by T I WADE
Finally they were allowed into the secure area where they could be dropped off. With passes already around their necks, Mary, Joanne, Jody her PA, and Patsy the bodyguard were allowed through the metal devices. The Capitol Security Guards checking Joanne’s visitor tag and it seemed that the last name Roo didn’t put out any alerts, but the Dithers part of her name made the second security guard look up at her twice inquisitively. Joanne just shrugged her shoulders, smiled, and saw the guard let the name comparison with another famous politician ride for now.
Joanne and her personal assistant were seated on a table six rows back from the front with Mary Collins and a second member of the embassy staff, a defense advisor, she had been told when they had been introduced in the Embassy car.
Congress was brought to order and the Speaker introduced the special session; the first 45 minutes was for a discussion asked by the visiting Canadian Defense Minister.
“Defense Minister Collins, on behalf of the House, welcome to Washington again. I believe it has been 11 months since you graced us with your presence.” As the Speaker went on, Joanne sneaked a peek around the room. There was nobody she recognized, absolutely nobody, and nobody knew who she was either. Her stomach was showing her 4-month-old pregnancy and she felt keen and strong sitting in the Capitol for the first time since she was 10 years old. The last time had been at her father’s first inauguration to President, out on the front steps. The Speaker’s voice brought her back to the present. “I apologize for the crowds out on the Mall and in front of the steps. They started gathering before dawn in the icy cold and so far have been well behaved. It seems to be some sort of illegal march on the Capitol. We have been told it is supporters of the “Individual Party”, a political party not represented in this Chamber. Ms. Collins, we have also heard that the Canadian Protection Forces have been ordered by your Embassy to leave the marches alone. I for one cannot fathom why your Embassy would get involved in affairs of a political nature and an illegal march in Washington, so I hope that after your speech, you could tell us why. Defense Minister Collins, I give you the floor.”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank you for your welcome and the welcome of all your members of Congress. As you and your members know, Mr. Speaker, you have had elite Canadian Military soldiers protecting the House and the Senate, as well as the White House and other important areas in Washington. You asked us for our help two years ago to aid you in protecting the U.S. Capitol by repelling a possible attack from the forces belonging to ex-President Dithers from the south. That attack has never materialized and it is time our troops went home.”
Immediately there was a commotion as the members all began talking or shouting. It took a while before the Speaker’s gavel quieted the House.
“Defense Minister, you know that if your troops leave we will be vulnerable to an attack,” replied the Speaker, flustered. “We believe that that is exactly what Dithers is waiting for. We cannot allow you to remove our protection. The President himself will be vulnerable.”
“Yes, I understand that, Mr. Speaker. Tomorrow morning I have a second meeting with the Senate, and after that I have an appointment at the Oval Office. I will say the same to the Senate and to the President as I am going to say here today. Canada has no interest in the politics here in Washington. It is not our say what goes on in this country. All we can do is to continue being neighborly and help our friends out. Mr. Speaker, two years ago Washington offered to help us with the costs of stationing 30,000 of our finest here and around Washington. You gave us three old Air Force bases to house our troops, but as of yet, we have not received a cent of the $20 million U.S. in gold you offered to pay us per year to keep our troops here. Any U.S. food and supplies provided to our bases has now come to a halt, and we are now forced to supply everything our men and woman need from Canada by air. This is beginning to hurt our economy. so I will be pulling out our troops by year end, if the two years of assistance you promised us is not met within 14 days.”
“Defense Secretary Collins,” replied the Speaker, “you know that it takes time to receive payment through our government channels. We are not as gold-rich, might I say, as we were a couple of decades ago. With gold being the main international currency, we unfortunately have our hands tied. Ever since we sold most of our gold reserves three decades ago, this country has been in financial difficulties. It was two administrations back when the hard times in our country began. Then it was the war in space with the Russians, Chinese, Iran and North Korea against us that broke the camel’s back. We are growing as a nation again under President Downs—he is up for re-election again this year—and I ask you to keep your troops in and around Washington, at least until the President is re-elected for his second term. He is the only hope we have to sustain new growth in this country.”
“Mr. Speaker, my Canadian government has also crunched the numbers on the election coming up. We have estimated that ex-President Dithers could actually beat President Downs in popularity, something I cannot fathom. If the ex-President is taken out of the picture, the President at best might get 9 percent of the vote, if this whole country goes to the polls.”
“Yes, maybe,” replied the Speaker, smiling, “but approximately 70 percent of this country won’t bother to vote, and President Downs’ supporters certainly will, to keep Dithers down south.”
“Our worry, Mr. Speaker, and one of the many reasons we want to withdraw our troops, is the unhappiness in this country that could be caused by your current President being elected for a second term. Nothing has gotten better for Joe Citizen here in the U.S. during his first term in office. We in Canada cannot see it getting any better if the current President stays for a second term, and the situation will worsen for our men and women stationed here.”
“So, Ms. Collins, what can you suggest we do to keep your forces here? We here in the House are worried that this country could end up in a second civil war if your troops leave. At least a civil war here on the East Coast.”
