The Republic

By Jonathan Cook

A world-famous black civil rights attorney has uncovered a sinister plot to undermine and overthrow the US government and replace the existing republic with a Socialist/Marxist-style government. He is assisted in his efforts to expose the World Order Syndicate by a gay female Department of Justice attorney and two unwitting Harvard law students.

The fast-paced story moves from the Texas Hill Country to Boston to Washington, DC, to New York City and several locations in between. While it is a work of fiction, it is based on the political discourse and rancor taking place in the current political environment. Are the extreme political positions being discussed today just a maturation of random events and circumstances, or are they part of a long-term strategy that began in the 1950s in colleges and universities? Is there a World Order Syndicate made up of billionaires and neo-Bolsheviks who have been promoting and financing this effort with the final objective of replacing US capitalism with a Socialist/Marxist government?

With the unstoppable move to the far left, Texas becomes the focal point of establishing a government that maintains the values and bill of rights the constitution provides its citizens. This succession effort to form a new republic in Texas is met with strong resistance, betrayal, and unthinkable violence from the establishment, with the ultimate success always in doubt.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662468223

Jonathan Cook

Jonathan Cook is a former staff journalist for the Guardian and Observer newspapers. He is the author of Israel and the Clash of Civilisations (Pluto, 2008), A Doctor in Galilee (Pluto, 2006) and Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State (Pluto, 2006). He has also written for The Times, Le Monde diplomatique, International Herald Tribune, Al-Ahram Weekly and Aljazeera.net. He is based in Nazareth.

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The Republic

Jonathan Cook

Copyright © 2022 Jonathan Cook

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-6624-6821-6 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-6823-0 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-6624-6822-3 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

The Republic Characters

About the Author

Chapter 1

Jason used his right hand to cup his watch on his left wrist to shield the light from showing. He pushed the button on his watch and the digital readout displayed 1:58 a.m., July 2—two days before July 4. How ironic. The Continental Congress declared its freedom from Britain on July 2, 1776, followed by signing the Declaration of Independence two days later on July 4. Two minutes later, the blast was so loud it actually shook the ground, followed by the shock wave, which was mixed with atomized water from the stream below. The shock wave hit Jason in the face like a hard smack from a wet towel. As he shook his head to regain his senses, he saw the railroad bridge collapsing in what appeared to be slow motion. After what seemed like several minutes, but actually several seconds, the shattered wooden railroad ties and twisted iron rails laid in a heap at the bottom of the valley with dust and smoke slowly rising in an almost surreal picture. Jason thought, How in God's name did we get to this point where we're actually destroying our own country's infrastructure in the name of resistance?

Jason Nance Garner is the great-grandson and middle namesake of John Nance Garner, known as Cactus Jack. The Nance family name has been handed down for more generations in the Garner family than anyone can remember. Also, the ranch has been in the family for what seems like forever and has evolved from a small cattle ranch with a handful of pecan trees to a huge business of growing, harvesting, and processing pecans on an industrial-size operation.

The current male lineage of Garners consists of John Cactus Jack Nance Garner, his son John Nance Garner II, his grandson Walter Nance Garner, and his great-grandson Jason Nance Garner.

Cactus Jack had a long and distinguished political career in Texas and Washington, DC. After holding several political offices in Texas, then in the US Congress, Cactus Jack was nominated to speaker of the house followed by serving as FDR's vice president from 1933 through 1941. Cactus Jack was a conservative Southern Blue Dog Democrat who was a fiscally responsible centrist. He split with FDR over Roosevelt's attempt to increase the number of Supreme Court justices from nine and the outrageous spending for the New Deal.

After returning home to Texas from DC, Cactus Jack moved to his family's ranch and started a small law practice in Austin to keep his hands in the state political scene. His reputation was so widespread and well regarded he obtained more clients than he could handle, so the firm grew very rapidly. He named the ranch Cactus Jack Ranch and initiated an aggressive expansion of the pecan operations along with purchasing contiguous land for a major expansion in the size of the ranch.

