The Shelter, Book 4: The New World

by Ira Tabankin

  “Yes, sir. I’ll get right on it.”

  @@@@@

  The fourteen southern governors issue a joint video statement, standing in front of large American and Confederate flags they activate their National Guards to patrol all houses of worship and to provide aid and comfort to those hurt in the shootings. They order their state police to locate and bring to justice those responsible for the horrible act of murder committed against their God loving people. They urge their armed citizens to be alert and assist their local law enforcement agencies, but not to get trigger happy. They remind their citizens that anyone who shoots first without being able to prove that their lives or the lives of their loved ones are in immediate danger will be arrested.

  The President gets extremely angry while watching their video. He calls his AG.

  “I want those governors arrested for treason and sedition! They’re telling people to walk around armed. They’re going to get thousands of innocent people harmed.”

  “Sir, the FBI agents we sent to Dallas were all killed.”

  “Why wasn’t I informed of this?!”

  “Sir, you were. I sent you an urgent email and left you a voice mail yesterday when it happened.”

  “I don’t remember seeing any message from you. I was very busy yesterday doing the people’s business. I had to attend a baseball game to show the people I’m still working to resolve their problems. I congratulated everyone for the great unemployment numbers. I’ve turned the economy around. I, and no one else could have done so. Unemployment last month reached a new low in this crisis of 4.5%!”

  “Sir, that’s because two hundred million people are no longer in the workforce! People are starving, every day more people drop out of the workforce. They use up their benefits. They fall off our charts. We don’t count them.”

  “Why should we count them? They’d don’t contribute to the party; they offer the rest of the country nothing of value. We should forget about them. We need to focus on our good news. The fact that a large number of people have dropped out of the job market is really great news. They’ll have more time to spend with their families and our unemployment numbers will improve. With fewer people vying for jobs, those who are looking will have an easier time getting them. Now go arrest these treasonous governors then find and arrest whoever was responsible for shooting our agents. Attacking federal agents is totally unacceptable. We can’t stand for it. Find them and lock them up where they’ll never see the light of day. If we don’t put a stop to this now, where will it end?”

  “Sir, it’s not that simple.”

  “Just get out and follow your orders. Do I always have to be the one who does all of the thinking around here? Just once, it would be nice if someone did their job.”

  The AG, the fifth in four months steps out of the White House dining room, he stops by the Chief of Staff’s office to tender his resignation.

  “What do you mean you’re resigning? He just appointed you two weeks ago.”

  “I can’t follow his orders. Hence, I’m tendering my resignation, effective immediately.”

  “Please, we need you, the country needs you.”

  “Goodbye and good luck. You’re going to need it. The man thinks he’s a king or worse. I can’t follow his orders. Here’s my secure phone, security pass, White House ID card and lapel pin.”

  “How can we reach you if he wants to talk with you?”

  “I don’t want to talk to him.”

  The AG exists the White House, he tells his driver he resigned and asks him to take him to Dulles International Airport. He books a flight to DFW on his tablet before they’re out of the White House parking lot. He sits back in his seat wondering how he can contact the governors; he wants to warn them of the president’s plans.

  @@@@@

  The governors look around their conference table pondering the Florida’s governor question.

  “Where can we base our new headquarters? It has to be someplace the Fed’s can’t easily reach, it has to be secure and if possible, someplace that can repulse an attack and keep our staff safe.”

  No one knows the answer when the Governor of Tennessee notices he has a secure text from General Arthur. He reads the text saying,

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe I may have the answer to the Governor’s question. I’d like to share a text and some pictures General Arthur sent me.”

  The room is quiet looking at the images of Jay’s shelter and a brief description of it sent from the general. The Texas Governor asks,

  “Where is this place?”

  “Just north of Nashville.”

  “You know that might be the perfect place. Nashville is the country music capital of the world, why not the capital of the new Confederacy too?”

  Chapter 32

  The President sits behind his desk wearing a dark navy suit with a starched white shirt and red tie, a small American flag pin is in his left jacket lapel. His trustworthy teleprompter is just out of the camera’s view. It was set up so when he read his prepared speech, it looked like he was speaking from his heart directly to the American people. He knew he had to move quickly, his term in office is drawing to a close. One of his last transformational projects is to disarm the American people. He knows that once disarmed, they can’t resist anything the government decides.

  He waited until the red LED on the front of the camera began flashing which is his signal he’s on the air. He glances at his teleprompter making sure it’s on and his speech is cued. He didn’t smile, telling himself a smile wouldn’t do for tonight’s speech. A speech he waited for the right moment, the right events in order to give for over seven years.

