Four Days In February

CHAPTER ELEVEN

  "Ishnik here, I want orders issued for all forces to go to DEFCON 3 alert status, increasing force readiness, and commencing exercise ROUNDHOUSE. It is to be emphasized that the chain of command runs through the Defense Secretary, and that they are to take no direct Presidential instructions. Yes send that out immediately in my name. ...Oh, and let the press know too."

  Secretary of the Army, Craig Strate, was sitting on a big stuffed chair in Ishnik's office, and said: "That is going to bring this issue to a head. When they hear, it is going to tell the Congress that they have created a mess by their recent election of a new Speaker. ...And it is going to tell Pinchon, that he can expect real and effective opposition. A President cannot function if he cannot control the military."

  "Exactly! I am going to force him to accept that if he cannot control the Armed Forces, he cannot control America. He will have to quit, or we will remove him one way or another."

  "Congress too will understand that the DoD will not accept the Speaker to be in the line of Presidential succession. If we can neutralize State and Treasury, you can step in as President."

  "Yes, I am to meet with the two Secretaries at 6:00 p.m. They should be on their way. If they do not sign a letter declining to replace Woods, we have a very "undisclosed location" waiting for them."

  "For their own safety."

  "Of Course."

  "Get, General Yates in here, I want to hear how it is going with the Joint Chiefs, and also with the Army's readiness."

  Strate phones Yates, who after a few minutes walks into Ishnik's office.

  "Mr. Secretary, should we have moved all the way to DEFCON 3 and exercise ROUNDHOUSE? That is going to rattle the Russians and Chinese, let alone our allies."

  "Yes, General, I wanted DEFCON 3, and not 4. Four would have increased security and intelligence, but I wanted increased force readiness. I wanted everybody to know I am not playing games."

  "Well," YATES said, "That is what you got, the Airborne is on notice to be ready for immediate movement. They are sitting under the wings of their transport planes."

  "How are the other Joint Chiefs doing?"

  "The Chairman is sick and in the hospital, his ulcers seem to have flared up. He looked fine to me yesterday. The Navy and Air Force Chiefs are following my lead."

  Ishnik asked: "What is the status of the Marine Commandant?"

  "He is not causing any trouble, I think he will stay out of the situation, and just stay neutral. Keep his head down in a fox hole. He is harmless anyway, after all his Marines are under various theatre commands around the world; he doesn't directly control their operations."

  "Yes but I don't want him getting involved in any mischief."

  "I don't think he will be any problem."

  "O.K., let's move on. It looks like Olds and France have at least got Congress beginning to think again. They told me that there is a bunch of Senators, of both parties, that are incensed at what has happened. They think that the Senate and House's power to confirm a Vice President has been challenged."

  "Yes," Strate said, "I personally talked with some Congressmen too, and they say even many members of the House are beginning to have second thoughts, and think that they got 'rolled' by both parties' House leadership. They are embarrassed that they acted so precipitously."

  "They should be," Ishnik said. "Did anybody think to check the Constitution? You have to wonder at the gullibility and simplicity of Congressmen. Yet you also have to be amazed at President Woods. He says he is dying, and I hope he is right; and yet he pulled together a plan, and a team to make that plan work. All from his bed."

  "If it wasn't for you, Mr. Secretary, he might get away with it. He forgot that there still are people who love and will defend the Constitution."

  Yates spoke up, "and he doesn't know there's a whole 'Patriot Council' working against him."

  "No, no he doesn't."

  The phone rings, and the Secretary picks it up. "Ishnik here. ...What do you mean they are not coming, I set the meeting up personally. ...They said they didn't want to be away from their offices during this crisis. Call them again, and tell them I need to meet immediately with them ..about the ramifications of these national and international events."

  "What happened?" Strate asked.

  "Either somebody has sniffed something out and they are going to be against us, or State and Treasury want to stay on the sidelines too. The two Secretaries have canceled the meeting. They are not coming."

  "This means if they are against us, that we cannot hold them, and keep them in a secure place. They will be free to either join with Woods and Pinchon, or maybe worse, use our constitutional argument to push forward their own claim to the powers of the President. That would be a problem."

  "Well, if it comes to something like that, and they get rough, we will have to use the Airborne to convince them. I hope it doesn't come to that, because it could be messy."

  "It certainly would look bad on TV, to have the Airborne taking over the State Department and Treasury."

