Chapter 3 of my novel (Final Draft)

CHAPTER 3

December 4, 2012. Albany, New York. 2:30PM EST

On the same morning that Gov. Wallace got his early morning phone call, so did Gov. Amber Stevenson from New York. Governor Stevenson has worked her whole life towards helping others. It started shortly after her departure from Harvard University. Amber Stevenson started out quietly working as a social worker in New York City for a few years. She was loved by her clients as she was always available and willing to work with anyone to try and better their lives.

Her caring nature for her clients did not lead to a successful married life for her. After two years of marriage, she found herself filing for divorce after her husband's infidelity. Her husband felt like he was second in her life to her career and looked outside the walls of marriage for affection. Not exactly the bravest course of action, but sometimes the safest course is the cowardly approach.

The only blessing from this short foray into marriage was that it produced no offspring, which allowed for the separation to be clean and final. It allowed closure for Stevenson as she knew she wouldn't have to look back and have to deal with those open wounds again.

Stevenson rededicated herself to helping others after her divorce and left her job working for social services, to the sadness of her clients, to move into the New York State Senate. As the State Senator for District 21 in Brooklyn, Stevenson gained a lot of popularity within the District due to her hard work and compassion for the people she represented. Her popularity led to a very short term in the State Senate, as she shocked the state by successfully winning the election for Governor. of New York.

It was a fast rise to the highest seat in the state government, but one that was her ultimate goal. For like Gov. Wallace, she too made a deal with the devil. Unlike Gov. Wallace, she knew this day would come. She looked around and saw a world that was losing it's sense of purpose. It seemed that for every action that she put in place to help the people, it ended up hurting others. She was growing quite weary of her position and the personal sacrifices that she had made, but she knew it was safer to not walk down the road of family. In the deepest corners of her heart she knew that she wouldn't be able to do what was asked of her if she had a husband and children. She tells herself that to comfort the blow of her failed marriage and sometimes believes that she purposefully did not give her all to that marriage, because she knew that one day she may have to give her all to another calling.

Her political opponents would always use her lack of married life and family as a character attack in campaigns. She would publicly laugh those attacks off and always claim that her family was the people of the state of New York. The people knew of her long days in the office always trying to come up with the best feasible policies to help the greatest amount of people. To say that she was beloved by the people was an understatement, so much that even the Republican party in the state behind closed doors of course accepted that she was unbeatable. There was even the hope that she would throw her hat in the race for candidacy for President of the United States in 2016.

However, as the party was looking for a potential successor for President Jackson, Amber Stevenson received a phone call that she had been waiting for nearly 20 years for. She watched with the world a few weeks ago as her colleague and former college classmate, Richard Wallace, rocked the nation with the announcement that the State of Texas was looking to secede from the Union. Stevenson doesn't know what is worse, being the first to act on this as Wallace did or sit back waiting for the time when she would do the same.

She had already seen the overwhelming popularity of Wallace's announcement in the state of Texas and the political backlash that it struck throughout the land. She had read reports that there were already over a million signatures for the petition in just a few short weeks. In the back of her mind, she hopes that she is making the best decision. It is sadly ironic how your strongest beliefs are forged in the naiveté of youth can still get shrouded with doubt as age and wisdom push into the mind. Twenty years ago, there wouldn't even be a moment of hesitation, Hell even ten years ago she would have followed through with full vigor.

Now, she fears it is a different world. People may jump onto this idea with too much gusto and force the issue. The idea of going through the motions of secessions is to bring the leaders of the nation to a place where they will have to listen to the people that they are supposed to represent. She fears that the worst may happen and that a peaceful idea for change may have violent ends. She remembers an old quote from Hemingway that says, "all things truly wicked start from innocence". She knows that the people who are starting this have the purest of intentions and only want to bring about social justice for all. However, even with all her doubts, she still believes that what she and her brothers and sisters are going to do is right and will have a positive impact on the nation.

This is why Gov. Amber Stevenson from the state of New York has no fear as she prepares to go in front of a podium and make an announcement to the people of her state. Like Gov. Wallace before her, she had met with her staff to make sure everyone was on board. Now is the time to make the most important speech in her lifetime. Everything she had done before this was merely practice for this moment. She knows her popularity is going to help make this happen; she does not fear getting signatures for the petition, she fears too rabid a response from her followers.

