20 comments/ 7952 views/ 1 favorites The Most Frightening Thing Is.... By: SuperHeroRalph This is a Halloween contest story. Too many readers don't vote. Please vote. I need the support of your vote. * Do you know what the most frightening thing on Earth is? Go ahead and guess. Think about it. I bet you don't know what the most frightening thing on Earth is. What is the most frightening thing on Earth? Is it something living or something dead? We all have something that terrifies us, what terrifies you? God forbid, something happens to our children, an accident or an illness, is frightening. Our wives or girlfriends having a scare with breast cancer is horrifying. Our husbands or boyfriends having an accident at work or getting in a car accident is frightening. Our parents having a stroke, a heart attack, or getting cancer is frightening, too. Yet, assuming our children, our wives, our girlfriends, our husbands, our boyfriends, and our parents are all healthy, what is the most frightening thing on Earth? A Grizzly bear is frightening, when coming upon one in the woods? They can rip your head off with just one swipe of their paw. As if appearing from out of nowhere, a Polar bear that materializes against the white background of ice and snow is frightening, too? Other than being at Sea World, imagine being in the water with an Orca whale or a Great White shark? Either one of those can bite you in two with one bite. Attracting dozens of them, they can smell blood from two miles away. What about birds? You wouldn't think that a little bird would be frightening, but there are people who have a phobia of things that fly, such as a bat. For those who fear birds, big birds, how about an Eagle, a Vulture, or a Condor? Hawks have been known to carry off small pets. Any of those birds can tear the skin from your bones and actually pick you clean. Certainly, if you're not already dead, that's a horrible way to die. Fortunately for you, birds only eat dead things. What about bugs? Are you afraid of bugs? Lots of people hate bugs. Imagine waking up and your floor is so thick with cockroaches that it appears that you have a black, moving rug. Your walls appear as if you have moving artwork and your ceiling is a sea of the giant pests. Now a roomful of cockroaches would be frightening to everyone, except for an entomologist or maybe to a Navy Seal. Having seen it all and done it all, those dudes are crazy. How about a swarm of bees or millions of biting ants? With no place to run and no place to hide, that's crazy frightening? How about a Black Widow or a Recluse spider? Unless you have some anti spider poisonous serum handy, you don't want to be bitten by one of those, especially if your immune system is already compromised with another illness. For that matter, you don't want to be bitten by any one of dozens of poisonous snakes that slither around the Earth. If snakes and spiders scare you, I suggest you stay away from the south west of the United States and all of Australia, especially the outback. We haven't even broached some of the more dangerous animals and reptiles, such as lions, tigers, hippos, crocodiles, and alligators. All of those things are deadly to humans. So, tell me, now that we have a list of scary things, what living thing scares you? Now that we considered some of the most frightening living things on Earth, what about the dead? Without doubt, there are a lot of dead things that are frightening. What about a ghost? Do you believe in ghosts? Are you afraid of ghosts? How about a ghoul or a goblin? Certainly, a ghost, ghoul, or a goblin would scare the bejesus out of me, especially if I were lying in bed in the dark. I can only imagine if I was staying overnight in an unfamiliar place, in someone's house or if I was a guest at a hotel that appeared haunted. Now, that would be frightening suddenly feeling the presence of a ghost or seeing a ghoul or a goblin. What about witches? Do you believe there are witches? If you don't believe in witches, you should. There are lots of witches roaming the Earth. Are you afraid of witches, especially wicked witches? If you're not afraid of wicked witches, then you should be. There's no telling what a witch can do, especially a wicked witch. Some say Oprah is a witch, albeit a good witch, most times. We all already know that Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton, and Michele Bachmann are witches. Then there are all those vampires and werewolves to worry about. Have you ever seen a vampire and/or a werewolf? Except for your ex-wife or ex-husband, ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend, have you ever had your life's blood sucked from your body by a vampire or a werewolf? I know what frightens you. Everyone is afraid of the Devil. Right? Are you? The Devil can take on any form. The dangerous thing about the Fallen Angel is that you'd never know when you are being tested and tempted by Satan. You'd never know if it was the Devil or your mother. So, tell me, what frightens you? Because, to me, are you ready? The most frightening thing on Earth is... * * * * * "It's Halloween night. It's dark and it's spooky. All that's needed to complete the eerie atmosphere and the frightful illusion of the Halloween holiday is a full moon and a witch on a broom," said John, an unemployed accountant, to his friend Bob, an unemployed production worker. "I hate Halloween. As if ever little sound is suddenly amplified, being out here in the dark gives me the heebie jeebies," said Bob rubbing his crew cut, as if he had just emerged from the barbershop at boot camp. "I can't help feel that I'm on reconnaissance patrol in Iraq, instead of walking the street of my neighborhood." "You're right, Bob. Undeniably, there's something in the air. Listen," said John leaning his tall, lean body to the air to give his ear a listen. "Can you hear it?" "Yes," said Bob. "It's spooky. What is it? " "Wait," said John. "As if it's a premonition of something about to happen, can you feel it? Look," he said offering up his arm. "I have goose bumps." "Yeah, I can feel something alright," said Bob rubbing his arms with fear. "What in the Hell is that?" "Shh. Be quiet. Don't make a sound," said John. "They can hear you. They are listening. I can feel them listening. They always listen to whatever we say." "Oh, my God, now you're really scaring me," said Bob holding onto John's arm. "Who can hear me? Where are they? What are they?" "They are everywhere. They can see you. They watch us night and day. We're always under surveillance. We're