The (New) American Way

by Mark R. Adams

  We both laughed at our plight but not too exuberantly. We both hurt when we laughed.

  “Gloria. May I call you Gloria?”

  “Most certainly,”

  “You know my golfing buddies will give me a hard time about having to be saved by a girl,” I said.

  “I can imagine, Sir,” she said with a smile.

  “Well, I’m just going to tell them to kiss my—“

  “Honey!” Cindy interrupted from the door. “You need to get back in bed.”

  “Gloria, get some rest and we will be seeing each other in the near future. I will be pinning a medal on you for your bravery.”

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  I headed back to my room for some rest. Cindy was by my side. She told me the children were quite scared until she was able to call them and tell them I was fine. I couldn’t wait to see them and reassure them that their father wouldn’t be denied the goals he set for this country.

  The General showed up after lunch, and I told him to get back to the White House. I was going to fully recover and be back there soon. He argued with me because he hated to leave. He felt responsible and wanted to stay. But he finally relented and admitted I was right to send him back. He knew as well as anyone in the country what I wanted done if any problems arose while I was recovering. And besides, I was only a phone call away. He left that afternoon and traveled back to Washington DC, leaving me to recover from this assassination attempt. Air Force One was fueled and ready for my trip back as soon as the doctor released me. That happened two days later and Cindy and I left New York.

  I was ushered to my bedroom in the White House where I rested another day. The next day I was in the Oval Office. I called Jerry in and told him to call a cabinet meeting. We convened at 1500 hours. I walked in the conference room to a standing ovation.

  “What’s that for?” I asked.

  The General spoke up, “For being brave enough to go to New York, for surviving a bullet, and for continuing to lead this country.”

  “Thank you for those kind words,” I replied, “but I don’t deserve all that. I just thought I could bring some more people over to our way of thinking and I failed.”

  “Sir, I beg your pardon. You did not fail,” said General St. Claire. “Your poll numbers are the highest they’ve ever been nation-wide and the highest they’ve ever been in New York.”

  I was stunned by such good news. I didn’t know the assassination attempt had brought about such positive results. I sat down and started the meeting. Each member reported on activities occurring while I was incapacitated. All of them had done an excellent job of keeping the focus on the changes we’d made.

  Secretary Kirkpatrick stood up and asked for the floor. I said, “Sure, what do you have for us?”

  “Commander Marsh,” he begins, “what you have accomplished in such a short period of time is remarkable. Are you sure we need to go back to the way things were before you took over? Maybe our system of government was always doomed for failure. Maybe this dictatorship, for lack of a better word, is what we need going forward. I hate to see all your hard work go down the drain after you leave.”

  “Stop right there, Secretary Kirkpatrick,” I reply, “I appreciate your compliments, and agree with you about our government being doomed for failure. The election of Obama was like hitting the fast forward button on the remote control for government ineptitude. I saw the end coming when our national debt reached $20 trillion. The politicians couldn’t buy votes fast enough with all their give-away programs. Common sense went out the window in those eight years and the media saw no wrong with anything that happened during that administration. And yes, we have fixed many of our problems without red tape slowing us down, but the people will want to get back to normal soon. They just want things to work better on the reset. I’m going to start winding this thing down. I hope to be done in four to five months.”

  There were some sad faces looking back at me, but they knew I meant every word. I wanted my life back if I could get it.

  In the next few months, I started to reduce the number of military personnel on the streets a little at a time. I wanted to see if any new gang violence would arise or any other criminal activity. I knew the “out of sight, out of mind” influence would rear its ugly head when the troops disappeared. But the local police, sheriffs and deputies, state troopers, border guards, ICE agents, and law enforcement in general would command a great deal more respect. Criminals would be dealt with much more harshly than before our takeover. Punishments would have to be much tougher from then on.

  The wall was 75% done on our southern border. Crossings by illegals were down 85% more than the previous year. I thought it was time. I called a meeting of the military council that originally approached me. It was April, a year and four months into the takeover.

  General St. Claire waited for me to take my seat and asked, “Is this the end?” I guess he sensed it was coming. After being shot, I had told him in New York that I was ending the take-over.

  “Yes,” I answered, “and I want to thank all of you for all the help you’ve given me. This has been a grand operation. Most people never thought anything like this could ever happen here. But it did, and it has been a tremendous success. I will call a press conference tomorrow and announce the conclusion and ending date of this takeover. I will set dates for new elections and swearing in ceremonies. I will leave General St. Claire in charge of the government and the cabinet. He will run the day-to-day operations at the White House. I would like to leave the White House and go back to my home by the 15th of the month.”

  General St. Claire stood and saluted; the rest of the officers did the same.

