"Welcome to the final debate for the 2024 Presidential Election. I am your host, Larry Knight, and tonight we will have three candidates battling it out for your vote. For the Republicans we have the CEO and mastermind behind the founding of the HiSPeed car company Harry Sayder. For the Democrats we have former secretary of state Gloria Rodriguez. Finally, we have a third party candidate running as an Independent: Congressman Conner Knox from Kentucky."

As Larry went through the introductions, Conner could breathe easily knowing that Larry would moderate the debate. Larry was an unbiased journalist and host, one of the few survivors if you ask Conner. He didn't thrown trap questions at you like D.L. Dundly. Boy did Conner despise that lowlife specimen. Any person who used two initials as a first name was definitely an arrogant measle. The man couldn't even spell out his first name, he just slapped on initials like he was some famous brand-name product.

But Larry was much better than D.L. ill-nurtured Dundly.

However, after the introductions were over, Knight did not hesitate in addressing the tough questions. "Let us start with the impeachment of the current sitting president, whose term is about to end in a couple of months. Congressman, I'd like to start with you, since you were in the chamber when it all went down. It was reported that you voted against impeaching the president. Can you give your dissenting opinion on why you believe it was wrong for Congress to impeach the president?"

Conner couldn't help leaping with joy on the inside as he spoke his heart on a question he couldn't wait to be asked. "It is categorically unconstitutional to impeach the president for a crime in which no evidence exists, except for the hunch on a couple of people's backs. Mere suspicion is not enough to cast out the President of the United States. How would that look to the rest of the world when we cast out our leadership because we suspect the faintest, ill-breed, superstition that the president is in league with the Kabish because of the way he looks?"

Harry jumped in. "It'll look like we're doing our job at keeping not only America safe, but also free of tyrants."

The crowd applauded the stolen limelight Harry was basking in, and Conner couldn't help but think aloud. "If our job is to keep tyrants out, then you wouldn't be up on the stage tonight."

The crowd gasped at the attack and waited anxiously for a response from Harry who simply wagged his finger in front of him rigorously and said, "This man will say anything to gain a couple of followers. He's not as good at making friends like me. I smell jealousy."

The crowd laughed, and Conner shook his head. He was not aiming to make this a sitcom. This was a debate for the next President of the United States for crying out loud—one of the three people on stage will be in charge of the world's most powerful military, including access to a full nuclear arsenal, the power to shape the path the country will take for the next few decades through the appointment of Supreme Court justices, and the proposal of budgets and other nominations to the Federal Reserve, etc. In short, one of these three people will be the leader of the world's most influential nation.

And the audience is rooting for the wrong candidate.

Larry sensed this discussion veering off-course and towards a jousting match between the former Republican and the Republican front-runner. He decided to move on to the next question without even asking Gloria what she thought about it.

However, to be fair, he did start off with Gloria for the next question, "Gloria, as Secretary of State, you have traveled to many regions that have been afflicted with the stings of the massive scorpion that is the Kabish: whether it be the car bombs in Israel, the landmines in Greece, or the kidnappings in Germany. Please tell the audience what is your plan for tackling the Kabish and preventing future attacks like the Baby Bomb Plot?"

Gloria held her head up eye and with a slight squint in her eyes, addressed the crowd with a voice that pretended the listeners were death. "Well Larry, I believe that the way to tackle the problem with the Kabish is through economic sanctions on the nations that harbor these terrorists. If they refuse to weed out the problem, then we should wean them into tackling the problem head-on."

Larry moved on to the center of attention on stage. "And you Mr. Sayder?"

"I believe that economic sanctions are not enough. If we are going to stop the baddies, we're going to need some heavy duty boots on the ground and planes in the sky to put a stop to them before they try to put a stop to us."

Larry added, "Well our president was allowing the usage of drone strikes, and wished to prevent the loss of American soldiers by restricting troop usage in these areas."

