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

by John Price

  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.”

  THIRTEEN

  Campaign Website Blog Entry by John Madison –

  It was the worst day of my life. No….not just the worst day. Election day was the absolute worst day of my life. I know. I know. ‘You can’t win them all’ and all that rot, but this election loss was catastrophic in nature, as it led to a whole series of legal and personal assaults about which I will shortly write. It wasn’t a catastrophe because I was defeated as a candidate on the ballot. I wasn’t running for office. No such luck. It was a full blown disaster for me because I managed the campaign in Texas against the candidate who won. Who was that winning candidate? Only just the incumbent President of the United States, who knew well who I was and who was reportedly not at all amused by my efforts in the hard-fought campaign to deny him a second term.

  I’m getting a little ahead of myself. I’ve never kept what used to be called a journal, but after what happened last month, and my big mug being flashed on television screens all over the country, I decided I’d better keep a chronicle of what happened by blogging on my campaign website. I’m writing down what happened because my study of history as a student at Texas A & M tells me that the winners write the history books, and therefore, the truth is usually lost. I don’t want that to happen this time.

  Oh, yeah, my name is John Madison, and I am the founder and State Co-Chairman of the Lone Star Patriots First tea party, one of several tea party and patriot organizations that had sprung up in our State over the four years between the President’s first and, it makes my heart, and my fingers, hurt to type these words, his second election to the White House. Even though it poses a danger to me to do so, I’ve decided to record the true inside story of what happened to me, our supporters and volunteers, and most importantly to our country, beginning after that fateful election day, yesterday.

  I’m recording, now, of course, mainly what happened after the election, for an obvious reason, I’m writing this after the election. Plus, any American with a pulse knows what happened in the campaign. How the media slanted campaign coverage; how the incumbent’s political party and big city henchmen effectively eviscerated the President’s Republican opponent and his running mate; how the labor unions (you know, the ones to which the administration handed over ownership of car companies) and the public sector unions (the ones who had earlier declared war in Wisconsin against the taxpayers) managed to insure that the blue states stayed blue, and the red states didn’t total enough electoral votes; and the rigged voting with the President getting 99% and 100% in some precincts. Even the Russians usually gave a few votes to the opponents of the regime. And, well, you know what happened.. The White House political machine had worked for four years to guarantee that we couldn’t possibly win and the incumbent couldn’t conceivably lose. We don’t need to recall that disaster of a campaign. It hurts too much to remember, anyway.

  Oh, yeah, how did the term ‘tea party’ come to apply to political efforts to throw out the Congress and to try to prevent a second term for the President? Everyone knows that the original term began with the dumping of tea in Boston Harbor in 1773, as an organized protest against British taxes on imported tea. OK, maybe not everybody knows this background. If you ‘studied’ U.S. history in a public school, they may have left out that little factoid. More recently, in 2007, the term ‘tea party’ was updated to apply to several angry voters in a large mid-western city who organized to protest grossly excessive property taxes, and who dumped tea bags in a city canal. Americans for Tax Reform in DC noticed the protest, gave the group an award, and the rest, as they say, is history. In 2009, Rick Santelli, a CNBC business reporter engaged in an on air rant from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, calling for a “tea party” by traders throwing worthless derivatives into the Chicago River. His rant went viral as more Americans woke up to the mortgage mess being perpetuated by the federal government.

  In Texas, admittedly a long way from Boston Harbor, we liked the phrase, and along with several groups, we adopted it into our formal name. We might as well have painted red-ringed targets on our backs, though, as we have since learned that all of our data files were downloaded by federal agents. What really stings is that when we initiated legal action because of the unauthorized downloading of our membership and donor files, the official response was to claim that it was all legal under the Patriot Act. I don’t need to say anything about how offensive that argument was.

  FOURTEEN

  White House Oval Office

  “Look, Darlin’, I don’t have any real choice. I’m gonna to have to pick Hilde to replace Larry, now that he’s passed.”

  “Don’t give that fake homey drawl. I know you. I know you better than anybody knows you. I can tell you’ve already made up your mind, so why even ask me and Vivian?”

  The trio in the Oval Office each had a strong déjà vu feeling as they convened, again, to discuss selecting former First Lady Hilde Ramona Calhoun to be the nation’s future Vice President. Four months ago, prior to the Democratic National Convention the three of them had met to consider replacing Lawrence McAlister on the ticket. The decision then had been to make the switch in the number two spot, though the First Lady had been strongly against it. Vivian had appeared to give in, the President called Hilde and the Vice President to a private meeting to make the switch, but it didn’t happen. Vice President McAlister persuaded the President that dumping him from the national ticket could cost him his own re-election. Hilde attended the meeting expecting to be named. After being left at the altar, Hilde and her husband, former President Wilbur Jackson Calhoun, were not amused.