always being watched. We can't go anywhere without them seeing us and listening to us." "Oh, my God, John. Oh, my God. I just felt something crawling on me and it wasn't of this Earth," said Bob. "Calm down, Bob. You're afraid, but don't be," said John. "Everyone fears the wrong things in life. Everyone fears the dead, the unknown, and the things we can't see." "I just hate creepy, crawling, dead things," said Bob, "especially if those creepy, dead things are crawling on me," he said rubbing his body all over, as if he had just walked through a giant spider web. "My mother always said the dead can't hurt you," said John with calm assurance. "My mother always said not to fear the dead but to fear the living. She was right, you know," he said looking over at his friend. "Yeah, well, you're mother is dead and if she suddenly appeared before me, trust me, I'd be afraid of her," said Bob. "The dead can no longer hurt you. It's the living that can. And these things, the most frightening things on Earth, are not dead but are alive. All this time, we've been fearing the wrong things. We must learn to fear the living, Bob," said John. "Yeah, well, the dead can be pretty scary, too, especially if you can't see them in the dark, John," said Bob looking all around him. "Everyone fears the shadows in the dark, the bumps in the night, and the howling in the distance. Yet, right there in front of us, right there in broad daylight, even captured on national television, magazines, and newspapers, there's something lurking not only in the background but right in front of us that's more horribly frightening than any monster you can possibly imagine." said John. "What is it? Is it Big Foot, the Abominable Snowman, Yeti? Or...is it (gulp) the missing link?" "No, I can assure you, it's nothing like that," said John with smugness. "Even though we've yet to capture one to prove they even exist, Big Foot is not real but imagined." "What is it, then? Do you know what the most frightening thing on Earth is? Can you describe it to me?" Bob looked to his friend for answers. "You can't even imagine the horror that it is and can do," said John, "that is, until it grabs you by the throat, turns you upside down, shakes out your pockets, and steals all of your money." "Money? It steals money? What the Hell is it that it knows enough to steal my money? Is it thieves?" "Well, yes, they are thieves," said John, "albeit legal criminals given our carte blanche to rob us blind." "Are they gang members?" Bob looked around him, as if expecting someone to jump from out of a bush. "Gang members? Oh, you bet they are, without a doubt they are gang members," said John with a sad laugh. "Thick as thieves, they all stick together with hundreds on one side and hundreds on the other side." "Is it the Mexican cartel?" Bob hung onto his friend's arm. "I only wish they were the Mexican cartel," said John. "Unfortunately, this group of thieving and murdering criminals are much more violent, much more powerful, and much more lethal than mere drug lords and their posses. With machine guns in hand and bullets sprayed in every direction, at least, you'd see and hear the drug cartel coming. Unlike this group, you'd never see or hear them coming, until it's too late." "Who are they? Tell me. I need to know to protect myself from them," said Bob shaking with fear. "Protect yourself? Don't be silly. You can't protect yourself from them," said John. "Not only are they are too embedded and fully immersed in every day modern society but also they have the full power of the law on their side." "Is it the Mafia? La Costra Nostra? The Mob? Is that who you mean?" "No, the Mafia fears them. Even the Mob is powerless against them." "For God sakes, just tell me who they are, so that I can hide, when they come for me and for my family," said Bob quaking with apprehension. "You can't hide from them, Bob. You can't run from them. As if an evil cult, they are more diabolical than the Devil," said John. "Oh, my God," said Bob signing himself, while mumbling a prayer. "They are more evil than wicked witches. They are even scarier than demons, ghouls, and ghosts. They are, without doubt and without exception, more frightening then werewolves and vampires," said John looking at his friend with assurance, instead of with fear. "Oh, my God. I'll make my stand and fight them. I'm an American for God's sakes," said Bob sticking out his chest with pride. "I have a gun, several guns. I own an AK47. I'll shoot them where they stand. I'll blow off their frigging heads. Once a Marine, always a Marine. Semper Fi! I used to be and still am a Marine in heart, in mind, and in spirit," said Bob standing his ground, as if making his stand on his street. "Hoorah!" "Calm down, Bob. You can't fight them. With the pen being more powerful than any gun you have, they are more powerful than a mama Grizzly bear protecting her children, more deadlier than a Great White shark smelling blood, and more relentlessly inescapable than a pack of hungry Gray wolves that haven't eaten in two days and are tracking you, as if you're their next meal. Without a doubt, they are the most frightening things walking on the Earth," said John. "Oh, my God! Who are they? Just tell me who they are. Do you know? Where are they? Just tell me where they are. What are they? Just tell me what they are," said Bob showing signs of bravery. "They gather in every city, mostly the capitols is where they feed. Their main cave, the place where you'll find the most of them is right here in Washington, D. C.," said John. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God," said Bob making the sign of the cross again and again. "They're in Washington? Are they terrorists? Al Qaeda?" "Even though Moslems would think that this American group are the true terrorists of the world, they are not terrorists or Al Qaeda," said John. "What are they? Are they human?" "Human? No, they aren't human. Humans have feelings. They don't. Even if you kill one of them, even if you kill the leader, another leader is voted in to take his or her place," said John. "Are they animals? They must be animals, wild animals, natural born killers, just like my Rat terrier is a natural born killer," said Bob. "Oh, you bet they are killers," said John. "They go right for the jugular, especially when they smell money." "What are they? Who are they? Tell me, John. I need to know," said Bob. "Come closer, so that everyone doesn't hear and I'll tell you who and what they are," said John. "Are you ready?" "Yes," said Bob stepping in closer