by Adam Yoshida
“Not so long ago, after we had already embarked upon this destructive course but before we had set absolutely it and poured on the speed, there emerged in this country a politician whose slogan was ‘yes, we can.’ What he – and the many people of good will who supported him – meant by that was that they believed that government could – and ought to – bring people together to solve our social problems by collective action. Implicit in the slogan was opposition to those imagined naysayers who stood in the way of the accomplishment of their wish-born utopia. ‘Yes, we can’, in this sense, meant that yes, we can together overcome the will of the minority and enforce upon the whole of the nation a certain vision of what is right and what is wrong.
“This error, I would argue, Mr. Speaker, springs from a certain basic misunderstanding of America. America is freedom. America is the right to be proudly, unabashedly, and unashamedly wrong – because how often is it that what is regarded as wrong in one generation is to be celebrated by the next? America is not a search for the perfection of humanity, America is the recognition of the undeniable truth that humanity is imperfect and, given that, we had just better get on with things.
“Freedom. Mr. Speaker, is about the right to say “no” when something is asked of you. It may well be that your neighbors and everyone else really believes that this thing is for the best but, unless your inaction should somehow compromise the public safety, you have – or ought to have – an absolute right to say “no” in America.
“Our opponents – exemplified by those of this Administration – believe that the are so good, so well-meaning, so nice and so empathetic that any opposition to them or their ways can only be the work of sociopathic evildoers. They believe that they have in their hands the keys to utopia and that, in light of that, any measure that they take to push out of the way any obstructions must be justified. After all, who would not agree – if utopia were really at the end of this path – that such an outcome of unlimited happiness might well justify a little temporary discomfort to be inflicted upon others?
“Such thinking paves the way for political prosecutions, for prison camps, and finally for mass graves. It’s happened elsewhere, including in many old and civilized states: don’t think that it could never happen here.
“The Founders had the wisdom to recognize this and, in their wisdom, they thought to create a government founded upon checks and balances. Our government is not slow and likely to produce deadlock because our Constitution is broken. Our government is slow and produces deadlock because our Constitution works. The purpose of the Constitution was never to deliver all power into the hands of a single man, be he ever so right or ever so wrong. The Constitution was meant to disperse power and to ensure that interest was forever set against interest in order to prevent the total concentration of power in the hands of any one person or faction.
“I am a free American. I was born one and I will die one. I choose freedom. I cherished it when it was easy and I will stick by it when it is hard. I am prepared to defend it with my life. Our Constitution will not be destroyed. Our liberties will not be trampled. One man with courage, they say, makes a majority. What, then can one say of tens of millions of such men and women united in a common cause? That is why I say no to tyranny and will vote yes on this motion.”
Amid the crowds outside the Capitol, a tremendous roar of approval was met by shouts of anger and disapproval as, within, the business of state went on.
U.S. House of Representatives
“Mr. Speaker,” began the House Minority Leader, “the question before us tonight transcends ordinary party politics. Simply put, we are asking ourselves: what is government for?
“If government is to help people – if government is to improve the lots in life of ordinary people, to care for the sick, to educate our children, and to keep our streets clean and safe, then this motion must be defeated. Not because I believe that my friend, Michael Halverson, is a good man and a capable Speaker – though I believe that he is – but because the forces who oppose him and now seek to destroy him believe in a different form of government than do we.
“The government that they believe in is indifferent to the concerns of ordinary Americans. It values abstract ideological principles higher than human needs. I don’t believe that is the government that most Americans voted for – it certainly isn’t what President Bryan has sought and is seeking – but it is what they would give us, if given the chance.
“This President wants to do something about inequality in this country. He wants to do something about the fact that a few malicious corporations have deprived this country of trillions of dollars in vitally-needed tax revenue. Money that could have gone to education, to health care, to putting cops on the streets, and to building the roads and bridges that we know that this country desperately needs has instead gone into foreign bank accounts.
“I find it hard to believe that anyone would choose the right of CEOs to pad their bank accounts over that of children to get the benefits provided by Head Start – but you can see people who believe just that sitting right over there.
“Now, I don’t agree with this Speaker about everything. In fact, the truth be told, I agree with him perhaps a third of the time. But I believe that he believes in basic humanitarian principles, and I believe that he genuinely wants to help people. Against what he’s facing down, I will vote to back him again and again and again, as I believe will my colleagues in the House Democratic caucus.”
The White House
The time had ticked past 2AM and they were still talking. The President had finally half-dozed when the Majority Leader was called upon to wind up debate.
“The polls aren’t with him. Not fully,” noted an agitated Jamal Anderson as the cameras focused in on Terrance Rickover.
