Sugar and Spice Ch. 03

This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racism, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

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Part 11 - Let Freedom Ring, Redux

The rebel Colonel Prescott proved he was wise;
Outnumbered and low on ammunition
As the British stormed his position
He said,"Hold your fire till you see the whites of their eyes!"
--- Schoolhouse Rock, 'Shot Heard Round The World'

"I got this, Crowbar." said Sheriff Griswold as he took out his radio and spoke into it: "This is Sheriff Griswold. Do not engage! I say again, do not engage! You have reinforcements coming!"

After giving his instructions, the Sheriff glanced over at me, to see me peering at him. I said "Why do I get the idea that someone called the Governor and got us some help?"

The Sheriff said nothing. But his mustaches were twitching most very merrily.

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

The chanting demonstrators in their red Antifa shirts had unloaded from the buses that had driven in from Nextdoor County and let them off at the turnoff to Reservoir Road. They were marching up to the checkpoint, a red wave of hatred and desire to cause harm... and suddenly stopped in their tracks.

Coming up the road to oppose them was a huge contingent of State Troopers, every one of whom had volunteered to come to our County and help against the unlawful unrest. But worse for the Haters, the State Troopers were joined by an equally large contingent of National Guardsmen, who'd also asked for the privilege of this duty when the Governor had called for help. Both the State and National Guard troops were heavily armored and ready for combat... real combat. They would be showing the hatred-filled red-shirted thugs no mercy.

Seeing as they were outmanned, outmaneuvered, and outclassed, the Antifa thugs turned to go back... and found that more State Patrol Troopers had slipped in behind them. The Agitators were surrounded, and the circle was closing in fast as the 'kettling' procedure was executed flawlessly.

Dozens of arrests were made. Buses provided transportation to County Jail, where they were efficiently processed... after all, they'd given us plenty of practice over the last few weeks and months. We'd learned. You'd think they would have, too...

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

It was only a slight delay, and Sharon Marshall fired the gun to begin the Triathlon race. As the first racers went into the water for the swim, I headed to my Police SUV. As I got in, I heard a tapping on the shotgun-side door. It was Sharon Marshall. I unlocked the door and she climbed into the vehicle.

"Mind if I catch a ride with you?" she asked as she closed the door, pretty much making it a fait accompli.

"I'm not sure your security is going to be happy about it." I said.

"I told them that your SUV is made to survive ambushes, and already has." Sharon replied. (Author's note: 'Casting Aspersions', Ch. 03-04.) "I'm safer with you than with them or anyone else."

"Okay, then." I said. I pulled out on to Reservoir Road, noticing that I was being followed by the contingent of vehicles that had been meant to transport the Lt. Governor.

I turned onto the road that went over the hillside, avoiding the main roads. As we passed The Cabin, I said "That's my house up there, the one the rogue FBI agents tried to destroy."

"I heard about that." said Sharon. "I can't believe they tried that."

"I can." I said. "They were desperate to get me out of the way, so that their ginned up race hatred couldn't be stopped. But they failed. Stupid to fail. Unforgivable."

"And that's one thing I wanted to say to you privately." Marshall said. "You have no idea how grateful the Governor and I are that you held the line against those Antifa thugs and that drug pusher Jacquez Wilson. It's just about the only example of Law and Order prevailing over the hate and lawlessness of those bastards."

"I could say it was just doing my job." I said. "But I know as you do that it's a lot more. It's war... a war for the Constitution and the soul and fabric of the Nation."

"Yes," said Sharon, "but even so, the Governor and I very much appreciate the example you've made..."

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

As we were driving into Town, I got a call on my Police iPhone. "Sir, this is Lieutenant Rudistan. I'm at the Start Line for the Wheelchair Race, and there's a problem..." He explained the problem and I told him I'd be right there.

"You get a full lightbars-and-siren ride today, Ms. Marshall." I said as I turned on the indicators and sped up my vehicle.

"Please, call me Sharon, and I'll call you Don." Sharon said. I agreed with that.

We got to the Start Line of the Wheelchair Race, where a large number of Police Officers were, and weapons were drawn. The problem was that two State Troopers had spotted Tanya Muscone's service weapon, being carried very openly in its holster on a leather sash over her clothing.