The Cactus Jack Ranch is located about 160 miles southwest of Austin in the hill country of Uvalde County, Texas. It is a sprawling ranch with a huge home and several outbuildings, including barns for the horses and farm equipment storage buildings for the growing and harvesting of pecans. Most of the farmhands come from the Hispanic community surrounding the ranch except for the farm manager Oscar Alvarez and his wife, Maria, who live in a home on the property. The couple had worked for the family for over thirty years, with Oscar managing the farm operations and Maria managing the functioning of the house.

Jason's grandfather, John Nance Garner II, had a privileged but difficult childhood growing up in the shadow of his father, Cactus Jack. The flamboyant Cactus Jack was well-known in the political circles of Texas and, more importantly, well-known in the political elite of Washington, DC. Cactus Jack expected John to follow in his footsteps by attending the University of Texas in Austin, then Harvard Law School, followed by pursuing a political career in Texas, then Washington. While John was not totally opposed to the life and career Cactus Jack had designed for him, he was just as strong-willed as his father and was much more interested in pursuing a career as a lawyer, with politics as a possibility later on in life.

While attending college in the early 1960s at the University of Texas in Austin, John met his soul mate. She was not a student at UT. She worked in the college bookstore, and for whatever undefinable reason, the first time she and John looked at each other, he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She had a way of looking at you with what appeared to be a Mona Lisa smile, or maybe she wasn't smiling at all. She was a beautiful girl from Latin America who was brought to the US as a young child and in the country illegally. His self-assurance and brashness started melting away as he stood in line to pay for the bookstore items.

When he finally got to the cash register, she flashed a lovely smile and said, Hi, I don't believe I've seen you here before.

His head and chest were both pounding, and his stomach was churning to the degree he thought he may be sick.

John mumbled some incoherent response and reached for the money in his jeans, which flew in all directions as he yanked bills and change from his front pocket. As he quickly reached down to grab the money, he cracked his head on the counter, leaving a red whelp. It was almost like a comedy routine from the silent movie star Charlie Chaplin. Everyone standing in line laughed and started corralling the loose coins to return to him.

John looked at her beautiful black hair, olive skin, and incredible dark eyes that you could lose yourself in and mumbled, I'm so sorry. I don't know what got into me.

The guy in line behind John said, We all know what got into you, pal. Just get her phone number and move along.

Everyone waiting in line to pay laughed, and John's face turned bright red. John finished his purchase, and she grabbed his hand to give him the receipt. His hand felt warm and tingly, and he noticed a name, Wauneta, and telephone number written on the receipt. He just looked at her with a nervous smile but no response. After he left the bookstore, he played the encounter with Wauneta over and over in his mind, always with the same embarrassing outcome.

Several days passed before John worked up the nerve to call Wauneta. His college roommate noticed that John mooned around the dorm room all day with no apparent interest in doing anything other than going to class.

Finally, his roommate said, Call her, John, or move to a different room. You're bringing me down with you. I want college to be fun.

John made the call, and when he heard her voice, the image of her popped into his mind, and the numbness started to overtake his brain again. He started stammering and stuttering, and before he could get anything coherent out of his mouth, Wauneta said, I will meet you at Bailey's at seven.

Bailey's was a local watering hole mostly frequented by University of Texas college students. John arrived at Bailey's at 5:45 p.m. and sat in nervous anticipation until Wauneta arrived just a little after 7:00 p.m. She spotted John and hurried across the room and took his hand as she sat down.

She said, I'm so sorry I'm late. You really didn't respond when we talked on the phone, so I didn't know if you'd show.

John sort of nodded and was acutely aware of her holding his hand, which his gaze focused on because the warmth and tingling feeling were returning.

Wauneta noticed his gaze, let go of his hand, and said, Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so forward.

He said, No, no, I love it.

She said, I just got off work, and I'm starved. Can we get something to eat? I'll pay.

John said, Of course, but it's my treat.

