American Meltdown: Book Two of The Economic Collapse Chronicles

by Goodwin, Mark

  "Yes, sir," Renzi answered.

  One thing Howe had learned from Al Mohammad, there was no negotiating with these people. Individuals like Paul Randall and Larry Jacobs were stuck in the past and still clinging to the antiquated notion that they could govern the same way people did 200 years ago. Times had changed. Governing had to be done with a strong hand. That is what people needed. Unfortunately, the founding fathers had not understood how dangerous it was to let men speak their minds. Jacobs had to be silenced before he started another brush fire like the one Paul Randall ignited. With Paul Randall hiding out, it was easy enough to label him as a kook, but if state governors started dissenting, it could incite rebellion that might cause Howe serious problems.

  "General Jefferson is on the line, sir." Renzi handed Howe the receiver.

  "General," Howe said.

  "How can I assist you, Mr. President?" Jefferson asked.

  "I need you to have Texas Governor Jacobs arrested," Howe said.

  "What is the infraction?" Jefferson quizzed.

  "Insurrection!" Howe’s voice was harsh.

  Jefferson began laughing out loud. "Mr. President, an insurrection would be the act of a group or an army against a government or power. Are you sure that is the charge?"

  "Don't quibble with me, Jefferson, and don't you dare mock me. I'll have you busted down to sergeant," Howe barked. "Have him detained. I don't need a charge. Send a platoon from Fort Hood to bring him in. Take him straight to a CIA black site."

  "You won't have to bust me down, Anthony, I resign. I have a new position as Secretary of Defense." Jefferson spoke with a light-hearted tone that infuriated Howe even more.

  "Are you delusional? Scott Hale is the Secretary of Defense," Howe said.

  "Not of the Sovereign State of Texas," Jefferson said.

  Howe was further angered by the tone of satisfaction in Jefferson’s voice. Howe slammed the phone down. This situation was getting away from him. It had to be contained right away. Howe called Secretary of Defense Scott Hale into his office.

  "Hale," He growled, "you have to reassign Jefferson's position right away. He is in Texas and conspiring to overthrow the government with Paul Randall and Larry Jacobs. You also have to send troops from Fort Hood to Austin to lock down the Governor's mansion and all of their state government offices. I want Jacobs and Jefferson detained before they disappear into the night like Paul Randall. They are trying to stage some kind of ...." Howe was at a loss for the word.

  "Insurrection, sir?" Hale said.

  "Yes, Hale, an insurrection," Howe screamed.

  Secretary Hale struck a sore spot when he said "insurrection".

  Hale rang the commanding officer at Fort Hood to relay the President’s orders.

  "We are no longer accepting orders from the White House," the officer informed Hale. "Our orders come from the Sovereign State of Texas."

  Hale and his staff started calling all of the military bases in Texas. He soon realized this was a coordinated event that had been in the works for some time.

  Hale informed the President of the situation. Howe was unresponsive.

  Jane Bleecher let herself in and said, "Mr. President, I am afraid you are going to have to come to some type of reconciliation with the IMF."

  "I know, Jane,” The President said somberly. "Why don't you call Klauser and tell him we would like to start over.”

  "I hardly think that would be appropriate Mr. President," Bleecher said.

  "Just do it, Jane," Howe said calmly, but in a way that let her know not to argue.

  Scott Hale took the opportunity to escape while Jane Bleecher was speaking with Howe.

  As soon as her business with The President was finished, Jane made a quick exit as well.

  Not more than a minute passed before Alec Renzi was back in the room. Renzi said, "I’m sorry to have to bring you more bad news, Mr. President, but we just got another letter from South Carolina. It is almost an exact replica of the one we got from Texas. They must have planned this together."

  The lead agent of the Secret Service knocked, even though the door to the Oval Office was open.

  "Come in," said Howe.

  "Mr. President, we feel it is time to move you and your family to Mount Weather. The streets are getting very bad. Protesters are all around the front fence on Pennsylvania Avenue and Ellipse Road. Marine One is 15 minutes out," The agent said.

  "Has anyone told Jenna?" Howe asked.

  "Yes, sir, the First Lady is packing as we speak," the agent said.

  “Alec," The President said. "Get everyone in here. I am going to need all of my core staff to get on Marine One with me in about 20 minutes. Secret Service will send vehicles to pick up everyone's immediate family later to bring them to Mount Weather. As soon as we get there, we need to put together a plan. Have Scott get the Joint Chiefs together and start coming up with a military response to Texas and South Carolina."

  Alec Renzi's phone rang. Howe knew it had to be more bad news. The call was brief.

  "Mr. President," Alec began, "Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana have delivered a joint document stating similar objectives to the letters from Texas and South Carolina. They are referring to themselves as the Northwest Coalition. In addition to those three states, Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon and Northern Colorado are seeking to partition themselves from the other parts of those states to join the Northwest Coalition. North Carolina has also adopted the letter from South Carolina."

