Machiavelli said, ‘When the safety of one’s country wholly depends on the decision to be taken, no attention should be paid either to justice or injustice, to kindness or cruelty, or to its being praiseworthy, or ignominious.
The fifth assassination attempt on my life was caught on video by a reporter and a number of bystanders, ending up as a viral video across the web. The graphic violence illustrates what these people are willing to do to contain the story, but try as they might they cannot stop the storm that is coming. Liberty is a human condition that tyrants have little patience for, but liberty will not fade. Liberty will not die and it will not be oppressed. Coming forward was something I did not want to do, but something I had to do as the future of our people depends on the decision.
***
Reed closed the article and opened his laptop. He entered a web browser and typed in, “video for the assassination attempt on Chaz Hyland.” Hundreds of links popped up. The first three he tried, said. “Video has been taken down due to inappropriate content.” The fourth had 2 million hits and was added only an hour ago. He pressed play. Here’s what he saw.
Chaz Hyland walked into a crowded food court in Ontario Mills, a mall in southern California. He agreed to meet a young up and coming reporter named Laura Asaf. The interview and his arrival were being taped by three camera men who work for Mrs. Asaf. As he approached, her face went blank and he noticed her looking behind him.
Bam, Bam, Bam! Gunshots rang out and people went diving everywhere. Chaz’s body flew forward on the first shot and back on the second two. Landing on a table, he slid down to the ground.
People screamed and the two shooters moved in on Chaz when a stream of gunfire came from beyond the crowd. Both shooters collapsed with perfect holes in the center of their foreheads.
Chaz turned over, rolling on the ground, and out of breath, he ripped his shirt off, and clawed at his vest. He gasped, trying to get air into his lungs.
“Mrs. Asaf crawled over to him, “Are you hurt?” she asked.
“Uh,” he looked at his chest and around his body there wasn’t any blood. “No, but I gotta go.” He popped up and scanned the area before briskly walking toward the door. Hundreds of people held their phones up taping the entire thing.
Mrs. Asaf chased after him, “But what about my interview?”
“If you know what is good for you, you would get as far away from me as possible.”
The camera man and Laura followed as he pushed out the door. “What about the other shooter, the one who just saved your life?” She asked, shoving the microphone in his face.
Chaz stopped, turned to her and showed an angry twinkle in his eye. “How many snipers do you know?” he asked.
“None.”
His anger faded and a glint of smugness beamed through his smile. “Let’s just say were a pretty tight bunch. Now stop tapping or this interview is over.”
The screen went black, but a title flashed across the screen that said,“After pressing the issue Chaz agreed to continue the interview at a different location.”
The screen popped back to a forested park area with green grass stretching off in the distance. Laura looked at the camera, and declared, “We’re here for an exclusive interview with Chaz Hyland, who narrowly escaped assassination just minutes ago,”
She turned to Chaz, saying, “thank you so much for doing this and I understand you have a statement you would like to release.”
She held out the mic.
Chaz looked into the camera and pulled off his shirt, gently removed his vest exposing 3 very large red welts surrounded by red circles as big as fists.
“You see this,” he said, pointing at each one. “This is your government, our government deciding guilt without due process. This is your government dismantling your constitution, and I am not the enemy.”
“Why did you release those emails?” he looked down. “This is why. Look at this. If wasn’t for a couple of my old sniper buddies, I’d be dead.”
“These sniper buddies, are they watching us right now?” Laura asked.
“Yes, they are.”
She looked around and shivered, asking, “Is this is about revenge then?”
“No, heavens, no,” Chaz said.
“Well then now’s your chance to get the story straight. Let the people hear your case.” She stated.
He sat there thinking before leaning forward, “OK, how about I tell you why the emails were released and the rest is in this.”
He pulled out some typed papers, and went on to explain, “This is an article I wanted you to release. Of course, I will have to rewrite the ending now and include the latest assassination attempt.” He handed the papers to her
She could hardly contain her excitement. “Ok, go on.”
“After sending my report up the right channels and being shut down, I entirely walked away from the case. But something strange happened. Clues and information started showing up at my house via mail. At first I thought it was the guys at work just messing with me, but each piece pointed to one unthinkable reality.”
“And what reality is that?” Mrs. Asaf asked.
“That our country is a façade, a fake, what once was no longer is. The grand experiment that was democracy had fallen, not all at once, but rather weathered down by the unrelenting storm of greed.”
“That’s a pretty hefty accusation,” she claimed.
“It’s not an accusation, but rather an observation. I fought it, just as many of you will fight it.” He looked into the camera, “but we must open our eyes. We must not turn our backs. Look at us, how many states are trying to secede? We are disintegrating from within because we have been used as pawns in a political game of divide and conquer. Freedom and liberty does not apply to only one group. All men and women were born free and as long as their actions don’t infringe on the freedom of another, then, only his or her creator can judge them.”
“OK, but what made you turn over the emails and how did you obtain them?” She asked.
