Uncivil Liberties

by Gordon Ryan

  Silence followed, with the president slowly nodding his head. “So it’s true,” he said. “I’ve heard rumors. It’s hard to keep a movement this important quiet for long. I’m surprised the press hasn’t blown it wide open. How many states do you represent?”

  “Nearly everything west of the Mississippi has a movement, Mr. President. We’ve been in contact with supportive elected officials in all nineteen states. By no means are they all in agreement, and we’re not even certain that all will pass the various secession referendum in each state, but we’re quite certain of about ten states, roughly eighty million people, about twenty-six percent of the U.S. population. The other nine states would add another thirty million, or thirty-five percent. California and Texas intend to divide into three states each. Once the announcement is made, I fully expect the idea to jump the Mississippi and run across the midwest red state belt.” She paused for a moment while the group considered her remarks.

  “Mr. President, we’ve even had inquiry from British Columbia and several northern Mexican states, notably Baja and Sinaloa.”

  “Why, Joyce?” the president asked. “Why now?”

  “Mr. President, as you know, Mr. Rawlings here was one of the most staunch opponents of the California secession movement when it started nearly two years ago. We were all opposed,” she said, sweeping her arm to include her three associates. “But Congress has continued to press forward with their government intervention, their ‘government knows best’ philosophy. The legislation they’ve passed, the legal action against Arizona, where the federal government has failed miserably to protect its citizens, I might add, has only served to fuel this rebellion. When you and I served together in Arizona, Bill, we often spoke of the growing federal intervention. It’s been so incremental that most people just take it for granted. The federal government today bears no resemblance to the last generation, much less to the early twentieth century. But this past five to ten years has been a great leap . . . backward, in our opinion. It’s not progress we oppose, but centralized government control. In short, that’s not American.”

  “Vote the bastards out, Joyce,” the president said, his tone clearly exasperated. “Then elect those you think will restore sanity.”

  “You know as well as I, Mr. President, that’s not as easy as it seems, even within constitutional grounds. With a media biased against anything traditional and plenty of money to fuel the campaigns of progressives, the public is overwhelmed with competing ideas. When one candidate promises to buy their groceries, and the other candidate tells them they need to ‘tighten their belt,’ they’ll vote for the one who promises the gravy train. It’s inevitable. But we haven’t come prepared to discuss the details of our new government functional operation or the organizational structure. As to the basics, the Republic will be founded around the original intentions of America’s Founding Fathers. States’ rights, extremely limited federal authority, especially judicial activism, and a strong restriction on the length, process, and cost of election campaigns. We want to restore the America of our parents and our grandparents. We’re calling a halt to the incremental march toward socialism. We don’t care if people are sensitive to that word. That’s what America is becoming—a socialist nation—and it’s not what we want. We’re confident it’s not what the majority of Americans want, either. In a decade or two, people will relocate to whichever nation and government structure fulfills their personal beliefs. When that occurs, the liberal nation will have to tell the ‘takers’ that the “givers” have moved away and there’s no more gravy.

  “I predict here and now, Mr. President, that within five years, the Republic of Western America will be a larger, more populous nation than the United States. It’s what the people want, despite the liberal media that trumpets a cradle-to-grave, entitlement utopia.”

  “Do you see no room for reconciliation?” the president asked.

  “Certainly. Congress can join us in our restoration of original principles. They can listen to the majority consensus, not the special interests or favored few. As I said a moment ago, Congress can tell the thirty percent who contribute nothing that the thirty percent who contribute nearly everything have gone. I don’t see that happening, Mr. President. Historically, few men with such power, or women, for that matter, have ever given it up voluntarily. And that brings me to my secondary point and one reason for our advance visit. We do not want bloodshed, Mr. President. We want your word that you will not use the military to force these states to remain loyal. There is no issue of morality, slavery, or insurrection here. You would not be fighting for a just cause like Lincoln. We represent a large percentage of Americans who feel they’ve been betrayed. You’re an Arizonian, Mr. President. I know you understand, and likely sympathize, at least privately.”

  “It’s been years since my term of office in Arizona, Joyce. I’ve assumed the office of the presidency with its national perspective. My oath is to the Constitution, to hold this nation together.”

  “Yes, sir,” she nodded, “and so is the congressional oath to protect and defend the Constitution, not to reinterpret it every time it stands in the way of some new-found idea. Elected and appointed federal officials have ignored the Constitution for two damn long, repudiating their oath to defend it. They’ve ignored or even destroyed the very principles upon which this nation was founded. Tell me, Mr. President,” she said, her righteous anger beginning to increase, “who in their right mind believes that James Madison thought free speech meant nude dancing? Who thought that freedom of religion meant that religious icons could not be viewed in the public square or that prayer would be outlawed in schools? And who, by the grace of God, thought that saving a baby seal was more important than saving a baby human? My heavens, Bill, we don’t even come close to representing what our founders believed. The legal and semantic distortion of the Constitution and English common law is so impractical as to boggle the mind. We’ll answer any questions we can, Mr. President, but this movement has risen quickly and gained credibility and momentum. Next Monday we will present it to the nation. We expect overwhelming agreement from the people, if not from those who are likely to lose their power base.”