  Ishnik replied, "I hope that doesn't transpire, but if it does, we will tell the American people the truth! We are simply protecting government Departments and federal officials, from capture by treasonous forces.

  "Now I need to have some privacy. I have invited my old friend, Chief Justice, Harold Grantham to come to the Pentagon. I need to talk to him about some important matters.

  The office empties, and Judge Grantham enters and Ishnik closes the door. The two men greet each other with clenched right hands, placed over their chest.

  "Harold, I have kept you secret from the other Patriots, for such a time as this."

  "I am glad you called for me, I am here to help. What do you want me to do?"

  "I want you to..."

  Meanwhile, on TV, John Sanker is still reporting live, at Network News.

  "John, this is Merv Tanner, I have received more information coming out of the Pentagon. An order has been made by the Secretary of Defense raising the DEFCON status of the Armed Forces to three. As you know five is the normal DEFCON status, and four, is above normal readiness. DEFCON 3 authorizes an increase in force readiness. It has rarely been authorized."

  "What would it take to go to DEFCON two or one?"

  "John, that would only happen if things got a lot worse. Even way back in 2001, during the September eleventh attacks, the military was only placed on level three. It was the Cuban missile crisis that went to level two."

  "Merv, isn't it highly unusual for the DEFCON level to be changed because of a political situation?"

  "Yes, it is! A thing like this has never happened! The DEFCON levels were not intended to reflect internal American political situations. It is also exceptionally unusual because the President did not issue the order."

  "He didn't"

  "No, the DoD does not recognize the authority of the 'Acting President.'"

  "Did the DoD give any information as to why this step was taken, isn't it exceptional that a Defense Secretary acts without the consent of a President of the United States?"

  "Yes, it is John. The only thing I can say is perhaps it has to do with President Carr's assassination being unresolved; nobody knows whether foreign powers were involved in it, or would try to take advantage when America was confused over who was in charge."

  "So you are saying that Secretary of Defense, Mitch Ishnik, is telling the world, don't try anything because he is in charge!"

  "That too, ...but it seems to me that he is really telling the White House, the Congress, and the nation, ...that he is in charge."

  "Roanna Jackson, how is that playing over with the House and Senate? Will they accept that Mitch Ishnik is the man in charge? What do they think about 'Acting President' Pinchon?"

  "The reaction has been mixed, but things are in a lot of flux right now. The leadership of the House has been trying to defend Pinchon, but they are now getting a lot of flak. A lot of represe
ntatives in Congress have been having second thoughts, and buyer's remorse."

  "You mean they think they did the wrong thing in making Bull Pinchon Speaker?"

  "Yes, that is right! A number of them have been influenced by the arguments coming out of the Senate, that the Speaker must be a House member, and that regardless, the Constitution requires a government 'officer,' in other words, a Cabinet Secretary to succeed the President if there is no Vice President."

  "But there is a Presidential Succession Act passed by an earlier Congress, that puts the Speaker and President pro tempore into the line of succession."

  "That is the point John, they argue the Presidential Succession Act has never been legally challenged in court and is unconstitutional, because it changes what the Constitution actually provided. They demand a return to constitutional authority."

  "What does the Senate think of all this, their own President pro tempore was for this."

  "Yes, but the Senate itself was not consulted about the succession, and they protect their turf. Many Senators are now complaining that President Woods and the House did an end run around the Senate, by having the House elect a new Speaker, simply to become the next President. They say that ignored and isolated the Senate."

  "Stanley Worth here at the White House ...though the President's press spokesperson denied it, I suspect that is exactly what President Woods largely wanted to do. He did not want to go through a Vice Presidential nomination and confirmation process."

  "He probably thought he did not have enough time, if he is dying."

  Roanna Worth answered, "But the Senate, and now many in the House too, say that the Constitution still must be respected, and that a Cabinet officer must become, 'Acting President.'"

  John Sanker said, "So what is going to happen now? In the White House at this moment President Woods has signed a letter of disability, and turned power over to General Pinchon, I mean Speaker Pinchon. If Pinchon could not really be Speaker, or if the Speaker really is not in the line of succession, then who really has the powers of the President right now?"

  "That is the question," Roanna Jackson said. "The Congress is going to meet to discuss that very question. Senators Olds and France are pushing the leaders of both parties in the Senate to come out against Pinchon."

