Chapter 14: The Bigger Picture

I watched Alicia talking to us. Not down to us, but just as if she and I were dorm room pals discussing whether to order pizza or heat up some ramen. In other words, she wasn’t trying to convince. That’s a trait I admire. And I believe it comes from self-assurance, from believing that you are right. And that you know the subject, know what you’re talking about.

I may test those waters myself, knowing what the fuck I’m talking about. Someday.

She said, “We fell into the exaggeration trap with the Gunthers.”

Ash said, “So did we.” We being the royal we, pluralis majestatis, the FBI.

Daddy said, “How so?”

Alicia said, “We stereotyped them to the lowest common denominator. Ignorant paranoids. Uneducated losers. Irrational government-haters.” She smiled, “Of course that’s true for a lot of them.”

I’d read the literature, seen some videos, done some research. The whites-only crowd believes:

> Politicians don’t matter. Over two hundred years of voting and things keep getting worse.

> The US is really governed from New York, not DC. The UN and world banks run everything. Jews.

> Everyone but the true believers are out to get them.

In addition there are the usual one-worlder delusions — microchips installed in newborns. The government will seize all your guns. Israel is allowed to do whatever it wants because they’re part of the secret takeover plan. Black helicopters, hidden concentration camps in the Midwest and South. And of course the certainty that most people aren’t aware of the truth, of the real dangers, because the world media is government-controlled.

Alicia said, “The far right is just like the left, some good guys, some not-so good, some crazies.”

Ash grinned, “Same with the FBI.”

Alicia said, “We at the Loyalist Charter bought into the hype. Underestimated the sophistication that the Meriwethers and their cohorts have. We didn’t realize the scope, the long term plans.”

Ash repeated, “We missed it too.”

Daddy stirred in his chair. He can take some theoretical, but not a lot.

Alicia looked at Daddy and said, “Their internal name, operational name, is Project FreeMen. That’s spelled with a capital M. Women are still second class citizens. Despite the Greta Gunthers and Sarah Meriwethers of the world.”

Ash said, “The word ‘Project’ is cute. Probably thought up by their PR arm.”

SING.

Ash continued, “The word ‘Project’ conjures up innocence. School homework, work assignments.”

SING

Alicia said, “Project FreeMen doesn’t want to overthrow the federal government; they want to paralyze it further, weaken it, make people despise it even more than they do now. But keep it around as a symbol, a constant reminder of what’s wrong in America.”

Ash said, “These are serious people.”

Alicia said, “Okay, look at one obvious tactic — gun owners. The exploitation of same. They’re emotional on the topic and they go to the polls. Some of them are one-issue voters.”

Determined to contribute, I said, “And they’re easy to stir up. Second Amendment voters.”

“Right. Just like the left has its share of knee-jerk voters. Planned Parenthood for example. Well, with the current situation, we — the LC — took some quiet polls among registered gun owners. These were not the fringe guys living off the grid. NRA members, hunters, family men, employed, most of them legitimate gun advocates. Not the teflon bullet crowd.”

Ash shook his head.

Alicia continued, “The poll was under the radar in that we didn’t publish it. But it was extensive. Over 10,000 responses to in-person interviewers.”

Daddy stirred again.

Ash said, “This survey woke up the J. Edgar building, Dave. Top floor anyway.”

Alicia said “One adult gun owner in five would be willing to take up arms against the federal government if the flag goes up.”

Daddy frowned. So did I.

“We also asked — who is in the right, the government or militias?”

Daddy said, “And?”

“The projected numbers ... well over thirty million side with the militias.” She paused, “So extrapolating those two response groupings and those of the eight other questions, we came up with more than 50 million voters who could be pushed into the extremes. On the right. And that doesn’t even begin to count the leftwing wackos.”

She paused to underscore her point, “And in the 2016 election there were only about 140 million votes cast.”

I shook my head. Sighed. Blinked. Thought about it.

Ash said, “I’m conservative by nature. And I can imagine the left being pushed to the extremes just as easily. But today’s climate ... well, the nutters are giving conservatism a bad name.”

Alicia said, “You won’t find these rightwing extremists in New York, San Francisco. Well there are a few. Probably not that many even in small towns like Kansas City. But they’re out there, they’re definitely out there.”

Ash said, “Waiting. Watching. Thinking about lost jobs, stagnant wages, immigrant invasions, working two minimum-wage jobs just to keep afloat.” He paused, “They’re definitely out there — what some call the deplorables — growing angrier and angrier.”

Alicia said, “They’re a minority in most urban areas. Major urban areas. Considered weirdos. Other places in the country they’re the norm. Some places, the majority.”

Ash said, “And they run some town governments, some counties, a few statehouses.”

Fucking Kansas.

It was quiet here in the smaller conference room with the round maple table. Daddy closed his eyes, thinking. “So those are the Gunther types. Where do the Meriwethers come in?”

Alicia said, “The Meriwethers and their friends bring three things to the anti-government movement — money, of course. Tons of it.”

Daddy and I nodded.

