by Adam Yoshida
Reluctantly, after almost moving to turn back and join the melee on the floor of the House, the Speaker allowed himself to be escorted out through a side door under the cover of a number of members of the Capitol Police with drawn guns.
“What the fuck happened!?” shouted the Speaker the moment that the door closed behind him. Then he stopped, looked around at the faces of the men surrounding him, and tried to re-calibrate his response.
“I don’t understand how such a breach could have happened,” he said in a more-restrained tone of voice.
“Security must not have wanted to use maximum force,” said Nelson after a prolonged pause.
“To defend the Capitol from an intrusion by rioters?” said the Speaker.
“Best guess,” said Nelson quietly.
The Speaker attempted to place a call to the Chief of the Capitol police, but received no signal.
“Fuck,” he said, “someone find me the fucking Chief.”
U.S. Capitol Grounds
“Fuckers!” screamed Christopher Sorensen as the solid line of protestors kept him and the rest of the anti-Administration demonstrators away from the Capitol building itself.
“This is a fucking set-up,” said Martin Green as they surveyed the scene. Right before noon, the DC and parts of the Capitol Police had set up lines of officers and control devices, ostensibly for the purpose of separating the two battling factions of protestors, but they had actually had the effect of giving a small group of radical pro-Administration protestors the ability to breach the security around the Capitol.
“Fuck you!” shouted one of the protestors back at Sorensen and the rest of his crowd. In response, Sorensen picked up a rock and threw it into the crowd of left-wing protestors, hitting one of them in the face and drawing blood.
“Die motherfuckers!” said Sorensen. Nuance had departed the arguments of both sides at some point during the last few days.
The injured protestor’s compatriots gathered around him and began to scream abuse and Sorensen and to call for the police to act against him. A DC police officer, following orders to hold his position along the physical barrier that had been put in place, merely shrugged.
The Oval Office, The White House
“The optics of this are not good,” the Legislative Director fretted as they watched the scenes from the floor of the House of Representatives broadcast across a half dozen different networks.
“Oh, I don’t know,” said the President laconically, “I think that it shows the world how upset the people are and that our opponents cannot govern.”
“Mr. President,” interjected Daniel Hampton from the video chat link, “I have to tell you that the situation here in New York is very grave.”
“Yes, yes, I’ve heard you,” replied Bryan.
“No, Mr. President, you clearly haven’t,” said Hampton, “or you would have acted already. The economy is coming apart at its seams. It’s taking all of my strength – and that of everyone working from me – to keep the whole banking system from collapsing in upon itself. We are in uncharted territory here.”
“I am well aware of that, sir,” said the President, “that is why it is so urgent that the Congress act.”
“Mr. President,” said the Secretary of the Treasury, “there comes a point in a standoff where someone has to blink. We have rioters overrunning the Capitol and banks nearing collapse. People are dumping dollars as fast as they can find ways to do it.”
“Thank you for your offer, Mr. Secretary,” said the President, “I would be happy to accept your resignation.”
“Mr. President?” said the Secretary, wide-eyed.
“Thank you for your service to this country, John,” said the President, leaning forward over his desk.
The Secretary of the Treasury looked directly at the President for a second as the President stared intensely at him before turning and wordlessly exiting the room.
“That goes for everyone in this room!” shouted President Bryan. “Him that hath no stomach for this fight, let him depart: his passport shall be made and crowns for convoy put into his purse. We would not die in that man’s company who fears our fellowship to die with us.”
“Mr. President,” said his Private Secretary, “the Speaker of the House is on the phone for you.”
Everyone in the room exchanged looks for a moment.
“Ok,” said the President, “transfer the call.”
The President sat back in his chair and waited for the phone to ring. When it did, he picked up the receiver.
“Hello,” began the President.
“We got your message, Mr. President,” said Rickover.
“Message?”
“Don’t bullshit me, Mr. President. Someone orchestrated that invasion of our chamber – of the people’s House. You want to stop us. But we won’t be stopped.”
“Mr. Speaker, I am as appalled by the events of today as you clearly are. Though I am a touch less emotionally unbalanced by it than you clearly are.”
“You think that you’re genuinely clever, don’t you, Mr. President?”
“I am a servant of the American people and I am using every tool at my disposal to safeguard the interests of the American people.”
“You are attempting to undo every single safeguard against tyranny that the Constitution offers....”
“I am attempting to ensure that there are cops on the streets, that our Doctors get paid...”
“This is just you and me talking, stop posturing,” said the Speaker.
“I’m not. That’s the reality of this, Mr. Speaker. I am fighting to ensure that basic services get provided to ordinary people and you are attempting to make an ideological point. I am more than prepared to sit by and await the decision of the American people as to the relative merits of our positions.”
