Objective- Freedom Read online

  The night of the president’s speech, Randall tendered his resignation. He walked away from everything and refused, boldly and loudly, any Secret Service protection he was offered.

  “The president didn’t ask my advice,” he told the group. “When I offered it, he treated me like a retarded uncle in a nursing home. The Speaker of the House and I both tendered our resignations after Curtis’s recent speech.”

  “ I had the foresight to see what was coming. He was wrong then, and he’s still wrong now, as events have shown, or we wouldn’t be meeting today.

  “This meeting isn’t about me, however. It’s for you young people to decide if Governors Harris and Raven are right, and if you can and will carry out the plan we devised.”

  After greeting everyone, Randall sat at the middle of the table beside Governor Espada. “Amalia, tonight I think we can save our state from that circus in DC,” he said softly.

  She looked at him. “We will, Elliott. Believe me.”

  Governor Raven from Oklahoma sat to the immediate right of the head of the table. Governor Polk sat to the immediate left.

  Beside Raven was Governor Wilson of Arizona. Across the table from him was an empty seat with a briefing folder. Governor Tate from Colorado decided that was for him, so he took it.

  Governor Harris called the meeting to order. The members decided to start with a prayer whether or not it was politically correct. Roberts heard Polk once ask why a complainer or cry baby was entitled to say what he wanted, and, if he was questioned or rebuffed, he declared freedom of speech. It seemed politically correct people never thought that freedom applied to anyone else.

  They were able to defame, debase, and verbally assault others with impunity, but that would soon change.

  When the prayer ended, Governor Harris instructed them to open their packages, read them, and then offer comments. That gave Roberts a chance to study and evaluate the attendees.

  Governor Harris was a war veteran, a hard-core prosecutor for the State of Texas. As Attorney General, he showed disdain for habitual lawbreakers, consistently asking for the death penalty for murderers, rapists, and child and elder abusers. He accomplished a lot, though he also faced many failures due to the ACLU and what he called the “thought police.”

  He finally refused to listen to criticism for his convictions. Roberts approved.

  Adjutant General Polk was another war veteran and a proven man. He held little regard for what he called “sidewalk snot,” or punk kids, rapists, abusers, and drug criminals. His Rangers were better armed than any group they met. When asked how he could order his troops to fire on ordinary citizens, he replied, “If they were ordinary, they wouldn’t be out here rioting.” He felt rioters and protestors were paid off by political groups. The protestors felt it was all right to be intolerant as long as no one was intolerant about them. After God, Polk felt Texas meant the most.

  Oklahoma Governor Raven’s name came from his Osage Indian grandfather. Raven was once a directing official in the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

  “I’m not a Native American,” he said once. “There’s no such thing. Just like there are few, if any, real African Americans.”

  Raven was particularly vocal about his state having to pay for the illegal aliens forced on them. His war cry was, “What part of illegal does the government not understand?”

  He was a staunch ally of Governor Harris. Roberts felt Raven would bear careful watching. Raven was extremely ambitious and seemed vindictive.

  New Mexico Governor Espada was a highly educated, experienced politician. She was the most vocal in her support of State’s Rights. She knew the Constitution and felt the current administration violated most of its precepts, particularly the clause about State’s Rights. She was fed up feeding DC when her state had low income. She would certainly be an ally of Governor Harris.

  Arizona Governor Matt Wilson was a good-looking cowboy and an enigma. No one knew his inner plans. Many thought he hoped to gain the White House someday. Roberts noted one thing about Wilson no one mentioned. His cold, hard look intimidated some people.

  Roberts wondered if that was something the group would need. Wilson looked like a man who could put a good face on bad news.

  Governor Tate of Colorado was a man of the land, a capable manager and producer of employment. His company employed over 1,600 people in Colorado alone. He believed in personal freedom and was against regimentation from a government 1,500 miles away.

  Lieutenant Colonel Roberts watched those around him as they spoke and thought, We have a good group. We can do what General Polk and Governor Harris propose. We’ll succeed. We have right on our side, and it’s a good plan. We’ll overcome this adversity and make a better place to live, and we won’t fall into the traps the US government did.

  Governor Harris laid out the plan, which was conceived a year earlier by John Raven, Willis Polk, Kyle Harris, and Vice president Randall. Unfortunately, they had to implement the plan. It was imperative the governors act. All agreed state constitutions trumped the US Constitution. There were many main points. The most immediate was to clear out anyone who felt State’s Rights and sovereignty didn’t supersede Washington’s edicts and Robin Hood plans. Most of the recalcitrant employees would be cleaned out by attrition. Others would have to be fired. Either they were loyal to the state, or they had to leave.

  When that was done, the states would seal their borders. That was something they planned for and could implement immediately. All communication would be immediately controlled. Censorship wasn’t forbidden, but Washington’s propaganda was.

  Each state was to have its own department of security, which would be implemented without bringing up memories of Nazi Germany or Sadaam Hussein and his goons. The incursion from Mexico had to stop. The border with Mexico would become one way-out.

