{"id":1080,"date":"2016-03-13T17:09:21","date_gmt":"2016-03-13T22:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/keithgoodnight.com\/blog\/?p=1080"},"modified":"2016-03-13T17:09:21","modified_gmt":"2016-03-13T22:09:21","slug":"deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keithgoodnight.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/13\/deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday, August 3, 2183<\/em><\/p>\n

TRANSCRIPT (excerpt):<\/p>\n

The Sunday Morning Debate, <\/em>North American News Net, 0900 EST<\/p>\n

HOST: Good morning and welcome to the Sunday Debate, I\u2019m your host Sarah Kruger. Major developments are expected today in the ongoing controversy over the offworld colonies. President Monroe is scheduled to give what his press secretary describes as a \u201chistoric\u201d speech on the colonial issue. NANN will carry that speech live at 1500 eastern time, 1400 central. That\u2019s 20 hours GMT, for viewers in other parts of the world or on the Colonies themselves. The administration has kept the contents of the speech a close secret, with no preview copies or even general outlines provided to the press as of this time. But joining me in the studio to discuss what we might hear is Gregory Barrett, Chairman of the North American branch of the Born to the Earth party\u2014<\/p>\n

BARRETT: Good morning, Sarah.<\/p>\n

HOST: Thank you for coming, Mr Chairman.<\/p>\n

BARRETT: Glad to be here.<\/p>\n

HOST \u2014and joining us remotely, from his office in Star City, Star City\u2019s congressman, Bradley Cutter.<\/p>\n

CUTTER: Good morn\u2014<\/p>\n

BARRETT: (muttering) Doesn\u2019t want to soil his feet on the lowly Earth, does he?<\/p>\n

CUTTER: Good morning Sarah.<\/p>\n

HOST: Thank you for coming, Congressman.<\/p>\n

CUTTER: Thanks for the invitation.<\/p>\n

BARRETT: (muttering) Didn\u2019t even bother to show up in person.<\/p>\n

HOST: We didn\u2019t quite catch that, Chairman Barrett?<\/p>\n

BARRET: It\u2019s just typical of these arrogant offworlders. Doesn\u2019t want to soil his feet on the lowly Earth, I suppose. The so-called congressmen and senators from the offworld states<\/em> won\u2019t even come down from their sky palaces to do their duty when congress is in session.<\/p>\n

CUTTER: Because of the expense of travel to and from offworld\u2014<\/p>\n

BARRETT: Expense? What does expense matter to\u2014<\/p>\n

CUTTER: (louder, overriding) \u2014most of the offworld contingent attend legislative sessions by telepresence, which is authorized by\u2014<\/p>\n

BARRET: \u2014living in luxury while the people of Earth are starving\u2014<\/p>\n

CUTTER: \u2014authorized<\/em> by the Constitution of the North American Continental Directorate as well as that of the Terran Federation.<\/p>\n

BARRETT: What do the Colonies care about the Constitution? Has anyone forgotten that in the last election they voted to secede from not only North America, but every continental directorate? Fortunately the people of Earth said \u201cNo\u201d to their treason, but look at the polls\u2014 the offworlders were for it all the way.<\/p>\n

CUTTER: The continental referendum was based on the idea that the Offworld Colonies had both problems and interests in common with each other, more so than with their parent continents, and it simply made practical, economic sense to create a single offworld directorate to\u2014<\/p>\n

BARRETT: To better exploit the Earth for your own gain, unchecked by having to answer to an honest, Terran administration! It was a transparent attempt for these would-be overlords to further enrich themselves at the expense of the starving people of Earth who for the last twenty years have\u2014<\/p>\n

CUTTER: \u2014have suffered economic problems caused by the Sun\u2019s irregularity damaging Earth\u2019s ecosystems. Storm damage and crop failures are not our fault. Blame the Sun. And while it\u2019s true the offworld economies have been more stable than Earth\u2019s, it\u2019s ridiculous to call us rich. The average family quarters in the Colonies\u2014<\/p>\n

BARRETT: Oh yes, complain about how the beds in your sky palaces aren\u2019t as soft as you\u2019d like. Tell millions of desperate people, out of work, with nowhere<\/em> to live, all about it. And then go on to tell them how you\u2019re prospering, and they\u2019re starving, but it\u2019s all the Sun\u2019s fault, certainly not that you\u2019ve been hoarding their<\/em> money while at the same time stealing their<\/em> air, water and food.<\/p>\n