“Mr. President, what you are doing is using a crisis that you yourself manufactured as a pretext to attempt to assume extraordinary and extra-Constitutional powers for the purpose of expanding the government. Having failed to achieve this fully, you are now resorting to illegal means to attempt to intimidate your critics into silence or compliance.”
“I’m sorry that you feel that way, Mr. Speaker,” said the President smugly.
“Mr. President,” said the Speaker, “the United States Capitol has just been invaded and occupied by a hostile mob. The DC Police are unwilling to intervene. The Capitol Police tell me that they are unable to do so. What is required now is the use of either Federal Law enforcement resources or the use of the military in aid of the civil power under the terms of the Insurrection Act. As the Speaker of the House of Representatives, I am formally requesting that you, as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and the officer charged with seeing that the law is faithfully executed, act to ensure the security of the Capitol and of the Congress.”
The President sighed deeply.
“As you said yourself, Mr. Speaker, it is the people’s house and I think that the best way to bring it back from chaos is to respect the will of the people.”
Office of the Speaker of the House, The Capitol
“Asshole!” said Rickover as he slammed the phone down on his desk. After pausing for a second he looked up to find the Majority Whip standing in front of him.
“Mr. Speaker, I think that there’s someone whom you need to meet now,” said Nelson, standing aside to allow a towering black man in a well-tailored suit to approach the desk.
“Mr. Speaker, my name is Jacob Henry, I’m a Special Projects Manager for Praetorian International.”
Rickover took the man’s hand.
“It’s good to meet you, Mr. Henry, though I’m afraid that I don’t have much time for meetings with anyone other than my staff today. I know that Praetorian has been a generous contributor to my campaigns, to the RCCC, and to the RNC is the past – and I hope that you will be in the future – but I don’t have time for anything other than the most essential business today.”
“I fully appreciate
that, Mr. Speaker,” said Henry, “and I don’t want to talk about money either. I want to talk about a contribution of another sort.”
“Ok,” Rickover looked up, “I’m listening.”
“As I’m certain that you’re very well aware, Praetorian’s original line of work is training and deploying private security forces. While we have since expanded into many other fields, that remains our core business and we are very good at it.”
“I see,” said the Speaker, tapping his fingers on the desk, “and what sort of price would you be seeing for this... assistance?”
“Sir, I am a patriot. The owners of this company are patriots as well. They recognize that everything they have they owe to the United States of America.”
“And the value of everything they own depends on this President being stopped as well, yes?”
“Well, there is that as well,” Henry conceded, “but someone needs to defend the Congress and it’s pretty clear that the police aren’t going to do it and the army rests in the hands of the President.”
“So, in other words, you’re going to raise a new generation of Minutemen?”
“Something like that, Mr. Speaker,” said Henry.
The Speaker shot a look in the direction of Nelson.
“Do we have an alternative?” he asked.
“I don’t believe so, Mr. Speaker,” said the Whip, “not unless we decide to cede the Capitol to the mob and to relocate the Congress to another location... Assuming that a quorum would even follow us.”
“Like the Roman...” said Rickover softly to himself, looking off in the distance.
“Mr. Speaker?” said Nelson.
“Just something that I read once somewhere. Enoch Powell. English politician who warned that unchecked immigration would destroy that country. “Like the Roman I see the River Tiber foaming with much blood.””
The Speaker stood and buttoned up his suit jacket.
“I’ve always feared that this moment would come. Our problems were just too large, beyond the ability of the political system to cope with by ordinary measures. Sometimes, if you really want to protect something, then the only choice is to pick up a gun.”
“Ok,” said the Speaker looking at Henry, “raise your volunteers.”
U.S. Central Command Forward Headquarters, Jerusalem
“Jesus fucking Christ, what are they doing over there?” said General Dylan Mackenzie as the latest news from the homeland steamed into his Jerusalem headquarters.
“The fuck if I know,” replied General Kahn, “but it seems to be getting worse with every single passing hour.”
“There have been a few altercations about it among the troops,” noted Brigadier General Gregory Talent, Central Command’s Operations Officer, “but nothing that we haven’t been able to control.”
“I’m more worried,” said Brigadier General Casey, the intelligence officer, “about what happens if this financial situation continues. The government is running out of money to pay its bills. We have well over a quarter of a million Americans out here in the desert. If I was going to launch an all-out offensive, I might just do it at a time when it appears uncertain whether or not the government will be able to afford to resupply and move us.”
“We have the world’s most powerful army sitting here,” said Kahn, “I don’t think that will be a problem.”
“With all due respect, General – that might be true enough for some things. We could probably seize food and fuel locally if we had to. Same for some medical supplies. But specialized spare parts? Computer gear? Prescription medicines? Those are all things that we purchase on a just-in-time basis.”
“We could barter,” joked Talent, “an Abrams for a herd of cows and a horde of penicillin.”
“I think that we should plan for just that as a contingency, sir,” said Casey.
“I’m pretty sure that that’s illegal,” noted Mackenzie quietly.
