Told By An Idiot

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

This was not the post I was going to write today, but sometimes — sometimes — an idea comes out of nowhere and whomps you between the eyes.

This morning I woke up to a text from one of you — you know who you are — and suddenly I had this great plot for a thriller in my mind. Yes, I know you’re laughing and of course I’m finishing the mammoth book first. I just want to ask your opinion of how plausible this story is, in your mind, okay?

The names used in this plot are just place holders, no resemblance intended to any person living or dead, despite Wretchard’s tweet which of course means he ate some bad oysters of something, right?

Imagine we had a president, let’s call him Bindy E. Weed who was always an extremely corrupt politician, and whose family is so deep in crime that every dictator and cartel owns a piece. He was elected in an election so fraudulent it could never happen in reality because among other things it required fooling other nations about the virulence of a released bio-agent, and I mean, why would other nations all fall for that. Wait, I’ll make it so that they too are fighting internal dissension that will upend long-held structures of power. That might do it, right?

Bindy is elected and immediately gets what he deserves. First, due to his guilty conscience he jumps at nothing and either he or someone in his orbit orchestrates a Reichstag fire, which fails to have the effect hoped for despite work over years to make it into the worst thing ever. His inauguration — this is pretty much impossible in America, okay — is behind barbed wire fences and beefed up guard, but despite incitement nothing happens to justify it. And then…. slowly, incrementally, the wheels keep coming off.

There had been signs of decline before, but they were possible to cover up. Except he gets much, much worse. Behind the scenes he’s puppetted by his wife, a Doctor of … oh, I don’t know let me see a completely useless degree…. We’ll call it Pedagogical studies, as a place holder. His wife…. d*mn it, need name, Tilly Weed, and his son Nimrod. Nimrod not only has acted for years as the family bagman, but is also an addict to several disparate substances and has subtly been emitting cries for help in the form of trying to get caught for years. There’s also a cabal of overgrown theater kiddies who love, adore and bow down to Tilly thinking she is a mondo genius. The most prominent of them are the triple A group around Bindy, who are frankly my weak point. I mean, why should they all have A names? It begs the question. I might change it in post. And make them Bs. I mean, they’re B class talent. Anyway, it’s not just them, of course. Tilly has the kind of suburban mom vibe that will appeal to broken kiddies of any age, of which there are a lot in this administration and the corrupt ideology that supports it. For instance the head of the secret service Howda Cheatam — yes, the name is too on the nose, I’ll fix it later — is a great friend of Tilly and owes her rise to Tilly.

Everything is going swimmingly. Okay, it’s not, because our little cabal in power is busier fending off attacks from other cabals within the very corrupt party that put them in power than actually governing. Also, they’re not that smart. Suburban and (I hate the term, but there it is) midwits. More sure of their smarts than smart. Mostly because they have credentials and are sure these must mean something.

One of the more prominent cabals is from hungry-for-power-yet-hapless vice president Succor Brown. So far she’s not been much trouble because she’s even less liked than Bindy and frankly utterly incoherent.

But then the guy they frauded the election away from, and the previous president (1 term, so still eligible) announces his run for the presidency. What do we call him? Um…. Let’s call him Jack Spades. Remember this is just a placeholder. I’ll come up with something more plausible later, okay? Anyway, the Weeds know exactly how much votes this guy got, and they’re terrified, so they try to take him down before the elections. By legal means, of course.

Dr. Tilly isn’t precisely stupid, but she is hampered by the fact she is essentially, culturally, a suburban housewife. She knows what would stop her voting for someone. She would never vote for someone who had been convicted or even credibly accused of crimes. Not because she’s Simon pure, but because she would never vote for someone who is on the outs. Think grown up high-school cliques. This is the level of her intellect.

So there is first a lawsuit on a tenuous “I vaguely remember being raped at a time I can’t remember, in a place that maybe we were both at” that awards the person making the accusation (another faded jumped-up suburban mean-girl) a lot of money. But that doesn’t work. So the suits multiply, they’re obviously coordinated by Dr. Tilly (I mean there are links back up to her. Obvious too, because she’s not too bright.) And Spades is convicted. Only what he’s convicted of makes no sense whatsoever, besides “evil bad” and frankly, it seems to bolster his popularity. I mean, the one time they arrest him, he makes his mug shot iconic. He has no shame, his followers have no shame, and Dr. Tilly is starting to get that feeling she often got in college when the professor would explain something everyone else understood, and she felt like they were speaking a foreign language.

Then the truly disastrous happens. Well, to be fair, Dr. Tilly has got careless, mostly because no matter how strange and obviously out of control her husband gets in public, the press does cover up wonderfully, converts all his gaffes to moments of genius, and in general convinces the low information voters that perhaps things aren’t going quite as he planned, but Bindy is a good man, and certainly much better than Hater McHaterson Spades who will put anyone darker than a Fitzpatrick 2 skin tone and anyone who ever looked appreciatively at someone of the same sex, as well as anyone who ever dressed up as the other sex for a school play, in camps.

So Dr. Tilly thinks she’s safe in putting Bindy on a debate stage with Spades. Well, to be fair, she has reason for it. After all, they get the questions in advance, and practice saying things that will set off Spades notoriously volatile temper, so even if Bindy is a little incoherent, it will be overshadowed by Spades’ getting angry and ranting incoherently. They can then play those clips over and over and totally obscure the fact that Bindy is a few roots short of a full clump.

However, Spades keeps his cool. And Bindy is more incoherent than even Dr. Tilly could have anticipated.

Suddenly their own ideological faction, which — having lost its philosophical appeal for reasons that I’ll fill in later, like, oh, their historical model has been catastrophically disproven over and over again, to the point it’s hard to obscure — is best described as a bunch of rabid rats in a sack, each determined to survive all the others, is demanding that Bindy step down before he destroys their side utterly. AND Spades, incredibly keeps climbing in the polls. The praetorian media has him in a cone of silence which has worked for candidates before, but is not working for him. Somehow. And Tilly feels like she’s in a movie, where you fire at the monster and he just keeps coming and coming.

It’s time to — metaphorically speaking (or not) — pull out the big guns, and to destroy Spades and replace him with someone controllable.

Dr. Tilly knows or at least like everyone else has heard that other factions on her side have gotten rid of inconvenient people. There is that famous guy who died in jail and who didn’t kill himself. And as bad as that “suicide” was botched and despite the list of that guy’s clients never coming out, it’s held, hasn’t it?

And she has the power that Bindy is no longer able to hold. I mean, it’s good to be queen.

She’s not so stupid as to involve the three letters, because, well, she probably tried to give them hints in the past and was looked at like she’d lost her mind. And that was that raid on Spades’ resort Ocean Large which was supposed to have shown he was a danger to national security but the only three letters group that would listen to Tilly were themselves not the brightest and despised even within their agency. So the setup had started to leak almost immediately, and THEN the fact that Tilly’s husband had done worse had come out. Seriously, she could have spit. It wasn’t enough that the old goat had not been able to keep his hands off young — some very young — women but he also had done things so stupid even she didn’t know about them. So that entire thing had unraveled, and didn’t look to go anywhere. And hadn’t affected Spades’ polls the slightest. Except perhaps to make his numbers go up.

Now, I’ll admit I’m a little hazy here, because I’m ninety percent sure that no three letters were involved. Even in these, our debased times, it’s hard to sell anyone on the idea that they would in fact be this stupid, let alone be unaware of the foibles of guns or shooting, the fact that connections would start coming out over time. OR stupid enough to lend themselves to Tilly’s plot, particularly after the Ocean Large thing.

I don’t know, these things usually solidify when I write the actual book, so let’s say that Dr. Tilly knew of this kid through his parents, who are therapists of a sort who probably worked through the pedagogical establishment. Or perhaps Nimrod knew him through the drug dealing scene? The kid did after all work in a medical center. Or– Well, we can establish a million things.

Now, for all I know Dr. Tilly has another wounded child in her orbit in Nonesuch Agency who combed through records for her and found the kid. Whatever.

The question — the only question — is how hastily can I have it be setup and still be credible. Since it’s a half assed movie like plot dreamed up by a suburban woman, I think five days is enough. Interestingly, the same person whose tweet sparked this has another….

Okay. We’ll go with that. Five days, uh? Totally doable, if you pick a kid who is just enough on the spectrum he has no social media presence and no friends. This is essential otherwise he might tell someone about his great mission, etc.

You must pick a kid isolated and closed-in enough that he will not speak in the very few days left in his life. AND he must be smart enough that you can cater to his sense of being smarter than his surroundings and capable of more than he’s achieved. While he must be innocent enough of the world and well, let’s be clear, autistic enough to believe the movies are life. I should be able to write a kid like this — except for crying on the keyboard — because frankly that’s what most of us were to an extent or another.

If Dr. Tilly has enough low cunning — and she does — his parents or at least one of them actually support Spades, and the kid — just in case he shies off or escapes — is told he’s actually somehow helping Spades. Say he’s convinced Spades is not himself but an evil double, and if he kills the double…. OR he’s convinced that this is really a false flag to help Spades’ numbers.

Or of course the kid had been told for four years that Spades is actual Hitler, and who wouldn’t kill Hitler before the ovens got going?

Anyway… Meet with the kid a few times, convince him of his great power. Have him set his van to explode as a distraction, so he can “get away” even though, of course Dr. Tilly probably has someone else set to off him.