  "And interestingly, neither the Senate majority or minority leaders or the respective whips, were consulted or informed by President Woods about his plan and action. So they may be inclined to listen to France and Olds, two long serving Senators."

  "That is sort of what I see happening too," said Roanna Jackson.

  "Would that make Secretary Ishnik, the 'Acting' or real President?" asked Stanley Worth.

  "John, Let me jump back in on that," said Merv Tanner. I think the Defense Secretary may be the Cabinet officer to take on the Presidential powers, temporarily or permanently."

  "Why is that," Merv?

  "Because I do not think he would have taken this bold action, and in effect warned everybody about who controls the Armed Forces, unless, first of all he believed he should be the President; and two, he believes the Secretaries of State and Treasury will decline it, because of their inexperience."

  "You raise another good point Merv. Secretary Ishnik has been at Defense for over four years. The other two Secretaries have been in their offices for only less than a month."

  "Yes, and the one was a college professor, and the other was a banker. Neither had any experience in government, but were originally appointed by President Carr to bring in new blood and new thinking into her administration."

  "But she didn't plan on them being President within the month."

  "No she did not. Stanley Worth, what do you think will happen if the Congress changes its mind. Will President Woods be able to respond, or will General Pinchon go quietly?"

  "From White House sources, I would answer that President Woods is likely not to have much more ability to respond, if he wanted to. As far as for General Pinchon, he is so new here that nobody really knows what to expect."

  "His nickname Is 'Bull,' and he earned that running through the front lines of opposing football teams. Do you suppose it might also be a metaphor for his attitude? What do you say from his years in and about the Pentagon, Merv Tanner?"

  "As a General, Pinchon was highly competent and successful. He is a brilliant military strategist. He did not get along with Mitch Ishnik. It was widely known in the Pentagon that the Secretary didn't regard him as a team player. The General would think his own thoughts, and often clashed with him over strategy. It also irked Ishnik that Pinchon was so revered in the Army, and remains so by most of the officer corps, and any of the troops who ever served under him. He gained that trust by his fairness, and by his care for the troops. He would stand up for them."

  John Sanker said, "To all new viewers who may have just tuned in across America; the nation is in an unprecedented situation. We have a debate going on at high levels of our government as to who is, or should be, the President of the United States. No one knows how this is going to turn out. Both sides claim their actions are according to the U.S. Constitution.

  This issue is probably heading for the U.S. Supreme Court."

  "Perhaps not," said Stanley Worth. "There are a number of things that may keep it out of the 'Supremes' hands."

  "What would those be?"

  "The old axiom, 'possession is nine tenths of the law,' may be true in this case. As we have reported, Pinchon has just assumed the powers of the President. He is the 'Acting President!' If he were to be ruled by the Court to not be the 'Acting President,' no one else has those powers right now. The country would be without anyone running the White House and the executive. It would make a power vacuum. I don't know that the Court wants to be the cause of that."

  "Wouldn't the President pro tempore of the Senate be sworn in to replace Pinchon?"

  "But remember, Ishnik is arguing that members of the legislature, whether of the House or Senate, cannot constitutionally succeed the President. If the Court decided to hear that argument, both sides would have to be heard from, ...and how long would that take? At the same time the nation is in crisis and its business needs to be taken care of. Who would be in charge?"

  "Well, couldn't a Cabinet officer step in and replace the General, ...I mean Speaker? ...Or whatever Pinchon is."

  "That would be begging the question. Ishnik wants Pinchon gone. If the Cabinet overthrew the succession list that Congress itself enacted, that would be subject to court review as well. The government would be in chaos. There would be no certain head of state? No, I don't think the Supreme Court wants to go near this case, ...not now!

  "Let me cut in here," said Roanna Jackson. "If the Supreme Court were to hear this case, they would actually be meddling in the other two branches of the government ...the executive, and the legislative."

  "How so?"

  For better or worse, the House of Representatives elected General Pinchon, Speaker of the House. Some of them may have second thoughts about that now, but events have overtaken them. It is too late to remove the Speaker. In fact, he already has resigned that position concurrent to his taking the Presidential oath. But for the Court to remove Pinchon, it would have to decide the House of Representatives did not have the right to choose its own officers. Then the Court would have to tell the Executive branch, its sworn in 'Acting President' could not serve."

  "What do you think Merv Tanner?"