to his friend. "They are politicians," said John. "Yes, our elected representatives are the most frightening things on the Earth. They are the most diabolical and the most evil people that you hope never to meet in person." "Politicians? Really? But, my senator gave me a pen, albeit with his name on it, and my representative gave me a coffee mug, albeit with her name on it, too," said Bob. "They can't buy my loyalty with a pen or/and a coffee mug. I need more than that, Bob. I need a job," said John. "Me, too," said Bob. "I asked my senator and my representative to help me with a job and that's when they smiled at me, shook my hand, gave me a pen and a coffee mug, and directed me to the unemployment office. I stood in line with hundreds of others, who were just like me, out of work, out of money, and out of hope," said Bob. "See? I told you. Unfeeling, not caring, they are, as a group, scarier than demons, ghouls, and ghosts," said John. "Without doubt, they are more frightening than werewolves and vampires, especially when pulling one of their all night sessions, where they give one another raises, just before they go on vacation, while the rest of us suffer without a job, without money, without a home, and without hope." "Yeah, they gave themselves raises twice this year. You'd think when the rest of us are struggling, when so many of us are out of work, that they wouldn't rub their raises in our faces like that," said Bob shaking his head with sadness. "You'd think they'd have more sensitivity to the plight of the middleclass." "Let me ask you this," said John. "When was the last time you had a raise, Bob?" "A raise? Gees, I can't remember," said Bob scratching his head. "It's been a long time, years, when I was working, that is, since I had a raise," said Bob with sadness. "When was the last time you had a vacation?" John looked at his friend with understanding. "A vacation? Ha! What's that? Even when I was working, I couldn't afford to lose the overtime by taking so much as a day off from work, again, that is, when I had a job, never mind a vacation," said Bob with even more sadness. "When was the last time you worked out in your private gym, had lunch in your member only restaurant, and played golf for free at the tee time that was most convenient for you? With the best healthcare in place, healthcare not even offered to us, if we could afford it, when was the last time a doctor came to your office to call on you, instead of you having to wait for an appointment and wait in his or her waiting room?" "Wow, I never thought about those we elect to office in that way, but now I do," said Bob. "We all wish we had it as good as our (ahem) public servants, but we don't. We're all struggling, unnecessarily, I might add, at the hands of those we elected in good faith to represent our best interests and from those who have squeezed us tight enough to suck the life's blood from out of the middleclass," said John with growing frustration. "Those assholes," said Bob echoing John's frustration. "Yet, once we placed our hope and our trust in our elected officials, once they made it to Washington, and once they made their introductions and connections, we lost them to the betterment of themselves and to their party, instead of to the betterment of the people. The personal betterment of the politician first, party politics second, and people that sent them to Washington last. At our expense, they all must pay the piper to play the game of partisan politics," said John with growing anger, "a game we never get to play." "Cocksuckers," said Bob echoing John's anger. "Once they increased their staff budgets, once they opened their hands to bribery, their pockets to influence, and their campaign chests to favor special groups, they no longer represent the middleclass. Once twisted by the power, by serving on this committee and that committee, is when they put their agenda ahead of our agenda. Now a part of their own political machine, they don't need us, the middleclass voter, anymore. Self-serving, insulated and self-contained, the only time we see them is when they want money for their campaign," said John with insightfulness. "No good dirty bastards and bitches," said Bob. "A fate worse than death, trust me, I'd rather confront the Devil, a witch, a demon, a ghoul, a ghost, a goblin, a werewolf, and/or a vampire than to run into my elected officials," said John. "I'd rather listen to the broadcast warning system, testing signal for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, than to have to listen to our elected officials make another meaningless speech written by their speechwriter and not by them. We're all tired hearing them double talking from out of both sides of their mouths, while waffling on this position and that position, depending upon which way the wind is blowing." "What do they do in Washington, anyway?" Bob looked to his friend for the answer. "What do they do? I'll tell you what the they do. They do nothing. Other than to help their friends and relatives to jobs and other than to steal from us, they do absolutely nothing for us. Just as we're out of luck, out of money, and out of hope, they are out of touch, out of our reach, and out for themselves," said John with more frustration and more anger. "Dirty motherfuckers," said Bob. "While pointing the finger of blame at everyone else for their inability to do the job they were elected to do, what they do is to cause us more pain and more misery than any creature that prowls the Earth," said John. "Be afraid of politicians, especially when it's close to Halloween, close to reelection, and close to the time when they are all campaigning, having fund raisers, and enriching their campaign war chests." "Assholes," said Bob. "No good dirty assholes." "Speaking of campaign war chests, did you know that even when not reelected our public servants are allowed to keep whatever monies they collected for their campaign as (ahem) expenses?" "Seriously?" "Guess who put that law in place during one of their midnight sessions, when we were sleeping and/or working and too damn tired to care?" "No good sons of bitches and daughters of bastards," said Bob raising a fist of frustration in the air. "Did you know that many of these politicians have collected millions of dollars? We, many of us, who aren't even paid for our untaken sick days and/or vacation time, that is, those of us that have jobs, our elected officials are allowed to walk away with their mega banks." "Tell me about it," said Bob. "I had vacation time and