Media Matters Ch. 03

"All right." exhaled Berger, beginning what he thought would be the negotiation. "What do you want?"

"Why, only to enforce the law, Mr. Berger." I said. "Which is exactly what I am doing."

There would be no negotiation.

Part 18 - Point Driven Home

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the redheaded hot MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Monday, July 16th. "Fox Two News has learned that Commander Donald Troy will finally be appearing before the Independent State Counsel!"

"The date for his appearance will be this Wednesday, July 18th." said Bettina. "Fox Two News has learned that several terms were agreed upon, but those have not been released. Commander Troy, in keeping with his new policy, is making no statements to the Press at all."

"And in political news," said Bettina, "Sources are telling Fox Two News that Paulina Patterson will suspend her campaign for District Attorney! She will return to her old position as Prosecutor for the current D.A.'s Office. There has been no statement from the Patterson Campaign nor the District Attorney's Office at this time. Political experts are in agreement that Ms. Patterson's campaign could not recover from the revelation that her child was fathered by Donald Troy, and her latest poll numbers showed her with only 10% support, just double that of Gil Krasney's 5%..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Not a word about Brian Jennings." said Joanne Warner. "Surprising, since he's on a competitor's network."

"They're not competitors, not in the old-fashioned sense, anymore." I replied. "And talking about Jennings, and why he was arrested, runs counter to the overall Media anti-gun-rights agenda and narrative. Their biggest problem is that he really did what he was charged with, and they can't get around that."

"At least we're getting Paulina back." said Cindy. "Maybe they'll actually prosecute some of the people we arrest, now."

"And my brother will have some backup standing up to Krasney." said Theo Washington. "Franklin was on the verge of making an EEO complaint to the US DOJ, and may still."

"Why can't people just do the right thing?" asked Joanne Warner. "Why is it so hard? Why is it so hard for the Press to do an honest job?"

"They think they are doing an honest job." said Teddy Parker. "Some of them truly believe they're doing right, and can't understand why we hate their guts so much."

"In a way," said Chris Purvis of Vice, "it's like our jobs as Police Officers. We're hated just for doing our jobs. And then some bad apples make all of us look bad, and those of us doing an honest job wonder why we're hated."

"There is one difference, though." I said. "Most Police Officers, not all but most, actually do an honest job. That cannot be said about the Press. The very rare few that actually stand up and call out the bias and corruption of the rest, are 'talked to', and often fired."

"Like Priya Ajmani." said Cindy.

"Don't be too fooled on that one, either." I said. "She went from the Media to Katherine Woodburn's Office. A step up, to be sure, but don't be fooled into thinking that was as it appeared to be."

"You mean it was all a charade?" asked Cindy, stunned. I just looked at her and raised my eyebrows, making her go into a reverie...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"The Media executives want to have a meeting with the Sheriff and me." said Chief Moynahan as Cindy and I sat with him in his office. "You get one guess, Mr. Crowbar, when they want to meet."

"Wednesday." I said. The Chief nodded and chuckled as I said "They know I'll be in Midtown Wednesday."

"Yezzzz." said Moynahan. "They don't want any part of you. That may be an error, though. I don't intend to be any easier on them than you've been."

"Am I invited to this meeting, Chief?" Cindy asked.

"As far as I'm concerned, yes." said the Chief. "The Sheriff has finally realized that he has just a few months left as Sheriff. He told me and Fire Chief Quinlin that we are essentially on autopilot, as he's going to begin switching to full-time campaign mode for Mayor. He's in danger of falling behind in the polls."

"And wants to wash his hands of whatever we do." Cindy said astutely.

"That's some of it." I said. "But there's other reasons, as well. Don't ask; I'm not going to elaborate."

"You don't have to." Cindy said.

"Okay, okay," said the Chief, "I'll buy the beer at the Cop Bar to bribe you into telling meeeee." Cindy and I both chuckled at that, and agreed we could be bribed with beer...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At 10:00am, Superior Court Judge Rodney K. Watts called up the next arraignment. It was the case Town & County v. Brian Jennings. There were a few gasps when the Prosecutor walked in. She was wearing a light blue suit and gray blouse and matching light blue medium heel pumps.

"Ah, Ms. Patterson." said Watts happily. "It is good to see you in my Courtroom again. You've filed all the papers?"

"Thank you, Your Honor. It's good to be back." Paulina said. "I filed the papers suspending my campaign an hour ago, when the office opened, and I've formally notified the District Attorney that I have returned." Brian Jennings and his lawyer H.J. Lynch, did not look very happy about it.

"Good!" said Watts. "What is the Prosecution's position on bail?"

"We recommend no bail, and that the defendant be held in custody until his trial." said Paulina. "He is a flight risk. Furthermore, as you know, Your Honor, the Defendant's fellow reporter John Hardwood tried to murder Commander Troy's daughter Carole, and the Defendant and several of his Press colleagues have verbally attacked Commander Troy's other daughter, including calling her a 'halfbreed'."

"Your Honor!" interrupted H.J. Lynch, "I demand the Prosecutor recuse herself immediately. As the mother of the child she is discussing, she should not be involved with this case. I object to her continued presence!"

"Your objection is denied." said Watts. "Furthermore, you do not demand anything in my Courtroom, or I'll have you held in contempt and put up for disbarment. Mind your tone and your tongue with me, Mr. Lynch."

