A REVOLUTION
A NOVEL
DAVE LEONARD
For Suzy
copyright© 2010 by Dave Leonard
All rights reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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If in the opinion of the People, the distribution or modification of the Constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, Farewell Address, Sep. 19, 1796
…with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens—a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.
THOMAS JEFFERSON, 1st Inaugural, March 4, 1801
Prologue
In the remote Virginia woods four old friends were meeting in a small ranch style home for what could very well be the last time. The house belonged to Congresswoman Susan Rand, her grandfather had died a couple years ago and Susan’s father had told her he’d leave the decision of whether and when to sell the place to her. Susan and her grandfather, Henry Rand, had been very close since she was a little girl and many of her favorite memories of him had taken place in this house. It was in this very house where he’d convinced her that she could do anything she set her mind to and not to worry what others might think of her. She thought selling the house would be like selling her memories, she couldn’t do it so the house remained as a sort of getaway for her but most of the time it sat empty. Before her election Susan was a successful contractor who built large commercial buildings, the first of which she’d completed well before the age of thirty. After her success in business she decided to take on the Congressman from her district, a man who had been in office for decades and loved to brag about how much pork he’d brought home to his people, as he condescendingly called his constituents. With the same determination she’d brought to her business she campaigned hard and by election day the contest was never in doubt. Susan Rand had become the first independent member of Congress from her district in its history. The most interesting thing about her campaign was her theme of not bringing home the pork. She’d won handily in spite of telling voters that bringing home federal money was not something she’d be doing and in short time she’d been in the Congress she’d kept that promise and surprisingly, the voters seemed to love her for it.
Susan and her friends were an unusual group, they’d met on a spring break over twenty-five years ago and in spite of the fact that they all had gone to different colleges and their careers had taken them in four very different directions they had remained in touch with each other over the years. It wasn’t as if they spent much time together, they didn’t, they rarely got together but when one of them was in need of a friend they were always there for each other. Six months ago, one of their group, William Holloway, had an idea he wanted to share with the others. William was one of the country’s leading columnists, his column was read with interest by millions of people every week. He mostly concentrated on writing about politics but his regular readers were never surprised if they found themselves reading a column about damn near anything that happened to catch William’s attention that particular week. At the height of Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial William wrote a column about Nikola Tesla. When every columnist in the country was writing about the impeachment, William Holloway wrote about an inventor who had died fifty years ago for no other reason than it interested him and Bill Clinton bored him. When William’s close friends heard that he had an idea that he wanted to talk about none of them hesitated to get together when he called. It was William who’d suggested they find an out of the way place to meet and Susan Rand who’d suggested her grandfather’s old house. Henry Rand had always enjoyed William’s column and Susan thought his house would be a perfect place to talk about what William was calling the craziest idea that had ever crossed his mind. William agreed it was ideal and called Jack Carson and Joshua Hale. They held their first meeting less than a week later.
Since that first meeting they’d gathered once a month for a half a year to discuss something that had grown from a crazy idea in William Holloway’s head to a plan that would, in all likelihood, get them all tossed in prison for life or worse. The idea was hardly an original one, it had been hatched over two hundred years ago in a time when information moved a snail’s pace. It was called the American Revolution and William Holloway had been thinking about it for some time. He’d studied the original Revolution in detail and thought, if things went just right and they played their cards correctly they might just be able to have a twenty first century version of one of the most successful rebellions in history.
When Jack Carson first heard the idea he thought William was out of his mind but agreed to help in spite of his doubts. Jack was a retired Navy SEAL and from his point of view the country was so far gone he thought nothing short of a revolution would save it anyway. Joshua Hale was the wild card in the group, always more cautious than his friends he wasn’t sure he could go along with it. Not because he didn’t whole heartedly agree that something had to be done but because he was a career member of the Secret Service. He agonized over his participation in the plan to the point where he was ready to resign from his job to avoid having to help. In the end it was Susan who’d convinced him that what they were doing was important and would only be beneficial to the country in the long run. She’d convinced him that he should put his love of country ahead of any loyalty he had for any politician.
“So…are we all agreed that the time has come to stop talking and act? There’s no turning back?” The questions were asked by Susan, a very attractive woman with blue eyes and jet black hair. She was five foot six and couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred twenty pounds but she exuded a confidence that made people want to trust her and when she spoke it was clear to anyone listening that she was a very intelligent but practical woman. Her voice was firm as she spoke but a few beads of perspiration were glistening on her forehead betraying a slight nervousness.
William Holloway, a heavyset, balding man, who looked much older than his actual age and wearing a tattered old suit and thick glasses answered, “You’re not getting cold feet now are you?”
“Hardly Bill, but I didn’t think it would hurt to ask one last time, given the fact they damn well might execute all of us if this doesn’t work out. I just wanted to reiterate that this isn’t exactly something that is likely to end real well. We all need to be doubly sure that we’re all on board and no one feels pressured. That’s all I meant.”
