April 16, 2015: Organizing the Community
Perhaps I’ll be elected president some day. I’ve become a community organizer. I believe that qualifies me.
Most of the Union Creek families sent a representative to Pete’s for a community meeting this morning. One of the items on the agenda was to elect a community leader. The idea has been floating around in some of our radio transmissions. A fact that left me somewhat uncomfortable, frankly.
Anyway … guess who got elected. Yup, yours truly. So, I suppose I’m now at least as qualified to be President of the United States – if the United States still exists or returns to existence – as our last president before the crash.
Since I have no idea how it will be written in the history books – if we ever have history books again – perhaps I should outline what happened with our last president. He was elected in 2008 as the last sitting President of the United States prior to the crash. The Democratic incumbent handily won re-election in 2012 against a weak Republican candidate. Shortly after his swearing-in, the newly re-elected President effectively became “dictator” of the United States of America. Of course, he didn’t change his title to “dictator” and the legislation that put him in that position was kept almost entirely off the radar by the mainstream media, but it happened. If the Congressional record still exists, you can find the legislation.
The president had been testing the waters for some time. In January of 2012, he appointed the head of his new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau without the advice or consent of the Senate – even though the Senate was in pro-forma session. Prior to that, the president had been pushing the envelope with executive orders that eventually ranged well beyond the powers originally provided for in the Grant of Discretion passed by Congress.
Once the president’s second term was cemented, several Democratic senators pushed an expanded Grant of Discretion through the Democrat-controlled House and Senate (the Republicans took a beating all around in the 2012 election). The new Grant of Discretion was very similar to the Ermächtigungsgesetz passed in Germany in March of 1933. The reason given for the expansion of the Grant of Discretion was taken almost verbatim from the English translation of the 1933 German act that became the cornerstone of Adolph Hitler’s seizure of power in pre-World War II Germany – “to Remedy the Distress of the People and the State”.
What’s that saying about those who don’t learn from history being destined to repeat it?
Just that. No one had seriously taught the historical significance and rise to power of the world’s most heinous dictators. So, very few members of the U.S. populace were familiar with the ramifications of the Ermächtigungsgesetz. We repeated the mistake.
Much like Germany’s Ermächtigungsgesetz, the expanded Grant of Discretion was established for a period of four years. The expanded grant gave the President of the United States the ability to create decrees, laws and even treaties with other governments. The laws created under these powers could deviate from the Constitution. There were no limits to the subject matter of the laws, decrees or treaties as with previous Grants of Discretion. Finally, and perhaps most concerning, a two-thirds majority of both the House and Senate was required to limit or repeal a law, decree or treaty established by the president under the expanded Grant of Discretion.
Although the president did not use his expanded powers as Hitler ultimately did – to round up races of people and summarily execute them – he did use his powers to encroach upon the Enumerated Rights of the American people as well as other civil liberties. He also continued to spend money that the United States didn’t have, increasing our debt to unimaginable levels. Once the debt reached a point where our creditors came calling, the president established treaties and agreements with those creditors. The treaties were frequently made in secret and never made a part of the public record.
Who knows what we’ve agreed to pay to whom?
Ultimately, as I’ve said before, the dominoes began to tumble. The already teetering domino representing the United States’ financial well-being fell with a giant thud raising a cloud of dust that has settled over us driving us to live as we now do … in survival mode.
Fortunately for the residents of the Union Creek neighborhood, I have no such grand designs for power – no such illusions of my importance in the world. I’m just a regular guy trying to keep himself and his family alive in a wreck of a world that threatens us at nearly every turn.
The Union Creek Journal 
LOL @ David Johnson becoming a community organizer and having the same credentials as the POTUS. Let’s hope he does a better job of bringing his community together.
Just as I forget about your political leanings and get back to losing myself in the journal BAM your political opinion drops a turd. It gets old.
Good entry Mud. Leave it to Political Associations to stir up your readers (Politics and religion, never fails). A few things I take from this entry and the “Growing Concerns” entry are that Dave’s decisions or struggles in his own head, in the new normal are beginning to somewhat flip flop. He still cares or feels a certain responsibility about doing the right thing (what would he do if a family with children came knocking asking for a handout) and then he quickly dismissed the idea saying that it was not a day care, etc. In this entry he goes into a political rampage blaming his government for the crash, but ending his journal with, “I’m just a regular guy trying to keep himself and his family alive”, It was very odd. Now that he is in a position of power, how he would deal with certain issues in the new normal. It is well documented that he would do anything to protect his family, but now that he is in a position of power, If he had to make a choice between community and family, How will this ever morphing Dave choose?
On a side note and in my own humble opinion, just as in ONE SECOND AFTER, the Political banter has not add much to what make these works great reads. Maybe necessary but it doesnt take away or gives anything back of great value to the stories.
Keep it up, Great experiment so far. I hope everyone keeps reading on and will keep recommending it to anyone who is beginning to PREPP.
Great entry for the journal. If you are worried about loosing those on the left, just make up a lie or two and blame someone on the right and the left will come crawling back. Where is the entry of obama bowing on bended knees to china’s leader begging to keep his job. Don’t let facts stop you, is never stops the left!
I hope like hell this doesn’t turn out to be a prophetic work. Sadly I fear it just might.
I’m also reading EFAD right now and between the two of these works of fiction my mind is full of the consequences of an Obama reelection and liberal victory in congress.
I sure hope the GOP doesn’t take as bad as a thumping as you’ve written here. If they do I’m afraid that this entry/journal will be closer to fact than fiction.
Oh Man!
Now you’ve got me wondering, Fiction or not. I had a feeling, a gnawing sensation of something along this line of thinking when Clinton was in office. Thanks for making the concerns re surface!
You could put several President’s names there & it would work. But Obama’s name works just fine.
Thought provoking read!
It is a great fiction, and with every great fiction there must be some truth to make it believable. Since the goal of the current administration is one world order, the use of obama’s name is absolutely necessary.
If we the people do ever allow this to happen, Toby will have been one of the first to put fact in his fiction.
Good job Mud, it is coming along really good, look forward to each day.
To those reading that think this is the author’s political commentary:
It is immaterial whether the author does or doesn’t agree with what is written here, it is the CHARACTER’S journal entry – his take on how things went down (with which the author may or may not happen to agree).
If you don’t like the current President’s name there, substitute “Bush” – then you’ll surely agree with the sentiment 😀