Consent of the Governed Ch. 06

"We don't give Corporal stripes lightly, and they were well merited." said the Chief. "Inga Gunddottar has served this Police Force with distinction from the day she arrived. We're going to miss her, and the NYPD is getting an outstanding Officer." Applause.

"Corporal Gunddottar is receiving two medals today." said the Chief. He read the citation as Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle draped the Purple Order around Inga's neck. Then the Chief read the second citation as Inga became only the fifth recipient of the Legion of Excellence (Tanya, Rudistan, Kalsu, and me were the other four). The first recipient of the award, Tanya P. Muscone, pinned the medal on as Lt. Rudistan assisted by holding the box.

And then Inga was given another sustained standing ovation until tears formed in her eyes and she waved and walked back to her seat in the front of the bleachers.

"As I just said," the Chief continued, "we don't award Corporal stripes lightly, but we are awarding some today. For her so-far distinguished service and leadership in the new Intel Branch, we are pleased to promote Penny Scott to Corporal."

As Lt. Mary Milton and I pinned on her metal stripes, Penny said quietly "I'll honor Pete Feeley's memory, sir."

"I know you will." I replied just as quietly. "Just keep on keeping on."

"And now it's time to say goodbye to one of the most outstanding Officers I've ever had the pleasure to work with." said the Chief. "The equipment you have, is because of her work. You get paid because she made sure you do. And she's been right there with you on the front lines."

There was applause, and then the Chief said: "And she's a six-time Police Boxing Matches Champion! A record that may never be matched!" The crowd roared much more loudly at that, and Cindy waved a green crowbar in my general direction before she answered the call to come to the podium. I just nodded. Oh yeah, it was 'Game On!'

"For her service and her excellence as a TCPD Officer," said the Chief, "Commander Cindy Ross is awarded the Police Distinguished Service Medal." The Force stood and applauded as the Sheriff pinned the beautiful medal under its blue drape on Cindy's uniform.

Chief Moynahan said "Commander Ross's retirement leaves a spot to be filled. We still want to get paid." There were some trickles of laughter, then the Chief said "And we have the right person for the job. She is an outstanding Detective and leader of Detectives. She knows more than I ever did about autopsies and crime scenes. And she has overcome some of the most daunting obstacles any Officer has ever had to face. Ladies and gentlemen, our next Deputy Chief: Tanya Perlman Muscone!"

The Police Force roared as Tanya drove over to the podium. Her husband Jack Muscone came up, and he and I pinned a star on each of her shoulder epaulettes.

The Chief had me stay at the podium for the next part. I said "Congratulations, Commander Muscone, on your well-deserved promotion." To the audience I said "Deputy Chief Muscone's promotion leave a vacancy in one of the most important positions on the Police Force, that of Captain of Detectives. We are fortunate to have a former TCPD Officer return to us to take over that position. Claire Michaels, would you please come up?"

Claire Michaels came up, accompanied by Lorena Rose and Lt. Tal Shiarr. I administered to Claire the TCPD Officer's Oath. Then Lorena Rose and Tal Shiarr pinned her Captain bars on her new uniform as she put the badge I handed her on her jacket.

Then Tanya Muscone wheeled up and handed Claire the blue crowbar, signifying the changing of the guard to a new Captain of Detectives. Claire held it up as the Police Force applauded.

"You know," I said as Tal Shiarr and Lorena went back to their seats, leaving Claire standing next to me, "that blue crowbar reminds me of something. I am sure that Commander Cindy Ross will agree with me that Captain Michaels is tough enough to be Captain of Detectives." I looked over at Cindy, who just nodded, surprised to hear her name, and wondering what I was up to.

And she found out as I said loudly and clearly: "And that's because Commander Ross and I both know that Claire Michaels is the only person who has ever defeated me in the Police Boxing Matches!" (Author's note: 'Reichenbach', Ch. 01.)

I was a bit nonplussed at the strength of the roar emitted by the Police Officers as they stood and applauded mightily. I heard Teresa and Tanya both laugh out loud, and glanced over to see that Cindy was 'not amused' with me, though she stood up with the others. The Sheriff's mustaches were twitching most merrily.

Claire had also laughed, and I held up the red crowbar and she crossed it with the blue crowbar. Welcome home, Claire. Welcome home...

