THE AMERICAN WAY
By
J. T. HOWELL
American
politics at its best! Forget Political
Studies 101. The author takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride into the
seldom seen inter-sanctum of political conniving, wheeling, dealing and the
making of a presidential candidate. The
simple and sometimes brutal orchestration of people and events to achieve a
political agenda will leave your head spinning. The politically naive should beware. This, without reservation, is a great political novel.
J. T. Howell is a product of the inter-city of Los Angeles. After high school, he moved from job to job: taxi driver, union shop steward, news reporter, and then he found his calling: a full time job as a political speechwriter. His experience in the real world of politics endows him with an insight seldom shared with the politically inexperienced. This exceptional manuscript demonstrates literary craftsmanship and ability seldom encountered.
e-BOOK
Maverick Publishing
HOUSTON, TEXAS
By
J.
T. HOWELL
Political Fiction
e-Book
Copyright 2004
THE AMERICAN WAY
By
J. T. HOWELL
Copyright 2004
e-Book
Maverick Publishing
HOUSTON, TEXAS
THE AMERICAN WAY
By
J. T. HOWELL
e-Book
THE AMERICAN WAY
By
J. T. HOWELL
PROLOGUE
They met in secrecy in the Senate Building in Washington, D.C. and began to form a strategy to elect a new president of the United States—an African-American President! Present at this caucus were senators from several key states and they were the vanguard of a new political party or splinter faction that was to be called the United Front or the New Union or the Unification Party; they hadn’t decided yet. This was just one of their problems, of which, there were many to be confronted and solved by these bold and venturesome senators. This is the story of their political campaign to win the hearts of all the American people of whatever race, color, creed, or nationality and win the presidency of the United States of America. They were beginning their political campaign from a grass-roots level, but still hoping to gain the presidency. That’s called the American Way!
J. T. HOWELL
THE AMERICAN WAY
By
J. T. HOWELL
“How about the Progressive Democratic Party?” the senator from Ohio, the Buckeye State, asked the committee members. “It has a nice ring to it.”
“It’s too high fluting,” Georgia, the Peach state senator, replied.
“Wait a minute! Who put you in charge of this-here committee?” the senator from Ohio, the Buckeye State asked.
“Since I’m the senior senator from Florida and I’ve been in the United States Senate longer then anyone in this room, I think I should be in charge of this meeting,” the senator from Florida hotly contested the senator from Ohio.
“Well, I guess you are right about that. Hell, there’s really no sense in arguing about it anyway,” Ohio replied. “So, why in the hell did you call this meeting besides to figure out a name for our new party?”
“Gentlemen, we have come to a crossroads in our political careers and in the political future of our great country. What I propose is this—that we form a new political party, a splinter party, if you prefer and elect an Afro-American President of the United States of America! It’s now or never as far as I’m concerned!”
“Are you out of your cotton-picking mind?” the senator from California, the Golden State, asked. “We Afro-Americans are still a minority in this country or have you forgotten that little well-known fact?”
“No, I haven’t. But, I’m sure we can win the presidency by allying ourselves with the other minority groups. The Jews, Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, the Afro-Americans that don’t vote and white women and other minority voters who feel left out of the political picture and the future of the United States. And don’t forget there may be a large number of dissatisfied voters in the Opposition Party; don’t leave them out of the picture. Remember, women of all colors and financial standing constitute about 50 percent of the voting population, Afro-Americans about 20 percent and our Jewish friends, say maybe, another 20 percent. The Mexican voters in some states such as Arizona and New Mexico could be higher than 40 percent If we can convince just half of these voters to vote for us and we get most of the Afro-Americans vote, we would have won the election. It can be done and now is our chance to make it so!”
“I see what you re getting at,” the senator from the Empire State, New York, said. “Gentlemen, I believe our colleague from Florida had hit the nail on the head. It can be done! We can corner enough electoral votes to elect an Afro-American president, but it will take a lot of hard work on our part and a lot of arm twisting.”
“Just how do you plan to do all of this?” the senator from Georgia, the Peach State, asked. “We would need to win all the electoral votes in all of the southern states plus several other key western and eastern states to have a majority of the electoral votes. I don’t think that we can pull it off. In my mind, I think it’s too dangerous politically to attempt at this time.”
“Hell, man. Now is the right time to do it. The Opposition Party won the presidency last time because Florida didn’t come through with a vote fraud challenge in the Senate,” the senator from New York argued.