  Secretary Austin and General Connor had remained absolutely silent during this exchange, as had the three men with Joyce Jefferson. Now President Snow turned to Austin. “Mr. Secretary, in light of our prior meeting, I guess that old saying is true—when it rains, it pours?”

  “That, sir, is an understatement,” Austin replied.

  Chapter 14

  Capital Mall

  Sacramento, California

  March

  Walter Dewhirst, governor of California, stood on the same west-facing steps where he had stood only six months earlier when he had formally announced the formation of the independent Republic of California and called for international recognition. The result that day had been nearly a dozen deaths from rifle fire between the 82nd Airborne Division, which had been inserted by the president, and the California State Military Reserve, which had been formed from the former California National Guard and California Highway Patrol. More accurately stated, it was the public’s perception that the shots had originated from those sources.

  The actual shots had initially come from several well-placed members of the Shasta Brigade, a northern California militia group that had been instructed to turn the insertion of federal troops—essentially martial law—into an open battle. The fire-fight had lasted less than ninety seconds before the president was on the phone to the 82nd commander, telling him to immediately withdraw his troops.

  Today, standing on the same steps, behind the same podium, stood many of the same characters: California Governor Walter Dewhirst, Assemblyman Daniel Rawlings, and General Robert Del Valle, Adjutant General for the State of California, who had already announced his retirement, originally scheduled for July, as being effective May 1st,.

  New attendees included Joyce Jefferson, former governor of Arizona, Donald Tompkins, attorney ge
neral for Utah, Harry Phillips, mayor of Eugene, Oregon, and about fifty other elected officials from every state west of the Mississippi River. Today was the day for the big unveiling. The Republic of Western America was about to be born, or, more factually, the conception and gestation period was about to be announced. Originally planned for Las Vegas, the public announcement had been changed to California in honor of the Golden State’s position as first in line to secede.

  As with other significant political announcements, the news media had been relentless in their quest to scoop the story and to publicly proclaim the event, including details, well before the official announcement. The evening before, Glenn Beck had made the historical pronouncement the highlight of his show, bringing three leading elected officials, one each from New Mexico, Colorado, and Montana, as guests on his show. These officials, two men and one woman, confirmed that many states west of the Mississippi River had aligned with California in their desire to sever relations with the United States of America.

  “Why choose separation from the United States?” Beck asked. “Why not work from within?”

  “You of all people should know the answer to that, Glenn. Your chalk board talks have iterated most of our primary points over the past couple of years. Look,” the majority leader from the Montana legislature said, “We want to return to an earlier America, where principles meant more than they do today, when they were not fleeting, based on the emotion of the moment. We use the old anecdotes about a contract being just a shake of the hand, someone’s word being worth gold in the bank. Those are fallacious on their own merit, although I believe such people existed, perhaps even exist today. But most of the change that has come to America—philosophical change, I mean, not planes instead of horses, or electricity instead of wood stoves—has diminished our freedom to act as we choose. The federal government—and states are not immune to this overburdening quest for power, either—has inserted itself into all aspects of the human condition. In a misguided attempt to foster good health, they regulate how much fat can be in food, how much salt restaurants can serve, and how much exercise our children should have. But this is the same government that continues to subsidize the tobacco farmer, to permit ‘medical’ use of marijuana. There is no rhyme or reason to their actions. They are all taken in self-interest. Which corporate entity contributes the most is the driving force behind many of their decisions. We want to start over, Glenn, to restore our basic freedom. And that means the freedom to fail, for the individual farmer, for the small business entrepreneur, and the right to tell the guy who hasn’t had a job in fifteen years, one who isn’t disabled, that it’s time to get off the gravy train. But it also means the right to fail for the banker who invests our money unwisely and still wants his profit margin when he loses, and for the labor union who forces wages and benefits so high that their industry can’t compete on the international market. We’ve had enough of the “privatize gain and socialize loss’ philosophy.”

  “So,” the host said, leaning toward the table and speaking directly into the camera, “I could not have predicted that this might be the result, but America is on the verge of division . . . yet again. Hopefully, if this action, this national divorce takes place, it will be accomplished peacefully and without the need for military intervention. We do not want another Civil War,” Beck added.

  In his closing remarks, Beck summarized that during the prior six months, a small, growing populist unease had expanded and the proposed formation of the Republic of California had grown to become the Republic of Western America, or would become such, as soon as the various states’ voters approved the national referendum, set for Tuesday, November 5th, 2013. For the states which were in agreement, the Montana spokesman said, the new nation would become effective January 1st, 2015.

