The Announcement Read online

The Announcement

  The Election series, volume 1

  Copyright March, 2015 John D. Boyden

  "The Election " series Book one

  This ebook is free and may be given away to other people. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to your favorite ebook retailer to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

  Acknowledgments

  Any errors or mistakes belong solely to the author.

  Thank you to my readers, friends, and family for your contributions to this book

  Dedication

  I dedicate my third book's publication to readers everywhere, my grandchildren, my wife, Melanie, four grown kids, our new dog Butterscotch, and the many friends who have thankfully provided me early critiques on all my writing.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 A Stumbling Start

  Chapter 2 Innocence

  Chapter 3 Why Run?

  Chapter 4 Memories

  Chapter 5 An Electrifying Speech

  Afterword

  Connect with the author

  Chapter 1

  A Stumbling Start

  "Everybody has secrets."

  Halle Berry

  Hello world, Let's talk. I am a candidate. My name is Katryn Backtari Johnson. This journey started out as a ridiculous dream to bring some kind of sense and honesty to politics. What happened is startling. In a little over one month, this has grown into a movement with thousands of people supporting my candidacy.

  I am a first time candidate with one simple goal. The campaign began to take shape almost a year ago. I want to tell people the truths I have learned about our great country and the new ones I continue to learn about politics I hope to do that on this blog.

  We can make a difference. I believe I can help you to make that difference. Many of my new acquaintances call me naive, an innocent, and doomed to fail. I was, a month ago. A lot has changed. My electoral innocence lasted all of one month. The blissful month of July, 2014. What a month that was. I was then and am still filled with dreams and hopes.

  During the next month of August 2014, I was amazed how everything moved to levels I did not know even existed in politics. The public is talking about me, and my ideas get a few mentions too.

  Over the next year, I'll share my dreams and hopes with you, talk with you about your dreams and hopes, and then, together, we will join them into a platform for change. and share this journey to make our country work for all of the people. It won't be easy.

  I hope you will join with me, as I and others share with you this unbelievable voyage.

  Comments:

  August 12: Congrats! I hope you can bring some kind of honesty back into the political process. Any honesty would be refreshing. Names blocked by author

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  Chapter 2

  Innocence

  "Innocence is a fleeting journey, soon over."

  Niccolo Machiavelli Discorsi di Innocenza June 20 1527, a lost manifesto discovered in 1998.

  The song "It's a beautiful world" played nearby, in the background. The park was filled with people early before the coming storm arrived in the late afternoon. Everything was nice and pleasant, few were the days like that and Bridgie savored them. When they did pop into her life, she could smile for a week. Yes, this was a rare day. Something seemed to go wrong, most weeks.

  Bridgie was a single mom with a teenage son who was drawn to trouble like a fly into a spider's web. He never saw his webs coming, but they waited for him around nearly every corner. Right now he was in Juvie and Bridgie was taking time to enjoy her outing, until her weekly visiting hours allowed her to visit. Carlson, called Carly, who was spending six months for joy riding.

  The four kids were busted when they returned the Jeep Cherokee to the owner. The prosecution filed, even though the owner asked them not to charge the kids. All four were convicted and sentenced to a six month stretch. Fortunately there was no damage to the vehicle, just lots of mud from four wheeling in the nearby countryside.

  Bridgie was enjoying the distraction of the park. She knew there was an announcement coming that would shock everyone in the town of Dever. She was looking forward to it. It was something cool.

  Bridgie and her friends giggled about the announcement with Katryn, as she told them. They thought Katryn was just being her outlandish self, so it was a surprise when all of the Ladies Aides of Dever Society agreed to help. They didn't hold a group vote, but the question spread. It was unanimous. If nothing else it would be fun to be associated with the announcement. Some thought her candidacy could bring publicity to a slew of issues that were being ignored in politics.

  Many of the women in the group, there were twenty, did agree she could do a better job than any man. . They believed that Katryn knew more in her little finger than could be crammed into any male body. A shared bias flourished in this group of divorced women raising children on their own.

  Bridgie pushed herself up from the grass and strolled over to the center of the park. She was looking forward to tonight's event. She kept checking her watch. She couldn't be late to see her son. One minute late and they would not let her see him.

  Other people knew of Katryn's plan to announce for public office too. Their thoughts about the night's event flitted through their minds on this fourth of July.

  Father Bob, her Episcopal priest, was preparing for the annual Freedom celebration with his parish members. The festival was annually requested by local parishioners through the social committee. The members loved any gathering for feasts, prayers, and celebrations.

  Father Bob wondered how Katryn's announcement would go. He respected Katryn, she was on the vestry. He didn't think she would have any chance at getting elected to a major office. All she had was a few friends, no campaign staff, no real plan beyond the announcement. She would need a staff, a campaign manager and oodles of money. Bob saw a lot of politics in his job. He could not imagine where Katryn would find the needed resources. It seemed to always come down to money in elections. The Koch brothers proved that.