"Your Honor," said Paulina, "I'd like to play this video as another reason we believe the defendant should not receive bail." Judge Watts allowed the playing. The video was Brian Jennings's rant blaming the gun and demanding the Second Amendment be done away with."

"The hypocrisy would stun me," said Watts, a strong gun-rights supporter, "if this weren't a reporter being charged. Defense, your counter had better be darn good if you want bail for your client."

"My client is well-known in the local community." said Lynch. "He has ties to the community, and family here. You pointed out that he is a reporter; as such, he is well-recognized, and I ask he be freed on his own recognizance. We would not object to ankle monitoring."

"No, that's not going to happen." said Watts. "I am particularly concerned by the attack upon Commander Troy's daughter by a journalist last Christmas, and now we find this reporter who says only LEOs should have guns is now accused of illegally concealing a gun on his person. Bail is denied. We will move up his trial date to ensure a speedy trial." Watts banged his gavel.

I was in the back of the Courtroom. I saw Jennings lean over the railing and hug his daughter before the Deputies took him away. Tears were running down the little girl's face...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I was in the Chief's Conference Room with Cindy, Chief Moynahan, and Chief Griswold. I asked "Jennings's wife filed for divorce thinking she'd get alimony to raise her child. Now, there will be no alimony. Chief Griswold, I know you speak at churches and talk to their people for your campaign; is there anything you can do to get them to help find the woman some work?"

"I can talk to them." said Griswold.

"I can talk to Frank Soltis in Midtown." said Chief Moynahan. "There's a new television movie production company starting up down there, and they're hiring. Frank was involved in getting the company to come to Midtown; he may have some money invested in it. I'll give him a call."

"Thanks." I said.

"Don," Cindy said, shaking her platinum blonde head, "You're unbelievable. A reporter tries to murder your daughter, and the vast majority of journalists would not have cared less if she'd died. They called your wife filthy names, verbally attacked your other daughter, calling her a 'halfbreed'... and yet you show enough compassion to try to help a little girl whose journalist father is going to prison for at least ten years."

"Yeah." I said. "I saw her hugging her dad, tears in her eyes. I was remembering a movie I saw once, about the Israeli agents that went after the terrorists that murdered the athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics."

"They detonated a bomb that killed one of the terrorists." I continued. "One guy went to the hospital, to make sure the terrorist was dead. While he was there, the wife and daughter of the terrorist came in. The doctor took the mother back to the other room, and the little girl was sitting across from the agent, tears flowing down her face. Then her mother came out and told her that her father was dead."

I went on: "This isn't that extreme, but while Brian Jennings is an evil man who will pay for his crimes, his daughter did nothing wrong. One day she was in a happy, two-parent family; today, she faces utter destitution, and she won't be hugging her father again for ten years or more. So if there's something we can do to help the little girl, I'm all for---"

*BUZZZ!* *BUZZZ!* *BUZZZ!* *BUZZZ!*

It was my personal cellphone. I answered and said "I'll be right out." Hanging up, I said "Mike Todd is here. Will you excuse me, Chief?"

"Sure, go ahead." said Moynahan.

After I left, Cindy said "Wow. Just wow."

"That's the difference between Don and those Press bastards." said Chief Griswold. "He has a conscience. Media journalists... have none. Absolutely none."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"We have a settlement offer on the table from KCTY." said Mike Todd as we sat in my office. "They won't admit wrongdoing, but they cannot say publicly that they've admitted no wrongdoing. I got that much out of them, and it's kind of unique. You're going to get $1.6 million from them, and I'll get another $600,000... that's plenty as a retainer for kicking Mullen's ass like we're about to do." He grinned at that last comment, and I nodded.

"Don," he said, "I know you want to take this all the way, fight it out in public to humiliate them, and you know I'm with you all the way in fighting these Swamp Frogs with everything we've got... but my best legal advice is that you take this deal. Drag it out, and it becomes old news, and we might even lose in the end. I advise you to just take the win and the money, and let's move on."

"Yeah, you're right." I said, knowing he was right despite my overwhelming desire to really shove the legal crowbar up Diane Williams's ass. "Okay, let's do it..."

Part 19 - Epilogue

I went home after work. I took the dogs out, then spent a few extra minutes petting them before going back inside. We had family supper, which did not include stringbeans. I did the tucking in of the children at bedtime, taking some time to talk with them.

When I came downstairs, Laura had a couple of drinks poured. "Something's on your mind." she said. "Your upcoming inquisition?"

"No, something I've been thinking about for a while." I replied. "I know Carole's young... but I think it's time she begins taking Aikido lessons..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Brian Jennings would take it to trial, and lose. He would get ten years in both State and Federal sentences, but unfortunately they were concurrent sentences.

Meanwhile, his ex-wife did get a job offer in Midtown. Her daughter's life wasn't the same, but the girl would end up okay.

The war with the Press would continue. And the Governor of the State, Valnius Jared, fired his own artillery shell at a rally of the College CPAC group, saying this during his speech:

"And I tell you," he said, "that the greatest threat to our United States Constitution and our freedoms and our way of life... is not Red China... is not Russia, the old Soviet Union... no, ladies and gentlemen, the greatest threat to us is the American... Mainstream... Media!" Huge applause erupted, then the Governor drove it home: "The American Mainstream Media is our greatest enemy!!" Amen to that, I thought to myself in total agreement. Amen to that.

Have I mentioned that I have an unappeasable hatred of the Press?

Finis. ... for now.