  Vivian was the most political of the three persons in the room. She had said after the election returns confirmed that her boss would serve a second term that, “It’s getting even time….every jerk who opposed us had better get ready, because it’s payback time”. Vivian was no fan of the Calhouns, but she was a pragmatist who understood, better than the President and his wife, how Washington really worked. She would not oppose the selection of Hilde Calhoun, again.

  “Honey, you know I agreed not to decide anything major unless we all three agreed. Why do you think I called this meeting? Why are we all three here talkin’ about this? Hunh?”

  Vivian decided it was time to intervene in the first couple’s argument by addressing her comments to the First Lady, “Stop. OK.? I only gave in back in August to picking Hilde because I thought she would add votes. Larry convinced your husband otherwise. So be it. Larry’s gone. God bless his cerebrally limited soul. Now, we gotta’ do the smart political thing and name Hilde. It’s really quite simple. We can’t dump Hilde twice in one year or we will have so much…..”

  “Vivian….You stop. OK?” The President, realizing he wasn’t in this cat fight, folded his hands across his chest, and leaned back in his chair. “I have only one reason that I don’t want Hilde Calhoun down the hall as Veep. You know what it is….I raised it with you at the hospital, if you will recall.”

  Vivian was temporarily puzzled by the First Lady’s response. Then she rememb
ered. “Oh, you mean when you asked if Hilde, or more likely, Wilbur, had anything to do with the shootings in Dallas….Is that what you mean?”

  The President quickly went from slightly bemused to intensely interested, “What? What? I haven’t heard anything about….”

  “Your wife asked me at the hospital if I thought that the Calhouns could have been involved in some way with the shootings in Texas. I scoffed at the idea, but she’s still paranoid about all those stories when they officed here that the Calhouns had arranged to off several of their political enemies. Internet junk stuff. Baloney. And that’s what I told her.”

  The First Lady looked down at her hands, which were nervously wringing the ends of the decorative scarf she was wearing. “You can both say I’m paranoid….maybe I am….but if the Calhouns get into power again, they’d only be a heartbeat from moving down the hall into this office. I’m just sayin’.”

  The President also knew his wife well, and he knew when she had decided to give in on an argument, even one in which she was fiercely engaged. He knew it was time to count the votes and move on. “No one has ever proved anything even close to what you’re raising, dear. Hey, it’s my hide that we’re talkin’ about here. If I had any fears at all that Hilde and Wilbur would be a….problem….you know….physically….for me, I would never pick her. She’ll be fine. I worked well with her in the Cabinet. She’s smart politically. She’ll be a big help on the Hill with those retrograde Congressmen that I can’t stand. She actually can talk to them. Hilde’s my pick. Vivian?”

  “As you said, you don’t have a true choice. It’s Hilde. Under the 25th Amendment you need to get her name up to the Senate so they can confirm her. Soon. We’ve got a vacancy that needs to be filled, now.”

  The President didn’t need to ask how his wife voted. That was obvious, but the First Lady had a closing comment that she couldn’t restrain herself from making, “If I’m right, dear, you won’t be here for me to say ‘I told you so’.”

  FIFTEEN

  Second Campaign Blog Entry

  Well, I’ve been less than diligent in updating my page. I’m obviously not going to be a daily blogger. I just don’t have the time. Why you ask? I’ve had such a hectic schedule this year that my time at our local exercise center was severely curtailed. As a result, I know I could stand to lose a couple lb’s from my six foot four bod. During the campaign I ate way too much fast food during my many trips across Texas trying to persuade voters to come out and vote to throw the President out of office. Plus, I have a real job that requires my time as an executive in the insurance industry.

  I haven’t been delayed in blogging daily because of time spent with our kids, who are all grown and raising their own families, so I have no excuse of time consumed by soccer games or ballet practices. My dear wife, Debbie, made sure that I had plenty of time to work on campaign needs, and still spend time with her, as the love of my life. Debbie, many of you know, is blond, petite and has a bubbly personality. As my wife and the mother of our two children, Jack and Katie, she’s the best thing that ever happened to me. Jack is now a pastor over in Dallas and Katie is working overseas in commercial interior design. No, my delay since my last blog hasn’t been for family reasons. I’ve been swamped because of the media attention my Austin speech attacking the President is still getting. I’m getting a lot of calls about the anti-gun and anti-free speech bill that we hear is being drafted by the White House.

  As I said earlier, I think it’s important to record the facts about what the newly elected federal Administration did to those of us who opposed them. I don’t know why, really, they were so upset. We fought a good, honest and clean fight in our efforts to sway Texas voters against the incumbent President. But, it’s already pretty obvious from the President’s actions since the election that he doesn’t see it that way. But, we’ve now learned that there is such a thing as a “sore winner”, sorry to say. Really, how does it happen that an officer of a mid-sized insurance company from Tyler, Texas could pose a threat to the Republic? When did I become an enemy of the state? I am clearly being targeted because I led the effort in Texas to replace the occupant of the Oval Office. Funny thing is that before this year’s campaign and election I had nothing to do with politics. I was a ‘died-in-the-wool conservative’, but I left it up to others to do something about the decline and possible fall of my beloved nation. I finally realized that our very survival as a free country was on the line if we just sat back and allowed the incumbent another four years.

