Molon Labe! (24 page)

During the Carter years of the late 1970s, the WWII and Korean War vets were disturbed by macro events, and still young enough (i.e., 50s and 60s) to resist. This swath of men were the last true "God & Country" folks and very much still "on the board," so their deep convictions could not be too overtly ridiculed.

Simultaneously we also had Vietnam vets (84% of whom under 30 years old) with recent military training and experience, coupled with fresh resentment towards Government. The movement had the patriotism and venerable wisdom of the WWII vets (i.e., leadership) coupled with the youthful rage of the Vietnam vets (i.e., troops). This was a highly flammable sociological brew. I argued vigorously that the anti-Carter/tax revolt/survival movement would — without some variety of pressure release — metastasize by 1982 as outright insurrection. We had overreached ourselves. History has taught us that we could apply heat, or pressure, but not both. Thus, we elected to slow cook, with less pressure.

Our data suggested that a temporary and artificial period of calm, economic prosperity, and good old-fashioned patriotism would avert disaster. If such could be maintained for ten to fifteen years, the WWII vets would be in their 70s and thus too old for mass resistance (especially since over 25% of them suffered from increasingly debilitating combat wounds). If we could be patient, a bit of time would march these good soldiers "off the board." During that period, the Vietnam vets, being between 30 and 50 years old, would be temporarily dormant.

So, we ran back to the Land Rover and drove like hell to Ronald Reagan's home to persuade him to seek the Presidency. (Incidentally, Reagan's candidacy was initially fiercely resisted by some in our circle, who were finally mollified by the choice of our man George Bush, Sr. as Vice President.) The twelve tranquil years of Reagan and Bush released the pressure most satisfactorily. By the early 1990s, the fiercely patriotic veterans of WWII were chronologically "off the board" (with the Korea War veterans five to eight years behind). Their "going away" party was the putative collapse of the Soviet Empire, a mass sedative of great efficacy. The Depression-era generation had beat the Nazis and the Nips, and then buried the Soviet Commies for good measure.

Job well done. Time for bed.

The next general period of alarm for us was the public uproar over the Clinton administration, the first Baby Boomer President. (Notice here the changing of the generational guard.) The WWII/Korea War vets were naturally horrified at Clinton's public policies and private actions, but were unable (as we predicted) to do much from the nursing home other than grouse with Rush Limbaugh. (It was often noted by my colleagues that Limbaugh could have single-handedly toppled the Clinton administration if he had stoutly defended the Branch Davidians, or hammered away on the obviously suspicious Vince Foster death. However, there was never any danger of that, as Rush had been judiciously installed as the conservatives' pressure-release valve, just as Reagan had been. It's not as though this were any huge secret; Limbaugh's boss was none other than arch-liberal Phil Donahue.)

The Vietnam vets, however, remained a dangerous force. Being in their 50s, they were clearly "still on the board." They formed the backbone of the militia movement, which was amply fueled by mass anger over Waco. By 1994, much of the public had galvanized against Clinton, as demonstrated by the so-called "Republican Revolution" in November. Unless dramatic action was taken, he was destined to be ousted in 1996.

The 19 April 1995 timing of the Murrah Building bombing by right-wing extremists could not have been more perfect. (We jokingly referred to the event as the "second Reichstag fire.") After a wonderfully suspenseful two days, Americans had a new face of evil — Timothy McVeigh. (Americans always need a name and a face to hate: Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, McVeigh, Osama bin Laden, etc.) Once the militia tiger was defanged by Oklahoma City, Clinton was reelected in 1996 (thanks in great part to the helpful non-candidacy of Bob Dole) and brazenly forged ahead —often farther and faster than we counseled. His coarse sense of the people (and their moral vacuity) was proven correct time and time again. Just when we were convinced that he had really gone too far, he would land on his feet, grinning. As much as we loathed the crudeness of the man, his political sense truly was superb. (Clinton also benefitted incalculably from the deft helmsmanship of Fed Chairman Greenspan, who forestalled the inevitable economic collapse until Bush Jr.'s term.)

So, by 2010 we will have come to fear no public reaction to our policies. Without an effective leader, public discontent is destined to remain as ineffective as the mewling of a small child (albeit just as annoying). For several reasons, no effective leader can emerge from the legislative or judicial branches of Government. Leaders are executive by definition. Regarding the presidency, we control all Democratic and Republican party nominations and sufficiently influence all elections.

One small potential concern is, however, an effective and charismatic governor, especially from one of the lesser states. The surprise victory of Jesse Ventura in Minnesota, for example, is precisely the sort of thing which must be prevented from regular occurrence. Americans have always been followers who require a strong leader, and we must ensure that no such leader arises out of the states independently from our sphere.

— Julius N. Harquist,
The Gaian Convergence
, pp.62-64

      River Lethe Press (2007)

It never troubles the wolf how many the sheep may be.

      Sir Francis Bacon

Washington, D.C.          FBIHQ

November 2008

The Director is grimly pleased. "Well, Bleth, you were right about the Wyoming thing. They took those legislative districts just like you predicted. Nice work."

"Thank you, sir"

"What counties are they trying for in 2010?"

Bleth consults a colored map and says, "Lincoln, Park, Big Horn Washakie, Converse, Weston, and maybe Goshen."

"
Seven
counties, huh? That's two more than in 2006."

"Yes, sir. They've probably ironed out many of the wrinkles and now feel more confident."

The Director nods and says, "That makes sense. Still no idea who's running this thing?"

