he instantly
recognized. Ignoring his Press Secretary’s advice not to take any questions, he
shot back in response, “Ed, are you implying that someone in the government
bombed our own offices? Is that your question? That’s reprehensible, even for Fox
News. There’s no Reichstag fire here. The bombings were by the crazies, the
radical right wing that just can’t get used to losing their hate weapons.”

The reporter shouted
to the retreating back of the President, “Mr. President….How can you know these
bombs weren’t planted by your supporters, or by…..”. By now he was only talking
to the press corps, most of whom looked at him with disdain.         

SEVENTY

White
House Oval Office

Washington,
DC

“General, don’t you
get it? Hunh? Are you deaf?

“Do….you….not….understand….the….words….that….are….coming….out….of….my….mouth?”

“Oh, I understand,
Mr. President, what you are asking the United States Department of Justice to
do. I….understand….the….words….that….are….coming….”

“Alright, no need to
be sarcastic. Sorry for my anger, but you just don’t seem to get what I want
you, as Attorney General, and your DOJ, to do.”

The President and his
Attorney General had known each other since they organized voter drives
together, before either one of them had any hope of serving in high public
office. That long-time friendship, however, didn’t prevent them from frequent
verbal clashes. The AG was a loyal soldier, a fact which he found he had to on
occasion remind the occupant of the White House. The President had never
practiced law, though he had a law degree, which hindered him in his ability to
understand why his choice for the nation’s top lawyer wouldn’t always do what
he wanted him to do.

“Mr. President, I’ve
told you this before, and once again, it bears repeating. If I file some crazy
pleading, or bring ridiculous charges against Madison, that not only hurts my
credibility, and that of the Department of Justice, it back-splashes on you,
and hurts your image.”

“Image? I don’t care
about that now, Erik, I won. Remember that? I’m in my second term. This is the
‘big things finally get done term’….Image?….Who gives a rip about my image?
They’re never gonna’ carve my face on Mount Rushmore, let alone print my
charming smile on our currency.
Image
?”

“You misunderstood
what I meant. I also don’t give a fig for what the voters tell pollsters.
Voters? Who are they? After the election they lost their standing. What I was
trying
to say was that if we operate the DOJ like we don’t know what we’re doing, and
go off half-cocked, we’ll be held in low esteem, to say the least, by the Judges
we have to deal with every day. Need I remind you, since you used to teach this
stuff, that there is a supposedly co-equal branch of government in this country
called the judiciary. You know, the guys that throw out acts of Congress and
rule that you exceeded your legal authority? We don’t want those guys and gals in
black robes coming to the conclusion that this Administration is incompetent. I
can live with them thinking you’re a radical leftist, because a lot of them are
too, but if they conclude that we’re totally inept, then that will hurt us with
their future rulings.”

“But, Erik, how many
of these Judges were appointed by Clinton, or Carter, or by O…., or by us?”

“I don’t know the
current breakdown, but over half are our party’s appointments.”

“So, if I file,
excuse me, if you file, the DOJ or the District Attorney, or whomever, files a
hate crimes charge against this Texas televangelist, are you telling me that
some federal judge is just gonna’ throw it out? How do you know that?”

“Mr. President, let
me go over this again. You are very close to the line on the free speech issue.
The First Amendment says….you remember that one. It’s right before the Second
Amendment. The two we modified in the McAlister Act.”

“One of the
highlights of
both
of our lives, I might add.”

“Yes, but back to my
point. The media helped us mightily on getting rid of the right to keep and
bear arms, but it won’t be so easy to modify the First Amendment. It provides
for protections for the media that they jealousy guard. The Supremes didn’t
directly rule on the speech aspects of McAlister, so we could still have a
problem with that part of the law. ”

“Why can’t we just
focus on the free exercise of religion part, and stay away from the free speech
and press part? Am I missing something here?”

“Kind of, you are.
This young pastor, the son of your least favorite Texan, who is, I might add,
still in the federal pen awaiting trial, will launch his much-announced sermons
on what ‘the Bible says about perverted behavior’ next month. The fact that his
dad has been labeled by Fox as America’s number one political prisoner will add
considerably to his viewership. Assume he says what we think he’s going to say.
We can have several CCC Conservators in the congregation to witness his words. We
can bring hate crime charges for violating the federal hate crime statute,
besides, of course, charges for violating McAlister. We’ll emphasize that he is
abusing the free exercise of religion clause, trying to jam his religion down
folks’ throats, using the public airwaves and thus violating the separation
between church and state, etc., etc. That we can do. Unfortunately, by
presenting his hate speeches verbally, and on television, his lawyers will
claim it’s all protected speech. First Amendment protected speech. See the
problem? It’s a fine line, like I said.”

