THE SUM OF ALL OUR ANGER: CIVIL WAR 2.0

By William R. Douglas

The SUM of All OUR ANGER is a gripping story that takes the reader down the dark hole of the Second American Civil War.
In the year 2061, newly elected President Devin Cyrus is determined to sweep away the last remnants of the Old

• Language: English
• Publisher: Woodbridge Publications
• Release date: Jun 24, 2024
• ISBN: 9798985959161

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This is a work of fiction. All the characters and organizations, and events portrayed in it are either from the authors imagination or are used fictitiously.

The SUM of ALL OUR ANGER: CIVIL WAR 2.0

Copyright © 2024 by William R. Douglas

All rights reserved.

Woodbridge Publications • July 2024

Woodbridge Publications

McHenry, IL

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any other information storage and retrieval system, without written permission.

Paperback ISBN-13: 979-8-98-595915-4

Hardcover ISBN-13: 979-8-98-595918-5 (dustjacket)

Hardcover ISBN-13: 979-8-98-595917-8 (casewrap library edition)

eBook ISBN-13: 979-8-98-595916-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024910311

First Edition: July 2024

Printed in the United States of America

For God, for Family, for all of us.

E Pluribus Unum,

And

To my wife Laurie,

My best friend and cheerleader,

whom I love more and more every day,

and to my beloved family and friends.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks to my editor, John Gist. His editing and enthusiasm for the book was an encouragement.

Also, thanks to Brenda Drake Lesch for her powerful book cover design. She is truly a gifted graphic designer.

Both are remarkably talented and can be found on upwork.com

I also praise the Good Lord for giving me the gift or writing.

Finally, thanks to family, friends and strangers whose encouragement made writing this second novel possible.

Follow the Author:

www.authorwilliamrdouglas.com

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.

Abraham Lincoln, January 27th, 1838,

Springfield, IL

Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth.

George Orwell - 1984

"An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins."

Proverbs 29:22 (NIV)

PROLOGUE

Unless an outside force intervenes to intercept our nation’s current trajectory, what is its probable outcome, and when?

All the anger at our divisions over what is going on in our nation and the world continues to smolder. As of late, the smoke is getting thicker. Where there is smoke, there is usually fire. If there’s no fire yet, there soon will be. The question is, when and by what means?

Our current era of anger and division in many respects mirrors the anger and divisiveness over the issue of chattel slavery which was a national issue in the first half of the 1800s before the American Civil War of 1861-1865.

There were warning signs that went on for decades before that earlier American tragedy. Today, the warning signs of a possible second occurrence of an American tragedy are all around us. Imagine if the warning signs go unheeded, and our issues go unresolved. That’s exactly what this novel does. It imagines the unimaginable and takes the reader down the rabbit hole of a Second American Civil War, or Civil War 2.0.

Parental Guidance: Consider this novel PG-13. There is occasional usage of mild foul language. Note that you will not find the F-bomb or the misuse of the LORD’s name.

CHAPTER 1

Powder Keg

TEXAS WHITEHOUSE

AUSTIN, TEXAS

0500 CST, 15 JANUARY 2061

Samuel Octavia Gonzalez was still getting used to the idea of being called Mr. President.

A month ago, he was the Governor of the State of Texas. Now, with the secession of the State on 23 December 2060, by fiat Governor Gonzalez had become President Gonzalez, the 5th President of the Republic of Texas. The first four were presidents of Texas in the 19th century when Texas was first a sovereign nation.

Unable to sleep that fateful night, Gonzalez had arisen at 4:54 AM and stood silently in his private study in the Texas White House, formerly known as the Governor’s Mansion, in the West End neighborhood of the state Capital, Austin. Paneled in mahogany with a green carpeted floor, it was his favorite room to sequester in.

The object of his early morning daydreaming was the famous Robert Jenkins Onderdonk’s 1903 painting, The Fall of the Alamo. It was placed prominently on the wall over the fireplace. The oil painting depicts Davy Crockett and other Alamo defenders in their last moments on 6 March 1836 in hand-to-hand combat with the invading Mexicans led by Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana.

