THE WARNING A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series Book 2) (23 page)

           
“I love my father, John Madison, but we didn’t see
eye-to-eye on this subject, and frankly, it put a strain on our normally very
warm father-son relationship. On more than one occasion, usually when I was
visiting him in prison, I asked my dad if he knew what he was doing. Was it
worth it to lose his insurance executive job and spend time in federal prison,
away from mom and his family, just because of words? Dad loves me, as I do him,
so he would always gently reply that he was right, and that I would eventually
see that he was right.

           
“Last week I was able to tell my dad that he was right in
two ways. First, I told him that I now agreed that he was right to do what he
did in opposing an administration that has frequently acted contrary to the
best interests of the people of this nation. Secondly, I told him that he was
correct when he said that I would one day see that he was right in his actions
that led to his arrest and imprisonment. It was a sweet moment, my friends, to
be able to be re-united not only in our love for each other, as dad and son,
but also united in our belief that standing up for what you believe in is worth
the cost, whatever that may be. Words do matter. I’m here today, using words
from God’s Word, for which I may be, like Pastor Green, charged with criminal
acts. I can’t control what those in authority may choose to do to me for using
God’s Word, in their view, in a politically incorrect manner. I can only
control what I say.

           
“I said to John Madison, my dad, last week, a man I consider
to be a true American hero, ‘Dad, you stood up when others, including me,
should have spoken up before the second term happened. If more Americans had
stood up and raised our voices, as you did, we would still have our First and
Second Amendment rights today. Please forgive me.’ And, congregation, please
forgive me for not leading you to stand up and speak up when we still had the
chance to do so. Because of my lack of leadership, and the lack of leadership
by many other pastors and priests, we now live in a different nation than we
did before the last election. We can’t go back now and change that, but we can
admit we were wrong and speak up now. Will that mean we will be charged with
violating the McAlister Hate Speech and Hate Weapon Elimination Act? Only time
will tell, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

        
“Pastor Madison, are those the same words that you delivered
on the Sunday in question?”

        
“Yes, I read them today as I delivered them in my church.
The same words
.”

        
“Pastor, you were here in this trial and heard several of
the government witnesses testify that you never even mentioned the Bible?”

        
“Yes, I heard that from a number of government witnesses.”

        
“Their testimony
wasn’t
accurate, was it?”

        
“No, they were incorrect. I assume that they just forgot
what they heard. My government, the government of the country I love, wouldn’t
call witnesses that
they knew
were
not telling the truth.
Not my government
.”

        
After the government decided not to cross examine Pastor
Madison, the Defendant rested his case. Closing arguments were brief and to the
point. The time that the jury took to deliberate and return a verdict was also
brief. They elected a foreman, took a unanimous vote and notified the bailiff
that they had a verdict, all within one hour, not even time to order pizza.
Jack Madison II was found innocent of all charges. Upon hearing the verdict,
the Attorney General of the United States was so livid that his hand slamming
his expansive walnut desk at the Department of Justice broke the glass top.

Ambergris
Caye, Belize

        
As a grandmother, Debbie Madison was convinced that SKYPE
was the best invention since the dishwasher. Her regular SKYPE calls with her grandchildren
in Texas were the highlight of her week. Hands down. This week’s SKYPE call,
though, was not what she expected. Debbie had their laptop set up on the table
on their lanai, positioned so her little ones could see ‘Gamma’ with the
Caribbean in the background. As three o’clock in the afternoon came she pressed
the SKYPE button on her screen and waited for Allie to answer. The musical tone
warbled as she waited. Allie didn’t answer. She waited a minute. Then she tried
again. Still no answer.

        
Gamma Madison started to worry, but then decided that prayer
was a better use of her time. Just as she finished asking God to help Allie
with any problem she may be having, the SKYPE warble came on and Allie was on
her computer screen, with a smile as big as any Gamma could remember. “Oh,
Allie, you’re OK, I was just praying about your….”

