by Jacob Drake
The Jefferson Solution
Jacob M. Drake
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with
the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Thomas Jefferson
Copyright 2013 Jacob M. Drake
Published by Freedom eBooks
Formatted by eBooksMade4You
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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CONTENTS
Dedication
The Jefferson Solution
Author's Note
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Dedication
This short story is dedicated to the Founding Fathers of the United States of America and equally to all those soldiers in every war since and including the Revolutionary War which founded this great nation, wherein the men and women of these United States gave of their lives in order to ensure that the ideals which formed this nation were upheld and passed on to the children of each succeeding generation.
May our children and their children's children find those of us of this generation equally as deserving of such honor.
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The Jefferson Solution
Dan Kelly drove up to the gate at the White House. He had his federal ID checked by the same Marine guard who checked him in every day. Although the two men had long been on a friendly, first name basis, Kelly knew it was the Marine's duty to carefully inspect every person who entered the grounds of the Capitol of the United States. He didn't deserve any special consideration in accordance with his position and would never have asked for any.
Kelly drove his personal vehicle in and parked at his usual spot, donning his suit jacket only after he exited his vehicle. He had to wear this jacket all day long while on duty inside the White House and he wasn't about to have it showing wrinkles. Not while serving in the position he did.
After graduating high school Kelly had elected to join the United States Army and serve at least one tour of duty, rather than head straight to college the way his parents wanted him to. His was a family dedicated to serving those at the highest levels of the United States government, but this youngest of the Kelly boys had wanted to experience life in a different form of service to his country first, the way not only his own father had, but both his grandfathers had, one, his mother's father, even giving his life in doing. Daniel Kelly saw this as a family tradition and he wasn't about to break with it, even though both his older brothers had.
He had been fortunate, at least in his mind, to have been among those first sent to Iraq during the days of Desert Storm in 1990. The cessation of that "minor war" came just before his term of service came to an end as well and upon his discharge from the Army, Dan Kelly fulfilled his parents' desires and went to college. He knew there was only one direction his life would take after he graduated and he was proud to have had his life's direction decided for him even before he ever finished grammar school. His father had served in Vietnam and then joined the FBI, later being asked to switch over to the Secret Service, where he finished a distinguished career in protection of various Presidents and Vice Presidents, along with their families.
This was where Dan Kelly was headed. Having begun in the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service he soon, partly due to his father's pull within the Service and partly because of his own talents and skill at distinguishing himself, was promoted to the Presidential Protective Division in 2003. He had been elated over his success in climbing the ladder within his chosen career field, but even within this division he was only charged with securing the families of President and Vice Presidents, not the actual politicians themselves. In 2007 he was assigned for the first time in a detail for the then VP Dick Chenly. He then went on to serve in the protective detail for Vice President Joe Belen once Barry Sotereo had been elected President in 2008.
Another step in his successful career climb came in 2010 when one of the senior Agents protecting the President retired. Because of recommendations in his favor Dan Kelly found himself once more moving upward. Finally he had reached the zenith within the Secret Service, the pinnacle all agents strove to reach, that of protecting the President of the United States.
"Keep your eyes and ears open at all times," he had been informed the first day of his new assignment within the White House. "This is a lot more important even than securing the VEEP. If anyone gets anywhere even near close to POTUS on our watch it's likely every one of us will be reassigned. We don't want that, do we Kelly?" The lead agent had looked so hard into Kelly's eyes that for the first time in many years the younger agent understood the gravity of his assignment.
"No, sir, we don't want that at all," he had responded in an attitude that reassured his superior that this Secret Service Agent knew the ramifications if he were the one to screw this up for the rest of them.
Initially Kelly's duties had been to assist in securing sites where the President would be appearing, ensuring the security so that no one would be present who might present a threat to the highest official not only in the United States, but as far as the Secret Service was concerned, the entire world. Kelly had prided himself in his work, knowing that the more he proved himself in the minor details the better his chances were of finally being able to actually be one of the agents who were in the presence of the POTUS at all times. That was what he truly wanted. It was where his father had eventually been before his own retirement and he had always been proud of performing his duties exquisitely.
Still, once the current President, Barry Sotereo, finished up his first term and had been re-elected for a second term, Dan Kelly had begun wondering about his role. He knew not every agent within the Secret Service agreed with the politics of any given POTUS or VEEP they were assigned to protect and no one asked them to or required them to hold the same views in politics, only that they put their views aside in favor of performing their duties so no stain ever applied itself to the Presidential Protective Division.
Kelly had done exactly that. He had put aside his views, even though he had begun to see that the longer he served under Sotereo the more he disagreed with the President's views - on everything. As soon as President Sotereo was re-elected for his second term it seemed as though he had begun overextending himself in favoring not only Muslims, but those Islamists who were intent upon destroying everything that made the United States of America what it had become. True, many other Presidents had acted in ways that had brought disservice and distrust upon the United States, certainly Bill Clinton, who his father had been assigned to protect had done muc
h of this in burdening within the Office of the President, but never to the extent that Kelly witnessed in these latter days of 2012 and moving on into the beginning of 2013. The spending deficit Sotereo had incurred was enormous. He had managed to spend more than the entirety of all of the previous forty-three Presidents before him combined. And it seemed as though he wasn't planning on stopping that dreadful trend anytime soon.
Kelly had watched in the political arena as the POTUS he served and protected treated the United States citizens with the greatest of disdain. On a daily basis of late Kelly had come to work wondering if it was all worth it. Should he protect a President who seemed hell bent upon bringing about the total destruction of America, as this one certainly seemed to be doing? If everything he was seeing of late continued - and certainly nothing seemed to be indicating it wouldn't - the America Kelly had been born into and raised to respect would be gone before the end of the year.
Others were seeing this same thing. Kelly knew for a fact that all across the nation those who