New Excerpt: from Vol. II of Jeff Head's Series - Sunday Morning Talk Show

March 26, 2006, 90:23
ABS Broadcast Studios, “Meet the Nation”
New York City, New York

After the Junior Senator from California completed her comments, the well-known host turned to the Attorney General of the United States, Dean Byron Hull, and said.

“Mr. Hull, you must admit that these measures, Executive Orders and Presidential Directives are unprecedented in the history of our nation. At a time when so many Americans are concerned about violence, the President has enacted measures that will insure that the instruments of violence are more prevalent than ever amongst us. The Senator from California has just raised some severe constitutional concerns about the President’s actions with respect to gun laws passed by Congress. Two high ranking members of the President’s administration, the head of FEMA and the Director of the FBI, have resigned over this.”

“So, one more time … isn’t the President bound to uphold the laws of the land as passed by the Congress? Isn’t anything short of that a violation of his oath of office? Isn’t that in fact, as the Attorney General, you job in this administration, to execute faithfully the laws of the United States as passed by Congress”

The Attorney General had expected a grilling. Many of those who had made names for themselves, and even careers, by seeking and enacting legislation to limit the use of firearms, were not taking the President’s Executive Orders and Presidential Directives well at all. Since he had announced them so straight forwardly earlier in the week, the leading individuals in the anti-gun movement, in and out of political office, were making as big an issue of it as they could. Despite that, given the dire circumstances and continuing terror attacks within the borders of the United States, a large majority of the American people and majorities in both the House and Senate of the US Congress were supporting the President.

“Fred, we have been over this several times already. The President himself has addressed these issues very directly, including a very straight forward statement about the resignations. With all due respect to you and the Senator, these “unprecedented” actions are necessary precisely because we live in such unprecedented times and are witnessing such unprecedented occurrences within our nation. We are at war, the war is raging within our own borders and hundreds, even thousands of our own citizens are being killed and terribly injured. Events of the last few days have underscored this terrible reality.”

“The Executive Branch is given broad ranging powers when it comes to repelling invasion and overcoming insurrection in such circumstances. The President is simply exercising those powers. In this sense, the actions of the President are not nearly as precedent setting as those of Abraham Lincoln during the civil war when entire states sessions of legislature were cancelled and legislators imprisoned based on how they might vote during the secession question. So, from an executive powers standpoint, what the President is doing is responding as the Executive in directing those who work for him as to how to address the current wartime conditions. In so doing, every poll indicates he has the strong support of the vast majority of the people.”

“With respect to the oath of office, both for myself and the President … and for that matter for every governmental official and service person, that oath is to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution. It is not an oath to any single person. It is not an oath to any group of persons, and it is not an oath to a set of laws outside of the Constitution. It is an oath to the Constitution and any one or all of us are bound by that oath to oppose any laws or actions that are not consistent with the Constitution. It is how each branch of government remains a watchdog over the actions of the others.”

“Some of our colleagues disagree on the actions of the President from a constitutional perspective and they are free to pursue the constitutional avenues. I do not think they will be successful. Clearly, gun ownership and gun possession are protected by the US Constitution in the 2nd amendment. “Shall not be infringed” is clear and unmistakable language. The history of the nation indicates that for a much longer period of time than some of the current legislation has been in existence, that very unrestricted ownership and possession of firearms was recognized as in keeping with that 2nd amendment. Nothing short of a constitutional amendment can or should change that, and there are questions even if that is possible when this issue is contemplated in terms of the unalienable rights position.”

“Fred, again, as I stated to you in the opening remarks of today’s “Meet the Nation” show, this administration believes and is committed to bearing true faith and allegiance to the Constitution … particularly in the current set of circumstances. In fact these circumstances are making it an imperative. We honestly believe that this is our constitutional duty to restore the 2nd amendment to its proper place, and as events have indicated recently, in terms of protecting citizens, it is also our moral duty.”

“Dean, I must say that I am ashamed of you. What you and the president and this administration are doing is using a horrific situation to push a radical, right-wing gun agenda on the rest of the nation. What you are doing is worse than shameful, it’s obscene. I tell you now, I along with a number of other Senators and representatives are going to do all we can to stop this … and if we cannot do it in the congress, we will take it to court.”