  The final point was that treaties needed to be established with the US, Mexico, and other nations friendly to the cause. That would be left up to Ambassador Randall in his new role. He’d been an ambassador before, and he worked with the Foreign Relations Committee when he was a Congressman. He enjoyed that work and graciously accepted the committee’s appointment as their ambassador to Washington and other interested countries as requested.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Texas Adjutant General Willis Polk briefed Colonel Roberts on everything he needed to do, then he sent Roberts to meet face- to-face with the commanders of every military base, Navy base, and depot in Texas. Since all were dedicated Texans who were as disillusioned as the governors, all agreed to follow the plan.

  The commander contacted their senior NCOs, because they were the people who actually ran the military. They knew their men, and their most-immediate order from Roberts was to test the men’s loyalty. If any military man or woman wasn’t willing to follow orders, he or she must be reassigned or discharged.

  The Commander of the Marine Detachment at Corpus Christi met his men en masse. He received 100% cooperation.

  The Naval Air Station commander planned to have the base sealed. Only two roads led into the base, one over a long causeway, the other as a spur from a main highway.

  The only problem was water access. The base’s Master Chief assured the commander his naval guard would begin twenty-four- hour patrols. The Commander asked that a recall be enacted on Sunday evening, a time when few, if any, civilians would be on base, while dependents were in quarters or at their off-base homes. He could lock the base down and call it an exercise.

  The Commanders at the other bases didn’t have the luxury.

  Most installations had many gates or were surrounded by open territory. One such base was the Bone Yard at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

  Governor Matt Wilson kept the military on his side, but the problem was that the base was immense. It not only held tactical fighter wings, but it also controlled the Bone Yard, a massive desert parking lot for decommissioned Air Force planes of all kinds.

  Governor Espada in New Mexico faced the s
ame problem. The bases in her state were isolated and dependent on civilian employees. Not all civilians could be forced to work for the state.

  The governors of the other states agreed to lock down their bases and secure them with military police and augmentees.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The governors began implementing the ideas discussed at the Austin meeting. The proposed actions would begin with great care. They would take months of planning and working. Each state had its own unique problems. Members of the state governments shared information and activities with each other by couriers carrying secure pouches. Using the telephone or the Internet would only broadcast their plans to the media. There was no knowing who might be listening.

  Each governor had messengers who traveled to each of the other states. These messengers who lived in the governors’ mansions were dispatched to their home states whenever a message needed to be taken. The most-delicate items required a personal courier.

  The residential messenger in the Texas governor’s mansion was Trooper Jeffery Shelton, the guard Adjutant General Willis and Colonel Roberts chose on the day of the General’s promotion.

  Since the man was familiar with the mansion, they decided he should be present at all times. Shelton was of normal size and appearance, but he carried a look of harnessed power in his eyes. He was a no-fooling kind of man. He didn’t scare anyone, but no one wanted to cross him. His clothes were tailored to hide various weapons he carried on his rounds.

  New Mexico could prove to be the weak link in the Southwest. It had the smallest military presence and only a small border with Mexico. None of the other governors wanted to send troops to another state, but they agreed to do so if needed.

  Oklahoma had similar problems. The state had sufficient military strength only as long as the northern border didn’t present a problem.

  The message initiating the plan went out via a simple radio broadcast. Harris and Espada came up with the idea, because both of their fathers served in World War Two and told them a story about the French Resistance. When D-Day was chosen, the allies radioed the French freedom fighters and the Maquis using an old poem for the message. Some of the words were violins of autumn wounding his heart with monotonous tones.

  Harris sent a similar message in the form of a song called My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys that would play on the radio every fifteen minutes.

  Harris called for Trooper Shelton. When Shelter arrived, Governor Harris told him, “Send the message.”

  Shelton nodded, saluted, and walked to the radio room. He was about to be very busy.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  President Curtis kept regular hours, generally waking at 6:00 AM to eat a leisurely breakfast, read the paper, and walk to the Oval Office for his morning briefings. Very much a creature of habit, he didn’t like changes in his routine.

  The Chief of the Secret Service shook Curtis awake. When he saw the president was fully awake, the man said, “Mr. President, there’s an emergency. Governor Kyle Harris is on the phone in the Situation Room.”

  This is the last thing I need right now, President Curtis thought. “Let me wash my face. I’ll come to the office.” This can only be bad news, and I don’t need any more of that. The worst part is, I’m trapped in a situation I created.

  Curtis walked into the small office adjoining the executive bedroom and gingerly picked up the telephone receiver. “Kyle, what’s on your mind so early in the day?”

  “Mr. President, under rules recently drafted here in Austin, the governors and attorney generals of the following states have instructed me to inform you that Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas are no longer members of the United States of America. We’re enacting Article One of our various constitutions. The Southwest Coalition of States now controls all military and naval bases, as well as ports, airports, highways, and rivers.

