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Jack said, “Well, there might not be a trial.”
“What? Why?”
“Because a man loves his wife so much he’s willing to go to prison for the rest of his life so she can go free to raise their children,” said Jack somberly.
DuBose eyed Jack with a harsh look and hastily added, “That is strictly off the record. And it is by no means certain.”
Miller said, “Absolutely. And I’m sorry if that’s how it turns out.”
“Can anybody join this party or is it some kind of private thing?”
They turned to see Howard Pickett striding purposefully up to them. He held out his hand to Miller. “Howard Pickett, ma’am, and you are?”
“Cheryl Miller, CBS.”
“You folks have a grudge or something against the American people?”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” said Miller.
Pickett looked at the cameraman. “Can I get some equal time here?”
Miller hesitated, but then nodded at her cameraman, who readied his equipment.
“Okay, Mr. Pickett, you were saying?” said Miller.
“The American people are fighting a war against the commies in Vietnam, but to hear you folks and others tell it, we’re the bad guys. But America is always the good guy, so we need to let our fine citizens know that our cause is just. The commies are godless. We are not. And we are fighting another war right here. For the soul of this nation.”
“Thank you, Mr. Pickett,” said Miller politely.
“Hold on there, I’m not finished, honey. The soul of this nation. George Wallace knows that. He hears the real people of this country, the moms and dads trying to keep a roof over their heads and bread on the table. Understands their concerns. Not the elites, not the wealthy.”
“Wealthy like you, Mr. Pickett?” interjected DuBose, stepping into the shot.
“I use my money for the common man,” said Pickett smoothly. “George Wallace understands that. We had great prosperity in the fifties and folks knew their place. Now, let me say up front and unequivocally, I got nothing against the Negroes, not a racist bone in my whole body. Colored man drives me around in fact, and I pay him fair and square. But the fact is, we are a country founded by white Anglo-Saxons. Now, so long as everyone knows where they stand, or can sit, or eat or sleep, things will be fine. I can’t think of anything fairer than that.”
Miller said, “Mr. Pickett, did you know that George Wallace used to advocate for equal treatment for Blacks?”
Pickett grinned at her. “Then he ran into John Patterson in the 1958 governor’s race and got his ass handed to him ’cause Alabamans didn’t want anything to do with being forced to associate with certain folks. That’s not democracy, that’s not freedom, that’s what dictators do.”
“So we all go back to Jim Crow then?” said DuBose. “That’s your solution?”
“Worked fine for both whites and coloreds. Just ask ’em.”
Miller motioned to her cameraman to cut the shot.
Pickett saw this and smiled. “Some people just don’t like to hear the truth, do they? Could tell you were one of them just by looking at you, hon.”
Miller thought for a moment and then said, “All right. While you’re here I do have some questions to ask you.” She motioned to her cameraman, who started to record once more.
“Fire away, little lady,” said Pickett.
“Your coal mines have the worst safety record in the country with numerous fatalities, and your company has been fined more than fifty times for serious violations. In addition, pollution from one of your mines near Wheeling, West Virginia, tainted the area’s entire water supply. And strikebreakers employed by you attacked and badly injured three miners, for which you have been sued and are also being investigated by the FBI. How would you respond to all that?”
Pickett slowly took out a toothpick from his pocket and rolled it around his mouth. “Your viewers will see right through what you’re trying to do. Changing the subject to frivolous lawsuits against me and trying to hide the truth of my words from the American people. Well, good luck with that. My money is on average Americans knowing exactly what I’m trying to do, and how George is going to protect them from godlessness, and angry, dangerous folks that are as different from them as it’s possible to be.”
After he walked off, Miller said, “Just so you know, we will not run any of his lies. But I will show the piece on the coal mining.” She smiled.
Miller and her cameraman departed, and Jack said to DuBose, “Let’s go talk to Battle and see what deal he’ll take, if any.”
