One Nation Under Me: The Peril Within

By Robert E. Donahoe Jr.

After retiring from the military, Nate Taylor was encouraged to run for congress for The State of Tennessee. During his first term in office, the nation's Capital would come under siege by followers of a renegade brigadier general. The siege on the Capitol was a feint to misdirect the administration's resources. The general's aim was to gain access to an ultra-secret intelligence-gathering agency known as ATLAS. This agency resided in the subterranean levels of the former Central Heating Plant, along the banks of the Potomac River that once served the government buildings on Capitol Hill.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9781667894423

Book preview

Prologue

The nation was feeling good about itself. The fifties were a decade of optimism and pride. The suburbs were expanding at an exponential rate driven by the pent-up demand for single-family homes and the golden age of automobiles. If you didn’t have at least one hundred pounds of chrome on your vehicle, you were not keeping up with the Joneses.

Families grew as well. It seemed as if every household had three to five kids. Some, even more. All you had to do was step outside and within minutes there were enough kids on your block to start a pick-up game of wiffle ball or at least maybe a game of kick the can. There wasn’t Internet in those days. The likelihood was only one television in the home that could pull in three or maybe four stations, if lucky. That was the norm, so this got the kids to socialize outside. Sure, there were plenty of fights and some bullying, but you learned how to deal with it early on with little intervention from your parents. Kids grew up quickly.

Even television shows were so much different back then. Shows like Father Knows Best, Ozzie & Harriet and The Ed Sullivan Show were in the mainstream. I’d be amiss not to mention my favorite Western programs such as the Lone Ranger, and The Rifleman. Most of the good guys wore white, and the bad guys were always in black with grizzled faces and shabby attire.(1) Sure, there was lots of action with guns and people falling to the ground, but we took it for what it was—just entertainment. There were very few graphic depictions of blood-ridden corpses or severed appendages. There were standards to maintain. These were family shows, and I would like to emphasize ‘family’. Indeed, native Americans were mostly depicted in a different light on television back then. That said, the writers did not design the shows to foster ill will or sway you into thinking any other culture was inferior to another. It was not to stir up racism or exploit cultural differences. This was way before political correctness, or when Cancel Culture, the Woke Movement, or the QAnon Conspiracy Theory took root in society. It was a time that depicted right from wrong and good versus evil. The syndicates were not trying to brainwash anybody. They were in the business of entertainment.

Then came the sixties. Comedy and drama took root based upon highly successful shows like Leave It to Beaver, and Perry Mason of the late fifties. Suddenly, the writers found a whole alternative universe to apply their talent.

The Dick Van Dyke Show and My Three Sons were perhaps the most wholesome and entertaining shows of the early sixties. It struck a chord with all generations. Then followed The Andy Griffith Show, to name another. These shows were ridiculously funny and had no pretense of being anything other than family entertainment.

With the success of wartime movies in the fifties, a new genre for television series was being developed. The Gallant Men, Combat, and Twelve O’clock High were based on WWII in the European Theater. It showed what valor was all about. It showed what the American spirit personified. Again, no subversive messaging or political connotations. Just a glimpse of what that generation dealt with, albeit a bit sanitized for viewer entertainment.

This timeframe of the fifties and early sixties provided escapism from the real-world threats that were just emerging. The Korean conflict had ended, leaving a scar on the fabric of the American psyche. Communism was creeping around the globe. The unforgettable chilling words: "We will bury you" from Communist political leader Nikita Khrushchev sent a shockwave through every American old enough to understand that we could all be speaking Russian one day. Then came Sputnik. Suddenly, many on both sides of the political spectrum who had fears of the growing presence of this nation’s mighty military/industrial establishment thought that it might not be such a bad thing after all. We needed strength. We wanted protection.

Even after almost two hundred years, the nation still struggled with its identity. Don’t misunderstand that notion. There will always be those that think it has got to be their way or the highway. There was plenty of tension and strife going on around the country. Racism was rearing its ugly head. It was always there, just not at the forefront. We have television to thank for bringing the twentieth century into focus for the American people. It opened a lot of eyes. Mostly for the good. But some saw it as an opportunistic way to further themselves. Some exploited the situation. Others used it as a propaganda tool for their selfish ambitions. You could say the nation was going through its second adolescence. The nation survived a revolution, civil war, world wars, and conflicts far from home. It was now ready to take the next big step and become what our forefathers hoped we would become. One nation under God with liberty and justice for all.