Oh, this is easy, because of course she has Howda Cheatam. Without Howda, Dr. Tilly could not possibly pull this off, but Howda knows to whom she owes her position, and besides, she admires Dr. Tilly in a soppy, not-very-bright-female crush on another not-very-bright female who made good. Dr. Tilly is everything Howda wishes she was, so smart, so well dressed, so down to Earth and so “sensible.”

And Dr. Tilly is not asking her to do anything actually illegal, right? Only take most of the security detail to protect Dr. Tilly at her impromptu appearance — so important. I mean, the first lady is better than some skivvy candidate who has been CONVICTED, right? — nearby and oh, keep her agents off the most logical roof to shoot from. Which is only safety. The roof is PITCHED after all.

So, the poor kid goes off to save the nation…. He makes sure his boss knows he only needs a day off.

There are still questions and points where my plot is weak: How did they prevent the secret service from acting and at least immobilizing him in the 50 minutes they would be aware of him? Why would his parents be so alarmed by his being late — he’s a 20 year old after all — or just not at work, that they called the authorities? I mean, I know those happen, but not how or why. Never mind. It will fill in later.

In fact, I’ll start this book with the kid being shot. And then fill it in backward.

Look, the thing about idiot plots is that they have a way of unraveling.

Now not splattering Spades’ brains all over kingdom come? That I need to invoke a miracle for. That is one of those things that is truly unbelievable, and I’ll have to call in my “one miracle.” You’re in general allowed one miracle per plot. But I need it for the setup to work. Because if the candidate is dead, it’s a whole different book, and I’m not writing the story — even fictional — of America unraveling and descending into chaos.

But after that? Look, the three letter agencies — who know they’re going to be blamed for this — might be corrupted by the corrupt ideology in power. They might be penetrated and at war with themselves. But they’re not as stupid as Dr. Tilly. (Few things above nematodes are.) And particularly they’re not as bound by the suburban zeitgeist. so they’ll see the holes she doesn’t see in her plot. And they’ll start poking.

Three days? That is enough for them to figure out what actually happened, and who did it. At that point, frankly, they’d be terrified. One thing is to have rapacious and conniving plotters on top, who can stay seated with carefully targeted assassinations. But Dr. Tilly is a clown show, a danger to herself, others, the nation, and frankly and more importantly, the three letter agencies. Not just their lives, but more importantly, what remains of their credibility. She’s already caused them to take body blows. At this point, even another Spades administration — and they can deal with him quietly, later, probably — is preferable to the sooper genius plots of Dr. Tilly.

They have the goods. They need to go to someone almost as stupid as Dr. Tilly but with boundless ambition, and the one most likely to take over if Dr. Tilly falls. So they go to VP Succor Brown. There would be a big confrontation in the halls of power four? Five days? after Spades survives.

Also the three letters would make sure Dr. Tilly knows they’ve got the goods and the proof.

Suddenly Bindy who said he’d never step down unless the Almighty told him to, comes down with a bio agent x infection. And says he’ll step down if the doctors say he should.

Now I’ll admit I don’t know how I finish the book. Ideally Dr. Tilly would get her comeuppance, but I’m not sure how to make that seem real. Likely neither do the Three Letters. And heaven only knows what their further plans are and if they had plans to deal with Spades before Dr. Tilly’s genius stylings.

What do you guys think? Does the plot so far hold together? And what do you think comes next to remain true to this book?

And what do you think of titles? Told by an Idiot, harking to Dr. Tilly’s essential stupid. Or The Boy Who Would Kill Hitler. Or perhaps Decision at Dumb?

I don’t know, but I’m sure you will. It is essential that people reading this think very carefully through it, and let me know what they think will happen next. I’m all curiosity. And who knows? Perhaps we can turn it from tragedy into comedy.

349 thoughts on “Told By An Idiot”

  1. The Reader would give this story a hard pass in feeding his reading habit. Too implausible. You might be able to sell the plot to the Lifetime Movie Network.

    Liked by 2 people

    2. I don’t think even Netflix working under the leadership of AOC and Disney’s “Let’s Kill Star Wars” team would buy it; some things are just too impossible for even the Grimms.

      Liked by 3 people

      2. Lifetime Movie Network has much lower standards. The Reader does wonder about where the required cute girlboss fits in the plot.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. USA Network did something a bit closer to reality with <i>Burn Notice</i>. If I’m recalling correctly, the producer (named Nix, no less) had done some work with the three-letter agencies.

          And yes, Bruce Campbell played in it.

          Liked by 1 person

          2. An excellent show, with excellent cast, good scripts, fast pacing, nothing really extraneous to the plot shows up (though it may take a season or two or three for it to surface as important.)

            Like

            1. And some lovely successor ‘boss’ villains as the seasons wore on.

              “Can we shoot them?” – Fiona

              Like

            2. The show* was getting a bit dark for me the last season, and I missed several episodes. IIRC, I was hooked on Brit comedies at that time.

              ((*)) Real Life [tm] had a bit to do with it. That situation is gone, and life is better now. Protip: when a church is dying and the leaders** is|are toxic, don’t stay too long.

              ((*)) Two in a row. The grifter was displaced by the petty narcissist.

              Liked by 1 person

          3. Yes, if the tone is set correctly, it would be a sometimes-serious but mostly light comedic action movie. Kind of like the adaptation of Dave Barry’s “Big Trouble” ….

            Like

      3. Great. Now I have an earworm of Elmer Fudd, from the “Opera” short, singing

        “Kill the Jedi! Kill the Jedi!”

        Like

      1. And also is inapt for “paranoid conspiracy thriller”, since, while there are conspiracies and killings in it, The Godfather was not at all the same genre as The Parallax View.

        Like

    2. About as obvious as giving magic-space-hick-hidden hero who doesn’t know who his father is a villain named… “Father” in a non-French European language.

      Like

  5. This is why I am impressed by the AUTHOR. He creates reality that is paradoxic. Possible, but impossible, or is it impossible that is possible. With an occasional improbable subtle miracle.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Sometimes He has to shout to make anyone pay attention to Him.

      I do wonder in that photograph (not the iconic one, but the one where it looks like Trump was about ready to kiss the ground), whether he was seeing the Author at that time.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. I have learned that The Author has a rough sense of humor. Picture Mycroft Holmes from TMiaHM with some “funny once” mixed with “funny always”. On a cosmic scale, of course.

        OTOH, Tilly might have been using HAL 9000 for AI assistance. That’s the problem with those Y2K computers. “Sorry Dave. I can’t do that.”

        Liked by 1 person

      2. If he did, he could never admit, since no one would believe him. The memes where Abe shows up are poignant.

        Like

    2. Doesn’t even have to be a miracle, if the author chooses to add a sub-plot. A plucky but lovable 3-letter underling, banished to the hinterlands as punishment for defying conventions, learns about Dr. Tilly’s plans. Unable to stymie everything, he (she/xir, if you want to approach trad publishing) can only steal the rifle away for a few hours the night before, and with the help of a plucky but lovable disgraced gunsmith, bends the barrel just enough that the bullet will always go 6 inches to the left of where it is aimed.

      No miracle needed. And just as believable as the rest of the plot, I reckon

      Liked by 1 person

        1. With a poor shot (as has been claimed Crooks was) who intends to kill, the last thing you want is to have the sights other than perfect. He can’t hit where he’s aiming, but he might be off in exactly the wrong direction and get a Hail Mary. 😈

          Like

          1. For the potential audience for this thought-experiment plot, I don’t want to assume that “checking the rifle for zero” would be understood. But everybody should be able to grok “bent barrel”

            Like

  6. the story seems rather like a hastily scribbled d&d campaign, assembled by flipping through the channels at 4 in the morning

    how about the title “Some d—– thing in the backwoods”?

    Like

  7. I think the Three Letters were involved. Had to be.

    a) They’re already actively help covering this up. They have the shooter’s cell phone in their possession but can’t unlock it because it’s password protected? How stupid do they think we are? They really can’t crack it or get the NSA to crack it? Pull the other one. It’s got bells on it.

    b) They’ve done it before. Witness the Governor Whitmer Kidnapping Plot and a little-known (though far more similar) case from 2009 involving a Jordanian immigrant named Hosam Maher Husein Smadi. Mr. Smadi was, at the time a 19 year old living illegally in Texas working at a gas station, who spent his off hours on internet forums whining about how miserable he was and how much his life sucked. FBI agents identified him, contacted him through said forums posing as members of Al-Qaeda, convinced him that his misery was due to his being oppressed by The Great Satan, radicalized him to make him a militant Islamic terrorist, helped him develop a plot to take down a skyscraper (the Fountain Center in downtown Dallas) built him a (supposedly) fake truck bomb, got him to film a video pledging support to Al-Qaeda and personally thanking bin Laden for the opportunity to carry out the attack, drove him downtown – but had him park the truck alone in the spot where they told him to park it – then drove him to a parking garage where he could have the perfect view of the building when it went down, told him to call the cell phone that was supposedly attached to the bomb’s detonator, and arrested him.

    Their justification? “Well, if we hadn’t radicalized him and helped him carry a fake terrorist attack, then Al-Qaeda might have found him and radicalized him and helped him carry out a real terrorist attack.”

    And lest you think I’m making all this up or pulling it off a random Qanon website, check out the series “FBI Takedowns,” available on Prime Video. Episode 3, Terror in Texas covers Mr. Smadi’s case. The series was filmed with the full cooperation of the FBI and the agents involved are all on camera bragging about how they radicalized him and basically led him through the planning process.

