Not on my Watch

Prologue

      Please be patient with my prologue.  Yes, it's quite long, but I felt it was important to start out this way.  It sets up the story.  I feel it's well-written.

If you tell a lie loud enough and long enough, the people will believe it.   Adolf Hitler

                                                                         **********

           He sat in his lavish study, musing over everything he'd done that day, and the progress he'd made.  He wondered what his next move should be.  He came from a long line of ancient, powerful royalty, who lived only to please their master.  There were several such lines still existing. Master had placed him and his line in charge of all the others.  He was the only one who knew every member who belonged to his elite secret society.  That meant it was up to him to disseminate the plans to implement the New World Order to his lesser generals.  Master wanted the Order to take over as soon as possible.  Much progress had been made, but there was still a long way to go.  Leaders such as Hitler had attempted the task in the past, but had been overcome by the world's armies.   He was closer now to setting the Order up as a global government than even Hitler had been.  It probably would have taken over already, if only that idiot Charles hadn't blabbed about his family secrets to those reporters.  Even so, he had to admit it had been comical to see the looks on the writer's faces when the important man they were interviewing told them he and many others had been drinking human blood for decades.  He knew no reasonable person had actually believed the rumors.   Readers had thought of it as just another tabloid story, made up to sell magazines.  It had caused unforeseen setbacks, though, as they'd had to be more cautious and hidden.  He now had to come up with another plan, and he thought he'd found the perfect target: t he United States of America.  If he could come up with a way to bring down one of the most powerful governments on earth, where all the citizens thought they were free, he'd have it made.  The trick was to cause some sort of horrific tragedy, to make the people afraid, and susceptible to government overreach.   After the tragedy, the media would be used to fan the people's fears, exaggerate the truth, and even outright lie.  He knew by experience that those idiots in the U.S. (most of them, anyway) would believe anything their media told them.  Thing was, he owned the media, and it said whatever he wanted it to say.  It was a good time to make happen the terrorist act he'd first staged decades ago...911.  He just needed to talk to some of his top leaders and iron out the final details.

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

                        December 1998, Crawford, TX USA

          Ned Burner and John Croxmeller exchanged self-satisfied looks.  "I think we've found our man!"   They both spoke at the same time, then childishly said, "Jinx," grinned, and gave each other a high five.  They had just finished a short interview with G.W. Push.  He was one of a hundred or so prospective candidates the Dildemerger group was interviewing to decide who to promote as president for the year 2000 election.  The time was drawing near to announce the candidacies, and they had worried that they wouldn't find anyone who met all of their qualifications.

         They needed to have a president who would be their lapdog; compliant and flexible, yet seemingly in charge of the country, and likable by a large portion of the U.S. citizens.  They had already interviewed several likely candidates.  Each lacked something indefinable.   Hal Bore came close to meeting their needs, and he was already planning to run for the Democratic ticket, yet he seemed a little hesitant to do whatever it took.  He asked too many questions as to what all that would entail.  Plus, his name fit perfectly.   They were bored with his preoccupation with global warming.