Author Steven Clark Bradley

Imagine your terror. You are the daughter of a minor nobleman. All you have ever known is your family's pleasant country house, which is surrounded by gardens and farms. One night you are dragged out of bed, dressed in servants' clothes, and rushed away in the old market cart. Your parents have been warned that the family is about to be arrested.

The concentration of power and wealth amongst a few at the expense of many is a recipe for unrest. A similar situation existed in during the revolutions in America and in France. The big difference between the two nations’ wars though is that, whereas in America the fear and trepidation existed before the war and was brought on by the occupying British, in France, the fear of being killed appeared after the monarchy was overthrown and was caused by the leaders of the revolution itself.

All revolutions are the moments in a nation’s history when the masses, that is to say, the millions of ordinary men and women, begin to participate in politics and take their lives and destinies into their own hands. Revolution stirs up society from the top to the bottom of its ability to survive. It mobilizes layers that were previously inert and non-political. There are many things that cause an entire nation to rise up against its own government. Those are times when the survival of a people gains more importance than the continuation of a people’s traditions that had marked them throughout their history. This was true of the American and French Revolutions, as well. Yet, there are many differences between the two freedom movements of Americans and the French. Therefore, we should look into the differences that led the French people and the American colonies to rise up and throw off their leaders’ yoke of bondage. Though both groups of commoners had similar goals and desires; the two movements ended up miles apart in terms of their final outcomes.

A careful study of the French Revolution provides a complete proof against those who have stated that the revolution in France was the work of tiny handfuls of conspirators and demagogues. In his work, A Brief History Of The Past Two Hundred Years, Raymond F. Betts wrote, “In sum, the French Revolution did many things, unleashed new forces, destroyed old ideas, offered new promises. Not the Revolution itself, of course, but the people who made it.” Europe in Retrospect: The French Revolution, the Ideology.

The role of the masses, otherwise known as the third estate, is fundamental in driving the revolution forward at every stage. Revolution is indeed a movement and a rebellion started and carried out by the neglected masses. Yet, though the French People had the ability to find the leadership needed to overthrow the monarchy, they lacked the willpower to guide the revolution after the monarchy had fallen. This is in great contrast to the thirteen colonies after England sued for peace. In comparison, it may be a bit unfair concerning the aftermath of the coup d’état. America had virtually ruled themselves for more than two centuries, by the time the nation ratified the constitution. When the fighting had ceased and the numbers of dead Americans were still unknown, the new nation had already constructed a political, economic and judicial apparatus with which to rule and defend its newly independent people. Though America faced difficulties in the style and form of its government, the years of cultural development and economic help from the King of France during the revolution all helped to keep the fledgling nation together.

In contrast, France’s revolution for Equality, Liberty and Fraternity quickly descended into a virtual state of terror after the king’s head was separated from the King’s crown. France’s populace had been the victim of a feudal system that had left them ailing, very poorly educated and very angry. The leaders of the French Revolution were men of great skill. Mirabeau was a great orator and able statesman. Danton was a figure larger than life, the rallying point of the revolution at a moment of terrible danger. Robespierre, with all his faults and lust for power, was a very brave representative of the Jacobins who had really united the masses of Paris’ poor to carryout the Revolution. As could be expected, the latter-day bourgeois critics of the Revolution had reserved all their most venomous spite for the most consistently revolutionary figures. Men like Hébert a most consistent leader of the masses, is given little attention. It is sad how each of these men and many others finally turned upon each other.

The leaders who led the rebellion turned it into a court of blood, suspicion and deadly intrigue. The only thing that seemed to stop the spree of guillotined nobles and suspected conspirators was when the revolution finally turned on itself. Robespierre’s acquiescence in the ordered execution of the outspoken and very popular Danton represented the beginning of the end for the rebellion that the French Revolution had unleashed. If the leadership had had similar experience in running a nation as the United States enjoyed after it successful revolt, perhaps the streets of Paris would not have flowed with so much French blood. When the revolution devolved into the mayhem that ensued, active participation of the masses ebbed and the revolution came to a complete stop; going actually backwards causing the French public to long for the days they had just decapitated. Instead of a movement toward freedom being carried out, as the American Revolution had done, the rebellion was taken hostage by a group of leaders who not only matched and exceeded the brutality of the monarchy, but also failed to change the lives of the people. Instead of starvation by neglect, now anyone thought to have collaborated or thought to be thinking of collaboration were quickly rushed to revolutionary France’s version of a humane death by guillotine. Probably the most historic and important thing that the French Revolution accomplished was to pave the way for the empire that Napoleon Bonaparte soon after founded.

Some of the primary causes for the French Revolution can be found in the class structure of the three estates. The Clergy, which held major sway in the rule of France and all other monarchies that ruled over the people, was the First Estate and received special favors and access. This brought on a lot of apathy and distain for the church. During the history of France, the church had tried and succeeded in interjecting its power and demands by threatening the monarchies with excommunication. It was from the Church that kings and queens derived their divine right to rule. Those who refused to submit to the Pope could never hope to be protected by the Vatican.

Contrarily, America’s experience and causes for revolution were vastly different to issues and reasons for France’s war. Americans had come to the shores of the new world with the great hope of building their evangelical faith in a free land where no one could ever persecute them again for their love of God. In contrast, The French Revolution was not only a push to rid the people of its selfish and neglectful political system. It was also a defiant fist in the air against the church. Whereas America encouraged growth of the church before, during and after the war, France’s revolution was a coup to throw off the church as an impediment to political and economic development.