Otherwise known by his abbreviated name, Santa Ana, the Military Dictator of Mexico had crossed the Rio Grande River on 23 February 1836 to squash what, for the Mexicans, was a rebellion in the Mexican State of Texas. The Texicans were determined to wage a war for Independence from Mexico and declared Independence on 2 March 1836.

At one point, Santa Ana had the hubris to declare himself Napoleon of the West during his long up and down fortunes leading Mexico from 1833 to 1855 — some of that tenure as a duly elected President, some as a self-appointed military dictator.

Santa Ana was a chameleon who alternately changed political stripes depending on the prevailing political winds of the moment — ascending or taking power as a Liberal or a Conservative on 11 separate occasions.

After the slaughter at the Alamo, Santa Ana gained further infamy in ordering the execution of between 425 to 445 Texican prisoners of war in the border town of Goliad, Texas, on 27 March 1836, a scant 25 days since the Republic of Texas Declaration of Independence.

On 21 April 1836, The Battle of San Jacinto saw Santa Ana’s Army routed, Santa Ana captured, and he narrowly avoided a summary execution at the hands of very angry Texican militiamen, some of whom had lost friends or family in either the Alamo, the Goliad Massacres, or both. What ensued was a negotiated withdrawal of what was left of Santa Ana’s Army south of the Rio Bravo, and the Texas War of Independence was over.

At the shedding of much blood, Texas had become a fledgling Republic, a sovereign nation, now fully separated from Mexico. With Texas free but not yet a part of her still young neighbor to the east — The United States of America — Texas was destined to play a crucial role in American History.

Returning in disgrace back to Mexico City, Santa Ana was unceremoniously deposed. While Texas had fought bravely for and gained her Independence, in hindsight its Independence was marred by the fact it had embraced chattel slavery as acceptable right from the start.

Less than ten years later, Texas willingly relinquished its Independence and agreed to be annexed into the United States of America on 29 December 29, 1845, becoming the 28th State of the American Republic, albeit, regrettably, as a slave state among the rest of her southern brethren.

The issue of slavery continued to fester and embroil every State in the Union and entangle every significant leader of that era. For decades, the problem was a smoldering ember that lay glowing ever hotter next to the proverbial fuse of a powder keg. The issue of settlement of the matter of slavery finally ignited the fuse with the election of Abraham Lincoln on 6 November 1860.

A steady stream of Southern states seceded from the Union in the ensuing months. South Carolina was the first to secede on 20 December 1860. After the new year, Mississippi on 9 January, Florida on the 10th, Alabama on the 11th, Georgia on the 19th, Louisiana on the 26th, Texas on 1 February, Virginia on 17 April, Arkansas on 6 May, North Carolina on the 20th, Tennessee on 8 June. One by one, they left the Union. They pledged their allegiances to a new nation (at least in their eyes) — the Confederate States of America — with its Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, and a leader named President Jefferson Davis.

The paramount reason for the Texas secession vote was the issue of slavery. The South’s political rhetoric masked the ugly truth underlying the cry of states’ rights, that truth, of course, being that men, women, and children were being held in bondage against their will, demeaned, demoralized, and considered sub-human.

Texicans of 1861 had been okay with slavery for a long time and, sadly, were willing to fight and, if necessary, die to maintain the status quo.

Meanwhile, the lit fuse finally reached the proverbial powder keg in South Carolina on 12 April 1861.

On that date, at 4:30 AM, South Carolina Confederate Artillery Shore Batteries opened fire on the Union-held Fort Sumter in the bay of Charleston Harbor to bomb it into oblivion.

The long-feared and anticipated American Civil War had finally arrived.

President Gonzalez’s recollection of history was interrupted by a jarring thought. In 1865, after the defeat of the Confederacy, Texas rejoined the Union and remained a loyal son of the United States of America for the next 196 years. Now, here he was, the President of what amounted to yet again a rebel state in the eyes of The United States. In the eyes of his fellow Texicans, he was a Patriot standing up to the evils of the Socialist Movement that had so utterly upended the United States in last few decades.