“If that’s all you’re worried about you can rest easy unless you’re wavering because I’m sure your three male friends here are committed to the cause.” The heavyset man chuckled.
“I hope that isn’t a shot at me because I’m…”
“It’s not a shot at all, you know damn well we all think the world of you and we need you…you know that. Speaking of that, have you been feeling out any of your colleagues on this?”
“You know I have.”
“I know…don’t get testy. What I meant was, how’s that going?”
“It’s a challenge, they’re all pretty comfortable and it’s hard to get anyone to commit to something when I have to be so damn vague. On the other hand, I think there are a few of them who seem to be open to the general concept…at least in theory. I’ve only spoken in the most general terms but when push comes to shove I doubt there are many of them we can really count on… they’re mostly cowards you know.”
“It’s a longshot to be sure but what else can we do if we really believe all the stuff we’ve been talking about for the last six months. We all understand the country is being destroyed and it’s been going on for well over a hundred years now. Unfortunately, President Haddad has really ramped things up, if we don’t act now there won’t be anything left to save. Just the other day I read the administration was floating a plan that would seize everyone’s private retirement plans and use the money to give a monthly retirement check to everyone in the country over a certain age. It’d be laughable if they weren’t serious about it, these clowns are going to break me. I know you all feel the same way or all of you would have backed out a long time ago so let’s not worry about each other’s commitment to the cause.” The speaker was Jack, he would be the team’s military leader. Truth be told, he was their entire military.
The last member of the group, Joshua Hale, had stayed mostly silent. It wasn’t that he wasn’t nervous or interested, after his initial reluctance he’d made up his mind that he was a hundred percent in favor of the radical steps they were about to take. His part was to be a small one in the beginning but if things went well his role could grow and become extremely dangerous. It didn’t worry him, he dealt with danger everyday but this was something altogether different.
Jack poured drinks for each of them and raised his glass. They all did the same and toasted each other as they’d done since they’d begun these meetings. Their toast was a phrase borrowed from an old and sometimes, it seemed, forgotten document. In unison they said, “We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” Jack thought it was a little on the silly side to make the toast every time they met but it didn’t hurt anything and it seemed to make them feel good about what they were doing. After a few last words together the group split up and went their separate ways except for Susan. She would spend the night in the same bed she used as a child when she visited her grandfather. It made her feel safe and she had a feeling that would soon become a very unfamiliar feeling very soon.
Chapter 1
“So exactly where did this thing come from?” President Omar Haddad pointed at the old parchment document on his desk. He was puzzled since virtually nothing got to his desk without someone looking at it before it got there and everyone was denying ever seeing this thing until this moment.
The item in question troubled Harry Wilson too. Harry was a tough, long time political operative out of Chicago who had first noticed Omar Haddad when they were law students together at Harvard. They shared the same far left political views but Harry had none of Omar’s charm. Where Omar had charm, Harry had ruthlessness. Omar had his father’s deep smooth voice and friendly smile while Harry couldn’t have been more different with his scratchy, rather high pitched voice and a face that people instantly disliked. Omar was slim and tall, a shade over six feet and Harry was barely five and a half feet tall and he had to struggle to keep his weight under control but somehow they clicked on a personal level. Harry had spotted something special in Omar the moment they first met and had ridden his coattails all the way to the White House but things were not going as smoothly as either of them would have liked now. “No one seems to know for sure sir.” Under normal circumstances an item like this would have never been placed on the president’s desk but there it was, sitting there and no one knew a thing. At first glance it looked like nothing more than a copy of the Declaration of Independence but where the signatures normally occupied the space at the bottom was a handwritten quote from Thomas Jefferson, that read, "God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."
Immediately following the Jefferson quote was a short sentence in handwritten block lettering, it read, CONSIDER THIS FAIR WARNING, A NEW REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN. MILITARY ACTION MAY COMENCE AT ANY TIME. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Omar took a long drag on his cigarette and let the smoke escape from his mouth and then inhaled it through his nose. He enjoyed smoking despite the fact that he knew it was terrible for his health. He’d picked the habit up as a young teenager living in the Middle East where virtually everyone smoked. Technically it was illegal for anyone, including the president, to smoke inside the White House but no one was willing to confront him about his habit. “You think it’s something that we should take seriously or is it just the work of some crazy militia type?”
The president was over a year into his first term and his once soaring popularity was close to being in freefall and showing no signs whatsoever of improving. He’d come to power on promises of change and a new way of doing things and that’s exactly what he was delivering. However, it seemed the change he had in mind wasn’t exactly what most voters imagined he was talking about during the campaign. Of course he knew that and he also knew he never could have captured the White House in the first place if he’d been totally honest with the electorate about his plans. So the protests weren’t all that surprising to him, only their virulence shocked him. As a long time Marxist he knew the majority of Americans would not give up their precious freedoms willingly so it was necessary to deceive them for their own good and the common good of all mankind. In Omar’s opinion most Americans had been living the good life on the backs of the world’s poor people for far too long, it had to change, for the good of all concerned and he meant to be the agent of that change.
