There is a stench in the air in and around Fort Smith and I'm not talking about the smell of the dog food plant on Wheeler or the smell that wafts from the P Street Treatment Plant that all us po' folk get to smell over here on the north side of town when the prevailing wind is blowing north-northeast.
The smell I am talking about is a cross-pollination of corruption and cronyism, tinged with an ample tincture of unethical behavior and practices and sweetened by the gauche and deliberate scent of elitism and the fragrance of arrogance.
The bottom line? The aroma is killing this town from the inside out. Those with the franchise on and control of the atomizers keep --like a skunk in heat -- emitting odors that are so stark and stunning it makes some of want to take a tomato sauce and peroxide bath.
There is a criminal element among us. They know who they are. I know who they are. And they know that I know who they are.
A group of "interested investors" floated a balloon toward buying "Today in Fort Smith" earlier in the month. The amount they offered, the unwillingness of their mouthpiece to identify the "potential buyer(s)" and the caveat that I go away for at least twenty-four months and not start another "news website" told me all I need to know to make my decision.
I'm not making this up. I even discussed it with my attorney and some other prominent citizens.
The answer was always going to be "no". There were three reasons.
They offered too much for the product. I already know who was behind it. And I'm just "an ol' boy with a stupid blog". Why in the world to they want me silenced for two years?
Currently, I am sitting on four stories that I shouldn't be sitting on but publishing two of those would result in my source being outted, which given the way things are done here in The Fort, means those souls would be the victim of immediate repercussions.
A third story is left to incubate because a person I have a great deal of respect for asked me to sit on it until they can verify some facts and the fourth awaits publication because I still have one or two dots to connect.
And until I do, my broke ass ain't risking a lawsuit from parties whose response to everything is to file a lawsuit. I have a good lawyer who has my backside, but I'm not in the habit of going out and looking for and/or inviting litigation and without every "i" dotted and every "t" crossed that would be my fate.
All of this will come out in the months to come. Come hell or high water. To keep my sources safe, I'll find another way to verify the information on the first two stories.
As for the person that I agreed to "sit on" a story for when they finally realize they have all the facts they need they will come around and want their story told. And it's going to be uglier than Belle Starr with a face full of shotgun pellets.
And the fourth story? There are currently pending legal matters that will provide me with everything I need to connect the rest of the dots. All in due time. Featly allegiance only goes to far. Crony loyalty has its limits.
There are those out there that mock my mission. The only "truth" that matters to them is what they can make you believe and convince you to tolerate. And I'm not talking about two or three jake-legged wannabes that just echo whatever the Powers Than Continue To Be tell them they are allowed to think.
This snake was many heads, but each of those heads is ruled and controlled by one serpent. When you follow the money, it goes back to a mythological reptile.
Confused? You won't be for much longer.
Promise.