  “Good evening, I’m sorry to barge into your homes and interrupt your Sunday evening tonight. Today we suffered the worst act of domestic terror in our history. I say domestic terror because those who committed today’s hellish acts are Americans and not foreigners. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security has informed me that we lost four hundred and fifty-two lives today with another three hundred injured. In all, three hundred churches were attacked by people dressed in black, all were wearing face masks and gloves. The only other thing all of these attacks had in common was they were all committed by people with assault rifles holding thirty bullets or more. America, we’ve suffered too many mass shootings, we’ve buried too many loved ones and mourned too many times for me to allow these types of crimes to continue. I’ve studied this subject since I entered office. I promised myself I would leave office knowing I left the country a safer place than I found it. I promised myself I would succeed where every other President failed. I’m going to remove the scourge of this country: Guns. No other first world nation has the number of guns or allows the access to guns the way we do. I know the NRA and the Right are going to stand there and quote the Second Amendment. My response is, this isn’t the 18th century, we don’t need a well-regulated militia. We don’t need to have more guns than we have people working. We, as a society, can’t afford to have hungry families while others are spending thousands of dollars on guns and ammo. No one needs a military rifle, no one except active duty military should have access to military-style weapons. The only reason anyone would have to own thousands of bullets is to plan to harm their fellow Americans. I’m forced to act in order to save thousands of lives. I’m being forced to act by the NRA and right-wing talk show hosts who wind their listeners up into committing deadly and unacceptable acts. We’re a country of laws, we’re a country with heart. We’re a country that’s used to making sacrifices for the greater good of all of Americans, especially the youngest of us all who have no way to have their voices heard.

  There have been too many drive-by shootings and senseless deaths. There have been too many mass shootings, Shootings in our movie theaters, in our colleges, in our schools, in our social centers and yes, even in our churches. There aren’t any safe zones when it comes to guns. Guns are bad, guns exist to kill. Why would any sane person want to own a device designed to kill
another? I believe that a vast majority of gun owners are good people who have fallen under the spell of the NRA and talk radio show hosts.

  I’m proud to announce tonight that I’ve signed an Executive Order to do the following;

  I’ve ordered the FCC to revoke the broadcast licenses of Fox and all right wing talk show hosts. A list of these programs is attached to my Executive Order and will be made available at the conclusion of my talk.

  I’m ordering the ATF and FBI to suspend all background checks. Without background checks being performed, no new weapons can be purchased.

  I’m ordering the IRS to place a 50% tax on the sale of every round of ammunition, to be collected at the time of sale. Every sale will have the buyer’s license copied and forwarded to the FBI central database.

  I’ve declared that owning a semi-automatic weapon harms the common safety, as such, as of Midnight tonight it shall be illegal to own any semi-automatic weapons. All such weapons can be surrendered to your local police, fire, and Federal Government buildings. Anyone not surrendering their semi-automatic weapons will be subject to a $50,000 fine per weapon.

  The FBI and ATF shall have the right to inspect every home without advance notice and without a search warrant to make sure said home doesn’t have any semi-automatic weapons in it. I’m doing this in order to save lives under the Affordable Care Act.

  I’m ordering the ATF to confiscate all ammunition in excess of one hundred rounds. No one needs more than one hundred bullets at one time to hunt. No state allows a single person to kill one hundred of any animal on the same day.

  I’ve heard that many people believe today’s attacks were done by members of or people who support ISIL and many believe ISIL is a Muslim organization. Nothing could be further from the truth. In order to protect the rights of all citizens, my recently signed Executive Order makes it hate speech to speak negative things about Muslims. Also displaying anything which might upset a Muslim like Christmas decorations is also illegal.

  All non-semi-automatic weapons will be subject to a yearly tax of five hundred dollars per weapon. The tax will be collected by the IRS, anyone not paying is subject to a fine of at least five thousand dollars per weapon. The tax will be paid with your federal taxes.

  There will be a transfer tax of two-hundred-fifty dollars when you purchase or sell any weapons, except if the owner is selling it or transferring it to the Government for destruction.

  A more detailed background check and a three day waiting period; I anticipate the background check will take between seven and thirty days. The buyer will pay upfront for his gun, if the background check isn’t approved, they will lose their payment.

  There will be a five-day waiting period required after a background check is approved. Purchases of ammunition will require a payment of twenty dollars and a background check. The same rules of upfront payment apply.

  At midnight tonight, it shall be illegal for civilians to own so-called penetrator ammunition.

  It is illegal for civilians to own or wear body armor and helmets, other than sporting and safety helmets.

  Every gun owner is required to have gun insurance and a gun safe that meets federal requirements as set out by the ATF and HHS.

