The doors of the House of Representatives had opened, and the roar of a few hundred angry, bickering politicians met the ears of Victor like the sound of a terrible reality TV show would, as both would disgust him rather equally. He made his way around the crowds of politicians until he finally found his seat, and took it. Victor looked over to the Speak of the House, who desperately was trying to get some semblance of order underway. When they both locked eyes, Victor had a slight smile to his face, a confident grin, very self-assured. The speaker gave him a slight nod.
"Can we please get everyone to sit down! A little order, please!" The Speaker shouted out, getting noticeably exasperated.
Victor waited a few moments as people continued to fight, and when the Speaker finally looked back at him, Victor stood and began to make his way to the front of the room, getting behind a podium, and waiting for things to settle down. The doors to the room opened once again, and the Sergeant at Arms made his way into the room, along with a few other guards. Some strong words were exchanged briefly, but the other politicians began to finally take their seats and settle down.
Victor's smile remained as silence fell over the room. Once they were under control completely, he began to speak. "Fellow Congressmen and Congresswomen, we're all painfully aware of the atrocity that occurred last night. I think I speak for all of us when I say that our hearts break, both for New Yorkers and the people of Pacifica City. It was a tragedy." Victor paused as he looked around at the other politicians there. "But you know... I wonder what kinds of questions our fellow Americans have for us right now. I kind of suspect that some of them might be asking... How could we let this happen?"
There was silence in the room for a moment, but a low murmur had begun to start, people wondering what was going on. The Speaker himself was a little puzzled, and shifted slightly, a little uncomfortable.
Victor chuckled slightly. "I'm sorry, maybe I'm not being clear enough. How did we, the government of the United States of America, allow ANOTHER terrorist attack to take place on our soil?" He began to look around the room, the smile now something of a sarcastic, exasperated grin. "How many times have these people done things like this? How crimes have taken place in this country in just this year? How many are dead? How many are jobless? How many have turned to crime because they're too poor?"
The room continued to mutter away, a little louder now, as the discomfort began to grow.
"Does anyone in here have an answer for the people of this country? Because I sure don't. I don't know why we continue to behave like children, why we get nothing done."
The Speaker slammed down a gavel. "Alright Victor, I think you need to settle down. This isn't a time for politics, this is-"
"Excuse me Mr. Speaker, this is EXACTLY the time to talk about politics. I PAID you for my ten minutes to speak, and unless you want your fellow countrymen knowing how much I had to pay you for that right, I suggest you keep your mouth shut and let me speak."
The Speaker's mouth dropped, his eyes wide. He wanted to say something, but realized he really had nothing he should say at this point. The eyes of the country were on him, the cameras were on and sending every moment in here all across America. He did as he was told for the moment.
Victor looked back to his 'fellow' politicians, then to the cameras. "My fellow Americans, this is what it takes to try to fix this country." Victor paused a moment, shaking his head. "I have stood by this government, and our president, time and time again. I have told them ALL when they were doing things wrong. I have made DOZENS of bills and budget suggestions to get this country moving. Many of them were implemented, and the ones we did implement WORKED."
He pointed his hand out across the room. "Ask any of these people, or even look it up online. You'll see my name there, the first name on many of those documents. I have personally been working to save this country from destruction, I have even had to save it from our own president! A man I have stood by, who I have given advice to, who I have been a trusted confidant to, who I have tried to help!"
There was a pause, a moment of silence as he shook his head. "But I must tell you America, I can't keep doing this. I keep fighting against a river of people who do not know how to run our beautiful country, and who do not care to do it. So that is why I have to sadly declare that... I am hereby leaving the Republican Party, and officially declaring the creation of the Patriot Party of America."
There was a roar of anger from the politicians around him, people yelling, bickering, accusing him of all sorts of things. The Speaker was dumbfounded, reeling from what he just heard. Victor... He'd been a loyal member of the party for years... They'd all worked together... Some had been friends... This was... Insane.
Victor grabbed the microphone to make sure he could still be heard. "People of America, I did not want to do this, but this has gone on long enough. Our parties have betrayed us for ideologies, and have forgotten what America is about." He smirked for a second before continuing. "And yes, I am very serious about all this. I've already filed and had the party officially registered with the FEC before I came here today, and I'm putting in MY own money for the financing."
There was another pause, making sure everything got through clearly. "People of America... We must work together now. We MUST end crime. We MUST end poverty. We MUST end terrorism. We can and will do it. This is America, and we WILL prevail!"
There was more noise, arguing, yelling, but also some cheering and clapping. Victor smiled. "The President should be declaring a government shutdown soon, so before that does happen, I would like all registered members of the Patriot Party to please follow me in a walk out. This government has failed, and we have a lot of work to do to fix that."
As Victor left the podium and walked to the doors of the room, somewhere between a hundred and two hundred Congressmen and Congresswomen stood up and began to follow Victor. Almost a quarter of the elected government had left their parties (both Republican and Democrat) to join the Patriot Party. This was the first time anything like this had happened in US history, and it was just the beginning.