The Second Estate that made up the three leveled society of pre-revolutionary France was the Nobility. The aristocracy in France had treated its people as mere servants. While the people were in the throws of starvation, King Louis XV was living a lavish life and conducting himself without the slightest concern for the plight of the Third Estate, the commoners, who represented the majority of the population. It is well rumored that King Louis the Fifteenth’s last words were, “After me, the flood!” Though only tradition, the words seem plausible in light of the king’s flippant and wasteful lifestyle in his court.
Another major catalyst for the rebellion and the death of the monarchy in France was due to the major role that the Age of Enlightenment had played over many years. This movement had planted seeds of freedom and free thought that had no alternative but to eventually overthrow the obstacles to the development of change and freedom. This Western movement had had a great influence also on thirteen colonies over in the New World, which had just started to thumb its nose at its sovereign. The ideals of the Age of Enlightenment, that though today may seem passé, were powerful and revolutionary in the days of the Louis IVI and Robespierre. So powerful were they that even music and scores were determined as divisive and banned from Europe’s concert halls because of the political fervor they induced. The opera, Figaro serves as a great example of this historical truth. When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his opera, Figaro, it was banned from many stages throughout Europe.

Simply put, the Age of Enlightenment had challenged the historic view that Kings devised their power by the rule of God and the Church. Therefore, the Age of Enlightenment challenged the established rule of a king’s divine right to rule. The new thought of the enlightenment not only launched a challenge to the ruling elite of nobility, but it also served as a direct threat to the clergy of the Catholic Church that had propped up the established monarchies throughout Europe. In addition, because the various thrones throughout Europe were all intermingled due to inner marrying for peace-making purposes, the whole thought of absolute rule was brought into questions. Perhaps the only kingdom to have ever responded to its people’s outcries was Great Britain when it produced the Magna Carte, which was a direct inspiration for the American Revolution, many years later. It is interesting to point out as well that the only monarchy to have survived this powerful force unleashed in the 1700’s is the Crown of England.

The American Revolution had writers such as John Lock and Thomas Jefferson and many others. Nevertheless, while the French Revolution fought for freedom from the King and from Christendom, post-revolutionary America experienced a great spiritual awakening which propelled the United States into the greatest gospel-propagating nation of its time. Preachers like Jonathan Edwards and Charles Finny saw great masses of people turn into dedicated servants of Christ. It was said that some cities even witnessed great numbers of taverns shut down due to the lack of clientele. The results of the French revolution were quite different, which left the cathedrals and chapels empty throughout France. The Catholic Church in France has never really recovered.

Another aspect of the Age of Enlightenment that motivated rebellion was that the new ideals for life appealed to bourgeois grievances. The ideals and writings of the Age of Enlightenment had served as a base from which to lodge their complaints and desires for change in the ruling nobles. In addition, the desire to conduct free trade and to see an expansion of the Third Estate’s financial stability drove the commoners to demand that they be allowed to conduct business in a freer atmosphere. The development of Third Estate commerce was a great threat to the nobility. The best way to insure submission was to keep the populous weak and needy.

In addition to the cultural cast system and the Age of Enlightenment; another major cause of the French Revolution was the financial difficulty into which the ruling class had allowed the nation to fall. The financial reform problems of debt and the financing many overly ambitious wars had had no affect on the lavish lifestyles of the nobility. It was the commoners, the Third Estate, who bore the brunt of the bad decisions of the monarchy. The king and his family continued to spend extravagantly on their courts while the people starved. Consequently, it was the peasants and the bourgeoisie that paid all the hefty taxes that were levied to pay for the bad investments and rich lifestyles while the Second Estate, the nobility, refused to give up any of their tax concessions. The role of women in the French revolution is a graphic illustration of this fact. Among the most decisive moments in the revolution was the fifth of October 1789, when six or seven thousand women of Paris marched in the pouring rain to Versailles to demand bread and to force the king to move to Paris. The men were shamed into joining this strange procession of "the baker, the baker's wife and the baker's boy" which turned the king of France into a virtual prisoner of a revolutionary people.

Another important point in the drive toward revolution in France was the king himself. Louis XVI was a king who could be described as an introvert. He spent little time concerning himself with the people’s needs and concerned himself mainly with the needs of his court. He had been raised with the nobles and that along with an obtuse, weak demeanor caused him to simply disregard the signs of rebellion festering under the current of court games and its frivolous lifestyle. In addition, King Louis XVI seemed incapable of taking strong and decisive action. He was a caretaker and filled his days with the games and pomp and circumstance of his office. Also, his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, had great influence on the king. Though the words that have been ascribed to her are probably exaggerated, she did demonstrate a true distain for the French subjects and cared little for the people’s plight.

In the case of the Americans, the new-world patriots were aiming their arrows of descent at the British Crown. Yet, after the war, the new nation pulled together and a class society was formed that allowed the growth of all levels of society. The idea of equality was not really a foundation stone of the American Revolution. Americans had lived together, rich and poor since the founding of Jamestown. Yet, when the American people compared the “Nobility” of the new nation to the nobility of England, the new leadership seemed far more just and even handed. The nation revered its forefathers even in poverty, because they felt their interests were taken into consideration.

Finally, it cannot be minimized just how big a role the American Revolution played in the development of the French war against their monarchy. It has been pointed out that there were many differences between the French and American revolutions. Yet, the purposes and the doctrine of the American Revolution did give an impetus for the French to finally rise up and take the government by force. Also, the presence of French soldiers on American soil during the American Revolution did introduce new ideas of liberty and economic freedom in the minds of the leaders of the French rebellion. French soldiers who returned to France had new ideas and goals and quickly shared their views throughout the nation. As a result, the ideal proclaimed by the American forefathers and the wording of the American Declaration of Independence caused a yearning for more liberal freedoms for all people. It caused the people to let down their hesitancy to take up arms against the tyranny they faced in their own nation. It forced the people to understand that the only way to get out from under the terrible taxes of the lavish king was to call for no taxation without proper representation. All of this gave the people the common belief that a republican form of government was superior to a monarchy.

