Grifter's Last Stand

The grand halls of the Capitol, once echoing with rehearsed speeches and empty promises, had become the stage for a full-blown panic. The air was thick with desperation as career politicians, their pockets lined with taxpayer money funneled through shell agencies and bloated bureaucracies, scrambled to preserve their cash cow.

The reform movement had started as a whisper—a quiet demand for accountability—but it had grown into a storm. Auditors, armed with ledgers and subpoenas, marched through government offices like an occupying force, peeling back layers of corruption so deep that even seasoned grifters were caught off guard.

For decades, these agencies had existed as nothing more than glorified money pits, siphoning billions under the guise of public service. Fake initiatives, redundant programs, and consulting contracts that led nowhere—each was a carefully crafted scheme to reward allies and secure endless reelection funds. Now, with every audit, another lifeline was severed.

The reaction from the guilty was as predictable as it was pathetic. In the Senate chamber, filibusters dragged on for hours, not out of principle, but out of sheer terror. Red-faced politicians spewed nonsense, stalling votes with rants about manufactured crises and impending doom should their pet agencies be shut down. In the streets, paid agitators—riled up by backdoor deals with activist groups—were unleashed, their chants conveniently aligning with the interests of those who had looted the nation for years.

The media, ever obedient to the hand that fed it, parroted the narrative of “dangerous extremism” against those daring to expose the corruption. Talking heads screeched about "attacks on democracy" while conveniently ignoring the fact that the agencies in question had done nothing but drain the public dry.

But the people had seen too much. They had watched their wealth disappear, their communities crumble, and their futures be sold off piece by piece. The reformers were relentless, and no amount of screaming, stalling, or manufactured outrage could stop what was coming. The golden era of unchecked grift was crumbling, and the rats in the system knew it.