Washington Under Siege: Autumn of the Republic

Constitution Thriller: There Must Never Be a CON2

Prophetic Warning: After 6 Jan 2021, What Next? This novel was originally published in the 1990s as CON2: The Generals of October (Autumn of the Republic). For the first time ever, we actually think it through, with terrifying results. Bottom line: CON2 must never happen.

What would or could happen? Are we going to be fools to walk into CON2? Will we again allow our laws and democracy to be manipulated? We've already seen the doomsday players in action: laissez-faire zillionaires and corporations using their cynical, well-paid influencers and sociopaths in politics, media, fake religious cults, fake patriotic fronts, plus lurking, shadowy military power players. They never rest, and neither should decent citizens. Section V of the U.S. Constitution allows for a (Second) Constitutional Convention. Rather than amend the Constitution one slow, painstaking step at a time, we could theoretically trash the whole thing and start over from scratch—a road to historic catastrophe. Can't happen? Think again. Think facts. What does History teach us?

Coup Attempt 6 Jan 2021: After a growing crescendo over forty years of Reaganist absurdity (corporations beyond any law, no regulations, Profit über alles) and corporate republican (oligarchic) dishonesty culminating in the terror regime of 2016-2020 the United States was assailed in a corporate-orechestrated coup attempt on 6 Jan 2021. Witness: anything is possible. Actually, this follows well established precedents in history. More info on all that soon. What next? We must never allow CON2 to occur. Article V is a ticking time bomb in the U.S. Constitution.

Tomorrow's Headlines: Nightmare. CON2 will be a bigger nightmare than all that, and even more destructive than the 1861-1865 war between the states. Think it through, as the novel does. CON2 will have a form of diplomatic immunity placing the Convention and delegates totally beyond all law and government. In this scenario, a carefully orchestrated plot by (the same people again, designed to replace democracy with tyranny and kill the Enlightenment) starts with a carefully crafted plan to meet in D.C. to briefly ratify ten pre-agreed amendments, a compromise that would make all sides happy. Once the gavel goes down, however, the Reaganists jump out and start proposing hundreds of increasingly absurd, disruptive ideas. Instantly, CON2 is in total and permanent disarray.

"I'm in charge here." With CON2 in disarray, the entire U.S. Government stands by helplessly once again, paralyzed by the misuse and abuse of its checks and balances and related laws. Now, by pre-arrangement with the coup plotters, come the Hotel Generals, so called for the convention center in which CON2 is held. It's October, hence the original book title. The nation is at war with itself for the second time since 1865. Tanks roll through D.C., troops fight and kill each other on the streets. News media were terrified at the well-intentioned words of Gen. Al Haig, Chief of Staff after Reagan was shot and hospitalized in March 1981, when frantic reporters called the White House to inquire about the ongoing crisis. "I'm in control here," said the Chief of Staff. In best military tradition, Haig was simply stating that he was 'holding the fort,' so to speak, until either Reagan recovered, or VP GHW Bush would take over as provided in the laws of Succession. In my novel, I took that to another level. In my novel, at the deepest and darkest point in the CON2 nightmare, media call the White House, and a man in a stern voice tells them: "I am in charge here." He is the leading General (of the Hotel Generals), informing media that a coup has just successfully taken place. He is now the de facto Caesar of a new empire, formerly the USA.

Serious Thinking Under Candy Wrapper Entertainment. I could have written a dry thesis, but I chose instead to write a rousing thriller that was prescient then (praised by the likes of Sen. John McCain and Justice Robert Bork in the 1990s upon receipt of letters and review copies) and is ever closer to dark, horrifying fruition today. It is at once a murder mystery, political thriller, prescient cyber tale, and love story. Two young Army officers, David Gorden and Victoria 'Tory' Breen, follow the disappearance of a Coast Guard computer genius during the tense days when D.C. is already an armed camp in the days before CON2. Together with a close friend, heroic Army nurse CPT Maxine 'Maxie' Bodley, David and Tory uncover Operation Ivory Baton as they follow the cyber trail. Who assassinated the Vice President a year ago? Why has a prominent Congressman committed suicide? Why are all those giant tanks and siege engines rolling through city streets under dark and stealth of night? What ominous event is about to break? Thoughtful readers will follow the underlying reasoning as the most important thriller of our time rushes like an express train to a smashing conclusion. [JTC]