  Howe threw his brandy glass across the room. It hit the wall near the door and shattered. He had been willing to deal with an economic meltdown, but not a civil war.

  "Make sure the Joint Chiefs know all the details. This has to be stopped right away!" Howe snarled as he walked out of the room to prepare to evacuate.

  CHAPTER 13

  “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established."

  - Romans 13:1a

  Pastor John Robinson held the Wednesday service just after lunch because everyone could meet together in the barn. There was no other meeting area at Young field. The barn held four wood stoves which helped quite a bit, but it was still drafty and cool. The temperatures had been mild. The highs had been near 40 degrees which was not bad for Idaho in late January.

  Pastor John began with prayer then went straight to the announcement of the states and territories that had decided to secede from the authority of Washington, D.C.

  "Church, we have known for some time that a season of testing was coming for our nation. We know that the enemies of freedom have taken root in our nation’s capitol. We were able to reasonably predict that the economic disaster, which has now fallen on us, would come. No one knew the day, nor could we guess the severity of the collapse, but simple fourth grade math told us that this day would inevitably come. Now, it is upon us. We have done the best we knew to prepare, and we’ll trust God to take it from here. As I have said many times, ‘do your best and trust God with the rest.’

  “With that being said, I can't tell you how thrilled I am that those who have been elected to lead us have submitted to the governing authority. Here in America, the governing authority is the Constitution. The first line of the Constitution plainly spells out who is in charge of seeing that the governing authority is followed. The framers, who established that authority with God’s help, wanted to make it abundantly clear who were to be the ultimate overseers of that authority. To accomplish this, they wrote those words larger than any other words on the document. Can anyone tell me what those words are?"

  Four or five people near the front row yelled out at roughly the same time, "We the people."

  "We the people," Pastor John echoed. "When we read Romans 13, we must keep that in mind. It is the guidestone to correctly interpreting this area of scripture which I will be speaking on today. Romans 13:1 reads 'Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has esta
blished. The authorities that exist have been established by God.'

  “So we have determined that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are the governing authorities that were established by our founders. Verse one also states that they were established by God and, in fact, there is no authority except that which has been established by God. The entirety of our legal system and our government system has its foundation on that governing authority. If any of our leaders are to derive authority, it must come from that ultimate authority that was originally established by God.

  “Romans 13:2 reads 'Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.'

  “Our present administration has risen up in rebellion against that authority. The Bible says that the present administration is rebelling against what God has instituted. They have rebelled against the authority established by God by going against the Bill of Rights. They have rebelled against the First Amendment by suppressing freedom of religion for the very men and women who have fought to keep this nation free. Our military are no longer free to speak of their religion if they are Christian. They can be punished for belonging to a Christian church or even donating money to a Christian church. They are not allowed to pray in the name of Jesus.

  “The press is no longer free. Any member of the press that crosses certain lines can expect to be arrested or harassed by the DOJ or the IRS.

  “I don't think I have to mention the infringements against the Second Amendment which reads 'A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.' I won’t insult your intelligence today by enumerating the infractions by this administration in violation of the Second Amendment.

  “The constant snooping by the NSA and the increasing warrantless searches of homes, personal effects and automobiles are gross injustices against the Fourth Amendment.

  “The Fifth Amendment states that no one shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, yet even Senator Paul Randall is hiding out from a criminal government that sought to assassinate him in the middle of the night.

  “The Sixth Amendment guarantees a speedy trial, yet the 2012 NDAA Indefinite Detention Clause allows our government to indefinitely hold citizens without charging them. This unjust law also violates the principles in the Eighth Amendment which prohibits excessive bail. I would say indefinite detention would have a more egregious effect than excessive bail.

  “And finally, the Tenth Amendment is grossly violated. It states 'The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.'

  “The Federal Government has taken over education, welfare, healthcare, agriculture and many other areas that no government, state or federal, has authority over. Laws about what drugs are allowable for medicinal purposes ought to be the decisions of a state. If a person feels the laws in one state are excessive or too relaxed, they ought to be able to move to a state where they are more agreeable. States ought to be in charge of their own food regulations. If Idaho wants to drink raw milk and folks from Utah don't because of the health risk, so be it. All the minor rules of day-to-day governing are supposed to be set by the states. The Federal Government has a very, very small role to do in defending our borders, maintaining a post office, writing bankruptcy laws and coining money. Notice the government was allowed by the constitution to coin money, not print it.

  “Romans 13:3 and 4 says, 'For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.'

  “For this verse we need to know who the rulers are. Does anyone remember who the Constitution puts in the top position of authority?"

  This time, most of the congregation yelled out almost in unison, "We the people.”

  "You guys are catching on!" Pastor John complimented playfully.