    Liked by 2 people

    2. There is a point past which incompetence becomes an untenable explanation.

      That point was left behind sometime between “sloped roof” and “we had him classified as a threat ten minutes before the President went in front of the crowd, but let him go out in the open anyway”.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. In the words of Stephen Fry (from a rant on the panel show QI after one of the panelists spun him up and poked him one too many times):

        “YOU CANNOT BE THAT STUPID!”

        I believe that they are stupid, but not That Stupid. They, however, believe that us rubes are That Stupid. Hence the absurdly amateur attempt at narrative building.

        Liked by 2 people

    3. The plot sounds like something the JE(Vaccuum) organization would and has done.

      Remember the attack on the “Draw Muhammad” artshow where some civilian waxed the attackers and the two Fibbies in a car watched the whole thing and then drove off after the shooting? Almost like they were going to use the attackers as a way to put a sanctioned hit on some undesirable journalists and public figures?

      Like

      1. Or “Not my paperwork. Good. Let the local PD handle it. Lets go get lunch.”

        Callous indifference is much more common than compentent conspiracy.

        Like

  8. My first thought is that Succor’s name should be changed to Succyu. For some reason it just seems to fit better. Probably given to her by a foreign-born parent. Her mother, maybe?

    Second, for completely unrelated reasons, it suddenly occurred to me to mentions that the late Mr. Crooks was identified in a Blackrock video. Said video has reportedly since been pulled by Blackrock.

    Liked by 2 people

  9. Make the kid a not-so-great shot but his shot comes within centimeters of a killing shot. IE Spades gets a bloody ear but his life isn’t in danger.

    Then you got people reason to believe that “Somebody Really Likes Spade”.

    And of course, the bloody ear with Spade being “Bring On The Fight” makes Bindy looks even more wimpy.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Of course, there may be a Hint that “Somebody Up There” made sure that the bullet just grazed Spade’s ear so you get this picture of a defiant Spade with a bloody ear. [Very Big Grin]

      Liked by 3 people

      2. Everyone knows that he had a small explosive and blood pack surgically attached to the back of his ear.

        After all, we never saw behind his ear before the tagging, right? So the device had to be there, right? That’s just something that a three-letter-agency would do, right?

        Like

    2. Nah, make the kid a great shot and only the actions of the victim or God saved said victim. I mean, just a slight rotation of the head was the difference between the victim’s head being Gallaghered like a watermelon and looking like one of Mike Tyson’s opponents.

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Assuming functional intelligence and willingness to follow instructions, I can (and have) turn a shitty shot into a functional one in an afternoon. It can take a few sessions to set the good habits. But even fairly stupid people can leant to shoot well.

      Rifle dime drills go a very long way to curing trigger press issues.

      Sure, some folks are obstinate. American males are notoriously hard to train to shoot, as they just know they are superior marksmen by right of birth. You can humiliate some of them badly, and still get pushback.

      Like

      1. It is also possible that the now-startled and discovered dipshit just wailed away at the general direction of “crowd” and got Trump by sheer dumb luck. Which could mean Trump turned -into- the path.

        We will never know. Because the last thing on dipshit’s mind was jacketed lead and skull fragments.

        POP! Goes the weasel.

        Like

            1. Of course like in any good romance language the male version is presumed to be inclusive of both sexes whereas the female (folles) form is only for females, which is the joke/implication in the original title. Not that I remembered that when I was writing the comment mind you :-) .

              Like

  15. And sorry for an aside on the pic, but how many fingers does the AI image girl have on her right hand? I mean, she’s crammed several through the trigger guard from that side, apparently both in front and behind the trigger, while carefully keeping her left index finger, well, indexed along the frame.

    A unique hold.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. I almost choked on my water when I read the VP’s name!

    Story has a kinda Sharyn McCrumb early work vibe; can’t remember if it’s “Bimbos of the Death Sun” or “Zombies of the Gene Pool.” The one at the sci-fi convention where the couple get married.

    “Told by an Idiot” works for me.

    Liked by 3 people

  18. The snipers at long range were to take the kill shot. Worked with JFK. The same play book here — the patsy fires off a few wild shots, and the three letter fellow follows up.

    But Trump, err, Spades, turned his head. If only JFK had done the same.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. The good news is my Weatherbug says it’s only 88F locally. It might rain again today. Non-irrigated corn probably ain’t going to be worth picking (last year it was 250 bushels/acre); but the bean, cotton, and tobacco look pretty good.

    Liked by 2 people

  20. Not an artist but I got this image.

    Satan’s on his throne reading a news-paper with the Headline being “Trump Shooter Missed”.

    He shouts skyward “That Isn’t Fair!”.

    Maybe with somebody chuckles from “up-stairs”.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. I pictured that with the throne being what it’s a usual euphamism for.

      Satan on a toilet.

      Ugh.

      A toilet made of ice, of course.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. There are already several memes showing Hillary’s imagined reaction to the shooting. One shows her with a gun…

      Like

    3. Satan, “Dammit, I told him to collect Shrillery’s soul!!!! Why must I suffer with inane and useless employees???”

      God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, “Well, see, in the Columbian jungle three weeks ago a squirrel farted and the eventual repercussions led to Trump turning his head at just the right moment.”

      Satan, “Not fair, NOT FAIR!!!”

      G/J/HS, “Who said anything about fair?”

      Liked by 1 person

      2. Ringo wrote a story fragment on his substack where the opposing heads of two super-secret organizations are talking and it ends with the head if the evil saying (in a very small voice), “Only Trump voters shoot straight.”

        Liked by 1 person

  21. I dunno. I mean, Tilly seems too stupid to even pull that much off. I think there might be a whole lot of marginally smarter people around her setting her up to take the blame. After all, these guys are never alone – they attract the grifters.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hm. Probably. Although… maybe she kept pushing herself into the conspiracy because she somehow found out about it, and that would be the reason why a lot of it seems so messed up? The smarter people had something more well thought out planned, but she kept meddling, and doing her own thing.

      Possibly they originally ended up involving her for two reasons, they needed her influence with Cheat… now what was that name again? And then they needed her to have that rally or something at the same time as Spades was having his so they would have an excuse to remove most of the efficient agents from his detail to hers, and then replace them with the worst ones they could find, plus one or two who were in on the plan.

      But she just couldn’t let that be, she had to do her own maneuvers too because she thinks she is smarter than anybody else.

      Liked by 3 people

    1. The Well Travelled Ladder.

      The Normative Plot.

      And if there’s a time traveler character trying to track down everything and stop it to preserve their timeline, all while leaving no footprints:

      Diffractions In The Sands Of Time.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. From PJM today:

        About six months later, another man was detained by Mar-a-Lago security and officers at the Palm Beach Police Department for trespassing. He told them he was there because he “was the ‘Commander in Chief’ and wanted to survey Mar-a-Lago because it was his birthright.” He said the “ruling families of the world” were scheduled to meet at Trump’s residence for “an interdimensional peace conference.”

        Toldja.

        Liked by 2 people

    2. The Top Step of the Ladder.

      The Pointing Crowd.

      The Non-Phantom Menace.

      Did I Just See Someone’s Head Over There?

      Totes Not Any Conspiracy Here!

      Liked by 1 person

  23. I don’t think that story is going to sell. Unless you turn it into a parody? It might work also work great as a script for a parody movie, something along the lines of Naked Gun, or any of those older ones made during the 70s and 80s.

    Too bad Mel Brooks is out of the game, he would probably have loved that story.

    Liked by 3 people

      2. BTW, right now I would really love to see all this as a movie directed by Mel Brooks back when he was making his best movies. That would be a classic!

        Liked by 2 people

        1. Blazing Incompetence

          The Idiots

          Brandon On Ice

          Or it could be a good one for Monty Python:

          The Almost-Life of Brandon

          The Delaware Blue (” ‘E’s pining for the Bay!”)

          Liked by 2 people

          1. I like tat first one. And Delaware Blue. Yep, Monty Python would have done a good one too.

            And now for something completely different. :)

            Like

          2. Hm. About those names – lots of “lone gunmen” when it comes to assassinations. In fact, I don’t think I have read of any that happened after the 19th century where some sort of conspiracy was discovered after investigation, at least not in the West.

            So, A Lone Gunman, Again?

            Or A Lone Gunman On Hot Tin Roof? (Was it tin? Oh well, who cares).

            Like

      1. Rivals Inspector Clouseau, for sure. The latest unexpected bit of jackassery is how Thief got his weapon past the metal detectors. If the article’s* source has it right, he stashed it the day before and the Three Blind Squirrels didn’t find it on the “sweep” of the area, making the rash assumption that they actually bothered to do such.

        Makes one wonder if the kid (current pic** and trans-friendly sign in his house implies gender dysphoria, fitting another part of the profile) had other plans for the remote-detonated explosives in his car. Perhaps there was a bit of the site he didn’t have access to.

        ((*)) Link: https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2024/07/18/new-development-in-trump-assassination-attempt-raises-more-troubling-questions-n4930827

        ((*)) They pulled a Travon Martin stunt, showing Crooks from a freshman photo. The apparently correct photo (unconfirmed, but the look and hair match) indicates he was trans.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. It is surprisingly easy to stash a rifle, especially a take-down type like an AR-15.

          The Vietcong were artists at stashing.

          Like

          1. He had a backpack. I figure it was just in there in two parts. It’s like five seconds to put it back together – it’s just two pins.

