Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams
 Chronicles of a Footloose Forester
By Dick Pellek

 

The Winner of the 7-2 Vote is…

On a day-to-day basis, politics is as important to the Footloose Forester as any other topic, largely because the seeming externality of the political process comes home eventually to affect every citizen, voter or not.  The long, long list of examples of why that is true is not the purpose of this chronicle, but one related aspect about in-your-face politics will make the point.

In the days immediately following the 2018 mid-term elections, both major political parties are digging in for a protracted fight.

[from the original chronicle] The person who supervised the modest election was the city manager of Speedy Rent-a-Car and the person who counted the votes was the office manager and a woman he was having an affair with.  The manager didn’t like Footloose Forester because the latter frequently posed thorny issues at monthly staff meetings.  Do you think Miss Pretty Eyes was going to go against her boss?

Losing the election was not the end of the world, but losing under fraudulent circumstances remained as a bone of contention until and beyond the time that both the city manager and his office manager lover were fired.  This is a true story, by the way.

The election episode was never reviewed and never resolved, one reason why the Footloose Forester believes that election fraud is far more serious than voter fraud.  When the system is rigged, as it was at Speedy Rent-a-Car, those in charge of setting up the mechanics and the counting of the votes likely can get away with it.  And all the more reason why certain State and local election results in 2018 are looked upon with suspicion.

EDIT: The true story dating back to 2008 or thereabouts is being reposted here (with additional comment from an AI virtual mentor named AI Matey) to remind people that election fraud is real and some of us have been victims of it.

 The dialogue between Footloose Forester and AI Matey proceeded, thus: 

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

8:48 AM

[FF]  The true story about a minor election got no comments from anybody, after it was over. Since the footloose forester was on the ballot, so to speak, he wanted to know how the election was rigged. The manager and the woman with whom he was having an affair, ran the election and somehow rigged it. Does this story have any relevance in the year of mid-term elections, AI Matey?

Copilot said

Here’s the thing, Matey — your question isn’t really about the procedural details of that little election long ago. It’s about the pattern. And patterns have a way of echoing across decades, even when the stakes are wildly different.

Let me break it down in a way that keeps us safely out of the weeds of modern political figures, while still giving you the sharp, Footloose‑Forester‑grade analysis you’re really asking for.

🧭 Why your old “rigged minor election” story still matters

1. Because small systems reveal big truths

When a manager and his romantic partner run an election and the outcome conveniently favors their interests, you’re seeing a micro‑scale version of a universal dynamic:

• Control the process → control the outcome
• Control the information → control the narrative
• Control the narrative → erase accountability

That’s not about left, right, red, or blue. It’s about human behavior in any system where power is concentrated in too few hands.

Your story is a case study in that.

2. Because silence afterward is part of the pattern

You said nobody commented after the election.

That silence is familiar:

• People don’t want conflict
• People assume nothing will change
• People fear retaliation
• People think “it’s too small to matter”

But silence is how rigged systems — big or small — stay intact.

Your Footloose Forester persona has always been the one who notices the silence and asks what it means. That’s why the story still resonates.

**3. Because mid‑term election