Is America perhaps in the midst of a new revolution? The current election has the potential of changing the land of the free forever. Barack Obama represents leadership that will take the nation toward social revolution where we will see a plethora of blushing, bearded brides. His persona is an enigma that is far more visible and available than the biased American press would lead us to believe. This nation that has been at war with Islamic radicals throughout the world is about to elect a man who finds his roots in faith of Mohammed. That, in itself, represents a revolution of thought and practice that will render the war on terror unwinnable. These changes are dangerous side of democracy that still must be preserved. If a land is ready to relinquish its hold on power and ready to yield the role of superpower, then such risky revolutions shall be inevitable.

The greatest protagonist of Revolution has no name. It is the revolutionary people themselves; those countless unknown and unsung heroes, activists and heroines from both America and and the world who embody the mainspring of the entire process. There are great differences in goals, ideals and results in the wars that turned America and France into the nations they are today. It will be interesting to see how the future revolutions of these two countries, both violent and bloodless, will develop. What is sure is the true words heard time and time again that nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. Until then, Vive La Revolution! - Steven Clark Bradley

• Author Steven Clark Bradley
• From The Mind Of Author Steven Clark Bradley
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You can read lots more from Steven Clark Bradley at these sites. You might even find some Stories That Read You! at:

• Author Steven Clark Bradley
• From The Mind Of Author Steven Clark Bradley
• Inspired Author.Com
• Inspired Author.com (Nikki Leigh's Virtual Book Tour)
• Posts On Fire
• Steven Clark Bradley - ezinearticles.com
• Steven Clark Bradley - Nimrod Rising
• http://communati.com/blog/steven-clark-bradley
• Steven Clark Bradley on Blog Talk Radio
• http://www.xanga.com/StevenClarkBradley
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A3SMJINWMCARRY
• Steven Clark Bradley's Underground Controversy
• StevenClarkBradley - Book Marketing Network
• StevenClarkBradley - Published Authors

All of Steven Clark Bradley's novels are widely available all over the net. Here are a few links to help you read these exciting stories now.


Amazon.com
booksamillion.com
powells.com
bordersstores.com
barnesandnoble.com
copperfields.com

Summary of this Book...

Have you ever wished you could decide the best way to right a serious wrong done to you? Chief Inspector Corbett (Core) Mandeville was the best of the best in solving the worst crimes in his state…until now. He and a killer have an uncanny affinity, with more than one attitude in common. This crime is too close to Core’s own heart and experience for comfort. This killer has a reason for his crime, and Core understands it completely. Get into the mind of the killer and the cop. Find a link that makes for exciting, lethal and profound act of vengeful justice. You will be tantalized and amazed by how similar they both can be when all their actions are
based on a new set of core values.

I especially liked...

This book is a ride that takes you deep into a plot that has no limits! I found the mind of the killer very well revealed and as much as I tried not to understand his cruel plot, it somehow seemed rational. That was concerning to me. But then there was the detective, Core. He was smart and clever and not far removed from the killer himself. The ending is amazing and I loved this book! I hope this author will write more books just as good as this one!

The author of this Book...

Steven worked a number of years in various countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa. He has been to 34 countries and has worked extensively with Kurdish refugees from Turkey, Iraq, and Syria. Steven also established a school by correspondence for African students in the African countries of The Gambia and Senegal West Africa. He is the founder of a Cultural Center for refugees in France, where he lived for six years. Speaking fluently in French and in Turkish, Steven has been in 34 countries.

I recommend this Book because...

I recently read Probable Cause. This novel is one of intense desire to take back one's life that was ripped away by infidelity and betrayal. All of us have been hurt in many of the same ways that Steven Clark Bradley describes in his new novel, Probable Cause. This story about two mens' reactions to betrayal, one the killer and the other one the investigator, gets into the mind and puts the reader right at the same level of emotion that the characters have. It forces the reader to really look into their own hearts as they read. This is not just a murder novel. In reality it is a love story, about a love so real and profound that nothing can stand in the way of putting the shattered pieces back together again. Core, the detective, wants to catch the killer, but he too has been wounded and bruised and battered internally by the very same things that Grag Bradford has endured. His affinity with Greg Bradford realy puts the story into some amazing thrilling twists. It is enthralling to watch the acts of vengence and the reaction of a cop as he remembers his own remorse during his time of pain and depression at the loss of his trust in his fellow man and in his woman. If you want to read a story that will bring make vengence seem like justice and a book that is a real page turner, then Probable Cause is the book for you. I give it an A in my report card!

Further Comments...

It will make you think before you commit an act that can totally devastate a person's life. Fidelity is not just a virtue, it is a requirement.

Tools of the Trade

It was all under control. There had been a certain amount of improvising, but Greg found that he adapted well. He had come to realize that the thing that caused many a “Perfect Murder” to fail were feelings of guilt and fears. Even Greg was amazed that he now possessed neither. He knew he should be troubled by that, but he felt actually invigorated. He was totally compartmentalized and his eyes remained on the prize. He had already tucked the letter to his beloved Lisa in his pocket and had cleaned up the spots of blood that had fallen on the floor. He had looked at the bed and it was quite soaked with it now, but the jerk had been a thorn in his side ever since he moved in. Greg chuckled when he recalled the look of shock written across his Barney’s face. In Greg’s mind, it was a sight to behold.

“Just ask me if I am powerless now?” Greg asked himself and the snoozing public as he fastened the utility belt across his waist.

It was now 4:30 AM. No one would check on him anymore for the night. As far as the peaceful masses knew, he was sound asleep. He had about 2 hours to get to the security vehicle and get off the grounds. He knew he would have to ditch it as soon as possible and he no longer needed to check out. He had signed his release in blood. Now he just needed to get into the dental services office and grab a few needed tools of the trade. He would have need of them later in the day. Greg found the master key and inserted it into the lock. He turned the knob and walked into the dentist’s office. He knew where it all was. He had built quite a good relationship with Dr. Fisher.

