Purge on the Potomac

by Roberts, David Thomas;

  Chapter 48

  “Oppressors can tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace.”

  - James Madison (1751-1836)

  Father of the Constitution, 4th US President

  Author of the 2nd Amendment

  Ottosson stayed close to the news on Saturday afternoon, choosing to stay in his swanky apartment in Alexandria, Virginia, with two television sets on different stations and his iPad, streaming Fox News.

  He saw his first news report on the festival in Dallas at 5:40 p.m. local time on ABC. He and Volkov decided mutually to cease communications immediately before and forever after Madison.

  “Damn, they actually pulled it off,” he said to himself. He still worried they would be caught or killed, which would provide clues for authorities to follow up on. The dread of anything being tied back to him regarding this incredibly huge event suddenly became real. He had to keep reassuring himself that Volkov was the ultimate professional.

  Throughout the night, Ottosson couldn’t sleep as he strained for any news that would indicate the authorities had clues. The plan had always been for communications to go dark at all levels right before and forever after the seismic event that unfolded in Dallas.

  Even Ottosson had a hard time digesting the horrible video scenes of carnage that came in showing bloodied children mangled by high-powered bullets.

  At 6:00 a.m. the next morning, Ottosson was on his encrypted laptop, keying in wire transfer approvals to two Swiss bank accounts for two million dollars each, one in the Cayman Islands for one million dollars, another one million dollars to the Bank of China for Volkov. These were merely deposits. Other money transfers were guaranteed over the next few months and coming years, as long as the unspeakable crime was never pinned to him or any links to the administration or CIS. Volkov and his team would have enough to retire comfortably for the rest of their lives.

  Madison was the worst example of the most brutal and ghastly outgrowth of the Deep State.

  Meanwhile, President Bartlett met with her cabinet in an urgently called meeting to address the shooting and to consider recommendations on next steps by her staff and cabinet. They decided Bartlett would make a statement live from the Oval Office to the nation that evening regarding the mass shooting.

  Immediately after her cabinet meeting, a private meeting was set up in the Oval Office for the president to meet with Chief Justice Haverton and Bartlett’s chief of staff, Milton Weingold.

  Weingold and President Bartlett met privately while waiting for Haverton.

  “Madam President, in this horrific tragedy we have the opportunity to historically change the direction of this country.”

  “We have a very angry public, Milton. There’s always opportunity to make significant strides when the mob is this angry,” the president said.

  “Yes, indeed. I agree. What was the saying in the Johnson administration? There’s always opportunity in chaos?”

  “This has to be the turning point on guns and the 2nd Amendment in this country. It should be the death blow,” Bartlett told him. “We won’t even have to go through the constitutional amendment process to effectively repeal it. The public will be so angry they will accept executive orders and woe be the legislator that has to answer to those pictures of dead kids.”

  “I would predict you are going to get carte blanche on this, Madam President. The country is outraged. Hell, even in Texas, they’re sick of it,” boasted Weingold.

  “This guy had some kind of Texas patch?” asked Bartlett.

  “Yes, and we expect to start leaking reports this morning, tying this event to the IRS bombings. This will start to splinter their independence movement as we tie these radical acts to the groups promoting it. It will discredit them fully, and it won’t take long.”

  “So can you assure me there won’t be another Texas Crisis?” Bartlett asked seriously, leaning toward Weingold, her arms resting on her folded legs.

  “I’m very confident but, after all, these are Texans we’re talking about.” They both chuckled. “It also helps that we now have our man Strasburg in place. He should be able to control things in Austin to some extent.”

  “Let’s hope so,” added Bartlett.

  “By the way, they named this latest operation Madison, Madam President,” announced Weingold.

  “Really? That’s interesting. Why?” she asked.

  “After James Madison, the father of the 2nd Amendment. They thought it would be fitting to name this operation after him, considering it should be the death blow to the 2nd Amendment that he was primarily responsible for creating in the first place,” Weingold informed her.

  “I like it. How fitting,” the president agreed.

  Weingold’s phone rang, and he answered it.

  “Sir,” announced one of the guards at the gate, “the chief justice has arrived. Shall we let her in?”

  “Yes, please,” Weingold said.

  There was a short wait as Chief Justice Haverton was escorted to the Oval Office. After pleasantries were exchanged, the three sat on the two couches in the room.

  “Thank you, Sally, for coming over on short notice. Unfortunately, this tragedy in Dallas gives us a unique opportunity to forever change the gun laws in this country, which I know is a real issue for you,” stated the president.

  “Of course. Thank you for inviting me, Madam President, and good afternoon to you also, Milton. I would love to hear your approach, especially in light of what happened in Dallas,” replied Haverton

  “I want to be very direct here, Your Honor. We feel now is the time and the country is ready for some deliberate, swift, and sweeping executive orders to implement immediate common-sense gun control. But we want to do it in a way that you would advise so that the court challenges that would surely follow would be unbeatable in the Supreme Court,” said Weingold.

