Phoenix Rising

Bob turned toward the surf and shouted at the top of his voice. “It is I, Robinson Crusoe. Where is everyone?”

Charley came running back to him and looked up with a quizzical expression on his face.

“You think I’m losing my mind, do you, Charley Dog?” Bob asked. He shook his head. “No, I’m not losing my mind. I’m just losing my will.

“My will to what? Survive? No, I’ll not lose my will to survive. I survived three combat tours as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. If I could deal with long strings of green tracer rounds coming toward me, to say nothing of air- bursting flak, then I can damn well deal with what we are facing now.

“I think.

“Come on, Charley, I’m tired of walking. Be a good dog and lay a couple of turds for me so we can head back to the house.”

Almost as if responding to Bob’s request, Charley hunkered down to do his business. Once completed, he looked at his deposit as if proud of it, then came over to Bob to await the treat that was his reward for performance. Bob gave him a treat, then dug a hole in the sand and pushed Charley’s effort into it. He used to pick it up in a plastic bag, then drop the bag in the trash can, but that was when Baldwin County was still picking up trash.

Due to fuel concerns, the letter from Baldwin County waste disposal said, we will no longer be making our regular trash pickup. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

“You apologize,” Bob said when he got the notice. “Well, as long as you apologize, I’m sure it will be all right.”

They walked back on the boardwalk between the USA and Dreamweaver houses to the golf cart that was parked on the road. Charley ran to the cart, then jumped up on the seat.

Seeing Charley do this, exactly as he had done for the last ten years, Bob felt a lump in his throat. How he envied Charley’s ignorance of the fact that everything was coming down around them.

He glanced at his watch. If he was going to get back home in time to watch George Gregoire, he was going to have to hurry.

Hello, America.

Last Friday we heard Mehdi Ohmshidi take the unprecedented act of declaring himself dictator of this nation. He did this with something called “the Enabling Act.” Let me give you a history lesson. On March 23, 1933, the German Reichstag met in Berlin to consider passing a law that would end democracy in Germany, and establish the legal dictatorship of Adolph Hitler. This act was called the Enabling Act. It did pass, Hitler became dictator of Germany, and we all know what happened.

Is it just ironic coincidence that Ohmshidi chose the same name?

But, not to worry. The Enabling Act is clearly a violation of the United States Constitution, so the Supreme Court will overturn it. Right?

Not so fast. We now know that within moments after Ohmshidi made his announcement Friday night, the Supreme Court did meet in emergency session to consider the constitutionality of this new law.

What did they decide?

They decided nothing. They couldn’t decide because before they even convened, federal agents descended upon the Supreme Court and took every justice of the Supreme Court into what is being called protective custody.

Who did this ?

Not the FBI, not the CIA, not the Homeland Security. By dictatorial fiat, those agencies no longer exist. No, the arresting officers, we are told, belong to the newly organized agency, the State Protective Service.

A spokesman for the SPS has stated that the justices are not under arrest, but have been moved to an undisclosed site for their own safety. While there, the spokesman added, the justices will participate in a conference during which the details of the Enabling Act will be discussed.

America, we are seeing, before our very eyes, the total destruction of our republic. Misguided voters, thinking it would be cool to vote a naturalized American into office, flocked to the polls to show the rest of the world what an unbiased and open-minded nation we are. They voted for this man without really knowing anything about him.

And now, we are about to pay the piper.

The telephone rang and Ellen answered it.

“Hello? Oh, Tim, hi, sweetheart. Yes, he’s here. Okay, just a minute.”

Ellen brought the phone over to Bob. “Tim wants to talk to you,” she said.

“Hello, Tim, what’s up?” Bob asked.

“You were right, Dad,” Tim said. His voice was low and obviously strained.

“Right about what?”

“About everything,” Tim said. “How could I have ever been such a fool to vote for this man?”

“If it is any consolation to you, you aren’t the only one. He is president because more people voted for him than against him. That’s the way democracy works. Or at least, that is the way it used to work. After his Enabling Act, and some of the other things he’s done, I don’t know.”

“Dad, I’ve pulled all your money out of the market,” Tim said. “Mine too.”

“Why?”

“I’ve been in this business for ten years,” Tim said. “I can read the signs. The way things are going, the stock market isn’t going to last another year. I’m not sure it’s going to last another month.”

“But the market keeps going up,” Bob said.

“Yes, it keeps going up, but the real value is plummeting. I’m going to do an electronic transfer of the money to your bank.”

“How much is it?”

Tim chuckled. “It’s a little over one and a half million,” he said.

“Whoa, that’s pretty good, isn’t it? Last time I checked it was a little under three hundred thousand.”

“I wish I could say that it was good, but the only thing it means is that money is losing its value faster than we can keep track.”

“Tim, wait, don’t do an electronic transfer,” Bob said. “I won’t be able to get it out of the bank. I can’t draw out any more than ten thousand dollars at a time.”

Tim laughed. “You haven’t been keeping up, have you?”

“What do you mean?”

“The banks are no longer observing that limit. The value of the dollar has decreased so far that the FDIC insurance is virtually worthless now. That means that, though the Fed still has authority over the banks, they no longer have any leverage. The banks can do whatever they want and it doesn’t matter.”

“Tim, you know how far we are from town. Tell me truthfully, is the money even worth going into town for?”

“I don’t know, Dad. I wish I could answer that. But if I were you, I would go into town and take it out, then buy as much as you can with it. The more you have in real property, such as food, bottled water, fuel, anything you can think of that you might need—and that you can actually find on the market—the better off you will be. The problem now is there are less and less goods and services still available.”

“How are you doing?” Bob asked. “I mean, you are a broker, if the stock market really is going to go belly up, where does that leave you?”

Tim laughed, but it was a harsh, humorless laugh. “Dad, it leaves me in the same boat as everyone else in the country—up shit creek without a paddle.”

“Are you, Pam, and Jack going to be all right?”

“You remember that place we bought on Lake of the Ozarks?”

“Yes.”