"It's in your hands now," she says aloud to no one as she approaches the podium created in her office for the media. She gets the signal from the cameraman that she is about to be live.

"Good afternoon, my brothers and sisters of the great state of New York, I come to you with a tough but great choice that you all have to make. As many of you know just recently the great state of Texas is going through the process of gaining signatures to see how many people in their state would favor leaving the Union. This move has been highly controversial, yet very popular within the state and even by people outside of Texas.

"I come to you today, saying that I leave it up to you the citizens of New York to determine if we should stand behind our brothers and sisters from Texas. I'm asking you good people to go and sign a petition at your local court houses, or through your state representatives. All you need to sign up is a valid ID from the state of New York and proof that you are still living in the state and everything will be legal.

"Legally, we only need 25,000 signatures in 30 days to finalize the petition and legally submit it to the U.S. Government, but I will not make such a decision that will affect so many with so few signatures. We will not go through with the idea of joining Texas and being an independent nation without the support of at least five million New Yorkers!

"I have served the people of New York for over a decade now. I love this state and I love all the great citizens of this state. It has pained me though to see the mounting problems within the whole nation that have also hit home here in New York. I know it is hard for a lot of you to make ends meet. I know a lot of you feel that no one cares for you. I want you to know that there are still people out there who are willing to fight for what is right and that sometimes to do what is right you have to make big risks and this may be the biggest risk since 1861.

"Rest assured that even if this happens with the appropriate signatures, it will still take time to go through all the legal matters with the courts. It will take time, but if you are willing to make this journey with me I promise you all that New York will be a place to live where the people will take care of each other and we will be able to live freely and re-create a place that I know so many of you loved and will love again. The hardest road to follow is always the longest one and this road will be long and hard, but if we all take it together it will be an amazing journey.

"Thank you everyone for listening and make your choice for tomorrow!" exclaims Stevenson as she walks away from the podium signaling the end of her speech. She heads over to her desk and sits down hoping to not be disturbed, but realizes that will be impossible. The cameraman that filmed the speech leaves her office and Stevenson puts her face into her hands, when she is startled by a beep from her office phone.

"Yes," she answers knowing it is her secretary.

"Governor, it's the President on line 1!" says the female voice on the other end.

"Thank you, I'll take the call," says the Governor.

She presses the flashing button on the phone base quickly; she doesn't want the President to be on hold for long. "Mr. President, this is Governor Stevenson. I'm sure I know why you are calling, how can I help you."

"Governor, I am rather disturbed by yours and Governor Wallace's announcements. I had asked the Governor of Texas to meet with me and discuss this matter in private and we were scheduled to meet in the Oval Office on the 6th at 1PM. Now, I kindly ask you if you would be able to make it down to the White House on that day?" asks the President.

"Certainly sir, I can free up my schedule to meet with you. I realize how important this is and will make the proper arrangements to meet with you and Governor Wallace."

"Very good, I shall see you on the 6th, Amber. Have a good day," says the President.

"Thank you Mr. President," she says as she hears the line go dead on the other end. He didn't waste any time getting a hold of me, now did he she thinks to herself.

This is a big moment in history as two of his largest states are preparing to do the unimaginable. This is going to be one of the most trying times in the history of this country. Two states have publicly announced their desire to leave the Union. This was planned a long time ago and it's just the way of fate that led this to happen on President Jackson's watch.

Chapter 2 of my novel (Final Draft)

CHAPTER 2

December 2, 2012. Everywhere. 7:59 EST.

It's a normal evening throughout America. Families relaxing after dinner. Families enjoying dinner together. Parents leaving work. Kids doing after school activities. These things are going on throughout the land, however, unbeknownst to those individuals sitting in front of a computer it will soon be a historic moment in the annals of American history.

Suddenly at 8:00PM EST, anyone who was on the websites of Google or Youtube experienced a technical abnormality. Without warning these sites were hacked by an unknown transmission of an unknown origin. These select few will bear witness to the first message from an unknown individual, who will be named the Voice.

