Jake's List

By T D Worley

The Second American Revolution is a saga of books starting with 'Jake's List.' It is the story of how one man, Jake Collins, found an opportunity to play a significant role in the re-making of the United States. Disgusted by the lack of morality found in politicians, corporate leaders, sports and entertainment figures, Jake is instrumental in devising a system whereby the most corrupt individuals in America are targeted for removal by their peers. Violence, romance, drama and conspiracy all play a part in the saga of the next Revolution.

• Language: English
• Publisher: T D Worley
• Release date: Feb 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311434456

T D Worley

Worley is a retired construction manager. He has traveled extensively throughout the United Sates and Europe. He worked in Mexico, Puerto Rico, France, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.He has a Master's degree in Political Science from Stephen F. Austin University, and his thesis was published,Worley is married to Susan Hosack and they have grown three daughters, Julie, Caitlin, and Breona. Tommy and Susan live on Cedar Creek Lake near Malakoff, Texas

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This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and shall not be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

JAKE’S LIST

T. D. WORLEY

Copyright © 2014 by Tommy Worley

Smashwords Edition

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Cover by Kenneth Greenwood

For information or questions, please address T.D. Worley either by letter mail or e-mail.

P.O. Box 1043, Malakoff, TX, 75148

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In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of. Confucius – 550BC

CHAPTER 1

Jake slowly rolled over, letting his arthritic limbs stretch. The clock on the night stand said 5:30 AM but he was already awake so he moved to a sitting position on the side of the bed. At sixty-eight, Jake had not changed his routine from the forty something years of working construction. Retirement had not changed many of his day to day habits. Get up, pull on his clothes, and go to the bathroom. Still had a good stream, none of that stop and start he heard about on television all the time. He moved into the kitchen, trying to decide whether it was going to be an egg sandwich or cereal. Cheerios won out.

While spooning a mouthful of the cereal, he picked up the clicker and turned on the television. Jake didn’t have a favorite newsman or woman. Figured they all outright lied or made the news fit their own peculiar stance. Fox News was always good for a laugh, thought Jake. They didn’t even try to cover up their bias. The other networks were more concerned with being politically correct than delivering hard facts. While Jake had dropped out junior college after three semesters, he had always had maintained an intense interest in politics and followed both the state and national goings-on. He was born a Democrat, because his Daddy was, and his grandfather was. Same reason he favored a Ford over a Chevy. Maybe it all stemmed from the time when he was ten and his Dad took him to the County courthouse. Daddy said the man speaking on the steps of the courthouse was a great man. Sam Rayburn, he said, is the Speaker of the House. Jake didn’t know what that meant, but he was impressed by the way Mr. Sam spoke and then waded thru the group of mostly farmers and ranchers and shook hands with each and everyone including young Jake Collins.

Jake got dressed after having a second cup of coffee. He hadn’t changed in the way he dressed since he was in high school. It was always starched Levis with a khaki shirt. He always thought a shirt without pockets was worthless. A man had to have places to put things. Nowadays, it was his reading glasses and sometimes a pen or pencil. He looked around his den and kitchen to ensure all the lights were off, and pulled the front door shut and twisted the knob to make sure it was locked. It is going to be a nice day, he thought, looking at the clear blue sky. He walked over to the carport, getting his keys out of his front pocket, hit the clicker and unlocked the Ford F-150. He had a couple of projects he had been working on, but he decided he would start by going to Chuck’s Cafe to see if he could stir up the locals.

Jake was typical of most rural Texas boys. He played football on Friday, dated girls that he had grown up with, went to church on Sundays, drove a pick-up that had cost $125, paid for by pumping gas, hauling hay, and gathering pecans in the fall. You would think that with his up-bringing, he would automatically fall into a socially conservative category that most Texans had drifted into starting in the mid-sixties when their own native son LBJ sold them out and engineered the Great Society and the War on Poverty.

