Freedom vs.Tyranny Read online

  2015 The Second American Civil War

  Book 1

  REVISED August 2015

  6th Edition 08-2015

  Copyright©2014 IJT

  Ira. J. Tabankin

  Knoxville, TN 37920

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my wife and true love, Patricia.

  The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual names, persons, businesses, locations, and incidents, is strictly coincidental.

  Thanks

  I’d like to thank the many members of the survivalistboards.com who helped me with their knowledge, comments and encouragement. Special thanks to those members who helped edit and make this published version possible.

  “When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

  — Thomas Jefferson

  The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.”

  — Patrick Henry

  Prologue

  The year 2014 started bright and cold; a polar vortex brought bitterly cold temperatures to the eastern half of the country while the western half experienced the worst drought in over a century. The President among others blamed the unusual cold weather on Global Warming. The President told the country he needed to act since Congress refused to do anything. The President said he couldn’t wait because hundreds of Americans are freezing to death. They are dying because the Republican-held House refused to pass his Global Warming and Carbon Tax laws. The President said he had a pen and a telephone with the pen he was going to sign executive orders to take action when the deadlock on Capitol Hill harmed the American people. Executive order followed executive order; the President pushed beyond the limits of the separation of power. One party held the House and the other held the Senate; nothing could be agreed upon to bring the President under control, which he knew, so the President ruled as king.

  The two political parties argued with each other over every issue, the only result being public accusations of each other. Neither party wanted to work with the other. The suffering of the average American family increased daily. The average American family saw their disposable income decreased 30% in five years. At the same time, the cost of food increased to the highest levels since records were kept. Further increasing the average American’s pain level, the cost of electrical energy skyrocketed, in some areas; the cost increased 50% from the same period a year ago. In addition to the increased costs of fuel and food, the Affordable Health Care Act brought increased costs for basic health care. Many newly insured families didn’t understand they had to pay their deductible before their insurance started making payments. They put off seeing a doctor because they couldn’t afford to pay to deductible. The number of people who sought health care decreased from 2012. The Affordable Health Care turned out to neither affordable or able to provide health care to many who needed it.

  Increased consumer costs added with lower incomes resulted in reduced consumer spending resulted in less demand for products and services. Lower demand resulted in fewer people who are needed to make products people no longer had the funds to purchase. While the official government published unemployment rate fell to 5.5%, the actual U6 rate increased to 11.5%. Millions of the unemployed gave up looking for jobs they couldn’t find. On one hand, the unemployment rate went down, on the other hand, over 130 million working age Americans were without a job. When the unemployed reached the end of their benefits, they were dropped from the official government roles, they were no longer counted as unemployed. As people dropped from the unemployment rolls, or they gave up looking for a job the unemployment rate quickly Dropped. Enabling the President and the national media to claim his economic programs are improving the economy quicker than any other President in history. The mainstream media didn’t question why the number of the unemployed decreased at the same time the number of the unemployed increased; or why the amount of consumer spending decreased. Spending and demand usually increased when unemployment decreased because more people are working. The media also ignored the number of people working part-time jobs that increased 100% from two years ago. One of the reasons behind the sudden increase in part-time employment is the Affordable Care Act, which set 29 hours as the cut-off between full time and part time employment. Part-time employees didn’t require their employer to provide them with health care benefits. Hence, tens of thousands of full-time employees found themselves part-time overnight without any benefits.

  The mainstream media loved the President; they helped him get elected. In their eyes, the President could do no wrong. The President could shoot someone on national television, and the media would claim the victim shot himself. Those, who held jobs in the lower tier of the economy, demanded the minimum wage be increased to $15 an hour. The President said he agreed with them; he signed an executive order increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour in increments starting April 1, 2014, setting the stage he thought for his party to win the 2014 midterms and the 2016 Presidential elections. Many small companies said they wouldn’t be able to afford the increased wages. On April 1, 2014, thousands of small businesses made the announcement they were closing their businesses. The increase in the minimum wage cost the economy 475,000 jobs, when these newly unemployed complained to the President, he responded with he was helping them find better-paying jobs. The President said he was making it possible for people to spend more time with their families. The President said he was considering issuing an executive order making it illegal for companies to close without getting permission from the Department of Labor. Before he could sign the order thousands of additional “mom and pop” companies closed their doors, afraid they wouldn’t be able to close once this new executive order was signed.