Before we knew it, communism had spread just ninety miles from our shores. The Bay of Pigs left an indelible stain on national intelligence agencies. American politics took a big hit. The Cuban Missile Crisis brought us and the world to the brink. Our nation stood its ground and prevailed during that thirty-five-day confrontation in 1962. Almost one year later to the day, the nation suffered its worst tragedy in modern history with the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The public was losing faith in the government’s ability to protect its leaders and to tell the truth.

Vietnam became the new albatross around America’s neck. What started as just a handful of military advisors turned into tens of thousands of troops waging war some eight thousand miles away. Many of the raw recruits were the first offspring of the greatest generation. Again, the government didn’t think the public had a stomach for what was happening in other parts of the world, so it tried to keep a lid on its failures and exaggerate its successes, but the press was embedded with the troops on the ground. Almost every evening, the news stations reported and showed the death and destruction occurring on both sides. The public had reached its boiling point when the news stations broadcasted the sheer horror during the Tet Offensive in 1968. Everything was about to come crashing down on the nation’s leaders.

The late sixties and early seventies were a time of turmoil. No longer would the baby-boomer generation stand by and let the politicians pursue their agenda and ignore the will of the people. It all came to a head under the Nixon administration with Watergate, leading to his resignation. The public didn’t trust Nixon and Nixon didn’t trust anybody. The nation reflected on where we were going and how to move on.

The rest of the seventies and into the early eighties was a time when the last of the baby boomers had grown up, married, and started their families. Their attention to politics took a back seat as they focused on raising children and working at the same time. It was getting to be commonplace to have both parents working and jockeying to see who would watch their kids. Daycare was the solution for many. For these working parents, the Internet and cable news were more of a distraction than a tool to help with their lifestyle.

The Reagan era of the mid- to late eighties showed promise that America’s new leader could straighten out the mess his most recent predecessors left behind. And to some extent, it worked. Inflation was high, but interest rates had leveled off, and the economy was picking up steam. This gave the public confidence, leaving less fodder for the naysayers to complain about. The fall of the Soviet empire gave hope for new democracies. Moderate conservatives were winning the day, but a wave of more liberal ideals was taking hold. Conservatism seemed to be pushed aside as progressive agendas were flourishing within the beltway.

The real transitioning of how the American people thought about politics and the world started in the early nineties as the fledging cable news networks, with their insatiable desire to gain a foothold in the ever-expanding media universe, began. They just wanted to gain their viewers’ share and be taken seriously. Their goals were just and their values sincere. But they had an eight-hundred-pound gorilla to contend with, known as the world wide web. The Internet was becoming the darling of the world.

I believe it was January 1991 during Desert Shield and subsequently Desert Storm when the public got hooked on cable news. It gave round-the-clock news in almost real time. Never did we have at our disposal this much information so easily available. The public became addicted.

The growth of cable news mushroomed in the mid-nineties, and the owners of these networks could see it happening before their very eyes. Well, you didn’t have to be a scholar to see where this was going. Here was the opportunity for every cable network to vie to be the leader in the media industry. It was their chance to reign supreme in network ratings and pull exorbitant amounts of money into their coffers by selling advertising slots, much like their predecessors in the broadcasting industry. The tried-and-true broadcast news, along with the printed news that graced generations before cable, was losing viewership precipitously. Just about everyone was hooked on cable and the Internet.

Somewhere along the way, several of these cable news networks altered their course. Much of the actual news got slanted to their way of thinking. Some stations tried to sensationalize their reporting techniques to a level of fear-mongering the uninformed. The other cable networks couldn’t let this stand without creating their own doctrine on how to sway viewers from the competition. They would also go to unheard-of extremes to be the number one news organization. It didn’t matter whether it was on the left or the right. What mattered most was to beat the other guys into oblivion, regardless of whether the news was thoroughly vetted or even newsworthy. They felt that the more sensationalized the purported story was, the more people would tune in to their broadcast. Their other mantra was to belittle the opposition at any chance they got.