“Then, connections. The rich know the rich. The rightwing wealthy support their own causes just like the leftwing does. And Project FreeMen is growing organically. The so-called seminars that RightWorld and other PACs hold draw thousands and thousands of supporters. A lot of them are first-timers. The movement has been growing since the John Birch days. It’s just more out in the open now.”

Like the KKK doesn’t hide behind sheets these days.

I said, “What’s the third element?”

“Vision. Their overall plan. Now the operational details, the tactics, keep evolving. But the Project FreeMen goal has been consistent for decades. Wrest power from DC. Focus resources on rightwing states. Punish states like New York and California through tax policies. Consolidate power in the local communities that are the most sympathetic.”

Ash said, “It’s working. The United States Congress is hated. Hell, I hate it myself. Two thirds of the country disagrees with whoever is in the White House.”

Alicia said, “Now on the federal level, the courts are becoming more conservative. Which is a major goal of the Meriwether contingent. Of Project FreeMen. At the same time, state legislatures and governorships are trending conservative. Gerrymandering helps. The right is just more efficient at it than the left.”

I said, “But the coasts, the major cities, they’re bluer than ever.”

“Yes. And more resented by a lot of mainstream America than ever. The coastal elite looking down their noses at good, ordinary folks.”

“That’s why Hillary lost.”

“Partly. But there is also a bad odor about the Clintons. And she just isn’t very likable on a personal level.”

I know friends of mine who called it a hold-your-nose vote.

Ash said, “Speak to the media side, Alicia.”

“Yes, Father dear.” Sass. “Here technology is really tipping the scales. Mostly toward the right. Digital media, social networking, are great equalizers. Anyone can create a platform. And these days, sometimes the louder you are, the loopier your ideas, the more followers you attract.”

She paused, gathering, “Both the right and left have become tunnel-vision screamers. But the right is doing a more effective job. Led by Fox and talk radio and Breitbart. Their rich supporters like the Meriwethers.”

Daddy stirred again.

I said, “But what was the Meriwether / Gunther tie-in to begin with?”

Alicia said, “Short term, to create uncertainty. Show up the feds. Spread fear. Divide the country. Incite more racist acceptance. Charlottesville, Las Vegas. Well, Columbus would have made those two attacks look like Disneyland.”

She looked from me to Daddy to her own father, “But that was just diversionary. Tactical.”

Slaughtering thousands of people in downtown Columbus was diversionary?

Alicia Collins is a conversational engager. She looked from Daddy to me, back to him, back to me. “I know you’re in the loop. And deserve to be. You know about the clandestine raid on the Gunther compound. An unquestioned success. Hank Morristown and his team saved countless lives by decapitating that one white supremacist gang.”

I thought about Hank. About the Buckshot Video. The funeral. The bagpipes.

Alicia said, “But could our government risk another raid like that? No, probably not, probably not of that magnitude. I mean, deniability can only take us so far. Once, we got away with it. Mostly. I guess if the targets were black people, brown, it could fly. But the problem is with the white separatists groups. There are dozens, hundreds of compounds out there. Many smaller ones, some larger.”

Ash said, “And Project FreeMen is funding the biggest ones.”

Alicia said, “While RightWorld is spreading its hateful gospel.” SING.

Daddy sighed, “Okay, what’s their end game?”

Alicia looked straight at him, “A Constitutional crisis.”

I read the Constitution once. Or maybe it was the Bill of Rights. Or the Declaration of Independence. I’m no dummy, but once I was free of classroom eraser dust ... well I sort of lost interest in a lot of what I’d learned. More rote than understanding.

But Alicia’s words struck me. Daddy too, in that small, suddenly warm, FBI conference room.

Daddy said, “Constitutional crisis?”

“Consider those 50 million extremists. Potential extremists, most of them. They’re like the tip of the spear. A spear aimed at the fissures in the federal government.”

She paused, perhaps to gather her thoughts. Or maybe to dumb it down for us civilians. “Congress isn’t 100% impotent. But when they couldn’t do anything, not one single thing, after Sandy Hook...”

Grade school children slaughtered. “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.”

“So an unpopular, inefficient Congress. An erratic White House. Courts on all levels that are beginning to side with ultraconservatives.”

“Okay.”

“Then mix in a massacre many times larger than Vegas. Fan the flames with a well-financed, well-conceived media blitz. Ongoing media blitz.”

Alicia paused, letting Daddy and me absorb.

“We’re still very much a young country. Not to sound pedantic, but our first foreshadowing of a Constitutional crisis was the Tea Act.” The original Tea Party in Boston Harbor.

“Secession. Our darkest hour.” Civil War.

“Watergate.” The good guys won that one. In my civics-bereft opinion.

“The Project FreeMen crowd believes America is ripe for another big one.”

Ash said, “They’re right.”

Too much theory for Daddy. “What exactly are you talking about? What form would this crisis take?”

Ash said, “Any big event to show up DC. Massive carnage in a major city like Columbus. A dirty bomb. Taking down part of the power grid. Poisoning a reservoir. Anything huge enough to make Americans focus on how fucked up their government is.”

Alicia said, “Demonstrations turn into orchestrated riots. Looting that makes South LA look like a stroll in the park.”