Chapter 17

Dan Fagan was generally satisfied with how his life was progressing, both in business and for the most part socially. The encounters he was having with Lori and Terry were very enjoyable. Channel Four news broadcasts on both weekdays and weekends were the highest-rated news broadcast shows in the Austin, Texas viewing area which contributed to a profitable situation.

He thought that Paul Conners expressed an opinion that the majority of informed people had when on a news broadcast he said, “A man who was not authorized to take classified material, does take classified material many times over many years. He carelessly places this material in nine different locations with most of these places being unsecured. He discusses this classified material with his ghostwriter who does not have a security clearance. This man is investigated and is found to have violated the law but the recommendation is that he not be prosecuted because he cooperated with the investigation as well as his age and deteriorating mental condition.”

“Yet another man, a few years younger, who was authorized to have classified material takes and keeps this material in one place that is protected by the Secret Service. He was reluctant to return this material. His residence is raided by the FBI to seize this classified material and he is prosecuted. It comes to light that the photograph of this classified material taken during the raid with this material being strewn on the floor with classified jackets shown was manufactured by the raiders and given to the media to enhance the legitimacy of these charges. This to me is an obvious example of two standards of justice existing in our country. I think with all of this classified material now returned, it’s time for the Attorney General to demonstrate that he has a set of you know what, by stepping in and dismissing these charges to make it equal justice under the law. Doing this would go far to reduce the reality that the Justice Department and judicial proceedings are being weaponized against political opponents to interfere in elections.”

The television station as expected, received responses to Paul Connors’s comments. Several of the responses mentioned that they knew what “you know what” was, and suggested other words that Paul could have used. The word “rocks,” was the one word most suggested.

It was about a month later, that Paul reported on the AG who had testified that day before a congressional committee. The AG among other things said that it was his personal opinion this man not charged for taking classified material was neither forgetful nor did he have a diminished mental capacity. One committee member asked the AG with him having that opinion would this man now be prosecuted, because it was found that he did violate the law in taking classified material. The AG wouldn’t answer the question and talked around it.

Paul finished by saying, “Because of the AG’s testimony, is this kind of two-tier justice we want or expect in our country? I think not.”

It was no secret that Joyce Jamison the newsreader, and Larry Simon the sports reporter, were dating. They made a striking couple and appeared to be happy. Dan wondered if Larry was dipping his wick into Joyce. He thought Larry probably was doing that judging by the perpetual smile on Larry’s face. Dan also wondered what kind of a lover Joyce was. He wasn’t sure how she would be but he did think it would be nice to find out the answer to that question.

What was surprising was what they said when Joyce and Larry returned from their vacations. They announced that they had gone to Las Vegas and were married. The smiles on their faces in saying that showed them to be a happy couple.

A little over a month later Joyce asked for a meeting with Burt and Dan. The meeting was held in Dan’s office.

“The reason I asked for this meeting is to tell both of you that I am three months pregnant and what my plans are for the future. I will be working here for two more months and then I will be going on maternity leave. After my baby is born I plan on being a stay-at-home mother. I will be that till my youngest is in school but you should know that Larry and I plan on having more children. You have treated me nicely and I wanted to give you a heads up so you won’t be caught short and can plan for my permanent replacement.”

Both Burt and Dan congratulated her on her pregnancy and thanked her for the heads up. They wished her happiness and said she would be missed.

After Joyce left his office, Dan looked at Burt and asked, “Any suggestions?”

“Other than transferring Sara Nelson to the weekday news team no, no one comes to mind. How about you?”

“Remember Denise Edwards, the field reporter who left us when she was offered that weekend newsreader position at a television station in New Orleans. If her parents still live somewhere in our area that might make her want to come back here. She certainly is good-looking and we wouldn’t lose anything in the looks department if she was doing the news. Why don’t you give her a call and see if she would like to come back for the weekday newsreader’s position? If she does, offer her the same salary Joyce was making.”

After Burt left his office, Dan knew if Denise came here, there were going to be some pissed-off female field reporters again since they wouldn’t be filling Joyce’s vacated position. He would tell them if they asked that he decided to go with an experienced newsreader. The problem was he couldn’t say that he thought Denise was better looking than any of them because if he did that, it would cause a rash of shit for him and the television station. He would bet at least one of the field reporters would file suit if he said that.

Later in the week, Dan received a surprising phone call from Theo Harrington who was the CEO of a major television cable news network. Channel Four was an over-the-air local affiliate of a cable news network that was considered to be Theo’s network’s prime competitor. Dan was aware from what he read on the web that things were not going well for Theo’s cable news network. There was some initial chit-chat with Dan acknowledging that he knew who Theo was but Dan was surprised by the call and asked what he could do for him.

“The reason that I am calling is to tell you that we are creating the position of Vice-President of Programming at our network to solve some problems. After doing a considerable search we are offering that position to you. Besides stock options and a bonus based on viewership ratings, it comes with a salary that is considerably larger than what we estimate your present salary to be.”

Dan was quiet about this offer Theo had made, asking him for a minute to think about it.

Finally, he said, “Let me ask you..., will I have the authority to hire and fire as well as decide if the present employment contracts of your commentators should be renewed? Will I be able to cancel programs and install new ones on my authority alone or will I need to run it by a few people before I can make any changes?”

Now there was a pause on the other end of the phone before Theo said, “It would be required that you first discuss with us before you make any major changes like that.”

“I will say that I am flattered that you thought of me in making this offer. You should know that for me to be effective in that position, I need to be able to make decisions such as what I just asked you without first having to ask for permission to act. Because of that, I don’t think I would be the right fit for that position so I am declining your offer. Thank you for thinking of me.”