CUTTER: Supplies to the Colonies have no impact on Earth\u2019s ecosystems! The amounts are trivial compared to natural cycling\u2014 the Earth loses more mass to natural atmospheric escape and sequestration than the Colonies use, by orders of magnitude, and if it didn\u2019t we\u2019d have an atmosphere even more dense than Venus. The Colonies are a ripple on a tidal wave when it comes to Earth\u2019s biosphere. What does<\/em> make a difference is that we keep the toxic waste products of industry, things the Earth\u2019s biosystems cannot absorb, away from the planet.<\/p>\n

HOST: Perhaps we can focus the conversation on President Monroe\u2019s upcoming speech. Any thoughts on what he might say? Chairman Barrett, let\u2019s hear from you first.<\/p>\n

BARRETT: I have no doubt that the President will respond strongly to the outrageous and illegal act of the NAC in continuing to supply their six Colonies with supplies, in defiance of his executive order halting such shipments. Supplies vitally needed to maintain the health of the Earth, stealing the very air from the lungs of innocent children and\u2014<\/p>\n

CUTTER: It was Monroe\u2019s order that was illegal, the Terran Federation has no jurisdiction over trade within a single continental directorate.<\/p>\n

BARRETT: It does when that trade directly affects the whole Earth.<\/p>\n

CUTTER: But I do think that\u2019s what Monroe will address in his speech. He\u2019ll have some fresh executive order, or a legislative proposal for the Parliament, to try and block the NAC\u2019s action. But it won\u2019t work. Short of an amendment to the Terran Constitution\u2014 or a finding from the International Court, which won\u2019t hear the NAC\u2019s case until November\u2014 there\u2019s nothing he can do.<\/p>\n

BARRETT: President Monroe will not allow the Offworld parasites to continue draining the lifeblood of the Earth. He was elected to put a stop to it, and he will do it. The people of Earth can rely on that.<\/p>\n

END TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

VIDEO MESSAGE: Jenny Terrell to Linda Ryder<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, I got here, but I haven\u2019t gotten to MIT yet. I\u2019m still at the spaceport, in a hotel. I was supposed to get onto a low-atmosphere ship (they still call them airplanes <\/em>down here, I heard someone use the word) to Boston, but there were protestors everywhere and it was so violent that security had to escort all of us over to a hotel, they\u2019ve got the whole place under guard until they think it\u2019s safe for us to go on. I guess I should have expected that of course there\u2019d be protestors at the spaceport, but it was still scary as dust. Excuse my language. They were all shouting and screaming and calling us all sorts of names. Watching the news you think the kind of things President Monroe and the other Earthers say sound crazy, but it\u2019s nothing to the crazy I heard from these people. I guess that\u2019s how he got elected.<\/p>\n

Anyway, it should be better once we can get away from the spaceport. I mean it\u2019s not like I\u2019ll be carrying a sign that says \u2018Hi, I\u2019m an offworlder,\u2019 right? And once I\u2019m on campus it won\u2019t matter. Although this guy at the hotel desk said I have an offworld accent. But us coming Down is what all the Earthers want, right? So they shouldn\u2019t be too upset with someone who actually did it, once I get past the crazies who actually go to protests.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I\u2019ll send you another message once I get to Boston.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Excerpt from the speech given by President Alexander Monroe, 2000 GMT, August 3, 2183<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, faced with the grave ongoing threat to the survival of the Earth itself, and with the defiance of the greedy and corrupt government of the North American Continental Directorate aiding and abetting the offworld menace, I have no choice but to take action.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn accordance with article thirteen of the Terran Constitution, I declare a state of planetary emergency and invoke the emergency powers granted under that article. By that authority, I hereby order the complete evacuation of the offworld colonies by a date no later than January 1, 2184. The four months from now until that date offer ample time, if evacuation ships operate at full capacity, to return the entire offworld population to the Earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI further order, in my capacity as Commander-in-chief with emergency powers, the Terran military to employ all necessary force to interdict any further shipments of supplies, from the NAC or any other location, to any offworld facility, effective immediately. I warn the shipping companies, the NAC government, and the Colonies: any ship that attempts to transport supplies away from this planet will be shot down.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

TO BE CONTINUED<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday, August 3, 2183 TRANSCRIPT (excerpt): The Sunday Morning Debate, North American News Net, 0900 EST HOST: Good morning and welcome to the Sunday Debate, I\u2019m your host Sarah Kruger. Major developments are expected today in the ongoing controversy over…<\/p>\n

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