  Today, in Sacramento, the first step was becoming reality. As hordes of reporters, television cameras, and dozens of legislative officials seeking to climb on the bandwagon convened on the steps of the Sacramento Capitol, Governor Dewhirst stood behind the lectern, with Joyce Jefferson to one side and Daniel Rawlings to the other.

  Rawlings was in just as much awe as the legislators that had appeared on the Glenn Beck show. A year earlier, he had been the county administrator in Yolo County, immediately northwest of Sacramento. When the California secession was only political hyperbole, he had been opposed. A recent widower and new author—Voices in My Blood having become a national bestseller in the first few weeks after release—Dan had been elected to the California Assembly. He was then chosen by Governor Dewhirst and the Speaker of the California Assembly to draft the constitution for the proposed new Republic of California. He had also been coerced into serving with a presidential task force, headed by Colonel Pug Connor, to investigate the origins of the secessionist movement. Within the following year, he was part of the team that uncovered the election fraud, had fallen in love with and married the investigating officer, FBI agent Nicole Bentley, became a bestselling author, and, as demonstrated by his presence today, became a proponent of the secession. Reviewing all that had transpired during that year as he stood alongside former Arizona Governor Jefferson on the California capitol steps, he found it hard to believe. Then Governor Dewhirst began to speak.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please. This briefing will be short, but it will be followed immediately by a full press conference in the legislative conference chambers. It is my pleasure to introduce the former governor of Arizona, Joyce Jefferson. Governor Jefferson has been selected by her colleagues to speak for the elected officers assembled here today. Governor,” he said, stepping aside to allow Jefferson to stand behind the microphone.

  “Good morning,” Jefferson said. “I have a brief announcement to make, and, as Governor Dewhirst has stated, my statement will be followed in one hour by an open press conference inside. Those here today represent political movements within twenty-three states of our union. As our press conference convenes, representatives from each of these states will simultaneously hold a press gathering in their respective capital cities.” Jefferson paused for a moment, looking briefly at Dan Rawlings, who stood to her side. He nodded and gave her a gentle smile.

  “My fellow citizens, it is with a degree of sadness and a deep humility that I announce the intention of the twenty-three states west of the Mississippi River to hold a special election, set for November 5th, 2013. The purpose of this election is to establish the level of public support for the legal separation of those sovereign states from the United States of America. All states approving the formation of a new, independent nation will commence the developmental process to implement the Republic of Western America, effective January 1st, 2015. Those states defeating the motion will remain with the United States, regardless of their geographic or non-contiguous location.

  “May I further state, as clearly as I can, that it is our commitment to our citizens that this political action will be done without any use of military force, and our goal will be to accomplish the separation with a minimum of dissension. We have briefed the president of the United States and have obtained President Snow’s commitment to that peaceful objective. In fairness, I must acknowledge that President Snow is decidedly opposed to this movement, but he is also committed to avoiding military confrontation.

  “I call upon all nations of the world to assist us in assuring a peaceful and productive transition. We commit to those nations that the Republic of Western America is dedicated to assuming her place in world affairs without guile and without expansionary intentions. A further press conference will begin, inside, at 10 A.M. Thank you for your attention.”

  President William Snow sat in front of the large screen television in the residential quarters of the White House and watched the scene from Sacramento unfold before his eyes. The past two months, since the untimely death of President Clay Cumberland, had left him bereft of understanding as to how things had happened so fast. On one front, America was expecting terrorism on the home streets
at any moment, unknown, of course, to the general public. On this latest front, if the western politicians had their way, America was about to be split down the middle, half of the country going its own way. In three hours, the National Security Council was going to convene to discuss this latest crisis, and Snow was certain several of the members would be calling for insertion of federal troops into the capital cities of those states that voted to secede, or at the very least, arrest and detention of those politicians who advocated for secession, an act of treason, as some called it.

  The political pundits, airing on every channel this morning, were all certain of one thing: the president was going to have to take action to prevent this national divorce. They were unanimous on one point: they were uncertain how best to accomplish that feat of magic without military or law enforcement authority being enacted. So, in fact, were his closest professional advisors. Even that was unusual. Pollsters, Monday Morning Quarterbacks, and most political supporters were confident about what the president should do in any given situation. Their confusion over this newest threat to the continuity of America only added to his chagrin. It appeared that his college political science professor’s adage, ‘the easiest problem to solve is someone else’s,’ was true.

  He didn’t hear her approach, so the soft, warm hand on his neck surprised him. He turned to look back over his left shoulder to find his wife, Helen, leaning down to kiss him.

  “Got time for a sandwich before you meet the wolves?” she asked.