Of course, the cable news organizations had standards, but certain personalities who worked for these organizations kept on pushing the limit. They had their agenda. The more they got away with embellishing, the more deviant their rhetoric became. Ultimately, a growing number of personalities and the like took complete advantage of the situation and decided they were smarter than their bosses and the public. This led to inflated egos as they believed in their bullshit.

These so-called news network celebrities gained an almost fanatical following that further stoked their egos and promoted more outrageous and opinionated storylines. The term ‘fanatical’ would describe those past days when the weak-minded or aimlessly lost souls needed someone to tell them what to do and how to do it. Those were scary times.

But why? Why were so many people falling for these extreme antics? Were we becoming a nation of followers wanting to be led? Or were we just fed up with the direction the country was going in? Whatever happened to telling the news the way it is? It worked for Walter!(2)

Let’s face it, national politics has played a major role. I don’t remember a time when there were so many egotistical people in prominent positions in my lifetime. Let’s be clear. Most politicians want to do the right thing and serve their constituents to the best of their ability. But a certain fringe has tarnished this once admirable profession. This fringe element has ulterior motives. The most obvious reasons are wealth and power. Like the adage ‘Money is the root of all evil’. I don’t think that is always true, but it is an interesting theory. That said, and without a doubt in my mind, I believe that democracy and capitalism are the two pillars of the greater good. If those two pillars stay on a solid foundation, the world would be a better place.

I am concerned with these unfiltered politicians and news media personalities just trying to grab attention. They need their egos stroked. Perhaps they are lacking self-esteem or have serious psychological issues, likely fermented during their childhood years. Perhaps they were not raised with honorable ideals and righteous values. They may have been neglected, bullied, ridiculed, or even abused. We may never know. Something twisted their thought process.

We all have heroes. Some of us were fortunate enough to witness their accomplishments until their untimely deaths. Take JFK, Martin Luther King Jr, or even Ronald Reagan. Then there were the ones like Winston Churchill, Dwight D. Eisenhower, FDR, and Abraham Lincoln. Those men led us through the direst of times. Who do we have today? Can anybody give me a name that personifies leadership, integrity, and humility? You know the type. The one that weighs all the options and considers the consequences before putting lives on the line for the greater good. Not to garner votes for the next election but to protect our way of life now and for future generations.

We need to be free thinkers. Common sense is what we need to use. We need to have a moral compass, an obligation to care for the weak, and stand up against the tyrants that want to shape the world in their fashion. If history hasn’t taught us anything, then we are doomed to repeat the atrocities that have come before us. We need to learn from the lessons of the past.

So, this story delves into all the trappings of current events and political agendas that provide the basis for writing political suspense wrapped around the hoopla of the media and, in particular, the cable news networks. It is fiction, but it could be construed as what could have been and what we could face now, or what might happen in the not-too-distant future. It is just a story with some potential events, real observations, and some cold-hard scenarios of where we could be heading. It is meant not to scare you. It’s meant to wake you up.

If recent history hasn’t given you any worry, then we will repeat the horrors of the past.

Chapter I

Breaking News

Wednesday, December 7—6:00 a.m. Morning News

Continental News Special Report with anchor Marty Wilson and lead correspondent Irene Papadopoulos.

"This is just in. We learned only several minutes ago that there has been a coup d’état attempt on the White House and other government buildings on Capitol Hill by a faction of the military establishment. The information is sketchy, but we have been informed several White House aides have been killed and we believe others to be held as hostages. There are what appear to be military vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, surrounding the White House, the Capitol Building, and other government buildings, with their guns facing outward. We repeat, their guns are pointing outward. There has been no word about the whereabouts of the president or vice-president. We will keep you posted as soon as we learn anything as this story develops. Let’s bring in our experts to discuss this historic moment."

Stars & Stripes Cable News Network

with Lena Morgan and Arthur Murray.

"News flash. SSCNN has confirmed there has been an insurrection on Capitol Hill. The details at this moment are fluid, but we have received inside information that a grassroot, homegrown revolutionary militia has stormed the inner sanctums of the White House and the Capitol Building with heavy armament, including rocket launchers and chemical weapons. The National Guard has been called upon to retake these cherished pillars of government by any means possible. Sources that wish to remain anonymous have also told us the active service has been put on alert, awaiting the order from their commander and chief to impose the Insurrection Act of 1807. At this moment, we do not know if the government is functioning, as we have just received some disconcerting news that President Shaw and Vice-President Barton have been taken hostage. We have with us now our team of experts to help us piece together the unfolding events...."

