by John Price
“Sheriff, you are making a really big mistake. We know you’re an organizer of the National Sheriffs and Police Chiefs for the Constitution, which is a bunch of rabble-rousing law enforcement guys trying to make trouble. But your buddies won’t help you any. You may not know it, but Texas adopted a similar law. The Colorado General Assembly’s new law allows our office to replace sheriffs who don’t….”
“OUT. I’m done. Get out, sir. Our Colorado Constitution can’t be tossed so easily. Go back to DC and talk to your lawyers. We’re not buying your President’s plan to shut down our God-given rights to defend ourselves. Anything about what I just said that you don’t understand?”
“Sheriff….Because of your obvious threat to commit violence, I am authorized by federal and state law to arrest you as a domestic terrorist. Stand up to be cuffed. Now.”
Earlier over five hundred American Sheriffs and city Police Chiefs joined together to inform the world that they were supporters of the U.S. Constitution and would not voluntarily surrender their offices just because their states’ legislatures bowed to the White House and adopted laws allowing the Secret Service to assume the offices and duties of local law enforcement officials, if the Service chose to do so. Agent Barrett’s Secret Service team was the first in the U.S. to attempt to supplant an elected Sheriff. Therefore, Sheriff Armstrong was the first U.S. Sheriff to resist, though unsuccessfully. He also wasn’t the last to do so, as over the next few weeks four hundred and forty-two law enforcement officers belonging to the organization were removed from office and sent to FEMA re-education camps. Those not yet sent to Camp FEMA knew that they could easily lose their elected positions if the powers that be said so.
41
Interstate 70 – East of Columbus, Ohio
The signs on Interstate 70 started two miles before the checkpoint. The first, in brilliant white reflective letters on a vibrant green background, read:
PREPARE FOR STOP 2 MILES AHEAD
FEDERAL ACCESS CHECKPOINT
HAVE YOUR ID READY
TRANSPORTATION SECURITY AUTHORITY – ANTI-TERRORISM DIVISION
The next sign read:
ACCESS CHECKPOINT 1 MILE AHEAD
YOUR ID WILL BE VERIFIED
NO VALID ID – NO FURTHER ACCESS
TRANSPORTATION SECURITY AUTHORITY – ANTI-TERRORISM DIVISION
Five hundred feet from the checkpoint was displayed a sign that read:
THERE IS NO RIGHT OF ACCESS ALONG THIS HIGHWAY
WITHOUT A VALID ID FOR EACH PERSON IN VEHICLE
ANY PERSON POSSESSING A GUN WILL BE DETAINED
TRANSPORTATION SECURITY AUTHORITY – ANTI-TERRORISM DIVISION
Wally and Cindy had seen television coverage of the new interstate highway checkpoints. After the ‘religious rebellion’ bombings that had been so heavily covered by the media everybody in America, it seemed, knew about how the government was protecting them by screening for terrorists on the nation’s major roads. Still, this was their first time on an interstate since the bombings and since the checkpoints were put into place. Both were nervous. Wally had owned a gun, which was once registered, but he turned it in after the McAlister Act went into effect making the ownership of guns a felony in America. Cindy had asked Wally if his prior gun ownership would cause them any problems traveling on I-70 to Pennsylvania where Cindy would visit her ailing aunt. Wally assured Cindy that it wouldn’t be any problem. Internally, though, Wally wasn’t so sure. He took along with him the receipt for his gun given to him when he turned it in to comply with the new anti-hate weapon law.
Just outside of Columbus, after they passed I-270 which circled the city, Wally and Cindy came to the first two mile warning sign by the TSA Anti-Terrorism Division. Cindy spotted the sign first, “Look, Wally, its coming up, in two miles.”
“Un huh. I see it. It’s a hoot that TSA put the checkpoint here. That town right over there is Independence Village. How about that for irony? Get out the car registration certificate, the insurance papers and, of course, your driver’s license. I just read that TSA is going to require that all drivers have a federal ID. You know, the one that Congress has been debating, if you can call unanimity of opinion debating.
“Now, Wally, don’t go getting your blood pressure all hyped up. Not right before our first federal checkpoint experience. It’s not worth getting yourself all sick. Everything will be alright. You’ll see.”
“I’m fine, dear….but I can’t say I like any of this….even if it’s for catching those bombers…..the rightwing religious wing-nuts….that’s what our pastor called them Sunday.”
As soon as Wally and Cindy passed the second sign traffic came to a crawling stop. The line ahead of them was about a mile long. Wally was grousing, “See, I knew they couldn’t check everybody’s ID and expect traffic to move very fast. What are they thinking?” Cindy gave Wally her ‘zip it Wally’ look. He zipped it.
After twenty minutes, Wally pulled up to the glass enclosed traffic control booth and handed over his documents to the TSA blue-shirted employee who had his hand out. The agent looked them over and then typed something into the portable device in his hand. After waiting a few seconds, the TSA agent said, “Sir, you’re going to have to pull out of line. Just put your vehicle in the lot there next to the access control booth. Now, sir.”