“I suggest that you allow an open election, allow any political party to state its mission and allow new blood in through a larger variety of new political minds belonging to more parties. Allow the American population to say how this country is run, and who can be elected for the first time in a century. We in Canada achieved this five years ago, and look what it has done to our economy. Mr. Speaker, I wouldn’t be standing here speaking to you today if we hadn’t opened up our political arena to all of our citizens.” There was absolute silence as the Canadian Defense Minister, who had been seated throughout, stood and turned around 360 degrees very slowly, and then faced the Speaker. “A final note if I may. Mr. Speaker, I am the result of open and equal politics, something this great country can’t remember for generations.”
With that she sat down and pandemonium ensued. Remarks, good and bad, abounded as everybody got a few words in. Mary Collins calmly drank from the glass of water in front of her. The Speaker continued.
“What politics you have in Canada is not Washington politics. It would not work here in Washington, Ms. Collins. I have been in this House for 35 years, and there is as much freedom for the American public to vote in free and fair elections as in Canada.”
“Then what about the congregation, the citizens on the mall? What about the unbanning of more political parties so that the people can vote for who they want to, not two parties with a group of politicians who have been primed for Washington for decades?” she replied calmly.
Again there was noise, and the Speaker worked his gavel hard. “I’m sure the group out there are insignificant and have nothing to do with free and fair elections. Ms. Collins, we have 235 million Americans to deal with, far more than you have in Canada.”
“Yes, Mr. Speaker, I am so glad you brought up this very important reason we want to return our troops to Canada. There are over 33 million Americans who reside in Canada on temporary visas, thanks to the Canadian government’s lenient policy towards them. Our Embassy in Mexico City has stated
that there are a further 40 million Americans living there, mostly illegally, and none are happy with this country. Thousands are crossing both borders daily. We cannot stem the flow, nor can Mexico. You would have a real situation here, Mr. Speaker, if we sent all those people back. Our problem is not only the safety of our troops here in Washington but the steady increase of people we do not want in Canada.”
“I doubt that you can do anything about the current situation, Ms. Collins,” replied the Speaker. Her time was coming to an end. It was just business as usual and he was thinking of the Danish pastry he always enjoyed at this time of day.
“I have one suggestion, Mr. Speaker. If Washington agrees to it, then our troops will stay. If you don’t, my government has no choice but to pull our men and women back to guard our borders and expel the increased flow of new Americans to our country, due to our re-election estimations in your country.” With that she sat down.
“Will the House give the Canadian Defense Minister an extra five minutes to hand us her suggestion? Please vote,” added the Speaker, and numbers began showing on the electronic board on the wall behind him. It was quite rapid and the “yes” votes beat the “no” votes by double. Mary Collins smiled gently. The House was worried. “Defense Minister Collins, you have the floor again. We have a problem outside. The Capitol Police have warned us that they believe the crowd has grown to over a million. I have received a note that the crowd is wanting a Ms. Joanne Dithers Roo. You have 5 minutes, Ms. Collins. The Capitol Building, for safety reasons, will be closed for the day once you are done.”
“Mr. Speaker, I have one suggestion: the unbanning of the third political party in this country. May I introduce to you Ms. Joanne Dithers Roo, the founder of the Individual Party. May she say a few words?”
“No, she may not, Defense Minister. That is an illegal party. I’m sorry. Thank you for coming. The session is over; the House is now closed for the day.” His gavel sounded and the Capitol police immediately entered to organize the exit. The Canadian Defense Minister and her group were cordoned off from the members, who were all talking at once, and immediately led out of the chamber for safety reasons. They were escorted directly to their car waiting outside, and the car drove out of the Capitol and through the swarming masses.
“It didn’t go well?” asked Joanne.
“Actually it went better than I expected, Joanne. The vote told me everything I needed to know. I was hoping we just got to the vote. Our first evacuation of our troops will now begin in a few hours, it will be all over the news, and our evacuation will continue until they agree to unbanning your party. I’m tired of helping people and having our hand bitten at the same time. Heavy-handedness in another country is not a decent way to get things done, but we in Canada are being swamped by more and more Americans every day, and with the elections it will only get worse.
Within 12 hours the pull-out of the Canadian troops was all over the news. The masses on the Mall were now camped out in the cold, and the Washington police didn’t know what to do. The numbers now stood at nearly 2 million and still growing.
The meeting with the Senate was much the same 24 hours later, and the Capitol was again worried, as the crowd had now filled the Mall all the way down to the Lincoln Memorial. They were not interested in change either and begged the Defense Minister not to pull out her troops.
Then it was off to the White House, a place Joanne’s father had lived for over a decade. They walked in to meet the President, who was the largest man she had ever seen. She smiled when she thought what her husband would say about this man. Mary’s husband had been tall and strong. This man was short and wide, very wide.
All the current President was interested in was for the Canadian troops to stay to protect him. Canada had promised to keep troops in Washington until his re-election. He would try and put a word in for party reform to both the House and the Senate.
