by Adam Yoshida
That, reflected Green, had been five and a half hours earlier.
As it turned out the DC police had severely underestimated the number of people who were surrounding the Capitol in support of the position of the Congressional Republicans inside. Their intelligence unit had told them that there were no more than a thousand or so against a hundred thousand or more gathering for the demonstrations in support of President Bryan. However, by the time that they had moved in the numbers were actually more like ten thousand versus one hundred and twenty thousand. However, those ten thousand contained a disproportionate number of veterans and current and former law enforcement officials as well as people who had been preparing for years for violent confrontations with the tyrannical state. As a result the police had been repulsed at almost all points, the resources allocated to the effort having proven to be wholly inadequate to the task at hand. Instead, they had made the situation exponentially worse by triggering fighting between radical elements on both sides throughout the day.
Green took a step back to check his phone. In his haste, he had failed to bring a charger with him but, fortunately, a lot of the people who had come out to demonstrate against the President were well-prepared survivalists so there was no shortage of portable power and charging equipment for electronic devices and his phone happened to use a pretty standard connector. The latest rumors were that four people were dead in the fighting. Green didn't want to believe it, but he did. Reinforcements had been making their way to the encampments of both sides throughout the day, with the overall gain being to the anti-Administration side, whose ranks had now swelled to nearly thirty thousand people.
The DC police had tried to use tear gas and other non-lethal weapons, but of no avail against a crowd of that size. The gas had wafted away from the people they were shooting and over the people they were ostensibly there to protect. How could, in such a situation as this, one reliably distinguish between friend and foe? Without other good options, the people in the crowd had been left to fight it out.
Now, drenched in sweat, Green stepped back from the melee to lock across the Mall and at the setting sun. A hundred thousand Americans had spent their day biting, punching, and scratching. Perhaps some of those were dead already. Certainly, Green knew, some would be before whatever was beginning here was over. The sun, he reflected, was setting on a different country than it had risen over.
U.S. House of Representatives
Unusually enough, almost every member of the House was on the floor. Normally this sort of activity was reserved for events like the State of the Union. Even during major votes, the norm was for members to drift on and off, for speeches to be given to C-SPAN cameras rather than colleagues. But, tonight, barely a seat was free.
"The House will come to order," the Speaker Pro Tempore gaveled the session into being.
The Speaker of the House did not have the gavel, because he would not be able to speak from the chair. Instead he was in the front row, waiting to be recognized.
"Mr. Speaker!" shouted the Congressman Nelson of Colorado, straining to be recognized amid a chorus of shouts.
"The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota," said the Speaker Pro Tempore, a carefully trained junior Congressman from New York.
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker," said Halverson as he rose to speak, "tonight is obviously a moment of extreme importance..."
"Point of order!" shouted Nelson and around a dozen others.
"The gentleman from Colorado is recognized," said the Speaker Pro Tempore after a moment of hesitation.
"Mr. Speaker, I request that I be recognized by the Chair prior to my colleague from Minnesota, as I intend to make a motion that is Constitutionally-privileged under the rules of the House and must, therefore, take precedence before other business."
"The point..." said the Speaker Pro Tempore after a moment of consideration and a few whispered words from the parliamentarian, "is not well-taken."
"I rise to appeal the decision of the chair," said Nelson, as a dozen other members of the House rose to shout their seconds.
"Oh, come on," said the Speaker, his voice laced with disgust.
"Very well," said the Speaker Pro Tempore, "the question is whether the decision of the chair shall stand. All of those in favor?"
Approximately half of the House shouted their approval.
"And all those opposed?"
The other half of the House roared their disapproval.
"...The nays appear to have it," said the Speaker Pro Tempore without any real conviction.
"Mr. Speaker," said Congressman Nelson, "I demand a recorded vote."
"Well," whispered Nelson to Rickover as the electronic vote commenced, "this is really it."
"It's a test," said Rickover, "the Speaker engineered this as a test of initial strength. He might be able to wheel and deal based upon the results of this vote. But, if we lose, we're totally fucking done."
"What are we going to do if we do get control of the House and the President still refuses to come to his senses?"
"Michael, my friend," said Rickover, patting the Congressman on the knee, "I don't have the first fucking clue."
The White House
"No one is sure whether the votes are there, or whether a few stubborn people might throw off the result by voting on the actual question rather than the proxy question," said Anderson quietly as the President watched events on a television in the residence, where he had gone to get some badly-needed rest.
"There are always those stupid fuckers," said the President, his voice drained.
"We've gotten more word from the events at the Capitol today," added Anderson as the vote count on the screen continued to see-saw, "there were actually seven deaths, three hundred and four arrests and perhaps a few thousand injuries."
"Events, dear boy, events," said the President distractedly.
