We are almost free for a little while. The 4th of July is coming up on Monday, and Washington is clearing out to get back to crucial District events and fireworks more limited in scope than in the Swamp to our north.

There was one here in town before the break. We checked with our Attorney before the mid-week meeting, since one of the Big Stories of the pre-Holiday week included some high drama. That naturally entailed some confusion, since we were not sure which matters are subject to potential enforcement by external authorities entrusted with monitoring truthful dissemination. Which in turn must be monitored by internal watchdogs to ensure which versions of news are in compliance with the official narrative. The ones that are not should be avoided, since they could result in legal expense.

Amanda is distracted with her upcoming Commonwealth Bar exam. It is a big deal, since if she is admitted to the practicing end of her trade, she may be able to avoid the entire Writer’s Section in her daily routine. That may have been why Splash crafted a seemingly hypothetical question about the sleeve-length required to reach from the rear seat of an armored limousine to the steering wheel of the same auto. It appeared to be something on the order of six or seven feet, which was in keeping with the official narrative. A more logical explanation would have required someone normally seated in the back to actually be riding ‘shotgun’ at the time.

We decided to agree with that version, since there was other talk about a possible general conflict in Europe, which could involve the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction. This is an event viewed unfavorably in the Fire Ring. Opposition to that development seems permitted, if attribution or causation is stated in a general manner not attributable to anyone in particular.

With the basic framework set, our Section Leader DeMille seemed prepared to distill the events of the week and their likely consequences down to our own accepted narrative, which we now issue each week almost routinely. “All that stuff in the slide is going on, and we have no specific comment except through our legal counsel.”

Melissa shook her tresses. “It’s funny that we have to do a weekly summary of some strange stuff with real potential consequences without actually mentioning what we are talking about.”

Splash sighed. “That is the challenge. We have to be quiet right out loud.”

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