Remarkably, while Jake remained fiscally conservative, he supported the social changes over the years, believing that black Americans had been shortchanged as well as all women. Since no changes were forthcoming through a natural process, it was the duty of the government to make laws that would level the playing field. He, however, was far from being satisfied with the changes that began in the mid-60’s. Instead of helping an individual to get a jump-start in life, it seemed to Jake that the system had become an endless welfare system. To Jake, the Federal government was totally responsible for destroying the black family structure. What had started out as a great plan had fallen apart mainly because of the political trade-offs in Congress.

He asked the locals one day about the difference in welfare and subsidies. While they stumbled around for an answer, Jake explained to them that when government money is given to poor people, it’s called welfare. When you give government money to rich corporations it’s called subsidies. This, of course, brought about a good deal of consternation among his new friends, who just didn’t want to accept the concept of the rich getting welfare. Jake enjoyed starting these types of arguments among his new friends. It makes them think, thought Jake.

Jake lost his first wife after only twelve years of marriage when a woman in a hurry to get to Wal-Mart ran a stop sign in Bowling Green. A deputy sheriff came to the gas pipeline where he was working to give him the news. Jake thanked him and rolled up his welding leads, put up his tools, drove to the hospital, and made arrangements to have Eve’s remains transported back to Texas.

He had met Evelyn at Hill Community College, and she was his first true love. While there would be another in his life, Eve would always be his first. She was laid to rest in the family plot in Hill County, and while he worked and traveled all over the country, he always found time to visit her every six months or so. Only when he was in Alaska, did that stretch into a year. They never had any children. This bothered Jake as he got older, but he knew had Eve and he started a family, he would never quit pipelining and that would have meant Eve would have had to raise any child by herself.

Jake, like many of young Texans, took his senior trip to Viet Nam. He had a plan. He joined in ’62, figuring that he would let Uncle Sam pay for his college. Lucky for him, when he got there, not much was going on. He never fired a rifle or even heard enemy fire. Those who went after ’64 weren’t that lucky. Viet Nam made sense to Jake. Everyone knew that the Communists were set on taking over the world, so it was sensible to stop them over there.

Jake, like everyone, got old. He didn’t completely quit welding until he was sixty-three, and then continued to work on occasion as an inspector until he was sixty-seven. Mind you, his next plan in life was one not entirely by his choice. Circumstances and events over the last thirty years of his life would cause him to buy a house on Lake Grove. He had stayed close to his younger sister, Clara, who lived in Dallas, and she was an argument that he would use to justify his purchase at Lake Grove. The close proximity to doctors and medical facilities was another deciding factor in his selection. It was within easy driving distance to see his sister and doctors, but far enough way to be beyond the metroplex and the traffic and crime that went with it. Then there was that desire of Jake to make a new circle of friends. A new home and new friends was what Jake was looking for at this time of his life.

And now this is when a new phase of Jake’s life began. His lake property was a nice 3/2/2 with a great view of open water, complete with a dock and a boat lift, and a small work shop, which gave rise to various odd-jobs. It all set him back $300K, but Jake had invested wisely and had made very good money following the pipelines all over the country. Jake and Clara had split the proceeds when they sold the family farm. Now they were getting a decent return on the natural gas that a drilling company had found on the property. Wisely, he and Clara had kept the mineral rights to the property. Jake had never been cheap. He always bought good equipment, traded trucks every three years, and his travel trailer was top quality. Along with his investments, he had a nice social security check and his union pension to take care of his needs. He didn’t expect to have to ever go into his stocks or bonds unless he decided to make some major purchase such as a motor home. Considering he had spent most of his life in a travel trailer, he thought that may be just a bit crazy when considering his age and health.

The first time he walked into Chucks Mobil station/grocery store/bait shop/ and cafe, he sat down, had his coffee, and against his nature, ordered sausage and eggs. He could tell right away, the cafe was the local hang out. Same crowd, same time every day. Jake liked getting out in the morning, and soon, he began to know the locals. Most were like him, retired. Some were vets and these guys naturally drew towards one another.

