by Eric Gurr
“No, that’s not what we agreed to. We think the first trimester restriction is draconian enough. All states will have to follow.”
“Can we just drop this issue for now?” The President asked?
There was no opposition. So he continued. “These are the top issues that polls show have a high likelihood of buy-in from most Americans. This is our best bet for stopping the violence.”
“What about the election Mr. President” It was the Speaker of the House. He had not wanted to bring it up. And it had been agreed that he wouldn’t. But he was getting incredible pressure from the California contingent. There were eruptions throughout the room from both sides.
The top ranking Democrat continued despite the protests.
“We have to address this. It is the top issue in our polls. The election was never faithfully counted. Wisconsin’s vote should have been a recount. It didn’t happen.”
The bickering continued back and forth and no progress was made on the issue. The Democrats wanted the president to force Hank Hoxworth to resign. Doug Swindell, the Democrat candidate would become Vice-President. Some thought that Johnson should then resign and Swindell could appoint him to be Vice President.
The president leaned back in his chair. He watched the bickering continue. They were so close. There was no guarantee it would work, but they were close to trying something. He watched and listened.
He realized the problem. They had bought their own propaganda. They were not just divided, they were insulated from the real world. He was not.
As President, you had to see as many people as possible. A Congressmen or senator had to do it once. Then they were almost always reelected. In safe districts, it was a one-time campaign and a spot for life.
He looked at Hank Hoxworth. Handsome Hank. The brilliant playboy. A man with a lust for life. He would never force him to resign. He was one of the few with any sense at all.
He thought of his supporters. Immigration and tariffs had been his keys to victory.
The left had mocked him. They thought he wanted to turn back time. They thought he wanted to stop technology and return to the fifties. In some ways they were right. Technology for the sake of technology was dangerous. It wasn’t progressing society, it was regressive in many ways and for most people.
He thought to his years as a child. His father was an engineer. There were seven kids in his family. So he had to make his own way. He had been successful. Entered politics as a maverick businessman.
For the first three and a half years, things had gotten better. Then it had all fallen apart. He knew he was divisive. But he also knew he was simply playing the game that they had created.
He cleared his throat loudly and the room quieted. There was still at least some small piece of respect left for the office. Everyone in the room looked at him.
He slowly closed his trademark black folder in front of him and stood up.
“You are close. You are very close. If you would just come together on a few issues, this could come to a stop. It might not, but it could. If you come to an agreement and then every day talk to the people.
Put the cameras in every meeting. Declare a national emergency and force every television station and every radio station to broadcast it live. You would be forced to work together.”
And then he stood up slowly. He walked around his chair and pushed it into the table.
“But I cannot force you to do this. And I am perceived as too divisive. You Democrats and those in the media have done this. You have painted me as a racist, bigot and an idiot. I cannot lead.
You are correct. It was a close election and, Wisconsin was never recounted. But neither was North Carolina. But my friends, that is all water under the bridge.
We can’t fix it now. The Democrats are correct. Too many people will not accept me as their president. So effective immediately, I shall resign. Vice-President Hoxworth is the president of The United States. I will go back to the White House, pack my things and leave.”
He walked out of the room.
There was silence. Hoxworth stood and took the President’s spot at the head of the table. After a long few minutes, the Speaker of the House spoke. “Mr. President.” He said with a smile.
“I think that now we can stop this war. We must come together and thank President Johnson for this great sacrifice for the nation.
I will also suggest tomorrow that the first memorial for a living president be erected in Washington D.C. for President Johnson. He has shown us all the way.”
There was some polite applause but Hoxworth just stared ahead.
“I would suggest we suspend this meeting until Douglas Swindell can be contacted and brought in. We will vote immediately to name him Vice-President. If you chose not to resign, of course I still think we may have problems, but we have a good starting point. I hope that you will consider the president’s sacrifice and follow suit.
If you do I will be open to re-appointing you, or any other Republican as Vice-President. And then this war will end.”
After finishing Speaker Polawski bowed graciously towards Hoxworth and took his seat.
President Johnson had thought that things would unfold the way they had, and had requested the Chief Justice of The Supreme Court to be at the Capitol building. As soon as the speaker sat he walked into the room. A bible in his right hand.
“Vice-President Hoxworth, I am here to administer the oath of office of President of The United States.”
Hoxworth stood and took the oath. When it was completed another polite round of applause. The Speaker stood again.
“I have texted Mr. Swindell. He is in Washington and will arrive shortly.” The Democrats this time burst into a raucous round of applause. The Republicans sat stunned staring at Hoxworth.
Victor Van Driessen started to leave. He would resign as well. The farce was more than he could handle. But Hoxworth stopped him.
“Sit down for one second Vic.” He said.
Van Driessen remained standing and stared at the new president. “I beg you Mr. Van Driessen, just one more minute. Then if you decide to leave I will not protest.”