  The General spoke up, “Everyone in this room has thanked God every day for sending us Adam Marsh. We all wish you and your family the best. God bless you, Commander Marsh. It has been our pleasure to serve under you!”

  I spent a few minutes thanking each man and shaking hands. I told the General to call the press conference for 1400 hours tomorrow. He sadly agreed.

  I entered the pressroom the next day at 1400 hours. It was full. Looking fully healthy, I took my usual spot behind the podium. The members of the press, military, and White House staff wore wistful smiles, while some wiped away tears.

  I began, “As you know, this will be my final press conference. The last year has been a wake-up call for all of us—myself included, but I’m proud to say that I’ll be leaving this government in far better condition than I found it. And I’ll watch with eagerness as our new politicians man their posts. And as they do, I hope that they keep their minds on the popularity of what my team and I have accomplished here. The last thing we need is to get under the American people’s skin. Oh, yes, they are a patient bunch . . . but I imagine they’ll grow less patient if they see any old trends creepin’ back around.”

  Some of the crowd laughed.

  “Just so there is zero confusion, allow me to summarize what has been achieved during this grand season: one, the age of the freeloader has reached its end, and more people than ever are showing up to work, helping themselves; two, no more illegal aliens exist within our borders, yet we have, of course, welcomed many of our old friends and neighbors back on legal terms; three, unemployment stands at 2.4% and that’s a number I hope to see come down; four, drugs and drug dealers have all but vanished from our streets and those who still suffer from addiction are receiving excellent care; five, the Mexican drug cartels have been stricken from the face of God’s green earth; six, justice has at least greeted the monsters who soaked up billions of our dollars by staying alive—for no good reason—in our maximum security prisons; seven, our streets are now clear of homeless people, and those who once struggled to find stability and shelter are also receiving top assistance; eight, our tax code is simpler than my dear Aunt Mildred’s shopping list; nine, our nation’s debt headed downward and our budget’s creating a surplus; and last but not least, ten, we have welcomed Christianity back into our schools. No longer
does the faith of our founding fathers meet with unfounded suppression. Christianity inspired our Constitution and shall, therefore, enjoy the same robust promotion as all our people’s other wonderful faiths.”

  I took a good, long look around.

  “Now I must say, looking at this list, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. Okay, well, maybe except for the whole getting shot part.”

  Everyone laughed.

  I continued, “I encourage ALL the decent Americans who succeed me at this post to lead our nation forward with a firm, sure hand, providing an equal shot at success to all and making sure any and all punishments always, always fit the crime. And please: Put your faith in our people. Give them your trust. If you ask them for more, trust that they shall give it. And by the way, I’m referring to matters of good and evil, not matters of taxation.

  The crowd laughed again.

  I went on, “Every day, from here on, I shall remain with you all in faith and prayer, praying for the future of this great nation. As you might have noticed, I’m something of an Old Testament kind of fella. And you can rest assured our military and I will be keeping an eye on how the coming months and years unfold. In other words, don’t make me come back!”

  Everyone howls with laughter and applauds

  I finished by saying, “Thank you all for your much-needed indulgence! I love this country. God bless you. God bless this office. And GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!”

  I threw two fists in the air. Camera bulbs flashed. The room went wild, except for the liberal media. They clapped politely, but I felt it was because I was leaving. Amid the crowd behind me, I found Cindy and I nodded at her. She nodded back and smiled. I went to her, took her by the hand, gave the crowd one final wave, and walked away.

  No more “I’ll take your questions now.” No more living in the White House. I’m going home for the first time in nearly a year and a half. It was like the ending of a Hollywood movie. But it was the real world. I had a lot to consider. Would my family be in danger for the rest of their lives? Will I, and my whole family, need security around us at all times? Cindy and I discussed all these possibilities the night before I accepted this challenge. We knew our children would be affected, but I wasn’t sure we realized to what extent. Needing security 24/7, even after I finished the job, was quite intrusive to a couple of teenagers. My son’s basketball team would always have an extra man or two riding the bus to away games. My daughter’s golf matches would include a couple of extra “caddies.” Would my wife and I ever be “alone” again? Maybe after elections were held and the new leaders began to conduct the nation’s business again, the focus would shift to them instead of me. I could dream.

  That night I had the chef prepare a dinner for the White House staff, the secret service, the cabinet members and all spouses. Military personnel took over security for the evening. I was able to thank every person for his or her loyalty and support. Anyone there that night didn’t have to remain in his or her job and perform duties for a group overthrowing the U.S. Federal government. I couldn’t imagine what was going through their minds at that time. Were they going to be seen as accessories to this treason? Would they lose their jobs eventually? Should they resign and distance themselves from it all? I had a great deal of respect for the people in that room, and I told them so. Evidently, the day I was introduced to the nation and the world as the new Commander-in-Chief, those people liked what I said and decided to give me a chance to prove my point.