  No clothing showing a symbol or likeness of a weapon will be permitted to be worn in public places. Any location where five or more people are located is hence designated a public place.

  The Department of Justice will take up RICO filings against the NRA. I hope the courts will agree with me that the NRA is complicit in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans.

  I’ve ordered the FTC and FCC to block all advertisements and all trading or selling of weapons on the internet.

  All schools, grade one through twelve will teach that gun ownership and use are dangerous.

  It shall be henceforth illegal to play with toy weapons or pretend some object is a gun. We need to break our children from playing with or wanting to play with weapons at an early age.

  In a generation, most American’s won’t own or want to own a firearm, regardless of what it is. We can change people’s minds and behavior through education.

  I know some of these new rules may appear a little harsh on the surface, when you spend the time to digest them, I’m sure you’ll understand all I’m trying to do is perform my first obligation which is to protect the American people and support the common good for all. Every life matters, we all have to sacrifice in order to protect all American lives. Each of us owes our neighbors the same respect we expect for ourselves. We must change the culture of guns that has worked its way into every fiber of our society, our children’s children are relying on us to protect them.

  Thank you and God bless America.”

  The President looks directly into the lens of the camera until it’s red LRD turns off signifying the broadcast has stopped. He sits a moment to ensure the broadcast has stopped, an aide unclips his mic and helps him stand. He smiles at the President,

  “Sir, if I may be the first to congratulate you on a brilliant new strategy and speech. I think it’s the best one you’ve ever given. It’s a genius plan to tax gun owners out of the market while changing the children’s education. If you can get Hollywood to change their action movies, you’ll be long way towards making a successful change in the country’s culture.

  “Thank you.” Says the President, who is already exiting the broadcast room, which has been made up to look like the Oval Office. The President goes upstairs in the White House to accept the calls he knows will be coming to congratulate him on his brilliant speech.

  The progressive media fall all over themselves with praise for the President. Some question why he shouldn’t be able to run for a third term or even life, since he’s the smartest man to ever hold the job. The press cheers the President’s speech, while on the other side, the NRA files a request in Federal Court asking for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to block the President’s Executive orders. Social Media servers are crashed from millions of posts both pro and con of the president’s plan. Reporters are overjoyed, some claim they had an orgasm listening to the President.

  The fourteen governors watch the President’s speech in shock. They know the violence his speech is going to unleash. The governor of Texas, who's confined to a wheel chair, bangs his hand on the table to get everyone to quiet down and listen to him.

  “My fellow governors. Please give me your attention. Please quiet down. I have the floor. I think it’s clear the President has no sense of reality. I believe our people are going to demand secession. There are over three-hundred-fifty million guns in America. I’m afraid many of the gun owners are going to take matters into their own hands. I think we could be looking at a slaughter of hundreds of thousands of our people. In order to save as many people as possible, I hereby place the motion to secede on the table. Who is going to vote with me to secede from the union and form a more logical country?”

  The governors slowly look around the room, one hand, followed by a second, soon a third, fourth until all fourteen are raised in support of the motion.

  The Governor of Texas smiles showing his gleaming white teeth.

  “We’ve done it. This time, we can make it stick. We can win and change the course of history. We need to discuss who will be our first president, cabinet, and legislature.”

  The governor from Georgia stands,

  “How do you suggest we tell the people?”

  The governor of Texas says, “I suggest we hold a joint news conference, only not while we’re in the same location. There’s no need to tell the President how to take all of us out with one missile.”

  Everyone agrees they will go to separate hiding places not even the other governors know about. The Governor of Texas smiles.

  “I hereby open the nomination phase for President and Vice President.”

  The conference room explodes with cheering and names being called out for different positions. The question of who will be the Confederacy’s first Pres
ident is something that the group can’t agree to. The fourteen governors hold fifteen rounds of elections and still end up without a majority.

  The Governor of Texas holds his hands up, the stress is clear on his and the other governor’s faces, none of them have slept for thirty hours.

  “I propose that none of us be able to be the first President. We’re all making side deals to win the election. Our first election is already making the North’s Congress look good. We need someone the people will follow; it should be one of them. It should be someone who isn’t a politician. The people don’t trust politicians, not even us. I know that each of you believe you’re loved in your home state. I believe if the truth sees the light of day and the dollars stay in your pocket, we’ll realize none of us are really loved. I suggest we form a temporary governing council and set elections for ninety days. Elections where none of our names will be on the ballot. If whoever wins wants to ask us to serve in their government, that’s fine. We can’t make our first political move a bad one. We need to be fully transparent so the people completely trust us. We can model what we should do by doing the opposite of what the current administration has done.”