A little light relief - The Greatest American

[Kipper58]

I posted this tale in GD a short while ago, but I guess it's not the right place for levity today!



“Grandad, what was the GOP?” The tousle-haired little boy looked up at the old man, who smiled kindly at the innocence of the question.

“Well – it’s a long, long time since I heard that expression!” He scratched his head absent mindedly as he wondered how to explain the strangest event in American history to an inquisitive six year old.

“It was a very long time ago, when I was a young man, that there was a thing called Politics.”

“Politricks – what are they?” said the boy.

The old man laughed heartily. “That’s the best description I’ve ever heard, son. There were plenty of tricks played, that’s for sure, but it was called PoliTICS, not tricks.

Anyway, before the Change, there were men and women who made a living by pretending that they knew the best way to run the country. Of course, none of them did, but it didn’t stop the from getting together in Parties. One of them was known as the GOP.”

Did they have balloons at their parties, Grandad?”

“They sure did, but only when they were trying to get people to let them run the Government” smiled the old man. “Most of the time,they were really trying to make sure that they were able to cheat people out of their share of the money that everybody helped to make, and give it to their friends. They were really good at it too – of course they had the help of most of the TV and newspapers, because they were their friends too, and they got lots of the money.”

“But that’s not fair, is it – I would never cheat other people, just to have more money” The little boy looked perplexed.

“That’s because you were born after the Change, son. People back then didn’t know the things we know now – We’ve got The Greatest American to thank for that. If it hadn’t been for that one man, we would probably have started a war in the Middle East that could have spread right round the whole world.” The old man, stood up, and took his grandson’s hand. Together they started to walk home, and in a little while they passed the familiar statue of The Greatest American in the town square.

The old man thought again how strange life could be. Who would have thought that a man could have a mild stroke just as he stepped up to a live microphone, and not only have an instant change of personality, but also tell the waiting TV audience that the Bush administration had let 9-11 happen on purpose. In the days that followed, every dirty trick was confessed to – every lie admitted. Of course, once the juggernaut of truth started to roll, no amount of spin could stop it. Politics as it had been known ceased to exist. The Change meant the end of corporate power – the old man shuddered as he remembered the executions. The revenge of the yes-men was a frightening thing to behold.

Yes, life sure was strange, he thought, as he looked up at the statue of The Greatest American – Karl Rove.