Unfortunately that wasn’t enough, Mary Collins told him directly. She had no respect for this man, and she told the President about the press conference she was holding back at the Canadian Embassy in about an hour.
Joanne was aghast at this man. All he wanted to do was to live at the White House and be protected. When Mary Collins asked him what he was going to do with the border control problem, all he replied was that it wasn’t his supporters leaving the country.
They achieved nothing and left. The Senate hadn’t been introduced to Joanne, nor was the President, and now it was time to get things moving.
“Members of the press, welcome to the Canadian Embassy,” began Mary 30 minutes after they had returned from the White House. For several minutes she explained what had gone on in the two meetings on Capitol Hill and the White House, and due to their lack of assistance, that by year-end all Canadian soldiers would be out of the country. They hadn’t been paid, and Washington was doing nothing to solve their dilemma. Then she asked for questions.
“Defense Minister Collins, Pete Miles, CNN. What do you believe is the cause of the largest crowd ever seen on The Mall? Word out there is that they are all peacefully waiting for a special someone to speak to them. Can you tell us more?”
“Great question, Pete. Yes, there is someone here to speak to the crowd. As we speak, a communications system is going up on the Mall, and my associate here will speak to the crowd through the wireless connection to their cell phones and portable devices from the Lincoln Memorial in about three hours. May I introduce to you Ms. Joanne Dithers Roo, the daughter of ex-President Dithers. As you all know, Ms. Dithers Roo is the Founder of the “Individual Party.”
There was silence as nobody said a word. It was true! The ex-President’s daughter had returned from outer space, was married, and pregnant. Now this was real news.
Then everybody wanted to ask questions. Mary Collins stated that Ms. Dithers Roo would speak in two hours from the Lincoln Memorial, and that 3,000 Canadian troops would make sure that the speech was not interrupted by the local police forces. They were to stand guard outside the perimeter of the crowd who had arrived over the last few days and were peacefully wanting to be spoken to by the leader of their party.
A dozen questions were then answered. The press reporters hadn’t been allowed to bring cameras into the conference, or were allowed any imail or transmission devices on them. The idea was to give the news stations as short a time as possible to get the word out, and try and delay the local police from disrupting the speech. The reporters would get the feed live.
Mary Collins also knew that Joanne’s father would be watching the speech. It had been set up for him as much as for Washington.
The car made it through the throngs of people to a point close to the steps of the famous memorial where a couple of famous speeches had been delivered in the past. A large force of a few hundred Canadian soldiers in their usual white U.N. military uniforms was there, and a corridor was ready for the VIPs to walk through.
Joanne was surprised to see that she would speak behind what looked like an armored glass panel, and she still hadn’t finished working on her speech. She had written three speeches and thrown away all of them. She carried short directions of what she wanted to say on a mobile device Jody Foster had given to her.
A loud, rousing cheer went up when the four ladies exited the car. Mary Collins stayed inside the vehicle. She had done her bit, and now the fate of the United States of America was in the people’s hands once again.
She thought back to her father, also an ex-President, Ryan Richmond’s friend, and wondered if he would be pleased at what she had done for his old country. The U.S.A. wasn’t her country; she was Canadian-born. All she wanted was for the Americans to stop illegally entering her country and to have the old friendship back that had once existed between both countries. As always, there was a lot riding on this speech.
This time Debbie West was with the group and led the way. Sherry, her bodyguard, walked in front of Joanne protecting her as the four ladies walked up to the Lincoln Memorial and sat down
in the seats in the front row waiting for them.
The crowd was silent. Some had nearly frozen to death waiting for something to happen during the last couple of days.
Only six hours earlier word had gotten around that a speech would be made on the side of the open area opposite to the Capitol Building, and like many times in its life, the steps were prepared, made secure and seats arranged.
The crowd headed that way, but since they would all be able to hear through what they carried, it wasn’t a real problem to get close.
Debbie West did the introduction. It had to be an American.
“Ladies and gentlemen, as many have said here on these steps before, I would like to introduce you to a special person. A person I believe you all want to meet. A person who has travelled further than anybody else here today, and a person who is ready to give you hope and a future. May I introduce to you all, Ms. Joanne Dithers Roo.”
The noise was deafening. The crowd, in unison, made enough noise that it was impossible to hear anything, let alone say a word. For the first time in Joanne’s political life, she felt the absolute power of leadership. She smiled and waited until the crowd quieted enough for her to speak.
“Thank you all for coming to the Mall. Thank you, so many of you, for putting up with the cold just to be here at this occasion, an occasion the Lincoln Memorial has seen before. I really want to thank you for showing your support for the Individual Party by keeping this a peaceful march. Please, please keep this togetherness peaceful. Let us show our solidarity by peace.”
For ten minutes she told the crowd what she had done, where she had been, and why she was happy to return.
Joanne then explained the lack of flexibility she had witnessed in the House, Senate and White House. She explained that with the elections about to get into full swing, politics in Washington was going to change forever. This brought loud cheers and enough noise that she took a minute’s break.