“Mr. Speaker,” began Rickover, “I will endeavor to be brief. Today we are voting on more than the organization of the House of Representatives: we are voting on the future of our country.”
“Our opponents believe that the powers of government ought to be unlimited – untrammeled by any limitations that might restrict the good that it might do. What they fail to recognize is that a government that can do anything can do anything.”
“None of the great tyrannies ever began with someone setting out to do terrible things to people. They all began with someone who thought that they knew better than everyone else how people ought to live and that if only everyone could be convinced of the benefits of their singular vision, heaven might be brought into being upon the Earth. That future of unlimited happiness and success, weighed against the temporary inconvenience of the trampled rights of a few, has proven to be a justification for untold horrors.”
“We don’t believe in the perfectibility of man,” said Rickover as he reached for something in his briefcase.
“This,” said the Majority Leader as he slammed a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution down upon the desk, “is what we believe.
“We believe in limited government. We believe in individual initiative. We believe that self-support is integral to the survival of self-government.
“And, more than that, we believe that our rights are not gifts of the government. We believe that rights are the inherent possessions of the people. We believe that iniquity is to be resisted, not compromised with.
“My Democratic friends who have spoken tonight are right: this is about a matter that goes beyond party politics. What we are engaged in tonight – and in days to come – is a fundamental defense of liberty against the usurpation of a would-be tyrant. Whatever the anguish that it may mean for us, we are going to make a stand for liberty.
“It may not be that we can restore the Constitution in a single bolt from the blue. There is no magic wand here. Instead, we will proceed carefully – but deliberately. Because the people, deep down, are for liberty. We will explain ourselves at each step as we use every means within our grasp to achieve our aims. It may be long and it may be difficult, but we will win.”
“A confident man,” said the President as he narrowed his eyes upon the television as he slumped back in his chair.
“I think he’s going to win the vote,” said Anderson, looking at the ground.
“All great change has been resisted,” said the President as he suddenly bolted up from his chair and walked across the room, “just as this has been and will be.”
“Yes, Mr. President,” said the Chief of Staff with a yawn.
“We’re just going to have to punch back twice as hard. Who do these people think that they are? They don’t speak for the people – their supporters are just a bunch of rich people and bigots. Fuck them. I will not let them win. No matter what.”
U.S. House of Representatives
The Speaker Pro Tempore hesitated before he spoke. He looked down at the papers on his desk, shuffled them, and played with the computer in front of him. Then, at last, he looked up.
“By a vote of 216-214, the motion carries. The Speakership is declared to be vacant. The House will now proceed to the business of electing a Speaker.”
Washington State Conference Centre, Seattle, WA
Governor Sandra Owens of Vermont had initially been inclined to decline her invitation to the Seattle conference. While she’d only met Governor Randall in passing at a handful of conferences, she knew enough about the people behind him, especially his friends at Praetorian International, to be wary of the tone and tenor of the conference he had convened.
Now, after listening to speech after speech advocating the use of the amendment process to enshrine, now and forever, the policy preferences of some conservatives in the nation’s foundational document, she finally decided to get up and speak.
“After hearing all of the other speakers today, I think that I must ask a fundamental question: what purpose is government meant to serve?”
“Is government meant to serve the interests of the majority of the people? If those, the proposals put forward here today – permanent and Constitutional caps on spending, taxation, and borrowing, are frankly bizarre and destructive. It seems to me that the majority who have spoken here today put the liberties of some of the people above the good of all of the people.”
“What is proposed now – both here and in Washington – is to undo a consensus that has existed for nearly a century. These proposals are, quite frankly, revolutionary. I use that word deliberately and I hope that those who are listening take notice of it. They will not be implemented – they cannot be done – without tearing this nation apart. What you propose to do is to strip not only the income but also the dignity from a significant percentage of the people. Do you believe that they will sit by in idleness when this comes to pass?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Great Mutiny
The Oval Office, The White House
White House Chief of Staff Jamal Anderson was not the only one wondering whether or not the President had slept at all as he furiously paced around the Oval Office at a hastily called meeting at a little after 7AM.
“Who the fuck do these people think that they are?” the President ranted as he sucked down an iced coffee from the White House mess.
The House of Representatives had recessed at shortly after 4AM, but not before electing Terrance Rickover as the new Speaker. As soon as that happened, the Republicans in the Senate had stopped their talking filibuster of the Economic Reform Act and recessed for the night as well. The new Speaker had gone before the press, his eyes blood-shot but his voice filled with energy and conviction and announced that the House would press forward with a series of resolutions declaring various Presidential acts and decrees to be illegitimate.
“What about the Economic Reform Act?” a reporter from CBS shouted at the Speaker.
“That thing? It’s dead,” replied Rickover from the podium.
