Disaster Among the Heavens, Don E Peavy Sr [reading rainbow books txt] 📗

one’s birth do not dictate the contents of one’s life or the limits of one’s horizon. Our best hope for this place and time is to erect a Great Society in which all people have an equal access to the vault of opportunity.
“Toward that end, I have called a special session of Congress and will be submitting to Congress a series of Bills to commence the construction of a Great Society. In these pieces of legislation, I have declared a War on Poverty and an assault on Racism. As your President, I cannot change your hearts and minds – though I pray you will begin to seek that spiritual transformation that we all must undergo if we are to save this nation and what remains of the American dream.
“What I can do and what I have done in proposing the legislation I am sending to Congress is to tear down the barriers to opportunities that have been erected over time and to put the legal might of this country behind the guarantees which will emerge here tonight. “For despite the war to unify the States, it is clear to me tonight that we are moving swiftly to a divided nation – one white and prosperous, the other black and poor. Notwithstanding Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, our Negro citizens are still enslaved in economic poverty and segregated from the bank of opportunity. History makes it abundantly clear that not only have we failed to remove the veil, we have erected walls around Negroes that segregate them from the vast opportunities that living in a free society offers.
“Too much blood has continued to be required at the altar of democracy. Far too many of our youth have had to be sacrificed that the sins of the father might be propitiated. ‘And I, for winking at such discord, have lost an embrace of kinsmen. All are punished! All are punished!’”
The President looked sternly into the camera here and pounded upon his desk. He reached over and picked up a glass of water and drank it then returned to his speech.
“Tonight, we begin the long march toward salvation. Tonight, we begin to repent of those sins. For a democracy to thrive, it needs the active participation of all of its citizens, even those who hold dissenting views. Dissent is the lifeblood of democracy!
“To redress the inequality in our political process, I am sending to Congress a Voting Rights Act that will open up the political process to all people. No longer will poll taxes and literacy tests be allowed to prohibit Negroes from voting. Nor will political parties be able to craft policies and procedures that keep Negroes locked out of the political process. All barriers to voting and participating in politics will be eradicated.
“To assist us in removing economic barriers to opportunity, I am sending to Congress a Civil Rights Bill that will outlaw all vestiges of discrimination in the workplace. This will include rights for Negroes as well as for women. Women who perform work equal to men will receive pay equal to men. In addition, equal access to public accommodations will be enforced.
“No longer will a Negro have to sleep in a vehicle or outdoors because the color of his skin bars him from sleeping in a hotel or motel. To help enforce these rights, I have established a Civil Rights Commission. I have also established a Commission on the Status of Women in American Society.
“We have seen many laws passed over the years only to see some members of our society create subtle and not so subtle means to subvert these laws. Therefore, I am taking Affirmative Action to address those efforts. I have established the Federal Office of Contract Compliance that will insure that every federal contract is administered by persons and businesses whose workforce reflects the diversity of American society. Every school, institution, agency, entity of whatever kind which receive federal funds will be required to show that it has taken and continues to take affirmative steps to include Negroes and women.
“The Civil Rights Commission will have broad powers to bring lawsuits to force compliance with these Great Society mandates. I am also establishing an Office of Civil Rights Enforcement at the Justice Department that will be able to bring civil and criminal actions of enforcement.
“I am also creating a partnership between private enterprise and the public sector which I am calling Job Corps. Job Corps will attract our nation’s youth to centres where they will be trained in marketable skills and given the opportunity to earn a high school equivalency diploma. These centres will be run by private corporations with both public and private funds. The best way to get our youth off the streets is to put them on jobs. This will we do with Job Corps!
“Another area that needs addressing is our government commodities program. Although a noble ideal at its inception, this program distributes less than quality food to poor people and is itself a form of segregation. When a poor woman goes into the kitchen to prepare a meal, she looks into her cabinets and sees cardboard boxes with black letterings and she is reminded of her impoverishment. No longer will that be the case. I am sending to Congress a bill that establishes a Food Stamp Program that will permit poor people to go to any store of their choice and to purchase the foods of their choice.
“My fellow Americans, many will question my motivation in creating these Great Society programs at this time. Many will think it politically motivated. Some will say it is but a political smokescreen since Congress will never pass such far reaching, society changing legislation. Toward that end and to address such cynicism, I have decided not to seek re-election to the Office of President. Let me make that perfectly clear. If nominated, I will not run! If elected, I will not serve!
“My remaining time in office will be spent getting this legislation through the Congress and in implementing these programs to ensure that we become the Great Society we are meant to be. When my term of office is over, I will retire to my ranch in Texas and live out my last days in silence until that good night claims me and I go the way of my fathers, knowing that I have done what I have been elected to do. I have done my part to make us a Great Society.
“Once I leave office, I will not accept any offices or accolades. I will give no speeches. I will write no books. All I do I do now forever. I thank you for your trust in me as your President. All of my adult life has been devoted to public service. I will always be grateful to you, the American people, for the trust you have vested in me time and time again over the years. Now, I ask you to trust me in this grand scheme to move our nation farther along the road of greatness. We can be, we must be, we will be a Great Society! Thank you and goodnight. May God bless you and may God bless and save America.”
. . .
It was a stroke of genius. The Press had a special edition field day as headlines across the nation flashed the advent of the Great Society. Shannon cleaned up the mess at NORAD and the surrounding area. He refused to accept the directorship of the CIA. Instead, he returned to the Middle East. Shannon would return several years later to become the first Director of FEMA.
The President succeeded in getting his Great Society programs through Congress, and true to his word, he did not seek re-election. He retired from office and went back to Texas where he spent his remaining years on his ranch and looking after the construction of his presidential library at The University.
As for his Great Society, well, the war in Vietnam continued to gobble up most of the nation’s resources and so there were only meagre funds available to fund this grand initiative. Perhaps more importantly, a society is only as great as its people. All the programs in the treasure trove of God are of no import if people do not avail themselves thereof.
Have we become a Great Society.
. . .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Don E. Peavy, Sr., teaches religious studies at Victor Valley College as well as philosophy, ethics, and religion at the University of Phoenix, Southern California Division. He also teaches theology and divinity courses via the Internet for Canyon College.
Prior to moving to Southern California, Peavy practiced law in Fort Worth, Texas, his hometown, after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin. He left the practice of law to enter active ministry. He graduated from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University and pursued a PhD. at Claremont Graduate University in theology, ethics, and culture. Until recently, Peavy served as the pastor of McCarty Memorial Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Los Angeles, California.
Peavy now resides in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines where he is finally able to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a writer. “Disaster” is Peavy's first novel. He has had published two nonfiction works: a book on Christian ethics entitled, “What Must I Do?”: Bridging the Gap Between Being and Doing, which was published by Kendall/Hunt in 2006 and “Play It Where It Lies”: How to Win at the Game of Life, published by Hamilton Books in 2007. Imprint

Publication Date: 02-16-2010

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