In the 19th century, Texicans had shed their blood, first for the cause of Texas Independence from Mexico, then for the lost and warped cause of the Confederacy, and then in the various wars of the 20th and 21st centuries as a loyal son of the Union. Given all that was at stake, the stark reality gnawing at him was the probability that this second secession from the Union would be far costlier in blood than all of Texas’ combined history in the 19th through 21st centuries.

As he contemplated the thought, he wondered, will Monday, January 3rd, 2061, a hundred years from now, be seen as another day of infamy or as the date of a new dawn of freedom? Time will tell. Whatever the case, a few weeks ago, Texas had voted to remove itself firmly and decisively from what it now saw as the evil powers of socialism that had ruined the United States.

President Gonzalez, to the core of his being, was ashamed of Texas’ 19th-century entanglement with the evils of institutional slavery and the 20th-century lingering wounds of the Jim Crow era. Outweighing that shame was what Texas had become in the 21st century: the most powerful state in the Union economically, bar none. A state where Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Native Americans, Asians, and more had achieved a level of racial harmony that the East and West Coast socialist elites had said was impossible under capitalism. Yet, Texas was thriving and now independent nation.

There was no doubt that the war clouds that had been forming on the horizon for some time were, in fact, no longer on the horizon. They were right overhead. What way and on what day such a conflict would begin, he had determined, would not be by a first shot fired in anger by any Texican soldier. No, when war did come, they would defend liberty with all the might and fury they could muster at a time and place of their choosing.

The manner of Texas’ defense was still taking shape. A few hours later that morning, President Gonzalez was to be briefed on the latest developments. A primary topic would be the final report from Texas Secretary of Defense Adam Johnston. This report would be regarding the complete inventory of soldiers and equipment of the rapidly formed Armed Forces of the Republic of Texas.

As all this weighed heavy on his heart as President Gonzalez knelt and quietly began praying the Rosary. After 15 or so minutes, he felt the familiar arms of his wife Rebecca embrace him from behind. She said nothing but he could feel her warm cheek against the back of his head. A short moment later, he whispered, Amen, and stood up. He turned and looked at his wife of fifteen years, Hi, love. Good morning. How did you sleep last night?

Well, great until a few minutes ago when I noticed you were no longer in bed. Everything okay?

For now, it is. He paused, then continued. I just spent a long time staring at that painting and recalling Texas and American history, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I just prayed for God’s wisdom for what lies ahead, and I fear for my fellow citizens. Despite a lot of well-intentioned efforts from good and decent people, I believe the powder keg we’ve been sitting on all these years is about to blow sky-high. Pray for me, Rebecca. Pray for all of us.

Oh, hon, you know I have and will continue to do so.

President Gonzalez’s Chief Administrator, Bill White, burst into the room. Mr. President, The President of the United States is on the phone and wishes to speak with you immediately.

COLONEL ERIC ADAMS RESIDENCE

LINCOLN, MONTANA

0800 MST, 15 JANUARY 2061.

Montana Big Sky Country was no illusion or trumped-up saying from a tourist board. It was natural for anyone with the good sense to travel to Montana and spend some time there.

Retired USMC Colonel Eric Adams had done that twenty years ago and never returned home. Tired of the woke culture that had dominated the military for decades, Colonel Adams had convinced his bride Anne to pull up stakes in Newark, New Jersey, and head west to Montana.

After roaming around in their RV for a few months, they came upon the small Rocky Mountain hamlet of Lincoln, Montana. With a 2050 census population of twelve thousand, it was a beautiful place deep in the Montana Rockies front range.

The Colonels large log cabin had been a haven for his wife and seven kids. The family home was decorated in earthy tones and featured a very large rug depicting a head of buffalo in the central family room. A massive field stone fireplace towered up toward the crest of the cathedral ceiling some thirty-five feet above his prized stuffed state record rainbow trout. The trophy was prominently affixed to the center of the chimney above the ten-foot-wide mantle. To the left and right of the chimney high above, massive smart windows that could either let full sun in or as little or none in, if you so desired, using an app on your comm.

