Russell Andrews - Midas

My administration has been working very closely with the FBI and the CIA since the bombing at Harper’s. I must commend our intelligence agencies, for they have moved swiftly, decisively, and effectively, which is not easy when dealing with the kinds of shadowy networks we’re dealing with. As a result of their actions we now know the identity of the first terror suspect, the madman who blew himself up in Harper’s, killing so many people. His name is Bashar Shabaan. He was an Iraqi citizen, with links to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, and he had been living here, in the United States, for three years. We not only know Bashar Shabaan’s identity, we know other members of his terrorist cell and we know the members of his family who provided aid in his evil scheme. Many of those cell members and family members have been arrested and the remaining ones are about to be picked up and arrested. They will be questioned, and, believe me, when we are done, we will have all the answers we need to have. And they will receive all the punishment they deserve to receive.

We also know the identity of today’s bomber: Muaffak Abbas. He was a Saudi, also with links to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, and we have already rounded up family members and supporters for interrogation. We are looking for any and all links between these two villains, and if those links exist, we will find them. And we will find anyone else, any individuals, any groups, connected to them as well. I should add that the Saudi government has been extraordinarily supportive and helpful and wants to make it clear to all Americans that they abhor any and all acts of terrorism and will continue to do their best to rid their country and the world of such evildoers.

As you can tell from these results, we have moved swiftly, we will continue to move swiftly, and we will get results.

Standing beside me are Vice President Phillip Dandridge; the attorney general of the United States, Jeffrey Stuller; and the assistant attorney general, Ted Ackland. I have spent the last several hours with Phil and Jeff and with Teddy, along with some other key advisers. The vice president has been put in charge of the task force investigating the recent attacks and our enemies responsible for them. He is reporting directly to me. At first, I was going to step aside and let the vice president and the attorney general tell you about some of the decisions and plans that were made today. But then I decided no, I want to speak directly to you myself. Partly because, as everyone knows, next year is an election year and I will be stepping down after two terms, and I in no way want to politicize these proceedings, just as I hope no politician, from either party, tries to politicize these tragedies. But mostly I’m speaking to you because these are things I believe in so deeply and so passionately. These are things upon which hang the future of America, the future of the world as we know it. And I want to make it clear that I expect support for our vision of the future. Not my vision, not the vice president’s vision, but our vision-America’s vision. I expect bilateral support from the Senate and the Congress, support from the media by having fair and accurate reporting, support from judges who will stop their activist agenda so we can do what is right for the country, and military and political support from our allies around the rest of the world. There used to be a saying: You are either part of the solution or you are part of the problem. I’ll say this: If you are part of the problem, get the hell out of our way or we will sweep you out of our way, because right now I am only interested in solutions.

To that end, I am going to ask Congress to pass what we are calling the Triumph of Freedom Act. And I am asking that it be passed unanimously to show our support not just for the dead, for those who died in these two horrible attacks, but for the living, those who care about protecting our future.

What is the Triumph of Freedom Act? It’s many things. Mostly it will guarantee that terrorists and terrorism will never get a foothold in our country. We will wipe them out with several bold strokes-and the first stroke will start now, with this Act.

The Triumph of Freedom Act means that we will be able to put any terror suspect’s DNA in a national data bank. This will be an enormous benefit to everyone, to all agencies fighting this sort of horrific crime.

We will be able to clamp down on and seize any assets found in Arab hawala transactions. Hawala is where cash is exchanged and funneled to terrorists.

We will be able to get business records without a court order in all terrorism probes.

We will be able to track wireless communications with a roving warrant.

We will be able to revoke U.S. citizenship of anyone we suspect of militant extremism.

We will be using volunteer civilian groups, trained and armed civilian groups, as terrorist deterrents.

We will be imposing a mandatory death penalty on all known terrorists and anyone known to aid terrorists.

Terrorists and known terror suspects will no longer have the same rights as the American citizens they are trying to destroy. We will no longer tolerate government policies that protect the very people who are threatening to dismantle our government.

Many more details will emerge over the next forty-eight hours. But what I would like to make clear to our friends and to our enemies is this: if we are struck, we will strike back and our strikes will be far more forceful, harder than anything you can possibly imagine. If we believe we are going to be struck, we will strike before you, and those strikes will be just as forceful. I believe this to be my mission as president of the United States: not merely to eradicate terrorists and terrorism but to eradicate the idea of terrorism.

This is a sad and tragic day. But it may also, sometime soon, be seen as a day of hope, optimism, and renewal because it is the day when we declare to people around the world that we are a free nation, under God, and that we will remain so long after our enemies have disappeared.

Thank you and God bless you all.

Justin Westwood spent that evening the same way most of the country did: watching the president’s speech and the omnipresent media coverage that followed it. There was disturbing and intimate film of the bombing-or rather its immediate aftermath-and, partly due to the excessive commentary, it was like watching a gruesome instant replay of the destruction at Harper’s. Interspersed with the painful footage were responses and declarations by various public officials. Senators and congressmen from both major parties were backing the president one hundred percent. The support of the American public was nearly as strong: instant polls were taken immediately after the speech and Anderson’s words received a ninety-two pecent favorable rating. Despite the president’s stated intent not to politicize his actions, the political ramifications were huge and immediate. Within an hour after the president’s speech, a record sixty-eight percent of Americans said they would be voting for Dandridge in the next election no matter who he ran against. Everyone in the government-from both parties-assured the nation that the Triumph of Freedom Act would pass handily. Everyone promised that this was a fight we would not lose.

The most forceful and impressive performance came from Ted Ackland, the assistant attorney general of the United States, who, according to political rumormongers, was very much in the running to be Phil Dandridge’s vice presidential running mate. Ackland was a handsome man, in his mid-forties, Clark Kent-looking with his horn-rimmed glasses and conservative suit and his lean, clearly chiseled body. Ackland was the most eloquent member of the administration, soft-spoken yet commanding, and when he elaborated on the T.O.F. Act-pronounced “tough”-as it was already being labeled, he was both convincing and reassuring. It was hard to dislike Ackland. He did not have the hard edges-or the controversial background-of Attorney General Stuller. Jeff Stuller made people ill at ease, sometimes even frightened them, including members of his own party. He was a man of stern religious upbringing and never wavered in his moral convictions, of which he had many. Pornographers were akin to murderers in Stuller’s book. Foul language was a violation of freedom of speech equal to words of treason. He was famous for never having danced, even with his wife, for dancing was not embraced by his Pentecostal religion, as it was considered frivolous and overtly sensual. The joke, often repeated in the print media, was that Stuller did not believe in sex-because it led to dancing. He was a stern man, with steely eyes and a steelier demeanor. His politics-as a two-term governor of Wisconsin and a one-term senator from the same state-were just as unwavering. He had, at various times in his political career, been branded as racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-civil rights. Stuller rarely responded to such criticism. He didn’t seem to even care about anything his detractors said. When Jeffrey Stuller spoke, it was clear that he did not believe he had ever been wrong or ever would be wrong.