They ordered burgers and beers. While Wauneta wolfed down her meal, John's stomach was churning to the point he only sipped on his beer and barely touched his burger. When they finished their meals, or in John's case partially finished, Wauneta said, I have to run to watch my little brother while my dad goes to work.

John, wanting to prolong their date as long as possible, said the first thing that popped in his mind and immediately knew it was probably an inappropriate question to ask. What's your father's name, and where does he work?

Wauneta paused and looked at John for several seconds, wondering if she really wanted to start exchanging personal information so soon after they had met.

She was really attracted to him, so she said, His name is Walter, and he's a custodian at the college. I really have to run.

In panic mode, before she left, John said, Can we get together again?

She said, Sure, this weekend when Dad's off work.

He was smitten from the top of his head to the bottom of his toes. They met the following weekend and almost every day thereafter, even though the weekday dates were cut short due to Wauneta's job at the bookstore and her being required to be home by 8:00 p.m. to babysit her nine-year-old brother.

John learned that Wauneta's mother died from complications during childbirth. Her father, Walter, was doing all he could to keep the family together while working in the shadows to be able to remain in the US, making sure Wauneta and her little brother had a chance for a better life. She adored her father and would never purposely hurt him.

After a couple of months, their relationship turned intimate, and John was thinking about marriage, but he was very concerned about how his father, Cactus Jack, would respond to his relationship with Wauneta. John met Wauneta's father, Walter, shortly after they started dating. It took some convincing for John to prove to Walter that he truly loved his daughter and that it was his honorable intention to marry her after college.

It was his junior year in college before John worked up the courage to tell his father about Wauneta and that he planned to marry her. John made the trip to the ranch and had a sit-down with his father. Cactus Jack listened intently and in silence while John explained his chance meeting and relationship with Wauneta.

After John was finished, Cactus Jack said, Listen, John, I understand the desires and yearnings of a young man your age, but to be successful in politics, a man must have a traditional family. Have your fun with this young lady while you're in college, but marriage is out of the question.

John was dumbfounded, but his father's personality was so strong and aggressive that John didn't object or respond. He decided to get his degree, and he and Wauneta would get married with or without his father's blessing. Wauneta knew there was a problem with John's father accepting her, but she had fallen deeply in love with John, and she knew he felt the same about her.

Everything was going as planned until Wauneta got pregnant. While they were both elated at first, then reality set in that they had to break the news to both of their fathers, and the expense for prenatal care and hospitals would require money they didn't have.

When Walter was told the news, while he was disappointed at their behavior, he knew that John truly loved his daughter and that he was going to marry her and was actually somewhat excited about becoming a grandfather.

John traveled to the Cactus Jack Ranch to tell his father. He started by saying something had come up, and he needed money, and he would pay his father back when he was employed after college. John assumed his father would ask what the money was for, and he would tell him about Wauneta being pregnant. His father said nothing. He took out his checkbook, wrote a check for five thousand dollars, and told John to take care of the situation.

Cactus Jack said, Do you understand what I'm saying, John?

John took the check and understood exactly what his father was saying, but there was no way he and Wauneta were going to abort the baby.

A healthy baby boy was born at full term, but like her mother, Wauneta suffered septic shock in childbirth, and before she died, she asked John to name the baby after her father. John named the baby Walter and never really recovered from the death of his soul mate. Little Walter stayed with Wauneta's dad until John graduated from UT, then he took him to the Cactus Jack Ranch to stay with his grandfather while John attended Harvard Law School. Before Cactus Jack died, he grew to love his grandson little Walter more than life and was truly remorseful about suggesting John and Wauneta abort the child.

After Harvard Law School and passing the Texas Bar, John went to work at the law firm Cactus Jack had started in Austin. At that time, John had little interest in politics. He rapidly became the managing partner, and his sole focus and desire was to raise his son and grow the firm to become a force in Austin and even in the entire state of Texas.

