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Praetorium Honoris

Sunday, July 28, 2024

View Halloo!¹

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Senator Franklin Hawthorne, the senior senator from Oregon, took another sip of cognac, sighed, then stepped off the porch which surrounded this grand "hunting lodge" which lay in the mountains north of the small town of Frank in West Virginia.

He doubted that it had ever been used for hunting and the sheer size of the place made it much too grand to be called a lodge. No expense had been spared in its construction, it had its own well and was powered by a combination of solar panels and propane-powered electrical generators. The place could easily sleep fifty people and had food storage to feed that many up to a month.

Hawthorne chuckled, he was damned glad that the taxpayers had footed that bill. Stupid bastards had been told it was to finance a light rail system in his own home state and that of California.

He was disgusted by the recent turn of events, the people he had been counting on to help him and his fellow members of the House and Senate stage a coup had all failed rather badly. Especially that idiot of a Secretary of Defense and his fellow idiot Sheppard, over at the FBI. But they had resources which had yet to be revealed. Their odds of success were down, but he still felt that with a bit of luck, they could still pull this off. He fully expected to be sitting in the White House within three months, half a year at the latest.

"What are you so happy about, Franklin?" Congresswoman Estelle Chavez came into the living room from the kitchen, yet another martini in hand.

"Well my dear Congresswoman, I'm thinking of our chances, things may look bleak at the moment, but I still fancy our chances of success."

"How so?"

"Well, Nakagawa is just settling in, the American people have no idea who he is and they are starting to feel the pinch with the economy virtually at a standstill as Wall Street waits to see who's going to come out on top."

"How does that help us?" Chavez demanded in her usual strident manner of speaking. Hawthorne wondered how the people of Newark had ever seen fit to send her to Congress.

"Rumor and innuendo, spread by our many friends in the media. They too have much to lose, after all, they backed the wrong horse. If Nakagawa gets to keep the Presidency, a number of them might actually see the inside of a prison, and not as reporters."

"Or worse."

Hawthorne and Chavez turned to the Senator from Massachusetts who was coming down the stairs from the upstairs sleeping quarters.

"Look, we know Nakagawa is a veteran, he's seen combat. I have no doubt that he'd have no problem ordering people shot. Including us."

Chavez went very pale, "He wouldn't dare."

Hawthorne finished his cognac, "Oh yes, I'm afraid he would."


"What d'ya think the big shots are doing up on the mountain tonight?" Willis Mayfield was getting tired of the routine. Patrolling the nearby forests, watching the roads, guard duty at all hours of the day and night. He'd signed up for the promise of free stuff. Didn't these folks realize "free" meant ya didn't have to work for it?

Curt Bachmann took one last puff of his cigarette then dropped it to the ground, grinding it out with his boot heel. "I dunno, probably eating, drinking, plotting, as long as they pay me and feed me, I don't care."

Both men had had very brief careers in the Army, both had lasted less than two years before being discharged. They had both been hired on with a private security firm who liked the idea that they'd both trained as infantrymen. The security firm didn't care about their behavior in the Army.

"Look sharp you two!"

Both straightened up as their squad leader came up. "Nothin' going on here, Sarge. Anything going down up at the big house? Sure be nice to get outta the boondocks for a change." Mayfield pointed out.

Sergeant Jack Hollister gave Mayfield a look, "Nothing you need to know about, Mayfield. Just keep your eyes and ears open. The Dozen seem a little worried today. Now look sharp!"

As Hollister headed down the trail to the next guard post. Bachmann shook his head, "Big shots are worried? 'Bout what, they gonna run out of caviar or something?"

Mayfield grinned, "Buncha rich Yankees anyhow, who cares?"


Jason Howard set down his field glasses and keyed his microphone, "Did you see that, Avram?"

Avram Stein, nestled behind his Barrett sniper rifle, answered with a simple, "Roger." He then turned to wink at Hector Driscoll, "They aren't exactly the first team over there, are they?"

"Rejects, criminals, and wannabe thugs, that's all Deepwater² can afford." Driscoll scoffed.

He'd done a lot of research on that company. They paid their employees poorly and charged their customers outrageous fees. The bosses lived like kings, the actual guys providing the muscle lived in barracks and were treated like scum. He was surprised anyone would work for them, then again, most of the guys who worked there couldn't get jobs anywhere else.

Howard brought his glasses up again and spoke softly to Chuck Bertram, "No more than thirty security people on site, all of the Dozen are present. Send that by burst transmission on our next contact."

"We could take these guys, Chief, no problem."

"Not without orders Chuck, not without orders."




¹ In fox hunting, a cry meant to indicate that the fox has broken cover and is in the open.
² Fictional private security firm, no relation to any actual entity past or present.

40 comments:

  1. If'n I was one of the dozen, I might be hearing an ear worm from CCR right about now...
    And I ain't talking about a Bathroom on the right!
    Love the story Sarge, glad the muse has you in it's grip!

    MSG Grumpy

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  2. A lodge like that ain't worth poop unless it's been armored and has a good 'storm' shelter with hidden escape hatches. But the only way to have really secret stuff is to kill the designers and construction workers. Though I wouldn't put it past the dirtbag to do that.