Van Driessen grudgingly sat and continued to stare at Hoxworth.
The new President stood.
“You should call Mr. Swindell back, Mr. Speaker. He will not be the Vice-President. I intend to nominate Congressman Victor Van-Driessen.”
The room erupted. Half in protest half in applause. Hoxworth raised his hand to silence them. It didn’t work so he yelled.
“Stop it! We are still in a civil war. Do you wish to make it worse? Did you really think that driving out President Johnson would fix all of our problems? How?
Outside of California and New England, he won in a landslide. He played by the rules, he won the Electoral College. This was a farce. He resigned to give you one last chance. I do not intend to piss it away. How could you have ever thought for one minute this would work?”
Speaker Polawski stood to face Hoxworth.
“We could have used the media. They were willing to go along with the entire story. They were going to push the compromise and were willing to hail President Johnson as the greatest American since Washington. This would have worked.”
“Bullshit.” Hoxworth responded. “This was never going to work. The media has no credibility and hasn’t for years.”
“That’s not true! Polawski screamed. The crazy right doesn’t trust them, but they don’t trust anyone. Most people trust them.”
“Again, bullshit.” Hoxworth said. “The left doesn’t trust them either. They listen when their narrative is supported. But it’s confirmation bias. They have no credibility.”
The speaker sat back down and crossed his arms in front of him.
“So what do we do? What’s your great plan now?”
“I am the president. You are congress. What is your plan? I will execute it.”
“So you don’t intend to help?” Polawski asked.
“Do you have
a plan? Outside what President Johnson laid out, which you had agreed on, and then changed your mind, do you have a plan?”
“Mr. Hox.., Mr. Vice-Pres…” Polawski stopped to clear his head. “Mr. President, we have to do what our constituent’s elected us to do. They will not settle for this. So everything else is off the table. The California contin…”
Before he could finish Hoxworth cut him off. “The California contingent and probably half of the rest of the Democratic Party is controlled by Ohlbinger and his California crew, so cut it with that. They elected you to lead. Do you intend to lead or not?” Hoxworth said.
“We have offered what we could. We can do no more. You were supposed to step down when President Johnson did. You lied to us.”
“When did I ever say I would do that? When did President Johnson ever say he would?”
“I will do what I can do to keep the nation together. Mr. Van Driessen, do you agree to be the Vice-President of the United States?”
Van Driessen was stunned by the turn of events. “I do.”
He answered.
That night the media led with the story and the drama surrounding the resignation of the President.
Although some networks led with the Democrat charge that it had been a double-cross most did not. The media knew they had a credibility problem and they were determined to fix it.
The massive corporations that owned most of the media were tired of the profit losses. They wanted it stopped. Word had come down to hold opinions and just report the news. Most followed, some did not.
Hoxworth closed the border to Mexico. It was largely symbolic as most immigrants outside of California were trying to get out of the United States. But his loyal supporters applauded the gesture.
The Democrats who weren’t attached to Ohlbinger or the California leaders formed their own resistance on the East Coast. They would fight to hold the center.
Some Republicans joined in the effort. They had petitioned all heads of the armed forces for help. But there was unanimous agreement among the military. They would not be involved in a civil war. Their job was to protect the nation from foreign threats. This was not a foreign threat.
The plan from the left was to form an impenetrable line of defense protecting the East Coast. It was well organized and well-funded.
Throughout the nation the supporters of President Bill Johnson were outraged. More joined Hartwick’s forces and more joined Tanner Ritchie.
The outrage extended to the left as well. Johnson and the Republicans had screwed them again. Nothing had changed.
The Second Civil War was now officially engaged. There could be no turning back.
Chapter 9
The long hot summer.
The Midwest was generally calm except for four primary areas. Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis. All but St. Louis were besieged by rioting. St. Louis was in a clear state of war.
In St. Louis the White Army fought the Black Army. The resistance tried to hold the city, and were supported by the local government. In Jefferson City, the resistance fought with those loyal to John Hartwick’s new rebel army. Small skirmishes were frequent but seldom grew in size.
These skirmishes however made it impossible for the state government to help in St. Louis. This same scenario was playing out in many states in the Midwest.
There was no challenge from the right in either Chicago, Detroit, or Cleveland.
In Chicago, things were starting to quiet down. The resistance pressured the politicians on some issues but they were aligned and working together.
In Detroit, no one was sure what was happening. Cleveland was much the same but hundreds of thousands had moved out.
In cities all over the south and Midwest, millions of people were on the move. Buses loaded with people, either willingly or forcefully were removed to California.
In St. Louis, Tanner Ritchie’s army had grown to nearly fifty-thousand. Many were not White Supremacists or separatists. They just wanted the fighting to stop. There was no other group to join so they joined his rebel army.
The New Rebel Army of John Hartwick was well organized and governing. They had no desire to enter the fray of St. Louis.
