Front-Runner
Scoop
Jackson reported to his editor, who immediately chastised him for failing to
put the adjective "front-runner" with Donald Trump's name in his
latest article.
"You
know this is standard industry policy," the editor shouted at the young
ginger-headed newsman.
"But,
sir, the first primary is months away, and the former president's lead is in
polls only."
"Yeah,
potato brain, and right now, that is all that matters."
"But
that is hardly fair to the other candidates. It's like using the polls to show
favoritism. "Besides, did we not learn anything about the fallacy of polls
in 2016?"
The
gray-headed man behind the desk took off his glasses and leaned forward in his
chair.
"OK,
let me see if I can get through the naïve fog in your head, kid. We all want
Trump to get the nomination. The man is good copy for us and plays very well
with television news. A Trump/Biden rematch will bring us more readers and
viewers for the television."
"But
Nikki Haley is excelling in the debates, and some think she would make a good
first woman president."
"Listen,
son, we don't care about a person's qualifications. We care about
readership. Competence and skill are
not what the American people want to see in a campaign. They want the drama,
the tension, and the lies that only Donald Trump can manufacture. An election
is a reality show with only two guys on the island. More than two confuses the
voters.
"But
this shouldn't be about the contest, but about who is the right person for the
job."
OK,
you Jimmy Olsen wannabe. This ain't about truth and justice. It is about the
American way of life. Put "front-runner" with Trump's name on your
next piece or find work elsewhere. And another thing. I don't see the word' whopping
' anywhere in your article. Trump's lead is ' whopping'. All the news outlets
say this."
Scoop
Jackson returned to his desk and began composing a new article on the
Republican candidates.
"Today,
Donald Trump, the criminal indictments front-runner with a whopping number of
charges against him, arrived in Iowa. The debate front-runner Nikki Haley is in
her home state of South Carolina, and the Trump-bashing front-runner Chris
Christie was seen in a Disney Store, buying a whopping number of Donald Duck
T-shirts."
Steve Bailey is a retired history teacher. For the last three years, he has been a freelance writer. His work has appeared in Ariel Chart, Commuter Lit, The Bookends Review, 101 Words, The Paper Dragon, and others. His work has appeared in anthologies, and he has self-published a novel. Steve has a complete list of his published works on his website, vamarcopolo.com.