Omar Haddad was born in Egypt to an alcoholic Egyptian father and a white American woman in her late teens. His parents had met while his father was doing graduate work in the states and his mother was working in a Cambridge coffeehouse. A committed Marxist with manic depressive tendencies, the elder Haddad could be extremely charming and it didn’t take long for him to seduce the young waitress who found his resonant voice and smooth dark skin irresistible.
They married when Laurie Dustin found herself pregnant. Omar’s father didn’t especially want to marry the foolish young American but her parents were quite wealthy and he decided he could probably manage to charm or coerce them out of a considerable dowry if he played his cards properly. Just because he was a Marxist didn’t mean he didn’t have needs and the extra money would allow him to devote all of his time to the cause of Marxism instead of grubbing for extra cash by having to work menial jobs that were beneath a man of his considerable intelligence.
At first it proved to be far more difficult than he thought it would be to get any serious money out of the clearly racist father of his young wife so he played his trump card and took his very pregnant wife to Egypt to meet his own parents. There, the stress of the pregnancy and his equally difficult parents caused Laurie to prematurely give birth to the baby they would name Omar. Taking advantage of being in Egypt the young father called his father-in-law and threatened him with the prospect of living in Egypt permanently unless he gave in and coughed up a large amount of money to bring his daughter and grandson home to Massachusetts. It didn’t take long at all for her father to capitulate. Laurie was his only child and if he had to put up with the young radical to see his daughter he would.
It was back in Massachusetts that baby Omar was blessed with his first stroke of luck before he was even two weeks old. Of course no one knew at the time how lucky it was but it would prove very important to Omar once he reached his forties. His grandfather insisted that they him a birth certificate that stated he was born in Massachusetts and with Bill Dustin’s connections it wasn’t much of a problem. Bill Dustin wasn’t about to have any grandson of his running around with a passport stating he was born in Egypt of all places.
The marriage of Laurie Dustin and Mohammad Haddad didn’t prove to be a lasting one. Mohammad was an incorrigible drunk and three years after their marriage he was gone. He found he didn’t enjoy marriage and his revolutionary friends were constantly criticizing him for the hypocrisy of living a comfortable life while all around the world billions of people were living in squalor. One day, he left the house as he’d done countless times in the past but this particular time he never came back. Laurie got a letter six months later telling her that he would sign any divorce papers she wanted and that he was living in Egypt with another woman. Not being a woman who enjoyed being alone it wasn’t long until Laurie found herself married again, this time to a much more sober man but one who was even more radical than Mohammed. Unfortunately this marriage was even shorter than the ill fated union with Mohammad but this time it was Laurie who wouldn’t survive the marriage. She contracted a virus and died while living at her new husband’s home in Syria only a year after their wedding.
Young Omar was only four years old and he was essentially alone. His real father had already fathered two more children and showed no interest in reconnecting with his half white son. His new stepfather had legally adopted him shortly after the wedding so there was no question where he would live. His grandfather in Massachusetts strongly objected and tried desperately to get him back in the states but his stepfather insisted that he would stay with him in Syria. It was there young Omar learned to hate what he considered to be the oppressive and unfair policies of the United States. His grandfather made repeated attempts to get him to move back to Massachusetts but Omar’s stepfather wouldn’t hear of it. Omar was allowed to visit his grandparents for two weeks every summer but that was the extent of his contact with them until tragedy struck the young man once again. He was only fourteen when his stepfather was killed by an Israeli missile fired at a suspected nuclear facility near his home. Omar was at school when the attack took place and by the time he heard about it his stepfather was dead and once again he was all alone in the world. However, this time he was able to accept the invitation of his grandfather to come and live in the United States. It was the second great stoke of luck in his young life. Bill Dustin had no other grandchildren so he put everything he had into trying to get Omar to see the greatness of America. It seemed to work, Omar even attended Harvard and Harvard Law. His grandfather grew proud of him but never knew or understood that Omar had never really renounced his radical views of America. He did only what he had to do to remain in his grandfather’s good graces and the sole beneficiary of his will. He even renounced Islam and joined a Protestant Church, it wasn’t exactly the church Bill would have had him join but at least he was no longer a Muslim. When he first moved to Massachusetts it embarrassed Bill to no end when Omar would lay out his prayer rug, face Mecca and say his prayers five times every day so when Omar told him he had decided to become a Christian Bill didn’t quibble about which church he attended.