“Is there….is there some….sort of….problem, officer?”
“There will be, if you don’t comply with my order. Move your vehicle. Now.” Wally moved his vehicle, as instructed.
No one said anything to Wally or Cindy, for what seemed to them like the longest time. They could see that the agent who had ordered them to move was inside the booth, leaning over what looked like a computer monitor. Finally, the agent came back to their car, handed Wally his documents and said, “Sir. You are on a no travel list.”
“Huh? A what list?”
“A no travel list….you know….like a no fly list at the airport. You are not authorized to travel on the nation’s interstate highway system. Please reverse into this area and return west along I-70, but no further than the next checkpoint which is west of I-270 on I-70.”
“But….how could that be? I’ve never even had a speeding ticket. A few parking tickets….all of which I paid. I don’t see how….”
“Look, you seem like nice folks, so off the record, strictly not for quotation, you got flagged because you owned a lethal firearm.”
“But, I turned my only gun in. I complied with the anti-gun law. I’m no terrorist. See, here’s my receipt….I hate what those religious radical folks did….I….I don’t even go to church….not usually, that is. I’m no threat to….”
“Sir, once you are on the no travel list that’s it. I can’t do a thing about it. I’d be in trouble….big trouble….if I let you pass. The fact that you tried to travel on I-70 today, with your gun background, is now part of the computerized permanent record. You’ll have to take the back roads if you want to travel, but I hear internally in the TSA that there’s going to be a big hiring effort in the next fiscal year to staff up checkpoints on state and local highways. The times, sir, they are a changin’. Now, I’ve said more than I should have. Please get back on I-70 and proceed west. Have a nice day.”
Tears filled Wally’s eyes as he tried to comfort his sobbing wife on the long drive home.
42
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Nebraska Avenue Complex, Washington DC
“Carl, your memo was a big hit in the Oval Office. Vivian tells me that The Man got a good laugh at the name.”
“Oh, The Adam and Steve Project? Catchy, huh?”
“It ridicules the haters, so yeah, I liked it. I’ve got a tentative go-ahead from Vivian, but before DHS implements it I want to go over the final details. Spell it out, but I don’t have all day, OK?”
“Sure. It’s in three parts – detect, deter and destroy. First, detect. The traditional LGBT supporters have contacted us and confirmed that they have e
nough manpower to approach every evangelical church in America and ask to be married, in the church.”
“So, two men, or two women, will walk into each church and ask to be married, right?
“Yeah. They’ll videotape each denial. We’ve already got the database set up, with church names, addresses, pastor data and estimated attendance for each Bible thumping church. As we get the details of the denials of marriage rights, we’ll enter the data and be ready for phase two, deter.”
The Secretary, as was her custom, was multi-tasking - typing, listening to a cable show in the background and giving Carl some auditory but no visual attention. She finally replied, “Deter? So we’ll give them a chance once they deny marriage rights before we close them?”
“Correct. DOJ thinks we should, just in case the religious nuts find a judge somewhere willing to step out of the mainstream and help them. So in the ‘deter stage’ we serve each denying church with a formal notice from the IRS. The formal notice will give the church fifteen days to change its position and agree to marry same sex couples. If the church fails within that time to sign an attached consent agreement agreeing to legal marriages, then the church and all of its members will lose their 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. We’ve paid for a study that estimates that without the ability to tax deduct contributions to churches that giving will fall by well over half.”
“That much?”
“Well, it varies. Most evangelical church members, the ‘true believers’, will apparently continue to give at a higher percentage. But mainline church members won’t likely want to be out of step with the administration and may be scared that opposition to the President might get them an IRS audit. The more liberal churches will still have their tax deductions, so they may attract some folks who identify with what we’re doing in DC. For all those mega-churches with expensive coffee bars, gymnasiums, swimming pools, you know what I mean, they may not be able to make their monthly mortgage payments, if they lose their donor base scared off by the denial of tax exempt status. So, they’ll fall in line, most likely.”
“So, Carl, in the ‘deter stage’ you take away the churches’ tax bennies and hope to flip the church into marrying same sex couples for financial reasons?”
“That’s pretty much it. Again, the study shows that about half of the churches will be deterred.”
“That brings us to the third stage? Destroy? For the haters who won’t perform marriages for loving same sexers?”
“Correct. We’ll then have a hard list of churches which refuse to abide by the law. We’ll use the same judge in Philly….he’s one of us….to issue a blanket order shutting the doors on any church that refuses.”
The DHS Secretary finally looked up at her employee and said, “OK, Carl, but based on what you’ve told me….we could be looking at….thousands….tens of thousands of churches that have to be closed. Are we staffed up for that? Do we have enough Conservators? I don’t want this to take months or even many weeks.”
“We’re fine. We calculate that we can install bars and locks on several hundred buildings per day. It can be done pretty quickly. No problem.”
