CHAPTER FIVE: RETURN

    It was about four o’clock in the morning. Billy and Gabriela were sitting around, watching television. “Kind of boring, really.” Billy said. “I mean, local shows, and they’re all in Portuguese.”
    “Would you like to watch New Hampshire stations?” Gabriela asked.
    “I don’t think any New Hampshire stations are available here.” Then he looked at Gabriela. “Oh, yeah, that’s right. I forgot. You’re here.”
    “Actually, that is quite understandable.” Gabriela assured him. “Take a look in the Gospel of Matthew, in the sixteenth chapter, starting at the seventh verse.”
    Billy opened the tome and silently read while Gabriela recited from memory:
    “And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?  How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?”
    “The apostles realized that they had failed to take bread with them,” Gabriela explained, “They suddenly got worried. They needed to be reminded.”
    The New Hampshire news came on. The escape of Billy Americano, and the massive manhunt underway, were the big stories. A reporter was interviewing a state trooper. “Should people be concerned that this man might attack more officers?” the reporter asked.
    “Talk about a biased reporter!” Billy said. “People should be a lot more concerned about what happens if cops don’t get killed. Take a tour of the Holocaust Museum.”
    “Imagine the outrage the reporter would face if she dared to point out how obviously right you were, Billy. She’s definitely required to pretend to think you were in the wrong, and to pretend that everybody feels the same way. It’s psychological warfare, making people think that anybody who supports liberty is insane.” Gabriela noted.
    “You know, I’ve never thought of it that way.” Billy admitted.
    “Would you like to tell them your side of the story?” she asked.
    “Well, I sure would. But how?” Billy replied.
    “Let us go to that studio.” she suggested.
    “What? That would be suicide!” Billy said.
    “Oh ye of little faith!” Gabriela joked.
    Billy took Gabriela’s left hand in his right. “Forgive me if I’m a little nervous about this.” he said.
    “Absolutely.” She smiled and held his hand tightly. “Let us get in the car.”
    “Well, of course I’m scared, but when I think about it logically, I know I must be doing the right thing.” Billy decided.
    Gabriela drove down the street and turned left. A few blocks later, she turned right. Then Billy saw the patch of dense fog and knew they were about to take off.
    Rio de Janeiro got smaller and smaller down below. “We want to get to the studio during the newscast. We don’t have much time.” Gabriela said. “So this journey will be much shorter in duration.”
    “Wow! We’re here now!” Billy noted. They drove out of the patch of dense New Hampshire fog and, a block later, arrived at the television station.
    Billy and Gabriela went to the door and entered the lobby. “I wish to speak on your news program. I’m Billy Americano.” The receptionist recognized him from the pictures that were all over the news. She pressed a button.
    “News room.” somebody replied.
    “Billy Americano is here. Can you interview him?” the receptionist asked.
    There was a pause. Then the news director replied. “Send him in.”
    “Well, much to our surprise, Billy Americano is here in our studio. Billy, what brings you here?” the woman who was on the air said.
    “I just needed to point out to everybody, that no matter how obviously the cop is in the wrong, no matter how obviously the cop-killer is in the right, you as a reporter are still required to pretend you think everybody agrees that the cop-killer is some kind of villain. You would be out of a job immediately if dared to hint that people have a constitutional right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures.” Billy explained.
    “Well,” the reporter said, “you realize that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the police officer has the right to search a passenger’s pocketbook if there’s probable cause to stop a vehicle, right?”
    Billy replied, “People who have a mind of their own and who can think for themselves can and will determine what is an unreasonable search and seizure. Allowing government-appointed judges in government-run courts to make all the decisions is to turn off our own brains. The cop clearly crossed the line, big time, and paid the price. The Bill of Rights never got through that cop’s head, but bullets did.”
    “So don’t you have any respect at all for the rule of law?” the reporter asked, putting on a stunned tone of voice.
    “If you want respect for the law, make the law respectable.” Billy declared. “The reasoning behind the court’s ruling was that the passenger might have a gun in her pocketbook. But, gee, we’d never catch cops carrying guns, now would we? Talk about hypocrisy! Furthermore, people have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Furthermore, let’s say you’re walking down Elm Street and some pedestrian happens to be walking the other way. How do you know they don’t have a gun? How do you know they aren’t going to pull out a gun and shoot you? Do you have the right to frisk everybody that might have a gun? Of course not! And neither does the cop. Also, what if the cop tries to arrest the driver under some unjust law? That’s exactly the reason behind constitutionally protecting the right to keep and bear arms. The Second Amendment was not written for sportsmen. The passenger was entitled to keep and bear arms in case the cop tries to arrest the driver. She could use the gun to preserve, protect, and defend the constitutional liberty of the people of New Hampshire.” Billy explained.
    “Are you suggesting that if an officer is arresting somebody, and you don’t like the law, that gives you the right to shoot the officer?” the reporter asked, again hamming up the startled look and voice.
    “Not at all. It’s a question of whether the government has a right to impose that law.” Billy maintained.
    “So then, if an officer is arresting somebody, and you determine the government has no right to impose that law, that gives you the right to shoot the officer?” she queried.
