America 1982

"First of all, a big thank you to the Crossroads Foundation and everyone who works at this foundation for inviting me to speak at this legitimate gathering to advocate for improved health benefits for veterans. It's a great honor."

"Perhaps everyone in the audience may be a little strange. Why is this guy in a robe invited to a gathering of veterans? Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Matt Ryder, the chief elder of the Messenger of God Church and a member of the church. We are more accustomed to calling me Messenger Ryder. OK, everyone, you can give up the idea of ​​picking up a gun and blowing my head off. I promise that I am not here today to raise funds for the church, and I will not invite you to join me at the moment. The sect here, I came here to talk about why you are here and why you are so angry."

"Ever since childhood, I have hated messengers. No matter what kind of messenger they are, I hate the newsboy who delivers newspapers, the postman who delivers letters, and even the after-sales service staff who come to deliver feedback cards."

"Because they always bring bad news, my mother told me after reading the obituary in the newspaper delivered by the newsboy that my father passed away. My mother and my father divorced before I was born. I have never met him. I I have always imagined what it would be like to meet him for the first time, and what expression he would show when I called him father, but my father never came to see me. Only the messenger only brought bad news, telling me that my father and I The only close contact I had was when I touched the obituary in the newspaper that he died in a traffic accident."

"Do you know the worse bad news? The day he died was my birthday. My father died on the way to visit me for the first time."

"There is also the postman who delivers delivery letters. Every time he comes to my door, he stuffs a thick stack of delivery letters. They are all debt collection letters from various credit cards or financial companies. Every time I receive one, my mother's face becomes ugly. one cent."

"What's the worst thing about a messenger? It only brings us bad news one after another, but never sends our sorrow back to the other party. I saw that there were already people in the audience nodding to indicate that they understood what I said, Yes, there is another kind of messenger called a Senator, the most disgusting kind of messenger."

"They only bring you bad news, no exceptions."

"When you just find a girlfriend who you decide to stay with for life, they tell you, hey, young man, the country asked me to inform you that you are going to join the army to defend the motherland and say goodbye to this beautiful girl."

"When you just come back alive from the smoke-filled battlefield, they tell you, hey, murderer, the country asked me to inform you that we are worried that you have mental problems and may start a massacre in the community, so you must go regularly The police report that you will be checked regularly for psychological conditions and you may be put in a cage if necessary."

"When you are struggling to move to a medical institution in a wheelchair, they tell you, hey, old guy, the country asked me to inform you, don't occupy public medical resources. Did you see that hospital with a higher mortality rate? That's It’s a designated medical facility for veterans. Don’t worry, it won’t feel like dying on the operating table.”

"They have always been like this, delivering us bad news, in the name of the country, but never willing to convey our sorrow to the country we have always loved."

"I hated messengers, I hated politicians, until I met a guy you all know, he didn't understand anything, he even believed the earth was flat, I once argued with him and I said the earth was round and he said No, Matt, you were deceived. The earth is flat. No one knows this truth better than me. I am a plumber. If the earth is round, I need to have curved corners when laying a long line. Elbow pipe, but I’ve never used elbow pipe, always straight pipe, so the earth is flat.”

"I admit that after many years of preaching, I was defeated in front of him. I have to say that this guy who has been a soldier has a mouth as hard as his bones."

"He wants to be a messenger now. Why? Money, status, power? No, because he came from among you. He has experienced the same suffering as you. He has lost the same beauty as you. Now he Decide to become a true messenger and convey your voices, the countless cries that no one cared about before, to the ears of those big people who don’t want to hear bad news!”

"He walked alone in order to knock on the door of heaven for you!"

…

"I am seventy-six years old this year. I have been preaching for forty-three years wearing the Holy Cross of the Rosicrucian Order of St. Thomas. In fact, when I look back on my forty-three years of missionary life, I don't even know what I said when I was preaching. Say, I just don’t know what to say to people.”

"Persuading everyone to believe in God? Do you need persuasion for this kind of thing? No, everyone in the world is the descendant of Adam and Eve. They once drank the fruit of wisdom in the Garden of Eden and have the same wisdom as God. They know good and evil, and they know the right and wrong. Wrong, everyone is smart and doesn’t need persuasion at all.”

"They are just lost, don't know the direction, staggering around in the dark, have no clue, have a bloody head, and think they are suffering."

"This darkness is hell. We are groping and searching in hell until we find the way back to the Garden of Eden and the light. Everyone will have that day. It is just a matter of time. Everyone will have that day. Climb out of hell and return to the light. Bathed in the Holy Light.”

"It's just that many people need to walk for too long until their bodies decay and only their souls are left to return to Eden. For example, you at this time, why is this happening? Because you have been alone for too long, and no one wants to be your eyes. No one wants to Be your ears, no one will be your limbs.”

