Silver City Page #2

A bunch of vegans

and computer nerds.

Half of'em don't know dick.

But they at least don't buy

the official story.

You're some kind of

investigator now, aren't you?

Yeah. Some kind.

Maybe you can do a little snooping

for me for the Web site.

- What's it pay?

- What do you think?

- Bupkes.

- Yeah.

I don't really do politics anymore.

Debbie always said it was bad

for my mental health.

Nothing I can do

about it anyway.

Listen.

I'd like to run some names by you.

Cliff Castleton.

Neo-fascist radio crackpot.

I've listened to Mr. Castleton.

Very big with the crowd that thinks

our form of capital punishment...

isn't painful enough.

Casey Lyle.

He was a big cheese in one of

the health and safety agencies...

couple of administrations back.

- Unstable personality?

- What, compared to you?

- Thanks.

- Speaking of unstable personalities...

Madeleine Pilager.

Nympho nutcase sister.

What is this you're working on?

Something that if one detail of it

ends up here on Kill-The-Rich. Com...

I get fired.

You're no fun anymore.

Your Web site... for you,

this is a natural progression.

You never wanted to be

a mainstream news guy.

- Neither did you.

- Of course I did.

If you hadn't talked me into pushing that

f***ing kickback story on Jerry Skaggs...

We were set up.

You could have triple-checked

the information.

You're working for them now,

aren't you?

- Them?

- Them that run the whole deal.

Listen...

what do you know

about the Pilager family?

Jeremiah Pilager,

who comes here in 1870...

sells dry goods at cutthroat prices

to the pickers and panners.

He accepts a land deed as payment

from one poor sourdough...

which becomes

the Pilager Seam.

So the lone wolf prospector legend?

It's a crock. Boomtown money,

big mansions, extravagant lifestyles.

But when the silver bubble

bursts in 1893...

Pilager's already diversified,

and he comes out richer than ever.

These days, the family fortune

has switched from mines to...

cow pies.

More than you can possibly imagine.

If someone doesn't dispose of

this stuff from time to time...

the stock would be

up to its sirloin in sh*t.

- The family business.

- The flagship, so to speak.

The real money comes from

their association with this gentleman.

You know the name Wes Benteen?

As in Benteen Ranch?

Benteen Realty,

Benteen Medical Associates...

Gold Mine Communications,

BENagra...

which produces the poo-poo

the Pilagers clean up...

Bentel Stadium.

So he's the Bentel Corporation.

- Founder and CEO.

- Big money guy.

- Mega.

- And a real piece of work.

During the Iran-Contra thing, he sent

Oliver North's boys a set of cargo planes.

He used blacks and Chicanos

to bust the unions in slaughterhouses...

and then he fired half of them

and brought in migrants without papers.

He's never once been hit on

by the Immigration Service.

And he and the senator?

When Richard, the son,

who is fondly referred to...

by his frat mates as "Dim Dickie"...

sinks his inheritance into Silver City,

a ghost town with an abandoned mine...

which turns out to be abandoned

for a good reason...

guess who bails him out by paying six

million dollars over its original value.

Wes Benteen.

A personal favor.

One contributor putting up

over half the money for a senate run.

- Looks kind of fishy.

- Unless it comes from within the family.

So, Dickie Pilager.

Not a public official yet.

Serves as a front to Benteen,

bankrolling his father's campaign.

Benteen is in real estate.

He's in cattle.

He's in publishing, media, mining...

utilities, waste disposal.

How much federal regulation

do you think that entails?

When Benteen wanted to end

health and safety inspections...

at his meat processing plant,

SenatorJud led the charge.

So he wants his own man in the governor's

mansion, someone corruptible.

There is not a corrupt bone in Dickie

Pilager's body. He's just... What?

He's user-friendly.

Wes Benteen, Chuck Raven just say whatever

they think will get them what they want.

Dickie Pilager is a true believer.

These are the guys

you're working for, pal.

I wasn't even born when most of this

happened, and it still pisses me off.

It's not like I'm helping them

get elected or anything.

You're just trying to pay

the rent like everybody else, right?

- Any dirt you can spare though.

- Come on, Mitch.

I've got... professional ethics.

Chickenshit.

Seen Nora lately?

Nora?

No. I see her byline.

I hear she's engaged

to some guy.

Terrific.

With the amount of federal money

coming to the state decreasing...

I'm not raising taxes.

What about the shortfall

in social programs?

I repeat, I'm not raising taxes.

We can't just keep throwing the taxpayer's

hard-earned money at these perceived...

some of them, I admit, are real...

so-called social problems.

We have to get

our priorities straight.

Education is a priority.

Health care is a priority.

Our economy is a priority.

The environmental...

The whole environmental,

uh, arena...

that's a priority, big priority.

Building new roads

and maintaining the present...

keeping the infrastructure in place,

where it belongs... that's a priority.

What isn't a priority, sir?

- What's not a priority?

- Yeah.

Is those matters

which are less of a...

not that they're not

important, but...

If you're gonna have

a front burner...

which is where you want

your priorities...

It's like cooking. There needs to be

something sitting on the back one.

That's where your

other organizations...

your church people

and your organizations...

formed to help these things...

will be happy to pitch in if only

government would get out of their way.

No, no. Press conference

is at 2:
00, people.

It's no fair trying to kidnap the

candidate when we're late for a meeting.

One more question, sir.

- Where were you?

- Gridlock.

Don't ever let yourself get caught

out in the open like that again.

Who's that chick in the red?

She's on me again.

- The newswoman?

- Yeah, whatever.

That's Nora Allardyce.

She writes for the Defender.

She was on my DWI's.

All that stuff from 10 years ago.

Give it a rest.

She'll back off.

I got something in the works.

Debbie?

Debbie.

Rocky Mountains

that I love so much...

are part of our national heritage.

They're something we must keep safe

for future generations.

Debbie?

We have to stimulate the economy.

We have to encourage investment...

to get America working again.

Richard Pilager cares

about the elderly.

Our senior citizens are the ones...

There used to be a couch here.

"D-Day."

"Call movers."

She's been planning this

for f***ing weeks.

"Sorry, but I had to do this.

Don't try to find me.

I'll call you

when you calm down."

Modern life challenges

the nuclear family.

I want to nurture that family...

to protect and promote

those traditional values...

which are the backbone

of our American...

I'm extremely calm.

Paid for by Citizens

for Responsible Government.

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