  “Your Honor, we also think Congress might actually act for once in the face of this horrible tragedy. Can you lead us through the elements of the legislation that are likely to make it through the Court now that you are our chief justice?” asked President Bartlett.

  It was highly unusual and ethically questionable for the president and her chief of staff to be meeting privately with the sitting chief justice in the Oval Office to ask these types of questions. Many previous presidents had discussions with chief justices, but it was usually conducted quietly to at least give some nod to the separation of powers.

  But Chief Justice Haverton didn’t seem to have an issue with the invitation, especially in light of the circumstances that just occurred in Dallas. After all, she was the president’s hand-picked choice to replace Chief Justice Noyner, and she was anxious to reward Bartlett because she went out on a limb and named her chief justice ahead of several other justices who had been on the Court for years.

  For the next two hours, President Bartlett, Chief Justice Haverton and Milton Weingold went through a detailed discussion of how to effectively neuter the 2nd Amendment without repealing it.

  That evening, the president made her live statement from the Oval Office to address the country regarding the Dallas tragedy. The cameras opened with her sitting at her desk in the Oval Office in a bright blue wool pantsuit with an American Flag brooch on the right collar, looking as if she could cry at any moment:

  “My fellow Americans, my heart and the heart of every American breaks for the survivors that are still lying in hospitals recovering from this senseless tragedy and the families of those who lost their husbands, sons, mothers, daughters, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, brothers and sisters. We pray that you may find some kind of peace through this very difficult time.

  “While this is not the time to politicize issues around gun control and the unique experience that is mass shootings in these United States, I do believe this is a watershed moment. How many more times do we have to see children slain in the streets and, in this particular case, while they were enjoying a children’s literacy fes
tival?

  “It’s time we valued life over guns. It’s time Congress actually acts and it’s time we ignore the special interests of the gun lobby that perpetuate the myth that someone’s right to own a gun trumps the right of these children to live a full life.

  “In the next few days, you will see me issue new and sweeping executive orders to curb this type of violence. I urge you to contact your congressman or congresswoman to tell them to stand with me and pass any and all legislation that stops this madness, once and for all.

  “There are no more excuses. It’s time America joined the rest of the civilized world and rid ourselves of the type of assault weapons that can evoke this type of carnage.

  “To those families affected by this tragedy in Dallas, you have my solemn promise that you have the support of this Office, the full resources of the federal government, and our commitment to bring those responsible to justice.

  “I ask that America pray for these families. Americans have always been a people that responds to tragedy and takes action. America will remember those fallen, especially the children who lost their precious lives on a bright fall day.

  “God Bless those affected families, and God bless America.”

  The talking heads on most of the news channels praised President Bartlett for her resolute and steadfast determination to change America’s course regarding guns.

  “This is truly a watershed moment, as the president stated. I believe you will see very real action, and woe be unto those in Congress who don’t see the immediate and lasting public opinion on this subject. The gun lobby has to be shaking in their boots tonight because they can’t hide behind the terrible images of dead children at a literacy fair in Texas,” claimed the CNN analyst.

  Chapter 49

  “You seem... to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions; a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our judges are as honest as other men, and not more so. They have, with others, the same passions for party, for power, and the privilege of their corps.... Their power [is] the more dangerous as they are in office for life, and not responsible, as the other functionaries are, to the elective control.”

  - Thomas Jefferson

  3rd US President, Delegate to Continental Congress,

  Author of The Declaration of Independence, Founding Father

  The Texas Rangers based in the Dallas area arrived on the scene in Dallas within an hour after the shooting had stopped.

  Pops Younger had seriously considered boarding a plane in Austin with interim-Governor Strasburg, at his invitation, to get to the fairgrounds as soon as possible. Strasburg wanted to make a statement from the scene and wanted Pops with him, as any photo op with him would do wonders for his political career in Texas.

  “I’ll be damned if I’m getting on a state-owned bird right now,” Pops confided to his second-in-command Dyson.

  “It would be good for you and Strasburg to mend fences,” answered Dyson. “But I understand why anyone wouldn’t want to fly right now.”

  “There ain’t no mendin’ fences with a weasel,” Pops flatly replied. “Hell, though, we’re probably as safe as ever flying with that son of a bitch.”

  “Sure sounds like that Free Texas crew has been getting into that noggin of yours,” snapped Dyson, “all them damned conspiracy theories and such!”

  Pops knew that at some point he was going to have to trust some others with the information Zach Turner had shared and, although he trusted Dyson, he knew anyone that had the same information was likely in mortal danger. He was extremely hesitant to share anything for fear that the information would get back to someone in the Deep State.

  Three SUVs containing Pops, Dyson and six other Rangers left Austin and began their caravan to Dallas north on I-35. It was a two-and-a-half-hour trip, and Pops had decided he would begin to fill Dyson in on the intelligence that Turner’s group had revealed, but he would do it in small doses. Pops asked Dyson to drive with him as passenger, and the other Rangers would ride in the other two SUVs so he could privately discuss with Dyson what he knew.

