[Chapter 553: Propaganda is Everywhere]
William White felt a bit frustrated; as a time traveler, he considered himself relatively unsuccessful. Besides having some money, everything else was just mediocre.
This recent uproar in Africa was mainly because he felt extremely stifled. Seriously, he had no ambitions of conquering kingdoms or having a harem of three thousand beauties.
More than a decade had passed, and there were still people who thought they could take him on. Honestly, if he didn't show them who was boss, he wouldn't just be letting himself down but also offending the powers that be that had granted him this fate.
Now, every time he saw Gaddafi, he got angry. If he wanted to be simple, fine, but pitching a tent in a palace and calling it simple? Come on, if you're going to act, at least be a little professional about it.
NBC certainly wouldn't let such obviously foolish behavior slide. There was really no need to say more; just do some simple calculations on costs. The extravagance displayed by these guys, and then claiming it was simple living?
He just wanted to ask, can we keep some dignity here?
What kind of person was William White, and how much influence did he have? Ever since NBC activated their biting commentary mode, Gaddafi had gotten a real taste of it.
A simple satellite dish could be used to watch satellite TV; NBC's global audience was incalculable.
Television shows, naturally, varied from home to home based on what was desirable -- especially those free channels.
Interfering?
Ha, that was just too difficult, especially in Africa. There was hardly any cable TV there. The range of his satellites far exceeded whatever local broadcasting towers could manage.
...
"Moussa, what on earth is going on? Didn't I tell you not to provoke him?"
"Mr. President, the ones pushing all of this have to be those CIA bastards. They've pulled back, so we're not doing too badly."
"Ugh, Moussa, offending the United States isn't the concern; as long as we maintain close ties with the French, everything will be fine. The issue is that he's undermining my image at its core."
Gaddafi was certainly aware of Moussa Koussa's frustration. Of course, he chose to forget some of the President's orders. After all, taking the heat for his boss was a kind of honor.
"Mr. President, should we consider easing these tensions?"
"Ease? What's there to talk about? Why should I care about the thoughts of an ant? Send out a statement of condemnation, and also, no sneaky installations of receiving equipment. Just arrest everyone selling receivers on the charges of tax evasion."
Some things simply didn't go your way, like this situation.
A statement?
Ha, even though Washington boss was struggling, he wouldn't dare to criticize the media. It was absurd that what NBC said was exactly what Washington wanted out there.
Once NBC got a hold of it, things got serious. Originally, it was just a matter of scrutinizing his squandering of public resources, but now they were ready to discuss basic rights. Yes, basic human rights.
This wasn't something William White said; Voltaire had stated this many years ago. If you planned to refute this person's argument, then you were in trouble and would become the target of everyone's ire.
Even if inside you disagreed with this statement, it was still inconvenient to oppose it publicly. If you jumped up to say Voltaire was wrong, congratulations -- your fate wouldn't be pretty.
It's important to note that ordinary people could say what they wanted -- curse as they pleased.
As for the President, he could only grumble in secrecy.
What NBC would do to deal with this drama was obvious. Watching the nonsensical TV footage, it was easy to see how irritated Gaddafi was.
What made him angrier was that a few of his close Western allies were being thrown onto the stage. They almost directly said, "Hey, it's fine to take money, but you're really pushing it here; this is a big issue."
Gaddafi was very clear that this would lead those opportunists to keep their distance.
Someone remarked, "How dare you do this! You can trash your own here, but throwing shade at your allies? If this turns into a fight, it's going to be a big mess."
The answer was, not afraid. He was just stating facts. He wasn't saying they were secretly in cahoots. If the audience misunderstood, that's just too bad for them.
"Tanner, raise the security level. If you spot anyone from Gaddafi, take them out."
"Got it, master. I'll arrange that right away."
William White's reckless behavior indeed gave Gaddafi a headache. To him, this guy was just crazy. What did it matter that he was the richest man in the world? Was he really going to outmatch him?
Moussa Koussa, as an intelligence officer, thought the same way. It clearly wasn't the right time to go after William White. Once this storm blew over, Gaddafi would sure make things hard for him.
Of course, his untroubled demeanor didn't last long. Intelligence personnel scattered throughout Europe got hit hard.
...
"Mr. White, Washington seems to have some issues with our recent publicity."
"Barry, let me ask you this: Is there any fake news?"
"No, but the promotional push is a bit much."
"Let me put it this way: The Golden Canyon operation didn't yield much; in fact, we lost two planes. If it weren't for that idiot Saddam causing trouble, we'd be smashing Gaddafi by now."
"What? That's how it is? But wait, where is Washington's discontent coming from?"
"What else could it be? You mention Gaddafi, and they're just putting on smiles. You package them up now, and of course, they won't be happy; two of them are some pretty promising guys."
"Mr. White, do we continue?"
"Of course, finish up this feature, and then let's go after Saddam. Or, you could hit both at once."
That's how authoritative media works; if they don't want your story, they don't have to play along. They weren't relying on you for their meals. If you tried to give them a hard time, congratulations: you'd get fried.
Life in France was chaotic; saying something didn't really mean much. It might even help them. These folks viewed things differently, believing that having charisma towards the opposite sex was quite a significant part too.
Being questioned about political stances could lead to big trouble.
William White knew that Washington wasn't monolithic. Many people actually welcomed this development. At least, the absence of a statement from Junior Bush spoke volumes.
In the current America, who didn't understand the relationship between these two? Most of the time, Mr. Billionaire maintained some courtesy. If you couldn't hold it together internally, you had the audacity to step out and make a scene. This time it was overlooked, but if you dared to keep flapping your gums, next time wouldn't be so easy.
Some of William White's thoughts were quite rash. Don't even mention Washington's politicians, even those conglomerates felt uneasy around him. They were all too aware of what was happening in Africa. If there weren't massive interests involved, it was best to stay clear.
William White was greatly irritated by these matters that bothered him day in and day out. The shooting of The Departed didn't go smoothly.
The two girls were just decoration; there was nothing much to say about that. But Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio were a real pair of clowns. For crying out loud, he was filming a serious flick, not a comedy.
Tsk, it was hard to say these things himself. Come on, he wanted them to be cool, not to get all silly.
*****
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