Free Capitol Conspiracy by William Bernhardt Page B

alacrity. Ben noted that the support came from both sides of the aisle, both parties. Even at the front of the room, people were rising to their feet, some even cheering. Traditionally the joint chiefs did not applaud statements relating to domestic policy, since the military was theoretically supposed to be uninvolved in matters not relating to military or foreign policy. But in truth, no one was sure what this bill was, domestic or foreign, military or not. They simply knew that the nation had been bruised, wounded, and something needed to be done to begin the healing. Traditionally, the nine members of the Supreme Court did not applaud at all during the delivery of the president’s speeches, since they were also supposed to be impartial and nonpartisan. Nonetheless, Ben spotted several members of the Court rising to their feet, applauding enthusiastically.
    “My God,” Christina said, shouting to be heard over the growing tumult, “is that possible? Could he really get a new amendment to the Constitution passed in a few weeks?”
    Ben carefully viewed the faces of the people standing all around him. “In this climate? Anything is possible.”
    “Is that a good thing?”
    Ben took a deep breath, then slowly released it. “Let’s go read the bill.”

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    U.S. S ENATE , R USSELL B UILDING ,
O FFICE S-212-D
W ASHINGTON , D.C.
    “C an you believe this?” Christina exclaimed. “He wants to repeal the Bill of Rights!”
    “Not all of it,” Ben said quietly. “Just the inconvenient parts.”
    “But isn’t that the whole point of the Bill of Rights? The Founding Fathers added it to make sure that no law could ever remove them.”
    “You know what the president’s response to that suggestion will be. The Founding Fathers thought the worst threat imaginable was Hessian mercenaries with muskets that took a minute and a half to load and fire. They never envisioned snipers with MI-50s. Or ricinlaced letters. Or entire regions of the world wielding weapons of mass destruction aimed within our borders.”
    “But this is the Bill of Rights! When I took Constitutional Law from Professor Tepker, he taught us that the Bill of Rights was inviolable.”
    “It has been, in theory. But you know as well as I do that in reality, we restrict those rights all the time.” Ben dropped his copy of the bill on top of his desk. “There are many restrictions on the freedom of speech—you can’t shout ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater. You can’t post bills on private property. We have gun legislation that restricts the right to bear arms. There are more restrictions on the right of assembly than I can count.”
    “Yes, there have been reasonable, commonsense abridgements of rights here and there. But not wholesale suspensions.” She pointed at the bill that lay between them. “This is something else entirely.”
    “Yes,” he agreed solemnly. “This is something else entirely.”
    He quickly scanned the bill one more time, just to make sure he understood it properly:

    RESOLVED by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America, two-thirds of each House proposing that an amendment to the Constitution of the United States be adopted which shall become law and a full and effective part of the Constitution of the United States when said proposed amendment is ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures of the fifty states.
    The proposed amendment shall read as follows:
    Section 1.
Effective immediately, upon the declaration by the president of the United States that a clear and present danger to the safety of the United States and the peoples therein exists, an Emergency Security Council, headed by the director of Homeland Security and consisting of the leaders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and three other members appointed by the President of the United States, shall be convened.
    Section 2.
After due and deliberate