“After weeks of crumbs I began following the trail. Eventually it led me to a meeting in Washington with a former insider from the previous president’s cabinet who I assured would be an anonymous source. He went into great detail how the White House is controlled by corporate interests and made sure I understand that it didn’t matter what party went into power. He explained how it stretched into every branch of our government. He accused the CIA of being the military arm of some shadow government, then he gave me a hard drive telling me that this contained proof to show that guns were outlawed for two reasons: first for short term profits and secondly to eventually take over our country’s out-dated government. I asked him why he was doing it, knowing that the evidence would probably also implicate him. He looked at me and tears began to roll down his cheeks and said, ‘I would gladly die to save my country.’ I decided right then that I was all in. I was a soldier once and I too was ready to die for my country.”
Tears started to well up in the bottom of Chaz’s eyes. “Now you know and every month for the next four, there will be a release of new info from the hard drive,” he declared.
“What if you’re killed?” she asked.
“It won’t matter. I no longer have possession of the contents in the hard drive.”
“Who does?” the reporter asked.
“There is a growing resistance that includes a network of hackers with no centralized hub. Each one of them contains the files.”
“That was classified information. Isn’t that treason?” She asked, giving him a concerned look.
“Exposing treason is often masked as evil by those who hold power by tyranny because it threatens their grip on the populace’s throat. A true government for the people and by the people should be transparent and open with all issues. While the culture of fear has made us think we must hold secrets and stoop to the levels of totalitarian countries in order for us to compete on a global leve
l, it isn’t true. We don’t need to compromise the principles of our founding to build a strong healthy country with a future.”
“Some would say you’re just another free market conservative trying to destroy the government. What do you say to that?”
Chaz shook his head. “We the people are the government. That’s what I’m trying to remind people. We have the power to control our own destiny, to stop this before it is too late. This isn’t a conservative issue or a liberal one. The banks and corporations have no loyalty to the US as is evident in their actions. The time has come for us to open our eyes, and take a good long look in the mirror for none of us are without fault. We think we need the useless junk at Walmart, we think we can’t live without our oil based addiction, and we have systematically voted to reduce and eliminate our freedoms and liberties for no other reason but to soothe our fears.”
“I don’t blame you as I am just as guilty. The world is scary and chaotic, we cling onto social convention and norms and ostracize anybody who falls outside that box. Where we have gone wrong over the years is when we stray from the constitution and try to force people into following one group’s norm over other groups. On a local level that may manifest itself in ordinances or laws based on the mob mentality, or the bully. While on a national level the prohibition of alcohol and drugs not only were a complete failure. They both illustrated our misguided attempt to go beyond our constitutional framework and adopt one group’s norm.
“On a global level we have tried to spread our unique brand of democracy and forgot that freedom and liberty are not something that can be given, but a privilege that must be earned.
If we believe as Jefferson did that we are men of reason, then you understand that we cannot make laws that are preventive. Instead, we must have faith in our fellow men to use reason. If a person then commits an act that infringes upon the freedom of another, then and only then does he deserve a penalty under a constitutional law.”
“I hear you, but it sounds like we’d have to change everything to achieve what you’re talking about.” She said.
“Hardly,” Chaz alleged. “A constitutional amendment outlawing lobbying, a complete withdrawal from foreign interference, limiting terms to one term and dismantling the CIA, DEA and Federal Reserve Bank would be a great first step, followed by a step back from the fear-based laws that are tainting our position as leaders of the free world.”
She laughed and asked, “That’s all?”
“It sounds crazy, but our founding fathers accomplished way more with much less. The least we could do is pay it forward.” Chaz said, then waved his hand like he was speaking to a huge crowd.
The screen faded to black and a title scrolled across. This video was not aired on TV or broadcast on any station because the federal government put a cease and desist order out and confiscated what they thought was all of the footage. What you just watched was leaked by an employee within the news network. The reporter and her camera crew have been detained at an undisclosed area and no charges have been brought.
Chapter 11
Kona High School, 2022
Reed walked into the class, and immediately joined Katrina, Megan, and Leila at their groups table and asked, “Can you believe how crazy that article was?”
“Yeah,” Leila stated. “Did you look up the video?”
Megan threw herself down onto the table and clutched her chest, “Bam, Bam, Bam!” she said.
“Knock it off, show off,” Katrina said as she hopped up and did a Peter Pan kick with her heels. Within minutes the class was organized. Mrs. Athena stood tall and projected across the class, “Good morning, class. I assume you all have finished the article,” she looked around for acknowledgement and continued, “Good. Now you have ten minutes to discuss it as a group and then we’ll walk the line.”
A quiet whisper and exuberance spread through the class as they went about their task.
***
Ten minutes seemed to be over in an instant and two of the groups asked for more time, but Mrs. Athena’s class was only forty minutes long on Wednesdays so she pushed on, “OK, line it up.”
The class pushed and pulled the desks to one side of the room, then they lined up in a single file line facing the teacher.