Bleth shakes his head. "No, sir, not yet. We're beginning to think that some old Wyoming money is behind this — that the leadership is probably business rather than political. Casper rather than Cheyenne. Our surveillance was largely unsuccessful, but we did learn of a 'TW' in Natrona County. No leads, however, in the Capitol."

"Natrona County? Oil?"

"Unknown at this time. Since nothing seems to be emanating from the mining areas of the southwest, it's likely petrol money. Ranching, perhaps."

"What about Jackson Hole money?"

"No evidence suggesting that. Besides, the last thing the Teton billionaires want are new people filling up 'their' state. They look down on even the millionaires. They wouldn't support such a populist phenomenon as tens of thousands of new people taking over a dozen conservative counties."

"Probably not," says the Director. "So, how far do you think this thing will go? Will it end with twelve counties in 2010, or are they trying for a statewide majority after that?"

"What we'll be looking for from 2010 to November 2012 are newcomers in congressional districts overlapping counties they
already
have. That's been the clue that contiguous counties are slated for the following general election. So, two years before we'll know which new counties they plan to saturate. It's not much, but it
is
a glimpse into their future."

The Director ponders this. "So, the general elections of 2006 and 2010 can tell us only what they've accomplished, but the congressional elections of 2008 and 2012 illuminate two years forward."

"Correct, sir. By November 2012 we'll know if there is to be a
third
wave of counties in 2014. Certainly the infrastructure exists for it. Their momentum is really picking up, their organization is very good, their security excellent. Funding is apparently not an issue. As long as they can find the bodies, I see no reason why they won't repeat 2006 and 2008 for 2010 and 2012. It's likely just a matter of continuing the numbers."

"Yeah, that's precisely what bothers me; the numbers involved. How and where are they
finding
thousands of these people?"

"We've asked ourselves that same question. Some undoubtedly came from the Free State Project organization. Many of them did not move to New Hampshire because they'd opted out of all but the western state choices."

"OK, some came from the FSP, but not all. What about the rest?"

"They're likely using the commercial databases," Bleth says. "Perhaps they've even tapped into the State of Wyoming tourism website and downloaded the IPs and email addresses of every contact."

The Director brightens with an idea. "Have you considered salting these databases with an alias, somebody who seems to be interested in traveling or relocating to Wyoming? See if you get contacted by these people?"

Bleth considers this. "That's an interesting idea, sir. It'd be easy enough to try."

The Director smiles. "You can't catch fish without a line in the water."

Natrona County, Wyoming

November 2008

Preston smiles. He was blessed to have onboard a statistical genius in his assistant Tom Parks. The elections had gone quite well. They had moved the right number of relocators into the legislative districts; just enough to get the desired ballot results. It was a matter of calculating indigenous voter behavior through regression analysis of past registrations and elections.

On top of that, they had to keep track of the
unaffiliated
newcomers and their likely voting patterns. By using sophisticated software which analyzed their previous ZIP codes and spending habits (information easily and legally available from commercial databases), they can narrowly forecast their votes on election day.

Preston's margin for error was very tight, about 3%. Senate District 20 was a real squeaker; the libertarian candidate had won by just 83 votes. A couple of HDs were also nail-biters.

Preston loved the tension. What were video games to this? Juliette put her legal career on hold to run the family businesses, leaving Preston free to play "The Wizard" (or "TW" as his family and friends jokingly called him).

Five counties and 16.7% of the legislature. It was working. The relocators were generally very pleased with their move, and enthusiastically encouraged kindred spirits to join them. At this rate, the 16,328 quota between now and October 2010 would be met.

2010's Phase 2a was crucial. If the wave did not crash on
that
sandbar, the movement would have critical mass and be unstoppable for 2014.

Preston had heard from his D.C. sources that the US Government (USG) was keenly interested in Wyoming's sudden popularity, but didn't quite know what to make of it. Good. By the time they did, it would be too late. It was likely already too late now, but Preston would feel much more comfortable after the elections in 2010.

After that the machine would be mostly running itself, and Preston could finally turn his attention to attracting the capital needed for 2012 and 2014. His father, who knew simply everyone of means in Wyoming, would be a huge help there. Extremely wealthy businessmen were generally not very philosophical and would have little interest in the vaunted goals of a Free Wyoming, but they all spoke the language of Money.

As a workforce, the relocators have much to offer. The nation's best and brightest are swarming to the Cowboy State, many of them entrepreneurs. Over 75% are under the age of 50, and 40% between 18 and 34. Nearly half of them currently earn at least $70,000. Over half have college degrees, and one-fifth have done post-graduate work. A largely young, well-educated, upwardly mobile group which honors their contractual obligations would be welcome anywhere.

Old Wyoming Money would listen. Oil and gas and cattle and minerals can only go so far. The 21st Century was already 8% over, and Wyoming had to grow with the rest of the world. Few states had Wyoming's natural resources. Soon, few states would have her human resources. Combining the two would make Wyoming as powerful as Texas was in the 1960s.

It was a paradigm begging to happen. Preston was happy to oblige.

Washington, D.C.

FBIHQ, Counter-Terrorism Unit

December 2008

"What's the body count now?" asks the CT Chief.

"Nineteen. Mostly federal judges and prosecutors. Fewer VIPs as they have better security."

"Do you think these Krassnyites are connected to that crackpot 'Assassination Politics' scheme?"

"No, sir, not really. While Harold Krassny was undoubtedly familiar with AP, he probably recognized that it wouldn't work, just as we did."

"Why wouldn't AP have worked? The Bureau was at one time very concerned, you know."

"It's main fault was the payment operation."