sick days coming to me, when my company went out of business and laid me off from my job, just before the owner of the company bought himself and his wife brand new Cadillacs and took a vacation to the Cayman Islands." The Most Frightening Thing Is.... "Then, there are those greedy monsters, those super politicians, those politicians on steroids, sworn and determined to wreck havoc on the middleclass in favor of their rich friends and well heeled lobbyists," said John with even more anger. "They receive all expense paid free vacations, I mean, sorry, junket trips for research, of course, in the way we receive a free pen at the bank. These politicians are the worst of all the professional politicians. They are called Republicans." "I hate Republicans more than I hate the New York Yankees and now the Texas Rangers," said Bob. "Wait, free trips? When I can't even afford the transit fare to take a train into the city, why do my elected representatives receive all expense paid free trips for them and their wives? Are you kidding me? I thought we elected them to work in Washington and not to run off to Bali?" "Let me ask you this," said John. "Other than a cough and a cold or a bad batch of STDs, when's the last time anyone gave you anything for free? When was the last time anyone gave you an all expense paid, free trip? Being a politician is like winning the lottery daily. Being a politician is like being a rock star without needing to sing. By making laws that are for everyone but them, being a politician is having your cake and eating it, too." "Oh, my God, now that you mention it, I got a bad case of the clap, when I got with Cynthia from the old neighborhood," said Bob scratching himself. "Yet, I don't care so much about what all our elected officials have and what they are given. Good for them, if they can receive free stuff by always leaving out their hand and grabbing whatever they can get. What pisses me off is what the rest of us don't have and all that we're begrudged," said John. "Truth be told, politicians don't want any of us to have anything. In the way that Bush Jr. and his billionaire pal, the United States Treasurer, Paulson, opened the Treasury doors for all their buddies and passed out billions of dollars without even recording who received how much, they want to hoard all of our money for themselves and for their cronies." "Yeah, I couldn't believe it, when they did that, even though everyone was clamoring not to bail out the banks," said Bob. "The fact that Bush and Paulson passed out all that money and didn't even account for any of it is criminal. Why weren't they arrested? Why aren't they in jail?" "Now the Republicans point the finger at Obama because of the deficit, when they gave all our money away to banks and insurance companies, as if bonuses for putting us in a recession. The Republicans are the ones who got us into another war we can't win. The Republicans are the one who spent trillions of our tax dollars to benefit other countries, instead of spending that money here at home to give us all jobs," said John. "I wish I had a job," said Bob. "It's been years, since I brought home a weekly paycheck." "It's not Obama's fault. Bush was in office for 8 years wreaking his havoc, taking care of himself, and enriching his friends. Bush was the one who started the war with Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction he never found. Bush was the one who passed out all the undocumented TARP money, while Obama was the one who was trying to control what was going out the door," said John. "Unbelievable," said Bob. "Moreover, his father, Bush Sr., was in office for 12 years, 8 years as Vice President and 4 years as President. We, the middleclass, have suffered for 20 years under the Bush regime. It's no surprise we're in a recession with those two greedy bastards at the helm. When our graves were already dug by twenty years of Bushes, how is our plight Obama's fault? How can we expect Obama to fix in 3 years, all that it took the Bushes and a Republican House and Senate to do in 20 years?" "If you ask me," said Bob, "I think Obama is doing a good job." "Trust me, what I'm saying will make a lot of Republican loyalist angry, especially when they are so quick to point their fingers at Obama for all the jobs he promised but didn't deliver. Yet, let me ask you this, Bob," said John. "Ask me what?" "What happened to all those jobs the Republicans promised us for decades by us not taxing big business, oil, insurance, and pharmaceutical companies, those companies who can more than afford to pay their fair share? Where are those newly created jobs that they've been promising us for 40 years, if we don't raise taxes on big business? They said if we taxes big business that would surely stop job growth? Truth be told, we didn't raise taxes on big business and truth be told they didn't create any new jobs. We're still waiting for those jobs to be created and it's been 40 years of Republican lies," said John. "The check is in the mail and I won't cum in your mouth, it just goes to show that we can't trust the Republicans," said Bob. "What big business did, instead of creating jobs was to tighten their belts and increase their profits by laying off American employees and hiring and training foreign employees to replace them at a fraction of the American wages. Along with hundreds of other top companies, there's no secret that General Electric is guilty of doing just that, closing their plants in the United States and moving them to Brazil, India, and other countries all over the world." "Jobs my ass," said Bob picking up on John's insightfulness and angry tone. "The only thing the Republican tax breaks created were mega million dollar bonuses for their top management, at the expense of the rest of us. The only other thing that the Republican tax breaks create are lucrative lobbying jobs for politicians, when we finally vote them out of office and pry their greedy hands away from the money trough. Anyone who isn't earning more than $250,000 a year and votes a Republican in office is a moron and deserves what happens to them." "Herman Cain, a Republican running for President, wants to eliminate all deductions and loopholes in the present tax laws. It sounds like a good idea on the surface, that is, until you scratch the surface and dig deeper to see who will profit from his new tax laws and who will suffer from them," said John. "He wants a flat 9% income tax for all individuals, even though the middleclass pays, on average, less than 8% now. He wants to raise