“Does everyone remember what to do?”
Tristan raised his hand, and told her, “I think I was gone when we did this, Miss.”
She smiled, and responded, “No problem. I will ask a series of questions. For each question, if you agree, step forward out of line, if you don’t know or don’t agree stay in the line. No one is to say anything. They are to just observe, understand?”
Tristan nodded.
“Ok, let’s get started with an easy one. Please step forward if you have a family member who owned a gun and has never committed a crime?”
12 of the 24 students stepped forward.
“Ok, step back now, please step forward if you know someone who has purchased a weapon illegally.”
No one stepped forward.
“Cars kill more people a year than guns do. Step forward if you believe cars should be outlawed,” she went on to say.
No one stepped forward.
“Make sure you’re taking a mental note of your class’s reaction to each question as it will help you with the write-up and discussion. Now number three. In light of the weed war, step forward if you believe prohibition has worked at any level.”
2 of the 24 stepped out.
“More children die in swimming pools every year than from guns. Step forward if you believe pools should be outlawed.”
No one stepped forward.
“Step forward if you believe it is ok for the government to search your house, person or car for guns based on anonymous tips, even if you have never broken any laws.”
No one stepped forward.
“Step forward if you believe disarming law abiding citizens will stop criminals from obtaining whatever weapon they need.”
No one stepped forward.
“Step forward if you believe changing the laws will reverse the current trend that the largest gun violence seems to happen in cities with the strictest gun laws.”
3 people stepped forward.
“Great! These are all the questions I have. Now I want you to get back to your groups and discuss your observations, then you can start your rough draft for a short essay response to the prompt I’ll write up on the board.”
She walked over to the white board and began writing as the class moved the tables back.
“Should guns be illegal in the United States? Give supporting evidence.”
Chapter 12
Kona High School 2022
Mrs. Athena sat at her desk during lunch grading papers from last week and nibbling on her rice cakes when the principal strolled into the classroom.
“Mrs. Athena, I thought I might find you here,” he uttered.
She tilted her head to the side, perplexed by his presence, and asked, “What brings you to the History department?”
He shook his head side to side and sighing, said. “We’ve had a number of phone calls from concerned parents about the lesson you’re working on and I thought maybe we could discuss it.”
“OK,” She said.
“Why don’t you explain why you feel your lesson is relevant to the curriculum you’re supposed to be teaching?”
She explained, “I suspect it’s my US history class were talking about and the lesson is relevant because we have been studying the US constitution, more specifically the first five amendments. If you have been following the Chaz Hyland case, you would know that it will have far reaching effects on precedents in all five amendments. In terms of educational pedagogy, if we measure it on the Rigor and Relevant scale, I’m asking them to take what they have learned and apply it to an actual case that they are all familiar with. In addition, this lesson asks them to think and interact on a level that far exceeds any rote memorization
s some history teachers have fallen into.”
“That rote memorization you’re talking about is the curriculum our district has adopted in order to meet the common core standard set by the federal government. We cannot waste time on other frivolous activities,” the principal enunciated.
“But…” Her agitation began to show through
He cut her off, saying, “You realize you’re on merit pay now, don’t you? This means that one third of your evaluation will be based on parent surveys and as is evident by the phone calls, the parents don’t want their kids discussing such delicate issues.”
“Are you kidding me?” she responded, her face starting to turn red. “I could give a rat’s ass about my merit pay. I don’t teach for the money, and I definitely don’t teach for some stupid test that’s dumbing down our kids.”
“That’s too bad,” asserted the principal. He stood up and pushed the chair in, saying, “I told the superintendent you would be a little hard to contain.”
He laughed and declared, “She didn’t believe me, but here we are. I’ll make this simple for you. Email your students and apologize for inadvertently assigning them an inappropriate topic and inform them that they will not need to complete it.”
“Or what?” she argued, slamming her hand down on her desk.
“Or you will be fired, understand?”
“Yes, sir, I do.”
Chapter 13
Kona High School
After school, Mrs. Athena sat in her room, staring at the monitor on her desk. Her favorite news source, the Huffington Post was open and the headline on the top story said, “Chaz Hyland dead.” She couldn’t believe they actually assassinated a US citizen, without a trial, without Miranda rights and for exposing the truth. In that instant she knew she couldn’t write the emails requested, it didn’t matter if she lost her job. She couldn’t fathom being part of the problem. Instead, she wrote the following email.
“As many of you may have heard through the grapevine, Mr. Chaz Hyland has been assassinated. While the principal, the superintendent, and some of your parents would like me to drop this assignment in an effort to shield you from the world, I cannot and will not do that. I pride myself on being honest and cannot in good conscience give up on you as people. I believe strongly that you are more than workers and consumers and that you deserve the right to learn and experience, critical thinking without the judgement of one narrow sliver of the world’s population. I fear that the loss of academic freedom for teachers has tainted the education system and poisoned generations of Americans.