    “No, it’s not a matter of what I determine. It is a matter of what is actually correct. Just because Abolitionists thought slavery was wrong, didn’t give them any right to march onto plantations and emancipate slaves. What matters is that slavery actually is wrong. That is why armed resistance would be justified. Slavery went on for too many decades, and could have been settled much sooner, by a small percentage of the population going about exterminating slave patrols, marching onto plantations, freeing the slaves.” Billy said.
    “So, it’s not a matter of whether I think the law is wrong, but a matter of whether the law is actually wrong.” Billy explained.
    “So then, who is going to decide what laws are wrong?” she asked.
    “You can, if you want, and then you can tell everybody what you determine, and the line of reasoning by which you arrive at that determination.” Billy answered.
    “Oh, I’m going to decide?” she replied.
    “It’s called freedom of speech. Ever heard of it? But you have to meet some rigid qualifications. You have to have a mind of your own, and be able to think for yourself.” Billy said sarcastically.
    “Of course, you can always take a tour of the Holocaust Museum and see where this country is headed if people don’t fight back. The real reason the cop wanted to search the pocketbook was to see if she had drugs, which the government clearly has no right to restrict. It’s her body and her life. If you don’t like certain drugs, don’t buy any. But if people vote to use their police force as a weapon by which to attack innocent drug addicts or their suppliers, I’m not the one resorting to violence if all I do is take the weapon away from them. Those voters are not pulling the trigger, but they’re pulling the lever.” Billy explained.
    “So you’re saying that the government has no right to impose drug laws. I’m sure you realize that a lot of people feel differently.” the reporter said.
    “So what?” Billy asked.
    “Well, you have your opinion, but they also have theirs.” she said.
    “Ah, yes, the ‘all opinions are equally valid’ absurdity. There were the opinions of the Abolitionists, and the opinions of the racist slave drivers. Both were entitled to their opinion, but being entitled to an opinion does not make that opinion correct. What makes the opinion of the Abolitionists correct was that it was consistent with liberty and justice for all. What makes the contrary opinion incorrect was that it was inconsistent with liberty and justice for all.” Billy explained.
    “This would be a good time for folks to draw the line. Waiting for the government to be good and ready to restore liberty is absurd. That is the doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, which the New Hampshire state constitution, in Part the First, Article 10, says is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.” Billy said.
    “If Freedom Fighters could put the State government on notice that they’re going to kill ten cops every night until the state government calls of the War on Drugs and releases all the P.O.W.’s, the State government would have full control over how many cops the Freedom Fighters would exterminate.” Billy said.
    “And how is that?” she asked.
    “Well, they decide how many cops they want the Freedom Fighters to exterminate, divide by ten, count off that many days on the calendar, and that’s what day to comply with their demands. Right now, they figure our demands are just a big, funny joke, but they’ll stop laughing when they have to pay the price for their noncompliance.” Billy declared.
    “Just what do you mean, when you speak of paying the price for noncompliance?” the reporter asked.
    “Well, a lot of people act as if the speed limits are just a big, funny joke. They stop laughing when they get ticketed, and have to pay the price with money for their wrongdoing. Well, a lot of voters and lawmakers think our demands are a big, funny joke, too, but not when people fight back and they have to pay the price with cops’ blood for their wrongdoing. Drive too fast, pay with cash. Vote wrong, pay with cops’ blood. It’s called deterrence.” Billy said.
    “You call it deterrence. Others would call it terrorism.” the reporter challenged him.
    “Actually, deterrence and terrorism are essentially the same thing, with the T-E-R coming from the Latin, which means, to frighten. Whether it’s terrorism or deterrence depends on whether it is justified or not. Anyway, I can see out the window, that we don’t have much time left. Let me just finish up quickly by pointing out that our side has certain advantages. First, the enemy never knows who will strike, nor when, nor where, nor how, and there are a lot of ways to take out a cop. Second, every time somebody deprives the government of a cop, the enemy’s dispatcher responds by sending the Freedom Fighter more targets. Third, our side cannot surrender, because nobody on our side has any authority to order anybody else on our side to surrender. Unlike when Lee surrendered to Grant and ordered the entire Army of Northern Virginia to surrender with him. So,” Billy looked at the camera, “the time has come. Until the government calls off the War on Drugs and releases all the P.O.W.’s, cops are in season. The important thing to remember is that the resistance will not be organized, because the enemy can infiltrate and destroy any such organization, but the enemy cannot fight back against people making random attacks against the enemy’s officers, especially people who are willing to make the supreme sacrifice to restore liberty. As Patrick Henry told John Robinson, Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, on 29 May 1765, ‘If this be treason, make the most of it.’”
    Outside the building, swarms of police were assembled and were planning to enter. Gabriela took Billy by the hand and led him, pushing her way past the cops. As they ran toward the car, cops gave chase. Once boarded in the car, they sped on. Police cars in their way moved backwards and a path cleared. “About three blocks to the patch of dense fog.” Gabriela said.


 Copyright 2004 Tom Alciere


CHAPTER SIX

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GLOSSARY


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