The following is a work of fiction, set in October, 2008:

In Manhattan where the rally had been due to take place, double lines of police and police vans prevented most of the thousands of demonstrators from entering the city to protest emergency rule, which the president, George W. Bush, declared six days ago. Thousands of party workers had already been arrested over the past few days, party officials said.

At Mrs. Clinton’s residence, lines of police, barbed wire and concrete barricades kept Mrs. Clinton inside. Amid chaotic scenes early in the day, an attempt by Mrs. Clinton to leave in a white car was thwarted by police officers as they moved an armored personnel car and a police bus to block her way. After nightfall, the order barring Mrs. Clinton from leaving her house was lifted, according to Rudy Guiliani, the acting deputy commissioner of New York, Reuters reported.

On the surface, the crackdown on the rally and Mrs. Clinton’s daylong detention appeared to be an obstacle to power-sharing negotiations that had been taking place for several weeks between Mrs. Clinton and President Bush. But the events did not exclude the possibility that negotiations continue by back channels.

Late in the afternoon, in what appeared to be a carefully stage-managed move agreed on with the government, Mrs. Clinton emerged from her house and made a speech that was broadcast on CSPAN. Mrs. Clinton said she was “listening to the voice of my conscience” and appealed to the government to end the emergency rule. She said that she had not spoken to President Bush and would not negotiate with him until emergency rule was ended and the Constitution revived.

“I have been illegally stopped by barbed wired and blockades,” she said, adding that she still intended to go ahead with a long march through New York state planned for early next week.

In justifying Mrs. Clinton’s detention, the US government said that that there had been credible evidence she could have been the target of a terrorist attack during the rally.

As many as 5,000 party workers were arrested across the country over the last three days, party officials said, and today any groups of people that formed on the street were immediately moved on by police officers.

The authorities said there were 8,500 police officers on the streets of Manahattan, and it was clear that many plainclothes officers and intelligence officials were also circulating. Some demonstrators threw stones at the police and were hauled off in vans.

But blocking protesters from the city and keeping Mrs. Clinton from leaving her home appeared to prevent her party from any significant protest in Manahattan. Party members said they were waiting for orders from Mrs. Clinton.

“As soon as she comes to Manahattan, we will go and break the barriers,” said Charles Schumer.

A government spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said this evening that the government had issued a restraining order against Mrs. Clinton for her own protection.

"Probably the restraining order will be removed tonight,” Ms. Perino said. “It was to try to get her not to lead the rally. There was credible information that she would be the target of an attack.”

Democratic Party workers who showed up near Mrs. Clinton’s residence during the day were arrested, shouting “President Hillary Clinton” as they were shoved into police buses and vans. By early afternoon, at least 20 workers, including at least six women, were in custody.

The rally that was scheduled today in Manahattan has assumed critical importance in the political machinations between President Bush and Mrs.Clinton, who served twice as First Lady and wants to return to the White House.

Outwardly, the standoff today appeared to deepen the confrontation between the two, making Mrs. Clinton an opponent of President Bush rather than a partner in the transition to democracy that she and her Democratic sponsors, who helped negotiate her return to New York, envisaged.

But analysts said that the strategies for both sides for the day had probably been worked out quietly in advance, to give each side a face-saving way to avoid a potentially bloody clash on the streets.

“If the tensions persist, the negotiations might be in jeopardy,” said David Broder, a political and military analyst in Washington.

“If Bush can contain these protests for three days, fine,” he said. “But if the protests spread to cities and persist for a week then Bush will have problems.”

I had some help writing this. I simply took today's NYTimes article on Pakistan and changed the names of people and places.

http://tinyurl.com/284h9h

Sir,

Your service to our country has never been more important, or heroic, than in the testimony you have delivered. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and wish nothing but the best for you and yours. Please continue speaking truth to power in such clear, unambiguous language. With voices such as yours, our country can, and will, emerge from the current nightmare as a more just and moral nation.