He opened the utility cabinet and took out two tooth pullers. They were rarely used anymore and not at all sterile, but that did not matter tonight. He took what he needed and took up his walk and made his way out the back door and walked over to the security vehicle. He found the key and got in and drove up to the main gate. When he got there the security guard saw Greg in his uniform and simply waved him through. The employee turnover was so great, for all the gate knew, he was simply a new guard and he had all the trappings of security. It was about the time that the last check would have been done and it was nothing less than totally normal. Now all Greg had to do was ditch this vehicle for one far less conspicuous and he knew just where to get one.

By the time that Greg had gotten out of the compound and had gotten a safe distance away from Longcliff, it was already 5:42 AM. Greg had about one hour before Barney’s body would be discovered. Greg drove into Logansport and into an area, which was renowned for covens. He found the house where he had met with Queen Lizza. He drove past it and parked the security van about four blocks away. Before he got out he checked that he had the letter to Lisa and the little bag of tricks he had stolen from the utility room and the Dental Services office, including his old set of teeth and looked for a security pistol that he knew was in the vehicle somewhere. To his surprise, it was in the glove compartment. He checked the clip and it was full of tranquilizer darts. There was now just a twinge of daybreak in the air and the fog was lingering thickly over the bluffs that surrounded the hospital. He had to be very precise in his use of time. Once he got into the house of the female devil he could take his time. Greg began to laugh.

“Stupid old witch, shouldn’t she know that I was coming and that I intended to too…?”

But the house was dark and no one was awake. He knew that she was totally unaware of just how soon she would meet her master! Or, was she?

Greg pulled a small crow bar from his little bag of tricks. He walked around to the side of the house and bent down at one of the basement windows. Greg was thin and was sure he would fit in one of those midget windows. He forced the end of the crowbar and the window popped open. That scared Greg a bit. It was just too easy.

“Maybe her Master is sick of her too?” Greg wondered.

He shined the laser light into the basement and had to clasp his mouth to stop a scream resulting from what he saw in front of his face. Then he saw what it was. It was just a mask, horrifying, nevertheless. He knew that this evil woman had somehow gotten to his head. She needed getting rid of. He pushed it away quietly and slid inside and closed the window. The basement was clean and had lots of satanic paraphernalia. He looked around for a moment and then found the stairs. He was sure that the door at the top of the stairs would be locked but was surprised that it was not. As he opened it he saw that it led directly into the kitchen. He stepped into destiny and pulled out the service revolver. As he walked into the kitchen he saw a light come on in the living room to the right. Greg checked his pulse and it was racing. He knew he had not prepped himself enough for this chapter.

“Mr. Bradford”

Greg turned his head toward the living room and knew that she had been waiting for him. He walked in the room and saw Queen Lizza sitting in her rocking chair and fully dressed.

“So why you want to kill me sir? Have I led you astray up to now?”

Greg now knew now that this woman was the real McCoy.

“You were very calm tonight you know. I was impressed with the determination in your soul, Mr. Bradford”

Greg walked into the living room with the gun pointed out straight in front of him. He saw her and aimed it directly at her.

“How did you know about tonight?”

“Oh, you mean about your Barney, sir?”

Greg stared very intently at her when she used that name. No one could know that he called the old fool by that name.

“HAHA! Can’t get much by me, Mr. Bradford. Now, please put that gun down. It is not needed in this house. We are both about the same business ya know. Did you know I am from Jamaica?”

“You all are, aren’t you?”

“Oh, no, sir that place has far more enemies of the Master than friends. That is why we all come over here. Anyway, we have perfected many things. You put your hand down and I will put mine up.”

Greg dropped his hand to his side with the pistol pointing to the floor. Queen Lizza held her left hand up and she let a set of keys dangle downward in the air.

“Isn’t this what you came for? I even filled the tank for you. Here you go.”

She tossed the keys to Greg’s feet.

“Why are you doing this? I was going to kill you and you knew it.”

“Mr. Bradford, you are a desperate man. Your soul has been ripped out of you and I have been there also, I do not want to die, and why should I when we are so similar in so many ways. I know you do not openly serve the master, but I too am a person and you need to take back what your heart desires. So, do it well Mr. Bradford. I hope you die a very violent death tonight. Tell me about it later, ok?”

Greg bent down and took the keys.

“What if the police question you? You could destroy everything.”

“And why would they? And why would I? Is there anything linking us together? I have given you the car. There is no sign of violence in this house. Before you leave, you better close that window in the basement.”

“I already did.”

“I missed that, hmmm, that is concerning.”

“I hate to tell you this, Miss Devil, but I do not serve your master.”

“What! You do not serve the master? HAHA! Who were you serving very early this morning, Mr. Bradford? Jesus? Oh you serve the master! When you wake up and keep his system afloat, you are serving him. Even the Bible says he is the Prince of the power of the air, Sir, ya know, so never fear, Mr. Bradford, you serve him and he likes what he sees in you, so far. But just keep telling yourself that you are doing it all for yourself. Greed and selfishness are by far the greatest motivating emotions. The master was the first to use them, ya know. So, go forth, Mr. Bradford and do not look back.”

Queen Lizza put her left hand up to her forehead and closed her eyes. Greg thought she was about to put some curse on him and pointed the gun at her. With her eyes still closed she said,

“You better be going, Mr. Bradford and please put the gun down. I have no intension of cursing you. In fact, I have placed a blessing of success over you. Remember? That makes me a cohort, does it not? By the way, the light is coming outside and a certain housekeeper is just about ready to open a certain door, Mr. Bradford, back at the house of my master.”

“What are you talking about?”

Then Greg realized that she was talking about Longcliff. Greg looked at her and thought he should say thank you or something.