The senator from Florida agreed by saying: “He’s probably right. I could have done more, but it would have been hard to justify, especially since there were several districts where my people juggled the books a little. Now, of course, that small fact doesn’t leave this room.” There was a nod of the senator’s heads present at the meeting agreeing with the senator from Florida. No one wanted to rock the boat.
“If we agree to this plan to form a new wing of our party, we will need to put a lot of thought into a political platform to bring the minority and ethnic groups over to our side. We will have to offer them the moon, plus something new to keep their attention and, of course, to get their vote,” the senator from Georgia added. “Can we do this and still try to win and maintain the leadership of our party?”
“Sure, I don’t see why not.” The senator from Florida replied. “Once the party rank and file has committed to our party platform it will be too late for the others to back out. But, we must get public opinion behind us and we have to have a strong showing in the political polls. If we win by a big margin in the state primaries and at the national convention, I don’t see any problem with controlling the party leadership.”
“It will be a tough fight all right,” the senator from the Cotton State, Alabama, ventured. “What happens if we lose? What then?”
“That won’t happen if we use our heads and get the right message across to the voters and invite dedicated people to join our party and its cause. What minority wouldn’t join us? It’s the chance of a lifetime for them and for us. Remember, if we don’t succeed, we can kiss our political future goodbye,” the senator from Florida stated. “If you aren’t ready to risk that, I suggest you leave the room right now.”
There was a murmuring among the committee senators, but all of them remained in the room. The senator from Florida looked each and every one of the senators in the eye, and then he suggested, “If we all agree on this idea of a new political party, then let’s begin to act like senators. There’s a multitude of things that we will have to do and we only have a short time frame to work with. Gentlemen, we have about a year until the National Election and we should decide among ourselves what our political objectives are and try as much as possible to stick to them, and of course, get the message out to the voters of the United States of America.”
Again, there was a murmuring among the group, and then the senator from Ohio said, “I’m ready to go on this venture. Tomorrow, I’ll begin talking to other senators and find out their position and thoughts on our proposition to form a new party, a splinter party if you like, and run an Afro-American candidate for the office of the President of the United States of America. But first, what are we going to call our new party?”
“That’s a very good question,” the senator from Florida replied. “How about something that sounds like we gave it some thought, you know, like United Front or the New Union, or maybe—the Unification Party? They all sound good to me.”
“That Unification Party has a nice ring to it,” the senator from Alabama said. “The initials for our new party would be UP. That makes for a really good slogan anyway: Vote for UP!”
“Hell, yes, that sounds good. Are there any other suggestions?” the senator from the state of Florida asked. There were no comments from the other senators; so the senator from Florida continued: “Then it’s decided, our new party will be called the Unification Party. Now let’s decide on a platform for UP.”
“Wait a minute,” the senator from Georgia said. “Whose going to head this party, you know, who are we going to nominate to head our party and be our candidate for the presidency of the United States of America?”
“I’ve given that subject some thought,” the senator from Florida said. “The candidate for president has to be an upstanding and honest Afro-American man along with being a truly religious person with an impeccable background. And, as of right now, I’m really in a quandary—I don’t know of any Afro-American men with those qualifications! Does anyone have any suggestions?”
“Well, there must be someone among us who knows of such a person,” the senator from Ohio replied. “As for myself, right now anyway, I can’t think of any such person. There has to be someone somewhere that fits that description.”
There was a sudden hush among the senators and the whispering and murmuring among them stopped. Conversation came to a standstill. The silence in the room was deafening. It was if all the committee members had lost their tongues and all of them at the same time.
Then the senator from California said: “Hell, man, I might know of such a person. He’s a businessman from Los Angeles; in fact, he even sold me a car. He’s that honest—believe it or not!”
“Hell, he must be a really smooth talker to sell you a car. I didn’t know you even had a good credit rating,” the senator from Georgia said.
“No, really, I’m serious about this man. This car salesman is the talk of the Afro-American community and entrepreneurs everywhere in southern California,” the California senator continued. “He’s the genuine article and I believe he’s bona fide, if you know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t know what you mean,” the senator from New York said. “What the hell do you mean that he’s bona fide?”
“I mean to say that this man, this car salesman, was very credible in his dealings with me and he probably is with other people. There was no dillydallying around with our business transaction. He got right down to the business at hand and was straightforward in explaining the sales contract to me. Believe me, his deal was too good to turn down. Hell, I got a new car for nothing down and only a few dollars a month; of course, there’s a balloon payment at the end of three years. But hell, who cares what happens or is going on three years from now,” California expounded to his fellow colleagues.