  Today’s announcement that the President has agreed in principle with a bill to eliminate private gun ownership and to quote curtail unquote hate speech makes me alternately sick at my stomach, and mad as…well, this is being read online, so, I’ll just write that I’m torn up inside over what is happening in DC over our right to speak freely and to own weapons of defense. The newly re-elected Administration has now reiterated the First Lady’s George Washington University Hospital statement made right before the election that in his second term the President will get Congress to “re-interpret” the black letters written centuries ago on parchment paper. This fulfills his agenda for America, which differs radically from those aged words.

  The White House Press Office and Senator Blevins’ office jointly released the text of the bill, labeled as 113-S.-1. It’s to be introduced in the Congress, in the new session beginning in January, to rid the nation of privately-owned guns and shut down what was labeled as hate speech. I suspected that the Administration would have Jim Blevins act as the lead sponsor of the bill. The Senator is one of the most liberal in the U.S. Senate, even though he’s from conservative South Carolina. I’ve noticed that happens frequently, like Senator Reese coming from Nevada. Senator Blevins was in critical condition after his shooting, but last week he had recovered sufficiently to return to the Capitol and lead the fight, from his wheelchair, for his historic Constitution-changing bill. Senator Blevins looks like he was type cast by Hollywood for his role. Heavy-jowled….just plain heavy….balding, blustering, the Senator lays his South Carolina accent on pretty heavy when it suits his interests. With his seniority in the Senate, he was the perfect choice to lead the fight to pass the McAlister Bill, besides his shooting, needless to say.

  It’s important to understand the assault on the First and Second Amendments that Senator Blevins and his several co-sponsors, joined by Speaker Pelham, and the President, of course, are proposing to become the law of the land. It’s not 1200 pages like the healthcare reform bill. In fact, being just a few pages, there are no obvious loopholes or areas of lack of clarity. 113-S.-1 states it as clearly as it can be stated - you can’t own a gun, as all firearms are defined as “Hate Weapons”. If you get caught owning a gun, after the 180 day redemption period for gun owners to turn in their firearms (in exchange for a few hundred bucks), you will be charged with a class C felony and then spend your next 10 years in a federal prison. How about that for clarity? There is only one exception for hunting, but it’s very limited. Quite offensive is the part of the bill that rewards Americans who turn in their friends, family and neighbors who may have held onto their guns.

  In addition, any person who utters or writes words considered to be hate speech by the federal censors, excuse me, by a new federal Hate Speech Review Panel that the new law, if it passes, would create, can be imprisoned, also for 10 years. That’s clear enough, also. The text of the bill was apparently leaked today by its sponsors. Only time will tell if enough people of this country will recognize the danger of taking away our rights under the First and Second Amendments and defeat this assault on our Constitutional rights.

  We’ve already started organizing in this part of Texas to fight, and hopefully defeat, this dangerous bill. I have to be honest, and say that it doesn’t look all that good at this early stage to defeat the bill. Bad laws get passed, and bad laws adopted, almost always during a crisis. The shootings have poisoned the atmosphere to speak out in support of owning guns, and opened the door to corki
ng people, legally, for speaking their mind. We’re doing research on how a shooting crisis in other countries led to abolishing private ownership and how some nations have shut off free speech. Apparently in Australia after a crazed gunman shot several people the laws were changed taking away the right of Aussies to keep and bear arms. Taking away everyone’s rights to defend ourselves, just because of one nutcase, just doesn’t make sense to me.

  Once the bill leaked today, I received two calls telling me about pastors in Sweden and Canada being arrested and charged with hate crimes for preaching from the Bible on same gender marriage. Incredible. Anyway, we’re going to fight hard to keep our Constitution. More later.

  SIXTEEN

  Oval Office – White House

  Washington, DC

  “Five, four, three, two…..” Thus, the White House media coordinator counted down the clock prior to the President’s address to the nation from the Oval Office. America’s broadcast and cable media aired the President’s prime time address, an event expected to be watched by a record audience. Most media led into the White House breaking news event by re-playing video footage of the shootings in Dallas.

  “My fellow Americans….I address you tonight as your President….but also as your Commander in Chief. I do so, as it is increasingly obvious that what America is now facing requires me to assume more of my military role, my Constitutional role as Commander in Chief, than my domestic role as President. As you know, I have tried to calm those who have been demonstrating and protesting in our streets. I have urged Americans to settle their disputes at town hall meetings, letters to the editors, blogs and, yes, especially future elections. Many Americans have come into our streets to protest the shootings in Dallas of federal officials, myself included. In response to these inexcusable acts of gun violence, many have themselves reacted violently, fearing that they will lose their right to carry hate weapons, also known as guns. I will address this critical issue in greater depth shortly.