the sales tax to 9%, even though we all pay much less in sales tax now with some states paying no sales tax. Then, he wants to tax corporate America a flat 9%, even though many corporations pay more than that now." "What's wrong with this guy? Is he crazy? Is he drunk?" Bob shook his fist with a sudden rage. "Guess who will be subsidizing his tax plan? The middleclass," said John answering his own question. "Guess who will be paying more taxes, instead of less? The middleclass. Guess who will be paying less in taxes? Let's just say that under his tax plan the rich will get richer and the poor will be poorer." "That's just not fair," said Bob. "It sounds good. It sounds fair, but after closer examination, the middleclass will pay even more in taxes than what we pay now, while the big corporations will pay less." "Bastards, dirty bastards," said Bob. "Bitches, dirty bitches." "Yet, with big business backing him to create spin ads that the average middleclass worker will misconstrue, misinterpret, and misunderstand, they'll think that Herman Cain is on their side and working for them, the average man and woman, when he's not. Sadly and unfortunately, with the middleclass looking for someone to champion their causes and to help their plight, they are willing to cast their hope to anyone, Democrat or Republican, it doesn't matter, so long as they can get a job. Unfortunately, Cain's proposal is a crazy enough idea to get him elected. Can you see a Cain/Perry ticket or a Perry/Cain ticket?" "As long as I live, John," said Bob, "I'll never understand the success of the Republican party at the detriment of the middleclass. Who votes for all these Republicans, when all they do is to screw us over time and again? Are we all that stupid? Or too busy watching football and drinking beer and just don't care? You'd think the middleclass voter would learn by now that the Republican party only cares about the wealthy and about big business." "When asked about those that don't have a job and are unable to find work, Herman Cain said, and I quote, Don't blame the banks. The banks have nothing to do with this failed economy." "What? Huh? Come again? Did he just say that the banks have nothing to do with this failed economy? Are you kidding me?" Bob looked at his friend with shocked disbelief. "Then, why did we bailout the banks, Mr. Cain? After their Ponzi scheme of hedge funds and derivatives failed, why did the banks evict people from their homes and foreclose on all those houses? The banks were the ones who gave bad mortgages to people that never should have been approved," said John. "It was all just a scam," said Bob. "Countrywide Bank and Angelo Mozilo, another one of Bush's buddies, was responsible for 20% of all the questionable mortgages given. Countrywide Bank gave low interest and no interest loans to every politician who closed their eyes to what they were doing, while they earned huge profits and ruin the country. Why wasn't Mr. Mozilo arrested and thrown in jail? Why weren't Bush and Paulson and every Senator who took bribes to close their eyes thrown in jail? They all knew what Countrywide was doing was just building a house of cards," said John. "Without doubt, it was the banks that started the huge downhill collapse of the stock markets," said Bob was just as angry as John. "Those out of work should just get off their lazy asses and get a job, said Cain, as he climbed in his brand new, gas guzzling SUV," said John. "Get a job? What job? There are no jobs," said Bob. "If I was there, when he made that remark, I would have bitch slapped him. Those who have lost their homes, their jobs, and their 401Ks should all bitch slap him. They all should send Herman Cain a bitch slapping message by not voting him in office. He doesn't care about you. Do you understand? None of the Republicans care about you, mister average Joe and miss average Jane." "Tell me this, with the contempt that Cain has already shown for the middleclass, why would any struggling member of the middleclass vote his ass to Washington? Trust me, he's not good citizen Cain. He's already shown his cards," said John. "He's already played his hand. He's already told us that he doesn't care about the unemployed, the underemployed, and the middleclass as a whole. Game over. Let's send him packing back to his pizza business." "Well, I'll tell you this. I'll never vote for Cain or for any Republican," said Bob. "Matter of fact, I'll only give my vote to someone who gives me a job." "With their quick rich schemes, derivatives, hedge fund scams, and forever increasing bank fees, the banks and the insurance companies were the ones who started the economic collapse of housing and mutual fund markets, namely 401Ks," said John. "When all of us were struggling, when all of us were unemployed, when all of us were losing our homes, the banks and the insurance companies, besides the oil companies, were the only businesses making money. Yet, they were all there with their hands out wanting TARP money, while the rest of us couldn't even receive an unemployment extension." "Tell me about the unemployment extension. I'm still waiting and hoping they approve another unemployment extension," said Bob. "Obviously, screw the middleclass, Herman Cain is nothing but another non-caring, arrogant, and out of touch Republican hoping to line his pockets by championing the big business agenda," said John. "I guess he's looking for a few free all expense paid trips, too," said Bob. "Actually, what he's looking to do is to retire on our dime, while denying the rest of us the mere pittance of Social Security which, by the way, they haven't even so much as given a cost of living raise in two years, until just recently. Even though rent, food, and gas prices have gone through the roof in two years, the government claims that the cost of living hasn't increased enough to give those collecting Social Security a raise. If it was up the Republicans, they'd stop giving people Social Security, which they refer to as entitlements. By the way, did you know that a United States Senator only must serve one term of office, just six years, to receive a full pension and lifetime health insurance?" "Assholes," said Bob. "Alas America is filled with duped Americans who think that party or the other party is the answer to their salvation. Instead of having two parties working one against the other for their benefit and in defiance to our benefit, we need to have one party, the American Party," said John. "We need a political party that finally serves the masses