“Alright. I have a change and a suggestion for the President. You want the IRS to give them fifteen days to recant. That’s too long. They only need one Sunday to ask the flock to agree to marry same sex couples. Ten days is plenty. Then….if they fail to recant….shut ‘em down. I’ll call Vivian and suggest that when the church closings start that the President give a speech at his old church back home. He should emphasize that all Americans will continue to have free opportunity for religious participation, but only if they follow the law as interpreted by the administration, of course.”
“Got it, Madam Secretary, consider it done.”
43
Port Everglades Cruise Terminal
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
With the economy as bad as it had become John Madison was confident that he would be able to purchase last minute passage on the Norwegian Cruise Line cruise ship to Mexico and Belize. He waited to purchase tickets online until mid-day on Friday before the ship’s scheduled departure on Saturday. Because John and Debbie Madison had been rejected from leaving the U.S. when they attempted to fly from Atlanta to Ecuador, John knew that the only way out of the country would be by boat. His research indicated that the DHS ‘no fly list’ had yet to be applied to cruise travel, but he also recognized that could have changed as the administration increasingly was clamping down on Americans leaving the country. Thus, John knew that until they were on the cruise ship and out of the jurisdiction of the United States, they were subject to being detained.
John briefly considered jumping the border with Canada, but rejected the idea as too risky. He knew if they were caught they would be criminally charged, likely with long prison terms to follow. John Madison’s experience in federal prison was not something he wanted to repeat.
The Madisons took a taxi from their hotel to the cruise terminal. As they approached the terminal they could see and smell clouds of acrid smoke drifting north from Miami. Television coverage that morning showed the extensive riots by tens of thousands protesting the possible impeachment of the President. The reporter referred to similar riots in several other large cities in what appeared to be an orchestrated effort to influence the upcoming vote in the US Senate on the House-passed Articles of Impeachment.
John and Debbie were ‘prayed up’ as they walked up the cruise terminal ramp to check in, less than two hours before departure. They were uptight. They were both worried that they would again be restrained from leaving their country. John had frequently asked what kind of country keeps its own citizens from leaving. Having heard her husband’s question several times Debbie decided to research it. She quickly learned that Hitler issued an edict in October, 1941 to prohibit Jewish residents of Germany from emigrating across its borders. Prior to the ban, between 1933 and 1939, half of Germany’s Jewish residents departed the country. Those who remained were said to have been convinced that Nazism was a passing phase which they would survive. Most didn’t survive it. Debbie also found that the Soviets blocked emigration from its Soviet bloc nations from 1950 until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. When she discussed her research with her husband she told John that she felt like she was being held captive behind an American Berlin Wall.
John and Debbie said one more prayer under their breath, then they walked up to the smiling agents at the Norwegian Cruise Lines check in counter. The NCL agent said, “Good afternoon. Please don’t worry about being late….the ship won’t be leaving for another two hours. We ask for people to be here by three PM, but we don’t disembark until five.”
John had purposely delayed their arrival at the terminal to the latest possible time for passengers to check in, hoping there might be a rush of travelers, with agents being less likely to check their names against a possible maritime version of a ‘no fly list’. As it turned out the ship’s passengers must have been anxious to board as John and Debbie were two of only six passengers waiting in line to check in.
“May I have your passports and sailing documents, please?”
John handed over the requested documents anxious as to what would happen next. He looked at Debbie noticing the worry lines at the corners of her eyes. His worst fears were realized as the agent looked at the documents, entered their names in her computer and looked up sharply at the Madisons, saying, “Oh, I’m sorry Mister Madison….Do you mind just waiting her one moment. Just one moment, sir…I apologize.”
John and Debbie exchanged looks. Later they would recall that they both had the same thought, ‘here we go again’.
After what seemed like ten minutes, but was actually under two, the agent returned. She had her supervisor in tow. He was holding the Madisons’ passports and travel documents. The supervisor looked down at the pictures in the passports in his hands, examined the Madisons’ faces and then asked, “You are John and Debbie Madison?” The Madisons didn’t seem to be able to form words, so each
just nodded affirmatively. “Well, I have some good news for you. You reserved a lower deck interior room, but we’ve just received a last minute cancellation of an outside suite on a higher deck. Are you interested?”
John smiled with relief realizing that the NCL supervisor was merely trying to extract more money. He replied, “No, we’ll be happy with what we’ve reserved. Those suites can be costly, I know.”
“Mister Madison, you don’t understand. There’s no extra charge. Our records show you’ve traveled with us before. We’re just using the best rooms first for our valued customers.”
As the cruise ship departed from Port Everglades John and Debbie Madison stood on the balcony of their suite. They were still in shock from the turn of events. John suggested that they pray. “Oh, Father….We of little faith. Forgive us when we doubt you. Forgive us when we lack faith. Thank you for blessing us with passage out of the U.S. We pray that you’ll open the ministries that you have in mind for us in your chosen destination. Finally, we pray for Jack and Allie and the kids….that you will keep your protective hands around them….and get them out of the country as soon as possible. We pray that Jack will be exonerated in his trial next month. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”