Harry Wilson stared at the parchment on the president’s desk, “It’s hard to tell for sure who sent it Mr. President. I think we’ll have to wait and see if they get back to us or if they let it go with this…what would you call it? A declaration of war?”
“I’d be inclined to agree with you Harry, if it weren’t for the big increase in hate mail lately. Have you seen some of the crap I’ve been getting? They’re calling me names I thought I’d never hear in my lifetime. And the pictures…my secretary tells me we get pictures of lynched black men from back in the forties and fifties all the time. Do you still think it’s wise to just wait and see if they’ll follow through on these threats?”
“I don’t know what else to tell you sir. The document isn’t really threatening anything specific, it’s more of…”
“I know what it is, it’s a threat but it seems somehow even more threatening than the real hate stuff. It worries me, how the hell did it get here? What I need to know from you is whether or not it’s something we should concern ourselves with or just file away with all the other mail we get from the nutjobs.”
Chapter 2
“And we’ll be back right after the break.” Ben Roberts pointed at his producer to take them to commercial, pulled his headset off and dropped it carelessly on his desk. Normally during his breaks he liked to walk around the halls to get a little exercise but today he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
“You alright Ben?” The voice belonged to Simon Baker.
“I’m fine Simon, just thinking.” He still hadn’t opened his eyes.
“About what? You want to share or is it a private matter?”
“No, no, nothing private. I’m just thinking of stepping it up a little. The show seems a little stale and the callers don’t seem to understand the seriousness of the situation.”
“What situation boss?”
“What situation?” His eyes popped open and he stared at Simon. “The situation is the country is going to hell in a handbasket and that bunch of Marxists in the White House are doing it on purpose. What else could I possibly be talking about? God…sometimes I worry about you Simon, do you ever pay attention?”
“I’m sorry boss but I don’t get it. Your ratings are sky high and the lines are always lit up like a Christmas tree.”
“Well I guess if you’re not getting it then how the hell can I expect the listeners to get it? All the polls suggest that a good sized majority of the country is conservative but sometimes I don’t think they’re paying attention. I need to get the audience fired up before it’s too late to stop these guys.” Ben Roberts loved America, he always had and until Omar Haddad won the presidency he thought he always would but he sensed the country he loved being was being stolen right out from under him. There had been rumors flying around the internet that Omar Haddad wasn’t even eligible to hold the office he now held since almost the first moment it began to look like he was going to win the election. A lot of people were claiming he wasn’t born in the United States, that, along with the well known fact that his father was an Egyptian national would make him ineligible to serve as president. The trouble was no one had done much about it, apparently there was no one in charge of checking the qualifications of presidential candidates and no one of any stature was willing to bring it up during the campaign. Ben thought it was most likely a fear of being labeled a racist. There were certainly plenty of people out there who made a living stoking those claims at every opportunity whether the claims had merit or not but no one with any real clout was talking. A couple of people had filed lawsuits on the issue but judges in the federal judiciary quashed it quickly, probably because they too were afraid of the racist label. It turned Ben’s stomach that men and women who swore to uphold the Constitution were so willing to ignore that very same document if it meant promoting their own ideals.
Ben Roberts was one of the nation’s most popular talk show hosts, topped in popularity only by Rush Limbaugh and their numbers were getting closer with every passing week. He was rich beyond all his childhood dreams and recognized everywhere he went. His wife was beautiful and they were approaching their fifteenth year of wedded bliss. While they didn’t have any children of their own he was a doting uncle to his many nieces and nephews and he supported many charities devoted to children. For years he’d been trying to get his audience to understand the assault that was going on against the nation but it seemed as long as their lives were fairly comfortable his listeners were unwilling to really rock the boat. Most of the listeners seemed happy enough to agree with his point of view but getting them to do anything was another matter altogether.
Now, however, he sensed an opportunity to drive home the point that the left was unrelenting in their desire to destroy America and this president was making it easy for them. Well, Ben knew they didn’t want to totally destroy the country but they certainly wanted to transform it into something that the Founding Fathers would never recognize and put an end to what they saw as the evils of the capitalist system. They preferred to see a weak America for reasons Ben couldn’t understand. It made no sense to Ben to weaken the one country in the world that had always been willing to spend its money and the lives of its young men in the defense of freedom. Who would be willing to stand up the tyrants of the world if there was no strong America? Why liberals felt the need to bend to the will of little third world countries was beyond Ben’s understanding. Did they think that would cause us to be loved around the world? If that were the case we should be the most loved of all countries after almost a year and a half of President Haddad’s foreign policy. President Haddad was spending the nation’s wealth on foolish and wasteful programs that seemed to Ben designed to do nothing but lay waste to the greatest country ever conceived. When Omar Haddad first took office he went on what Ben, and others, called an apology tour; he traveled the world telling anyone who would listen that America was deeply sorry for all the problems they had caused in the world. It irritated many people but early on in his presidency people were inclined to overlook some of his peculiar ideas of American guilt. However, as time went by and this young president continued to blame the very country he was supposedly leading for all the ills in the world the very same people who had supported him were beginning to turn on him. That suited Ben Roberts just fine except for the fact that he knew the president sensed he was in trouble and he was increasing his efforts to implement many of his radical ideas as soon as possible in the event he wasn’t reelected.