Invariably, politics and health issues became the major source of conversation. Jake enjoyed embellishing his Democratic leanings, knowing most of coffee drinking buddies were way to the right of Rush Limbaugh. Not that Jake was any smarter than his buddies, but he did research and fact-checked everything that was purported to be political news. He knew the basics of using a computer and the internet, though never entirely trusted that media. He did, however, understood the impact that the internet made on people’s lives. It was, he thought, not much different than the newspapers or television. Everyone who wrote or spoke, it seemed to Jake, was not much interested in the facts.

Those who showed up at Chucks were a mixture of working class and retired professionals.

Ted was actually becoming a close friend. He was a Viet Nam vet (served in ’66 and ’67). Unlike Jake, he took advantage of Uncle Sams’ veterans programs and went to North Texas State. He got his BA degree, then his MBA. He retired after gaining great success as a financial planner. However, much to Jake’s chagrin, he was addicted to sound bites from Fox News.

Ray, also a vet, was worse. He refused to change his opinion on anything. Jake could bring out supporting documentation for his arguments, but this was unimportant to Ray: It is what it is, said Ray. Ray was a retired US Postal worker, who had grown up in the area, but had worked in Dallas his entire adult life. Jake figured he must have been a card carrying member of the John Birch Society.

Jack, on the other hand, was amendable, if you could actually prove your point. Very conservative, but he would listen. Jack had built many of the homes on the lake, and although he had scaled back his company, he would still take on a job now and then to keep his base crew of carpenters, plumbers and electricians employed. Jack grew up in Tulsa.

Fred believed every word uttered by Rush, Ann Coulter, and Fox News. He was a dedicated member of the Teabaggers. Being a retired football coach, he figured he could bully his way through any conversation; facts were unimportant. Forty years of running roughshod over teenagers had given him an inflated ego that didn’t sit that well with those gathered around the table at Chucks. He usually received at least one good humored Go fuck yourself every morning. Fred grew up in Tyler and had worked in about six or seven school districts.

Jerry was the youngest of the crew. He taught science at the local high school. While he had grown up in Houston, he was completely satisfied to live in a small community and raise his two kids in what he called a good Christian neighborhood. Jerry didn’t offer up much when the morning’s conversation turned to politics. He was happy to nod in agreement regardless of who the speaker.

Billy Joe, like the name, was a redneck. He loved using the ‘N’ word especially if he had a crowd to entertain. BJ had, like Jake, spent most his career in construction. He, too, had traveled over a lot of states installing electrical transmission lines. He retired to the lake to fish and he did this just about every day that weather permitted. Every day you fish, is a day added to life. Going to fish every day, so I will live forever, he declared frequently. Jake didn’t waste much time on him.

Doc Barlow was the oldest. Doc had served as a medic in WWII and believed the country had gone to Hell in a hand basket. He had grown up in the area and still ran a ranch with more than 300 mother cows. His grandson did most of the hands-on work, but took a lot of direction from Doc. Jake had a lot of respect for Doc. He never pushed Doc’s buttons like he did the others because of that respect.

Jake knew from his own experiences, that most people’s philosophies are simply a product of family heritage, church, level of education, and all of those other things that influence a person from their day of birth until their death. The one thing that Jake recognized that had influenced him a lot was travel. He had worked in 38 of the 50 states and had been in all of them. He was amazed at the differences in people from one town to another and from one state to another. He had seen a lot of these differences when he served in the army, and when he began traveling, it became a sort of hobby to mentally note the differences in lifestyles and philosophies. Jake had been to Bahrain for a couple of pipeline jobs, so he made an effort to spend a few days in either, London, Paris, or Frankfurt coming or going to the Middle East. Jake was convinced that travel was a better educator than college, and if you did a lot, you would eventually become more liberal in your philosophy.

Jake was different than most folks because he liked to actually listen to other people talk; subject matter didn’t really matter. He didn’t just sit while someone was talking trying to thinking of what he was going to say. He was truly interested in what they were saying. Not a common habit these days.