“I noticed you did not dwell too much on the resignations of the Director of the FBI or the head of FEMA. I think it is because they would agree with me when I say that this is nothing short of a malignant abuse of executive powers.”

The Attorney General had expected nothing less than abject opposition from Senator Crater. Her stand on all issues related to gun rights and her support of stringent gun control measures was well documented. Not even in these dire circumstances would she be moved from her ideological position, never mind the fact that her position was in direct opposition to the simple wording of the second amendment itself. It was why the producers of the “Meet the Nation” show had invited her to discuss the issue with the Attorney General.

But the fact that they had invited her, the junior Senator from California, instead of the senior Senator from California was very telling. In fact, the administration itself had expected similar abject opposition from California’s senior Senator as well. The circumstances surrounding the lack of opposition from that Senator would now serve as the Attorney General’s “Ace in the Hole” in culminating his response to the comments by Senator Crater.

“Well Senator, once again with all due respect, I must say that our “radical” stance is much more in keeping with the views and actions of the individuals who founded this nation than what you propose. And in answer to the allegation you and others raise that they lived in a “different time”, let me answer that in this way. While the nation was smaller and much more agrarian, while the means of communication and travel were slower and while the firearms of that day were not as advanced as those of today, one thing that has remained the same is the human heart. Those men understood human nature and allowed for it in an inspired way in putting together the government that has endured for so long. In the midst of establishing it, they themselves stated how critical an armed populace was in preserving the government that they created. All other considerations aside, I will put my faith in what they crafted and in their own words concerning it.”

“With respect to your attempts to use the Congress or the Judiciary to reverse what the President started on the evening of the 20th … it is your right to pursue such an avenue with your colleagues if you wish. But you’d best hurry because the numbers of those colleagues are diminishing rapidly. Very few people misunderstand the import of what occurred on the 20th at Foothill Mall in Colorado, or on the 15th near Boise, Idaho. Armed citizens repelled abject terror. Armed citizens saved lives. If more had been armed, particularly at the mall itself, many more lives would have been saved."

"Like I say, people on both sides of the aisle are seeing this for the obvious truth that it is. Let me quote your own distinguished colleague, the senior Senator from California, Senator Deanne Finestone in her surprising press release yesterday,”

“Dean, that’s way out of line. How dare you use what was clearly an emotional statement made at a time of abject grief to help push this agenda!”

For once, the Attorney General let his guard down for just an instant as he, in turn, interrupted, the Senator. With eyes flashing briefly, he said,

“No Senator, how dare YOU doubt the seriousness of the situation, and how dare you ascribe your own agenda and ideology to a situation that clearly calls for us as a people to rise to the occasion and fight for our very survival. The tragic circumstances that Senator Finestone’s relatives experienced are being shared by tens of thousands of families all across this nation, the vast majority of whom recognize the gravity of the situation. They agree with the President regarding what is going to be required of us as a people to face it.”

“Even though time is short, let me just briefly review once again for those watching the essence of the President’s initiatives by citing the following five points:”

Per sneakypete's suggestion, I have gone back and revised this excerpt from Chapter Two of Book Two to change the roles of Senator Crater and Senator Finestone during the Sunday morning talk show with the Attorney General. I have posted the entire update to my book site under the 2nd Excerpt link.

In this way I am able to touch on and expose some of that Senator's shady dealings with the People's Repubblic and hopefully get the reader to think about that and the connections to real life situations occurring as we speak.

Here is the revised portion.