“He sounds interesting and might be just the man we are looking for. What do you know about his private life, you know? He isn’t one of those jive-talking dudes, you know, the kind of person talking trash all the time? Does he do drugs? Has he a concubine or done time? Does he pay his personal income taxes? You know that kind of thing. It’s damn important for us to know everything about him and his past before we make him an offer to be our party’s candidate for the President of the United States,” the senator from Florida asked, his discourse coming in a flood of words.
“I don’t know about those things,” the senator from California replied. “But it’s no problem to check on them. I can have answers for your questions, in say, a week. Is that fine with you-all?”
There was a shaking of heads in the affirmative and a few murmurs were heard, but not as loud as with the previous murmurs. The senator from Florida looked around the room at his fellow senators and said, “Now, gentlemen, we need a running mate for our party’s candidate for president. I’m suggesting, and remember, it’s just a suggestion, that we ask the senator from New Jersey if she would like to be on our ticket?”
“The senator from New Jersey!” the senator from Georgia, the Peach State, screamed at the senator from Florida. “What the hell do you mean? That we have a white woman running on our ticket? Are you mad?”
Again, there was a lot of murmuring coming from the other senators; a lot of murmuring, and it was all directed at the senator from Florida.
“Wait a minute before you lynch me,” he shouted back at the continued murmuring, and now, the murmuring had turned to shouting from the senators. “We need a white candidate for the vice presidency and a white woman on our ticket for several reasons: First, we don’t need the stigma of being considered a wholly Afro-American or minority political party, and second, we need the white women’s vote. That’s all. Besides, we don’t even know that the woman senator from New Jersey would even accept our proposition.”
“We need time to think that one over,” the senator from Ohio said. “A white woman on a mostly Afro-American Party’s ticket. It could be disastrous for us.”
Again, there was general murmuring against this idea coming from the other senators. “It would be a catastrophe for our party,” the senator from Georgia shouted. “A damn disaster for all of us!”
“All right, but let’s think it over. Remember that the woman’s vote amounts to about 20 percent of the total vote and for us to win—we will need their votes,” the senator from Florida reminded his peers. “If the senator from New York would kindly approach his fellow senator from New Jersey and sound her out on her future political plans and see if she would be interested in joining our party it would be most helpful.”
The senator from New York agreed to this proposal, then he smiled at the other senators. “I’m beginning to understand your political strategy now. A white woman, especially one whose husband led our nation for several years would be a definite advantage for us. She has made very important and powerful friends over the years and she might be just the right person for our ticket. I’ll talk to her as soon as I can and find out her feelings for the vice president spot on our ticket.”
“Does everybody agree with the senator from New York and myself?” the senator from Florida asked
Again, there was a murmuring sound coming from the other senators, but it was an agreeable murmur for a change.
“Good, now that’s settled, let’s get down to our political platform for our new party. I have a few thoughts on the subject before we discuss it in depth.”
There were no nays from the assembled group of senators, so the senior senator from Florida continued. “We need a drastic new foreign policy and I’m suggesting a No-War policy no matter what another country says or does to us, and right now, I want to say that we should include a phasing-out of our participation in the United Nations Organization and NATO. Are there any comments on or about these two platform proposals?”
“Wait a minute,” the senator from California shouted. “Let’s think these proposals over. Our military isn’t going to like either one of these ideas, and besides, my state has some very lucrative naval and air force contracts employing thousands of people on military projects. I don’t need to remind you that I don’t need more of my constituents becoming unemployed; besides, think of the amount of money that is spent by the military year after year on worthless projects. Also, we have to remember—military people vote—do you want to lose their votes? I sure as hell don’t. Let’s revise those proposals or drop them altogether from our party’s platform.”
Again, there were instant murmurings from the senators and shouts of:
“Hell no!”
“We don’t need more unemployment!”
“A good war never hurt anybody!”
With this sudden disagreement with his platform proposals, Florida, the Sunshine State senator, raised his arms and surrendered. “Wait a minute,” he shouted over the uproar. “These are just a few issues for us to discuss and think about among ourselves before we present them to the party delegates at the National Convention. Its just food for thought, that’s all.”
“We better get some better cooks,” the senator from Alabama replied. “Those proposals suck!”