        
“Momma Madison, I’m
better
than OK….
We’re terrific
. The jury
found Jack
innocent
of all charges
. Totally
innocent. It only took them an
hour to reach a verdict. Chuck, his lawyer….your lawyer, too….says that’s
warp speed
for a federal jury in a major
case. He didn’t think the jury would decide that quickly. He said it
hardly ever
happens. He was especially
concerned about getting a fair trial. There are all those mass trials that the
judges have been allowing, as they convict groups of conservatives and
Christians and sentence them to re-education in those wicked FEMA Camps.”

        
“Oh, Allie,
I’m so
happy.
Happy for you, and Jack, and of course the kids! Wait until John
hears. He’s fishing right now, but as soon as he gets back, he’ll be praising
God, along with me! What
else
should
I tell him?”

        
“Chuck said he didn’t know for sure, but as they left the
federal building one of the Judge’s law clerks told Chuck, on the Q.T., that
the judge was preparing to step down from the bench. The clerk said that the
judge told him that he
couldn’t do it
anymore. He supposedly said that he couldn’t continue to try mass groups of
defendants or cases of dubious legal basis, like the charges against Jack. He
also supposedly complained to his clerk that he was tired of being
pressured
by the Department of Justice
to rule in particular ways on certain high-profile cases. Whatever the reason,
he’s apparently leaving the bench….and….Jack’s
a free man
.
Praise the Lord
.”

        
“Praise the Lord,
indeed
.
Now, Allie, you know what I’m going to ask you
next
….Will you and Jack
please
pray
about leaving the U.S.? Maybe
joining
us
in Belize? Or, at the least, getting out and moving somewhere. Chile,
Ecuador, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Panama, New Zealand. There are
lots
of good options.
I know
Jack won’t want to leave his
church….so, I’m just asking you to pray about it and let us know if there’s any
possibility you will flee. John and I are convinced, as you know, that America
is Babylon, Mystery Babylon. God says several times in prophecy to flee
Babylon.
Please
, Allie,
pray about it
, that’s all I’m asking….
Oh, I’m so happy! Praise His holy name!”

Federal
Communications Commission

Washington,
DC

        
Chairman Chadwick Cummins enjoyed drinking his morning
coffee at the FCC in cups emblazoned with three large inter-twined C’s,
commemorating the three C’s of his title and name. Now that he had been FCC
Chairman for five years he was more than confident in his ability to shape communications
law in America to his liking; more importantly, to the liking of his long-time
friend in the White House. It was that goal, to please the President, that
motivated Chairman Cummins to propose the Commission’s latest regulatory
change. Thus, it was with significant inner pleasure that the Chairman whapped
down his gavel and called the meeting of the Commission to order.

        
“Members of the Commission, item one on today’s agenda is,
in my opinion, historic in nature. All of us here at the FCC are more than well
acquainted with the hundreds of thousands of signatures on petitions through
the years demanding that the Commission not shut down religious broadcasters.
Many false e-mail requests were circulated for many years asking recipients to
contact the FCC to respond to a purported Marilyn Madelyn O’Hair petition. As
result we have received and cataloged those petitions, which, I might add, have
required the FCC to utilize large areas of a General Services Administration
warehouse for storage of these largely identical petitions, referring to a
cause number here at the FCC that never actually existed. It was a huge waste
of citizens’ and the Commission’s time and resources.

        
“The irony is that these thousands of petitions were not
only untimely, but they can’t now be considered by the Commission because they
all refer to a non-existent case. Item one on today’s agenda is the first time
that this Commission has formally considered the question of the continuation
on the public airwaves of religious broadcasting. The Commission recognizes
that religious broadcasting has been allowed on the federally regulated
broadcast spectrum for many decades. Until recently that was an accepted and
legal use of what the public owns in America, the airwaves.

        
“Today, however, is a different day. The law in America
today is not the same as it was in prior times. We now live in a nation in
which our highest Court has ruled that our Constitution allows marriage between
persons of the same gender. This ruling has the widest possible consequences,
as it not only affects religious institutions, but it also has direct impact on
the use of the public airwaves by those institutions. Let me state the obvious
in the most obvious of words. The public broadcast spectrum may not be used by
persons or institutions who convey words of hate and who spew hatred of others
because of their sexual orientation. This Commission will no longer countenance
nor allow the broadcast of hate speech, even though it may be draped in a
religious robe. Because the religious book relied upon by these religious
broadcasters is directly contrary to the law as it now stands in America, this
Commission must take official notice of this indisputable fact. In addition,
the Commission cannot allow Muslim Americans and atheists to be offended. The
Commission must not only take notice of the hate content of religious
broadcasting, it has a legal obligation to do something about it, to prevent
further violations of the law in the future.