“If the U.S. Government goes bankrupt,” replied Casey, “then I think that it’s pretty much the law of the jungle out here.”
“Ok,” said Mackenzie, “make contacts. Use the Israelis and maybe the Saudis. I think that’s about all that we can trust. Speaking of dubious contingency plans, what sort of progress are we making on Deluge?”
“The plans are about as well-designed as they can be,” reported Kahn, “it’s just a matter of how they’d play out in the real world, if they were to be activated.”
“Well,” said Mackenzie slowly, “I suppose we might well find out soon enough.”
Ford House Office Building
With the House Chamber still occupied by several hundred protestors, the Speaker and the rest of the Republican leadership had retreated to the Ford House Office Building across the street.
“Mr. Speaker,” said Michael Nelson, speaking slowly and deliberately, “I know that this is a difficult decision, but I also firmly believe that it’s the only way.”
“I know that,” said Rickover, “but this is momentous. I want to make certain that we are all on the same page and know what it is that we are getting into here. Some might classify this as an insurrection.”
The Speaker’s words hung heavily over the room as the assembled members and staffers looked at the ground. Finally, Igor Kane, a Democratic Congressman from the Chicago suburbs who was one of the very few members of his party to have come to the meeting called by the Republican Speaker, stood.
“Mr. Speaker, I know that this is an awful situation and that a terrible responsibility rests upon you and I know that I am speaking against the wishes of many members of my party. But I believe that the first act of physical violence was when a mob was permitted to storm the United States Capitol – an act that I can, very regrettably, only conclude was abetted and perhaps instigated by the President of the United States. The second act of violence against democracy and the Constitution occurred when the President of the United States refused to use force to defend the United States Congress from a mob. If we allow the operations of the Congress to be disrupted in this way, then do we really live in a democracy anymore? I am not so certain.”
“Well,” said the Speaker after a long pause, “I don’t think that anyone here can really argue against that. I am authorizing the operation.”
The Oval Office, The White House
“Mr. President,” said Jamal Anderson, “I don’t think that we can put off this call much longer.”
“Well, fuck,” replied President Bryan as he completed his lap around the room, “fine, put the fucking thing through.”
The President moved over to his desk and jumped into his chair with enough force that he sent it bouncing slightly off the ground.
“Mr. President,” came a voice through the speakerphone, “I’m glad that I’ve finally been able to get through here to you. Dan Hampton is on the line as well.”
The President scowled at the mention of the name of the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, but he maintained his outward reserve.
“Great,” said the President, “what have you got for me?”
“Sir,” said the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, “I need to step outside of my normal role here and talk about what’s going on in New York and in the world markets. This is catastrophic, Mr. President, and I believe that it will very soon become unrecoverable.”
“I am well aware of that, Mr. Chairman,” said the President, “and that is why I have called upon the Congress to act...”
“Mr. President,” said the Fed Chair flatly, “we don’t have time for posturing. I don’t have time. This is financial armageddon that we’re facing here. At the rate that the losses are piling up, we’re going to have people flinging themselves from the fucking windows en masse in a few hours. Let’s be straight: you tried to bounce the Congress and it isn’t working...”
“No, Mr. Chairman – I have the people with me. Why, have you seen their rage as expressed on the streets? A mob stormed the House of Representati
ves today...”
“Mr. President, we both know that there are plenty of people on either side of this thing... And you have more of an ability to compromise than they do at this point. Especially given, as you mentioned, that that mob – whomever instigated it – just stormed the Capitol.”
“Mr. Chairman, you are overstepping your bounds here...”
“You have no truer political friend than I, Mr. President. I was the college roommate of your predecessor. No one wants your success more than I do, sir, but I have to tell you that the reality today is very grim. I must tell you that the opinion of more than a few members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve is that the only solution to this impasse is to see you removed from office...”
“All exponents of change meet resistance. Fierce, even suicidal resistance – as this shall be for your sort of people!” shouted the President into the phone.
“No, Mr. President,” insisted the Fed Chair, “I believe in your policy objectives – and so do a lot of the other people here – but this is just the wrong way of going about getting them. Stretching the Constitution first and then simply trying to drive over any opposition. You’ve provoked too much of a reaction and now the situation has become very dangerous indeed. I would not be surprised, if this continues to play out the way that it has, to see major Democrats coming out for your impeachment, sir. Reluctantly, to be sure, because we all admire your policy stances – but as a practical matter, when it comes down to members of the Fortune 500 being able to make payroll in two weeks or not... It becomes a very complicated matter, Mr. President.”
“Coward,” spat the President.
“Excuse me?” said the Chairman.
“You heard me,” said the President, “you’re a fucking coward. Fuck you and all of your crowd, if that’s the way that you want this to go. So be it.”
The President slammed down the phone and looked up to see a grim-faced Jamal Anderson standing over his desk.
