Second Term - A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series Book 1) (6 page)

ELEVEN

Washington,
DC

Presidential
historians were soon called into television and radio outlets to put the Dallas
shootings into historical perspective.

“No, Charles, except
for the Lincoln Conspiracy, all other attempts to assassinate American
Presidents, whether successful or not, were by single gunmen”, replied
Historian Dorene Goodwink to her network interviewer the morning after the
shootings were labeled by many in the mainstream national media as the “Guns
Against Government Conspiracy”.

“But, what about the
JFK assassination, there are still many who think that Lee Harvey Oswald didn’t
act alone?”

“There’ll always be
conspiracy theorists who question every suspicious act, Charlie. However, let’s
look at a true, actual conspiracy of men, and it appears, also women, who got
together to accomplish one primary objective – to decapitate the federal
government by killing its President and certain members of the President’s Cabinet.
That, historically, was a confirmed joint action, a conspiracy, to violate the
law through murderous acts.”

“I take it you see
similarities with yesterday’s shootings in Dallas?”

“On its face there appears
to have been a conspiracy yesterday to kill, with guns, high federal officials.
Fortunately, our President is doing better than expected, we all understand.
Unfortunately, Senator James R. Blevins is still in serious condition. Plus,
Charlie, as you just reported on this network, the Dallas media are raising
questions now as to whether the Vice President will survive his wounds.”

“Dorene, except for
the obvious fact that all three were shot at about the same time, on the same
day, why do you conclude, to use your words, that there was a conspiracy, on
its face?”

“Just look at
history. Secretary of State William Seward, was attacked, and nearly killed,
but for his neck brace that spared him from his assailant’s knife stabs, in his
home the very same night as Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater. The conspirators’
plans to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson and General Grant fell apart at the
last minute. The conspirators were convicted and hung for working together to
kill officials of the government. Plus, and this is quite important in light of
what happened yesterday, they acted together for a common political purpose.
The Confederate States had lost the war, with surrender by General Lee just
five days before. These conspirators were trying to throw the government into
turmoil and confusion, thus hoping to lead Confederate soldiers to continue
fighting. They tried to change the government, and history, through violence,
using weapons of violence and hate, guns and bullets.”

“So, how is that like
yesterday’s shootings in Dallas?”

“Simple, really. Just
answer these questions. Who hates this President? Who’s made it their publicly
stated goal to try and derail his progressive agenda? Who’s organized in every
State and every city of any size to defeat the President? Who hates the ATF and
its efforts to prevent the proliferation of guns in....”

“I apologize Dorene,
but I’m hearing in my ear from my news director that the AP has just reported
that Vice President McAlister has passed….as many had….feared he might. Our
prayers are of course with his widow and family, and of course, for our
country.”

“I am so sorry to
hear that, Charlie. It’s a very sad day for our country. These right wingers
will rue the day that they tried to….”

“Now, to be fair,
Dorene, just because a large group of right wingers tried to defeat the
President at the polls, and there were several instances of violence in the
campaign, on both sides, of course, that doesn’t automatically mean that they had
anything to do with these tragic shootings, isn’t that true?”

“I’ve made my
statement, Charlie. This is a right wing, gun-toting straight up conspiracy,
and the several bullets that were fired by guns held by these gun-loving radicals
are clear evidence of what I’m saying, and what the early polls this morning
are showing – that most Americans think that it’s obviously the tea party,
self-styled patriot wing nuts behind this. They’re the ones that were trying to
change America, and change its elected and appointed leaders through the barrel
of a gun. We can’t let that happen. They’re the ones who falsely claimed that
there was widespread vote fraud in the past election. Again, I say, what a sad
day for America”.

“Well, thanks,
Dorene, for your time today and your passionate and informed analysis. Any
final words?”

“Only this. My study
of history tells me that it’s now finally time to correct that clumsily
written, ambiguous, and we learn, again, that exceedingly dangerous Second
Amendment. There should be no right to own hate guns particularly when those
weapons are used to try to change governments. After a mass shooting Australia
banned private ownership of guns. America needs to do the same thing. Let’s ban
the right to own weapons of hate – and do it now, before even more good people
are killed. In addition, though this may be more controversial, we need to
re-examine how this country has allowed all manner of hateful speech, and
violent words, to lead to more shootings….and….to lead to….well….to just more
hate. The hate has to stop. We must curtail hateful speakers and we must stop their
violent words.”

“But, Dorene, don’t
we have a problem with the two U.S. Supreme Court decisions, in 2008, the D.C.
case, and in 2010 the. Chicago decision? Those two cases interpreted the Second
Amendment as applying to individual gun ownership and applied the Amendment to
the states. Right?”