Harry held up his finger. "What this president doesn't know is that I've talked to many soldiers and even some veterans on the campaign trail. Some of the generals are even my friends—and what they tell me is that they're ready and waiting to fight. These soldiers were made for combat, not to be sitting around cleaning their guns all day. The president's lack of proper usage of these soldiers is actually doing these men a disservice. Our soldiers volunteered to fight the terrorists and prevent attacks like the ones on Chicago and Pennsylvania."

The crowd applauded, and Larry eventually turned to Conner and asked, "What about you Mr. Knox? How do you think we should combat the Islamic extremists groups?"

This is going to be a tough sell, Conner thought. But he gave it his best shot. "Well I would have to say that diplomacy is an option that no one here has mentioned. Has our government ever reached out to speak with the leaders of the Kabish to work things out? And when I say reach out, I do not mean to kill their leaders, but to actually sit down and talk about how we can put a stop to this endless cycle once and for all?"

Harry shooed Conner away as if he were an annoying fly. "Please, these savages don't know how to sit down at a table and talk. They talk with their guns and bombs. Therefore, we need to respond back in the same language."

Conner cut in before the zombies applauded again. "The cycle will continue forever with that logic. The more towns we bomb, the more recruiting we do for the Kabish. Each family we tear apart is another reason for a child, a father, a brother, and now even a sister or a mother to join the Kabish to enact revenge. But, we can put a stop to that cycle by simply putting an end to the discrimination of Muslims at home, the bombing of Muslims overseas, and actually trying to reach out to our enemies. We've done it in the past. We've talked to the Soviets during the Cold War and worked out truces that de-escalated the conflict."

Harry made a slew of hand gestures that looked almost like he was a mime. "And look where that's got us? Now they stick their noses in situations where they shouldn't be. You're a history guy right? Remember that whole Syrian War we underwent? Well it would've ended a whole lot quicker if the Russians didn't poke their noses where they shouldn't." [25]

Conner reminded Harry, "No matter how badly we wanted to rid ourselves of the Soviet Union, we had to come to grips that they too had nuclear weapons. We attack them, they use them, and if that had happened, we wouldn't be sitting here having this debate."

"Speaking of weapons," Larry cut in to exert his control over the situation. "The endless debate over the second amendment right to bear arms has been amplified when Congresswoman Katie Sharpe from Texas explicitly stated that, and I quote, 'The women wouldn't have made it two feet into the hospital had people had their constitutional right to bear arms.' Gloria, let's start with you. Democrats usually take the stance of stricter gun control laws. Do you agree with Sharpe's statement? Would guns have prevented the Baby Bomb Plot?"

Gloria parted her short sun-bleached blond hair. "Well I have to say that guns would not have made things any smoother, considering that a bullet to a wrong spot in the body could have still triggered the explosion or struck an innocent bystander. I do believe, however, that stricter gun-control laws would've prevented the terrorists from obtaining weapons to use on the mall shootings in Pennsylvania. Guns may not kill, but they make it a heck of a lot easier, especially when in the hands of psychos like the Kabish."

A couple of people in the audience cheered for Gloria and the question shifted to Harry. "First off I'd like to point out that if everyone in that mall was carrying a gun, less lives would have been lost that day. In fact, guns are not being distributed enough. Guns should be like carrying around your wallet, they should be apart of your everyday life. If you don't want one, that's fine, but don't impede the right of those citizens who do want to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms. Once I'm president, guns will be so accepted that companies, like my own, will have a bring your gun to work day and concealed handgun Tuesdays, in order to show the country that our constitutional rights will not be violated, and to show the world that you better not try to kill anyone of us, cause we'll fire back."

The crowd cheered him on as Larry passed the question over to Conner. "I do believe that the right to own a gun should be granted to upstanding citizens; however, I do not believe that everyone should be carrying around a gun like it's the wild west. That would be both dangerous and stupid. One of the smartest men to have ever lived, Albert Einstein, once noted, 'Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.' Give a man a gun and if he gets into a heated discussion, what makes you think he won't shoot his opponent just for disagreeing with him? Thus, guns shouldn't be carried everywhere because humans are emotional beings who anger fast and are quick to pull the trigger. Guns should stay in the house to defend your property and your family. They should be in the car in case of an emergency outside. Unless we are in some open state of civil war, or an invasion from a brute force from abroad, then I doubt carrying guns with you everywhere you go is necessary."

