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_So
Goes the Nation
On the day Nicky Jacobson arrives in New Jersey where he grew up, to report on the music scene around Asbury Park, something quite unusual happens. By evening, the entrances to the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels as well as the George Washington Bridge have been blockaded against all traffic to and from New York. Over the next ten days, through a series of actions and demonstrations born out of resentment toward the capital of the world across the river, the people of New Jersey rise up and secede from the United States, proclaiming themselves an independent nation. |
_ Clearly, this is the story Nicky
should be covering. Despite having
little clue where around the state the insurrection will break out next, he
follows every lead. It is a time when
the country is exhausted, in utter disrepair and economically desperate, when
its military forces including reserves and national guard have been so
overextended in countless adventures abroad, that every weak attempt to
exercise its authority only fuels the resistance.
The three excerpts here are scenes along the way, in Nicky's ongoing effort at coverage of events in the breakaway republic. |
_
from chapter 3
Nicky visits the toll plaza at the Holland Tunnel, two days after the blockade was launched. Earlier this morning a paltry number of federal troops arrived, they can't do much but look threatening. Meanwhile, he finds a march the next town over, protesting the feds' arrival, so he goes to ask questions there.
from chapter 5
After a couple days, Nicky decided to go on a research trip around the borderlands, to see what the political sentiment might be among the people there, so he set off north and followed along the border with New York until he reached the Delaware River and continued south. On the second day of his road trip, outside of Trenton, he chances upon a little homemade establishment, the Museum of the War for Independence with all its curiosities and keepsakes.
from chapter 7
Back at the shore, in the town where he grew up, Nicky goes to see the Lieutenant Governor, currently the acting governor, who lately made a public call for secession. They have almost crossed paths before.
from chapter 3
Nicky visits the toll plaza at the Holland Tunnel, two days after the blockade was launched. Earlier this morning a paltry number of federal troops arrived, they can't do much but look threatening. Meanwhile, he finds a march the next town over, protesting the feds' arrival, so he goes to ask questions there.
from chapter 5
After a couple days, Nicky decided to go on a research trip around the borderlands, to see what the political sentiment might be among the people there, so he set off north and followed along the border with New York until he reached the Delaware River and continued south. On the second day of his road trip, outside of Trenton, he chances upon a little homemade establishment, the Museum of the War for Independence with all its curiosities and keepsakes.
from chapter 7
Back at the shore, in the town where he grew up, Nicky goes to see the Lieutenant Governor, currently the acting governor, who lately made a public call for secession. They have almost crossed paths before.