Signwave

Signwave Read Online Free PDF

Book: Signwave Read Online Free PDF
Author: Andrew Vachss
state-owned land, so it belonged to “the people.”
    As at other places I’d been, everyone was claiming to speak for “the people.” Harder to do in Oregon, since the Indians were the “original” people. At least, that’s what those who had voted against building a casino on private land said…and they won. But when the local tribe wouldn’t even take the land as a gift, the gates opened up.
    That was when this coalition emerged to protect “virgin green space” from “government rape.” Why chain yourself to a tree that was going to be cut down no matter what you did? Why not just
buy
the whole parcel outright, and legally bar any road? It couldn’t cost
that
much.
    But that wouldn’t work, they said, shouting “Eminent domain!” like the threat of an approaching tsunami.
    Then the “small government” crowd jumped in, forming common cause with the “enviros” for the first time. The statecouldn’t just
take
property—private property was no different from the right to privacy itself. If the Second Amendment was to have any meaning, it would have to apply to more than just fighting any ban against a citizen’s right to own firearms, including those stupid background checks. The state wouldn’t even know who to take the property
from
, except that all deeds had to be filed, and “Registration Is the First Step to Confiscation!”
    Those posters were plastered all over town. That put the “all power belongs to the people” crowd on autopilot.
    So many referendums were slated for the next ballot that the Voters’ Pamphlet would be the size of a phone book. It’s easy to get damn near anything on a ballot out here. I don’t know how many signatures you need, but it’s not a lot. There’s no polling booths; you just mail your ballot in.
    But even
that
was too much trouble for some.
    One group had a Web site saying that they were united against paper voting. Dolly had insisted on showing it to me. “Can you believe it? It’s not about the hassle of standing in line, or even ‘hanging chads.’ They’re angry because they actually have to
mail
their ballots. They want to vote over the Internet, the same way they do their banking, pay their bills, and find their true love. They need to be ‘connected’ all the time. There’s enough of them to actually get a referendum going. But a ballot initiative requires a certain number of signatures, and you can’t gather those online…so they’re not going to be bothered even doing
that
much!”
    Their Web site’s banner was “Passive Resistance.” I guess that meant, if they couldn’t vote online, they’d boycott every ballot.
    I got the “passive” part easy enough, but I didn’t think even Gandhi could find a trace of the other half.
    —
    “G et it, Tontay!”
    I looked out the back window. Half a dozen teenage girls in cheerleader outfits, bouncing up and down in their eagerness to encourage Dolly. For years, our “kitchen” had been swarming with teenage girls, turning it into some kind of…clubhouse, I guess. Not a hangout for outcasts, but a place where they’d be welcomed—one of Dolly’s rules.
    Dolly’s rules always had reasons. Her reasons. The school’s princesses mixed with the untouchables in
her
house or else it was
la porte
for them. None of them wanted to be excluded from a place where they could learn things they all wanted to know…and be loved at the same time.
    She’d been “Aunt Dolly” to them until she suddenly decided that made her sound too old. The minute she said, “That’s
Tante
Dolly to you!” they all picked up on it. But my wife hadn’t made the jump from English to French quick enough, so
“tante”
came out “tontay,” and they’d converted that mess into
their
name for her.
    Any kind of strict glance from Dolly when they used it just started them all giggling. I guess she finally gave up trying to stop them.
    Those girls knew Dolly would rapid-fire French at me if she didn’t want
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