Ben believed if Haddad kept up his assault on the country by the time the next election rolled around the country would be so far down the road to socialism and in so deep in debt it would be far too late to turn the ship around.
Simon worried when his boss got like this, Ben was a recovering alcoholic and in the past when he got stressed out about this type of thing he’d had a couple relapses. During one of them he’d posted a video of himself on YouTube looking for all the world like he was going to commit suicide right there on camera but his fans seemed to forgive him and all he got was sympathy. It was strange but Ben insisted it was nothing serious, he was merely blowing off steam. But Simon knew if that sort of thing happened very often the high ratings would likely disappear, conservatives could be very forgiving of personal failings but there were limits. Simon knew all this but he also knew if Ben Roberts went down he’d be likely out of the best job he’d ever had and he damn sure wasn’t going to let that happen. “So…what do you have in mind Ben?”
“I’m not sure yet but I’ve been toying with the idea of stressing the point that these are not ordinary times and maybe extraordinary measures are needed. I don’t think this is much different than the times just before the Revolutionary War. Those people took out a government that wasn’t responding to their wishes. Don’t think for a minute the real battle was about a stamp tax, it was all about the king doing as he pleased and not giving a shit what his subjects thought about it. This administration is behaving in a very similar fashion right now by pushing so many things the majority just doesn’t want right now.”
“I think that’s sort of what all the Tea Parties are all about, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, but that’s like fighting a forest fire with a garden hose. It’s the right idea but it’s no where near enough. The left in this country owns the education system and if they have enough time they’ll have brainwashed most of the kids in the country to believe that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were criminals and that socialism is the way of the future. Individual rights will be a quaint notion we read about in our history books and they’ll have our kids thinking that those sorts of rights were nothing more than the remnants of the corrupt capitalist system that spawned slavery and every other social ill in the world.”
“All well and good boss but you’ve got about ten seconds until you’re back on the air.”
Ben sat up straight and said, “Crap, I forgot about the show.” He rolled his chair back to the microphone and waited until Simon pointed at him. “Okay folks, we’re back for one more hour today and I want to talk to you about something that’s been bothering me for a long time now. This isn’t something I say lightly but it’s something that I feel needs to be said. Our country is being stolen from us by a group of Marxists masquerading as progressives and liberals. It’d be bad enough if they actually were progressives but they are nothing more than the old communist party types who are bent on the destruction of the United States, make no mistake about it. Nikita Khrushchev said they would bury us back in the sixties and we thought he was nuts but now…I’m not so sure he wasn’t right. They’d love for us to give up our sovereignty and hand it over the United Nations. All well and good you say? Maybe there would be peace in the world if we would allow ourselves to be governed by the wiser, more experienced men who govern Europe? I don’t think that’s the case but I could be wrong. But does anyone in this audience believe for one second think that Russia or China will allow their countries to be ruled by these wise men? Is there anyone listening who thinks one of those countries will give up their sovereignty? Does anyone in this audience believe that radical Muslims will suddenly stop trying to blow us to hell if we submit to this world government? President Haddad seems bent on running our country into so much debt that we’ll have no choice but to submit to others or risk the ruin of our country. I’m asking you to think carefully about this, what does he have to gain by pursuing this path he’s on right now? Is he really on our side or is he on a mission to destroy us for all the damage he believes we’ve done to his Muslim brothers and the poor of the world?
Folks…something has to be done and you have to ask yourselves if you’re going to allow this country to be destroyed in the name of political correctness. Will you let this country that your ancestors built be taken from you because you don’t want to offend anyone? Well that’s what the left is hoping you’ll do, just mention the fact that our president might not have our best interests at heart and they scream racism. He’s the perfect man for their plans because they believe he is almost immune from criticism because of his race and they might be right but they won’t shut me up…not any longer. This man is no friend of the American people and it needs to be said out loud and it needs to be said often.” Ben went on for another forty-five minutes talking about his belief that the country was under siege and in danger of being totally destroyed from the inside.
