Glen Tate: 299 Days: The Preparation

Grant had a solution. Carry a gun. He had his concealed weapons permit, so he could. Although he liked his full-sized Glock 22 in .40, it was a little large for concealed carry. So he got a compact Glock in .40, a Glock model 27. Grant knew how to operate the Glock 27 because it was just a smaller version of the Glock 22 he had mastered. It was perfect. He carried two spare 10-round magazines because, with increasingly large packs of criminals, Grant knew that he would likely have to fight off a group of them.

When he couldn’t wear a Glock 27, he would slip his 380 auto LCP in a pants pocket. He was armed nearly all the time, even at work. No one knew. He didn’t advertise that he was carrying; he didn’t want people to think he was weird or, when they needed protection, come flocking to him. He wanted to just lay low and protect himself and his family.

He had to hide his gun from Lisa, of course. He kept it in the car, in a locked console that was legal under Washington law.

Grant constantly worried about Lisa being out and about with all the crime going on. She was a petite and beautiful woman. That thought was awful.

He tried once to suggest that she get consider carrying a gun.

She rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. That hurt. All he was trying to do was suggest a practical way to protect his wife. But, decades of Lisa’s upbringing that guns are weird and unnecessary was too strong to change. This was despite all the stories of people she knew who had become victims of crime. Carrying a gun was just… something a normal person didn’t do.

Grant tried a second time to convince her. His birthday was coming up and she asked him, “What would you like for your birthday?”

“I’d like something that doesn’t cost anything and makes me very happy,” he said with a smile.

“You already get too much sex,” she said with a grin.

“Well, you’ll need to get your hands dirty for what I have in mind,” he said with that same bedroom smile.

“You sicko,” she replied.

“I mean getting some ink on your fingers when you get your fingerprints taken for your concealed weapons permit,” Grant said. “I am really, really concerned for your safety, dear. Seriously. All joking aside. I’m worried about you. Please do this for me. It’s my birthday.”

“What’s your second choice?” She asked.

That was it. No more talk of her getting a concealed weapons permit. A few days later, one of her friends she went running with was attacked by some teenagers in the parking lot at work. Grant didn’t even bother to say anything resembling “I told you so.” It was a lost cause. Grant hoped — actually, prayed — for the best.

At the same time criminals were learning that they could practically get away with anything, the economy started sucking even more. Why even attempt to have a legitimate job? There weren’t any. Crime paid; literally.

Grant was at the grocery store with Manda and Cole one Saturday. All the prices were way higher. It happened suddenly. Cole’s favorite pancakes had been $2.79, and now they were $4.15. That kind of price increase was typical for other foods. Gas was going up, too, almost one dollar per gallon at a time. Suddenly, there were shortages of medical supplies and prescription drugs. A significant portion of the population was on at least one prescription drug. They had never been told by a pharmacist, “We’re out of that.” They couldn’t believe it. Didn’t their prescriptions just appear at the store and someone else paid for them?

Police check points were springing up. They police asked people to “voluntarily” allow them to search their vehicles; most did.

In Olympia, there were increasing numbers of traffic jams from all the protests due to all the budget cuts and high prices.

People were starting to figure out that things weren’t going so well.

About time.

Rebel Radio was going strong. There was so much to talk about, like the fact that massive government budget cuts were suddenly needed, for one. How did this situation get so out of control that these huge cuts, like letting criminals out of prison, were necessary in the first place? For the first time, people were actually asking this question. Rebel Radio had the answers.

The podcast was growing by leaps and bounds. Over 5,000 people regularly downloaded the weekly broadcast. Bloggers were talking about Rebel Radio. Conservative and libertarian bloggers loved it, and progressive bloggers demonized it. Progressives in Washington State made Rebel Radio public enemy number one. There was speculation about the identity of the “Rebels” as Grant and the other podcasters were called. People in government were figuring out it was the WAB guys.

One of the government people most concerned by Rebel Radio was Rick Menlow. He hated the fact that one of his former employees was thought to be one of the Rebels. He also hated the fact that the podcast seemed to have inside information about the lack of reform coming from the State Auditor’s Office.

This pissed him off because his campaign for Governor was in full swing. He was running as a “moderate Republican” and really needed the establishment to like him. His trusted campaign adviser was Jeanie.

Grant kept in regular contact with her. He wanted to gather intelligence on what the state agencies were doing. She wouldn’t tell him anything too specific, just the general situation in the Auditor’s Office. She didn’t want to get in trouble because she needed her job, just like everyone else did. She also hated what Menlow was doing. He was betraying people like her and it was sweet revenge to whisper gossip to Rebel Radio.

One day, Grant was talking to Jeanie about Menlow’s run for Governor. “How in the world does a Republican think he could win in this state?” Grant asked.

“He’s counting on the budget disaster to get him into office,” Jeanie said. “The worse things get, the better for him so he can run on ‘‘change.’”

“But the worse things get, like all the government employee layoffs, the more of a government ‘safety net’ people will want,” Grant said. “So they won’t vote for a government-cutting Republican.”

Jeanie laughed. “Who said anything about Menlow being a ‘government-cutting Republican?’ He will be a ‘new’ Republican who will run government more efficiently, saving money that can be spent to help people.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, but she was serious.

“So he’ll spend just as much money, but be the ‘change’ people want?” Grant asked.

“Yep,” Jeanie said. “It just might work. Especially if we get a tape of the current Governor running over a little kid in an intersection.” It was important to remember that Menlow got into office by accident.

Menlow’s campaign strategy was the topic of the next Rebel Radio. Menlow was furious. He didn’t suspect Jeanie as the source because he had been bragging to so many Republican legislators and others about his brilliant strategy.

WAB started to pay a price for Rebel Radio. WAB was a tax- exempt trade association, but the IRS selected WAB for a “random” audit. They started coming up with “interpretations” of the tax regulations, and hinting that WAB might owe millions in taxes for its “for-profit” work. What “for-profit” work? They were a typical trade association; they didn’t make a “profit.”

The state Department of Revenue decided to do a “random” audit, too. The state unemployment insurance agency piled on, too, looking for past unpaid unemployment insurance premiums that should have been paid. Even with their creative “interpretations,” DOR and the unemployment agency did not find any violations. When they reported that to the Governor, it just made her angrier. They had to find a way to shut down WAB.