"There's two problems here, sir." said Rudistan. "One is that scruffy looking guy in the green Environmentalist Wacko shirt was offered an American Flag to put on his wheelchair---"

"You can wipe your ass with that American Flag!" yelled the man, who was surrounded by Officers. He was young, white, scruffy looking, and was wearing a green PCGW shirt.

Rudistan said "The girl that tried to give him the flag complained to us Police about his language, and other racers want him removed."

"He's got First Amendment rights." I said. "Doesn't make him less of a total dirtbag, though. What's the second problem?"

"They're telling Captain Muscone she can't carry her weapon." said Rudistan. "She showed them her badge, but they tried to take her gun, and she pulled it out and pointed it at their heads, causing a lot of us TCPD here to do the same thing." Tanya nodded vigorously in agreement, and I need not say she did not look very perky at the moment.

"Who's in charge of the State Troopers here?" I asked.

"I am." said a man who was a Sergeant in the State Patrol, and whom I'd not met. "And it's against State Law for her to carry a weapon in the race."

"What law is that?" I thundered. When he didn't reply, I said "I'm waiting for your answer. Cite the law." He tried citing the law about concealed carry, and I stopped him.

"That law specifically states that Police Officers can carry their weapons if they have their badges on them... and Captain Muscone exhibited hers, did she not? So try again."

"This race will not go forward unless she gives up her firearm or withdraws from it." said the Sergeant.

"Do you know who he is?" replied Rudistan, pointing at me... or more specifically, my crowbar.

"I don't care who he is." said the State Police Sergeant. "She is not racing while armed, and I will enforce that." He did not understand the sudden quiet that happened.

I said to Tanya: "Captain, you are good to go to race with your service weapon." Turning to the Sergeant, I brandished my crowbar as I said "You try to stop this race, and you will find out who I am, at the cost of your job, if not worse."

"I OBJECT TO HER HAVING AGUN IN THIS RACE!" shouted one of the other racers... and you get one guess who: the scruffy dirtbag in the Environmentalist Wacko shirt.

"She's carrying it to protect you and the other racers." I said loudly. "If your Antifa colleagues attack you, she'll be all you've got to save your worthless ass."

"I OBJECT TO HER HAVING A GUN!" yelled the man, his eyes darting around. I suspected he was looking for a Media camera. "And i don't care if she's a cop! Cops should be defunded and stripped of their guns!" A few people in the crowd applauded, only to be overcome with a chorus of boos.

I went up to him. "You have two choices, dirtbag." I said. "You can withdraw from the race, or you can race in it with her also racing, and racing armed.

"This is Police harassment! This is Police brutality!" the man shouted, again looking around for a Media camera.

I simply turned and saw Hicks among the TCPD Officers. "Corporal!" I said loudly. "Follow Captain Muscone during the race. If this environmentalist wacko dirtbag tries to cut her off or tries to assault her in any way, take him down. Throw him face-down on the pavement, cuff his hands behind him, and haul him off to jail for assaulting a Police Officer. After you run him through booking, put him in the 'gen pop' holding cell with the gangbangers."

"He'll already be dead, if he tries to fuck with me." Tanya said, staring right through the wacko.

The guy chose to withdraw from the race, bitching and moaning. I told him he could have an American Flag as a consolation prize, and was rewarded with a hatred-filled look. But he didn't say or do anything, to my extreme disappointment.

"Anyone taking bets on which Media network gets to him first?" I asked the others as I came back to them. The TCPD Officers and some State Troopers laughed.

"Thanks for the help, Commander!' said Tanya, getting her perkiness back.

"You're quite welcome." I replied, then said loudly: "Okay, we are honored to have the Lieutenant Governor of the State start this race. Ms. Marshall?"

"Thank you, Commander." said Sharon Marshall. Media cameras suddenly appeared as she said "I admire all of you for rising above your challenges to compete in this race today! Let's get started!" Everyone got to the line, and Marshall fired the starter gun, and they were off!

While I'd been letting the PCGW dirtbag know what might happen to him if he caused my Police Captain trouble, Captain Cortese of the State Patrol had come up, escorted by FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone. Cortese told the Sergeant to come with him, and that Sergeant was never seen in my County again...