        
“It is quite likely that some more extreme persons in
America will object to the Commission’s actions taken today. These extremist
groups also objected when we recently revoked restrictions on nudity and
profanity in public broadcasting. These anti-government forces fail to understand
that we live in a different era. The world and this nation have changed. The
only thing that doesn’t seem to change is these peoples’ anti-choice,
anti-marriage and anti-freedom views. This Commission has had nothing but
praise from the mainstream media, business leaders and many mainline
theologians for our removal of Victorian restrictions on broadcast content,
allowing real life to be viewed by real Americans. Similarly, it is now time
for the Commission to correct religious broadcasting violations of the law.
It’s time.

        
“Accordingly, I move that the Commission adopt agenda item
one in its entirety and thus prohibit any further use of FCC-regulated public
broadcast spectrum by any broadcaster conveying broadcast material of
a religious nature
, in that it would
violate: a.) the McAlister Act prohibiting hate speech, b.) the federal hate
crimes statute and c.) the President’s executive orders prohibiting hate speech
in the public forum. Is there a second? Hearing a second, a vote is in order.
All those in favor? Against? The vote is 3 to 2 and agenda item one is adopted.
The clerk is ordered to promulgate the text in the next issue of the Federal
Register and notify all religious broadcasters of the
cessation of their use of the public airwaves
, all commencing by
the end of next month. That should give everyone time to make adjustments. No
more religious hate speech on the public airwaves. Now, let’s go to agenda item
two…..”

Colonial
Williamsburg, Virginia

        
The large number of satellite trucks alone would have been
an indication that big news was being made in this historic American village.
The news trucks were clustered around the Governor’s Palace, in the original
structure of which a critical vote was taken for America’s independence from
Great Britain. The opulent building had been selected as the primary site for
negotiations for peace in the Middle East, not only because of its historic
setting, but because the 300 acre village could be secured from potential
protestors, let alone terrorists.

        
The President officially convened what the White House had
labeled as ‘The Path to Peace Conference’ with a short media statement. “In my
time as President, I’ve been able to achieve numerous successes, but none will be
as memorable as obtaining an agreement between the ancient adversaries in the
Middle East. Many have tried, sometimes in good faith, to make it happen, but
I’m committed to staying here in historic Williamsburg until we get the job
done. We’ll keep you updated regularly as we make progress along the Path to
Peace. Thank you.”

        
Israel’s Prime Minister was advised before the President’s
statement to the media that he would not be accorded time for a similar
statement. White House staffers concluded that if the Prime Minister was
allowed to speak to the media
before
the negotiations began that he might lock himself into an intractable position,
because of what he said to reporters. They needn’t have worried, as the Prime
Minister had no desire to talk to reporters. His mood was such that he didn’t
much care if he spoke to anyone, that is, except for the President. He really
wanted to talk with the President, privately. Among his listed topics to
discuss was item number one. What was the real reason for cancelling last
month’s White House luncheon and embarrassing him with his political and
governmental supporters, let alone Israel’s enemies? More important than the
‘Sandwich Snub’, as the media had labeled it, was his high level of interest in
knowing what Israel would get from the Path to Peace agreement? Will Israel’s
enemies acknowledge its right to exist? How would Israel’s security be
enhanced? What about Iran’s nukes? Most critically, what could Israel expect
from the US should its new treaty partners renege on the new peace agreement,
and attack Israel in the future?

        
The Prime Minister was well aware that the eyes of the world
were focused on him. He had been portrayed by US mainstream media as ‘The
Obstacle to Peace’ and by Israeli media as ‘Israel’s Sell Out Chief’. He knew,
though, as soon as the results came in on America’s Presidential election night
what Israel would have to do. With the President safely elected to his second
term Israel would either bend to his will, or walk away from its only remaining
national friend on the globe. Once his remaining questions were answered by the
President, he would do what he had to do to try and protect his tiny nation
from almost sure extinction at the hands of the one hundred and fifty million
enemies who surrounded Israel. He knew he would be forced to sign a peace
agreement. The only remaining question was how strong would the assurances of
Israel’s survival be in the agreement?

