Our two and a half heroes proceeded toward the castle on the hill.  Sir Tristan noted that although it was growing dark, he could see the top most turret of the castle just above the horizon.

Elfin would have pointed it our first, but he was er...closer to the ground and the horizon for him was shorter in distance.

They reached the front gate of the fortress in the dead of night. I like to say 'dead of night'. But what does that mean? Is there a life of night? I mean, one as talented as myself would surely be the life of the party, as long as it was not the republican party. But 'dead of night' I think means that it is real dark and spooky like and eerie things may occur at any time. Kind of neat huh. I mean when you are safe in your apartment and everything.

I have an idea, Sir Quinn said. We shall go around to the side where they let the peasants in to clean up the manure and stuff. We shall park our steeds just over there and cover ourselves with the blankets. And Elfin will aid us in our disguise because when the guards see us they will immediately figure: How dangerous could this threesome be when they bring an elf with them?

Tristan thought and thought.  Good idea, but let us find some buckets on the way and carry them to further aide us in our ruse? And you Quinn must do the talking, I want you to go back to your old brogue and sound more the peasant.

They tied their two and half steeds and stole around the side of the structure. Pails all over the place. They carefully picked them up, each taking two and finally found the entry to the stables.

As predicted there were two ale swigging guards, deep into their cups as it were and the pair stumbled out to greet the trio.

WHAT'S ALL THIS THEN?

We have come for the pailing, like we always do at this time.

What pailing?

Oh good, after all these here years, we are finally free Jacob and Tom. Why these two mugs do not wish us to clean excess manure tonight. We shall go home and party early and....

WAIT, WAIT, WAIT.  All righty then. Uh..er...we were busy on other matters and forgot the crew. You must proceed. Now if this here is Jacob and that is Tom who art thou?

Why Shiteface you mole. Who else would it be?

Good, good, good then. Proceed.

Tristan and Quinn and Elfin tossed their blankets and their pails after they had meandered through the stables and found a back staircase and began to climb as surreptitiously as they could. They climbed and they climbed following Elfin who knew the way to the damsel's quarters.

And they climbed and they climbed and they climbed.  

God I am glad I quit smoking last month, gasped Quinn.

Tristan blessed himself. As they came to the entrance, the grand doorway to the quarters they heard some talking and stopped. Tristan peer in and saw Thera standing over the Bastard knight who was on his knees.

Somehow the movers and shakers of all stripes like yourself seem to forget the power of the truth and what it means to humanity.  Tyrants like yourself just tell 'all out' lies. Right and left, within days, sometimes even hours, you powerful folks have told lies, even to a compliant press, and think that you will never be exposed - by bloggers - often just by using the google.

I guess when you get to a really powerful position in government or finance, you've been able to fool or steamroll a lot of people along the way.  Maybe those under you or in thrall to your power have kowtowed and given you a sense of invincibility.  So maybe you delude yourself, thinking that you can do whatever you want or talk your way into or out of anything.  That no one will question you - ever - and that will be the end of it.  Maybe you get so powerful you think your words will trump actual reality.

What other explanation is there for this series of bluffs, threats, and lies conducted publicly by blaggarts like yourself (and others) - who are then exposed by bloggers (even comedians) digging into the facts?  Facts that newspapers apparently don't always check anymore.   Facts that are right there at your fingertips if you just use da google.  Or if not yet on the web, soon will be - as bloggers echo across the web demanding that the facts be made public.

Think about it.  Will you people not learn?  Have you not noticed that your torture was exposed?  Your lawyers try to make poorly reasoned torture memos, thinking you can cover up your sins.  But grand organizations like the Red Cross make secret reports public.  That if you lie to Dave Letterman, he's gonna expose you that very night?  That Jon Stewart can do investigative journalism with the best of them.  That telling lies about "the bridge to Camelot" and the fake "true story" about Katrina make  politicians like you  look like a dolt.  After all that, do they think we are not paying attention to this financial mess?

Have you really so convinced yourself that you - and only you - are the best and the brightest - and therefore entitled to pull the wool over the eyes of the rest of us?  And that we won't find you out?

And you wonder, you ask me why your nightmares will not cease. Why your heart burn will not go away even though you take the best of medicines for acid reflux disorder? And why you find your bed so wet every morning.

IT IS YOUR DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT THAT HAS DONE ALL OF THIS.