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

The meeting was in Classroom 'J'. Attending were Sheriff Griswold, me, Lt. Governor Sharon Marshal, Council candidate Katina Jones, Congressional candidate and former Mayor Larry P. Vaughan (the People's Choice), Mayor Daniel Allgood, Council Members John Colby, Dagmar Schoen, Edward R. Steele, J.P. Goldman, as well as Selena Steele, I.G. candidate James 'Curly' Goodwin, State Rep. William C. 'Billy' Williams, State Rep. Peter Long Cox, State Senator Moe Molinari, State Rep. Marsha Collins, and State Rep. Lamar Linder of Hamilton County, who was the State Republican Chair and was being groomed by the Establishment for future opportunities.

Also present were staffers for State Secretary of State candidate Kirby Grace, U.S. Senators Richard Nunn and Lorraine McGill.

Many Republicans that had been invited had refused to attend. My expectations that Wilson Hammonds, Cain Mitchell, and Jeff Canton would refuse to come were fully (and rudely) met. And Ruby Russell also declined to attend, though much more politely. But to my surprise, Bill Redmond, Shawn's father, who was Kelly Carnes's opposition in her Council district, had refused to attend, and he'd declined to attend the start of the Triathlon. Additionally, Ted Mason was nowhere to be found.

"I appreciate all of you coming to this meeting today." said Sharon Marshall. "The purpose of it is to work out a coordinated strategy and message for the State Republican Party as we go into the race, and to get the advice of the Iron Crowbar while he have his tremendous brains available to us."

"Really?" said Lamar Linder. "What can he tell us that our experienced people can't?"

"How to win." growled Sheriff Griswold. "And you need that."

"Exactly." said Sharon Marshall before Linder could object. "To show the problems, I'd like to ask my Campaign's pollster, Peter D. Gordon of Clear Call polling to run some numbers by us. Peter?"

"Thank you, ma'am." said Peter Dwayne Gordon, coming up to the front and beginning a slide presentation. "I'll give the raw numbers first: Ms. Marshall, you lead Hoyt Stenson in the Governor's race, 40-35%, with 25% claiming they're undecided or for a third-party candidate. For Lieutenant Governor, Democrat Corey Coons has a 52-44% lead over Ruby Russell, with only 4% saying they are undecided this early in the race."

Gordon: "In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Lorraine McGill leads newcomer John Osmium by double digits, though there's still a good bit of undecided vote there. Senator Nunn must run again two years from now. For U.S. Congress in this district, Mayor Vaughan leads incumbent Congressman Condor 60-40% with not a lot of undecideds, as Mr. Condor has not overcome the scandal of his sweet young intern coming up dead at one of his parties." (Author's note: 'Unresolved', Ch. 04.)

Gordon: "In local races, Katina Jones is behind Edgar Silas 70-30%. That sounds bad, but in that district, we'd expected it to be 90-10%. The other truly contested Council race is incumbent Kelly Carnes against industrialist Bill Redmond. That race is dead even right now, with about 10% undecided. Mayor Allgood's race with Eldrick X. Weaver is 49-48%, with three percent undecided. And SBI Director Goodwin leads NAMbLA member Bruce Finneran 48-46% with 6% undecided."

Gordon: "One thing we're doing is to attempt to assign some of that undecided vote based upon past voting habits or Party affiliation, if they give us that information during our surveys. Large percentages of undecideds mean people really haven't made up their minds, while smaller percentages suggest that most have made up their minds, but just won't tell us what they're going to do. That's particularly prevalent in Ms. Marshall's race, but not so much in Ms. Russell's."

"Why don't you just get on with this, and get to the bottom line." said Lamar Linder.

"Mind your manners." said Moe Molinari, who had taken offense at Linder's haughty and rude comment. Linder shut his mouth, at least for the moment.

"Thank you Senator." said Peter Gordon. "Our analysis is not as ironclad as Commander Troy's crowbar, but it does suggest that Ms. Marshall has a good chance to win, Ms. Russell does not, and the Mayor and Inspector General races are going to be extremely tight. I also believe that Kelly Carnes will solidly defeat Bill Redmond."

"Damn." muttered J.P. Goldman. I couldn't help but grin at that.

"Why?" asked one of the staffers.

"At this point, I'm going to leave the analysis to some of you." He glanced pointedly in my specific direction.