  An unforeseen result of the ACA was many single-doctor offices couldn’t afford the changeover from paper to electronic files, they either merged with large medical groups or they took early retirement. In September 2014, there are 21,000 fewer doctors than there was in January 2014. As the demand for doctors is increasing, the number of doctors decreased.

  These events set the stage for the 2014 midterm elections, where the right wing of the Republican Party ran candidates who struck a chord with Middle America. The country was tired of the lies and unemployment the Democrat party provided during the previous five years. The Republicans increased their control of the House and won 8 Senate seats giving them control of both houses for the first time in ten years. The American people had had enough of the current President’s policies. The suffering and frustration of the average American family have reached their highest level in over one hundred years.

  The right wing of the Republican Party demanded a price, the impeachment of the President, for turning out the votes which enabled the Republicans to win the Senate. The senior members of the Republican Party tried to talk the newly elected members out of their plan, they urged the new Congressmen and women to have patience and wait. The freshmen flatly refused to wait. They told the party leaders they’d been sent to Washington to do a job; that job was to impeach President Obsma. In the third week of January 2015, the House of Representatives brought articles of impeachment against President Obsma. The press went into full defensive mode; they ran hour-long programs on the benefits of the President’s programs. They tried to tarnish the Republicans, they even tried to blame the increased out of pocket costs of the Affordable Health Care Act on the Republicans. The media claimed Republicans named the ACA Obama Care just to try to push the blame off of themselves and onto the President, who was trying to improve the lives of everyone. The press blamed the high number of unemployment on the right. The press turned
all of the President’s failures around and blamed the Republicans for them. Republican lawmakers gave interviews wrote, “OPED” stories, all to no avail, every night the evening news reports are filled with stories explaining the “crimes of the right." The House leadership thought the articles of impeachment would sit in committee for months if not forever. The Speaker of the House didn’t want to go down in history as the man who impeached the first African American President. President Obsma spent January and February 2015 traveling the country blaming the right for his problems. The last week of February saw a massive blizzard hit the North East. Parts of the country were buried under five feet of snow and ice. From Washington DC to Portland, Maine, the country was frozen and stalled. The Press and the President blamed the Republicans for being against his ‘Global Warming’ programs. The media blamed the 21 lost lives from the blizzard on Global Warming.

  In the middle of one of the worst blizzards in the country's history, a third of the country also had to endure brown and blackouts, due to the closure of eleven coal-fired power plants. The EPA passed new, much lower emissions rules on coal-fired power plants. When the plants closed, the country lost 15% of its electrical power. The media went into overdrive showing pictures of freezing families, blaming them on the right wing of the Republican Party. The mainstream media’s evening news programs are filled with images of homeless families freezing to death. In 2008, the President promised to bankrupt the coal industry which supplied 60% of the country’s electrical power; in January 2015, his EPA started making his promise come true.

  The press, finding the average American's weren't going along with their agenda reverted to the race card. The President demanded time on every network to announce his pending impeachment was based on his skin color. He claimed white Republicans and rich white people who funded the Republican’s victories in the midterms couldn’t accept a black President. He called on the black community to support him. He called on the African American youth to rise up and force Congress to listen to them. The President tried to add class warfare to the issues facing the country. He demanded the rich accept him by paying their fair price. The local Hip Hop radio stations broadcast calls for local uprisings to support the President. They demanded the rich pay their fair share so they could have more. Before the radio stations’ calls for an uprising, the inner city young filled the streets, overturning cars, setting fire to everything in their path. They attacked anyone who happened to get in their way or were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  Local fire departments refused to put out the fires because they were being fired upon. The inner city fires were set like fly traps to catch and kill the local first responders. The mobs also set traps for the police; they waited until the police are almost at their location; then they laid boards with nails across the street blowing their tires. When the police cars became immobile, they were attacked by the protesters. The local gangs egged on by the radio stations and the press increased the level of their destruction. They chant “Leave the President alone.” The inner city fires burn out of control for three days. The lead story on every mainstream media news program is the rioting which are blamed on rich white people who refused to accept the President. The fires can even be seen from orbiting satellites. The Federal Government re-tasked the satellites so they could take high-resolution images suitable for broadcast. The images were distributed to the media to use in support of the President. Senior African American leaders go on national television blaming the radical right wing for causing the riots by their non-acceptance of a black President. Their speeches only increase the tension between the races. Many moderate inner city leaders call for peace only to be gunned down in cold blood. On the third week of rioting, thirty State Governors jointly call up their National Guard units to control the rioting. The Governors appear on television together to beg for peace and restraint. The Governors explain the need for additional force to save lives and property. They order the Guard units to restore peace to the inner cities. Armed MRAPs and armored personnel carriers drive down main street USA. The images of the US military patrolling US streets shocks many in Middle America. The Governors announce if the Guard units are fired upon the Guard is authorized to use deadly force to protect lives and property.