        
The President was sailing high. He had never been so
confident in his ability to get his will, on whatever topic or issue he might
choose. He wasn’t seen as arrogant, his staff told him, but nightly polls did
pick up a growing number of Americans who thought he was becoming proud in his
mannerisms and speeches. His Chief of Staff, being a decades long friend, was
selected by the White House staff as the one who could get away with advising
him to tone it down a bit. Sure, things are going well now, but anything could
happen in the future, the President was told. He responded that he wasn’t about
to take any guff from Israel’s Prime Minister, whom he personally didn’t like.

        
Though many participants were in Williamsburg for the peace
talks, everyone who had followed the lead up to the event knew that it would
come down to what the three leaders would agree to sign. The Palestinians had
privately assured the White House, in advance, that, unlike past peace efforts,
they would agree to any reasonable proposal that the President could work out
with Israel. They knew from his past pronouncements that the President would
obtain the best agreement that they would likely ever obtain through
negotiations. They knew that no other US President would do more for their
cause than the current occupant of the Oval Office.

        
With what amounted to a blank check from the Palestinians,
the President walked into his private conference with Israel’s Prime Minister
assured that he was about to make peace and world headlines. The two person
meeting was held in the ornate Governor’s Office in Williamsburg’s Governor’s
Palace, rebuilt in 1934 after it burned in 1781. The paneled walls featured
crossed muskets and swords from America’s early history.

        
The President greeted his guest, “Mr. Prime Minister, this
has been a long time coming, for both of us, for both of our countries.”

        
The Prime Minister was ready for almost anything that would
come out of the President’s mouth, so he wasted no time in getting to the core
issues facing Israel, “Mr. President, thank you for hosting. Let’s just get to
it. I’m way over the ‘Sandwich Snub’, as your media called it. I concluded that
you were….”

        
“Let me just say, Mr. Prime Minister, that we have a lot
more important things to talk about than who ate lunch at the White House, or
didn’t, as the case may be....
much more
important issues to discuss.”

        
With this response and the notable lack of even a hint of an
apology, the Prime Minister immediately knew that the public cancellation of
his meeting with the President, just like the prior dinner cancellation, had
been calculated to embarrass and denigrate him. Not a good sign for today’s
negotiations he quickly concluded. “Agreed, Mr. President. So let’s get on with
it. How are you going to assure Israel that if we give up part of our land
we’ll be secure in what remains? We haven’t witnessed good results in the past
after we made peace. Take Gaza, for example. We reluctantly gave up Gaza and
we’ve had nothing but grief, and missiles and bombs, ever since. We give up
land and we get bombs in return.”

        
“Well, I’m not unmindful of your argument on this point….We
can….”

        
“With all due respect, Mr. President, it’s not an argument,
it’s a fact. Why should we sign, why should
I
sign, any document unless we know, with assurance, that we can live in peace
and security? We all want peace, but you’ll have to admit that the past
behavior of our adversaries is not comforting on this critical issue for
Israel.”

        
“Mr. Prime Minister, I hear similar arguments from
your adversaries
, as you call them. They
say that Israel just keeps building housing settlements, and expanding your
presence in the land. So,
both sides
have….”.

        
“Now, let’s not try and compare killing innocent civilians
with building apartments, on land that
we
own
, I might add. You can’t….”

        
“Own?
Own
, Mr.
Prime Minister? Or land that you
occupy
?”

        
“I wouldn’t go there, Mr. President. How much of the land
America owns did
it
‘occupy’ from
Native Americans? Do you
really
….”

        
“We’ve had this argument before. We’re not getting
anywhere….Let me just cut to
the chase
….America
is prepared to recommend to the parties the following. In exchange for Israel
surrendering control of the designated and agreed land areas in the West Bank
and Jerusalem, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas will agree that Israel has
the right to exist, and that they will act to prevent any persons under their
control from taking any action, of any nature, to harm any resident of
Israel….that’s what you’ve been asking for. I think we can get it done.”