“Mr. Bradford, A thank you is not in order here, Sir. It could be interpreted as a sign of weakness. Just go! I hate that car anyway!”

“What you gonna replace it with, a hearse?”

Greg turned and walked to the kitchen and walked out the back door. Destiny was all around him and he headed straight for it. Queen Lizza began to tremble. She knew how close she had come to death and it was not as pretty as she had imagined it would be. Then she heard it.

Back at Longcliff, a housekeeper had just entered into Greg’s room. She saw a sleeping patient there. She decided to quietly gather up the dirty laundry and then she saw it, the blood, the open eyes staring straight up to the ceiling!

“Help! Help! Oh my God! Help!”

You can read lots more from Steven Clark Bradley at these sites. You might even find some Stories That Read You! at:

 

• Author Steven Clark Bradley
• From The Mind Of Author Steven Clark Bradley
• Inspired Author.Com
• Inspired Author.com (Nikki Leigh's Virtual Book Tour)
• Posts On Fire
• Steven Clark Bradley - ezinearticles.com
• Steven Clark Bradley - Nimrod Rising
• http://communati.com/blog/steven-clark-bradley
• Steven Clark Bradley on Blog Talk Radio
• http://www.xanga.com/StevenClarkBradley
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A3SMJINWMCARRY
• Steven Clark Bradley's Underground Controversy
• StevenClarkBradley - Book Marketing Network
• StevenClarkBradley - Published Authors

amazon.com
barnesandnoble.com
bordersstores.com
booksamillion.com
powells.com
copperfields.com

Decisions - Decisions, we all have to make them. What if you had the responsibility of making a decision that would change the world we live in for ever? Would you feel the weight of the burden that you bore and hear the voices in your mind of those that it would affect? Read Part Two of Quality of Life – Supreme Judgment see how power can be wielded for good and for evil. Quality of Life is a work in progress by Thriller and Suspense Author Steven Clark Bradley. It will eventually become part four of his very powerful book, Nimrod Rising. Like that suspenseful novel, Quality of Life is as real as it gets.

Quality of Life – Supreme Judgment Part II

…Saul walked out toward the waiting limousine. He felt the cool night air enter into his lungs and it refreshed his senses. That voice and the man, whoever it was…whatever it was…if he was at all, had been almost like a fist to the gut and had knocked the wind out of him. The fresh air felt better than his first hot cup of coffee in the morning! He took a few steps toward the car and heard voices in the night air. He was sure they were real, but slightly doubted himself. He turned and looked at the guard accompanying him.

“Do you hear that?”

“What is that, Justice Saul? You mean those voices…the protesters? Yes, they’ve been out there all night. We were all a bit worried that you were still here so late with them out there and still wide awake.”

“Are they out there about tomorrow? What are they doing; carrying signs and dressed all up in black…you know painted faces and look all ominous and all?”

“No sir, they are praying.”

“Praying?”

“Yes Sir, praying for you.” said the guard while opening the limousine door for Justice Saul.

Justice Saul slid into the car and it quietly pulled out onto First Street and he could see where the voices were coming from. He had expected anger and aggressive signs. What he saw surprised him. There were no darkly-clad images in the night. Instead, he saw groups of men and women huddled together and praying for God to give Justice Laurence Saul wisdom in his ruling. The signs spoke volumes to the Justice also.

“God Guide you, Justice Saul!” “We are praying for you, Justice Saul.” “Please think about the children!” “Constitutional =The death of America! / Unconstitutional =America has a future!”

“Slow down Peter. I want to watch this for a moment.”

“Yes Sir, but it could be dangerous.”

“Dangerous? They’re praying! They’re praying for me of all things!”

“A lot of us are doing that, Sir.”

Saul opened the back window and peered outside. There was no violence and those who carried the signs while the others prayed also kept a lookout for any opposing groups of thugs that might appear at any time. Everyone knew that America was only hours away from literally changing America completely and forever; everyone including Supreme Court Justice Laurence Saul. One of the lookouts saw the Justice’s face staring out of the car window. He dropped his sign and fell to his knees with his face bowed low and placed both hands in jacket’s pockets. The protester slowly raised his face up to meet Saul’s gaze. The man’s looked directly into Saul’s eyes and smiled ominously! His face became immediately clear to Justice Saul.

“My God! That’s him! That’s him Peter!”

“Who…who is it, Sir?”

“It’s that man I met in the building!”

 

“You mean the guard, Sir?

 

“Never mind Peter! Just put it in gear and get out of here!”

 

The man pulled his hands out of his pockets. He was squeezing on a live grenade in each! He stood up on his feet! Saul’s driver, Peter saw nothing. Then the man with a disfigured face and blood-stained holes on his military fatigues took on an angry look and shouted at Saul!

 

“Enemies of Humanity all!” He then reared back and threw a grenade at Saul’s car and quickly turned and threw the other one across the street into a small group of supporters of the bill on which Saul would soon have to rule.

 

“Peter, didn’t you see that! Get the hell out of here! Before we…”

 

The grenade flew right through the window and landed in the back seat next to Saul and a blast rang out! Saul felt his skin ripping off his bones and the searing heat melted his eyes and he knew he had died! Then, everything was silent. Slowly, ever so carefully, Saul touched his eyes. They were still there! He was afraid to opened them! He called out Peter’s name. There was no answer.

 

“Peter! Peter! Are you ok? Are you alive?” No answer!

Finally, Saul forced his eyes open and looked and saw his driver, Peter sitting at the wheel waiting to be told what to do! The back glass separating Saul from the driver was closed. Saul hit the switch and it slid down.

 

“Are you ok, Peter?”

 

“Yes sir, I am fine. Are you sure you are alright, Sir. I’m beginning to worry

about you.”

 

“You have to call 911, Peter! We have to help those people!”

 

“Where, Justice Saul? Is someone hurt?”

 

“I should say so! Didn’t you hear the explosion?!”