  The President’s advisors inform him the National Guard could stop the rioting and would restore order. Thus allowing Congress to move forward with the impeachment process. The President issued an executive order federalizing the National Guard thus taking them out from under the state governor’s control. He issued an order as the Commander in Chief to stop the National Guard from interfering with the people expressing their first amendment rights. The President went on national television claiming the Republicans are trying to violate the US Constitution; he and he alone was taking steps to protect the people’s rights.

  The national media fell over themselves praising the President. They pointed out he was the only “adult” in Washington DC who was concerned about protecting the rights afforded to every citizen. The press reported that white people are trying to take the bill of rights away from African Americans and other monitories. The rioting continues and expands into the bedroom communities surrounding the cities; they are egged on by those calling for the righting of the wrongs the white race has done to the black race for hundreds of years. The President and the media successfully shift the focus from the pending impeachment to a race war. Many bedroom communities watched the race war on television, only to discover the race war was now in their own communities. Families found themselves disagreeing and in some cases entering into fist fights over the question of who’s right. Children who rode to school together now faced off across race lines. The President, who ran for office as the “Great Uniter” drove a wedge between the races. Part of his promised transformation of the country was a race war that spread across America.

  The Chairman of the Joint Staff, General Dempsey asked to meet with the President. The President kept him waiting for three days and only then allowed him to meet with the condition that some of the President’s senior advisors were present during the meeting.

  “Mr. President, it’s my duty to inform you that the military is very concerned about the very real potential of a civil uprising. Sir, we, the senior officers of the military forces are requesting you make a national broadcast and request everyone return to their homes. Sir, you can calm the situation down, you are the only person the young will listen to.”

  “General thank you for coming to see me today; I’m afraid that I see things differently than you do. I see our cities burning out of control because our first responders are not responding. I see people who have finally had enough from being enslaved, people who are expressing their first amendment right to free speech. People who may be a little out of control; however I see a bigger threat than these poorly misunderstood youth.”

  “Sir, what is this threat you see?”

  “General, I’m glad you asked. The biggest threat, I see to the American people, are the 350 million guns in the hands of mostly racist white people. People who are using their guns to shoot the poor inner city, misunderstood youth who have no other way to express themselves. I want the military to take the list of registered firearm owners, and confiscate their weapons and ammunition. We have to get these weapons, not just assault rifles, but handguns, shotguns, and hunting rifles out of the hands of racist people who are endangering innocents.”

  “Mr. President, the US Military can’t operate within the borders of the United States. The American military isn’t going to go house to house to take legally owned weapons.”

  “General, what if these weapons were no longer legal?”

  “Sir, the Second Amendment provides legal ownership of firearms by citizens.”

  “General, you’re correct, however, I have here in my hands, an executive order declaring Martial Law and placing the second amendment on hold for the duration of the National Emergency. This order will increase the security and safety
of our people. This order will allow us to save innocent lives. I’m sure you and the entire military agree we must do everything possible to save even a single innocent life. General, under this declaration of Martial Law, the military is allowed, and I’m ordering you to operate within our borders.”

  “Mr. President, there are many in the military who won’t accept this order, there are many who won’t fire on US citizens.”

  “General, my advisors have spent five years ensuring the senior officer ranks will support me and will follow my orders without pause; if you personally won’t, I accept your resignation.”

  “Mr. President, I’m sorry you feel this way, I can’t follow your orders; as such, you’ll have my resignation on your desk within the hour.”

  “General, I had a feeling you would say this, so I took the liberty of having a resignation ready for your signature.” Pulling an envelope from his desk, the President hands it to the General. “Here, just sign your name, and Mr. Dempsey, remember the secrecy oath you signed. If you breach your NDA and make any public statements, I’ll consider it a breach of your NDA and have the FBI arrest you for treason. Are we clear Mr. Dempsey?”

  “Yes Mr. President you’re very clear. Hand me my resignation you so thoughtfully had ready for me.”

  The President appears on national television to announce the declaration of Martial Law and the requirement to turn in all firearms within 60 days.