            Like

            1. Which of course you obviously know, 11B-Mailclerk – just resplaining it for those who might not have the direct knowledge.

              Though with the vast popularity of the AR type modern rifle, on reflection I’m not sure who that might be these days. Black powder shooters maybe?

              Bottom line is anyone with a backpack noticed lurking around short of the bag check/metal detectors and not heading through should at least be suspected of having something naughty in said pack, and could easily have an AR, and 180 rounds is just six mags.

              Like

              2. If he had stashed the rifle and a mag, perhaps he had extra magazines in his bag and decided to ditch extras. Either that, or he didn’t have to go through the detectors to get to the spot where he climbed up. The reports said he was using a laser range finder, but that (like the rest of his behavior) was ignored until he hit the bang switch.

                Way too many contradictory, unclear versions of the story going around, too many from ostensibly official sources. “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.”

                Liked by 1 person

                1. Rangefinders look much like optics, and lots of folks were likely running around with binoculars to get a better view. Once they spotted “rangefinder”, someone should have put an arm on him and asked him to go away or stow it. Plus asked him to set the pack down, and note if it seemed extra heavy (assuming he had it). Then its a suspicious person stop-n-frisk. (or however PA law allows such a chain to play out – “smelled dope”, “seemed unusually nervous”, whatever)

                  Yes, I realize various libertarian readers are now spinning heads and frothing. Its also how LEO currently work such protection details.

                  And as to stashing a rifle, one can make a pretty light skeletonized smallbore. Even moreso if you don’t give a flying fig for the NFA rules. One of those little AR-7 survival rifles would work just dandy for such a scenario. And with careful gun prep and ammo selection, you can engage at 150 yards on a man-sized target with one. Its a big stretch, but can be done. I doubt dipshit had the skillset, and supposedly it was an AR15, but no pics yet, that I have seen. Even a fully compliant AR-15/M-4gery can stash in a common gym bag.

                  Kinda odd no gun pics yet. Hmm. Wonder if he had a rainbow stock or a bucking jackass logo on it. (or did I just miss it?)

                  Liked by 1 person

                  1. I saw an aerial photo that appears to show what may be the shorter ladder the guy bought in a location near a conveniently open shed, while the taller ladder which he apparently found in place where he went up was reportedly placed by SWAT. Apparently nobody saw him place the ladder, but he could have cached the backpack in the shed. He could have got up on the rooftops using his shorter ladder and gone across to where he ended up, but there would have been more time clambering across roofs and possibly drawing attention.

                    I also saw something on the LE who fell back, that he was apparently being boosted by his partner from one of the lower adjacent rooftop levels and was chinning up on the edge of the roof when the guy swung around on him, so he apparently less backed off than just lost his grip and fell on his partner.

                    The one-handed rangefinder-which-could-be-a-monocular not triggering instant intervention does not surprise me, especially if it was seen at a distance, given it would have been local LE and they have been under so much career-ending scrutiny of late.

                    But anyone stooging around outside the been-through-screening area should have got a talking to, as just not wanting to go through screening should have been enough probable cause cover for an interview.

                    Like

              3. Shoot, I got hauled off by Security back around 1974 for wearing a backpack in the presence Rubin J Askew, Governor of Florida. I forgot I was wearing it, being a college freshman and all. The to gue-lashing was memorable, too.

                Liked by 2 people

                1. In the ’72 campaign, Ed Muskie (before he flamed out) was speaking at U of Redacted. I was in the smallish crowd, most likely at an hour with classes in session, but I was free at the time. Secret Service must have been there, but RCPete wasn’t looking for such.

                  Later, McGovern did an inside thing at the 2000 seat auditorium on the quad. Didn’t attend, and he was a bit nasty towards the extremely overendowed coed who asked a question. (She was a legend on a large campus, so yeah, but he didn’t have to crack the obvious joke.)

                  I voted for McG, but not without qualms. Took a decade to change to R registration, with some regrettable votes in the meantime. (OTOH, I didn’t know Jerry Brown wouldn’t go away…)

                  Like

                    1. I wasn’t thinking politics at all, I just had never been so close to an actual governor and wanted to shake his hand. Me at the time: tall, skinny white kid in a sleeveless top and shorts, sneakers and a Boy Scout canvas backpack. With pimples.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    2. National Jamboree 2005, twice had to go through arena security. First time sat there forever (seemed like it) in the heat. Contingent leaders were able to take in day packs full of water for youth, and self. Staff could take in one bottle of water for self use. Not enough on the day that the presidential visit was canceled. A lot of heat problems. Some was not enough water, some was enough water but not eaten, and other combinations. I know son’s contingent didn’t have enough adult leaders to get youth back to encampment and youth that needed to be taken to first aid tents. Council staff that was there, including me, assisted. Then I got hauled to the first aid tent by the rabbi that was in our staff tent. Mine was the heat causing blood sugar to crash, due to the RH.

                      Like

        2. Not a current photo please. The deceased didn’t look presentable in the one uncensored photo I saw. “More recent,” yes; current year, better.

          Like

            1. (squeamish warning – skip as needed)

              One can expect considerable facial deformation given the means of his deceasing.

              I have seen much, much worse.

              Like

  24. Next? There’s a nefarious group of programmers with search programs that spot such people, analyze their mental condition, and are paid for the information they provide anonymously. That, and through their underground network, provided information on the alphabet agencies, hack their information with impunity, and have access to professionals with extreme skills in counter-espionage, with assassinations, if necessary. Nobody knows who they are, can’t find them, and they are advancing their power through blackmailing officials involved.

    If you want it to become comedy, have the programmers being a very incohesive group, goofy to the point of slap-stick comedy, and the children of the most powerful people in the world Their money-grabbing is mostly for fun, and party supplies, while they have fun exposing the stupidity DEI created.

    Liked by 3 people

  25. And I know, long time no show here, but I have had some interesting years lately. Mostly health issues, latest being that I managed to fall twice during the winter, and now have torn ligaments on both shoulders. Arms are slowly starting to work better, but it will probably take well into next year before I can do things like put on a bra easily again.

    Liked by 3 people

      1. Thanks. Nice to be able to comment here again. :)

        Yep, I bought some of those bras during the winter. Easier, but still not easy, I, damn it, have to get my hands into them and that is still difficult as I can’t raise them much.

        Like

  26. And hey, commenting works for me again! There was a fairly long time when all of my comments went to be checked by the Space Princess, which is the other reason why I stopped commenting because it was a pain, probably for her too, and it’s impossible to get any actual discussion going that way. Kind of like trying to have a lively one when you are in a ship orbiting Jupiter and everybody else are on Earth, or at most the Moon.

    Liked by 4 people

      3. And going through as many videos as possible, there are some that show at least a couple of people from the rally who say they saw somebody on the watertower, and there seems to be some sort of sound analysis that indicates three different guns.

        Tilly sends the patsy, doesn’t know he is meant to be just the patsy, but there is another group she doesn’t know about that sends another shooter into the water tower.

        Hmm.

        Like

        1. And yes, the comments are going a bit weird. The one I just made about those videos of a few people saying they saw somebody on the watertower – well, even that somebody was shooting from the watertower – was not supposed to be nested where it ended up, but to stand on its own at the bottom of the comment section as a new one, not a reaction to anything.

          Liked by 1 person

    3. HUZZAH on your easy-commenting return. A few weeks back I was even wondering if you were alright, having realized I’d not seen (or recalled anyway) your comments in some time.

      Like

      1. Getting older, some parts of the body don’t work as well anymore, but otherwise okay. :)

        Like

  27. One plot twist that has had no attention (yet?) is that at the time he was shot, Trump was a candidate, not the nominee, and had not named a VP.

    Had Trump died, the RNC would be an open convention, at which the RINOs could select a Uniparty pair to promote the Globalist agenda until the DemonRats could retake power directly.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I haven’t watched a political convention since, um, Chicago ’68, and a little bit in ’72 when Mayor Daley’s delegation was kicked out, but I heard that a lot of the early bits for the RNC would have fit a lot better if Haley were the presumptive nominee.

        Like

          1. I might (probably really did) have screwed up here. I’d read somewhere on the net about the Indian events, Sikh prayer, and speakers. The article (snippet, I suppose) attributed it to Nikki Haley. OTOH, Usha Vance.

            I’ve been rather out of the loop with respect to non-Trump issues the past days. Before the VP selection, I was getting ready for the long-awaited knee procedure (6 months and 1 day past the injury, 4-3/4 months since I realized it wasn’t healing on its own.

            Was getting ready on Monday when it came down. Saw little on the net beyond short gabs and tweet excerpts, so didn’t realize JD had an Indian wife. Cold fury over the assassination attempt might have had something to do with it, too.

            Either somebody at the RNC preplanned Indian bits (possibly assuming Haley would be a major player) or put them together really quickly.

            The knee got fixed Wednesday (torn meniscus from January, chewed up cartilage from earlier events years ago) and I stopped the opoid painkiller this afternoon. A bit less brainfog now. I hope. :)

            Liked by 1 person

        2. I really miss John Chancellor getting arrested and removed from the convention floor (R convention, San Francisco, 1964, and yes I had to look it up.)