"Thank you, Peter." said Sharon Marshall. "The reason for the meeting today is because many of our pollsters and staffers say they don't understand why some of us are losing and some are winning, and why there are so few undecideds in some of the races. We understand Condor has a scandal following him, and Ruby Russell's father died under ignominious circumstances. So how can we shore her up, as well as get a platform for a winning agenda? And that's where I want Commander Troy to come in and advise us."

"Thank you, ma'am." I said, coming to the front but taking a seat on the raised platform. "First, let me try to answer that question about the disparities. There are a lot of reasons. In some cases, it's the unique races that tilt the data different ways. For example: blacks rabidly desire to defeat Mayor Allgood, because they believe the Media's oft-repeated lie that the Mayoral election was stolen. They don't like Finneran's NAMbLA status nor rumors that he is gay and may prey on tender aged boys, but they rabidly desire an Inspector General's Office that will always rule against the Police, and will help shut us down, which Finneran has promised to do."

Your Iron Crowbar: "Hoyt Stenson is an elderly, moderate Democrat that is basically running on Ms. Marshall being a third Jared term, and voters are not strongly attracted to him. By way of contrast, black voters are solidly behind Corey Coons, and Republicans are not getting behind Ruby Russell. At all."

"How do we change that, then?" asked Lamar Linder. "Especially for our good candidates like Ms. Russell, Mr. Redmond, and Mr. Krasney for State AG?"

"Let me answer your question with a question." I replied. "This doesn't apply so much to Ms. Marshall but it's key to Ms. Russell's campaign so I'll ask this way: "Why should I or anyone else vote for Ruby Russell?"

"Because if you don't," said Lamar Linder, "you'll have Corey Coons as your Lieutenant Governor, running the Senate!"

"That is exactly what I thought you would say." I replied. "And it makes both my points. First, to whom are you making that argument? That if we don't vote for Ms. Russell, we get Senator Coons. Who is your target audience, there?"

"The voters, of course." said Linder.

"Which voters?" I asked back.

"All of them, of course." replied Linder, acting as if he were addressing a stupid child.

"No, I get his point." said Edward R. Steele. "You're basically appealing to your own base."

"Exactly." I said. "Let me make a short story long by this reminder of history: In 1980, Ronald Reagan upset the Establishment's applecart by handily winning the Republican nomination over their favored candidate, Elder George Bush. Reagan went on to win the General Election, and then was so successful that he was re-elected in a massive landslide in 1984, and Bush became the first sitting Vice President since Martin Van Buren to win the Presidency, so strong was Reagan's popularity."

Your Iron Crowbar: "Reagan got the crossover votes by offering sincere opportunities, not just meaningless words... and he backed up his words with action. He ran positive campaigns, and then he acted to bring that positivity to the People. He lowered tax rates from as high as 91% to the twenties and thirties, creating an economic boom and a vibrant middle class. He defeated the Soviet Union in a Cold War that the Establishments of both Parties had perpetuated for decades."

Your Iron Crowbar: "The Media at that time said that Reagan won in 1980 because of the so-called 'Reagan Democrats'... Dem voters who crossed Party lines and voted for Reagan. And that was a correct assessment. But that caused a problem for the Democrats, so they went to their Media allies and said 'Don't call them Reagan Democrats! It hurts our brand!', and the Media dutifully came up with a new name for them: 'Independents'." I made air quotes at that last term.

I continued: "There really aren't any true 'independents'. There are a rare few that look at the candidates and make a choice, but they are indeed rare and few, and may affect local races more than national ones. Also, a candidate with integrity issues may tilt the general expectations. But most people have their own political ideas and vote for candidates that agree with their own ideas."

Your Iron Crowbar: "Several Republicans perceived to be Establishment Elitists lose because the Evangelicals or Conservatives stay home rather than vote for them. They don't even get their own base, much less crossovers from the other Party. They're perceived as 'Democrats Lite', so the voters they hope to get just stay home. And just trying to appeal to your base in your ads won't help them get that base, much less crossover votes."

Lamar Linder said "Sometimes Democrats are very energized to vote for their candidates, or energized to vote against the opponent. That's what is going to happen to Ms. Marshall if she continues to run as a Jared clone, and it's going to cause Mayor Allgood's defeat, as well. Their opponents are strongly motivated to defeat them."