"Macmillian," said Anderson, "yeah, that stupid motherfucker at City Hall pulled one on us. Still, if this goes on through tomorrow, we're going to have to consider sending in the Army to restore order and disperse everyone. The sooner the better. There have only been a few incidents of gunplay amid the protestors so far, but it won't be long before someone opens up with an assault rifle on one side or the other."
"Fuck," said the President, raising his finger and pointing towards the screen.
U.S. House of Representatives
"By a vote of 213-217, the nays have it. The decision of the chair is overturned. The gentleman from Colorado may make his motion," said the Speaker Pro Tempore.
"Mr. Speaker," said Nelson, "I move that we declare the Speakership to be vacant and immediately commence a new election."
"Is there a second?" said the Speaker Pro Tempore only be overwhelmed by shouts.
"Very well, is there any debate on the motion?"
The whole House exploded.
U.S. Capitol Grounds
The volume around the Capitol and across the Mall had dropped tenfold. But it was far from silent. All one could hear, wherever you went, were the sounds of a forty thousand individual devices streaming the events inside and a hundred and fifty thousands voices debating the implications of the events inside in hushed tones.
If the Congress would not yield...
If the President would not move...
What then?
Christopher Sorensen had been late to the day's events. He had stayed at work until he was done for the day and then he had lingered a little longer, knowing what he had to do but also that it would be likely to have a baleful effect upon his personal life. Yet, at the same time he knew that there come moments in the destinies of nations when the desires of an individual shrink to insignificance. Shortly after arriving at the Capitol grounds, he was elated to spot a friend.
"Martin!" he shouted. For a moment Martin Green failed to look away from his tablet, transfixed on the events within. Then he looked across the grounds at his friend and waved.
"Chris!" he said in a low-toned shout as he
waved him on over.
"No one has a new count," he said as Sorensen walked up next to him.
The Speaker of the House was talking now, his voice eerily drifting across the night sky from thousands of small and slightly out-of-sync speakers.
"...This is not about ambition. Given a choice, I would gladly yield my place to another," said Halverson, "but what this is about in the future and meaning of this country. I do not approve of the course that this President has taken, as I have not approved of many courses by many previous Presidents and just as I hope – and expect – to disapprove of many more in the days to come. You think that he has gone too far. I think that he has gone too far."
"But I also know that the decision to oppose this President and this Administration in such strident and unyielding a tone is dangerous to the future of this nation. I believe that it will have terrible consequences. That – not my desire to retain the Speakership – is why I ask you to vote no tonight."
"The gentleman from Colorado is recognized," said the presiding officer, as Michael Nelson rose to speak.
"Mr. Speaker," said the Colorado Representative, "I have heard my friend, the Speaker, say this evening that he fears that some in this nation have come to a place where they can only say "no." I would put it to the Speaker, Mr. Speaker, that it is not a matter that we can only say "no", but that we must say "no." This is a nation born out of that one majestic word.
"Not so long ago, after we had already embarked upon this destructive course but before we had set absolutely it and poured on the speed, there emerged in this country a politician whose slogan was 'yes, we can.' What he – and the many people of good will who supported him – meant by that was that they believed that government could – and ought to – bring people together to solve our social problems by collective action. Implicit in the slogan was opposition to those imagined naysayers who stood in the way of the accomplishment of their wish-born utopia. 'Yes, we can', in this sense, meant that yes, we can together overcome the will of the minority and enforce upon the whole of the nation a certain vision of what is right and what is wrong.
"This error, I would argue, Mr. Speaker, springs from a certain basic misunderstanding of America. America is freedom. America is the right to be proudly, unabashedly, and unashamedly wrong – because how often is it that what is regarded as wrong in one generation is to be celebrated by the next? America is not a search for the perfection of humanity, America is the recognition of the undeniable truth that humanity is imperfect and, given that, we had just better get on with things.
"Freedom. Mr. Speaker, is about the right to say "no" when something is asked of you. It may well be that your neighbors and everyone else really believes that this thing is for the best but, unless your inaction should somehow compromise the public safety, you have – or ought to have – an absolute right to say "no" in America.
"Our opponents – exemplified by those of this Administration – believe that the are so good, so well-meaning, so nice and so empathetic that any opposition to them or their ways can only be the work of sociopathic evildoers. They believe that they have in their hands the keys to utopia and that, in light of that, any measure that they take to push out of the way any obstructions must be justified. After all, who would not agree – if utopia were really at the end of this path – that such an outcome of unlimited happiness might well justify a little temporary discomfort to be inflicted upon others?
"Such thinking paves the way for political prosecutions, for prison camps, and finally for mass graves. It's happened elsewhere, including in many old and civilized states: don't think that it could never happen here.