Shortly before the end of his show he lowered his voice to almost a whisper and closed by saying, “Listen to me folks, we, as a country, have to get it through our heads that there really are a lot of people in this world who hate us and wish us ill. Cozying up to them and playing nice with them isn’t going to change that fact no matter how many times President Haddad and his friends tell you it will. The one and only thing that will save our country right now is to remove this man and others like him from power and we need to do it sooner rather than later. This is not a game we’re playing here…we need serious people who love this country in charge. As most of you know I believe this country is in deep, deep trouble and I’ve been racking my mind trying to come up with something we could all do about it. Well… I have something in mind folks, I can’t reveal the exact details just now but I believe it’s something that desperately needs doing and I’m willing to be the one who leads this effort. Our forefathers knew at the time they began our revolution that they were risking their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor and I’m willing to do the same. How could I not do something? Thomas Jefferson said the tree of liberty was refreshed with the blood of patriots. He said it was a natural manure and I, for one, agree with him. If there is anyone listening to me right now who feels the same way I do I want to hear from you, especially if you are people of means who are willing and able to put up large sums of money that you will never get back. Now, I know I probably sound like I’ve lost my mind but what I’m thinking of will take some serious cash so drop me an e-mail and tell me how much you can contribute to this effort. I need people who are willing to do as our Founders did more than two centuries ago or this country will be nothing more than a pleasant memory.”
Simon was waving at him that his time was almost up.
“Okay folks, my producer is telling me that I have to wrap it up so I’m going to shut up now but I want to hear from you. So all you rich guys and gals out there who have been benefitting from this country…let me hear from you today and tell me what you’re willing to do and how much of your fortunes you’ll put up to help save this great country. I’ll talk to all of you tomorrow.”
“And we’re done.” Simon was out of his booth and saying, “What the hell plan are you talking about Ben? I don’t remember talking about any plan.”
“I don’t exactly know yet Simon, what I just said kind of just came to me in a vision. But by the time we go back on the air tomorrow I’ll have the outline of something.”
Simon shook his head slowly, he wasn’t sure himself if Ben was nuts or if he was just a shameless self promoter. “Well, I’ll look forward to hearing about it boss. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Ben didn’t answer, he was already walking down the hall to his office.
Chapter 3
The diminutive leader of Iran was at it again, President Majid Armanjani was becoming notorious worldwide for his anti Israeli and anti American rants. It seemed that he’d decided early on in his career that he was going to insult Israel and America at every opportunity and he never disappointed anyone with the virulence of his language. No one had heard much from him in a couple weeks but he was back on the world stage making a speech at the United Nations where he declared from the podium, “There is not a damn thing the Zionist regime and their western backers can do to stop our nuclear program.”
In a smaller room away from the General Assembly Hall, President Omar Haddad watched the performance of the Iranian leader and grimaced. It wasn’t so much that he disagreed with the Iranian’s point of view but he thought his bombastic language was making it difficult to make the case to Americans that the United States needed to form a closer bond with the Muslim world. In Omar’s view the close relationship the United States enjoyed with Israel was unfair to the Muslim countries.
President Haddad had a speech of his own to make but before that happened he’d scheduled a private and very secret meeting with the man who was currently at the standing at the podium raging against the Zionists. Armanjani was in full hate mode now as he denied the Holocaust for the umpteenth time in the last few years and hurled a very nasty personal insult at the leader of Israel.
Earlier in the month President Haddad had learned that this angry little man spoke fluent English and had decided right then and there that he needed to speak with him personally, with no translators in the room to witness what they would discuss. Over the course of Omar’s life he had learned that charm and deceit went a lot further than crazy rhetoric and anger when it came to getting what he wanted and now he hoped to teach that lesson to this angry man. Omar was the first person of color to be elected the president of his class at Harvard and he knew it was only because he hid his true feelings towards his rich, white classmates. It certainly wasn’t his towering intellect, while he was no idiot, he was no Einstein either but his rich, even voice sounded thoughtful. He reasoned it would be far easier to advance his views if he came across as friendly and non threatening rather than adopting the angry black man demeanor that was so popular with many blacks who had lived their entire lives in the states.
Harry Wilson stood and turned off the television monitor, “He’s here Mr. President. Shall I let him in?”
Omar nodded his head and said, “Not a word of this gets out Harry or your head will roll…understood?”
“Yes sir.” Harry opened the door and stood back to let the Iranian inside. Looking at the President, Harry said, “Let me know if you need anything sir.”
“Allahu Akbar Mr. President,” The Iranian’s face broke into a smile, “I cannot tell you how happy I am to speak with you.”
“Allahu Akbar” President Haddad answered, “It’s good to talk to you too my brother.”
The Iranian was softly chuckling, “How in the world did you manage to pull off this deception Mr. President?”
“Deception?”
“Well, a man of color who is also a Muslim becomes president of the great Satan? I know from what my people tell me that you claim to have become a Christian but I don’t believe for one minute that it’s a true conversation. A good Muslim would never do such a thing. To willingly convert to another religion is a crime…it’s worse than murder.”
President Haddad smiled at him but didn’t confirm Majid’s suspicions. “I wanted to talk to about the relationship between our countries Majid. Surely you don’t believe the kind of language I just heard you spouting from the podium is going to accomplish anything, do you?”
