Chapter Four
The same morning, Cable News Corporation’s CEO Jed Sukor presided over a Beam meeting to discuss the talking points and themes of the channel’s editorial output that day.
Sukor opened the session by saying, “Continue stressing Daniel Acer’s claims of vote-rigging and election-fraud are baseless. Ram home the point he and his supporters are becoming ever more desperate and they are perpetuating a big lie.
“As for Lydon, keep on pointing out he’s the duly elected presumptive premier and he’s busy working on building a talented and diverse team to lead the country out of the darkness of the last four years and into a bright and prosperous future.
“Highlight Lydon’s promises to reverse the destructive policies Acer implemented during his term.
“Explain the new premier will have to clean up the mess the outgoing incumbent created before he can start to introduce the measures the country needs to get back on the right path and feel proud of itself once again.
“Whenever you get an opportunity, talk about how brave the people who voted for Lydon and the Liberals were in the face of intimidation and suppression to cast their votes. Praise Lydon’s voters for rescuing the country from the Acer nightmare. Tell them to ignore the totally false claims of election fraud.
“Don’t actually say it too directly, but get the message out the Liberals have a moral duty to make the changes to the voting system and the demographic boundaries that will ensure decent principled residents of Avalon can exercise their right to vote without fear or favour.
“Propose lowering the voting age. Argue widening the franchise will lessen the possibility that someone as damaging for the country as Acer has been will ever be able to usurp the will of the people in the future.
“As usual, push back hard if any guest or contributor says anything positive about Acer. Stress Lydon will be sworn-in as premier and only the most rapid of Acer supporters and tin-foil-hat wearers would doubt the integrity of the election.
“That’s something to emphasize during the one-on-one between Ron and Fredo when they handover tonight. Boys, try and work in as many jokes and jibes as you can about Acer being stupid pig-headed and his supporters being ignorant uneducated bigotted pale-skinned losers.
Any questions?
It was rare for any of Sukor’s staff to question his edicts and this occasion was no different. So with nobody raising he issues, he brought the meeting to a conclusion by saying, “OK, remember never call Acer the premier but always call Lydon and Tweedy the premier-elect and vice premier-elect. If any guest or contributor mentions anything in the least critical of the incoming administration, their families or the Liberal Party, push back by stating whatever it is has either been debunked or is foreign misinformation or a conspiracy theory.”