Justifiable Homicide: A Political Thriller (Robert Paige Thrillers Book 1) (51 page)

“I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Voltaire

Steinman put down his coffee cup. “Bob, what do you think of those Sons of Liberty killings?” Paige and Sveta were at his house for dinner. Dishes were clanging in the kitchen, where Sveta was helping Rona put the food on plates. The smells emanating from the kitchen indicated that dinner was ready.

“Yeah, that was something, wasn’t it? The killers got killed. I wonder who did it.”

Actually, Paige was wondering something entirely different. He more or less approved of what they had done to the politicians, Nelson Fuller, Frumpton and his associates. He firmly believed that those who abuse the Constitution to the extent they did needed to be removed from positions of authority because they violated their fiduciary duty to the people.

He felt really bad about their deaths because they had been assassinating some of the people who were destroying property rights and turning America into a totalitarian state. If he and Tomás hadn’t killed them, they could have continued their work.

Although he more or less approved of them assassinating those government officials and the eminent domain abusers, he could not have allowed them to kill Saul, Rona and Sveta. He also couldn’t condone the assassination of professors, journalists and others just because they exercised their freedom of speech and press in ways Wellington’s group didn’t like. They had gone too far. Although they were patriots, they were misguided when it came to free speech and free press.

It reminded him of the Thomas Jefferson quote: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

Paige looked Steinman in the eyes. “You know, there’s speculation that the Sons of Liberty were behind the Raul Rodriguez assassination, too. You remember him? The Cuban radio talk show host?”

“Yes, I remember reading about that. At the time, they were saying it was a group of Cuban patriots who wanted to shut him up because of his position on the Cuban embargo.”

Steinman continued. “But back to this Sons of Liberty thing, I find it really scary that it has gotten to the point where people think the only way to settle their political differences is to kill people who disagree with them. That should never happen in a democracy.”

“Well, what you say might be true most of the time. We can’t go around executing people just because they disagree with us, but sometimes killing can be justified.”

“In what case would that be? I can’t think of any.” Steinman leaned forward to listen to Paige’s reply. He raised both eyebrows and looked Paige directly in the eyes. He was so close that Paige could smell his breath, which was a little on the stale side.

Paige explained his position. “If any government can be considered legitimate, it can only be when its functions are limited to the defense of life, liberty and property. Once it goes beyond those basic functions, it starts depriving people of their rights and starts looking more like a tyranny. It starts confiscating one person’s property and giving it to other people who have done nothing to earn it. It starts taking away people’s rights. When it does that, it starts losing its legitimacy. As it continues to travel down that path, it continues to lose credibility. At some point, the government becomes illegitimate. When that happens, assassinating our elected representatives becomes justifiable homicide, an act of self-defense, because they are no more than a bunch of thieves and petty dictators. When our elected representatives use the force of government to take away our property and liberty rather than protect them, we have a moral duty to our children and grandchildren to stop them by whatever means. Killing them becomes justifiable homicide, an act of self-defense.”

“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”

Unknown

The following story appeared in the
New York Times Online
edition six days after the Sons of Liberty members were killed in Miami:

NEW YORK – Senator Chuck Sherman, his body guard and two of his aides were killed this morning while leaving a party fundraiser in midtown. Eye witnesses said they were getting into a limo at about 11:43am when a series of explosions rocked the limo, which was parked at the corner of Madison Avenue and 57
^th
Street. No other injuries were reported. Two assailants were seen getting into a late model black or dark blue sedan heading east.

A few minutes later, members of the media received a message from the New York chapter of the Sons of Liberty claiming responsibility and warning that other executions would be forthcoming. The reasons given for the killings were Senator Sherman’s vote to increase the debt limit, his advocacy to fund a number of projects the group claimed were unconstitutional, and his instrumental role in the passage of the National ID Card Act, which requires people to carry a biometric tracking device or face arrest and imprisonment.

These killings fall on the heels of the assassinations of U.S. Senators and representatives in Los Angeles and Kansas City and two New York City council members who supported New York City’s controversial stop and frisk policy that allows police to stop and frisk individuals without a warrant or probable cause.

“We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”

Thomas Paine

NOTE TO THE READER:
I enjoyed writing this book. If you enjoyed reading it, please write a review

I would like to thank the following people for their input and support: Teresa Hernandez, who gave me many insights about Cuban culture; Wendy Gelman, who gave me insights about Jewish religion and culture; Thomas B. Sawyer, who pointed me in the right direction when I first started taking courses on novel writing and made helpful suggestions about revising drafts of some of my early chapters; Stephen Mertz and Tammy Barley, who provided professional critiques of later drafts of the manuscript; Steve Cohen and Tom McDonnell, who answered all my questions about firearms, and even gave me answers to questions I didn’t think of asking.

Michele McGee, Mary McGee, Joelle Maximilien-Miller, Meira Pentermann, Erne Lewis, Murray Sabrin, Makiko Shinjo, Yaz Hernandez, Maria Taro and Rose Stiffin, who made many helpful suggestions; Roy Migabon, who designed the terrific cover; Alex Brau and Yaz Hernandez, who produced and directed my promotional videos; Cindy Broccolo, Quartney S. Cohen, Ploypailin Kunset and Paola Zuniga, who acted in the videos, and Len Bruce, Tatyana Maranjyan, Evgeny Belov, Gema Martinez, Cindy Broccolo, Mel Shiner and Kris Johnson, who translated or narrated the videos. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Margaret, who left me alone so I could do what I love to do.

Before becoming a novelist, Robert W. McGee was a professor, attorney, CPA and consultant. He has published 58 nonfiction books and has lectured or worked in more than 30 countries. Former clients include The United States Agency for International Development, the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the Central Intelligence Agency. He holds 13 earned doctorates from universities in the United States and four European countries and has won 18 gold and 5 silver medals in Taekwondo National Championship tournaments. He spends most of his time in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Southeast Asia and Europe.

http://RobertWMcGee.com