Part 35 - Those Who Count The Votes...

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Tuesday, November 3rd, from the rooftop of the building at the corner of Riverside and College. "Long lines are already forming at the polls for today's important Elections!"

After the hard-charging intro music, Bettina began: "The lines to vote are especially heavy on the southside, where People of Color are eager to avenge the allegedly stolen election of two years before, and this time put Eldrick X. Weaver in his rightful seat as Mayor of our Town & County!"

Bettina: "And now let's go to Amber Harris and Carl Lemay at the Channel Two Decision Desk. Carl! Amber!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said Amber Harris as she and Carl Lemay appeared on screen. "We'll have total coverage all through the night as the votes are accurately counted in spite of a Judge refusing to prevent illegitimate Mayor Daniel Allgood having Sheriff Deputies and Police intimidating the poll watchers and poll counters."

Carl Lemay: "A lawsuit was filed yesterday by Election Board Chairwoman Rosa Sparks when Police confiscated three dropboxes for mail-in votes, but it was dismissed with prejudice, pun not intended, by Judge Rodney K. Watts. Watts stated that dropboxes are illegal in the State, that absentee ballots must be returned through the U.S. Mail, and that unverified ballots by mail are also illegal and would not be counted."

Amber: "And with Superior Court Judge Harry R. Nance being forced to be recused because he is on the ballots, running for re-election to his post, Social Justice groups have lawyers ready to file lawsuits in Federal Courts if they perceive any attempts illegitimately install Daniel Allgood as Mayor again..."

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

It was a new day and a new coffee klatch. Deputy Chief Tanya Muscone was wearing a light blue uniform shirt with soft shoulderboards with one star on each shoulder, as was I. Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle's shoulderboards had silver oak leaf clusters, and Chief Moynahan had two stars on his shoulderboards. The Sheriff wore four metal gold stars on each of his khaki shirt epaulettes. Assistant District Attorney Paulina Patterson was wearing a tan jacket and skirt with a blouse in pastel colors that matched.

"They're pissed that we're watching them count the ballots." I said. "Which means that we are absolutely correct to be watching."

"What's that business about taking up the dropboxes?" Tanya asked.

I said "They tried to set them up along MLK Jr. Avenue and lower Riverside Drive yesterday. They might get away with that in the City, but this is not the City. I ordered our Officers to go in and confiscate the dropboxes. The Chairwoman of the Election Board, Rosa Sparks, filed suit, and Judge Watts immediately threw the lawsuit out. What Amber failed to mention was that Watts also warned Sparks not to try any shenanigans, and that he'd be in his Courtroom all night to rule on anything that needs ruling on."

"Did you look at the ballots in those dropboxes, Crowbar?" asked the Sheriff.

I replied "I sure did, Sheriff, under the precept that they were evidence of an attempt to commit fraud. I made sure to be videoed examining the so-called ballots, and Vice Detective Christopher Purvis was there with me."

Me: "There were only about 40 ballots in each of the three boxes we confiscated. Many of the forms were photocopies out of a copying machine, though filled out with ink pens. The addresses were not duplicates, i.e. not the same addresses, but were each of the businesses along MLK Jr. Avenue. And the strangest thing about each of them was that only three races were filled out: for Eldrick X. Weaver for Mayor, for Hoyt Stenson for Governor, and for Edgar Silas for the Reginald B.F. Lewis Council seat."

"Were there legitimate ballots in the boxes?" asked the Chief. "Do we need to get those turned in to be counted?"

"No, Chief." said Paulina Patterson. "The dropboxes themselves are illegal in this State. The City is openly violating the law and challenging the State to do anything about it, but that's an aside. Anyone who put a legitimate ballot into those boxes cannot have any legal expectation of their vote being counted."

"So they're setting up ways to challenge the results, and to sue if they don't like those results." drawled the Chief.

I said "That's nothing compared to what will happen if the Legislature ever passes that filthy 'For The People Act' that legalizes and codifies voter fraud."

Tanya said "I suspect these three confiscated dropboxes were just tests, to see what we would do, and to see what they can get away with."

I said "And that reminds me of something. The official boxes the actual ballots are put in to be taken for counting are white boxes, not tan cardboard color, and are specially marked. We need to tell the Deputies, Officers, and Poll Watchers at the scene to watch for any ballots being brought in in incorrect boxes."

