Bill Hulet Editor


Here's the thing. A lot of important Guelph issues are really complex. And to understand them we need more than "sound bites" and knee-jerk ideology. The Guelph Back-Grounder is a place where people can read the background information that explains why things are the way they are, and, the complex issues that people have to negotiate if they want to make Guelph a better city. No anger, just the facts.

Friday, December 31, 2021

Cult Smashers: Part Five

Chapter Two

One of Kelly’s contacts in Washington was a reporter named Silver O’Reilly who worked for one of the big legacy media companies. He was often frustrated by the editorial control that kept him from writing deep digs on important issues and instead kept him running from one puff piece story to another. What they wanted were quotes from important people instead of facts. And when he did put some relevant background in a story, like as not it got edited out because of the need for “balance and objectivity”.

O’Reilly had been so angry about what mainstream journalism has become that he was on the verge of quitting when an individual approached him and suggested that what he wanted to do was really important. The suggestion was made that he keep his current job but change who he was actually working for. He would still write the slop he was told to, but when he heard something important---but which his editors wouldn’t allow in a story---he should hand it on to another organization. Silver didn’t really know what the group was, but he’d been really impressed by the representative from the unknown group, who’d assured him that they didn’t want anything that wouldn’t be in a good newspaper---if management put the public interest ahead of spurious professional ethics and the financial “bottom line”. The guy who’d contacted O’Reilly had been very upfront that there was a practical need for secrecy, so he just accepted that sometimes it is better not to know who you are doing things for.

When the Washington stand-off began, Silver called-up some contacts within the Pentagon who’d told him that the Joint Chiefs had beefed-up the security details around the President to augment the Secret Service. This was highly unconventional---possibly it was even unconstitutional. But they’d explained to the President that he wasn’t just an elected official, he was the Commander-in-Chief, and the military felt responsible for his well-being. Since this was exactly the sort of “ego-stroking” that President Norbert Blunt liked, he told his staff and the regular Secret Service body guards that this was a good idea. At that point, they accepted the new people. (“Pum’kin-head” didn’t promote people who contradicted his brilliant notions.)

The reporter’s contact had also told him that Delta Force commandos had been brought in to get the hostages out of the Congress building. They had some ideas, but were concerned that it couldn’t be done without some significant casualties. As usual, they prepared for action but hoped that the confrontation could be dealt with through negotiation instead of force. Because all of this info was given as “off-the-record background”, it didn’t make it into the news. But that didn’t mean it didn’t end up on Kelly’s computer screen.

That in turn got handed on to the people who wrote the contingency plans that got sent off to the relevant experts in the Elder’s organization. To a large extent that was why their people were ready when the citizenry watched in horror as the Speaker of the House was dragged outside and hung from the gallows that had been used earlier to lynch the Vice President.

When that happened everyone of the occupiers that was outside the building or visible through a window was shot with a high-velocity sniper round. Only seconds later, all power went off in the Capital building, and various outside doors, windows and ceilings had holes blown open. At that point, a dense, heavy, white gas was pumped into the building and assailants in masks burst in. Almost immediately, everyone in the building keeled over onto the floor, in their chairs, or anywhere else they found themselves. Anyone who had a weapon, a “Put America Back On Top” (PABOT) hat, a Confederate flag, a swastika or, who for one reason or another obviously didn’t belong in the building, got “finished off” by pistol-wielding soldiers to ensure that he or she never woke up. Even before this had been finished, another, larger group of soldiers started dragging out the people who did seem to belong in the building.

When this began, O’Reilly was making his way to a large group of paramedics who suddenly arrived and who were trying to get through the barricades surrounding the Capitol building. They were having some trouble getting through because the police in charge of security hadn’t been given authorization to let them. After about a minute, a buzz occurred on the police radios, and they immediately opened-up a route for the paramedics to get through.

Silver recognized a woman with a “media spokesperson” badge in this new group and asked her what was going on. He got a curt recognition and a quick ‘follow me’ hand signal. They found a quiet place next to a wall and she quickly informed him that if he was willing to be embargoed for an hour, she would give him some information about was going on. He quickly agreed, and she reached into a courier bag she was holding and gave him a detailed press briefing. “These will soon be emailed to news rooms and reporters all over the country. They explain that right now Delta Force has breached the Capitol building and has filled it with a gas made from carfentanil. They are busy neutralizing the insurgents and will soon drag out the hostages so the paramedics you see here will be able to start administering Narcan before they get taken off to medical facilities.” She pointed to the crowd of reporters, camera men, etc, surrounding the building. “As you can see, the police are already moving people away from the barricades to open up space for ambulances.” At that point, she told Silver that that was all he was going to get right now from her, and she had other things to do. She told him to get off to the newly-placed barricades. The papers she’d given him would have contact information he could use later on.

He was happy to comply, as he needed to connect with the editor at the paper so they could prepare what was obviously going to be the front page story. More importantly, he needed to send something to his mysterious contact.

&&&&

Moreover I say unto you, the Climate Emergency must be dealt with!

1 comment: