Rising Above: A Campaign Against Intolerance

From Paris to the Court Room

Jess and Anni flew to Paris, eagerly anticipating Taylor Swift's Era's tour. Upon arrival, Taylor introduced them to Travis before the show and then hurried off to prepare for the first set. They were ushered to a booth reserved for Taylor's guests, immersed in the electric energy of the crowd. For three hours, they sang, screamed, and shed tears of joy as Taylor delivered a spellbinding performance.

After the concert, Taylor eagerly inquired about their thoughts. Anni, her voice still hoarse from yelling, was the first to speak up. "It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen," she exclaimed, her enthusiasm contagious. Jess echoed her sentiments, "OMG, that was absolutely amazing!" Taylor beamed with delight, clinging to Travis, who wore a proud grin. As it was getting late, Anni proposed meeting Taylor and Travis the next morning at a nearby Parisian café, where she had something special she wanted to show them. Jess suggested it would also be an opportunity to update them on the latest developments regarding the deepfake investigation. Taylor enthusiastically agreed, and they made plans to reconvene the next day.

The following morning, they stepped into a charming coffee shop adorned with artwork, where they were warmly greeted by the owner, Madame Juliette who hugged Anni joyfully. Anni introduced her to Jess, Travis, and Taylor. Madame Juliette, already familiar with Taylor, expressed her admiration for the talented musician and poet. She personally attended to their table, serving them each a Café Crème, a specialty of the house, which she insisted they try. Anni took the opportunity to share a heartwarming anecdote about her parents' first meeting in the café, eliciting smiles and a chorus of "how sweet" from Taylor.

Anni proudly pointed out two paintings hanging above the front counter. "My mom painted those," she said with a sense of pride. "Wow, those are beautiful. Your mom is so talented," Taylor remarked. "Anni, I just love this place; it oozes romance. Did your father propose to your mother here?" she inquired. Anni responded with a "Yes they did" and a playful wink directed at Travis, who appeared slightly flustered as he remarked, "The Café Crèmes are really good." Taylor exchanged a knowing glance and smiled back at Anni.

Just then, Juliette arrived with their breakfast, much to Travis's relief. "Oh, this looks so good", Taylor and Jess both said. As they ate, Jess and Anni began to update Travis and Taylor on the latest developments regarding the deepfakes. Jess explained that the evidence points to Trump's involvement in hiring Q and people like him to disseminate deepfakes on extremist social media sites to harm the reputation of people and organizations he sees as threats to his re-election and, more importantly, he's using Deepfakes to interfere with elections and their outcome and that is a criminal offense and the FBI has agreed to investigate. Travis expressed little surprise at Trump's involvement and mentioned Trump's claiming credit for Tay's success. "What the hell," Taylor said, almost jumping out of her seat. "Calm down babe Travis says, I'm sure that Jess and Anni are going to take care of it.

Anni interjected, "Trump is claiming that his signing of the Music Modernization Act is responsible for not only yours but all Musical Artists' success. In reality, Trump did nothing on the legislation except sign it. I bet he doesn't even know what the Music Modernization Act does. Someone should ask him what the bill actually accomplished" Taylor jumped in, "I wasn't a huge beneficiary of the Music Modernization act. It mostly targeted songwriters who weren't successfully collecting royalties and pre-1972 artists who weren't paid for radio plays. Most of my success and wealth are from me working my ass off on the Eras tour and my 11 albums. He attacks me and then takes credit for my hard work. What an ass.

Just then, Travis spots an elderly man with a camera watching them from another table. "Oh, oh, paparazzi," he says. Madame Juliette overhears Travis and walks over to the man, then returns to their table.

"That's Louis, he's a reporter for Charlie Hebdo. He comes in every morning for breakfast. He's very polite and asked if he could take a picture."

"Wow, a polite member of the paparazzi, that's different," Taylor says.

Anni interjects, "Charlie Hebdo is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. The magazine focuses on anti-racist, skeptical, secular, and libertarian publications about the far-right, religion, politics, and culture. They were targeted by extremists in 2015, and eleven of their journalists were killed."

"That's horrible," Taylor says.

Taylor waves Louis over, and he takes a picture of the four of them. Then, he asks to take a picture of Anni by herself, standing in front of her mother's paintings. Taylor looks confused as Louis takes Anni's picture. As Louis and Anni walk back to the table, Louis says, "Merci, Mademoiselle Anni." He continues speaking in French, telling Anni how he has been following her story in the American press and would like to do a feature for his magazine about the adventures of a daughter of France working to ensure America's democracy.

Anni quickly translates for the others before agreeing to meet with Louis that afternoon, but only briefly as their flight leaves later on. Taylor stares at Anni before telling her, "I can't believe you just upstaged me, Anni," and everyone laughs.

That afternoon, Anni meets with Louis, who asks her many questions, including who she will be voting for in the upcoming election. Anni answers, "I really don't like Biden or Trump. Who I really want to see in office is Nikki Haley."

"The Republican?" Louis looks shocked.

"Actually, her views are middle of the road and not extreme, and she's not 80 years old," Anni says.

With that, Anni bid Louis a fond farewell as she and Jess headed for the airport. Before returning home, she made a stop at the parish to pick up Napoleon. "How was your trip?" Father Dunkin asked.

"It was wonderful, Father," Anni replied with a smile.  She looks over at Napoleon, who is busy running across Father Dunkin's  desk to see her.  "How was Napoleon?", Anni asks.  "Oh we're like old friends" Father Dunkin says.

Father Dunkin then informed her about the recent developments. "James and Scott were finally able to raid the Trump Tower security office and take several staff members into custody, including Billy's boss. The Justice Department plans to follow the trail as high up in the Trump organization as it will take them, but they are proceeding with caution. Trump is already whipping his base into a frenzy, claiming that the raid was another assault on democracy and his legitimate claim to the White House. Scott mentioned that the Justice Department will be contacting you about a possible court appearance."

Anni nodded thoughtfully, understanding the gravity of the situation. "Thank you for letting me know, Father. I'll be ready when they call."