As the invited guests milled about waiting for the start of the meeting, Colonel Adams recalled the one notable scar in the town’s otherwise quiet history. The infamous – and long-ago deceased resident, Ted Kaczynski, aka The Unabomber, who had been arrested in Lincoln on 3 April 1996.

Convicted on Domestic Terrorism charges, Kaczynski had been sentenced to eight life in prison sentences without the possibility of parole. Eric had no clue who the guy was until he moved to Lincoln and was told the sad tale of The Unabomber and his brief reign of terror long before Eric was born.

One thing was for sure: The Colonel had formed the opinion that as the Commander of the Rocky Mountain Militia, he would not tolerate any nut jobs within the ranks of the militia. No White supremacists, ever. They would conduct themselves by the book or be subjected to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

In forming a network with many like-minded militias all over the country, Colonel Adams had personally vetted each group. There were some militias he refused to let in, especially if they were NAZIs and White supremacists. He welcomed all Patriot Militias that were indeed Constitutionalists and that would judge a man or woman by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.

After the socialist wave had swept through the eastern and western seaboard states in the 2050 elections, it became clear to Eric that it was just a matter of time before the Constitutional Republic of the United States of America would exist in name only.

It seemed to the Colonel that the socialists, especially the ultra-left-wing radicals who called themselves the 1619 Red Brigade, were hell-bent on their mantra to Tear it all down. Which meant deconstructing and then reconstructing the United States in their own socialist image.

The socialists’ plans — in his circle of family, friends, neighbors, and the unanimous opinion of his fellow militiamen — bore no resemblance to the Founding Fathers’ original vision for the United States. They had even heard rumors the New Way was hell-bent on demolishing significant monuments.

Eric had studied the history of the 1619 Red Brigade and knew it well. Formed twenty years earlier with the merger of ANTIFA (a much older group prone to violence) and another radical group called Social Justice Action, the 1619 Red Brigade had, in time, become a paramilitary organization with a sordid past.

Eric had concluded a few years earlier that a major fight was brewing for the heart and soul of the nation, and this fight would not be with words or ballots but with bullets — lots, and lots of bullets. In his mind, each side’s resentment and hatred towards the others’ politics and worldview was now so set in stone that there was nothing left to choose except sides. He and his soldiers had prepared for several years for a second American Civil War. When and how this second occurrence on American soil would start was anybody’s guess.

Eric knew in his heart that the patriotic plans they were forming were well thought out and sound. More importantly, they were in perfect alignment with his values and understanding of the nation’s founding documents. On top of that, every fiber of his being was convinced he would be exercising his military oath of to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

What was shocking in his mind was the thought that America’s demise had come at the hands of domestics, fellow citizens, all of whom, in his judgment, were Trojan Horses and pawns of a larger conspiracy to replace the Old Way, a Constitutional Republic, with the New Way, a socialist state with Marxist foundations. For a generation, the most hard-core socialists had been smart enough not to ever utter the ‘C’ word, i.e. Communism, knowing full well that for the vast majority of Moderate Democrats and all Republicans, the word was a proverbial Third Rail.

With the big meeting in a few days with like-minded militia leaders from 28-plus states, the stakes were high and were about to be anteed up to unbelievable proportions.

After calling the local meeting to order. His subordinates took their seats at the very large mahogany dining table. Colonel Adams picked up his SAT phone, turned on the encryption switch, and sent the following text to the allied militia leaders across the country:

We are a go for 0700 at predetermined locale. Please turn off SAT phones before departure out of an abundance of caution to avoid any chance of tracking.

Adam’s text tag was automatically inserted at the end of his communique to the militia leaders.

This message was sent using Encryption 2059 self-destruct protocol and will disappear permanently from your SAT phone and servers in sixty seconds. My SAT phone will go dark in ten minutes. - Semper Fi.

After reviewing his message again and being satisfied, he hit Send.

Eric put his phone down and looked around the table at his assembled brain trust. "Well, everyone, I’m not sure what lies ahead. I just know it’s been a long time coming, and by some miracle of God, it hasn’t happened a lot earlier than now. Perhaps the Good Lord was giving everyone on both sides a good long time to turn things around.