This isn’t much of a biography for each of the members of the coffee crew, because most people are not too complicated. There is one common thread in this group, well, maybe with the exception of Jerry. They all wanted America to be like it was in 1955. To them, this was a perfect time in history. Right was right and wrong was wrong. You could depend on those who were in charge to do the right thing. Teachers and policemen were respected, and children had manners. Of course if each one of these guys really looked back and remembered honestly, 1955 wasn’t perfect. Social injustice abounded in 1955, but children were isolated from it in rural Texas. So it doesn’t take a lot to understand how each of these guys’ life philosophy developed. As the smart people always said, you are a product of your environment.

There were another half dozen regulars but the aforementioned became the focus of Jake’s List.

There was one thing that the coffee drinking crew could agree on: Our national government stank. Didn’t matter if they were Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian, they all needed to be lined in front of a wall and shot. It was actually their red-necked friend, Billy Joe, which first said it. He, of course always added, Let God sort’em out. Billy probably had no less than twenty guns, and the Second Amendment ranked as his most cherished right. All were in agreement that every politician had sold out to the corporate lobbyists. Every decision was linked to whether or not it helped them or the party. Not much or any thought was given to whether or not that decision helped America. The crew was equally in agreement that nothing was going to change and that America, like the Roman Empire, was on its last legs and that their children and grandchildren did not have much of a future. It was the hypocrisy that bothered the crew. It didn’t matter where you stood on the issues. You could be conservative, liberal or middle-of-the-road, but you should display some backbone and if you were going to talk, then you should walk-the-walk. The only thing consistent in Washington was the lack of any moral compass.

Jake often reminded the group that the vast majority of the middle class had already disappeared, and the country was down to haves and have-nots. While most of the developing countries were trying to build up their middle class, America had done a first rate job of destroying theirs.

When Billy first said those famous words of Kill them all and let God sort ‘em out, it got a good laugh, even from Jake. It was Jake, however, who pushed the proverbial snowball down from the mountain top.

What we need, said Jake one morning, is a list of the sorriest SOB’s in this country: government, corporate, preachers, teachers, and Indian chiefs. The ones who have done the most damage to our country, our society, to this country’s moral fabric. Continuing, They need to be pointed out by common people, common Americans. I’m tired of ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News grinding out the same shit day after day and brain washing the average American into what they think is good or bad. We know good from bad. I’m tired of Hollywood and record producers brainwashing our kids into how they should act, behave, or dress. Add those assholes, as well.

Well, said Jack, You sound just as re-necked as Billy Joe. Much as we would like, this country ain’t never going to be like it was when we were kids in the ‘50’s.

I know that, laughed Jake, but I still feel like this country needs an enema, get rid of all those turds. Probably get worse to take their place, but just the same, it needs to be done.

Great plan, said Doc, But exactly how is this grand scheme suppose to work?

This is when the youngest, Jerry, offered his two bits. What you need is a website, so people can nominate an asshole.

Is that possible? asked Doc.

Sure, all you would need is to write a program that would tally entrants, so if I nominate Congressman John Smith, and a fellow in Wisconsin nominates him too, he would having a running total of 2 or conceivably 2 million. Depends on how many people think he is a jerk.

How would people even know the website exists? Asked Jake.

Well, you give it a catchy title, and tie it into all kind of political and social keywords.

Could you do it? asked Jake.

Not really, but I have a friend who designs websites on the side. Let me talk to him.

Political forums are really popular on the internet, so we wouldn’t be doing anything that new. You know we might even make a few dollars from advertising if it caught on. All depends on how many hits we get. offered Jerry.

Well, talk to your friend and let us know, said Jake. Wouldn’t it be great to let those jerks know what the public really thinks of them? You know. The big fish, like the President, Judges, Senate, and House leaders will top the list, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of professional sport people, actors and singers, and such show up on the list. Maybe even me. It might actually embarrass them enough to change their ways, though I seriously doubt that.

Like a lot of great