"Good evening, my fellow Americans," said the Voice whose face was digitally blurred out so the person on the screen would be unrecognizable. Also, the voice of the speaker has been modulated, so that it comes out clear but almost robotic; again this is done purposefully to hide the identity of the speaker. " I greatly apologize for the interruption, but more than ever I feel that now is the time to bring my message out to my fellow Americans. We live in very trying times right now. We are slowly watching the end of our democracy unfold right before our eyes and yet we all feel powerless to stop it. That is ridiculous. We have the power to make the necessary changes to our broken country. It may not be what everyone is looking for, but the majority of us know that there are serious problems here. The state of Texas is going through the proper procedures to leave the Union! I fear it will only be a matter of time before more states follow the suit and attempt the same desperate measure. This is extremely abnormal and not a sign that this great country is heading in the right direction.

"The situation with Texas will force President Jackson into a tough spot. Will he try to preserve the Union that he and his kind are slowly destroying or will he sit back and let the state of Texas leave the Union. Either course of action will have damaging repercussions to the country. If he tries to preserve the Union, I fear that there may be bloodshed to do so. If he lets Texas go, then that will open the doors for other states to follow and that will destroy the fabric of the nation. We will be a completely broken nation. The President and the leadership need to take immediate steps now to stop this from happening.

"I feel that the major problem right now is the lack of communication and compromise that is occurring within our two party political system. Both parties are to blame for this, because both parties have gone so far to the extremes and are determined to push their agendas instead of working together to find solutions for the greater good. You have one party focusing their concerns on the wealthier sector and the other party focusing on the poorer sector; the problem with that is that the overwhelming majority of citizens fall in the middle. Sadly, it feels that no one out there is fighting for the middle. The millions and millions of good, hard-working people out there struggling to survive and take care of their families, all the while they are being asked to foot the bill for this country with very little relief ever coming from our government.

"How many times are we forced to take tax increases to pay for programs in our governmental spending? Yet, we go no relief from the pressures that are placed upon us. The brain trust up on high need to ask why crime is rising in our culture. We live in a country where people are trying to do everything they can to survive and some of them get backed into making a tough decision that may involve breaking the law to take care of their families.

"It is not a question of lawlessness; it is more a question of circumstances. I will always believe that no matter what people are good, however, there are always circumstances that will cause good people to make wrong decisions. Again, one always has to look at the crime and the criminal. There are times when the opportunity strikes to fracture a law or two, but the overall harm is miniscule. Let me ask who's the worse criminal, the guy who takes a little extra to provide for his family, or the corporations out there who overcharge a country all the while cutting jobs from good American citizens. These corporations everyday are stealing from their customers in order to make a fatter paycheck for those select few, yet, that is accepted and legal, but a poor soul who takes a little extra is a criminal. The only reason that poor soul is taking a little extra in the end is the surrounding world has taken everything else from them. Not saying it makes it right, but sometimes the wrong thing seems right especially in the face of the wrongs that we go through everyday.

"We continue to have increases in crime because people can't survive by honest means anymore. Gun violence is going up. Neither side of the gun debate can deny that anymore, or they would come across as fools. There are more and more random shootings out there. It's gotten to the point where a logical person has to ask what's causing all this violence. Are we a society that has truly become desensitized to human life or is it merely that these individuals are using a murder spree to gain some sort of notoriety in a world that has forgotten all about them? I'm not a sociologist, so I don't know the answer, but all I know is it is a problem that exists that no one seems to care about, because nothing ever happens more than talk about reforms or blaming of the media for glorifying these types of individuals.

"We live in a world now where there is a 24-hour news cycle and all-day news TV stations and they need stories to fill in their time. However, it always seems that so much of their time is filled with stories of violence and tragedy. These stations have a great avenue to make news out of stories showing the decency of people out there. There could be more messages of hope put out there to the people, but instead they focus too much time on the sensational story that they feel will get more viewers. Ratings matter more than the actual news. Contrary to popular belief, but not everything in this world should revolve around money. The unfortunate truth is everything revolves around money. It is the cause of happiness and it is equally the cause of crime and misery. One of the economic problems is that we don't live in a trickle-down economy, if we ever did. The new belief is a rocket-up-your-ass to the top system. Those who control it don't want to give any of it up and that leads it economic and societal problems. Increases in in people on public welfare, increases in crime, increases in poverty and homelessness can all be attributed to not enough distribution of wealth. They can't even agree on a budget for the love of God!