Independence News Network (INN)—Media Alert

with Kendra Hopkins and Mike DaSilva reporting.

Ladies and gentlemen. There is disturbing news coming from our local correspondents stationed at the White House. There are unconfirmed reports that a hostile takeover of the U.S. Government is in progress along the banks of the Potomac. Reports are flying in of hundreds of casualties already, and we only expect things to get worse. Many of the video feeds are being jammed, so we can’t bring you any real assessment of the situation. We do, however, have our very own contingent of political and military scholars networked live right now to give us a clearer picture of events happening on the ground. Please stand by.

***

It is important to note that none of these cable networks ever mentioned the irony of the day. Some eight decades earlier on this day, America was attacked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by the Japanese Empire. Other remote islands were also under siege that day, but they did not receive the attention so rightly deserved. Still, the scale and ferocity of the attack on the naval and air bases on Pearl were unmatched. However, this latest event had the makings to rival that day, as well as 9/11.

As Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed Congress later that fateful day, he said, "Today, December 7, 1941, a day that will live in infamy, the United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked."

***

Within an hour of the news breaking about the White House and other buildings under siege, the cable news networks were already attacking each other for inaccurate and unsubstantiated reports. It was like a free-for-all in the neighborhood playground. The only thing they got right was that an attack on the capital of the free world was taking place.

***

Congressman Nate Taylor from Tennessee was having his second cup of coffee at his favorite diner called Sweetwater Café on the outskirts of the town of Smyrna. He was then heading north to Stewart Creek Reservation to meet up with a couple of his marine aviator buddies for a few days of fishing and hunting. Fortunately, the House of Representatives was not in session and his committee obligations would not start back until the new year. This gave Nate a small window to travel back home and spend some time with his dad, and then catch up with his buddies before heading back up to the District of Columbia. He hadn’t been home for about a year.

Nate had attended the U.S. Naval Academy. He had graduated in the top third of his class and was considered a natural leader by his peers. Even his superiors could see his potential. Although the emphasis on the graduating class was to become officers on vessels of both surface and submerged variety, there was also a necessity for some to forge the path in avionics. Nate wanted his wings and was keen to be a marine aviator. During his childhood years, he flew his dad’s Cessna, then moved on to get his certification on Beechcraft twin turboprops upon graduating from high school. He was proficient in prop-driven aircraft and had a knack for anything mechanical. His dad was an aeronautical mechanic for the local airport in Smyrna, so Nate’s future was not too difficult to predict.

The television over the counter was on INN, which was currently the number one cable news network. Someone sitting at the counter cried out to turn the volume up on the television. Nate was sitting at a table with his back to the television screen. He was having less and less interest in what was spewing over the networks. But this commotion caused him to almost spill his second cup of coffee.

This part of Tennessee was predominately Republican, but Nate was a Democrat. That didn’t cause any animosity or tension with the locals, though. Nate was a home-grown war hero. His baptism by fire came when he led a squadron of F-35B Lightning IIs off the deck of The USS Essex to a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan. En route their designation, a pilot’ heads-up display was malfunctioning, so he had to turn back with an escort for protection. Nate and the remaining squadron continued to their target. Once within range, they re-acquired their satellite links, locked on to their target, and let loose with their two-thousand-pound laser-guided ground-penetrating bombs, which obliterated the enemy tunnel system.

On their way back to the carrier Essex, they learned it was not only an ammunition depot but also that two high-profile former al Qaeda leaders were there. Intelligence reports confirmed that a renegade faction of the Taliban had assembled, making plans to hit the presidential palace in Kabul. This gave his squadron something more to be celebratory about, but they were not out of the woods yet. Warning alarms bristled in their cockpits. Ground-to-air missiles were tracking one or more fighters in the squadron. A Russian-built S400 anti-aircraft battery had lit up his wingman’s plane. A quick visual inspection by Nate found one of the payload doors did not close fully, compromising its stealth capabilities and allowing the radar of the S400 system to track and lock on to the not-so-stealthy aircraft. His Senior First Officer’s instruments did not display that the weapons bay door was still open. That was the only known time that F-35Bs would be vulnerable. Nobody in the intelligence circles had any idea that the Taliban possessed this expensive and highly sophisticated Russian battery. This was Russia’s top-of-the-line defense system against aircraft. There were rumors that Iran possessed one of these systems and Turkey would soon purchase some, but nobody had the technical expertise to operate one unless the Russians staffed it.

