Gordon Ryan - State of Rebellion

“Ah, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for joining us this morning. General Del Valle wanted to brief me on matters of import. I felt it appropriate that you participate. Some coffee, James?”

“If the ladies would please come to order.”

Matilda Westegaard lightly rapped her gavel, the banter throughout the room slowly faded, and attention was turned toward the rostrum.

“Thank you, thank you, ladies. As you all know, today we are privileged to hear from Mr. Daniel Rawlings, republican candidate for Yolo County’s Eighth Legislative District. Until recently, Mr. Rawlings was our county administrator. He has now announced his candidacy for the seat vacated by the tragic and unfortunate death of our most able representative, Arnold Fister. Only last year, Mr. Fister spoke from this very lectern, and we all miss him dearly.”

Murmurs of assent rippled through the room. Arnold Fister had been a handsome and charismatic man. Many of the ladies in the room had voted for him for no other reason than his perfectly coifed silver hair.

“It was my pleasure to have instructed Mr. Rawlings as a student,” she began, only to be interrupted by one of the ladies in the back, “For hell’s sake, Matilda, you had everybody here as a student. That’s no surprise!” At this, the room burst into spontaneous laughter, and Matilda blushed slightly.

“That’s true, Jackie Healy, and you haven’t changed one bit since those days. You’re still interrupting the class.” This was followed by more laughter from the room. “Now, if I could please get on with the introduction-as I was saying, Mr. Rawlings, having served as our county administrator until two weeks ago, is familiar with local issues, and it appears, having picked up some of his grandfather’s traits, is not afraid to go against the tide when he feels it necessary. I, for one, support him in his opposition to this secession nonsense.”

She glanced down at her notes again, and added, “In addition to being Yolo County’s newest author with his first novel, Voices in My Blood , a story that is largely set in Rumsey Valley, Mr. Rawlings, is. . well, shall we just let him tell us himself? May I present Daniel Rumsey Rawlings, fifth-generation Rumsey Valley resident and candidate for the Eighth District.”

Dan stood to take the podium, acknowledging Matilda’s introduction with a “thank you” amid a smattering of light applause, which died quickly as he surveyed the room and began to address the assembled ladies.

“It’s funny what crosses your mind when preparing to speak. As Mrs. Westegaard was mentioning my forthcoming novel, Voices in My Blood, I flashed back to my senior year English class, taught, of course, by none other than Mrs. Westegaard,” he said, smiling toward Jackie Healy, who had made the earlier comment. “Most of us will remember Mrs. Westegaard as a teacher who cared, who pushed hard, and perhaps most of all, for me at least, who molded the raw clay she was given and tried to form the best possible crucible from the limited elements available.

“Many of us,” he said, turning to look at Matilda, “owe a great deal to Mrs. Westegaard, and likely, as in my case, we have taken it for granted. The lessons learned in her class while we prayed for the bell to ring have come to mind more than once over the years. Perhaps, only on occasion, mind you, I didn’t always pay as much attention as I should have, but somehow, somewhere, the lessons seeped in.” Dan pointed to his head. “Later in life, certainly in law school, the lessons resurfaced, having been retained as a result of the caliber of the teacher.” He looked toward her again with a bright smile. “It seems, Mrs. Westegaard, that you taught us in spite of ourselves. I, for one, would like to take this occasion to thank you publicly.”

Dan began the applause, prompting most of the women in the room to stand and join him in his spontaneous tribute. Matilda Westegaard remained seated, a hint of moisture in her eyes, but with her composure intact and a smile fixed on her face as she glanced about the room. As the applause died down, the ladies resumed their seats.

One of the women in the back of the room spoke up. “Mr. Rawlings, I want you to tell us why we should elect someone who still believes the bullshit being put out by Washington.”

Instantly, Matilda Westegaard was on her feet again, standing behind the podium. “We’ll have none of that in this room. Do you hear me?” she said, her voice tinged with anger. “This is America. . at least for the present. And we will honor our traditions of respecting and listening to other points of view, at least while I’m president of this club.” She then took her seat again, and the room was quiet.

“Thank you, Mrs. Westegaard, but the questioner has raised a valid point. Why should you elect someone who believes we should remain a part of the United States of America? And who is right? Who’s wrong? In fact is there a right or wrong in this question of states’ rights? Perhaps,” Dan continued, “the lessons from our school days gave us the ability to tell right from wrong, good from evil, and to discern the essence of a situation in black-and-white terms. But over the ensuing decades, the lines seem to have blurred. The ‘anything goes’ philosophy now seems acceptable, and in some cases preferred. How do we respond when we disagree with something that will affect our lives, but because of political correctness, we’re not allowed to express our disagreement? How do we apply those lessons we learned from the previous generation to life today, when the variations between two or more issues do not contain merely right or wrong. .”

And so Dan Rawlings continued the basic format that he had developed into his formal presentation, which he had given at least twice daily for the previous three weeks. A Republican by party affiliation, Dan had firmly established himself a Unionist-a label from Civil War days-which the press had pinned on him. Each group to which he spoke, even those that supported his campaign to keep California in the Union, bombarded him with examples of oppressive federal intrusion and Washington’s increasing intervention into state’s rights. Dan did not deny any of these allegations. Indeed, he agreed with most of them while maintaining that the way to correct them was not to leave the fold, but to continue to push for change from the inside. Unfortunately, his was a platform that had been preached by legislative candidates for nearly two centuries, and one from which a tired electorate sought refuge.

The field crew lay in the shade of the few trees remaining around the barley fields south of Twin Falls, Idaho. The tired laborers were resting after lunch, trying not to think about the even hotter afternoon session ahead as they prepared for Spring planting. In an attempt to keep the buzzing and biting insects at bay, Carlos Domingo had shielded his face with a magazine as he tried to take a brief nap. Not to be outdone, a co-worker reached over and grabbed the magazine, tearing several pages out of the middle to place over his own face.

Not wishing to cause any more trouble than his limited remaining energy could handle, Carlos ignored the theft and sat up, beginning to flip through the tattered pages. Unable to read most of the English, he concentrated on the pictures, casually turning pages, waiting for the field boss to blow the whistle that would signal another five backbreaking hours of stooped labor. When his eyes landed on the picture of an open truck, with dozens of uniformed police and several suit-and-tie men standing around looking in, he froze. Turning the page sideways to get a better look, Carlos felt the instant urge to vomit, his stomach curling within him as he came to a recognition of the face before him. He quickly looked around, jumped up to find the field boss, showed him the picture, and asked him to read the caption underneath.