          Like

          1. I was too young to watch/pay attention for the ’64 convention. A friend of the family gently teased me about my Goldwater eyeglasses, and I might have seen the Daisy commercial. (OTOH, that had appeared so many times later, it could be false memory.) Started to pay more attention to politics as the Vietnam war heated up. Was quite happy when LBJ stopped running. (Jumped for joy–literally. Cain’t do that chit no more…)

            ’68 Dem convention, I watched. Had the opportunity to watch the surrounding festivities, but Mr & Mrs RC didn’t raise that many fools in the family. (Considers older sibling and sighs.) We were on vacation in Minnesota during the RNC convention, with Dad taking us to the open pit iron mine in Hibbing and the taconite plant NE of Duluth. “Who’s this Spiro Agnew guy?” (Quote from my best friend’s mother, who unknown to us were going to the same state park at the same time. Go figure. Baaad fiction, crazy reality.)

            Like

            1. I too was too young to pay attention to ’64 politics. I wasn’t happy because cartoons were interrupted for JFK’s funeral. (I was 7.) Agree. Vietnam politics, and Nixon, are my earliest memories of politics. Former at age 12, between school and because a friend lost a 20 year old uncle, her mother’s younger brother. (Said uncle was also older brother to younger sister’s classmate.) Latter because extended family holiday dinners were interesting regarding Nixon, long before he screwed up. Not as bad as now, at least everyone was talking (okay a lot of loud talking) and not rancorous. Although even now the extended family still has the “disagree, but only I can pick on family” attitude. Without the yelling because forbidden topic (seriously, do not make mom/grandma cry).

              Like

              1. Dad was conservative, while Mom never let on about her political leanings. Mom’s parents? Grampa was 1st gen Danish, and was a small contractor in Chicago. Lots of dealing with the city machine and bribes to get things done. Grandma didn’t talk politics, if she had an opinion, it never came out.

                The only political discussions I recall were with Mom’s kid sister’s husband, a classical liberal (in the early years of JFK). I think Aunt B kept on the left side of American center, but well right of Lenin.

                Other family gatherings usually avoided politics. Dad’s side had minefields; I think Grandma RC had a PUFF exemption. Dad’s older brother was a Heavy (Grimnoir), with Brute backing. Teamster union steward, IYKWIMAITYD.

                Like

                1. Realistically, only 3 extreme liberals spouting at family gatherings (of up to 60 so very minority) but they were very loud about it (late ’60s – early ’70s). All 3 out grew their HS years to be conservative.

                  Like

  28. One plot twist that has had no attention (yet?) is that at the time he was shot, Trump was a candidate, not the nominee, and had not named a VP.

    Had Trump died, the RNC would be an open convention, at which the RINOs could select a Uniparty pair to promote the Globalist agenda until the DemonRats could retake power directly.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. And isn’t it… weird… that Mitch McConell and Nikki Haley, both of whom got booed (and know very well that the base despises them), just happened to show up at the convention. And Haley only decided to go to the convention on… Saturday morning.

      Like

          1. …though one needs actual evidence to show the coincidence means something specific.

            Like

          1. The old saw is “once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action”. We’re at something like 57 here, if this were a D&D campaign I’d say someone’s dice were loaded.

            Like

            1. The Ego much prefers to be the target of a skilled and sinister conspiracy, rather than the victim of random ass-hattery of malignantly incompetent muddlers. Or, worse yet, “No one really cares you exist, you irrelevancy”.

              Like

              1. Yes the Author does what he pleases, that is way above my pay grade. Although at some levels (quantum) it really does seem that the Author plays at dice to Einstein’s eternal mortification.

                I’m not to the point that I think this foolish young man was directly manipulated, but the number of Sgt. Shultz wannabes on the detail that day is beyond belief. Someone was trying to create an incident by making it more indirectly possiblein a less attributable fashion. This is what you get when you are the boss and start asking questions that sound like “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?”

                Like

                1. Keystone Cops portion, I think it started way before this last Saturday. Maybe after the document raid on Mar-a-logo PTB went “What? Trump has competent security?” Granted no one was home, but still. Problem is Trump has a way of winning people over. B or c-list’s or not, it has been pointed out that when shooting went down, they stepped up. Were they lucky their protectee wasn’t killed? Yes. Extremely lucky.

                  Liked by 1 person

                  1. I will also bet the A team on DJT from USSS had people off advance-team-ing the RNC venue, leaving a few A’s and the B team back for the speaking event, with some worn out due to understaffing, then they juggled and poached the remaining close protection B team crew for the Frau Doktor Jill event, leaving a pickup team of agents from the Philly office, mostly the C or D team.

                    Like

                    1. That’s already come out: the regular team was “working too many hours”, so they ordered them to take a break and brought in different agents who hadn’t worked together.

                      This whole thing is very reminiscent of the CCP and the start of WuFlu: They didn’t intentionally release it, but once they realized it was loose in their population they made sure everyone else got screwed too.

                      Here, the orders were given (intentionally?) that created as bad a security environment as possible, in hopes that SOMEONE would try.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    2. Yeah but I bet “regular team” in this context was B team, with the A’s off advancing RNC. I bet, however, that even A team lead agents could not get away with putting the fumblefinger ponytail substitutes all out on perimeter without expecting HR complaints.

                      Like

  29. I think this could actually work, particularly the competing factions and buffoonery of Dr. Jilly angles. The latter you’d want to play right on the line between straight and parody.

    A good example is the Frank Miller/Dave Gibbons graphic novel Give Me Liberty. I flashed on it as I was reading Sarah’s outline. It’s not flawless but it was quite well done and contains some similar elements.

    Liked by 3 people

  30. I’m reminded of the manga Spy X Famly. All the names were placeholders for “think of a better one later” they were left as is and turned out perfect.

    Liked by 2 people

  31. Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in.

    I’m willing to bet that this is exactly how it went down. Fiction got nothing on the facts here and, yeah, I could see a young me or especially number one son being caught up in something like this. Evil f-ckers every one of them.

    Liked by 3 people

  32. The kid posted on Steam to watch him on the 13th, he’d have his “premier.”

    The game he was playing on Steam? “Assassinate the President.” Records of him playing it over 100 times.

    He also allegedly searched the Democratic National Convention, but Butler was sort if in his neighborhood.

    Liked by 2 people

  33. Bob Newhart and Lou Dobbs have left us. This is one heck of a week.

    My beloved is having his ablation. The cardiologist was reassuring and we’re supposed to be able to go home today.

    Liked by 2 people

    3. Electrical or chemical? FWIW, I’ve had electric. The RF burn is…less than fun, but I’ve certainly experienced worse. Chemical…scares me… I know it’s done, but the only person who went in for it came out with a pacemaker after things went… not right. OTOH, he did survive it.

      Like

    4. An acquaintance had that procedure and it did wonders. My cardiologist said I had Afib far too long for such to work, so EKGs, heart checks (and the damned low-pulserate* alarms) punctuate my medical adventures.

      Hope the results are as good as Butch had.

      ((*)) Different issue that long predates Afib diagnosis. Yet another thing under watch.

      Like

  34. Too unbelievable. Fiction must be believable.

    Unfortunately, non-fiction does not have to be believable. Nailed the non-fiction story line.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yep. “It must be real; you couldn’t possibly make this [stuff] up! And if you did, it’s so weird that no one would buy it!”

      Liked by 1 person

  35. Which proves yet again that Real Life is a terribly scripted show.

    Because so very few people would actually believe this stuff if they weren’t seeing it play out live on TV.

    But…if you wanted to make this work a bit better…

    Your shooter is a bit further away. Better escape chances and he does get away. Gets whacked by his “handler” and the body’s hidden.

    But…

    Kid’s not exactly stupid and records him and his handler talking and has a timed ego-boo post on 3-Chi’s /pol/ page to load a couple of days after he does the deed. He’s got so much stuff on there that before anybody takes it down, the weaponized autism kicks in and it shows up EVERYWHERE on the Internet.

    (Do not look at /d/ unless you want to lose all faith in humanity and/or discover that you have several sexual fetishes you never knew you had…)

    Despite the media claiming an alt-right conspiracy, too much of this is hanging together and one of the news networks…let’s pick a desperate one with low ratings, say…ZNN…picks it up and discovers that-

    1-It holds together far too well, and
    2-People are eating it up on TeeVee and their ratings go through the roof.

    -and the hilarity gets even more hilarious from there…

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I read 8chan briefly (in the Qanon days) and decided that 4chan was a Thay’re Bee Dragons (quiet Drak, those were nasty dragons). Not aware of the others, and I’ll maintain as much innocence as I can fake.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. The biggest thing about 4chan is that it is very much the classic Internet in a lot of ways.

        Weaponized autism.
        A kind of innocent glee about seeing how far they can take something, even things that should never be taken anywhere (i.e. think fifteen-year-old boys doing stupid s(YAY!)t because they’re curious and because they can, with a certain amount of egging on as well).
        Perhaps not the nicest bunch of people, but once mobilized for a good cause they work wonders. (I remember three stories of someone doing something stupid on the Internet. Abusing animals and dancing in the lettuce tray at Burger King stupid, and they found the idiots in hours and reported them.)

        I go occasionally because when you get into /tg/, you’re often getting “my people” sort of classic tabletop gaming. /d/, when it isn’t being horrific, is hilariously amusing. And a few other places are worth a glance.

        Like

        1. I spent a lot of time on Usenet (had great connections at work; at that time, 1200 baud at home), proving to myself that as a musician, I was closer to an electronics technician (close enough to RL, s/technician/engineer/ ) rec.bikes.

          Tried the century-of-the-month club for a while until Life got in the way. Still, put 14000 miles on the bike that year. Many years and many pounds ago.