 

“No, Sir.” Peter responded and turned around to look at Saul. Justice Saul began to scream!

The man at the wheel was the same one who had just tossed the grenades.

“But you heard them, didn’t you?” the man said as he reached back and took Saul into his grip and pulled him up to the window!

"You’re gonna hear a lot tonight and you ain’t seen nothing yet!” Saul screamed a blood-curdling scream and opened his eyes again. He saw Peter on the phone calling for help.

“Put it away, Peter.”

 

“Sir, it is my duty to…”

 

“Put it away, I’m alright, I assure you.”

  The car pulled out and the praying crowd waved at Saul. The sleeping remnant of the bill supporters, from earlier in the day, raised their middle fingers toward the prayerful group and shouted.

“Tomorrow, everything’s going to change! You’ve had your day!”

 

They began to chant, “Free Sex!” “Gay Rights” “Death Rights!” “Reproductive Rights!”

Saul’s limousine drove on, but he had heard them. He sat back and reflected on it all. He was certain, almost, that he had simply allowed himself to let his nerves shake his resolve. Saul was a true constitutionalist. Yet, the doctrine that espoused that the constitution was a living document had gained a lot of prominence in the past decade. Many cases had been decided or gone unheard by the court based on the living nature of the now tattered document. He had always believed that society needed to cleave to the document that was set in stone. That was why he had been nominated and why he had faced such an uphill battle during his confirmation hearings in the first place. Yet, beyond his ability to see it or to notice it, he had been affected by it all. The sodomy ruling, the failure of the court to rule on the Shiavo case during the Rehnquist Court’s purview had truly helped cement the living document into the social psyche. It had created precedents for future rulings that had naturally led to the case before the court that had rent Justice Saul’s amoral logic asunder!

Now here he sat, in stunned silence, trying to understand the upside and downside of something just five short years earlier would have been decided on a good night’s sleep! Yes, everything would change tomorrow, no matter how he ruled, but one thing was already sure. Judge Laurence Saul had changed already. It was as though he were in a trance until he heard the driver communicating with Secret Service.

“Trump Card is at the perimeter and requesting access.”

“Roger that Trump Card, you are clear and in the perimeter. Joining your progress as we speak.”

“My-oh-my, Peter, I don’t know if I fell asleep or just staring off in space.”

“That’s ok, Justice Saul. You’ve got a lot on your mind, but it was the latter, sir.”

“Latter?”

“Space, Sir. You were just staring into space.”

Saul just acknowledged with a small groan and a shake of his head.

The lights of Saul’s home could be seen in the distance as they illuminated the night haze of valley where it sat. It always gave off its greenish glow into the mist. Tonight, though it seemed different, somehow murkier than usual. Saul looked out the window at the trees streaming by as the car made its way down the winding path that led to his front door. It was a mystical and somewhat fearful site, considering all he had heard and seen tonight. He rather feared for his sanity. He was sure Peter, up front driving steadily and constantly looking back at his boss with worried eyes, had no doubt that Justice Saul had met his match of wills when it came to “The Individual Rights and Termination Bill” or IRAT as it had become known. Many had simply added an “E” to the end and expressed their feeling toward it.

 
Saul had read both sides of the issue and both the dissent and the approval reasonings from his fellow colleagues. It had constantly been an illogical and hypocritical thing in his mind that they who supported the right to die at will, the right of women to terminate what Justice Laurence Saul had always regarded as human life in their wombs were always the first and the loudest to cry murder at the execution of someone who had taken the life of another without their consent.

It seemed duplicitous, to say the least. Yet, as the leaders of such groups were never wanting in their fervor to declare, those cases involved the deaths of individuals who, albeit heinous in life, had never given own consent to their own deaths. That somehow made sense to Saul, though it never had some five short years earlier. Washington tended to change a person, altered the mind due to a constant barrage of analysis of a public figure’s every move. Every word was measured, every restaurant was given a special significance and any human weakness seemed a scandal no matter how common it might seem for the common American.

 
It had taken its toll on Justice Laurence Saul, as well. Family values and morals groups had a lot of hope in Saul and though they were worried that he could pull a surprise on them, they fully expected him to rule with the dissent and declare the measure unconstitutional. Yet, the new pagans, as they were loathed to be so designated, on the left, who were far less numerous in their ranks, but who always shouted the loudest, also had reason to hope. Saul was a deeply conservative man and had always declared his adherence to family values. That is, until he, himself was faced with his own personal tragedy.

As Saul’s car continued its approach along the path towards his semi-stately manor, his mind went back to a more tender time in his life. It was a moment in the life of every person when they longed to be adult and shed the confusion of being a minor-almost-adult. In fact, he found adulthood far more befuddling, which made those days of malaise so enticing now. It was during that time that he had met her. Saul had met many young budding potential brides during his college years. It seemed harder to find a perfect mate at Harvard, and he suspected it was no less difficult at any IVY League school. It wasn’t that they were so much brighter and lofty than the “run-of-the-mill” institutions, just richer and better pruned.

Though today, there was little to distinguish the beauties in any school throughout America, in Saul’s day of cracking the books into the wee hours of the night, they were all prim and proper and one could never be too sure or too careful before bowing the knee to make promises that always seemed impossible to keep. Yet, then, at that time of valor and honor, one did keep their word and he was not about to get stuck with some lovely shining thing who’d end up being a hollow statue, a mere shell of the woman he had first met. So, he waited, but he had never stopped looking. Then, when he had lost the research volume he had checked out and had gone to the circulation desk at the Harvard Law Library to plead for mercy, he decided to just pay for the book rather than sounding like a blathering buffoon to the beautiful proper thing behind the desk. He had looked at her name tag that read Emma and then into her face. When he had told her he had to pay for the lost volume she said he should take a little more time to look for it and extended his grace period along with a smile that told him she had noticed him too. His eyes said a lot of things to Emma that day and His heart knew her right there and then, something only men could understand and which women never comprehended but had fully learned to use to its fullest advantage. From that day on, he could count only two things that had never changed one iota in his life. He had never stopped gazing into Emma’s face and he had never paid for the book.
 