Harry pointed out his finger again, this time in the shape of a gun (whether intentional or not). "Conner, we are in a state of civil war. The baddies have breached our defenses and are causing mayhem from within. We must always be armed in order to face the dangers they pose. It'd be a civic duty to take down a baddie whenever someone sees one."

Conner was itching to poke holes in Harry's logic. But he decided to attack him for a totally different reason. What inspired him to take this route was the gang violence in Chicago that took the life of a young African American boy.

"What is your definition of a terrorist or a baddie or whatever you call them?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders and scrunched his face inward as if he had just eaten a pound of sour candy all at once. "Anyone who hates Americans seems to be a baddie to me."

The crowd mumbled and nodded in agreement and Conner pushed onward, without being interrupted by Larry (whom seemed to like where this was going). "Anyone who hates Americans huh? So what about the domestic criminals who shoot up schools, black churches, poor minority neighborhoods, and beat up people because of their sexuality or their religious faith? They surely do hate Americans to carry out these deeds. Are they not terrorists too?"

"I guess they are—in a sense," Harry shrugged.

"Then why do you only signal out Muslims as being terrorists?"

"Because most of them are."

The crowd cheered at the blazing comment. Conner shook his head in disgust. "Now you and the Republicans, my colleagues, preach religious freedom yet seek to imprison a group of people because of their religion. Are you not a terrorist too for wanting to imprison our fellow Americans because of the faith they practice?"

"No—"

Conner cut Harry off and accused him. "Who's to say you're not a terrorist? You really do flourish in spreading panic amongst the American people."

Harry stuck out the old index finger again and shook firmly. "A terrorist doesn't attempt to kill other terrorists."

The crowd went crazy. Conner tried to gain back control. "Then what about the gang members who hate and kill other gang members. Surely they're forms of domestic terror. The gangs in Chicago are so terrorizing that they even scare the police into inaction. Why haven't you proposed any measures to combat these terrorists? Is it because they don't come from the Middle East? Is it because you seek a hold on the Middle East and an excuse to land some troops there to gain an American foot in the door of another Middle Eastern country? Tell me why do you think it's okay for Americans to kill other Americans for money and drugs, but find it appalling that a person would resort to extreme measures to try to weed out foreigners who have invaded their country, killed their family members, and pushed them out of their homes?"

The crowd booed Conner and even Harry joined in on the boos. "I guess the baddies have their own candidate on the stage now."

Conner would not watch his political career die like this, so he fought back. "Yeah and I'm looking right at him—the man who adds fuel to the flame of radicalism that costs American lives. This is exactly what the 'terrorists' want. They want us to fear; they want us to change our way of life. They want us to give up our freedoms and become like them—submissive under a theocratic system. With each of our rights we give up, we hand the victory over to the Kabish."

Gloria, nearly silent throughout this whole exchange, cut in to ask a simple question that has been posed in a different manner before. "Do you wish to be safe or free Mr. Knox? Because if you wish to be free, you have to give up safety. If you wish to be safe, then you have to give up your freedom."

Conner did not hesitate. "If that's the case, then I'd rather be free and unsafe."

The crowd hissed and booed Conner for his response. Truly the colors of red, white, and blue had never been more desaturated then at this very moment. Conner could not believe the people were willing to sell their freedom in order to purchase 'safety.' This would make the founding fathers want to burn the American flag. An America without freedom and rights, was no true America at all.

Finally Larry cut in. "We have to break there for a quick word from our sponsors. Don't go away, the 2024 Presidential Debate will continue in just a few moments, right after these messages."

Footnotes:

[25] Harry Sayder is referring to the idea that if the Russians didn't get involve with Syria to begin with, the United States could have cleared out the area much 'quicker.' However, since the Russians were in Syria attempting to handle the situation, the United States had to proceed with caution in order to avoid a conflict with the Russians that may have escalated to an even greater hostility from which there would be no return (i.e. a potential World War III).