"In this media crazy world we live in, we have lost sight of the things that matter. An example of this is that you are more likely to get the average teenager or college student tell you ten things about some pseudo-celebrity than even the President of the United States! AND THAT IS JUST WRONG!" The Voice yells as this is stated.

"I realize that this is all by design; that it is all a tool to not let the average citizen in all the goings-on that affect a person's day-to-day life. We have the greatest tool ever created for complete freedom of communication with everyone and what do we use it for, to watch porn, or look at the dirt on some unimportant person or play games. I'm probably being seen by more people right now then the President's last State of the Union Address. We seem to want to sedate ourselves with all the mindlessness that the internet will provide, instead of using it for a means of watching what the powers-that-be are doing to us on a daily basis and definitely not using it to communicate our displeasure with the state of affairs.

"We also have a rampant drug problem in our culture. When it comes to the point that we have to start banning normal, everyday cleaning products because teens and adults are finding ways to get high off these products, then we have to start accepting that there is a problem. People are out there searching for new ways to get high and that search can be a fatal one. In my youth, you literally had to search just to get your hands on a six pack and the restraints then were no where near as strict as they are now, yet, it seems like teens have no problems getting their hands on some booze. That's not even covering the over-prescribed nation of youth out there who are being turned into a nation of brain-dead zombies. Seriously, no one sits back and questions that almost every single teenager is prescribed some sort of heavy psychotropic drug for some mental disorder. Some of these teens are being diagnosed and drugged up before their brains are fully developed; now I may not be a psychiatrist, but even I have problems giving children drugs that will fry their brains before they even get to full development. When I grew up back in the '80's and '90's, I never heard of anyone that I went to school with having ADHD or bipolar or depression, now some 20 years later hearing of a teen without one of these conditions is abnormal.

"It's almost like the pharmaceutical companies are just trying to get rich by selling more pills and not be actually concerned about the side-effects of what the long-term damage that may be caused to this upcoming generation. I have a bad feeling that one day those chickens are going to come home to roost at some point in time. We know that the governmental organizations that are put in place to protect the people can be bought off. These pill companies are able to do their own research and present their findings for approval and there doesn't have to be an independent research study in place. So, you tell me some researcher for one of these companies finds out that a certain pill has long-term hazards will actually report that to his or her bosses, the people that supply the paycheck for them. Of course, studies are going to get skewed to help the company get their product passed.

"The government allows bio-chemically created food to pass through without proper approval. Companies that have a proven track record of lying to the people and the government about the dangers their product produces have been rewarded with a free passage to pass off their product without proper sanctions or warnings to the customers. It just shows how far those who control the production of labor control even the government. There is no hope for the average citizen, when these criminals are allowed to be free and continue to prosper. When will it all end? When we have a nation of drug-riddled and poisoned people dying on the streets. Or will we come together one day and rise up against the tyranny that is oppressing us? That may be the only hope is that one day all of us who are angry and pissed off at what has happened to this country will rise up together and make a stand. At the end of the day, we will have the numbers on our side, but we need to be unified together. Today is the start of that. Today, I hope that I have given you all a small breath of hope; I will provide an outlet for people to be angry and hopefully one day we can seek justice for this nation.

"But I know that for tonight, I must leave you. I have to keep this short because if there is anyone with any brains at these websites, they will be able to kick me out of here before I finish. So, before I leave all of you have stayed and listened to me at the bottom of the screen I will post a web address for my next transmission. I am and always will be a voice of equality and justice for the people. This I promise to all of you who are willing to listen to the truth. Thank you, my fellow Americans for letting me intrude on your evening. Remember this is still our country and we all have a free and equal voice," the mysterious Voice says as computer screens go red, white and blue. In the background, a web address appears as www.TheVoiceofFreedom.com and the date February 7, 2013 shows up under it.