With protestors still ringing the Capitol, a majority of both houses of the Congress had slept in their offices. Both the Senate and the House were due to come back into session at noon.
“This,” raged President Bryan, “is nullification. It’s the same thing that the slaveholders thought that they could do before the Civil War. Well, it didn’t work then and it won’t work now.”
“Mr. President,” said the Secretary of the Treasury, his tie crooked and his face unshaven, “we’ve been working on this all night. There just isn’t a way to take another step here without the consent of the Congress. We’ve already stretched everything as far as we possibly can. We’ve had every lawyer on the payroll – and a bunch who aren’t – going through everything that could possibly be looked at. Moving forward requires Congressional action.”
“Bah,” the President waved his hand, “a bunch of wavering Republicans voted with the majority because they were afraid of being the odd man out. They’re not all in favor of this madness. We can peel some votes away.”
“They’re pretty energized,” the Director of the Legislative Office pointed out, “they think that they’ve pulled off something really big. I think that they’re going to hang together for a bit.”
“We still haven’t decided what exactly to do about the crowds outside of the Capitol,” interjected the Acting Attorney General, “they’re still growing.”
“That’s fine. That’s fine,” repeated the President as he strode around the perimeter of the room.
“Mr. President, we’ve already had multiple deaths here...” said the AG.
“You don’t think I fucking know that?” the President exploded, lunging in the man’s direction.
“I know that people have already died because of this bullshit. Don’t think that I’m not very aware of that!” shouted the President as he stabbed an accusatory finger towards the Acting Attorney General.
“What, then?” said the man.
“We need to respond to this aggression,” said the President, “we need to make sure that the Congress knows that they can’t just do the bidding of their fat cat masters and pay no price for it. We still have plenty of cards to play.”
As the room cleared, the President looked downwards at his desk, where a pre-paid cellular phone that allowed him to contact his old friend formerly of the CIA sat.
U.S. House of Representatives
A relatively junior Congresswoman from upstate New York was holding down the chair as Terrance Rickover began his tenure as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
“Pursuant to the adopted rule, no debate will occur on the resolution and no amendments will be entertained,” said the presiding officer as Rickover watched from his seat.
“No greed! No greed!” came the shout from the assembled crowd as the House continued its business.
“God, they’re loud,” said Rickover to Representative Nelson, who had been rewarded for his service in making Rickover the Speaker with a promotion to the position of House Majority Whip.
“No greed! No greed! No greed!”
“Jesus,” said Nelson, looking up at the gallery. Both he and Rickover were trying to trace the source of the news when every phone in the place began buzzing. Rickover answered.
“Mr. Speaker,” said the voice on the other side, “a group of protestors have managed to breach security.”
“Well, fuck,” said the Speaker as the chants began to intensify.
“No greed! No greed!” the protestors continued to scream.
“We have to clear the chamber,” explained the Chief of the Capitol Police.
“No,” insisted the Speaker, “we shall do no such thing.”
The volume and variety of the chants increased as the protestors made their way closer to the House Chamber.
“Mr. Speaker,” we cannot absolutely guarantee your safety or that of the members of the House. We’ve got to clear out.”
Rickover looked up into the gallery, where a group of protestors had managed to shove their way on past the guards and were crowding out all of the legitimately-admitted visitors.
“Jesus,” said Nelson, pointing at one g
roup of protestors, “they brought motherfucking ropes with them.”
Dropping ropes down from the gallery, the protestors scrambled up over the railing and began to lower themselves en masse to the floor of the House of Representatives.
“Get the fuck out of here!” shouted a burly Missouri Congressman as he charged towards one of the people who had invaded the floor of the House. To the surprise of the Congressman, a former college linebacker, the protestor threw a well-placed punch that sent him flying to the floor.
There were more protestors now, more than Rickover could count. More than two hundred people, wearing filthy but expensive rags, had now managed to surge onto the floor of the House chamber.
“Fuck,” breathed Rickover as several other members of the House moved to hustle him off the floor.
Representative Jack Hawkins of Oklahoma, a Yale Law School graduate and a Marine Captain in Iraq, rushed forward to put himself between the Speaker and the oncoming protestors. One of them lunged in the direction of Rickover, reaching out with his hand. Hawkins pulled back and then swung his fist wildly in the direction of the protestor, making solid contact with the side of his head and then knocking him to the floor with so much force that the man bounced back up after impacting the ground. Another protestor rushed at Hawkins and the Congressman turned slightly, dipping his right shoulder and then getting a grip on the man’s back before using his leg to sweep him to the floor.
There were hundreds of protestors streaming in now, descending upon the House chamber as some Capitol police officers and a few dozen members of the House struggled to push them back.
“Terry,” said Nelson as they watched the scene, “we have to go.”