“All right. Does anyone have anything better to offer to the committee? Give me some input, that’s another reason why we are meeting today is to discuss a new and original agenda to present at the National Convention. I suggest we keep our Armed Forces strong, but cut back on white enlistments and the total number of officers in the military. Most of the officers are either dead-drunk all the time or irresponsible by ordering others to salute and that kind of silly nonsense. Too many of our career naval officers have the bad habit of running our ships aground. Remember when the U.S.S. Iowa was grounded on a mud flat in New York Harbor and the U.S.S. Naifeh was almost sunk and was scrapped when she hit a coral reef going into the harbor in Guam. We will need to keep a few white officers in a minor position of authority, but they will have to report and take orders from Afro-American officers. That way, we can control what and how the army and navy do things. Also, we will need to have some key men in the offices of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy to make sure our new mandate is carried out to the letter.”
There were cheers and shouts of approval from the assembled senators on the subject of military matters for the new party to submit to the delegates at the primary convention.
“You still haven’t answered the question on our No-War policy,” the senator from Alabama said. “Is it a No-War policy or a Limited-War policy? Remember, we, I mean the nation, need a good war now and then to get rid of our old ammunition and see that our new military technology and methods work as they should.”
“That’s a good point,” the senator from New York replied. “I think a Limited War policy is a better choice and should be included in our Party’s platform and be submitted at the party’s National Convention. By that, I mean we should have the War College in Washington draw up war plans to attack, you know, preferably a small nation; so that the whole military campaign would last just a few days. That way, there would be less chance of our boys being hurt or maimed; then, we can rebuild the conquered country and give them democracy, whether they want it or not. What do you think of that proposal?”
“Very good and well thought out,” the senator from Florida replied. “We get to test our weapons of mass destruction on our enemy; then, we will have to order more weapons. That keeps unemployment to a minimum in the technology and weapons field. That’s very good thinking.”
“The senator from Alabama raised his hand and asked: “May I say something?”
“Sure, you can. That’s another reason why we are discussing the party’s platform. Everybody gets his say in the forming of it. Go ahead, tell us what’s on your mind.”
“I suggest that when we apply our Limited-War policy that we declare war on a really small country, such as Costa Rica. You know that it has no standing army and would be relatively easy to defeat,” the senator from Alabama stated.
“There’s one problem with attacking the country of Costa Rica,” the senator from California replied. “It’s a coastal nation and we might have to send our navy down there to land troops on their beaches. You know, like we did in World War Two, when we landed our Marines on those Jap-held islands in the Pacific.”
“So what?” the Alabama senator said. “We have a navy available to invade a small country, don’t we?”
“Not if we cut back the military defense budget we don’t,” the senator from California replied. “If we decide to cut back all the military budgets that would force us to mothball a lot of ships. We have to be careful on what type of ships that are decommissioned and what ships are readily available in case we are attacked, or as the senator from Alabama suggests that we will need to use when we invade a sovereign nation in the Western Hemisphere.”
“That’s very true,” the senator from Ohio observed. “We have to put in a lot more thought on that subject and not get ourselves involved in a no-win situation. But remember, gentlemen, we still have the option of using a limited nuclear air strike on any country, small or large, in the whole world. Remember the debacle a few years back when we defeated that Moslem country in a few short weeks? Then afterward, we didn’t know what the hell to do with it. How about the two senators from Alabama and California form a two-man committee and hash that Limited-War issue over and see what you can come up with. The two senators looked at each other and agreed by saying, almost simultaneous, “That’s a good idea, and I’ll do it.”
“That takes care of part of our Foreign Policy proposals, but how about our Immigration Policy?” the senator from California asked. “My state needs help in that sector and I’m almost out of ideas on how to handle it.”
“I understand and sympathize with you on the immigration problem confronting our nation, but it’s not confined to only your state; its also a pain in the pocket book to most states near the Mexican border, as you probably already know,” the senator from Florida informed the committee members. “We have the boat people problem in my state. I was thinking that if they want to live in our great country that they should be required by law to either serve two years in the army or do public service work of some kind. They could enter a work program something on the order of the depression-era W.P.A. program and earn the right to live here. You know, like having these boat people clean the city streets of trash and maybe even help in the construction of a new road across the Everglades. That would be real nice and, at the same time, save my state of Florida a lot of money. Most of the immigrants that helped to build our great nation were from Europe, you know, the downtrodden and oppressed people searching for a new life; so, why not let the boat people earn their food and keep by working for it. Hell, in fact, a lot of people in my state are already working for food. But maybe we should point out to boat people that it would really be room and board only with no money involved”
“But there’s one problem with that idea today,” the senator from California replied.”
“What’s that?” the senator from Ohio asked.
“These new immigrants of today are the dregs of the nation that they are coming from or the country that’s throwing them out. Take your choice. Most of these foreign countries are sending us their thieves, pickpockets and their most corrupt people. The question is: Can we or can the United States afford to accept these people and give them a free ride while real Americans have to work for a living?”
