A Time for War by Michael Savage

from 2009. On that particular show were José Colon, a scientist from Caltech; Rebecca Walsh, the press officer of Squarebeam; and host Jack Hatfield. Griffith scanned the document to a section that had the gunpowder smell of a smoking gun:
    Hatfield: Dr. Colon, you’ve analyzed the original CelesTellia system and the new Squarebeam system.
    Colon: Yes, sir.
    Hatfield: What differences did you find?
    Colon: There are none.
    Walsh: That’s simply not true—
    Hatfield: I didn’t ask about the separate components your company is selling, which shield electrical systems from Squarebeam. Those components are a patch. They don’t fix the actual broadband technology itself.
    Walsh: They aren’t a patch, they are integrated components—
    Colon: Which have to be installed separately in all vulnerable electrical systems. That’s not my definition of “integrated.”
    Hatfield: And that’s a lot of fighter jets, battleships, tanks, and a whole army of other vehicles, which will need those components. Is Richard Hawke going to sign all those contracts by hand?
    Walsh: The components are only a precaution for those who want it. The technology is safe.
    Colon: It is not. Military aircraft passing through your firm’s transmissions have had near-catastrophic electrical failures—
    Walsh: Absolutely untrue.
    Hatfield: These integrated components sound like the protection rackets run by the Mob. If you don’t buy my add-on, the source hardware will kill you.
    Colon: Exactly.
    Walsh: Mr. Hatfield, it is irresponsible and insulting for you to compare our firm with the Mafia.
    Hatfield: I’m sorry. You’re right. The Mafia doesn’t have connections with the President of the United States.
    Walsh: Another unfounded allegation—
    Hatfield: Ms. Walsh, I have here stock certificates issued to the President when he was still a community organizer. He held over a thousand shares of stock in CelesTellia.
    Walsh: Which he sold when he ran for public office, even though that was not required by law.
    Hatfield: Yes, and Richard Hawke donated barrels of money to his political campaign for the Senate and then for the White House. And Hawke is still donating. My sources say a quarter million to the President last year and a quarter million to Congress.
    Walsh: Mr. Hawke is a private citizen making legal contributions.
    Hatfield: Mr. Hawke is making a lot of wheels very greasy. Those of you watching at home or listening on the radio: Truth Tellers will continue to investigate the dangers posed by the Squarebeam technology and its spin-offs—
    Walsh: There are no dangers—
    Hatfield:—and will tell you what we discover in a future follow-up segment.
    There was no future segment. After inciting international fury over comments about Muslims, Jack Hatfield was off the airwaves. Griffith had read about that in a journalism blog.
    She reread the Truth Tellers transcript. There was no question that Hatfield wasn’t being impartial, but considering what was at risk and the weight of the corporation he was fighting, Griffith couldn’t begrudge him his approach. In the end, the last public word on Squarebeam technology was still an open-ended one.
    She turned to a quick search of the records on Richard Hawke. Hawke, already a communications mogul, had founded CelesTellia mostly on his own dime but with some funds from a small group of investors. He acquired the broadband technology when he merged with a small phone service company. CelesTellia’s version of that technology was created and tested. Then CelesTellia ran into trouble with the military and Hawke shut it down. He reopened it as Squarebeam and—reportedly—used his relationship with the President to protect the new company and secure military contracts.
    â€œWhen Hawke had Squarebeam ready to go, he got his old friend the President to drop the Top Secret curtain,” Griffith muttered. “Behind the