From the time he had met her, asked her for that first date, bent his knee to her and extended her finger and held her in his arms on their first night of passion, he had loved Emma and had kept every promise he had made to her, except one.

Throughout Saul’s rising career, when he had one more case, one more meeting to attend or one more opinion for her to listen to, she had made almost no demands on her husband. Through his busy, always working days, doing things that he new were vital, but which meant virtually nothing to her, he had never stopped gazing into her face and Emma knew her man loved her. She had been bright, supportive and content to stay right there and raise their one daughter, Isabel or Iggie as everyone one called her because as a child she could say the “z” sound. Theirs had been one of those remnant relationships that had truly been made in heaven. It seemed that everything they touched turned to gold, until the gold had run dry.

“Cancer? Cancer!” Saul shouted in his mind. He looked around in the car to make sure he had not done so audibly. The fly in the ointment, that one stroke that destroyed my masterpiece!” he told himself. Emma had been there with him throughout his meteoric rise to power and had been his very own very best advisor and supporter. She had taken his side even when she knew he was wrong, only correcting his way in the most placid and private manners.

“She knew her man!” he concluded.

Now, here he was, face to face with the biggest decision of his life, and no less so for the nation and the one person he had never doubted one time was no where to be found. It was exactly that, Emma’s absence, Emma’s harsh, lingering, soul-numbing death that made his decision tomorrow appear so hard to arrive at. He had always believed in life. He had opposed abortion and had always felt that no one had the right to end anyone’s life, even their own. Yet, had he not been charged with the awful reality that his wife’s life was gone and there was no hope. Had he not pulled the plug that at least kept her chest rising and descending, giving a semblance of life? He did not want anyone to have to makes such decisions on their own again, because he knew full well how painful that was, but he had not regretted trying and that was the other side of the picture in his mind. He had promised to save her life. He had literally gone to the ends of the Earth to help her while he had sat there with her as she wasted away to nothing as he had seen her chest rise for the last time remaining there in suspended animation while her sight faded and as he whispered his last, “I love You” to her. It was a final conclusion he had prepared himself for physically, but for which he had utterly failed when the final devastating moment arrived.

Saul had heard Emma’s voice many times since her death. He had always put the sounds of her laugh and her voice in thin air over to a vivid imagination longing for her touch, her smell and her counsel. He had never sought it out, but she seemed to be with him every where he went. Now, he was actually seeking her advice. Who could know better what was right concerning his all-important issue? Yet, when he truly needed some mystic resolve, there was nothing. He actually felt she was completely gone from him for the first time! He was on his own. Then, the words he had heard from earlier in the evening came to him.

“You’re never alone!” he recalled. “Perhaps it was not some ogre but from…God? One never knows.” But he did know that there was no outside force that could render his ruling for him; not even Emma. The whole wretched experience had altered his life forever! The new pagans had cashed in all their chips in one human race gamble that Emma’s death would have the same affect on the country as it had on Justice Laurence Saul.

The car pulled into the circle driveway and stopped in front of the house. Peter got out and felt the drizzle in the air and heard the low growl of the gathering dark clouds above in the very early morning sky. He walked to the backdoor and opened for Justice Saul.

“Sir, is there anything else you need from me tonight?”

“Peter, I need you to try to get some sleep. I’ll need to leave for the office at around 10:00 in the morning.”

“Duly noted, Sir.”

Saul turned and walked up to the door which was held open by his housekeeper.

“Sir?” Peter called out. Saul turned slowly to look in Peter’s direction.

“Yes, Peter.”

“If I may, please remember, you are never alone.” Peter shouted

Saul felt his head slightly taken aback by the phrase but showed no surprise to his driver.

“Thank you Peter, that’s a good thought at such a moment as this.” Saul entered his house.

“We are burning the midnight oil tonight?” Saul’s butler asked an obvious question as he took the Justice’s coat.

“Sam, quite undesirably, I might add! There’s always a bigger fish. I my case it’s the people, of which you are one.”

“Quite proud to be so as well, I say.”

Saul turned to mount the stairs.

“Could send up a nightcap? No food, won’t do at all.”

“Sir, I have already sent up the warm Bordeaux. Is that adequate for such a night as this?”

“Well Sam, there’s a question. Adequate? For sure not! But much wiser indeed. Thank you Sam. It will do fine.”

“My pleasure, Sir”

Saul turned and climbed the first three steps.

“Oh yes, I forgot to tell you…”

“Yes, Sam” Saul stated, slowly turning around. “What is it, Sam?” said Saul with exasperation and fatigue in his voice.

“You received this letter by special delivery. I took the liberty of signing for it. I hope that does not meet with your displeasure.”

“Perfectly fine, Sam. That’s what your for and you are also for friendship, so stop being so incredibly kind.” Saul said as he walked and over to his butler. “You can call Larry, like everyone used to, I have told you that.”

“Yes sir, Larry it is, Sir.” Sam affirmed.

Saul amicably snatched the letter from Sam with slight smile and fake aggravation in his movement.

“For goodness sakes, man, now that makes me Sir Larry. I kind of like the sound of that…Sir Larry, hum?”

He turned and climbed the stairs to the top. He looked at the envelope, which possessed nothing in the way of anything striking or special. It was common in every way. He turned it over and held it up to the light, as if he were forbidden from opening it. He had had it drilled into him that he could never take a chance with anything, even as passé as unexpected mail. Yet, it was not the lessons from his handlers that gave him such apprehension. It was this night; a night that was full of confusion, strange voices and deep soul searching.