"Ya know, back in the 1970s, the Communists still ruled Russia. There was this famous Russian dissident. A guy by the name of Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn. In 1970 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Then in 1973 he came out with his most famous book of all, The Gulag Archipelago. I recall the words of Solzhenitsyn’s speech for the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. I quote, ‘But the world had never known a godlessness as organized, militarized, and tenaciously malevolent as that practiced by Marxism. Within the philosophical system of Marx and Lenin, and at the heart of their psychology, hatred of God is the principal driving force, more fundamental than all their political and economic pretensions.’ Unquote.

"In that same speech, he also said this, ‘Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.’

Well, I have not forgotten God. I appeal to the King of Heaven daily. I trust you do too. I may not like where things are at right now, and I’m sure you don’t either. But what can we do? I feel like we’ve been pushed into a corner so hard and tight that there is nothing left for us to do except execute a coordinated use of force not seen on American soil since the 1860s. A use of force to defend our very way of life and take back the nation. I pray God help us all.

WILL ROGERS AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

0800 CST, 15 JANUARY 2061

Brigadier General Chester Williamson of the Oklahoma Air National Guard was deep in thought at his desk at the Will Rogers Air National Guard Base in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The room was small and painted a lite shade of blue. It was long overdue for a new coat of paint. The linoleum was spotless, but old. On the wall behind him, a photograph of Oklahoma native Air Force Lieutenant General, Thomas P. Stafford of Apollo 10 fame in 1969. On his desk sat a comprehensive inventory of all Oklahoma Air and Army National Guard unit soldiers and material.

Under strict secrecy from Oklahoma Governor Mary Whitfield, he was conducting an accurate inventory of all assets under the Governor’s direct command and control. Except when federalized in times of war or emergency, the Governor of each State was the Commander-in-Chief of their respective state National Guard units and assets.

Promoted to his post six weeks earlier, General Williamson was astonished at the vast array of firepower under the Governors’ direct command and control.

The detailed inventory reported that the forces included 15,000 citizen soldiers and airmen plus 5,000 reservists. Notable in the material report were 145 M1BR Main Battle Tanks (the first to be fully robotic and equipped with Artificial Intelligence), 200 Drone Main Battle Tanks, 100 155MM self-propelled howitzers, 195 other artillery pieces, 75 F-31 fighter drones, 75 older F-25 fighter jets, 15 Patriot GEN-12 Missile Batteries, 100 SD22 SWARM batteries, 3 AWACS, 10 KC157 airborne refueling tankers, 175 combat air drones, 250 kamikaze drones, and 35 surveillance drones. The list continued for several pages, detailing all manner of handheld, shoulder-fired, or other weaponry whose original design and intent, in the eyes of their inventors, was to kill large numbers of enemy soldiers in some distant land over on the other side of a vast ocean.

A shudder went up and down the General’s spine at the thought of what lay ahead. Would this vast array of firepower be brought to bear on his fellow citizens? He prayed not. His thoughts wandered towards his wife Laurie, their six children, and their eight grandkids. Those thoughts were jarred away by the sound of his desk phone ringing.

General Williamson here.

Good morning, General. This is Governor Whitfield.

Good morning, Governor. I have the full inventory report. I’ll be ready at this morning’s briefing. Any private thoughts you care to share?

The Governor paused. The General was one of her most trusted and loyal confidants. We’re sitting on a powder keg, Chester. The Presidential inauguration is a few days away. No one’s sure what he’s going to say. The rumors are all over the map. I believe he will announce that Texas’ secession will not stand. I would not be surprised if he issued an ultimatum, like Texas had better come back into the Union peaceably or else. It seems like each day since his election, the rhetoric has gotten more heated. The pot can only hold so much pressure before she blows.

Williamson was quiet for a moment. As a combat veteran, the myriad scenarios that had been playing out in his head at night were the stuff of nightmares. Good Lord, Governor. How did it come to this? Is the sum of all our anger going to blow sky-high? What’s the latest from Speaker Waya at the State House?

Well over a two-thirds majority are prepared to vote for secession in the event Texas is attacked. That includes all the CONs and a large majority of the MODs. None of the LIBs are in favor of secession. The numbers go up higher if the flag rumors are true. Then we pick up all the MODs and about 17% of the LIBs.

