The Conscience of Abe’s Turn

To those who say, “Why are you always criticizing America?” I have a simple answer: I don’t know. Why are you always destroying it?

I’m pro-America. I’m just anti-Washington. Sometimes, I think our politicians are pro-Washington and anti-America. (Inspired by Yes, Minister, episode 12.)

If actions speak louder than words, here’s what politicians tell us: I’m all for free speech, just as long as my speech is freer than yours. And freedom is the liberty to do what I tell you to.  read more »

When I referred to Helena-West Helena, Arkansas as a “police state,” because of the 24-hour-a-day curfew it had imposed on all its citizens, and because of the current mandate of the police force there to question citizens while they’re taking a walk or to pull them over for driving down the street, I noticed the usual spate of comments. Many people who read the post sympathized with my position. At least one reader took the attitude: don’t be such a wimp; if they have crime like that, they deserve a police state. The most interesting opinion, however, is what I want to talk about here, that maybe Helena-West Helena isn’t a police state.

The argument is basically this: Citizens there are being hassled by the cops. That’s good to report, but we shouldn’t whine about it being a “police state,” because that only undermines our case. Real police states are totalitarian. Real police states don’t just hassle people who break the curfew; they arrest curfew-breakers. Real police states have soldiers, not cops, patrolling the streets, armed with machine guns. Real police states outlaw free speech. The very fact that the ACLU is complaining proves that it’s not a police state. And in a real police state, situations like the one in Helena-West Helena aren’t repaired. Helena-West Helena is not a police state.

I admit, this argument makes sense to me. It’s very convincing. I can sympathize with that point of view. Except…  read more »

Lost: It started a few months ago, the story of a criminal so bad, he’s up to 5 times worse than a murderer. Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about Charlie Lynch, who operated a legal marijuana dispensary for medical patients who had valid prescriptions from their doctors. The sheriff didn’t like the law, so he called in the DEA to raid Charlie’s business and his home, because as we all know, sheriffs and other law-enforcement goons— er, I mean, personnel…  read more »

(This post is a follow-up to yesterday’s post, “Update on Helena-West Helena Police State: They could be ripping off my book for their press releases.” Catch the whole true story from the beginning, starting here.)

Cited in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Northwest Edition yesterday, also found at ArkansasOnline and other sources:

“Under the old curfew, everyone was subject to some minimal intrusion,” [Mayor James] Valley said. “Now, if people are sitting out in their yard talking, it’s not going to be a big deal. But if they are out drinking or smoking a blunt, that’s going to be a problem.”

Valley and Scott said police officers will continue stopping and questioning people in the saturation zones, just as they did in the first curfew zone. As long as a person has a “legitimate reason” for moving through the saturation zone, Valley said, he’ll be allowed to pass.  read more »

(This post is a follow-up to yesterday’s post, “If You Thought It Couldn’t Happen Here: A Real-life Police State in the Real, Live U.S. of A.”)

As reported by KARK (channel 4 in Little Rock, the NBC affiliate), Helena-West Helena politicians have come up with an alternate plan, after the ACLU lambasted the mayor for imprisoning citizens—both innocent and guilty—in their own homes since last Thursday.

(I’m actually not clear on whether the whole neighborhood has been under blanket, continual curfew, or whether it’s only part of the neighborhood. What I had read last week led me to understand it was the whole neighborhood. Now, I’m seeing some reports like that of KARK, which says “Second Street and the surrounding blocks.” Others, however, still talk only about the whole neighborhood. Blog posts I’ve been able to find have been no more helpful. But I’ll keep an eye out for an eyewitness with a blog. If you know of a local with a blog posting about this story, please leave a link in the comments!)

The alternative, as KARK reports it, is what I would call the “Can I see your papers?” plan.  read more »

Buried in a Zogby poll about the right of secession—35% of those under age 30 would support their state if it decided to secede from the US!— Buried at the bottom is a separate question, “I believe the United States’ system is broken and cannot be fixed by traditional two-party politics and elections.” 44% of respondents agreed with that statement, that the US political system is broken.  read more »

I’m busy at work, finishing up the extra chapters of the first novel in my series of libertarian novels, The Conscience of Abe’s Turn. And when that’s done, it’ll take a few weeks to get the first real copies. I’m going to be giving away a limited number of these very first copies. (I don’t know how many yet.)  read more »

Michael Feathers brought this story to my attention. Although I can only speculate as to what his meaning was, I do know what I got out of it. Stories like this are definitely part of the inspiration behind some of the characters in Abe’s Turn.  read more »

Now that the expanded, edited version of the first 4 episodes of The Conscience of Abe’s Turn is almost ready to be posted…

(And yes, I realize I said it would be done over a month ago. I’ve learned so much from the process, however. The first lesson: Editing your first novel-length work will take 5 times as long as you think it will.)

Whereas: Just about every great story has had those who hated it, frequently with great passion. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Godfather, Firefly and Gilmore Girls, all had and still have their detractors. No great work of fiction or non-fiction has ever failed to piss off a few million people, because every great work must say something. And as soon as you say something, you please the few people who “get” it, and you piss off everybody else.

Therefore: I knew I was onto something special, when I started getting angry emails from people I’d never met, roundly criticizing me for writing something so stupid, so unrealistic as The Conscience of Abe’s Turn.

In the spirit of the great works of literary, film, and television history, you might hate The Conscience of Abe’s Turn if…  read more »

This is the last chapter of the last episode of the first half-season of Abe’s Turn, an extremely difficult chapter for me to write. It’s true what Holly Lisle says about your characters. You need to empathize with them, but do not dare to sympathize with them. I goofed. I allowed myself to sympathize with them.

Read the last chapter of this special episode: The Conscience of Abe’s Turn, Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 5. And subscribe via RSS or email to keep up to date. (See the “Keep Up to Date” block in the sidebar, with the big, orange logo.)

The book is still coming. It will have revised and expanded chapters, which I’ll also post on the website, as well as bonus extras. The latest schedule for the book is that I’ll have advanced copies somewhere around the middle of May. At that time, I’ll have a contest and give away a number of them.

-TimK  read more »