"The Founders had the wisdom to recognize this and, in their wisdom, they thought to create a government founded upon checks and balances. Our government is not slow and likely to produce deadlock because our Constitution is broken. Our government is slow and produces deadlock because our Constitution works. The purpose of the Constitution was never to deliver all power into the hands of a single man, be he ever so right or ever so wrong. The Constitution was meant to disperse power and to ensure that interest was forever set against interest in order to prevent the total concentration of power in the hands of any one person or faction.
"I am a free American. I was born one and I will die one. I choose freedom. I cherished it when it was easy and I will stick by it when it is hard. I am prepared to defend it with my life. Our Constitution will not be destroyed. Our liberties will not be trampled. One man with courage, they say, makes a majority. What, then can one say of tens of millions of such men and women united in a common cause? That is why I say no to tyranny and will vote yes on this motion."
Amid the crowds outside the Capitol, a tremendous roar of approval was met by shouts of anger and disapproval as, within, the business of state went on.
U.S. House of Representatives
"Mr. Speaker," began the House Minority Leader, "the question before us tonight transcends ordinary party politics. Simply put, we are asking ourselves: what is government for?
"If government is to help people – if government is to improve the lots in life of ordinary people, to care for the sick, to educate our children, and to keep our streets clean and safe, then this motion must be defeated. Not because I believe that my friend, Michael Halverson, is a good man and a capable Speaker – though I believe that he is – but because the forces who oppose him and now seek to destroy him believe in a different form of government than do we.
"The government that they believe in is indifferent to the concerns of ordinary Americans. It values abstract ideological principles higher than human needs. I don't believe that is the government that most Americans voted for – it certainly isn't what President Bryan has sought and is seeking – but it is what they would give us, if given the chance.
"This President wants to do something about inequality in this country. He wants to do something about the fact that a few malicious corporations have deprived this country of trillions of dollars in vitally-needed tax revenue. Money that could have gone to education, to health care, to putting cops on the streets, and to building the roads and bridges that we know that this country desperately needs has instead gone into foreign bank accounts.
"I find it hard to believe that anyone would choose the right of CEOs to pad their bank accounts over that of children to get the benefits provided by Head Start – but you can see people who believe just that sitting right over there.
"Now, I don't agree with this Speaker about everything. In fact, the truth be told, I agree with him perhaps a third of the time. But I believe that he believes in basic humanitarian principles, and I believe that he genuinely wants to help people. Against what he's facing down, I will vote to back him again and again and again, as I believe will my colleagues in the House Democratic caucus."
The White House
The time had ticked past 2AM and they were still talking. The President had finally half-dozed when the Majority Leader was called upon to wind up debate.
"The polls aren't with him. Not fully," noted an agitated Jamal Anderson as the cameras focused in on Terrance Rickover.
"Mr. Speaker," began Rickover, "I will endeavor to be brief. Today we are voting on more than the organization of the House of Representatives: we are voting on the future of our country."
"Our opponents believe that the powers of government ought to be unlimited – untrammeled by any limitations that might restrict the good that it might do. What they fail to recognize is that a government that can do anything can do anything."
"None of the great tyrannies ever began with someone setting out to do terrible things to people. They all began with someone who thought that they knew better than everyone else how people ought to live and that if only everyone could be convinced of the benefits of their singular vision, heaven might be brought into being upon the Earth. That future of unlimited happiness and success, weighed against the temporary inconvenience of the trampled rights of a few, has proven t
o be a justification for untold horrors."
"We don't believe in the perfectibility of man," said Rickover as he reached for something in his briefcase.
"This," said the Majority Leader as he slammed a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution down upon the desk, "is what we believe.
"We believe in limited government. We believe in individual initiative. We believe that self-support is integral to the survival of self-government.
"And, more than that, we believe that our rights are not gifts of the government. We believe that rights are the inherent possessions of the people. We believe that iniquity is to be resisted, not compromised with.
"My Democratic friends who have spoken tonight are right: this is about a matter that goes beyond party politics. What we are engaged in tonight – and in days to come – is a fundamental defense of liberty against the usurpation of a would-be tyrant. Whatever the anguish that it may mean for us, we are going to make a stand for liberty.
"It may not be that we can restore the Constitution in a single bolt from the blue. There is no magic wand here. Instead, we will proceed carefully – but deliberately. Because the people, deep down, are for liberty. We will explain ourselves at each step as we use every means within our grasp to achieve our aims. It may be long and it may be difficult, but we will win."
"A confident man," said the President as he narrowed his eyes upon the television as he slumped back in his chair.
"I think he's going to win the vote," said Anderson, looking at the ground.
"All great change has been resisted," said the President as he suddenly bolted up from his chair and walked across the room, "just as this has been and will be."
"Yes, Mr. President," said the Chief of Staff with a yawn.
"We're just going to have to punch back twice as hard. Who do these people think that they are? They don't speak for the people – their supporters are just a bunch of rich people and bigots. Fuck them. I will not let them win. No matter what."