        
“Well….unh….you’re
sure
the Palestinians will agree that Israel has the
right
to exist? That’s not been their position in the past….In
fact, they have specifically….”

        
“Just
trust me
on
this. They don’t want to make that concession, but
I
can make it happen.”

        
“That capitulation would be, as you know, Mr. President, a
significant
breakthrough. But, of
course, it’s one thing to recognize that a nation can exist, and quite another
to agree not to ever attack it or try and annihilate it in the future. What
assurances,
what teeth
in the
agreement can we expect to….”

        
“Let me work on that. I’m
not concerned
that we can make it happen. I am concerned though,
that Israel may stumble over the details of the land swap we’re going to put on
the table later today.”

        
As excited as the Prime Minister had felt upon hearing, for
the first time, that Israel’s right to exist and assurances of its security
would be offered, his stomach took an instant turn upon the President raising
problems Israel would likely have over what land it would have to give up. If
the President suspected that Israel would have issues with the land swap
proposal, the Prime Minister knew Israel certainly would object.

        
“What….details….are….we….talking….about? Can I just
see the maps
now? No surprises, Mr.
President?”

        
“No. I’ve decided against either side seeing the maps
early.
You all get to see them at the
same time
. It’s only fair that….”

        
“Whoa! Hold on, sir. If our roles were reversed and I were
telling you that I wouldn’t show you a map of what I was taking away from your
country, say part of California or New York, wouldn’t you demand the right to
at least
see the maps before you’re
asked to agree to the land being taken away?”

        
“Let’s get this straight. America isn’t up for grabs.
Israel is
. We’re all going to agree to
take away some of the land that you occupied in 1987 when Israel was invaded.
What land?
Why should you care
,
really? Land is land. You give up some dirt and you get everyone’s promises
that you can live in peace on the dirt you
don’t
give up
. Simple as that.”

        
“
Simple as that, huh
?
Mr. President, it’s not simple. And it’s not just dirt, its people’s
lives
. People who have lived for decades
on the land and now you want to just rip them out of their homes. We could
never
agree….”

        
“
Never agree
? I
told you that I would cut to the chase, so here it is. Plain and simple. Iran
has nukes. Your Mossad confirmed that last year. You can’t take them out, the
whole world has warned you not to even think about it. We won’t allow it and
you’re not going to do it. Your only defense against those nukes now is that
America let it be known what we will do if Iran ever uses its nukes. Israel is
now as the US and the old USSR used to be, MAD, Mutual Assured Destruction,
since you now both have nukes. So, Mr. Prime Minister, Israel
will sign
the Path to Peace Agreement.
You
get
the right to exist, you
give up
the land we’ve decided you have
to give up to make this deal work and you get
guarantees of security
. No more bombs, no more missiles and no more
suicide bombers. Peace.
Peace in our
times
. Finally.”

        
In his heart the Prime Minister wasn’t really surprised by
what he had just heard. He knew it would come to this when he first heard ABC
call the election for the President early in the morning following the closing
of the polls. The best he could hope for was to salvage something in the peace
agreement which was being forced down Israel’s throat that would assure Israel
that it could truly live in peace.

        
“Let me go to the bottom line, also, with all due respect, Mr.
President. Maybe we’re not in a good position to argue about specific areas of
the land that we’re being forced to give up….to abandon…., but I will
never
sign a document that leaves us at
risk of further attacks, more killings, more blood.”

        
“You’re wrong, Mr. Prime Minister. You
will
sign the agreement. The reason you will sign is that if you
don’t sign, the following three bad things for Israel will soon follow your
refusal to sign. First, the UN
will
admit the newly created State of Palestine as a full member, with the rights
that follow. Second, our new budget bill will not include any, that’s
any
, US foreign aid for Israel. That’s
over three billion dollars this year, and every year thereafter. Third, I’ll
publically announce that the Jimmy Carter Memorandum of Agreement that was
signed with the Camp David Peace Accords in March, 1979 is
null and void
.”