“I see your point, but let’s get back to the problem we have today in my state of California and other border states; we need a solution to that nagging immigrant problem and we need it fast.”
“Hell,” the senator from New York, the Empire State, said. “Why don’t you reinstate the Bracero Program? I understand that program worked okay until the farm workers in the program formed a damn union; then, it went to hell faster than you can say wetback.”
“That’s very true and my State of California regrets it, but that was years ago and right now, we need a Federal program that will cover the Border States with Mexico as well as the Border States with Canada. Although, I don’t think that many Mexicans are going to go that far north just to enter the United States. Why would they go to Canada when they can just as easy walk across the border or wade through a river into California, Arizona, New Mexico or Texas anywhere from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico?”
“That is an interesting problem and we should propose a solution to it in our platform. Why don’t you and the senator from New York put your heads together and come up with a solution to that pesky question? Call it by some fancy name; you know, like a worker-farmer agreement, or better yet, how about a guest-worker program? That sounds more friendly and it’s easier on the ears.”
“We will do that easily,” the senator from California replied. “It doesn’t take any brains to write an immigration law. Our problem is how are we going to enforce the law that the legal Mexican workers have to go back to Mexico after working here in the United States and not have some radical Americans attempt to unionize them?”
“Well, gentlemen, it’s getting late and I have a dinner appointment with my secretary . . . I mean, my wife; so, why don’t we adjoin for now and say we meet again in about a month. In the meantime, let’s be constructive and do some deep thinking on the problems facing us in our quest for a new and different form of government for our nation.”
The meeting of the first Unification Party Platform Committee recessed with no mumbling or murmuring from the senators. Each senator had determination on his face for the tough, and possibly unattainable, tasks that lay ahead of them.
The senator from California was in his office early the next morning and on the telephone to his office in Sacramento, California. His secretary, a buxomly Afro-American woman who always wore a see-through blouse and a very short miniskirt, answered the telephone. “Good morning, this is the office of the senator from California. May I help you?”
“Yes, you can, ” the senator from California said. “Call Leroy Smith and make an appointment with him for next week. Tell him that I need to speak to him personally and in secret. It’s a matter of national security and he shouldn’t tell anyone about the meeting. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” his secretary answered as she scribbled his request on a pad of paper. “There’s only one thing I don’t know.”
“What’s that?”
“Who the hell is Leroy Smith?”
“Oh, sorry. He’s the well-known and famous car salesman from Los Angeles and he has a car agency in our fair city of Sacramento along with several other car agencies scattered throughout our fair state of California. Track him down and make an appointment with him to meet with me as soon as he possibly can. Tell him that it’s very urgent that I talk with him.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll get on it right away,” she replied. “By the way, when will you return to Sacramento?”
“In a couple of days. I’ve got a few things to take of here in Washington, then I’ll be on the next flight to Sacramento.”
“That’s good to know, do you want me to call your wife and tell her you’ll be arriving?”
“Hell, no! I want to spend a night or two with you before I go home.”
“Good thinking, I was hoping that you would say that. I’ll be waiting for you with bells on!”
“To hell with the bells, I prefer you with nothing on,” the senator from California replied.
* * *
Leroy Smith was a “native son” Californian, having been born in south central Los Angeles and attending high school in the Los Angeles School System. He was an average student, but best of all, he had never been arrested; therefore, he had no police record as did most of his peers. When Leroy graduated from high school, a war in Asia was predicted; so, Leroy, out of the sheer fear of losing his life in some foreign land, married his high school sweetheart, Valentine Jones, to avoid the Selective Service Law and the United States Army! After their marriage vows were sworn in front of a Justice of the Peace, her name became Mrs. Valentine Smith, which she didn’t mind at all. What Leroy didn’t know was that his new wife was a closet lesbian; which he found out about on the first night of their marriage—she slept in the bed with her lover and Leroy slept on the couch in the front room of their rented apartment by himself!
This
arrangement didn’t bother him at the time because it gave him extra time to
play the field. He attended the local Baptist Church and he enjoyed the
forbidden fruits of many gullible and unsuspecting young church-going women. To
consolidate his position and presence at the church, he served as a deacon and
preached part-time as a lay preacher to the younger and less-wise girls and
women of the church congregation.
Leroy and his wife lived a contented, but separate life and cohabited together in the same house that Valentine bought in West Hollywood. She shared her bedroom with her female friends and Leroy shared his bed with his female friends.
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