"I can tell you a little secret. God actually doesn't like lambs that break away from the group and return alone. He likes to see lambs in groups returning under the leadership of the leader."

"That man, he is trying to be the leader. He is trying to lead you to the light. Why he is doing this is not that he wants to be a leader, but that he is willing to risk his own life for other lambs, walk at the forefront, and help you find the smoothest path. The road home.”

…

"As the high priest of the Disciples of St. Martin, I have said something to the brothers and sisters in the church more than once: Never believe a saying that many missionaries say: Give the best blessings to those who mock you. , give your most sincere gratitude to those who have hurt you, because it is those sufferings that guide you back to God’s narrow gate.”

"Many people should have heard this sentence. In fact, there is no such sentence in the Bible. On the contrary, there is another sentence above: If an avenger meets an enemy and kills him, there is no bloodshed. This means that if you seek revenge, , you have not committed a sin by killing the person who hurt you."

"You all were once the most elite soldiers in this country. This sentence may sound a little incredible to you. After all, you may have hundreds of ways to teach those who mock or hurt you a painful lesson. Each of you has You are strong, each one is fearless and will never be controlled by others. You are born to be the free people of this land."

"But is this really the case? Are you really fearless? Are you really not subject to anyone? You join the army, you step onto the battlefield, you lose your life, you are scarred, and now you are old and become Are these heresies in people's eyes your own choices? No, all this is a very clever lie. The liar wants you to believe that you are free, even if you are poor or freezing to death on the street."

"Those liars have said many words to you that you think you should keep in mind. For example, they told you that you should not be afraid of death on the battlefield, you should not drink too much in bars, and you should not be poor when you are poor. You should not fight when you are ridiculed. Do you think these words are their kind words to save your soul? No, they neither care whether your soul can ascend to heaven, nor where your body rots. , they simply like to have the power to deceive and order you in their hands.”

"They will always be aloof, pointing fingers at you, and treating you with disdain. You, who think you are a free people, will always lower your head in front of them, but you think you have nothing to fear."

"But now, someone has stood up. He will go to Washington step by step to tell those liars on behalf of all of you: My behavior should be heard by those who are far away. My ability should be recognized by those who are close. I am strong. You will witness the horrors of the battlefield!"

…

In the Democratic Miami Committee meeting room, the black Democratic candidate Gerald Richman looked at the initiative rally being broadcast live on the TV with an ugly face. Not only him, but also other members of the Democratic Miami Committee in the meeting room were also stunned. One after another brilliant orators came on stage, using various languages, exciting the more than 1,000 veterans who came to participate in the rally to endless applause and roars.

Those people were shouting in the direction of Washington: "You will witness the mighty people, and you will see the horror of the battlefield!"

Those more than a thousand people are not just useless people in wheelchairs, but they can all drive alone, with a shotgun in the trunk, a stars and stripes flag on the front of the car, and a sentence printed on the car: Say No to the Cubans! Many of the veterans who came directly from other cities to attend this rally were just tough guys in their forties who had participated in the Vietnam War.

If they were really incited by these sophistry masters who came out of nowhere and drove directly to Washington in a mighty car, the Democratic Party would be waiting to be remembered by the American people for a hundred years!

That's why everyone in the room looked so grim.

Throughout the entire rally on TV, Jeff Rush's name was not mentioned from beginning to end, because the Crossroads Foundation's reason for applying for the rally was to advocate improving veterans' medical benefits, not to help Jeff Rush's campaign. The reason for the campaign rally initiated by the action committee is to prevent Jeff Rush from being criticized, and at the same time, the cost does not need to be paid by Jeff Rush's campaign action committee. The Crossroads Foundation will bear the rally expenses, and because Its public welfare nature allows it to refuse to disclose who actually funded the rally.

Although there is no Jeff Rush's name, no one would think that this is not a rally to cheer for Jeff Rush. Look at those veterans. They basically kept talking during the entire rally. They held banners with Jeff Rush's name on them. - Banners with Rush's face, waving the American Stars and Stripes, ready to attack the Cubans in the 18th District or the Democratic Party office under the leadership of Jeff Rush.

"Gerald, why don't you talk to us now about your next plan after you let the veterans beat up the Cubans." A middle-aged white man moved his eyes from the TV screen to Gerald Richman's face. , spoke with a cold voice.

Another old white man moved his eyes slowly and slowly looked at Gerald Richman. Although he tried to remain calm, everyone in the room could hear the anger contained in his words:

"Seven minutes ago, there was a live broadcast on the TV. A veteran shouted to the camera that he was going to the plantation to hunt with those Cuban workers. This sentence made the owner of Chapman Plantation call me and question me about him. Donate 200,000 to the Democratic Party. Is this how we are going to repay him? Find more than a thousand battle-hardened veterans to flock to his plantation and slaughter his cheap Cuban workers like lambs? He will die His last words before the call were that he decided to give an additional two hundred thousand dollars to the Republican Party. You're costing us a lot of big donations, Gerald."

