Kurt Schlichter
INDIAN COUNTRY
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people helped make this novel possible, but most of all my hot wife Irina Moises, who was there from the beginning. This time I actually let her read it while it was in progress, and she was again my primary advisor on whether it made sense. She was also the main editor. She spent a lot of time fine tuning it. Without her help and support, this book would have never materialized. I would have spent all my time tweeting at idiots on Twitter instead of getting this prequel written.
There is a prequel because of the wonderful readers who took a chance on People’s Republic and made it a success. A lot of people bought it, and that still sort of makes me scratch my head. The notion that some story I cooked up in my head as a warning about the perilous path our country is on could entertain so many people is still a bit baffling to me.
I want to thank everyone who read it, and especially those who gave me their feedback. Except the ones who pointed out typos in early versions. Yeah, I know it’s necessary but I still hate it. Anyway, to my readers – thank you!
I got a lot of support from my friends in the conservative media who have tirelessly helped me get the word out about People’s Republic and, hopefully, about this one. These include Cam Edwards, Larry O’Connor, Tony Katz, Dana Loesch, Hugh Hewitt, Derek Hunter, Ben Shapiro, Ezra Levant, John Cardillo, Howie Carr, and Cameron Gray. There are more who I will kick myself for forgetting to include.
Jim Geraghty took People’s Republic seriously enough to interrogate me on it and demand more – he was there at its inception as well in that bar that night we started discussing where this nightmare that our country is in might conceivably lead!
Let’s not forget my former battalion commander, Colonel (Retired) Bill Wenger. His example taught me what it is to be a real commander.
Once again, I pillaged the minds of people like Michael Walsh, Robert O’Brien, Owen Brennan, Stephen Kruiser, Drew Matich, Adam Baldwin, Daniel Knauf, and John Gabriel for material without them ever knowing it. There are others as well.
And, of course my pal known to most as @WarrenPeas64 did some early reading and told me to keep writing. I also got great support from Christian Collins. There were many others whom I have overlooked. Thank you too!
I also want to remember Bob Owens, who gave me some invaluable firearms 411. He is gone too soon.
I also want to thank all of my Twitter followers (currently 100,000+) for being so very, very #caring.
Let’s not forget the amazing J.R. Hawthorne. He turns my silly ideas into awesome covers. I don’t understand how. Thanks!
As always, I want to thank the late, great Andrew Breitbart, for sucking me back into this whole conservative thing against my will and better judgment. Our country owes him a huge debt of gratitude, and I owe him a personal one.
And to those who might not dig this book, I want to quote Andrew:
Apologize for what?
PREFACE
This novel, like People’s Republic before it, is no volume of giddy wishcasting for violent civil unrest. Anyone who says so is an idiot or a liar, and probably some combination of the two. This book is, like its predecessor, a warning.
When Donald Trump was elected on November 8, 2016, I had two thoughts. The main one was that I was relieved for my country. Hillary Clinton, with her unique blend of malice, stupidity, and middle class college girl radicalism, had a very real chance of ripping this country apart and making my last book come true. Her hate for lesser Americans – and pretty much everyone living more than 50 miles from a coast is “lesser” in her clique’s book – plus her utter conviction in her own divine right to wield power was such that she could never, ever stop poking, prodding, and aggressing against red America.
And I feared she would provoke red America to aggress right back.
So I was delighted that evening when I realized that we had dodged the Hillary bullet, and I hoped that we could get back to the urgent mission of making America, if not great again, at least normal again.
But I was wrong. The Left did not engage in the soul-searching or self-examination necessary to understand why half of America – incidentally, the half with most of the senators, congressmen, and Electoral College votes – rejected it. Or, if it did, the result of that soul-searching and self-examination was a renewed sense of its own absolute moral purity and its manifest destiny to rule over us.
Instead, the Left launched an unprincipled and unlimited attack not just upon the legitimacy of this president but upon the legitimacy of the people who put him into office. Yes, the Left hates Trump, but its hatred is really for us. In its hive mind, we have no right to rule ourselves, no moral standing to defy the pagan god of Progressivism. And, as with other religious fanatics, anything leftists choose to do is therefore justified if it serves their perverted vision of the greater good by bringing us heathens to heel.
That’s why we have seen blue state governments allow conservatives to be silenced, to be intimidated, and to be beaten, in the full view of blue state law enforcement. My worst fears are slowly coming true, much to my regret. The Left is using all its governmental, political, and cultural power to marginalize and repress its opponents. If you want to see the true frothing hatred of the Left, jump on social media. Don’t worry – the leftists will tell you exactly what they think.
Nothing I write in People’s Republic or in this book is beyond their aspirations; in fact, my dystopian vision may well be too optimistic. The bottom line is that the 2016 election did not render People’s Republic moot. There is still more story to tell and still a warning to be issued. That’s what I hope to do here.
Now, the second (and substantially smaller) of my election night thoughts turned to the Kelly Turnbull canon. In People’s Republic, Hillary wins the presidency in 2016, leading to the Split between the red and the blue states in the early 2020s. Well, that’s a storytelling problem for me in writing the prequel – and I have decided to solve it by simply changing the future history in Indian Country.
Let the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises tie themselves in narrative knots to ensure they aren’t bombarded with furious tweets by angry nerds infuriated because in Episode 4 Luke’s favorite color was green while in Episode 8 it was blue. I’m just going to tell my stories and you’re going to like ‘em, damn it.
Being a prequel, Indian Country takes place a number of years before the events in People’s Republic. As you will see, Indian Country begins in 2022, after Hillary Clinton’s disastrous 2020 election and as the country is moving inexorably toward disintegration. It then skips ahead and picks up later a few years, after the country splits in two. I hope this resolves any confusion and provides a powerful lesson to you – always read the Preface.
But the fact that I can still write about our country tearing itself apart without seeming utterly nuts is itself nothing to be happy about. I would gladly write a more traditional action thriller set in a world where people didn’t wonder if the sun was setting on America as we know it. Maybe someday I will. But for now, it’s me and Kelly Turnbull. And if you and others enjoy Indian Country, he’ll be back soon.