and the majority, instead of enriching the minority and instead of one that helps themselves to all that we should be getting. Maybe the movement against Wall Street will create a party that the Tea Party should have been by creating a party that represents the poor and struggling middleclass, the 99% of the country, instead of big business, that filthy rich 1% of the country." "Yeah, I saw them on the news. It's spreading worldwide. I hope they take over every city in America," said Bob. "The biggest oxymoron is when a politician calls him or herself a public servant," said John. "Public servants my ass. Public thieves is more an appropriate term," said Bob. "Grabbing whatever isn't nailed down for themselves, their families, and as payback to their cronies back home, who helped them get elected and/or reelected in the first place, count your fingers, when shaking hands with one of these thieving bastards and bitches," said John. "If public servitude wasn't so profitable, why do so many averagely wealthy Americans leave office much richer than they were when they served the public?" "Yeah, the Clintons were desperate for money, until they left the White House and then suddenly between the books they wrote and hawked and the public appearances they were paid to do, they were mega rich," said Bob. "Do you want to know the real definition of a public servant? They are police officers, prison guards, firemen and firewomen, EMT's, teachers, nurses, social workers, and all the supporting staff that keeps us safe and protected," said John answering his own question again. "For a politician to call him or herself a public servant is an insult to all of those Americans who truly are public servants. How dare they? If they should be called anything, they should be called criminals, felons, guilty as charged, and incarcerated convicts." "You got that right, John," said Bob. "Starting with the greatest actor playing his greatest acting role in the history of acting, when President Ronnie opened our borders to Mexico with the Free Trade Act, our factories fled south of the border to proudly proclaim made in Mexico, instead of made in America. His cronies gave him a standing ovation when he sealed the deal and a great sendoff, when he died," said John. "Yeah, I never liked Ronald Reagan. He stumbled through his speeches in the same way that Bush did," said Bob. "Anyway, that Republican biased big business legislation was the beginning of the end of our good paying manufacturing jobs and the decimation of the middleclass," said John. "Because of our strict human rights laws, unions, and high hourly price of labor and benefits, as if returning back to the days of the wild west, companies couldn't wait to do business in Mexico to avoid American corporate tax laws. Pulling his strings, telling him what to say and do, President Ron was nothing more than a puppet for a few old, rich, Caucasian men." "I remember the 70's, when they told us all that computers would create more, better paying, high tech jobs," said Bob. "Huh? Really? Seriously? And we all believed them. Tell me, 40 years later, where are those better paying, high tech jobs now? How many of us are working at better paying, high tech jobs?" "C'mon, let's see a show of hands," said John looking out over an imaginary crowd of people. "How many of you have a better paying, high tech job? Gees, that's funny. No one has their hands raised." "It just goes to show you that there are not jobs out there, even for people with skills that were once so in demand," said Bob. "Okay," asked John rhetorically, "how many of you technical experts are unemployed because these big computer companies closed their operations in the United States and shipped your job overseas? Do you remember Digital, Honeywell, Burroughs, and Prime Computers? Gees, nearly everyone in the room has their hand raised. Hmm, I wonder, do you think that our elected officials, our public servants, (gulp) lied to us?" "No, that can't be. Say it's not so," said Bob with sarcasm. "I'll tell you where all of those better paying, high tech jobs are. They went overseas to Bangladesh. Just call Dell's customer service. After waiting half an hour on the line listening to elevator Musak, you'll talk to a representative with a thick accent, someone who's never been in America, but who is quick to tell you that he or she wants to live in America," said John. "Yet, if you want to order something, actually buy something from the company, instead of asking about your warranty or report a problem with their product, they'll put your call through right away and that's the only time you'll speak with an American," said Bob. "What does that tell you about this company, their customer service, and about you, the customer? Made in America. We want made in America products," said John. "If we all stopped buying from companies that send our jobs overseas, we'd force these companies to hire misplaced American workers." "Screw the politicians. Screw waiting for Wall Street," said Bob. "By making our stands against these greedy companies that manufacture in China instead of in America, we, the middleclass, will fix the economy in no time. We all will have jobs." "They lied when they told us that computers will make for more better paying jobs," said John. "What computers did is to make corporate America more profits by reducing their labor costs by eliminating employees. What computers did was to make a few old, Caucasian men billionaires, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Michael Dell, along with a few dozen others." "Computers didn't make more jobs, it took away jobs. Instead of more bank tellers, we have ATM machines," said Bob. "The related fees are for our (ahem) convenience, of course. We pump our own gas, instead of having a gas station attendant there to check our oil, wash our windshield, and put air in our tires. Instead of getting off our fat asses and walking the ten steps, we have drive through everything. When calling customer service, we get automated recording after recording, when all we want to do is to speak to a human." "With nothing changing and everything the same, the 80's, the time of takeovers, was when we had to put up with the Wall Street players, in the role that Michael Douglas played, as Gordon Gekko in the movie, Wall Street," said John. "Hmm, it makes me wonder if Warren Buffet came up with the name of Geico for his insurance conglomerate from good, old, Gordon Gekko," said Bob. "We're all a bunch of idiots," said John. "We've all been duped. We