“Charlie, both of
those cases were decided 5-4. Just one vote made the difference. With the
President’s recent appointment, and the Senate’s confirmation, of Justice
Sheila Newton to the high Court, the ball game has changed. Changed dramatically.
Justice Newton is a known progressive, I would even use the term liberal. She
replaced Justice Kennelly, a Reagan appointee, who had been a swing vote on
many cases. Kennelly did vote with the majority in both pro-gun cases. Though
Justice Kennelly was 76 years old, he had told friends that he would stay on
the Court through the President’s first term. But, as we know, health reasons
led to his resignation, and to Justice Newton’s appointment.”

“Dorene, how do you
see all of that working in the growing public demand to ban guns in this
country after these horrific shootings of three federal officials, coming at
the end of a violent campaign?”

Dorene looked deep
into the camera’s lens and uttered words that would be quoted for many months
to come. “Charlie, if the Congress has the guts to pass a bill outlawing
private ownership of guns, especially now after Larry McAlister’s passing, I
think it would be quickly upheld in a test case by the Supreme Court. I’m
saying that the Court would reverse itself, as it’s done in the past. It looks
like it could be 5 to 4
against the gunners
, Charlie, and that’s a very
good thing. It’s time to change the law. Let’s give peace a chance.”

“Well, folks, noted Presidential
Historian Goodwink has sounded the alarm. Is anyone in the White House, or in
the Congress, listening?”

As it turned out,
people at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue were well ahead of the renowned
Presidential historian.

TWELVE

Washington,
DC – GWU Hospital

No one in the
national media could recall any news conference even remotely like this one.
When the White House Press Office sent the initial e-mail notice, some in the
media were openly skeptical of its source, but it was certainly authentic. It
read:

WHITE
HOUSE PRESS OFFICE MEDIA EVENT ADVISORY

At 1730 hours,
tomorrow, the President will meet with pool reporters (confirm last week’s
listing for your outlet’s inclusion) at George Washington University Hospital,
900 23
^rd
Street NW. Check in with the SS Agent in Charge at the Main
Entry to be escorted to the President’s Suite. The President will be joined by
Congressional Leaders (list not confirmed at this juncture) along with Mrs.
Blevins. It is expected that Vice President McAlister’s widow may also be
present.

No questions will be
taken, nor answered, on any campaign issues, including polls. All statements
made and questions addressed will deal exclusively with new legislation to be
proposed and announced at the M.E. Note --- Network TV will be limited to one
camera per outlet/same for newsprint. Questions? Contact Janice as usual. 202-555-1212
x1257

The University
Hospital’s Presidential Suite certainly lived up to its name in terms of its
decor, but its over-all size limited the number of people who could squeeze
into its confines, thus curtailing the media personalities who could attend.
This had the effect of bruising some egos, understandably so, given recent
events and the historic news-making nature of this prime time media event in a
hospital with a wounded President. The closest the media had gotten to
President Reagan was his wave from his hospital window. By the time of the
media event, the executives of the major media had reached an agreement to rely
on pool coverage, with most placing their national anchors either at desks to
be set up in the lobby of the Hospital or outside, if the weather cooperated.
It was anticipated that possibly as many Americans could watch this media event
as had watched the moon landing or the launching of the Kuwaiti war.

The pool picture of
the President, on an I.V. and a pulse monitor, setting upright in his hospital
bed, surrounded by his family and Congressional leaders, made page one of
newspapers not only in the U.S., but in most of the world. There had never been
a Presidential photograph quite like it, a fact confirmed by Historian Goodwink
later that night in network color coverage of the historical event.

What took pool
reporters by surprise was what the President didn’t say, which was to say, he
said nothing. The First Lady graciously thanked the media for coming, thanked
the Secret Service for protecting her husband and thanked the medical staff at
Parkland and now at GWU for their excellent medical care. She then explained
that the President would not be making public comments at this media event,
because, she said, the President’s doctors had advised, because he was on pain
killing medication for his shrapnel wounds, he should not yet make public
comments.

Political strategists
for the President’s opponents also thought that the President was right not to
speak, or at least was smart not to do so. The media event turned out to be
adversarial in nature, but the ominous words spoken were by others, not from
the President. The President’s sole visible contribution was a wide, winsome
smile when a pool reporter at the end of the media event shouted out, “How’re
you feelin’ Mr. President?” The hospitalized President responded by raising a
single thumb up with his left hand, careful not to move his bandaged right arm
and shoulder. Click. Click. Click. Photo Op Number Two.

 Thus, the
opposition’s advisors concluded, the President got the best of both worlds. He
gained additional sympathy as the surviving intended victim of a Presidential
assassination attempt, plus, he was able to send a message to the party
faithful, but with words spoken by others. They were his words, but he didn’t
have to say them.