  Bob thought about the kind of person Katryn was, as he set up the barbecue goodies on the three tables around the stove. He loved cooking. The two huge pots had been cooking all day. It was cold and wet outside, this afternoon and getting worse. Using the Church kitchen and then the gym for activities was the best alternative to a cook out in the park on days like that. People wandered in and out of the kitchen, through the day, dropping off cookies, pies, salads, and other goodies to make today's feast a joy. Celebrating America's freedom seemed a good thing.

  He knew from observing her participation in church affairs that Katryn was dedicated and would help whenever asked. Frequently she volunteered some new idea that brought increased participation within the church family. He saw her use her experiences to reach people from different backgrounds.

  From their frequent chats and traveling with her to visit the sick her dedication to people impressed him. He knew, with no doubt, she made a difference. He shook his head wondering how she would make a difference in politics, of all areas. He didn't doubt that she would find a way. His only question was how she would do it.

  Cindi Spikes, Richard Mikel and Joshua Hand also knew about the announcement. They thought it was
crazy. The three liked crazy. They worked at KDEV TV and ran the small station on a day to day basis. The boss told them to run the announcement as quickly as possible. "Real news has to come first, " the director told them. "I won't be here, so it is up to you three. Get it done. And done right."

  Director John Memes stopped at the door, before leaving, and turned back, with a grin and his eyes twinkling. "Don't have too much fun, while I'm gone."

  Once the boss was gone, they talked about the announcement and the obvious insanity of anyone running for office without staff, money, or backers. The three were all election followers, although from the distance created in producing the news. The three did not vote or participate in politics, themselves, and saw it as a waste of time. Their usual comment was "the fix is in." They listened to the crazy statements and brouhahas politicians created so often and reported on what came out of their mouths as often as the stupid actions politicians did. When stupid statements and behaviors made news and entertained the public, they pushed them.

  The three laughed together and added their own spins to the stories when they could, often only for each other. Too much of what they shared could get any on air announcer fired, unless they worked for Fox. They joked about how they could rewrite every story to fit Fox news. The laughter increased when they saw similar stories appear. Richard and Cindi would tell each other, "your version was better."

  The three joked about the comments leaders made about "legitimate" rape. Comments on incursions, rebels, and fair treatment were great opportunities. Cindi and Richard recognized the events making the news were no such thing. They three were in close quarters and openly shared serious, revealing discussions about events too. When a book defending rape comments was published in June with lots of negative comments about it, both the book and the comments were discussed. It was unbelievable the gall people had. It was incredible to the small station trio that supposedly educated people understood so little about the world in this modern day.

  They talked about how people missed the boat in ignoring the simple understanding that hurting people, hurts. Then, when the three watch the clip where a judge sentenced a rapist to thirty days, after the victim killed herself, and gave the reason that the victim looked older than her years, they just stared at the screen in disbelief. Cindi was enraged. Josh very carefully calmed her down, telling her "that idiot judge has doomed himself. Even Montana won't accept that."

  Cindi and Richard were on air personalities. Josh was the tech man who keep the station running and helped his on air people with those constant needs ranging from coffee to finding lost stories. They both appreciated Josh and let him know he was appreciated. Josh was the glue that kept them going each day.

  Curiously, the three did not spare a thought for their new camera person. Taffi was the newest hire, and they missed Roger who moved to Dallas for more money. Taffi was on site recording the announcement for later.

  Josh privately thought Cindi and Richard were as crazy as the politicians and any of the local State and world leaders they talked about every day. He couldn't help himself, though, he genuinely liked those two. They were fun. They made him laugh and surprised him by letting him know he was important to them. It was the little things they did, as well as the heartfelt thanks they uttered. Brief teasing notes, a clap on the back, a cup of fresh coffee from Starbucks. He felt needed.

  The TV station was local and provided very little local programming beyond the local news. Agreements in place provided the daily programing that filled the air. Their pay was small, their station small, their opportunities were few. They were thankful to have a job in this ongoing economy of destruction. The fun they had together was a big bonus.

  Josh had worked for on air personalities who cared nothing for anyone but themselves. The difference of having people who cared made this job a keeper. None of the three knew what office the Johnson woman was running for. Their director would not tell them.

  Back in June, Katrn talked with her uncle, John Memes, the director of KDEV TV, about the announcement.

  "I 'm not sure what I'm running for, Uncle John. I only know a few of the messages I want to get out. This world is a mess. It is up to each of us to come together as a group to make it better. There are horrors going on everywhere."

  "That's true. What do you think you can do to foster ideas that will have an impact?"

  "Speaking out. Telling the truth. I hope I can convince enough people to begin the effort to fix our country. I have no idea what form it might take. Just getting people talking about the idea seems like the proper starting place.

  John and Katryn agreed it seemed a sensible idea. There have been a lot of people talking about change and the recent development of organizations developing initiatives, small and large, to make a difference. They discussed a few of them and how they are having an impact. Katryn told him, "Great things are happening, but they aren't enough. Something bigger, something greater has to be done. People have to come together to demand change. Our society is fragmenting into one and two issue groups against a backdrop of the radicalized right and left."