The hope was that over the next few months, one side or the other would gain the upper hand and a decision could be made to attack or not. But over the last few weeks, since the resignation of President Johnson, things were spinning out of control
The White Separatist Army had sealed much of St. Louis. But they still suffered casualties by the dozen or so every day. They controlled the suburbs, exurbs and even some of the rural areas.
They were also sending men out to disrupt other cities. Atlanta and Nashville experienced frequent battles because the center-right, aligned with Hartwick, couldn’t battle to hold the cities and fight off the Rebels.
Tanner Ritchie and his group had too much control over St. Louis and that gave him a base of operations. There had been some grumblings among the Hartwick’s army to join up with the Southern Rebel army. As time passed Hartwick knew this would be tougher to contain.
He also knew if he did this, he would be abandoning his friend Matt Davis, going against his own beliefs, and lose the support of most of the American middle class.
So today Hartwick’s ‘New Rebel Army’ was to hold a large meeting. The biggest they had ever had. The meeting was taking place in Springfield Illinois. Close enough to St. Louis to be a rally point, but far enough away to be hidden from Tanner’s army.
Five hundred leaders from around the Midwest and south had gathered. Hartwick chaired the meeting but insisted any decision must be decided by vote.
There were many who wanted to join with Ritchie’s Southern Rebels. Hartwick wanted a vote that was closer to eighty percent in favor of fighting against Ritchie, but the number was just under half at the start.
Many men protested that they were not racist, but joining Ritchie was the quickest way to win.
In a strange twist, it was Matt Davis, the black man, who convinced them to fight and not join. He was speaking on the numbers.
“We have over three-hundred thousand soldiers ready to fight. Several hundred thousand more can be made available within weeks.
The SRA of Tanner Ritchie has at least one-hundred thousand. However, they only have about fifty-thousand around St. Louis. At least, that’s our best guess. The rest are scattered from Nashville and Atlanta, to Houston and Kansas City. I know most of you aren’t virulent racists. Well I hope not,” He laughed.
Luckily the crowd joined in on the laughter. “And I think you just want to join Tanner’s SRA to avoid a longer war and deal with him later.” There was loud applause at this notion.
“The problem I’m seeing here, other than for myself!” He tried to ease the tension again. There were a number of black men in the crowd, but they were a tiny minority. But again there was laughter so he grew calmer.
“The problem is that we are going to lose a lot of support from the middle class and you’ll lose support from those on the East Coast.
If we want to keep the country together, we need those groups.
Guys, if we think back to the eighties, we were doing great. Blacks and whites were starting to get along pretty well. Something happened to divide us again, but I think it’s more shared frustration than anything else.
If we can put America first, bring back the jobs, and grow the economy, we can return to a better day. Remember we’ve had the media coming at all of us for years.”
He paused for a second and threw out a question he thought might work.
“There are five-hundred people here and probably only ten or twenty black guys. I know there are more back home supporting us, but let me ask you black guys a question. How many of you have been called racist by your own friends, or even families for supporting President Johnson? If so, stand up.”
Every black man in the room stood.
“Now keep standing. I have one more question for everyone. You white guys.
How many of you have been called racist for supporting the President, or being opposed to immigration? Or any other so called ‘right-wing’ issue like guns, abortion or just being a Christian. Now you guys stand up.”
Every person in the room was now standing together.
“So can’t we fight together?” Davis asked. A loud cheer went up and the vote wasn’t even necessary.
The plan was set. They would gather as many soldiers as they could.
Davis also told them that there were desertions from the United States Army, Marines and Air Force. Not many, but a few thousand. They would now have some real military expertise.
They would converge on St. Louis from the north. Fifty miles outside of St. Louis they would split into divisions.
To start they would leave Springfield and the largest group would travel down Interstate 55.
Others would move west and travel down 67. The last groups would go all the way west and follow I-70 into the 270 loop that surrounded half the city.
Once they had control of the entrances to the city, they would find and defeat the SRA.
Once they had defeated the SRA they would withdraw to the beltways and close off the city. Then they would slowly pinch in, just as they had done everywhere else.
Davis had identified Marvis Jackson as the leader of the black army. They would work to contact him and then determine if he would continue to fight the New Rebel Army by joining with the left, or be open to a peaceful return to normalcy. No plans could be made beyond that point.
It took two weeks to get everything organized. As the armies moved towards St. Louis, Hartwick was becoming worried. They were over confident.
This was going to be something they hadn’t faced yet. Hartwick and Davis both joined the group that would attack from the west. The first wave would come from the east.
The rally point was at a big intersection well outside the city. The army of ten groups of two thousand split up on 64 twenty miles from the East loop, which was 255. Another twenty thousand would be split into a group of ten thousand to the west and ten thousand in reserve. They would send forty-thousand men on the first wave.