          I’ll pass on the chans. Too much of a generation gap to deal with, and “Get off my lawn” would create some, er, creative responses. Maybe amusing, maybe abusing.

          “Tragedy tomorrow, Comedy tonight!”

          Liked by 2 people

      2. “Those were nasty dragons”.

        The terrible thing is that sometimes “nasty dragons” get together with “nasty humans”. 😉

        Like

  36. Epoch Times had a video, and Red State linked it, from a guy who was in the emergency room waiting room at the hospital where they took Trump.

    Basically everybody was looking out the windows at the SUV, and then they saw Trump come in and were relieved to see him up and walking.

    Anyway… some of our Secret Service video acquaintances from the rally were there, of course, since they all got into the same SUV… and it looked like somebody had reminded them of what to do (or just taught them), because they do their little security moves, and they look a lot more professional.

    I feel bad for them, really. Somebody obviously picked a bunch of people who were less experienced, and sent them out at short notice. And for that situation — well, none of the close-in people ran away. If they were nervous, if they were not up to spec like they should have been, they still didn’t run and hide.

    https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2024/07/18/amazing-hospital-video-n2177062

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Apparently the guy that took the video of Trump arriving at the hospital had been at the rally. But he had to leave early when his wife became dehydrated. So he just happened to be at the hospital as a result.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. “Short Notice, The Movie” sounds like all dwarf protection detail caused by DEI. Maybe starring Brad Williams…

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Same feelings here. Especially those women, most of all that older one, who managed to look stupid while being filmed by who knows how many rally goers besides the news, and today, once it’s on the net it’s there forever. They, especially her, will probably never be able to live that moment down, no matter how much they manage to achieve in their future or whatever they have achieved in their past because none of it will ever be that much in public.

      They will forever be a public joke, something that will probably always come up whenever that moment in history gets talked about in the future, and I don’t think either that they deserve it. Some shame, yes, if the training given to them by their organization was lacking considering what they could end up doing while working in those jobs they really should have then trained on their own time enough to fill at least some of the gabs in their performance. Like maybe gone a lot more to the gun range…

      But not that much shame, as it is even likely that they were ordered to do something that turned out to be something they were not prepared for, not asked for that assignment themselves.

      Like

      2. Adding to the humiliation, video shown at each and every subsequent training from now on.
        “We’ll now watch this video.” Pause video. “Can anyone tell me what is happening here. What is right? What is wrong?” …. Forever.

        Like

        1. Yeah, like naval aviators who get into the safety training reels that get shown over and over again. Infamous.

          Like

      3. Eric Trump spoke on the Clay and Travis show about the incident. He spoke very highly of DJTs detail. (many of which were pulled to cover the good DR.) What he said covered a couple of things. 1) He shot with those guys regularly, 2) That particular agent had been on his detail when The Don was President and he stated that she was one of The BEST shots in the USSS. As far as holstering your gun, I am sorry I practice alot both dry fire and not and there are times… but more than that the adrenaline is running hot and even with muscle memory your hands do not have the blood flow to work quickly on fine motor movements. I am inclined to be sympathetic to to the whole situation for that last minute thrown together detail.

        Love the plot-line but no one would possibly believe it!

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Few “action” gun sports allow reholstering of modern semi-autos “on the clock” due to the relative ease of unintended discharges. Cownboy Action Shooting does allow this (actually almost always required), but only with emptied revovlers. Even if you leave a live round in the gun, the hammer is down on the last fired round, so quite safe even if dropped on the hammer.

          A 1911 or Glock is a bit more of a concern to put away “live”, especially while the nerves are still jangling.

          Inside Waist Band (IWB) holsters are notorious for collapsing when empty unless very well made ($$), thus take some real effort to reholster.

          Like

            1. I thought I proofed that. “Cownboy”? Sheesh…

              Well, rodeo-clown maybe. (grin)

              gah…

              Like

          2. Visible OWB holsters – looked like kydex – in all the exposed holsters I saw. Makes sense; you’re wearing a jacket, and everyone knows you’re protection and armed anyway.

            Usual finger out of the trigger guard, no foreign material on the holster, Glocks and whatnot are perfectly safe to re-holster – slowly, as you never know for sure you’re done.

            Like

            1. My current in-town CCW is a Ruger LCP, but the version with the safety. In extremis, I carry a Kel-tec P-3AT, but that one spooks me. Never was a fan of the Glock.

              I also hate pistols with ambidextrous safeties. Tried a holster carry of a CZ 83 in .380 and found that random movement would hit the outside lever, thus forcing a hammer-down carry. Not acceptable to me.

              All this before the tragic canoe accident, of course.

              Like

              1. My *S&W EZ 9mm has three safety’s, lever and handle, don’t carry a round in chamber. While the .380s* we have do not have gun safety mechanisms, currently not carrying a round in the chamber guaranties I can’t fire it. Can’t chamber the round (why I have the EZ S&W). But I am working on hand strength.

                (* Of coarse they were lost in the tragic boat accident.)

                Like

                1. The Kel-Tec is a lock breech .32 or .380, so the spring is fairly light. Very much easier to rack.

                  “Slingshot” method works, but if you need more power, point the pistol across your torso, and put the off hand on top, off elbow up above line of muzzle. Grip firmly with both hands. Now with both arms push the hands in opposite directions, crossways. You are using almost the entire hands-arms-chest to rack it. Much easier.

                  Have taught slightly-built ladies to rack heavy-sprung 1911s and Glocks. With that little Kel-tec with its light spring, should be a snap.

                  Like

                  1. Working on it. Not helped that diagnosed right hand arthritis and it hurts to shoot them. I like my S&W 9mm. The Glock 9mm is too big (bigger than the S&W) for my hands (I have seriously small adult hands). Everyone has touted the S&W EZ .380 but checked it out, and size wise it isn’t much smaller than the EZ 9mm. Don’t need another. Advantage for carrying the other .380’s we have is the expanded clips. S&W EZ 9mm or .380 do not have expanded clips available, even after market (8 clip max, + 1 chambered). Just need to get my marksmanship good enough that I won’t need 8 (even if adrenaline says otherwise).

                    Like

              2. The Kel-Tec P-32 and P-3AT are -good-, and super safe to carry in a pocket holster or IWB. My P32 is almost 20 years old now. As locked-breech guns, they have far less recoil and far lighter slide springs. Highly recommend.

                Why does the P-3AT spook you?

                Like

                1. I haven’t had luck with in-pocket holsters, so use cargo pants. Lack of safety bothers my Condition 1 1911 senses. That and the two-finger hold…

                  Like

          3. It’s been a few decades since I took lessons at Gunsite (tricylophobia was a thing–people’s shooting went to hell when the Colonel showed up on his ATV), but I got pretty good at drawing and reholstering my 1911. Classic Atkins Avenger OWB. Lost the retaining strap a long time ago, so it never goes to town, but it’s handy on the micro-ranch. (Thirteen acres of trees, pasture grass, and thistles, with a very happy border collie. Thistledog Ranch FTW!) I’m not counting on reholstering quickly any more. Way out of practice.

            I need to find a CCW holster for the 1911 before things get too sporty. IWB and my body don’t mix, so something else.

            Like

            1. We were shocked how easy it was to get a CCL, given, Oregon, we are in Eugene, and Lane County. Nothing to red flag but both hubby and son had to fill out background checks twice for firearm purchases (since lost in the canoe accident). Shouldn’t have anything to do with CCL but Oregon. Got the impression that Lane County Sheriff is not on the same page as Oregon Legislature. Doubt Klamath County Sheriff is either. Taking the online safety is easy, nothing to pay until passed.

              (* What happens when the first background check takes > 30 days to come back positive. Even the second one which still has to go into the system can take time even with the “cheat codes” because already approved.)

              Like

              1. Yes, comparing Oregon’s procedure with what I was told of California’s, it’s like another country. (As of the early ’90s, legally, you had to qualify with specific weapons, and those were the only ones you had permission to carry. Santa Clown County, population well over a million, had maybe 200 CCW holders, and the San Jose Murky News wanted to publish names of all of them. Since it was “may issue”, the people I knew who legally carried knew judges and/or the sheriff. The current(?) sherriff is gathering up some potential legal whoopass on herself for CCW shenanigans.) As a result, I never had a CCW permit.

                We took at at-home CCW class from a (now late) church friend. As it turns out, my Gunsite diploma would have covered me, but getting up to speed on Oregon law was really helpful. ‘Sides, our dogs loved Al.

                Like

                1. The online CCL class is to comply with OR 114. (I swear, can’t prove, the online CCL class is a malicious compliance shot at the Legislature and OR 114, by the Oregon Sheriff’s departments. They made it easier to get a CCL. Seriously, put aside “what you know” at the start, you cannot fail it. I.E. don’t yell at it.) Except OR 114 also requires proof you can carry CCL safely by making appointment and meeting Sheriff personnel at range. Still get CCL, just the ongoing gun purchase part. With OR 114 suspended indefinitely, and not planning on purchasing (just lose it in the pond, again), haven’t bothered.

                  Like

                2. Santa Clara County went over 2 million a couple years ago, but people is leavin’. Looks at the current census estimate: Yep, down from the high, 2023 est is 1.88m.