Saul walked into his bedroom and tossed the envelope onto the bed. He flipped on the TV and started taking of his clothes. A shower would just have to wait till morning. The moment the TV flashed on, Saul saw his face plastered all over the screen. He flipped the channel, Fox, CNN, MSNBC virtually every channel including C-Span were covering the big ruling to take place in less than ten hours.

Saul sat down at the edge of his bed and listened to how the whole affaire was being packaged.

“Chris, there is just no denying it. If the court upholds the IRAT bill, it will take on the greatest reach of the government into the lives of the American people to date. Perhaps there will never be anything ever passed like it in the future.”

“Yes Alex, there has never been anything like it. We’re joined by conservative talk show host, Michael Nance. Michael, I’m sure I don’t need to ask so tell us, at this juncture, what you think about tomorrow’s ruling, only hours away from what I suspect you regard as the abyss.”

“I am in no mood for your nonsense or cynicism! Let’s see it for what it is! We all knew all the warnings in the world would not stop the government takeover of our health care system. Chris, we would bitch, moan and scream about that, but we could almost live with that as much as we hate the idea. But this is not a mere takeover of Americans’ healthcare needs; this is a coupe d’état! This bill has already been overturned by two Federal Courts, a Federal Appeals Court and I am sure it will be turned over by the Supreme Court tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you Michael. Now let’s…”

“Wait…just let me say my bit and I’ll get off your show. If this bill is passed, it will be cradle to the grave control of the masses. It will regulate eligibility for education, it will control a child’s health records from birth and parents will be incarcerated regularly for obesity and numerous other heretofore unimaginable offences. There will be no resuscitation orders placed on those the “Government” deems terminal…which, by the way, will now be determined based on one’s quality of life rather than potential of living a good life even with certain infirmities. The mentally ill and those without the wherewithal to maintain a healthy life will be chosen for termination!”

“You are out of your mind, Mr. Nance! There has never been any provision for such things in this bill.”

Saul was looking around on the bed for the remote to change to another channel when he heard his name in the tube.

“I am not going to try to persuade you, because the hope making you and the loud minority of the country like you to change and see the truth will be when you wake up one morning and realize that you, your family nor anyone you love is ever safe again. I am speaking to Justice Saul, if you are listening Sir, we have faith in you, but there are a lot of forces arrayed against us now in the country and they are all aimed at you. Are you prepared to let the mentally infirmed, the aged, the terminally ill and the unborn never again have a fighting chance. Are you ready to approve, as the bill mandates, that some Human Utility Board be set up that will, in a very real way, have more power than the President himself in that they will decide who will live or die and who is useful or who merits touching the benefits we have all worked for all our lives? Think about it, Sir before it’s too late. Thanks Chris for at least letting say what I think the nation needs to hear. They have been warned!”

“Wow! Michael Nance, ladies and gentlemen. We are joined now by the founder of the Liberal Progress Board, George Sorloff. Mr. Sorloff, the floor is yours I guess in the interest of fairness.”

“Chris, we are hearing the same old gloom and doom and the fear tactic that the American people have grown accustomed to and are sick of...”

Saul reached behind his back and his hand searched for the remote. He did find it, but his hand found the envelope he had received earlier in the day. His finger wrapped around it when the TV screen suddenly changed. Before his eyes, Saul could see the Supreme Court swirling stairwell with him staring up at it. He seemed to be alone, but then something seemed to appear and disappear again. It was there, no it was gone! Then it appeared and stayed! It was him, that man, the one who had the bloody face! Saul rubbed his eyes and changed the channel.

The images across the screen remained the same. Then it changed and to his abhorrence, pictures of aborted fetuses appeared. They were bloody, some in tact, others torn to pieces and in shreds. He wanted to turn his face away but the image was so shocking and searing to his soul that he was forced to sit there and watch the myriad of unborn human lives, America’s with no rights, lay there on metal tables, in trash bags and canisters with the biohazard symbol emblazoned on the side. Then the image changed to the Image of Terrie Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman who in 2005 had been ordered to die without a shred of proof that she even requested to do so. There were pictures of her smiling at her mother and father, protesters for and against her life continuing, pictures of her crying and finally images of her dead, starved and dehydrated body lying on her bed.

Random shots flashed across the screen of the infirm, the elderly and the mentally ill. The last photo that appeared on the screen was that of the most precious person in Justice Laurence Saul’s life. Tears formed in the corners of Saul’s eyes and then began to flow like a river down he tired and bewildered face.

“No! You can’t be so heartless as that! No!”

Saul heard a knock at the door.

“Judge Saul, is everything alright? Judge Saul?”

“Yes, yes ,yes! I am fine” Saul responded looking over at the door.

“Are you sure? Can I help somehow?”

“I am fine Sam, go back to sleep.” He ordered. “Old fool never sleeps!” he murmured to himself.

When Saul turned back around, he saw the talking heads on the MSNBC report back on the screen. He truly wondered if he had lost his mind. Had he fallen asleep? He looked at his watch. It was 2:43 AM. He saw the envelope in his fingers. It made his hands begin to shake slightly. Slowly, he slid his finger under the sealed flap and slid it across the envelope until it was opened. He spread the envelop open and as though it were some chemical agent, two of his fingers took hold of the one sheet of paper inside. He pulled it out rather quickly, evidently finding his nerve again and held out in front of him still folded.

“Ah! What the hell!”

He unfolded it and dropped it to the floor and stared at the words, “You are never alone!” written across it!

“What is happening to me?” he quietly but fearfully asked himself.

He turned the TV and jumped under the covers! The man who held the power of life and death over the whole nation pulled the covers over his head and lay there shaking and bewildered until his heart regained a steady rhythm and weariness was overtaken by slumber and fell asleep only seconds later. Only Supreme Court Justice Laurence Saul could decide what type of world he would wake up in.

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