“I get it. I get it.
I didn’t practice law, but I understand the problem of losing the media. Can’t
we come up with something that we can add to the charges that will kind of….you
know….cover over the free speech issues and highlight the violation of the
separation of church and state part?”

“We’re working on it
as we speak. We’ll be ready. He’s doing a series, so we can send in the CCC
Conservators for the first sermon, nail down his hate words, then, maybe we’ll
arrest this guy as he’s giving his next sermon right on the stage of his Dallas
church. He threw down the gauntlet with those billboards and promo ads in large
letters saying,
What Does the Bible Teach on Perversion?
He’s just
asking for trouble from us.”

“I was told that he
didn’t agree with his dad. That he thought John Madison was wrong to take me on
so viciously in the campaign?”

“I don’t know. I just
know he’s inviting scrutiny of his words. Don’t forget that Pastor Jack
Madison’s words will be spoken
after
the McAlister Act. His dad’s speech
was
before
McAlister, which makes convicting his dad much harder than
convicting his son. But, I actually think it helps that he’s John Madison’s
son, sort of makes it look like he’s thumbing his nose at the Administration,
even though it’s on a different topic than the one on which his dad campaigned.
He knows that we have to strictly enforce McAlister. We can’t have televised
hate speech like what he promises to talk about. What do you think?”

“Back to what I said
when you first got here. Send in the Conservators and nail down his hate words.
Then prepare the charges and go after him as soon as he’s finished his next hate
sermon. Let’s hope that there’s some red meat in his first sermon, some references
to Sodom and Gomorrah, that kind of thing. I hear they go after pastors in
Canada and Sweden all the time, so why can’t we? These guys on the religious
right want to send us a message. I’ll send them a message, one they won’t soon
forget.”

“All right. You’re
the boss. In any case, we’ll be ready for Pastor Jack Madison. I just want you
to know what can happen if we’re not careful. Let’s hope our Judge agrees.”

SEVENTY
ONE

Louisville,
Kentucky

Editorial
Offices – Louisville Colonel-Journal

Gordon Ziegner had
been the Editor of the Louisville Colonel-Journal, the State’s oldest daily
newspaper, for over twenty seven years. He thought he had seen it all, reported
it all and printed it all during those years. He was wrong. The official-looking
Department of Justice letter lying on his keyboard grabbed his attention, as
his assistant knew it would. She knew that if she placed it on his paper-strewn
desk it might never be seen. As a trained editor, he read it all in one swift
top to bottom scan, but, unlike most reads, this writing required a more
intensive analysis.

Editor Ziegner was
officially informed in the letter by a Deputy Attorney General named Roger F.
Scott that his newspaper was about to receive a visitor from the government.
Upon re-reading, he saw that the visit would be that afternoon. Not much
notice, he thought, but not a big problem, I can make time before the Editorial
Board meeting. But, hunh? As he read it again, he saw that the visitor, a
Conservator with the Civilian Conservation Corps, was coming not to see Editor
Ziegner, but to meet with Editor Ziegner and his newspaper’s full Editorial
Board. Now, that’s strange, he thought. Don’t think we’ve ever had someone
invite themselves to a meeting of the Editorial Board.

The Editorial Board
of the Colonel-Journal, consisted of five editors or associate editors of the
paper. It met every afternoon to discuss the next day’s editorials to be
published, which guest columns to select for publication and how to prioritize
the stories on the paper’s front page and the first page of the metro section.
When elections came around, the Board would invite in candidates and interview
them for potential endorsements. Service on the Editorial Board, inside the
newspaper, was considered the top of the newspaper food chain, a position to be
coveted.

Editor Ziegner read
the DAG/DOJ letter the third time, and then the fourth. He then scanned it and
e-mailed it to the other four Board members, asking for their comments. As it
was a quiet news day, his e-mail and the accompanying letter stirred up a storm
of comments. The City Editor wrote him back, “WHAT? This guy or gal from some
federal agency is going to attend our Editorial Board meeting? WHAT EVER FOR?
Tell them to forget it, we’ve got a newspaper to publish!!! (Yes, Gordon, I
used three emphasis marks plus three words in caps, so mark me up, already!)”

