Chapter 49

The White House seemed calm and soothing after the excitement in Texas, even though we had a never-ending series of difficulties to resolve, disputes to settle, and problems to solve. I stayed in Texas for two days, one more than necessary, making certain that the invading parties were all rounded up and moved to Gitmo.

The press went ballistic when photos of ISIS weapons, bombs, and RPG's were released, along with details about the maps, instructions, and orders that were found by military intelligence officers. It is one thing to contemplate a terror problem far away and another to deal with it in Texas. Criticism of our swift and bloody response was muted, except for pockets of malcontents that complain about everything, all the time.

"It is critically important to show the followers of militant Islam around the world that the United States will not hesitate to put you down if you come after Americans. If you come after Americans in America, we have proven we will take you out, blow you up, shoot you down, and turn your invasion into a bonfire..."

That interview should have caused massive push back from moderate Americans, but the speaker was a retired US Senator from a Blue State, and a very staunch democrat, speaking on ABC NEWS. "America is a great big melting pot where hundreds of people of different backgrounds, ethnicity, and expectation speak their minds in support of, or opposition to what the government is doing – right up until someone hurts Americans in America. Then we all find that we are pretty much the same, and when you hurt one of us, you hurt all of us, and payback is certain, swift, and angry.

"My advice to ISIS is to get the Hell out of America before Americans decide to shoot you where they find you, without much thought, other than doing what we know is right."

What surprised everybody, even though the Boston Marathon bombing wasn't far from our thoughts, was the calm, deadly, message he sent, and how acceptable that message was to ninety-seven percent of American voters.

When I was asked about the former Senator's remarks and how to justify his extreme level of pro-violence response, I said, "As Americans we often have what I like think of as, 'Little Brother' syndrome. It is just fine for us to fight with our little brother, but when you come here and hurt our little brother, all bets are off, all rules against retribution are suspended, and everything is on the table.

"ISIS chose to infuriate a huge number of Americans when they chose to invade America for the purpose of killing Americans. Guess what? The vast majority of Americans response was 'When you hurt my little brother, you hurt me, so watch how fast I hit back, and feel how bad it hurts.'

"Further, there is a BIG difference between a crime with a suspect and an active invading army. In the first case, you can capture a perpetrator and bring them to trial. In the second, you fight deadly force with all the necessary weapons needed to make sure you stopped it permanently.

"As president, it is my obligation to put the lives and safety of Americans first, and if that means turning our military and civilian law enforcement loose on the invading terrorists, then that's exactly what's going to happen. Finally, after 911, America formally declared war on terrorists – and this was nothing more than another battle in that continuing war."

The interviewer tried to gin up anger against both me, and the former Senator, without success. In fact, his twitter and Facebook pages were swamped with just the opposite, and people were openly refuting the opinions stated by him.

As you might expect, there were pockets of outrage, militancy, and threats against me and my family, but other than quiet investigation by the Secret Service, no one paid the malcontents any attention, which infuriated them even more.

If Islamic militants were our only problem, things would be fairly manageable following the inaugural. But we still suffered from far too much debt, unemployment and under-employment, as well as far too many homeless and hungry. Feeding the hungry and finding shelter for the homeless was a never ending challenge, because many of the people we sought to help continually changed, morphed, lost themselves in the stream of humanity, and hid from the very people dedicated to helping end their suffering – both physical and emotional.

Our veterans were better cared for, as were our elderly, through local programs partially funded from D.C. Education outcomes were improving with the one-size-fits-all central planning method gone and local school boards responsible for outcomes.

Our environment needed attention as much as our economy needed energy to function. Coal fired electrical plants still made up a huge percentage of our electrical grid, and we finally got permits approved so that newer, safer nuclear plants could be built. Nuclear power's biggest problem – where to store spent fuel – was resolved when I spent a huge amount of political capital and reactivated the Yucca Mountain, Nevada, waste repository program.

Solar and wind both had their place in the make-up of our energy needs, because our policy needs to continue to be all-of-the-above, but didn't pan out as significant producers, and focus was turning away towards more conventional solutions, as we began the gargantuan task of rebuilding our manufacturing base.

Investment incentives caused many old, abandoned factories to be razed, and modern manufacturing facilities began to take shape. Where once was rust, there was now the hope of jobs. With many former environmental and safety concerns addressed, communities began to pitch in and compete for those manufacturing plants, with the potential economic boon that came from construction and revitalization.