Gerald Richman tried hard to keep his expression from appearing unaffected by the rally, but he still unconsciously spoke much faster than usual. He looked back at a few people and said: "Jeff Rush, don't you?" Perhaps by doing this, even if he is a fool, he should understand that inciting these veterans to go to the 18th district to cause trouble for the Cubans just gives us a reason to suspend his party activities, and I immediately responded to the incident of veterans hurting people. So I roped in another black candidate to speak out, saying that we and the Democratic Party we know are absolutely opposed to this kind of violence, and Cubans should be protected. This should make the Cubans in the district understand that everything is Jeff Rush. personal behavior and has nothing to do with party affiliation.”

After hearing Gerald's words, someone immediately mocked and said: "How come the large number of Cubans in the 18th District who drove to the South District are not as calm and optimistic as you? As soon as the rally began, the policemen in the 18th District were delighted to discover , they had the easiest day of the year.”

"That fool's wife was frightened by Cubans and hit the roadside and was injured in the hospital. He went to apologize to the Cubans who were injured by your veterans and was splashed with paint by the Cubans. Now you still expect that fool to stay calm. Everything ends with The Democratic Party is the most important thing?”

Gerrard's eyebrows were beating frequently. Who would have thought that this bastard named Jeff Rush would not follow the normal script. Gerrard asked some veterans who supported him to beat up Cubans on the second day after the primary election. He also had no choice but to do it. He knew very well that if he didn't take action, he would definitely be eliminated from the subsequent election. In the second intra-party election, the two candidates facing each other were either Rona and Jeff, or Joanna and Jeff. In short He had little hope.

There is no way he would mess with these two women, Lorna and Joanna. Unlike Jeff LaVine, he has always been an idle member at the grassroots level within the party. If it hadn't been for this election, the Miami Democratic Party office might not have even known they had such a member. Gerald is a well-educated black man who has participated in the party affairs of the Democratic Party in Miami for a long time. Many times when the Democratic Party needs to carry out some work among the black community in Miami, he will be responsible for it. This also makes him gradually gain popularity among the black community. His popularity also gave him a lot of recognition within the Democratic Party.

For example, this special election in the 18th district is an opportunity he got after working hard to help the big bosses in the party among the black community for many years.

He knew from the beginning that the chance of winning the election was not high, but that was not important. What he wanted was to at least keep himself in the second or third place in the party, because that way he could negotiate with the first place Cooperate and let your supporters support the other party in exchange for the other party helping you find a good position elsewhere, such as the other party supporting you to enter the state parliament, or helping you seek a powerful position in the state.

But if he is ranked fourth, he is not qualified to negotiate cooperation with the first place. He clearly donated a large sum of money to the Veterans Association before the election, but in the end those old bastards who broke their promises all supported it. Jeff Rush!

And normally, Jeff Rush should be eager to distance himself from this matter, but this guy blatantly held such a rally. More than a thousand veterans from all over the country poured into the 18th district. At this moment As long as he gives the order, Cubans will be able to experience the atmosphere of freedom in the United States.

Even now, Gerald still believes that Jeff cannot really lead the veterans to cause trouble with the Cubans, because even harming illegal immigrants is a serious crime.

In other words, he even desires in his heart that Jeff will really lead the veterans to kill those Cubans, preferably some Cuban-American citizens, so that Jeff Rush will be completely eliminated and he will still have a chance to get second place. Seek a position at the state government level.

"Change the channel to the local station of the BT TV network." A full-time party worker walked in and whispered to the old white man sitting in the main seat. Then the old man raised his head and said.

The middle-aged man picked up the remote control and changed the channel to the Miami local station of the BT TV network. Everyone in the room looked at the TV. At this time, a black host was broadcasting news to the camera. In the background, a large number of Cubans burned Jeff. - Rush’s banner shows several black men in overalls lying on the ground still being kicked and beaten by Cubans:

"This is a heinous act of violence against black people that happened recently in Miami. A large number of Cubans beat several black American workers in public. We always thought that white people no longer enslaved black people and that black people were finally free, but we never expected that, The white people chose to stop, but the Cubans chose to take action."

Before Gerald Richman could recover, the host had switched the background screen to Gerald's speech this morning:

"In this case, Gerald Richman, a black candidate for the Miami House of Representatives in District 18, shouted the slogan of black people protecting Cubans. Gerald Richman and James Meg, two black gentlemen , I would like to ask, when you said the words black people protect Cubans in front of the camera, did you ask for the opinions of those who were beaten by Cubans?"