deserve what we got, which is nothing but fleeced pockets." "And even though so many of us are unemployed, they're still trying to fleece whatever we have left," said Bob. "The middleclass as a whole, the most powerful segment, is the weakest. Too tired to get involved, too dumb to take control of our own lives, we don't realize how much we give up to those who we think have our best interests. If only we took charge of our own destinies, if only we all banded together, Washington, Wall Street, and the world would cater to our every whim and whimsy," said John. The Most Frightening Thing Is.... "You got that right," said Bob. "In the 70's, while proudly waving the American flag, under President Nixon, when he put an unprecedented freeze on wages, during the oil embargo and the gas crisis, not wanting to (ahem) stunt job growth, we didn't tax big business then either," said John. "Wow. No kidding," said Bob. "God bless the United States of America. I pledge allegiance to the flag..." "Oddly enough though, the top management of the biggest Fortune 500 companies still laid off tens of thousands of workers during the wage freeze, oil embargo, and gas crisis, yet, unbelievably, they all still received their fat bonuses, stock options, and golden parachutes. I guess they didn't consider bonuses, stock options, and golden parachutes as wages that they could freeze," said John. "Gees, go figure," said Bob. "With out of control inflation, the rest of us had to make do working for the same frozen wages for years, before our government lifted the wage freeze, long after the oil embargo and gas crisis were over," said John. "By that time, it was already too late. Most of us were behind the eight ball with huge credit card debt." "I had to declare bankruptcy twice to get rid of my credit card debt," said Bob. "Tell me this. Why does it take so long to drop the price of a gallon of gas and home heating oil by a penny, when it takes them only a few minutes to raise a gallon of gas and home heating oil by ten cents? How come gas prices never go down in the way they escalate?" "It doesn't seem fair, does it," said Bob. "Answer me this question," said John. "The oil companies always blame supply and demand as the reason why their gas and home heating oil prices must increase. First they say because everyone is not buying enough gas and home heating oil is the reason why they must raise prices. Okay. That makes sense. Yet, then they say the reason why they must raise gas and home heating oil prices is because too many people are buying too much gas and home heating oil." "Huh? That's not right," said Bob. "It's either one or the other. How can they have that both ways? With that twisted logic, when in the Hell does gas and home heating oil prices ever go down? Certainly not when Hell freezes over because then they'll need even more gas and home heating oil." "Those corporate fat cats, now with increased profits from paying less wages, were the only ones reaping the benefits of our frozen wages during the wage freeze of the gas crisis and oil embargo," said John. "That, my friend, President Nixon freezing wages, not to mention, him romancing China and him establishing HMO's, was the beginning of why our economy is in the toilet and why the middleclass is now the new poor." "Even in death, Tricky Dicky has lived up to his name," said Bob. "Our Republican representatives, sorry, our Republican public servants, were determined to level the world markets and make America on par with third world countries, when it comes to hourly wages. That explains why the Republicans are always so against increasing the minimum wage and organizing labor unions." "Increasing the minimum wage is bad for business and will take away jobs? That doesn't make any sense," said Bob. "Increasing the minimum wage will take away jobs? What jobs? Minimum wage jobs that the average person can't afford to pay their rent, buy gas for their car, buy food, and pay for their prescription drugs, aren't much of a job at all," said John. "The truth of the matter is, increasing the minimum wage will decrease the huge profits that these companies now earn." "What a bunch of assholes," said Bob. "To make economic matters worse for the middleclass, the huge wave of financial fairness and disparity that started the process rolling so much like an out of control tsunami, instead of creating jobs with their huge profits, banks, insurance, and oil companies, et al, bought out one another," said John. "To add salt to all of our wounds, whenever there was a buyout and/or a takeover, tens of thousands of people were let go and their jobs were added to the backs of those who stayed working for less money with less benefits. Instead of creating jobs, they eliminated jobs." "Ergo the recession," said Bob, "and another recession on the way." "In the way of the Pyramids, albeit with the same type of slave labor, icons made of gleaming glass and welded steel instead of stone, blatant testimony to their greed, the old, rich, Caucasian men built giant monuments," said John. "Twin Towers, Trump Towers, and Sears Towers and all the other towers around the country and the world, so much like modern day castles against their blue skies, the skyscrapers are a stark contrast of their prosperity to our poverty." "Visually, it just goes to show you who is making all the money, as the only companies able to afford to build such big skyscrapers are banks and insurance companies," said Bob. "With golden rainbows to brighten their futures, a terrible financial storm brewed for the rest of us. While they were showered with riches, there were dark clouds without a silver lining and torrential rain for the rest of us. For sure, we'd have a better chance of being struck by lightning than we would in landing a full-time job with benefits." "God bless America but on the backs of the middleclass. Trick or trick, all trick and no treat," said Bob. "Screw the middleclass!" "Now with part-time jobs and temporary jobs that pay a third of what we were earning and that are jobs without benefits, we're not expected to complain. Instead, we're expected to work two and three jobs, when we can't even find the one," said John. "We all should be marching on Washington and demanding our fair share. We earned it and they owe us. Instead we have some twenty-something investment banker and some forty-something Senator stealing it all." "Al Sharpton said that if a jobs bill is not passed by January, he's not only going to march on Washington but also he's going to camp out on