It was a cold bright morning. A long shadow was cast across the eastern third of the Snake Valley by the low but geologically twisted and tormented Confusion Range. The shade stretched down the long dry alluvial fan, and a thin strip of highway followed it in a strait line. About two thirds of the way down, the cool blue-gray ended in a jagged edge roughly perpendicular to the highway. Then, the extremely dry valley glowed ocher orange. To the west the snow clad towering peaks of Wheeler and Moriah glistened in the morning sun.
A small motel sat equally bright in the intense light towards the western edge of the valley. Out front a towering sign announced Border Inn / Motel / Slots / Cafe. A rusted, yellow Ford F-100 sat next to one of the two well-sized globular Utah Juniper's at the entrance. Long shadows were caste across the gravel parking area by the aluminum canopy over the service station pumps. Not far from the pumps sat an enormous replica of a water bucket with a sign that read "Don't Let Las Vegas Destroy Nevada. Keep Your Pipes Out of Our Aquifer".
Inside the casino was mostly quiet and dark. There was the usual random low sounds of the slots enticing players to pull the handle. On a flat screen TV mounted on the wall behind the bar, Fox News played. A white light poured in through the entry from the kitchen, and a Miller Lite sign glowed in neon blue and pink above the doorway. A collection of liquor bottles sat on a counter directly below the TV.
A man in a black Stetson hat sat at the bar facing the TV. Behind him, slightly above the height of his head, a mind-droplet floated, pearly, bean-shaped, unseen, the size of a speck of dust, recording the scene for nobody--a satellite of communication communicating nothing. There were billions of these information-filled micro-drops of dew just floating around waiting for some mind to connect with them. This one observed a TV set in a small, all-but-empty casino on the loneliest road in America.
On the screen was a picture of the white house at night from the ground looking up, the extreme 3-D perspective enhancing its stateliness. The Fox & Friends logo was also in 3-D, getting larger as it came towards the viewer. The entire picture projected on a screen in the studio faded out around the edges, giving it the quality of a historic photograph, except that it was in shades of blue rather than sepia-tone. A man with blond hair stood at the side of the projected scene wearing a blue suit and a pink tie.
He said, "Thank you Brian, the president's border order spurs outrage from the emotional left."
Bold letters zoomed in from the bottom left with a swooshing sound:
NOT BACKING DOWN
WH VOWS TO ENFORCE RULE, DESPITE JUDGE RULING
A man appeared on the screen, reading a statement:
"This executive order was mean spirited and unconstitutional."
On the bottom of the screen, same bold print:
SEN CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY)
SENATE MINORITY LEADER
The screen split into three and each screen showed the same woman from a different angle holding a megaphone. Two of the views were blurred, like the shot of the woman walking by the wall on the Abbey Road album cover. Through the blurred shots, one woman with a megaphone took on the ominous power of a riot.
Riot woman said, "It is unconstitutional; it will be overturned."
At the top left, words appeared:
BOSTON
TWITTER/SEN ELIZABETH WARREN
On the bottom of the screen same bold letters reiterated
NOT BACKING DOWN
WH VOWS TO ENFORCE RULE, DESPITE JUDGE RULING
The screen changed to head-shots in year-book fashion:
Hillary Clinton, Michael Moore, Jill Stein
Elizabeth Warren, Rosie O'Donnell, John Lewis
At the top of the screen:
ISSUED A CALL TO ACTION
A voice said, "Familiar faces, including Michael Moore, Rosie O'Donnell and Jill Stein, are also blasting the plan to vet refugees for the next 90 days, riling up supporters to protest. So, who's really fanning the flames?"
The screen changed with swooshing sound. Split screen.
The liberal head on left, frowning, wore a suit that appeared too tight--a gray suit, with a blue shirt, clinched tightly around his neck like a noose held in place by the knot of his brown spotted suit tie. He looked out of date, out of touch, from the 1950s, and somewhat distraught.
The conservative head on the right smiled and wore a loose, black suit and an open-collared bright yellow shirt. He was at ease and comfortable in his clothes. He seemed as casual as if he were sitting in your living room having a cup of coffee.
On the bottom of the screen, in extra-big, bold letters:
LIBERALS CALL FOR CHAOS
MICHAEL MOORE, ROSIE O'DONNELL, URGE PROTESTS
The audio said, "Here for a family debate is Dallas Woodhouse. He is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Republican Party, and his brother Brad, who is President of Americans United for Change. One's a Democrat, and one's a Republican, and so the family feud."
The man in the pink tie popped in between the two political heads to moderate. Dallas Woodhouse grabbed the collar of his own sunny Florida-casual shirt in a mocking gesture, as if to say, "Okay, I'm ready for a serious debate".