The newspaper’s lead
editorial writer, Tim Matheson, a strong supporter of the President, who had
written both editorials endorsing him in his two runs for the White House, took
a slightly less adversarial approach in his comments, “OK. I don’t see any BIG
problem here. A bit unusual, but maybe this agency has some good ideas they can
share with us. We might develop several future editorials based on what we
learn from this CCC person this afternoon. See everybody then. Cheers.”

As was the norm, the
Editorial Board convened at 3 PM to shape tomorrow’s news, in print form. None
were shocked that their visitor wore an official CCC green shirt, as there were
many federal employees now who wore that official uniform. None were surprised
that their visitor actually showed up as announced in the letter from the DOJ,
as they had all read it in advance. But all were flabbergasted when they looked
up to see that their guest was Jim Mooney, a former reporter from the paper,
who had been laid off over a year ago, in a newspaper staff downsizing, caused
by lower newspaper revenues. Mooney had been rumored to be having trouble
finding a job. Obviously, though, he was now employed, and by the United States
federal government. He was accompanied by an armed TSA Agent.

“Well, Jim, it’s
great to see you again,” Editor Ziegner said warmly. He had liked Mooney as a
reporter, whose beat had been to cover the Kentucky State House in Frankfort
for the Colonel-Journal. He regretted the owners’ decision to let him go. He
knew when Mooney was let go that coverage of what went on in State government
would suffer, and that state employees who were tempted to cross the ethical
line were encouraged by seeing a reporter watch dog like Mooney move on.

Jim Mooney appeared
to be happy to see his former comrades in publishing. He brought with him a
digital recorder, a large expandable file folder and a reporter’s note book,
which he opened once he and his TSA companion were asked to sit at the
conference table.

“Jim, we’ve all read
the letter from the Deputy AG from Washington. You’re an old pro at this stuff,
so what gives? The letter didn’t say why you’re visiting us, only that a CCC
Conservator would be stopping in to visit. Congratulations, by the way, on your
new employment.”

Jim Mooney hesitated,
coughed once, looked down and then said, “Thanks, Gordon. Here’s the deal
guys….there’s a new sheriff in town. I’ve been deputized to help him out. With
the new McAlister anti-hate speech law now in place, things are changing and
changing fast. The old days of throwing around any old words we wanted to throw
around are over.”

“What the heck does
that mean, Jim? We don’t use hate words here, never have. We’re really careful
about what we write. You know that. You, of all peop….”

“I don’t think you
get it. Most people don’t get it….yet, that is, though they will soon enough.
This new law allows the government to eliminate hate speech. Hate speech is
defined in the McAlister Act as speech that negatively attacks a public
official. All of us here would agree that’s a bunch of baloney….off the
record….that is. Just because I criticize a public official, that shouldn’t get
me in any trouble, right? Well, that was then, and this is now. Negative public
official attacks are a thing of the past. Everybody still employed in the news
editorial biz is going to just have to get used to it. Television stations
don’t usually run editorials anymore, so they’re not an issue. Once the
newspapers are brought in line, that just leaves talk radio and Fox, and I hear
there are big plans by the White House for both.”

Ziegner responded,
“Jim, I’m not horribly shocked that the government wants to shut down
criticism, that’s been the case since government started. Dictators usually
have no sense of humor when it comes to persons who oppose them. Lest we
forget, it wasn’t too many years ago that negatively criticizing public
officials in Europe could get you imprisoned or shot.”

Mooney quickly said,
“Gordon, let me just give you a little tip here. That comment, implying that
the McAlister Act, or the federal government, or the President, or the
Congress, whatever, whomever, are in any way like Nazi Germany or Fascist
Italy, could get you charged with a Hate Speech Act violation. So, be very
careful. I’m just warning you.”

A distinct chill
could be felt across the room. No one wanted to say what they were really
thinking about the threat made by the federal employee in their presence. The
chilly silence was finally broken by the City Editor who perceptively asked,
“Jim, you’re here for more than just a warning to us to watch our spoken words,
aren’t you?”

Mooney opened up his
large expandable filing folder and withdrew several pages. “Afraid I am. I’ve
been given the assignment by DC of going through all the major editorials in
this paper for the last several months. My job is to highlight negative attacks
on public officials. At first, I thought that meant just federal officials, but
they interpret that part of McAlister to include
all
public officials.
So, this print-out is a listing of all of the paper’s attacks, on all public
officials, arranged by date.”

“Does it include the
two editorials in which we endorsed your boss, the current occupant of the
White House? Were those considered negative attacks, hunh, Jim?”

“No reason to get
snippy. There are parts of this I don’t much like either.”