“The Zionists are pigs Mr. President, surely you don’t deny that. Why should I speak of them in any other way? We are building our armies and weaponry to a point where we will soon be able to wipe them off the face of the earth. Then there will be peace in the Middle East and only then.”
Omar shook his head slowly. “Do you realize how large the Israeli nuclear program is my friend? I can tell you I was shocked when I got my first briefing on the subject after I was elected. I had no idea it was so formidable. No matter how many weapons you possess they will ultimately destroy Iran and the rest of the Middle East. If they sense an attack is coming do you think they’ll just sit there and allow you to wipe them out? No, it will never happen like that and I think you know it. They would rather see nothing left in the region than allow themselves to be destroyed.”
“So what would you have us do? Let the Zionist pigs walk all over us? We have the right to have nuclear weapons and the fucking Jews have no right to say otherwise.”
Then President Haddad said something that surprised the Iranian. “I agree with you and I won’t do anything to stop you. I’ll have to make noise like I want your program to end but pay it no mind, it’s only for show.”
A broad smiled spread over the face of the Iranian president. “I knew you would be a great friend to Iran and Islam the minute I heard you were elected. Surely Allah must favor you since you were able to convince so many Americans to vote for you.”
“But…”
The Iranian winced. Was this man about to disappoint him? “But?”
“But you’ll have to stop all the inflammatory language. It makes it very difficult for me to deal with you publically as long as that kind of talk continues. Hell, if this meeting with you was ever discovered I’d probably never win another election. You scare the hell out of Americans and until the hate speech stops I won’t take a chance on meeting with you again. This is your last chance for a deal with me.”
“I sense a threatening tone to your language Mr. President. Have I perhaps misjudged you?”
“No…no…I am a good friend of Islam and I’d like nothing more than a peaceful prosperous Middle East with no Israel but it will take time to accomplish these goals… and a change of tactics. More gentle language and less threatening towards the Jews. You say you are impressed with my victory in the last election but you don’t sound as if you’ve learned anything from it.”
“What is there to learn Mr. President?”
President Haddad leaned closer to the shorter man and said, “Look, I understand the urge to mock and curse one’s enemies but unless you’re in a position to defeat them you need to take a different tact. Do you think for a minute the Americans would have elected me if they knew how I truly feel about them? Of course they wouldn’t but they did…and why is that? Because I deceived them when it was necessary to do so. America has been living far too well off the backs of the poor but I’m going to change all that. But, it will take time and you should take the same approach to the Zionists.”
“The Zionists Mr. President?”
The president smiled at him, “The Zionists.”
The Iranian took the president’s use of the phrase as a tacit admission that he was still a Muslim, at least at heart. “I will do as you ask but when will we get results from this approach?”
“We both need to be patient and since you are being cooperative I’d like to make a deal with you…a private deal between you and I…alone. No one can know of it and I will deny it and call you a liar in front of the entire world if it gets out. Do you understand that?”
“I understand the parameters but I haven’t heard the deal yet so I cannot say yes.”
“The deal is this. I will not take any substantive steps to stop you from attaining your nuclear goals and if the Israelis do anything I will condemn their actions publicly. In addition I will refuse to give them any assistance if they invade your country.”
“And in return for all this I have to…?”
“Stop the rhetoric. I don’t want to hear another word uttered against Israel publicly. That’s not to say you have to say anything positive…just say nothing for now.”
“That’s all?”
“No, I’m in trouble with the American people and I think my reelection could be in doubt and you could help me with that. If I’m still in trouble a year or so from now I’m going to call on Iran publicly to take steps towards recognizing Israel and…”
The little man erupted in anger, “No…it’s impossible. I won’t do it. Not for you, not for anyone.”
“There you go…your temper is getting away from you before I’ve even finished speaking. I didn’t say you had to recognize them. I said I would call on you to do so and I want you to begin to establish talks towards that end and keep them ongoing until after the election. After I win reelection you’re free to say the Israelis are not negotiating in good faith and you can break off the talks.”
The little man smiled, “Oh you are a very deceptive man Mr. President, and clever…very clever. I like that… so long as you’re not trying to deceive me as well.”
“I’m not so talented that I could deceive you. It’s more the case that the American people are easily deceived. For a people who have traditionally made a living off the backs of the world’s poor they somehow want desperately to believe in the goodness of themselves and others. You can hate them with a white hot hatred but if you smile at them and tell them you love them they’re stupid enough to believe you. They are like a dog you beat everyday, they will accept it if only you show them a little love. They are very strange people… and it will cost them, I promise you that.” He laughed, “But you know what? When I’m done they will still love me because they want so badly to believe that I was doing my best to help them. Yes, they are just like dogs.”