Dallas said, pointing to himself, "I just want to make sure you know I'm the Republican; I don't want to be tagged as a Democrat."
Center head said, "Now Dallas, a lot of people on the political left really don't like what Trump is doing with this 90 day pause to try and figure out how to get a handle on immigration. How do you defend what the president did?"
Dallas said, "Well, I defend him because he is putting America first, and he is dispensing with the Blame America First crowd. We have the right to protect our borders; we have the right to decide who comes in and out. Far more people were inconvenienced by Delta's computer problem's yesterday then were a couple hundred people at airports across America. Now, we don't want to inconvenience people unfairly, but that happens to virtually anyone who goes to an airport".
Middle moderator-head said, "Sure."
Dallas said, "We're causing some disruption in the system, and that's good, because for too long American interest have been put on the back burner, and they need to be put on the forefront. That is what President Trump is doing, and he shouldn't apologize for it."
While the Dallas spoke, Brad scowled and shook his head, his head tilted slightly back, his eyes squinting.
The middle head smiled in calm, knowing peaceful agreement, and then said, "Now for a contrary point of view, his brother".
At this point, the Brad impatiently jumped in, "Dallas--"
The middle-head moderator serenely took control of the situation, beaming a knowing smile. "Yes, Brad"
Brad continued, "Dallas, you are full of crap, and so is this president. This is a blemish on America. 50 years ago a law was passed in this country that you could not determine immigration status based on national origin, and this goes beyond national origin. This is a ban of Muslims. This is the president telling an entire religion that they are not welcome in the United States of America".
Dallas threw open his arms in wonder. "How? I hope we're not banning a religion. I hope we're banning terrorists."
Brad reasserted, "This is a ban on Muslims. Rudy Giuliani, who wrote this executive action, who helped write this policy, said on Fox News yesterday that this was a ban on Muslims".
Middle moderator-head popped in, "Brad, Brad, Brad... I have read it, I have read it, and I would be delighted in you circling and faxing me the part that shows where the president did that. You also said that the president does not have it in his authority...."
Brad tried to jump in.
"Hold on a sec," said middle moderator-head, waving his finger. "You also said that the president doesn't have it in his authority, and yet the constitution is very clear that the constitution states the president can do whatever it takes to keep Americans safe, right? Dallas?"
"That's right," said Dallas. "And I think it's very disturbing that my brother, the Blame America First crowd, does not recognize America's right to decide who comes here and who doesn't."
Dallas continued, outstretching both arms, and cupping both hands. The camera temporarily zoomed out to accommodate this Moses-like gesture, although no heroic music rose in the background. "Is it in the best interest of the American citizen to let somebody in here first--whatever their situation is back home--and, of course, we will continue to welcome immigrants, welcome refuges--"
Brad tried to cut in.
Dallas became angry and yelled, "Brad, why don't you want to put Americans first?"
Brad screamed back, "I am putting Americans first!"
Moderator middle-head jumped in, "One at a time, one at a time."
* * * * *
19 miles away, at an elevation of 10,900 feet above sea level, the morning sunlight warmed the wide, gnarled trunk of a 4000 year-old snow-clad bristlecone pine, the towering limestone cliff of Wheeler Peak glowing in the background with snow strung every which way in the cracks and crannies of a masonry wall millions of years old reaching to a height of 13,064 feet above sea level.
The air was still. The sun intense. The cold pronounced.
Silence surrounded.
If one were to look east, one would witness the mountain drop down to the desert floor. Out beyond where the pinion and juniper end, an ever-so-thin line of road would cut strait across a desert valley, and there would be a little white speck, the Border Inn, where inside, one man in a Stetson hat observed America raging.
Outside, it's America. Outside, it's America.*
Many miles away there's a shadow on the door
Of a cottage on the shore
Of a dark Scottish lake
Many miles away.**
* U2 & Bono, "Bullet the Blue Sky," The Joshua Tree, 1987.
** Sting, "Synchronicity II," Synchronicity by the Police, 1983.
The dialog from the Fox & Friends is real, and I tried to describe what is happening on the screen as objectively as possible given the limitations of print when describing video. I only used loaded words when I felt the show was using loaded images to influence perception. I chose January 31, 2017 not because of the show's content that day but as a beginning book-end to a s series that of news clips that will be placed throughout the novel, ending December 31, 2017. I want these clips to represent typical news days of 2017 rather than exceptional news days. There will also be news clips from MSNBC, which I will handle in the same manner.
Below, is the actual video used as the source for this segment:
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