  “We accuse you of ill-thought-out schemes to advance a failed agenda. Your incompetence and lack of foresight brought disaster down on us and wreaked havoc on the nation.

  “We also accuse the Senate and House of Representatives of treason against the American people. They have consistently put political correctness and liberal themes in place over the good of the common man. Their aim seems to be appeasement of a vocal minority. We’ll have no more of that. We’re finished with the Union.”

  “This is not negotiable. Today, we’ll communicate our demands and a proposed treaty. We don’t intend to go to war, nor do we propose any military action. The five States are now under Martial Law.

  “The attorney general of the State of Texas has been appointed our spokesman and will address the nation later this evening. You’ll hear from our spokesman and Ambassador at Large Elliott Randall, who will contact you soon.

  “That is all, Mr. President. You have a lot of work and explaining to do, so I’ll let you go.”

  Governor Harris hung up and looked at General Polk. “I wonder what our old Commanding Officer, General Ray Green, thinks about this? I also wonder if he’ll get into the thick of the fray. That might be a problem.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Attorney General Denise Menton and General Raymond Green, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, met the president when he entered the Situation Room. Denise, awakened early, wasn’t in good spirits when the president arrived. She’d been given little if any time to prepare for the meeting. General Green noticed this immediately.

  He wasn’t the usual political appointee to his position. He was a combat commander. He was on the ground in Panama, Iraq I and II, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and, on several occasions, North Africa. He earned every medal and qualification badge the US military had to offer. He grew up as a cattle hand who rode the land in Oklahoma before receiving his appointment to the Military Academy in West Point. He was a formidable figure.

  President Curtis appointed him to the position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to shape up the Defense Department that lethargy and Congressional interference managed to ruin.

  General Green was the real power in the Pentagon. The Secretary of Defense was only a political appointment. Most of them had no military experience or background. The current SECDEF once asked the General what the badge with the miniature parachute stood for.

  General Green, who could make the SECDEF believe that new ideas were his, not the general’s, actually ran the Pentagon. Green felt the attorney general was a misplaced petty lawyer who would soon collapse under the pressure of her office. He was right on both counts. Green finally saw a chance to tell the president how bad his choices had been.

  President Curtis began the meeting, though he seemed stunned by what happened. He had no idea such an action had been planned.

  Attorney General Menton recommended the president invoke martial law and force the rebellious states back into line. General Green snorted loudly at that but waited until it was his time to speak.

  Ms. Menton’s eyes shot daggers at him, but that didn’t bother the General. For a man who once had AK -47s fired at him, daggers were nothing.

  “I can draw up the charges and have the governors taken into custody today,” Ms. Menton finished.

  General Green laughed at such a ludicrous statement. “Mr. President, I demand respect from that soldier.”

  General Green smiled at her and looked at the president. President Curtis didn’t perform well under pressure.

  He’d been a politician too long and rarely made a decision unaided. His butler had to match ties for him. Despite that, the president felt he could completely overhaul the Executive branch of the government with impunity.

  He recalled when the idea of reforming the government first arose. Why had he listened to those wet-behind-the-ears advisors? They won the election handily. Their opponents made many errors and didn’t have time or national experience to correct them.

  President Curtis’s advisors were like bulldogs and hunting falcons, while his opponent’s advisors were inexperienced, easygoing, caring people who gave Curtis a
n easy win.

  You know why, the president thought. Those positions were the rewards to substantial donors to the campaign. For the first time in his life, Robert Curtis was unsure of himself or his ideas.

  “Ms. Menton, General Green, we’ll have order in here.” He hoped his voice sounded presidential. Trying to regain control of the meeting, he felt he already lost.

  “I won’t have him laughing at me,” Ms. Menton said. “I demand he be reprimanded.”

  “You don’t demand anything of the president,” Curtis said. “The president demands. I happen to be the president, and I’m the one demanding. Now do your job or leave.”

  He turned toward General Green. “How did this rebellion of the Southwestern states escape your notice?”

  “How did what escape my notice? It was your hot idea to base all the military at home. Not all of us in the Joint Chiefs agreed, even if you did say so in your address to the citizens of the United States. I counseled against it purely from a logistics and economic aspect.

  “You’re the Commander in Chief, and we take orders from you. I’m not complaining or excusing myself, but I have thousands of troops to watch. I can’t see everything. I have people for that sort of thing. They missed it, or the governors were a lot smarter than some office holders in DC.” He managed to keep a straight face.

  Attorney General Menton started to react, but the president stopped her with a sour look. “General Green, a president from the fifties one said, ‘The buck stops here.’ I suggest that you consider the idea that the buck for the Armed Services stops at your desk.”

  General Green looked at the president as if he were a junior officer who contradicted him. “You’re talking about Harry Truman, who was a shirt salesman. I have no regard for him or many of the presidents who preceded you.”

  The attorney general stood so fast, her chair slammed against the wall. She started calling General Green everything she could think of, including being a communist and a traitor.