Tanya said "Did anyone invite Captain Michaels to the coffee klatch?"

"No." I said. "You were invited in the past, Tanya, because you're one of my Angels... and you still are, even if I don't outrank you anymore. I think Claire might invite her Lieutenants to her own coffee klatch every now and then."

Teresa said "Claire technically is directly under you, Don, but I told her I might want to invite her to my meetings with my Precinct Captains from time to time."

"Why not have coffee klatches with them?" asked the Chief.

"Location, location, location, Chief." Teresa said. "Trying to get them together early means that some of them have to travel through traffic early in the morning. And the Precinct Captains often participate in the Roll Calls at shift change, and I don't want to mess with that..."

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

4:00pm. "Hello and welcome! She's Catrina Pierce, she's Meredith Peller, she's Alison McFarland, I'm Greg Wallace, and this is The Four!"

Well, they tried to upgrade the intro music, and failed. Greg Wallace began: "With voters going to the polls today, several major polling firms have announced they will be ending the practice of election candidate polls as well as exit polling on Election Day. The reasons cited are that erroneous polling could impact candidate fundraising, voter mobilization, and cause voters to not trust the actual election results."

A video clip of Peter D. Gordon of Clear Call Polling was shown. He said "We're going to continue polling on the issues, and we'll do polling for political organizations that usually aren't released to the Public. But with early voting and other issues, we're not comfortable with the results we've been getting, and exit polling at the polls isn't worth trying to do."

Called upon by Wallace, Catrina Pierce said "I'm surprised this hadn't already happened years ago. Exit polling has been fairly reliable about issues, about the reasons voters voted the way they did. But the numbers can be really off when compared to actual results. And in 2004, the polling numbers showed that John Kerry was crushing George W. Bush, but President Bush was solidly re-elected in the actual vote."

Alison McFarland said "I was told by a very observant person that when the Democrats win, especially nationally, the actual numbers usually coincide with the poll numbers. But when the Republicans win, there is much, much greater disparity between the polling numbers and the actual results."

Meredith: "Part of the problem is that, for right or wrong, Conservatives either won't answer pollsters, or will outright lie to them. That was a huge reason for the Bush-Kerry 2004 disparity, and was the beginning of the end for exit polling. And it continues to this day."

Greg Wallace: "But Meredith, why are Conservatives not working with the pollsters? I do know a lot of people who support Val Jared won't say so out loud because they are afraid of being not only 'cancelled' by the 'woke' mobs, but physically assaulted. Is that contributing to the disparity?"

Meredith: "It's far wider than just Jared, though. Elections at every level are affected. And experts are saying that it's just a deliberate attempt to mess up the polling, which they perceive to be related to the Media they despise."

Catrina: "And the flip side of Meredith's point is that the Mainstream Media has often skewed the poll results to show what they want. Our competitor KXTC allegedly attempted to force Karl Frazier of Public Policy Polling to say that I.G. Candidate and NAMbLA member Bruce Finneran was doing much better than he actually was."

Catrina: "And as another example: most of the Mainstream Media was saying Eldrick X. Weaver was ahead of Daniel Allgood... until this past weekend, when they were saying Allgood was way ahead and that blacks needed to come to the polls to vote, or Allgood would be elected. That narrative serves two purposes: to scare Democrats into voting, and to cause the results to be questioned if Allgood does win."

Later on, Wallace said "And now it's time for the 'Fast & Furious' segment. First, will this be a clean election, or will it end up in the courts?"

Alison said the courts, Meredith said the courts, Catrina said it'd be clean, or at least accepted.

"Will Mayor Allgood win re-election?" asked Wallace. Alison said 'yes', Catrina said 'yes', Meredith said an emphatic 'no'...

Part 36 - How It Should Have Been Done

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said the redheaded MILF reporterette at 8:00pm, Tuesday, November 3rd, from the anchor desk at KXTC Studios. "The polls officially closed an hour ago, and Channel Two News has learned that voters who were in line at that time and allowed to remain in line and vote have now done so! Let's go to Amber Harris and Carl Lemay, who will be leading our coverage through the evening. Amber! Carl!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said Amber Harris as she and Lemay were shown at the KXTC Decision Desk. "The election ballot boxes are being brought to County Election Headquarters in armored cars with Police and Deputy escorts. County Election Board Chairman Rosa Sparks has told Channel Two News that the Election Board has hired triple the normal armed Security, which will enforce the barriers behind which all Poll Watchers, Sheriff Deputies, and Town & County Police Officers must stay."