While there were many available women who tried to catch his attention, John's immediate reaction was to compare them to Wauneta, which dissolved any interest he may have had. He buried himself in work and never seriously gave dating a second thought. The older John became, the more he realized he was not all that much different from his father, Cactus Jack. While John never personally ran for political office, he and the law firm were highly regarded at the Austin State House and in the Texas legislature.

All Walter knew of his mother were from some pictures John cherished and the stories his father told of their life before her death. John's eyes would well up in tears whenever he spoke of Wauneta to his son. For many years, Walter suffered from guilt that he was the cause of his mother's death. John and Walter made regular visits to Wauneta's father and her brother until Walter Sr. died from a heart attack, and her younger brother moved back to Guatemala to be with their extended family. It was not until Walter met his wife, Carla, and they started a family of their own that the guilt of his mother's death started to dissipate.

While driving home from high school, Walter saw a young Latino girl about his own age sitting on a park bench, shivering from the cold with a Border Patrol blanket wrapped around her. She looked eerily similar to the pictures of his deceased mother, so Walter pulled the car to the curb and stopped. He hesitantly approached her and said in the best Spanish he could muster, Are you okay? Can I help you? At first, she was reluctant to respond, but when she looked at him, she could see the kindness in his face and eyes. She poured out her story in part broken English and fluid Spanish, basically saying she was waiting for her husband, who was looking for work. Walter was touched by her story and gave her some money and directions to the Cactus Jack Ranch. He told her to bring her husband to the ranch the following day and ask for him at the gate. John was annoyed that Walter hired a laborer for the pecan harvest without getting his approval, but when he saw Maria, he immediately knew why Walter did it.

Like his father, John, Walter met his wife while attending UT, and also like his father, he immediately realized the pretty blonde with the terrific smile was the girl for him. Both were attending UT, and Carla was in a sorority while Walter pledged a fraternity. Carla was a gentle soul who always saw the best in everyone she met. She displayed the grace and charm of a Texas belle, but she had an air of authenticity that everyone who came in contact with her was disarmed and immediately felt they had known her all their lives.

Their relationship continued and deepened while Walter attended Harvard Law School. After he graduated, they decided to get married, and Carla was adamant that the wedding should be held at the Cactus Jack Ranch. The wedding ceremony took place inside of the beautiful estate home with Carla descending down the curved stairway in the main hall. She was absolutely breathtaking in her wedding gown, and Walter thought he was the luckiest man on earth. The lavish reception was on the front lawn with a traditional Texas theme, including a sit-down Tex-Mex meal and a strolling mariachi band during the meal. This was followed by a popular Texas Country & Western band with dancing and drinking most of the night. The next morning, Carla told Walter she couldn't wait until they had children, and she could help plan such a wonderful wedding like they had experienced.

Walter and Carla moved to the Cactus Jack Ranch to live with John and started a family with their daughter, Janet, being born about a year later, followed by Jason a couple of years thereafter. John was adamant that his grandchildren follow in the footsteps of Cactus Jack, himself, and Walter by attending college at UT and Harvard Law School. Walter was sort of noncommittal, not wanting to upset John, but Carla was just as adamant that the kids could choose their own future. This resulted in some tense discussions, but Carla held her ground with John, and over time, he came to respect her opinion and even love her tenacity.

Walter and Carla's firstborn, Janet, is a beautiful young lady about five feet nine inches tall, slender build, bright-blue eyes, blond hair but not too blond, and has recently been promoted to an associate position to the US assistant attorney general in Washington, DC.

While growing up and living on the Cactus Jack Ranch, she was very conscious of her privilege and status being a Garner. She was constantly involved in charity programs in the community and had an unquenchable desire to help her fellow man wherever she could. She wasn't sure if this desire was out of guilt or that she was just one of those individuals who were born with this passion. Her parents and grandfather were very proud of her involvement, but they encouraged her to take some time for herself and associate with her classmates and start dating. Janet did not have a desire to date, but she did enjoy the company of a female classmate who