  I singled out a couple of individuals at the dinner. My assistant Jerry Mathis was invaluable to me the entire stay at the White House. He never failed me in any task I gave him. I noticed the day General St Claire brought him to the Oval Office to meet me; he had an old flip-phone. I chided him about it several times and told him he needed to update his equipment. He argued that the new phones cost too much on his military salary. To show my appreciation, I gave him a new cell phone with a two year paid contract, and an autographed copy of my book. He thanked me as he shyly walked away from the podium.

  “Don’t thank me yet, Jerry; the number on that phone is number 1 on my speed dial,” I joked, “and it’s fixed to where you can’t block my number.” Everyone laughed as Jerry blushed and took his seat.

  The chef had been a most important figure during my stay at the White House. He and his staff prepared all my meals. I barely left the White House once we took over the government, so I had to eat my meals there. I couldn’t just order a pizza to be delivered to the home of the leader of the free world. I thanked him for the great food and presented him with season tickets for the Washington Nationals baseball team. He didn’t know what to say, but he thanked me and gave me a hug.

  The next morning, I started packing all my things to take to Air Force One. It would be my last ride on this awesome aircraft. Cindy was helping me and asking me to speed it up.

  “You know you went over your time limit?”

  “Well, I got shot, you know,” I argued. “I wasn’t exactly planning on that.”

  “At least I had your insurance paid up and I could have been a rich widow with many suitors,” she chided.

  “I was wondering how you felt about my full recovery,” I joked.

  We both started laughing and I kissed her. Then I kissed her again.

  “We don’t have time for this,” she said.

  “Shot down again,” I said. We laughed again. I loved my wife more than she would ever know.

  Jerry showed up and took care of moving our things to the airfield. I went back to the Oval Office and ran into General St. Claire.

  “Adam,” he said, “this might last another 250 years or it might need to happen again in a year, but what we have accomplished is extraordinary. This coup was not done to crush the citizens and place the military in power for several years; it was done to fine tune a plan set forth by our founding fathers. It was done to fix a broken system. This takeover was a battle between good and evil. With God’s help, good won out.”

  “I agree whole-heartedly with you, General, and I hope it does last for at least another 2 ½ centuries,” I declared, “but we won’t be around to fix it next time.”

  We laughed and saluted each other. Cindy and I headed to the SUV to take us to the airfield. We were going home.

  We landed in Birmingham that evening and headed home to northern Alabama. As we approached our hometown, we noticed the lights were on at the high school football field. Suddenly our SUV turned toward the high school, which wasn’t the way to our house.

  “Hey, driver,” I said, “you didn’t need to turn there.”

  Cindy started smiling, and I knew there was something going on here. Sure enough, I’m taken to the high school and we drove right onto the football field where the stands were packed on one side. There was a podium waiting for me to say a few words. The cheering went on for at least 5 minutes with a standing ovation like I had never experienced. My kids and in-laws were on the portable stage, along with my parents. As I gazed at my parents and all the people in the stands, I began to get a little emotional. I had been on edge for 18 months and I was starting to wind down. My emotions were getting the best of me. I wondered if I could even speak.

  When the ovation finally stopped, everyone got deathly quiet, waiting for me to say something. I took a deep breath and began, “The last time I was in a football stadium, things didn’t turn out so good!”

  The stadium erupted in laughter.

  I continued, “I hope I can feel a little safer here at home compared to New York!”

  There was more cheering. I felt a little better then.

  “I sincerely appreciate the welcome home,” I said. “I’ve really missed being here with my family, but I’ve been a little busy.”

  There was laughter and cheering.

  “I see you brought my parents here today,” I said. “Without their guidance, I would not be the man I am today. I would never have been able to lead such an operation that we launche
d 18 months ago. And I could never have taken on the responsibility of fundamentally changing the country, if I had not been raised in northern Alabama.”

  There was another standing ovation that lasted a couple of minutes. I was shocked at the passion of these friends and neighbors in my hometown. I had no idea they felt that way about what I had done for the nation. They could have been embarrassed that one of their own had participated in this treasonous act, but that couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

  “I want to thank everyone here today for your support and the faith you had in me,” I said. “I want to get back to watching my children compete in sports, excel in school, and grow up to be good citizens of this great country. I want to grow old with my beautiful wife right here in my hometown. Thank you so much. God bless Alabama and the United States of America.”

  I was exhausted, but I hung around to shake hands and mingle with everyone that wanted to talk a while. It was 2 hours later that the security detail ushered me into my home. Cindy and the kids hugged me and welcomed me back. I get to sleep in my own bed tonight. Tomorrow I would start to lead a normal life again.

  What was I thinking? My life would never be normal again.