  The congregation laughed.

  "Okay, this one is a little bit harder, but I'll give you a hint." Pastor John continued to teach the heavy subject with a light heart. "We just went over it. Who is granted the authority of bearing the sword by the constitution? Who is the one that Romans 13:4 calls the agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer?"

  The same group in the front that had answered the first time answered somewhat together, "The militia."

  "Everyone up here in this front section gets an extra piece of cake at dinner tonight." Pastor John kidded. The room laughed for a bit then quieted down to hear more of what the pastor had to say.

  "The militia is the only group specifically tasked by the ultimate authority established by God, the Constitution, with the security of a free state." Pastor John continued, "Now I want everyone to get extra cake at dinner, so you folks put your thinking caps on because this one is tricky. Who is the militia?"

  The crowd cried out in perfect unison, "We the people."

  Pastor John smiled as he said, "I think you've got it!"

  He continued, "Romans 13:5 and 6 says, 'Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing.'

  “So that is why we pay taxes. We are to support those who have given their time and energy to following the ultimate authority established by God which we have identified as the Constitution. We are not commanded by God's word to pay taxes to support those who are in rebellion to authority which is the Constitution. Remember, we are God's agents of wrath to punish the wrongdoer, not reward them for their bad behavior.

  “We are not commanded by God's word to pay taxes to support the sluggard. Quite the contrary, II Thessalonians 3:10 tells us, 'If a man will not work, he shall not eat.' Not only are we not to pay taxes to support the sluggard, we are not to pay taxes to support the poor and needy either. I am not saying that we should just let them all starve, but the Bible instructs the Church to fulfill that mission, not the government. James 1:27 says 'Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.’ If the government does this with our money by the barrel of a gun, they deprive us of the opportunity to do it out of obedience to God. And if you don't think it is by the barrel of a gun, try not paying your taxes or don’t show up for court after not paying your taxes. When the IRS agent shows up at your house, tell him you won't let him in and you aren't going with him. I bet if you look real close, you'll be able to see down the barrel well enough to tell if that is a hollow point or full metal jacket bullet pointed at your head.

  “We’re not commanded to pay taxes to support endless wars across the globe. Paul tells us in I Thessalonians 4:11 'Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business’ and in Romans 12:18 he says 'If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.'

  “Let us be grateful that we have leaders that are willing to stand up to those who are in rebellion against the authority that has been established by God. Let us ask God for strength as we fulfill our duty as his servants, as agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”

  After the service, everyone came together for a late lunch. There was an established custom where the congregation ate lunch together and everyone ate the rest of their meals with their individual families.

  CHAPTER 14

  "They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind"

  -Hosea 8:7a

  Howe's Chief of Staff Alec Renzi brought him the phone. "It is former President Al Mohammad, sir."

  "I'll take that in private." Howe wa
ved his hand dismissing Renzi.

  Al Mohammad had some video evidence of personal indiscretions committed by Anthony Howe back when Howe was governor. Al Mohammad let Howe know that he would be acting in an "advisory capacity" throughout his administration. He also let Howe know that he wouldn't take "No" for an answer.

  "Anthony, how are you?" Mustafa Al Mohammad asked in a tone that let Howe know he really didn't care.

  "Just peachy, Mr. President," Howe replied. He was sickened every time he had to talk to this man.

  "You may call me Mustafa now, Anthony. I believe you have earned that right," Al Mohammad said.

  "Thank you, Mustafa," Howe replied. Being granted "permission" irked him even more than referring to him as “Mr. President.”

  "Stanley Klauser just spoke with me," Al Mohammad began. "He is very concerned that if things aren't resolved with the American financial system, it will have a domino effect around the world. He said that communications broke down between the IMF and the White House."

  "Jane called him last night to try to work things out and he wouldn't accept her call," Howe said. "We’re trying to work this out ourselves."

  "And how is that coming along?" Al Mohammad asked sarcastically. "You’re President of the United States. You don't have your staff call the Director of the IMF when you are in an economic crisis. Certainly not when it’s a systemic failure of this magnitude."

  "You know how he is, he wants to dictate to me...” Howe started to respond, but Al Mohammad cut him off.

  "Stop it!" Mustafa scolded. "You offended the only person in the world that can help you keep the country together. States are seceding. You’re hiding out in a bunker. The banks are closed. The stock market is closed. Credit card machines are not taking payments. People can't get benefits, they can't go to the ATM's. People are looting grocery stores, hardware stores, department stores and convenience stores. Fast food restaurants are being robbed not for money, but for food. People are starving. People are rioting and burning down cities. Do you not understand what is happening? This is not about your pride. This is about whether or not America is still a country tomorrow. And it may be about whether or not you still have a head tomorrow. Mount Weather is quite a fortification, but so was Versailles in its day. Never underestimate a starving crowd."