The senior Senator from California could not contain herself and interrupted.
“Dean, I must say that I am ashamed of you. What you and the president and this administration are doing is using a horrific situation to push a radical, right-wing gun agenda on the rest of the nation. What you are doing is worse than shameful, it’s obscene. I tell you now, I along with a number of other Senators and representatives are going to do all we can to stop this … and if we cannot do it in the congress, we will take it to court.”
“I noticed you did not dwell too much on the resignations of the Director of the FBI or the head of FEMA. I think it is because they would agree with me when I say that this is nothing short of a malignant abuse of executive powers.”
The Attorney General had expected nothing less than abject opposition from Senator Deanne Finestone. Her stand on all issues related to gun rights and her support of stringent gun control measures was well documented. It was why the producers of the “Meet the Nation” show had invited her to discuss the issue with the Attorney General. Not even in these dire circumstances could she be moved from her ideological position, never mind the fact that her position was in direct opposition to the simple wording of the second amendment itself. The Attorney General, and a number of people in the administration, felt that a part of her tenacious resistance to these initiatives and her relative soft pedaling of the whole conflict with the People’s Republic of China, were due to the close business and financial relations that she and her husband had maintained in long standing with entities within the People’s Republic … relations that those in the Attorney General’s employ were currently investigating to insure no ongoing coercion, blackmail or untoward dealings were occurring or possible given the Senator’s sensitive position.
But, aside from that, the fact that the network had invited her alone as the senior Senator from California onto the show was very telling. Originally, both Senators from California had been slated to be on the show with the Attorney General. In fact, the administration itself had expected similar abject opposition from California’s junior Senator as well. The circumstances surrounding the fact that the other Senator was not on the show, and the lack of opposition from that Senator would now serve as the Attorney General’s “Ace in the Hole” in culminating his response to the comments by Senator Feinstone.
“Well Senator, once again with all due respect, I must say that our “radical” stance is much more in keeping with the views and actions of the individuals who founded this nation than what you propose. And in answer to the allegation you and others raise that they lived in a “different time”, let me answer that in this way. While the nation was smaller and much more agrarian, while the means of communication and travel were slower and while the firearms of that day were not as advanced as those of today, one thing that has remained the same is the human heart. Those men understood human nature and allowed for it in an inspired way in putting together the government that has endured for so long. In the midst of establishing it, they themselves stated how critical an armed populace was in preserving the government that they created. All other considerations aside, I will put my faith in what they crafted and in their own words concerning it.”
“With respect to your attempts to use the Congress or the Judiciary to reverse what the President started on the evening of the 20th … it is your right to pursue such an avenue with your colleagues if you wish. But you’d best hurry because the numbers of those colleagues are diminishing rapidly. Very few people misunderstand the import of what occurred on the 20th at Foothill Mall in Colorado, or on the 15th near Boise, Idaho. Armed citizens repelled abject terror. Armed citizens saved lives. If more had been armed, particularly at the mall itself, many less of our own citizens would now be dead or injured.”
“Like I say, people on both sides of the aisle are seeing this for the obvious truth that it is. Let me quote your own distinguished colleague, the junior Senator from California, Senator Crater in her press release yesterday,”
“While I have typically been associated with the gun control lobby, I will support the President in this initiative. These are horrific and terrible times and they call for strong measures. Perhaps after the crisis has past we can consider some common sense legislation once again. But in this crisis, and perhaps extending beyond it, I must support the President in arming more of our decent, law-abiding citizens so they might be in place to interdict such terror before it can claim more lives. Of course this has been made tragically and painfully obvious to me personally as a result of the loss of our dear nephew and niece at LAX earlier this week. That experience has caused me to rethink my stance on this issue like no other could.”
Senator Finestone’s demeanor was visibly impacted by the quote. She had always considered herself and Senator Crater as two of the leaders in the efforts to place strict controls on the so called and uniquely American “right” to own guns. That such verbiage would originate from the senior Senator was bad enough, that this lackey of what she considered to be an “out of control” administration would parade that verbiage in front of millions of Americans was just too much.
“Dean, that’s way out of line. How dare you use what was clearly an emotional statement made at a time of abject grief to help push this agenda!”
For once, the Attorney General let his guard down for just an instant as he, in turn, interrupted, the Senator. With eyes flashing briefly, he said,
“No Senator, how dare YOU doubt the seriousness of the situation, and how dare you ascribe your own agenda and ideology to a situation that clearly calls for us as a people to rise to the occasion and fight for our very survival. The tragic circumstances that Senator Crater’s relatives experienced are being shared by tens of thousands of families all across this nation, the vast majority of whom recognize the gravity of the situation. They agree with the President regarding what is going to be required of us as a people to face it.”

Let me know what you think.

Thanks again sneakypete for the excellent suggestion.

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