  Dyson drove in silence for the first hour as Pops began to divulge the irrefutable evidence that Turner, Beard and Turnbow had presented. Eventually this led to a conversation about the governor’s plane crash and, although he still didn’t have the smoking gun he needed, it was becoming easier to connect the dots to Volkov, which directly implicated Ottosson, CIS and the Deep State in the administration. Pops’ guess was that the suicide letter by the aircraft maintenance worker was a sham, likely penned by him while Volkov held a gun to the head of his wife and children before he killed all three of them.

  “You ain’t said much,” Pops said, trying to gauge Dyson’s response.

  “Damn, Pops,” Dyson blurted, “in the span of the last hour and a half, you’ve laid out a conspiracy theory that the chief justice of the Supreme Court was assassinated, our governor’s aircraft was taken down, and a state senator was bribed, then killed. And, to top that off, the Russian operative behind these murders is tied to a government lobbyist for a foreign firm that controls the software of almost all the elections held in the United States! Of course, the current administration is involved knee deep in this and the president likely knows? I gotta ask you, Pops, am I understanding all of this correctly?”

  “That about sums it up, Dick,” Pops said flatly.

  “Geez, Pops, besides the fact ain’t nobody going to believe it, even if it were true, where the hell do we go with it?”

  Dyson’s cell phone rang, interrupting their conversation as a Ranger from one of the other SUVs was calling.

  “Commander, you may want to turn your radio to a news station right away,” the Ranger said urgently.

  “Roger,” answered Dyson. “Williams says to turn the radio to news; something is breaking…”

  Pops turned the knobs trying to find a news station, then flipped it through several AM radio stations to find what the Ranger was referring to before finding one. They listened for a few seconds, then the news anchor dropped a bomb:

  “Unnamed sources within the FBI today are reporting that key evidence has been acquired that links the mass shooting in Dallas and the recent IRS bombings to an anti-government militia in Texas with ties to various Tea Party groups and the failed Texas independence movement. The sources stated that two weapons registered to members of that group have been found at the site of the worst mass shooting in history, which claimed the lives of hundreds of children at a festival in Dallas. We expect a formal statement confirming this information later today.”

  “Please tell me that ain’t your boy, Pops?” asked Dyson.

  “No way in hell, but he does have some gung-ho types he can’t control.” Pops fished out his cell phone and began slowly dialing out, as if it was the first time he had ever used a cell phone. He dialed a number that had been saved in his phone by someone else

  “Turner here. Hello, sir, I guess you have heard the FBI leak?”

  “Son, you are about to have a ten-ton shit basket land on your head. Now, I know you ain’t got a damn thing to do with this, but I also know you gotta tightly screwed Rambo-type that’s off your reservation. Is he capable of this festival mess?” asked Pops.

  “Ain’t no way in hell, sir,” Zach told him. “Yes, he’s capable of planning and executing any type of operation that’s put in front of him, but I will tell you he is a true patriot through and through. We haven’t always agreed on methods, but I’d stake my life on the fact that he didn’t go to Dallas and start shooting up those kids. No way. Didn’t happen, sir. I’ve not been in contact with him since the bombings, sir, honest to God.”

  “Is he capable of the bombings?” Pops asked directly.

  “Capable? Yes, hell, we are all capable,” answered Zach, referring to many in his Free Texas group, “but I have no knowledge of an advance plan of any kind for those bombings.”

  “Are you sa
yin’ he ain’t tied to the bombings whatsoever?” said Pops.

  “I’m saying I don’t have any direct knowledge, sir. Was he angry at the IRS for disrupting his life and those of some close to him? Absolutely. Is he capable of planning a series of bombs that would instill fear into the IRS employees to even show up for work? Hell, yes! He’s also capable of planting those bombs in a manner so nobody got hurt or killed.”

  “We all hate those SOBs, son, but that ain’t the way to approach it. Hell, they are attackin’ all of us. Anyone associated with Governor Cooper, from the very start of the independence push,” Pops reasoned. “I guess it comes with the territory and folks underestimated how pissed off the rest of the country would be if we took our marbles and went home without them.”

  “I understand, sir.”

  “Now, with this new news coming to light, I need to be as straight with you as a Comanche arrow, son. If you are tied to any of this, the evidence you brought me is as good as a dog turd in the sun. Ain’t nobody going to see anything but those bombings and those dead kids,” pressured Pops.

  “As God is my witness, sir, we did not have a thing to do with either event. I can’t vouch for Hank Lofton in regard to the IRS bombings. The last time we were together, he was very angry. He and several of his closest buddies have, for all intents and purposes, left our group. But do I think he would shoot innocent civilians like what happened in Dallas, including children? Hell, no. He has children of his own. I don’t buy it for one second, sir.”

  “Okay, son, I believe you. That don’t mean they will,” Pops said, referring to the feds.

  “None of my people were even at the festival, sir. I guess they might come question us. Wouldn’t be the first time. Even if they arrest us, they got nothing.”

  Dyson was shaking his head, listening to the conversation and, knowing Pops for almost thirty-five years, knew what he was about to say next.