                  Like

                  1. San Jose was around 700,000 when we left in 2003, so my SWAG for that then-current population was 1E6. I see that Laurie Smith finally got gone from the Sheriff’s office. 1998 to 2022? Wow. Didn’t think much of her in ’98, but she had the inside track with TPTB in the county, unlike Bob Winter. Great guy, really good cop, but got railroaded when he had a runoff for county commissioner. (“If you want to do any more business with the county, donate to Mike Honda, not Bob. Understand?”)

                    In our county, I don’t think we’ve seen a sheriff in office longer than 8 years. Both good and bad, depending.

                    Like

              2. So far, a couple of local sheriff’s have told the state to pound sand with respect to releasing names. Several years ago, the SO claimed that the take rate for CCW was close to 30% of the adults in the county.

                I’m seriously behind on range time. The public access range is at the other end of the county, and I’ve been reluctant to bug the next-door neighbor who has a range. The nearby forest has a spot, but I’m not eager to do much target practice in Rattlesnake Meadow. There’s another impromptu range that was closed during some wildfires a few years back. I need to look at access. Or talk to the neighbor. (I loath making phone calls to people I don’t know well. Weird head wiring, I suppose.)

                Like

            2. Top shelf? Check Andrews Custom Leather. Not quick, but top of the line. He built several Cowboy rigs for me. One is over 20 years old and still quite good and functional. He does nice modern/practical gear. (-slowly-)

              http://www.andrewsleather.com/

              Kirkpatrick makes decent off-the-shelf leather, as does Galco.

              Like

      4. It occurred to me yesterday that holstering your weapon is about when your nerves would hit you if you’d just been under fire.

        Like

        1. Correct.

          Take. Your. Time. You had the rest of your life to solve the shooting. Now you have the rest of your life to put the gun away.

          Take. Your. Time.

          Like

      5. You know how it goes–higher-ups make a decision, decision goes sideways, higher-ups in the hot seat promise an investigation, rule followers down below are sacrificed.

        Like

    4. Yeah, I don’t think this story requires any of the Secret Service detail to be in on the plot. Too risky to include all of them and if you just pick one or two they might let things slip to their fellow agents. After all, they have to be in the firing line.

      On the other hand, the person who picked that team…. The right combination of general incompetence, out of shape or too short, possibly a history of conflict with outside agencies to reduce good communication.

      Like

      1. If they got a mixed group with some individuals who were totally unknown to the others I presume they could have had something like one or two in the plan, doing their best to hinder the others while maybe pretending to be just bad at their jobs. Worse if one of those people was the one in charge of the group.

        Like

  37. “Tale Told By An Idiot, Signifying Nothing” is a great title, and Succor Brown nicely polished too — sort of a crosswiring of Increase Mather and Holly Goodhead — but that plot summary, it would be baroque for a 60s-era Cold War spy thriller. Even though weird things have happened with past assassinations / attempts, such a “miracle bullet” does seem a bit much… you’d likely have instant manga retellings, maybe even Third World impromptu re-enactments, if anything like that could ever happen in the real world.

    Telling such a story would require a very disciplined, weird-is-normal or fair-is-foul and foul-is-fair approach; a sort of nuts-and-bolts surrealism setting our familiar history on its ear, or, I dunno, just wholly unburdened by what has been.

    Liked by 2 people

      1. I think that rather looks like Millie Bobbi Brown, now that she is an adult. Or how she will look like when she is getting towards middle age. Minus the extra fingers of course.

        Like

  39. My own take: the Secret Service, especially around Trump, has been deliberately defanged and neutered in the hopes that someone, inflamed and radicalized by the endless media programming of “NAZI! NAZI! NAZI!”, would take a shot, get lucky, and rid them of this turbulent priest.

    But Sarah’s version is just loony enough to fit, too.

    Liked by 1 person

  40. honestly, I think it’s because the idiots in power keep missing the OTHER plot warnings He’s laid down. Because they really are remarkably dumb.

    My biggest fear, in fact, is that they are so dumb they think they cheat to win again and get away with it like they did in 2020.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I’m praying that the big guy takes a hand in things again, and enough are pissed off that they refuse to participate. Make a stink to heaven & back if anything is tries. Does anyone think that “stop counting and everyone leave” will have any effect this time around? Not without a huge kerfuffle bad enough that denying it happened will be possible. Cameras filming on top of the official cameras.

        Liked by 1 person

        2. If the Insty report is still valid (timed 10 PM last night), Xiden getting out of the race isn’t happening yet, but they’re trying to “nudge” them.

          https://instapundit.com/661590/

          Would the grass-roots Dems go for it? I wonder. Polls say so, but they’re Polls, f’r Gawd’s sake. Honest, trustworthy, accurate. Try the other one, with the bells.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. My brain does interesting things. When B came down with wuflu so quickly, and then the news started saying he was considering stepping down if his doctors said he should, my brain immediately flipped to his handlers saying “Step down voluntarily or we’ll make it permanent. “

            Like

              1. No one wants to live in interesting times. Unless it is “To the Stars!” (“Westward Go!”) This ain’t that.

                Like

      2. Hopefully they don’t decide that they could make the steal look plausible if they off Bindy before the election, then claim that all those extra votes were because of that. Sympathy or something, especially if they managed to lie that the next “lone gunman” was a Trump supporter.

        Heh. Somebody somewhere – actually a Finnish site this time – linked to Alex Jones claiming that that is the exact next likely plot development. I’m not quite sure what to think of the fact that my mind seems to run parallel to his. Maybe I have been reading too many bad thrillers. Although I suppose that would fit nicely with the rest of the plot, as unbelievable as it has been so far.

        Like

        1. Oops, of course I meant a Spades supporter… we are, after all, talking about a plot for a novel.

          Like

          1. Maybe we need to hope that that Alex Jones prediction will spread far and wide so that if it happens most people will suspect a deep state plot from the beginning. Or that they will not dare to do it because too many people are already talking about it as a possibility.

            Like

          2. Either him or Kamala, but so far the palace intrigue hasn’t got to that point. God willing, it won’t.

            Like

        3. The Discordians attack to control The TV Networks with The Biker Gangs and 5 extra Lucre.

          (grin)

          Like

  42. I once had a boss who learned subtlety from a Chicago Bears linebacker, it seemed. Spin that up to the Cosmic Clue by Four (measured in lightyears), and you have it.

    Liked by 1 person

  44. I had a story a few years ago that involved assassinating a foreign dignitary in a US stadium. The miracle in mine was the shooter calculated the drop of the bullet to clear the top of the open air stadium and come down at the podium, because there was no way in HEDoubleHockeySticks the security detail would leave a line of sight opportunity for a sniper. It just all seemed to incredible to suspend disbelief.

    Boy was I wrong.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Look at how much the deep state hates Trump.

      Look at how the lawfare has uniformly failed to remove him from the race. Hell, look at how it has made his margin of victory seem to grow.

      The “mistakes” make total sense when you stop assuming they were mistakes.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I’ve seen commentary about the latest versions of The Doctor, and the consensus was “kill it now, or kill me”. They need a Clue. I’d go for Fiona in the Tardis with C4.

        I last saw Doctor Who in the Sylvester McCoy era, when the BBC was doing its damnedest to kill it off. I gather that the last few seasons make that one look good in comparison. Tom Baker FTW! (Though Ace was a good Companion.)

        Like

        2. What manner of unnatural threat do you believe she is? Siren and Succubus are right out on the plain physical data, Perhaps Harpy though the wings and clawed feet seem missing. Shrews are not PUFF eligible, unless of course they are some sort giant 50 ft eldritch shrew. Maybe a Shoggoth, except they are far more personable and physically appealing. Vampire? Is there a golddigger vampire variant?

          Like

          1. I’ll go for the obvious and say that Roundheels has the succubus part locked up.

            I suspect the golddigger/vampire/eldrich lamprey eel would work for Tilly. Reluctantly hands over the PUFF exemption papers.

            Mr Trashbags is far too personable to be involved with the Xiden maladministration.

            Like

  47. The plot line kinda reminds me of The Road To Gandolfo and The Road To Omaha, which were two stories by Robert Ludlum that were very different to everything else he did. They had me ROFL nearly every page.

    Like

  49. Pingback: Lots of “130 yards.” Why No Perspective? – Liberty's Torch

  50. Too far-fetched! No one would believe it could ever happen.

    Years ago the Harvard Lampoon did a fake movie review of “Priorities and Alternatives”, an Allen Drury-type political thriller which was the ABM vote story. Only those over 70 will know about Allen Drury.

    . Reviewer panned the movie. Too improbable!

    Like

    2. I love Allan Drury. Kevin J. Anderson did the Lord’s work in republishing his stuff.

      Also his Akhenaton duology, taking the view that he was a totalitarian, is pretty darned good.

      (Although the new theory is that A’s father was actually responsible for a lot of that authoritarian “I am the god representing the only god that matters” stuff, because he kept publicly taking on attributes of the creator gods of Egypt, and A just followed his lead.)

      Like

  51. You want to make it a comedy? Hasn’t Tilly been going all over, often over-lapping with Spades general vicinity? How many bullied, disenfranchised, loners just said, “Nah, I’ll stay home and read some escapist SF book.”

    And when it finally works! He almost misses in exactly the way to fire up the Spades fan.

    Tilly flips out, screaming fits about how god hates her, gets hospitalized, committed . . .

    Probably too hopeful of an ending. Utterly unbelievable.

    Liked by 1 person

  52. Your mode of mock absurdity inspired me.

    There’s a political rally in a football stadium.

    Nearly everybody is cloistered near the stage outside one end zone.