Flag rumors? I guess I’ve been up to my eyeballs in this inventory work. What flag rumors?

Word has leaked out from Washington that as a part of his inauguration speech President Cyrus will unveil a brand-new U.S. Flag to replace the Stars and Stripes and to be immediately adopted, perhaps even raised during the ceremony over the Capitol Dome. He’s doing it via an executive order that takes effect immediately after the oath of office. It’s a hybrid red flag of the New Way Democratic Socialist Workers Party.

The Governor’s last few sentences sucked the air out of the General. Re-gathering his breath, he spoke again, He wouldn’t dare! Replace the Stars and Stripes with a red flag! Are they purposely trying to incite violence?

I don’t know, Chester. What I do know is that the Old Way of our 250-plus-year-old Constitutional Republic is on the brink of a 2nd Civil War. The wild card in all of this is that the other bases here in Oklahoma are not in our control. We’ve got Altus Air Force Base, which is mostly a training base, and then there’s the big prize, Tinker Air Force Base with sizable assets. Then we have Vance out in Enid, which is another training facility. After that, there’s Fort Sill Army base in Lawton. I suppose it’s a crap shoot what happens when they must choose sides. God help us all.

Governor, in addition to having God on our side, we’ll have the full might of the Oklahoma National Guard. I can assure you it is a fighting force to be reckoned with. As for those other bases, I’ve been quietly reconnecting with people I know. There might be a surprise in the offing when the time comes to choose sides.

Whitfield paused for a moment, then continued. Really? I like the sound of that.

She paused again before saying, General, if these plans must be implemented, you realize that you and I and the whole lot of us will be considered as having committed high treason. We could hang for this.

Governor, I swore an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. These nutjobs running and ruining the states all up and down both coasts, plus some inland, have trampled the Constitution under their feet for a long time now. I’ve been a CONNY all my life, and no Commie Red LIB is going to look me in the eye and call me a traitor. I’ll spit the last drop of blood at them before I slip into eternity.

Well said, General. What about the General Staff and the soldiers and airmen?

Governor, we are behind you one hundred percent.

Alright then, General, I’ll see you at 10 AM for the briefing. Be prepared to talk about dissenters and options for isolating them. As far as I’m concerned, they will be traitors in our midst and possibly enemy combatants, saboteurs, or spies.

Affirmative, Governor. See you then.

As he hung up the phone, the General realized he was angry. He was mad at the people living on the coasts who had for far too long considered the Flyover part of the United States beneath them. A day of reckoning seemed inevitable. It was not a fight he sought, but, if compelled, a fight he would see through to the finish or die trying.

PRESIDENT ELECT’S OFFICE

LOWER MANHATTAN, NEW YORK, NY

0900 EST, 15 JANUARY 2021

President-elect Devin Cyrus sat quietly in his office in lower Manhattan studying his inauguration speech. It had been written and revised several times and was now in the finishing stretches of refinement. With the inauguration just five days away on 20 January, he was excited to launch the New Way program that got him elected to his first term. He was to be the very first openly Socialist to take the Oath of Office of President of the United States.

The struggle for Social Justice, as outlined in his New Way Platform, had been going on for several decades, with alternating progress and retrenchment. Finally, the demographics changed favorably in 2050. Steady advancements had been made up and down both coasts and in some inland parts of the nation.

As a student of history, Cyrus had a deep knowledge of Capitalism, Communism, and Socialism. He was a student of the writings of not only the United States Founding Fathers but also of Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, and other Communists and Socialists. While he freely admitted he hated Stalin and Mao and the hundreds of millions of murders committed under their regimes of terror, he was equally quick to point out the many shortcomings of the Founding Fathers (especially the ones culpable in starting a new nation in 1776 with chattel slavery not being abolished in the South).

In the last fifteen years, Devin Cyrus had come to hate the American version of Capitalism and targeted his long and fiery speeches against it whenever possible. His draft speech made it very clear that it amounted to a hammer blow to the Old Way and marked a new and enlightened