Chapter 4
Jack Carson looked around carefully but saw no one. Everything was going well and that always made him wary. When he was an active duty SEAL and an operation started out this well something always seemed get botched up one way or another before the job was finished. He stood on the roof of a six story building in the Bronx not very far from Yankee stadium and looked out at a park across the street. A political rally supporting climate change legislation was going to be held there the following day and Jack had a surprise in store for the attendees and Senator Al Taggart, the main speaker. Senator Taggart was one of the Senate’s most liberal members and a firm believer in the science of global warming. Jack couldn’t care less about the man’s view of climate change but his position on virtually every issue was in conflict with the Constitution. For decades he’d introduced legislation that was so clearly beyond the scope of what the Constitution allowed that a first year law student, if he was honest, could see it. But tomorrow, if all went well, things would change. Tomorrow Jack Carson would kill Senator Al Taggart and begin a revolution.
Jack was a retired Navy SEAL in his mid forties, his hair was almost completely gray and had thinned considerably on top, it didn’t bother him much since he been wearing very short for most of his life but still, he couldn’t deny taking note of it from time to time. After two years of civilian life he thought of himself as painfully out of shape but the truth was that he’d only gained a few pounds and he still ran for an hour every morning before sunrise and exercised whenever he had the opportunity. His decision to retire wasn’t exactly planned but his father had passed away unexpectedly. Henry Carson and Son, that was the name his dad had chosen for the business in spite of the fact that Jack had made it plain from the time he was twelve that he wanted to be a SEAL. At the funeral his mother explained that there were men working for his father who depended on the company to survive and that his father would have expected him to step up and do the right thing. Jack agreed and after years of killing for his country he decided it was about time he did something constructive. Every generation of Jack’s family since the American Revolution had produced at least one man who served his country in the military, it was a long and honored family tradition and Jack was the latest in that long line. An often told family story was of Zach Carson serving as a spy for George Washington and helping him to take out the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton. The way Jack had heard the story Zach was a key part of Washington’s planning of the surprise attack the day after Christmas in 1776. Jack wondered what old Zach Carson did for a living when he left Washington’s army.
Jack’s business was struggling like most companies in the current economy but Jack was doing his best in an unfamiliar environment and it seemed like he was finally getting things moving in the right direction. The company specialized in the installation and repair of HVAC systems and it had taken Jack considerable time and effort to learn the ropes but he was finally getting the hang of it. It was also how Jack found himself on the roof of this building.
This building wasn’t owned by one of Jack’s regular accounts but in the two years he’d been running this company he’d learned just how easy it was to come and go in the city when you wore the uniform of a working man. Put on a pair of blue trousers, a cap and a shirt with a name tag sewn on the pocket and you could pretty much go where you wanted in the city. Jack didn’t usually go out on service calls but when he first took over the company he’d made it a point to accompany the men on an occasional call just so he’d be familiar with all the aspects of his new business. In the Navy he was well known as a man who paid close attention to the minutia of every operation. Jack attributed his survival all these years to that attention to detail and just because he wasn’t in a blatantly hostile environment he saw no reason to get sloppy now. Like the old television ad that urged people to wear their seatbelts, Jack felt an accident could just as easily happen close to home.
Jack looked around one more time, he didn’t expect anyone to be watching and he wasn’t disappointed. As an active SEAL he often had to work under the cover of darkness with the enemy looking for him constantly but back here in the states it was proving relatively easy to operate. People tended to mind their own business. He knew that was the exact reason it had proven so easy for the terrorists who took down the World Trade Center to accomplish their goals. Jack remembered a news show he’d seen over a decade ago, a reporter was questioning an Arab terrorist in Afghanistan. The terrorist confidently predicted the United States would succumb to a large attack because America was such a free country. What he meant was it would be easy to attack any enemy with such an open society. Jack couldn’t argue the point but he would be the last one to want his country to turn itself into an armed camp. He wasn’t sure there was a good solution to the problem.
After the attack on the World Trade Center the president had made a great show of attacking Iraq but Jack felt that was a mistake. The real culprit was allowed to survive in Afghanistan for reasons Jack never quite understood. He knew the theory many people espoused was that the president had personal reasons for attacking Iraq and had made only a token effort to get Bin Laden. Jack hoped that wasn’t the case but it didn’t really matter now, the situation over there was a mess and getting worse. At least that president seemed to have done his best, whether or not that was good enough could be debated.
Now, it seemed to Jack, as if the enemy was sitting in the White House itself. He knew it was a mistake to elect Omar Haddad to the presidency but his fellow countrymen had apparently disagreed with him. Jack believed it was the arrogance of the former president that allowed the current occupant of the office to win the last election. The former president was so seemingly inept that he’d become a lightening rod for all sorts of jokes and insults thrown his way. He was hated in a way that Jack didn’t think was entirely justified or possible but the general consensus was that he was in way over his head and he had seemed strangely incapable or unwilling to defend himself against a hostile media.