    Outside the far end zone is a gunman, all alone in the 15th row, taking minutes to set up to strike.

    That is 130 yards.

    Not a single law enforcement or security agency springs to action before he shoots.

    This is impossible.

    Like

  53. It might be able to be sold to a publishing house or a studio if it is done in the vain of the Naked Gun movies (The Naked Swamp?).

    Perhaps some bits on the Spade’s predecessor, Weed’s former boss whom Tilly loathes. And of course the person who thinks he is the real boss, Mr. Zee, who thinks he is entitled to get what he paid for.

    Liked by 2 people

  54. Obligatory Mark Twain quote: “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Also, the way the term “nimrod” changed to become an insult (approximately meaning “you idiot”) can be blamed on Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. Yes, Daffy Duck, not Bugs Bunny; it’s often attributed to Bugs Bunny, but as best as I can tell, Daffy Duck was the first to use the term to insult Elmer Fudd. In the 1948 cartoon “What Makes Daffy Duck”, Elmer says “How am I ever going to catch that screwy duck?” and Daffy answers, “Precisely what I was wondering, my little Nimrod.” Skip to 5:30 in the video below to see it:

      Daffy’s mockery here is calling Elmer Fudd a “mighty hunter”, a Nimrod, when he’s repeatedly failed as a hunter.

      If there are other, earlier, cartoons in which Elmer Fudd gets called “Nimrod” and this 1948 occurrence is not the first, then please let me know. So far this is the earliest I’ve been able to find from searching the Internet.

      P.S. If the Youtube embed doesn’t work, the video ID is E_JS6gb7P6U — just go to any Youtube video, look for the “watch?v=” part, and replace the characters after the “?v=” with the video ID. Then skip to 5:30 to see the scene I’m referring to.

      Like

      1. I’m getting a notice that it’s not allowed in the USA (unless Ewe-tube consideres Flyover County as not part of their America. shrugs.)

        Like

        1. Huh. First time that’s happened to me in that direction; usually it’s some video that all y’all can watch but that’s blocked in the country I live in.

          If you want, shoot me an email at (my first name) dot (my last name) courtesy of Gmail and I’ll see if there’s a way I can share the clip in question. Sharing the whole file would be copyright infringement unless it’s fallen out of copyright by now (which I haven’t verified), but a ten-second clip for the purpose of verifying things certainly falls under fair use.

          Like

          1. I’m going to pass on it, but anybody else? (This computer and ‘tube barely get along. Should have packed the other laptop with the less dysfunctional keyboard layout.)

            Like

          2. If you’re using a VPN, check where it’s making you appear to be.

            My Avast VPN has an option to set your apparent location to Gotham City. Yes, you can share the net with Batman. 🦇

            On YouTube, they think Gotham is in Slovakia or the Czech Republic…. so they helpfully auto translate the site into Czech and treat your permissions accordingly.

            Like

          3. Getting the same message. I’m not in Flyover County Oregon. In Oregon, but while small potatoes, don’t think Eugene isn’t considered “Flyover”.

            Like

      2. I believe the first time I saw it used as an insult was on Usenet sometime in the mid-90s; I’d always thought of it in the original sense and the comment as stated seemed nonsensical, sort of like snarling at someone, “You really are a good person!”. I had to read the context to realize it was intended as an insult.

        Like

        1. What’s interesting is how Nimrod is viewed in Jewish folklore.

          He wasn’t just a hunter but was a King and the folklore is that he was a nasty King.

          Like

          1. Dante put him in Hell as a Giant who rebelled against God (considered to be behind the building of the Tower of Babel)

            Like

    2. Yep. And he really gives the impression that he has maybe been kind of hoping somebody would catch him. Forgetting evidence here and there. Man isn’t a happy one.

      Liked by 1 person

  57. We are home and the ablation appears to have been successful. My beloved is not happy to be told he must take it easy through the weekend, but he will.

    Liked by 1 person

  58. Title: “The Lone Gunman Club”

    The wind-up kid has to be tested in minor jobs prior to the big job. Otherwise the puppetteers have no idea if the kid is reliable enough to launch on a specific target. They could have him post “coded graffitti”, retrieve coded messages from a dead drop, do targeted vandalism, set significant fires, steal a gun, etc. Ramp up.

    The “agency” could be one manipulative SOB/lunatic or a real org.

    Like

    1. That’s a great story premise. There are a million different ways you can take it. Maybe an opposition agent (i.e., good guy) manages to “deprogram” one of the recruits. Maybe the recruit is a smidgeon smarter, more moral, or more self-aware than his handler gives him credit for and realizes he’s being set up. Maybe we’re following a lone Moriarty and his villainous version of the Baker Street Irregulars.

      Like

  60. The most prominent of them are the triple A group around Bindy, who are frankly my weak point. I mean, why should they all have A names? It begs the question. I might change it in post. And make them Bs. I mean, they’re B class talent.

    C names. Second raters hire third raters. They don’t want to be shown up.

    Like

  61. Taken from a post by John RIngo, amended to name the guilty.

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

    To: Upstairs

    From: Condor

    Level: Interesting

    Transcript of Telephone Call 07-14-2024

    Speaker Identified as Klaus Schwab: Wow. When you guys fuck up you really fuck up.

    Speaker Identified as John Brennan: We didn’t do it.

    KS: They’re literally your lieutenants!

    JB: We told them not to!

    KS: Yeah. (Insincere voice) ‘No, no, don’t do that. It would be bad.’ Like I haven’t said that a time or two to my guys. And you triggered a 20 something hacker who had literally FAILED OUT OF HIS HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING TEAM?! At least back in the day when you guys were COMPETENT, Lee Harvey Oswald was a Marine who’d shot High Expert in Basic. You are really so incompetent it’s surprising you can breathe!

    JB: Like I said, we didn’t…

    KS: You saw the plan! You knew what it was! You didn’t think to mention ‘Hey, can you maybe find somebody who can shoot?’

    B: (Very small voice) All the people who can shoot vote for Trump.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Good thing I wasn’t holding my coffee!

      OMG!

      Perfect!

      🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

      B: (Very small voice) All the people who can shoot vote for Trump.

      Perfect!!!!! (jic above perfect was not clear).

      FYI. Son and I went to practice last Sunday (mentioning before now wasn’t a good idea). Hubby’s wrist is hurting, can’t fire more than a clip before stopping because of the pain (don’t know why, yet. Not carpel tunnel, had the surgeries for that, both wrists.) Can state, thanks to the advice here and from range safety volunteers at the location, the targets are actually are not the safest location down range anymore. Not only shredding the target now (putting a lot downrange), but getting a dozen or so actually in the bullseye, both lower and upper targets. Not good enough to target locations specifically on either target, but getting better.

      Like

  62. Our politics has been running on Infinite Improbable Falsehood Drive technology ever since the Nixon years, thanks to tech giants like MSNBCNN ABCBS.

    Liked by 1 person

  63. Pingback: TOLD BY AN IDIOT | The Elegant Ungulate

  66. There are two notions you can ride in this story to make it exciting IMO. The first being the slow reveal of Dr. Tully from the hot babysitter.with middling intellect to the soulless, evil being who having had one sip from the chalice of power, develops a craven thirst for power that knows no bounds. Second, the 5 short days to get the kid and the plan ready to go. It’s tailor made for suspense.

    Like

  67. The danger of summarizing a current event is that literal idiots may be involved.

    If there are literal idiots involved, they may be repeating the old trick of releasing damaging to them information now to throw into the mix, but it is false, and they can show it false later, and damage the credibility of other information it was mixed in with.

    I say literal idiots, becuase I think this is a risky and unreliable strategy in certain circumstnaces.

    Also:

    Frenz,

    Left has been throwing hissy fits for decades about conservatives ‘damaging’ people by homeschooling them.

    Would a couple of behavior modification therapists be potetnially crazy enough, and left enough, to be trying to do that thing on purpose?

    I hadn’t considering homeschooling false flag before, and now that I have, it sounds icky and disturbing.

    Like

  68. Been thinking about this one for a couple of days or so by now. Still do not have a real answer, or any other kind; but given the things that are all happening now that just wouldn’t have seemed likely a week ago…

    “Is this what the early stages of a preference cascade actually look like? Asking for a friend.”

    If this is true, and I mean even in the lesser “little slips in the pile of sand just before the really big avalanche” sense, that could be… neat.

    Maybe enough of the Normies are (finally!) reaching the “no, that’s not okay, really you should stop” point. Maybe, possibly, perhaps.

    Liked by 1 person

  70. I’ll take the bait. President Weed didn’t get where he is except by leveraging his network of corruption. Each of these is more or less in a power struggle with all the others, and have people placed all over the government, including the 3LA (three letter agencies). All these have benefited greatly from Weed’s tenure, hope to see the benefits continue and know absolutely that if Spades gets in the seat behind the power desk not only do they lose the access and protection they have under Weed, but that Spades knows pretty much who they are and will be coming after them in a big way.

    When Weed’s network of corruption gets wind of Tilly’s plot, they immediately but covertly offer ‘assistance’ of various forms. Tilly thinks things are falling into place for her, not realizing that darker forces are using her and her Sophmore Girl Clique to achieve their own ends. In the end, once Tilly’s plot has unraveled and been partially exposed and Spades elected, she and Bindy are forced into a quiet, high class assisted living facility owned by one of Bindy’s corrupt cronies who absolutely does NOT want either of the Weeds to ever be seen in public again.

    Like

Comments are closed.