    Thing is, us 'dirt people' would rather stand with someone like the new president than some deep state dirtbag. And, given half a chance, Committees of Vigilance will spring up as the average citizen dirt person will get tired of this garbage real darned quick. Especially on the eastern side of the Rockies away from the demonrat-run cities on the coast. There's a whole lot of anger out there, ready to cook off, towards the Deep Staters and their flying monkeys. There's also a whole lot of restraint out there holding those angry people back from taking matters into their own hands. But toss in a coup attempted by the Deep Staters that actually came down to shots fired and innocent people killed in the crossfire and, whoa, let slip the dogs of vigilance.

    We came close on July 13th. If the Teflon Don had died, I feel that the Left would have been very surprised regarding the level and intensity of the reaction by the Right. You could see it by the people at the rally. They didn't run away, they didn't cringe and cry and scream (much.) They waited. And then responded positively when Trump recovered the clenched fist gesture from the leftists.

    And, yes, I agree with MSG Grumpy, love the story, and I do believe the Reaper will be reaping soon at the lodge.

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    Replies
    1. It's not meant to be a bunker, just a place for rich congresscritters to get away from it all.

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    2. " And, given half a chance, Committees of Vigilance will spring up as the average citizen dirt person will get tired of this garbage real darned quick. Especially on the eastern side of the Rockies away from the demonrat-run cities on the coast."

      Um....there's a raft of us here on the West Coast that are "average dirt citizens" who are tired of the garbage forced on us by the gerrymandering, rule changing, anti-constitution capons and wethers in places like Sackatomatoes. Unfortunately we are spread thin in the power centers and greatly outnumbered there by those who have been conditioned to believe that they can vote panem et circenses for themselves in perpetuity and without consequence. And they tend to get violent when things don't go their way, see 2016 San Jose Riots, and the civil war that was waged against our republic from November 2016 until late January 2021. Especially note how in so many of the major cities police were ordered to do nothing - until the riots and arson got too close to the domiciles of the Lord or Lady High Mayor of those cities.

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    3. Your home state is a mess, built that way by feckless politicians who don't have to live in those areas.

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    4. It will have to come up to be just "a mess." Our politicians aren't reckless, they're cold hearted, calculating Stalinists more concerned with advancing The Party, and their own position and fortunes.

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    5. But who FUNDS them?
      Besides Soros and Zuckerberg, of course...
      As long as the money continues, they can be fully replaced by any schmoe off any street in any shithole hive across this country.
      With NOT change in direction!

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  3. The yarn enters a new phase, hopefully the cleanup phase.

    But Hawthorn is correct, enough economic pinch and a few innuendos the troubles continue.

    Never underestimate the power of the media and the memory of a goldfish bubus Americanis.

    After all the public has forgotten the Trump assassination attempt already or at best wonders if Trump faked it. Forgotten how awful Joe Potato did in live debate and his surrender to Harris. It's Harris the Demi-god show going on right now.

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    1. Bread and circuses, it gets worse every year. Harris would be an absolute disaster as President.

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    2. I rather doubt much of "the public" has forgotten ANY of those things. Beans, Joe and MSG Grumpy are describing a vast swath of "the public" who are angry, capable and barely restrained.
      Boat Guy

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    3. One hopes they remember at the polls.

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    4. As if the "polls" will count any more this year than they did in 2020.
      The same election workers are still in the precincts in the shithole hives!

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    5. Have you noticed how no one is even QUESTIONING Harris being the candidate with no primary election, no caucus & even way before the Dem convention? Just decided by the cabal and (seemingly) accepted by all. The only place I see this questioned is on a variety of different blogs and none of these blogs are mainstream....
      I'd say the public is adequately controlled... I wonder who is going to count the votes this next election?

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    6. Rob - It's the Dems, they don't question anything.

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    7. It's part of having a hive mind.

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  4. Great new chapter to the story. Do I detect some dissension in the ranks of the hired thugs? Maybe turn their coats when the fireworks start?
    Mayfield, with his "Didn't these folks realize "free" meant ya didn't have to work for it?" is all too familiar to this California boy. Panem et circenses mentality that is taught by our school industry at its finest.

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    1. Dissension? Or just the natural "where's my free stuff" vibe of that class?

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    2. One vibe leads to another...
      BG

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  5. i believe/fear you are indeed a soothsayer.

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  6. Another rock, more offensive creatures uncovered. Get the Raid.
    JB

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  7. Sarge, I really feel like you have caught the sense of how Our Political And Social Betters (OPASB) view us, or at least some of them: as serfs and tax donkeys, nothing more.

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  8. Your Muse is on a roll. Traditional structure is five acts, this is the beginning of act two

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  9. Looking at the hay bale, and pondering how in my adult life, a bale has gone from 40 to 1200 pounds. I would dearly love to see a round baler with a kicker! I wanna see the hay cart that could catch it, too!

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  10. California refugee here in Tennessee. The condition of my old home is very sad. LOVE Tennessee! What an eye opener learning about "the war of Northern Aggression" and the atrocities of the "Reconstruction". Nicest folks you'll ever meet, been here going on 10 years. First gun I bought here was a 12 gauge at a county "30 mile yard sale". I found the free state Cali should have been.

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    Replies
    1. Given a choice between California now and Tennessee, the Volunteer State wins every time.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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