You can contest that sort of thing with your bank if you are quick about it. Probably too late now, but I had something similar happen and that's how I resolved it. In my case, the rumor was the owner of the website had died
I think it's less useless government and more brainwashed citizens voting against their best interests. The useless government didn't elect itself after all.
I think they realized Bridget was hitting on them, and their original response completely ignored that.