  "The Pentagon, I don't think is considering a court challenge, for part of the reason Roanna gave. They are afraid that if the situation is not changed immediately, Pinchon will remain President. From what I have heard, they do not think there is time to go and argue about it."

  "So what will the Secretary of Defense do?"

  "That is what everybody wants to know?"

  "Wait, hold everything, this is John Sanker, at the anchor desk of Network News. We have more 'breaking news.' The AP, the Associated Press
, has just reported that Secretary Ishnik is going to speak from the Pentagon press room in two minutes. We are obviously going to cover that speech live."

  "Yes, John, I just got pinged that same notice. I guess we all wondered what Ishnik would do, and now he is going to tell us himself.

  "You are right Merv Tanner, at the Pentagon. We won't need to speculate much longer ...excuse me, the Secretary has just stepped to the microphone, let us listen..."

  "Americans throughout the nation, in big cities, and small country hamlets, from the far north, to the deep south, from the Atlantic to the Pacific; are all distressed at the calamity that has befallen our nation.

  "Our President, Caroline Carr, was killed by an assassin's bullet. Vice President Woods succeeded her in office. Evidently as it is now reported, his health has incapacitated him, so that he is unable to lead our nation through its crisis. He finally realized that he must pass the office over to another, and sought to do it by seeking to manipulate the House of Representatives to appoint a new Speaker, of his choosing, for the express purpose of taking on the Presidential powers.

  "I do not challenge his desire for successful leadership, nor his daring in seeking to achieve it by this spectacular process. I will even accept that he did it thinking he was doing good for America. But my countrymen, what he planned and thus far brought about, is not good for America, because it violates the great Constitution our forefathers made as a foundation for the nation. If something is not constitutional, it is not good.

  "Many people have read the Presidential succession list created by Congress. After the Vice President it places the Speaker of the House and President pro tempore of the Senate next in line, followed by Cabinet officers. However, Congress was only authorized by the Constitution to make a succession list from federal officers, in other words Cabinet officers. Congress did not have the right to make members of the legislature part of the executive. They cannot serve in two branches of the government at the same time. The Speaker cannot become President. If the Speaker resigns to become President, he no longer meets the qualifications even of the unconstitutional legislation.

  "Therefore, though General Ulysses Pinchon took the oath to be 'Acting President,' it is impossible for him to hold that office, according to the Constitution of the United States,.

  "The Secretary of Defense is a constitutional federal officer, third in the line of succession to the presidency of his fellow officers. The Secretaries of State and Treasury precede him. However, the occupants of those Departments are new to the Cabinet, having served for less than a month. Both of the Secretaries, while having high integrity, are totally inexperienced in government. They have acquiesced to those who do not follow the constitution, and have not put themselves forward instead of the Speaker.

  "Therefore, I am announcing that, as next in line, I will in a few moments assume the powers of the presidency, and will serve as 'Acting President." If President Woods dies, I will succeed him outright. I call on the nation to close ranks with me. We will together succeed in routing all enemies of our nation, whether within or without.

  "I call upon the rest of the Cabinet, of Presidents Carr and Woods, to remain in their place, fulfill their responsibilities, and keep faith with the nation's trust. I appreciate their anticipated cooperation.

  "I also call upon the press, and all media, to exercise restraint in the coming days, so as not to incite or inflame any who might be tempted to oppose constitutional government. Any such opposition will be met with the full powers of the government.

  "As Secretary of Defense, I have already made sure the Armed Forces of our great country. I have also placed them on a higher alert than normal, to warn any possible enemies that we are ready to defend ourselves.

  "As well, for the security of the government I am temporarily ordering various Army units to take up positions throughout the District of Columbia, and northern Virginia; and around some federal departments and agencies, as well as the Capitol building, and court houses. They will take up their deployments overnight. While this is unusual, it is simply to insure the safety and security of federal workers, from those who would lead the nation away from right.

  "I now invite Chief Justice Harold Grantham, of the U.S. Supreme Court to come to the microphone, and in your sight administer to me the Presidential oath."

  "Mr. Secretary, are you prepared to take the Presidential oath?"

  "I am Judge Grantham, let us proceed."

  "Then repeat after me: ...I, Mitch Ishnik, ...do solemnly swear ...that I will faithfully execute ...the office of President of the United States ...and will to the best of my ability, ...preserve, protect and defend ...the Constitution of the United States."

  **********