Ziegner was becoming
less and less comfortable not only with what Mooney was saying, but also with
even remaining in the room for such a discussion, “Jim. Hold up a minute,
buddy. Don’t you….didn’t you….see any First Amendment problems with going
through our editorials, as a federal employee, and picking out what the
government may not like that we printed. And then, much worse than that, coming
in here to the newspaper and telling us what you….what the government….doesn’t
like. Talk about chilling our First Amendment rights. Are you going to tell us
next what we can print in the future? Are you going to be our newspaper’s
government paid censor?”

“Umh, guys, look….I
told you there’s a new Sheriff in town. The Sheriff’s not allowing anyone to
violate the law which prohibits folks from speaking ill about him. If you don’t
like it, run for office and repeal McAlister. In the meantime, get used to
obeying the law. As for censorship, we all got a memo directing us to never use
that word. The memo said some people might think it has bad connotations.
Well….I guess so. But what’s going to be happening is going to feel a lot like
censorship.”

“Clarify please,
Jim,” asked Tim Matheson, the President’s biggest supporter in the room.
“What’s going to happen? I have the distinct feeling I’m not going to like this
at all.”

“It’s simple, really.
But you’re right, you’re definitely not going to like it. Our office will need
the draft version of the next day’s editorials, by e-mail transmission, no
later than two hours before your afternoon Editorial Board meeting convenes.”

“
For what
?”
Editor Ziegner asked, incredulously.

“As I said, it’s very
simple. We’ll do a quick review, just to make sure that the words in the drafts
comply with the law, zip you back a quick approval, or changes, as the case may
be, and that’s it. You go to press.”

“
Say
what? Changes? As the case may be?
Does that mean that you will edit our
editorials? If we write that
we question whether or not
the
President’s proposal is right for America
, you can write back and say, no,
change it to
the President’s proposal is right for America’?
Am I getting
this correctly?”

“That’s pretty much
it, folks. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but, like I said, times change,
the laws change. Stuff happens. You’ll still be selling newspapers, and
stuffing them with Sunday’s overflowing ads, it’s just that your editorial page
will be more people friendly.”

“Don’t you mean more
President friendly, Jim? And, the funny thing, though it’s not funny at
all….the ironic thing….is that we’re
usually
, though not
always,
in his corner.”

“Well, that will just
have to change to
always
. I’ll look forward to tomorrow’s editorial
drafts, the new Sheriff’s deputy starts work then. Have a good afternoon.”

Ziegner couldn’t
control himself, though he sensed that he should be quiet and become a good and
obedient servant to the new order. “Jim, if we tell you, your agency - the CCC,
the federal government, all of you, that we’re not going to comply, that we’re
offended by this assault on our Constitutional right to a free press, and if we
lead the charge to expose all this to the public? What then? You didn’t tell us
what the downside is of we don’t let you censor our words, though I suspect I
know the answer. I want to hear you, as a former journalist, say the words.
What are we threatened with for non-compliance?”

“Look, Gordon, we both
used to be journalists. I’m no longer a member of the fourth estate. I’m now a
part of the government. I took an oath to enforce the law. We’re going to do
that. Now, to answer your question. If we don’t see immediate compliance, if
you don’t send us your drafts on a timely basis, sent every day, the newspaper
will be fined a very significant monetary fine for every day of violation. The
fines will vary by the size of the paper, but for a good-sized paper like the
Colonel-Journal, fines could be $25,000 or even higher for each violation. The
feds are very serious about this. Once fined, the burden is on the paper to
show why it shouldn’t have to pay. It’ll cost you mucho dinero to fight the
fines. If there are a series of violations, since the feds don’t have a sense
of humor, the next step will be to file criminal charges against the owners
and, yes, the editors. The new regs will say that the paper can’t pay your
legal fees to defend yourself, you’ll have to come out of pocket for that. Is
that clear enough? Did I leave anything out?”

Jim Mooney shut off
his recorder, gathered his notebook and stood to leave. The TSA Agent, who had
said nothing, also stood to leave. Three of the five editors were staring at their
guests with their mouths still open in unbelief. Another had his head down in
his hands. The fifth was wiping away a tear from his cheek. The meeting was
over. Likewise, freedom of the press in America.

The next day, the
newspaper sent drafts of its proposed editorials by e-mail to CCC Conservator
Jim Mooney at his Regional CCC office for review. At the same time, Gordon
Ziegner tendered his resignation as Editor of the Louisville Colonel-Journal.
He then called his oldest son living in Panama to tell him that he had resigned
from the paper and would be visiting him soon, with the high likelihood that he
would be emigrating from the U.S.