The First Lady led
the attack, with a few carefully chosen, rehearsed, words. “My dear husband is
here today, and alive today…….because a bullet missed its target – his heart.
His heart is as compassionate as America’s heart – which in the last few days
has cried out to solve this national peril that we all face. Anyone of us could
be killed, taken down at any stage of life, by a bullet fired from a weapon of
hate…..
a gun
. I know that my husband will want to work with the Congress
that the people choose to elect to insure that weapons of hate are weapons of
the past.

“He has asked these
leaders of our nation’s Congress to be with us today, as we move towards that
goal. Continuing to fix our nation’s economy that was broken when he took
office will remain a major goal, but ridding our nation of hate weapons, and
eliminating the hate speech that inflamed our nation through the past violent
campaign, will be his
priority goals
for passage by Congress in this new
session of Congress. The President will thus prioritize along with gun control
the control of this nation’s increasing hate speech, as the two so frequently
go hand-in-hand. We need to honor those many Americans who paid with their
lives due to hate weapons and by hate speech by getting rid of the guns that
caused their untimely deaths.

“Judy McAlister is
here with us today, as you know. Judy, we love you and pray for you and your
wonderful family. Your loving husband, Vice President Larry McAlister,
sacrificed his life in the service of his country. In our minds he’s a true
American hero whom we will never forget.

“My husband has also
asked me to urge Americans who are grieved by the injuries that he suffered in
Dallas to avoid any more street demonstrations. Too many have been injured, and
tragically, even some killed, in these shows of support for the President. We
can’t accomplish what we need to do as a nation with violence, but we can get
where we want to go as a nation once Congress votes to outlaw hate and those
who hate.

“Finally, I just want
to say….to add….that whoever tried to keep my husband from serving his….whoever
did this horrible thing….whom many in the media are speculating must be from
the radical right….though we don’t know yet, of course….must be caught and
prosecuted to the full extent of the law. May God bless America and its voters
as they decide next Tuesday the future direction and fate of our great nation.”

Many in the room
found that they had moist eyes as the First Lady spoke. The First Lady then
introduced the Senate’s Majority Leader, Senator Harold Reese and the soon to
be returned to power House Speaker Nadia Pelham. The two Congressional leaders
then spoke briefly, as they issued a prepared statement to the media:

EMBARGOED
FOR RELEASE

 UNTIL
1330 HOURS

JOINT
STATEMENT

OFFICE
OF THE SENATE MAJORITY LEADER

OFFICE
OF THE HOUSE MINORITY LEADER

Senator Reese and Speaker Pelham
join in assuring Americans that the nation’s long nightmare of gun violence and
death will soon come to an end. To achieve this essential outcome, we will join
together with the Administration to draft a bill to be considered by the new
Congress in January to address our nation’s hopeless addiction to guns, and also
to put teeth in the Shepard/Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Hate weapons and
hate speech must be curtailed, even eliminated in most cases, if we are to
survive as a free people. We will name this new law after our brave fallen Vice
President, Lawrence McAlister, taken from us too soon by an act of hate and
violence. The sponsors of the bill, to be announced next Thursday, have agreed
to denominate the legislation, to be introduced as 113 – S.-1, the
Lawrence
McAlister Hate Speech and Hate Weapons Elimination Act
. We look forward to
its swift and fair consideration by the new Congress, as well as its early
passage and adoption into law. We are both committed to expediting the
scheduling of hearings and mark ups consistent with the urgency of this
critical legislation. The hate-mongers among us, who terrorized America in this
bloody campaign, have gone too far this time, as they will soon learn. This
nation will deprive the haters, by law, of their weapons of hate and curtail
their hateful words. Our American way of life deserves no less.

Once the media had
exited the hospital suite, the First Lady motioned for Vivian Higgins, the
President’s Chief Domestic Policy Advisor, to come out into hall. Once there,
she leaned over and whispered into Vivian’s ear. “Vivian, do you think there’s
any way….any way….that Hilde’s involved in this?”

Vivian moved around
so she could whisper back in the First Lady’s ear. “What are you
talking
about? The shootings?” The First Lady nodded her head yes.

“No, of course
not….The shootings?….
No Way
…..Wilbur?....Maybe….Hilde? No. She’s too
smart for anything even close to that.”

“I’m just sayin’ that
with a vacancy in the number two job, Hilde may make another push to get the
President to pick her….like she did in the summer, when Larry almost got
bounced from the ticket.  I’ll
never
trust that woman, I don’t care what
anyone says. You have to back me this time in keeping Hilde, and Wilbur, as far
away from the White House as possible.”