Nate had to react fast. He instructed his squadron to turn east and deploy all electronic jamming countermeasures while he tried to make as bright a target as possible for the incoming missile diving to the west. The missile changed course and followed Nate’s aircraft. As soon as the imminent threat was just two hundred meters on his six, Nate subjected himself to an 8-G maneuver and pointed the nose straight up and pirouetting with full afterburners as he released his entire load of chaff. The gutsy maneuver worked. The missile exploded and rocked his aircraft like an empty beer can going over Niagara Falls. When the squadron made it back to Essex, they all gathered around Nate, including half the sailors on board. They marveled at all the holes and scars his aircraft had absorbed. It was almost a miracle any of the warhead fragments didn’t puncture the turbine blades or any of the critical avionics. Upon returning home from his deployment, they awarded Nate the Navy Cross for combat gallantry. Just as important, Nate earned the respect of all Tennesseans, regardless of their political persuasion.

***

The television news kept spewing out unconfirmed reports of the carnage in and around Washington, DC. Nate got on the phone to let his marine aviator buddies know he was returning to Washington, DC immediately. He also gave his buddies an adage only they would understand: ‘Si vis pacem, para bellum.’ Translation, ‘If you want peace, prepare for war.’

When he got off his cell phone, a crowd of patrons surrounded him, all trying to ask the same thing. Just what the hell was going on? He had to tell them he hadn’t a clue and he was in the dark as much as they were. He then left a twenty-dollar bill on the table, excused himself from the gathering crowd, and made his way to his car with some patrons still clinging to him. His next phone call was to his office. He knew it was early, but some members of his staff always seemed to be there. He needed to make sure everyone was okay and if they could give him the intel on what was happening. All he got was busy signals as he drove to the Smyrna airport just a few miles away.

He planned to fly up to Nashville where he would get the first commercial flight available to DC or to charter a private jet. Whatever would get him there as quickly as possible.

Arriving at the gate of the small airport, he could see the Cessna on the tarmac. He had learned to fly it with his dad when he was just twelve years of age. Then, when Nate retired from the service, his dad gave it to him. His dad’s flying days were over, but he still took great care of the almost fifty-year-old baby, knowing it would be Nate’s someday. His dad had bought it at a government auction after the Feds had confiscated it in a sting operation as it was being used to transport drugs up from Louisiana. The smuggling operation was short-lived. It seemed two of the smugglers got greedy and tried to set up their own operation by skimming ten percent of the dope and trying to sell it to an undercover FBI agent. They eventually caught the entire organization in the sting operation where they got twenty years in prison and all their assets seized. Nate’s dad, Jerry, got the Cessna for a song.

There was already a beefed-up contingent of local law enforcement and a few state police cruisers at the gate and perimeter. His credentials got him through without issue. With some help from his airport contacts, the Cessna was fueled up and the flight plan was approved. All he needed was clearance from the tower and he would be on his way. A moment later, the control tower crackled alive. They had grounded all commercial flights from all airports. Government and select corporate planes were being allowed to take flight until further notice. Being a member of Congress gave Nate authority, so he had to revise his flight plans and head directly to another private airport. Luckily, Nate knew most of the municipal and private airports where he could refuel and make his destination as close to the Capitol as possible. He needed to know if his executive assistant, Ellie, and the other staff were okay.

***

Ellie was just leaving her yoga class in the sub-basement of the Rayburn Building. The yoga classes started at 7:00 every morning in a converted storage room harking back to the sixties when paper records needed to be kept in heavy metal filing cabinets. The sub-basement was a maze of narrow tunnels emanating off the main tunnel directly under the House of Representatives complex, which also provided access to the Capitol Building. The main tunnel was used as the primary ingress and egress for government staff. It was also large enough for small vehicles or golf carts to travel through, albeit one way. All the rooms and offices in the sub-basement were reinforced concrete and had recently been renovated with new acoustic absorbing materials to mitigate the echo effects typically associated with concrete. Nobody in the yoga class could hear any of