Carl Lemay: "And now let's go to Pat Stellum at George Floyd Elementary School, with a breaking story on black citizens being denied their right to vote. Pat!"

"That's right, Carl!" said Pat Stellum, standing in front of the voter entrance at George Floyd Elementary School. "At 7:00pm tonight, Town & County Police Officers under the command of Donald Troy refused to allow persons in line to stay in line and vote. Donald Troy's Police Officers, who were white, said that they were cutting off the line at 7:00pm, but several black citizens said they were already in line at 7:00pm, and were forced to leave anyway. Several of them told me they intend to sue Commander Donald Troy and the Town & County Police. Back to you, Carl!"

"Thank you, Pat." said Carl Lemay. "And we're now getting our first projections of the evening."

Amber: "Channel Two News projects that Edgar Silas has won convincingly over Republican Katina Jones, and will succeed Reginald B.F. Lewis on the Town & County Council. Channel Two News also projects that Kelly Carnes has soundly defeated businessman Republican Bill Redmond by a 57-43% margin."

Lemay: "And the State News Networks are projecting that Corey Coons has defeated Republican Ruby Russell for Lieutenant Governor by a large margin. The Governor's race between White Nationalist and Jared crony Sharon Marshall and moderate Democrat Hoyt Stenson is currently too close to call..."

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

Teresa and I were watching in my office at Police Headquarters when I got a text. "I didn't know I was white." it said. I grinned.

"What's that?" Teresa asked.

I said "That asswipe Stellum saying that white Officers took people out of line that were already there, though the Officer-cam video shows otherwise? Well, all of the Officers at George Floyd Elementary are black. That was Kevin Buchannan texting me. I don't think he liked Stellum calling him 'white' very much."

"Is it going to be this way all night?" Teresa asked.

"Probably." I said. "By the way, how did the transporting of the ballots go?"

"Reasonably well." Teresa said. "Every paddywagon had two of the Election Office's security men on board, as well as at least two Deputies. There were no improperly marked boxes among those transported to the counting location. By the way, sir, is it true that the water to the Election Center was shut off?"

I grinned a wicked grin. "Yep. There will be no bursting water pipes tonight." (Author's note: 'Black and Blue', Ch. 03.) "And vote counters will have to use port-a-potties if they need to go..."

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

"Hello and welcome to Fox Eight coverage of the State and Local Elections. I'm Catrina Pierce, and with me is Greg Wallace. Greg, it's shaping up to be a long night."

"Yes, it is, Catrina, and Democrats are already starting political shenanigans." said Wallace, who then turned to the camera and said "Superior Court Judge Rodney K. Watts has already dismissed several lawsuits stemming from Police not allowing people that tried to enter the voting line at George Floyd Elementary after closing time to vote. Officer-cams showed and timestamped the attempt by several young blacks wearing red Antifa shirts to get in the line, and then create a scene when told to leave. As you can see, the Officers at the scene are black, which does not agree with our competitor KXTC's blatantly false reporting."

Catrina: "And the Fox Eight Decision Desk has several projections at this hour. Fox Eight news projects that SBI Director James 'Curly' Goodwin will defeat NAMbLA member Bruce Finneran by an 80-20% margin, one of the biggest blowouts in State electoral history! And Fox Eight News projects that Assistant District Attorney Franklin Washington will defeat incumbent Harry R. Nance for his State Superior Court judicial seat, also by a huge margin of around 80-20%."

Greg Wallace: "The race for Mayor is too close to call, but in the race for U.S. Congress, former Town & County Mayor Larry Vaughan is well on his way to defeating incumbent Gerald A. Condor, who was never able to shake the scandal of the death of his sweet young intern Chandra." (Author's note: 'Unresolved', Ch. 03-04.)

Catrina: "And State Senator Katherine Woodburn is projected to be returning to Midtown as our State Senator, with State Reps Billy Williams and Peter Long Cox also winning re-election.;.."

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

The call came at 10:10pm, and was from Sergeant Carter. "Sir, we're having issues at the Election Center."