Running around torturing people. Beating the peasants. THAT'S NOT RIGHT. And being so unkind to your horses. THAT'S NOT RIGHT. And calling the greatest of kings, my King Arthur those terrible names. THAT'S JUST NOT RIGHT.

Please. Please. Enough. I give up. You are so right. I have been so wrong. Cried the Bastard Knight.

And do not think that you can hide behind that excuse that your parents never married either. And I have just begun so sit there...or kneel there...and listen up.

Look, I may not be a financial wizard but I sure as heck can spot a bunch of liars when they're doing it right in front of my face!   I'm beginning to think that some of these folks that work their way into the board rooms and the CEO offices and sometimes even the Treasury Dept or the Dept of Justice - and god knows even the presidency and the vice-presidency - are so drunk on the illusion of the power they wield, so intoxicated with their own ability to weave financial and judicial webs - that they simply haven't noticed the power of the web.  And the power that the web gives the people.

It would be laughable, if this were not so deadly serious.

The AIG fiasco is just one example.  Consider how many people, inside and outside that company, have tried to hide things - unsuccessfully.  First they thought they could hide their fraudulent financial fluff.  Then they wanted to hide where the bail-out money went.  Next they tried the bonus bamboozle.  And then it's "Dump on Dodd" day.   So they spread a story that Dodd did it, but within hours,  that's exposed as a lie too!

Remember the Bridge to Camelot?  And the person who told the lie about it over and over?  That lie got exposed right away - but the person kept right on telling it, even after admitting it was a lie, right on the tv!   And that was just one of her lies - that got exposed.   

Remember that hapless "rebuttal" to the State of the Union?   Bad enough that the speech became a running joke.  But why did you have to lie on top of giving a bad speech?  Naturally, in no time at all, his made-up story,  which he swore was true, was exposed as lie.

Ok.  We've got the picture.  Now why in the heck do you powerful people not get the picture?

Powerful folks, I'm gonna give you a piece of advice:

The bloggers are sitting in front of computers.  Right there, on their own screens, that are right in front of their eyes, they have all the tools to find out your lies.  They can google.  They can email people, asking for information.  They can phone people, even while looking at the computer.  They can share everything they find out - very quickly - over these same screens that are sitting right in front of them.  Comedians are making use of things like this now.  Congress is paying attention to the web.  And even the newspapers have been forced to attend to blogs.

    Message:   Tell the truth!   Or we will find out!


We are living through a huge transformation.  We on the web are part of it.  Therefore to us it's clear as day.  But it would appear that many in powerful places haven't yet realized how very exposed they are.  Honestly, I find it hard to believe!  But there it is....

Oh, I am so sorry, the Bastard Knight said with tears running down his ugly cheeks. They were all a part of it you know, it was not just me. All my knights kept quiet all these years. And the Bards and the Heralds all were complicit in what I tried to do. And should not all of this guilt be spread around. And please, oh please, keep those bloggers far away from me. I have never seen one of those there computers you keep talking about, I know they do no good to the likes of me. Oh please, I give up. I will change my ways.

Tristan looked at his two companions. What the f....is all this then? Q, have you ever seen anything like this? Who is this Letterman guy anyway?

Quinn responded: Thera has been to lands we have not seen and experienced things we shall never experience. Ours is not to wonder why, ours is to take advantage of this and rearrange some things in this castle.

With that the two heroes entered the room.

Thera, we are here to save you from this monster, the Bastard Knight and to do right. We are from the Court of King Arthur and I am Tristan and this is Sir Quinn.

ELFIN. There you are. Oh Elfin. You came to save me from a fate worse than, as it were. Come to me my precious.  And with that Elfin ran to Thera and she picked him up and hugged him.

And with that, the horrible Bastard Knight reformed.  He rearranged the castle. And he went out and found his parents and made them get married so he would not be a bastard anymore.

And Frederick the Great, his new name, proceeded through life without the lies-although always looking over his shoulder for those damn pc's and those dangerous bloggers.

And Frederick quit beating the peasants and the horses. And he developed a new way of spreading the wealth in his kingdom.

And he offered his fief and loyalty to King Arthur. And he joined the Democratic Party and fought injustice where ever he found it. And Thera stayed for awhile to help make these changes and to make sure that Frederick did not relapse.
Oh and Frederick quit wetting his bed and he was cured of his acid reflux disease and his lumbago went away also.

And everybody kind of lived happily ever after.