the grounds of the National Monument," said Bob. "Do you remember Ross Perot? The little billionaire from Arkansas with the IBM crew cut," said John. "Yeah," said Bob. "A true champion of the middleclass, he's the man we all should have voted to put in the White House, instead of electing Daddy Bush, the ex-CIA chief. Just as Ross knew what he wanted to help the middleclass, Daddy Bush knew what he wanted for himself. He wanted to make enough money to buy his son a baseball team, and he did, the Texas Rangers. Answer me this, forget about buying a baseball team, when was the last time you had enough spending money to take your family to a baseball game?" "The last time I took my wife and two kids to a ballgame, it cost me more than I could afford. It cost me more than $500 for just average tickets. It cost me $50, just to park my truck," said Bob. "Ross Perot foresaw all that would happen thirty years before it happened. A true visionary, when the rest of we poor suckers were still working for frozen wages and giving all of our money to pay banks our unsecured credit card debt that somehow never went down, Ross had a plan that included increasing our manufacturing base and decreasing our reliance on imports," said John. "Ross knew what big business was doing to keep the middleclass down, while working for less wages." "When you factor in the inflation, instead of earning more, not even keeping up with inflation, we're all earning less," said Bob, "that is, those that still have a job." "Instead of wanting to increase our exports from China, Ross said that we're losing our manufacturing base," said John. "Meanwhile, knowing the future in enhancing his wealth was in sending our jobs overseas, Daddy Bush spun his words to make Ross appear as crazy as his running mate, Vice Admiral James Stockdale. Yet, now that we elected Daddy Bush, tell me, what did Daddy Bush do for us and how did he fix the economy? He didn't help us and he didn't fix the economy." "I remember that he gave speeches. I remember he wouldn't sign an unemployment extension and if it wasn't for Senator Kennedy pushing Congress to sign another extension, I would have been homeless back then. Tell me this," said Bob, "why is it every time a Bush is in office, I'm out of a job?" "Read my lips. No new taxes," said Daddy Bush, before signing into law the biggest tax package for the middleclass in the history of the United States, while reducing taxes for the richest corporations, oil companies, insurance companies, banks, and pharmaceutical companies," said John. "I couldn't believe when he did that. Just in the way that Clinton lied about having sex with Monica Lewinski, Bush lied stone, cold face to all of us about not signing in new taxes," said Bob. "As a farewell gift to all of us, did you see Daddy Bush and then Bush Junior with the King of Arabia having a good time at all of our expenses. Don't those photos want to make you drive your car at full speed into an Exxon gas pump. What the Hell? Are you kidding me? The Bushes were always in bed with the Arabs," said John. "Assholes," said Bob. "Now, because of the Bushes, as part and parcel of the Moslem world, their enemies are our enemies, which is why no one in the world likes America and Americans. Papa Bush and his son made more than a billion dollars in perpetual wars, defense contracts, and oil. While we waved the American flag and sent our sons and daughters to wars they started and wars that we couldn't possibly win or end, the Bush team made lots of money. We can blame the Bushes for terrorist attacks. Apparently, everyone hates the Bushes but us, the middleclass," said John. "You're right about that," said Bob. "Instead of fixing the economy, instead of making sure we all had jobs, benefits, healthcare, and retirement, the Bush father and son tag team started wars as their way to personally profit. Just as his son, Bush Junior, started the Iraq War, Daddy Bush, started the Gulf War," said John. "Don't you just love it when you see Pappa Bush or Little Bush sitting front row center at a Texas Rangers game with Nolan Ryan and his beautiful wife, Ruth, while the rest of us can't even afford to watch a game on Direct TV because the sports channel package costs too much money?" "I wish someone would pat me on the ass and give me a new contract and a big bonus at my job, when I was working at a job, but that would never happen. I wish I had fans watching me work, while cheering everything that I did," said Bob. "Don't you just love it," said John, "when the Texas Rangers are celebrating with a champagne shower?" "I'd love to give Laura Bush and Ruth Ryan a golden shower, if you know what I mean. Payback is a bitch, bitches, I'd love to fuck the Bush twins up the ass in the way that their father and grandfather has fucked all of us up the asses," said Bob. "Now, let me ask you this. Why start a war, instead of fixing the economy? Why? I'll tell you why," said John answering his own question again. "Because there's money in making war and no money in fixing the American economy. While making endless speeches and creating jobs bills that have no chance of being enacted into law, best the United States help to expand third world countries, fix their economies, and cultivate their vast, cheap labor pool than to give the people who live here and who were born here jobs." "The big war machine. Now that you mention it, I'm sick of seeing so many retired 50-year-old generals on CNN," said Bob. "Now, there were a lot of white, old, rich, Caucasian men greatly profiting from America declaring war, unfortunately, I wasn't one of them," said John. "Were you one of them? Let me think who it was that not only was in directly and indirectly in charge of our foreign policy and national defense but also who stood to make huge amounts of money in declaring war. Hmm, do you know?" "No, but I have a feeling that you're about to tell me," said Bob with a laugh. "Vice President Cheney and his company Haliburton were two of them making huge profits with no bid contracts. Think about that, no bid contracts. How did that bastard get away with a no bid contract? The weasel was watching the chicken coop and the wolf was watching over the herd sleeping sheep, while the rest of us were all fleeced." "I hate that white haired, pompous bastard Cheney," said Bob waving his fist. "While we're waving American flags, sticking emblems on our SUV's, and burying our sons and daughters, we've been fucked over so many times that we're starting to enjoy it. Does anyone want to buy U. S. Savings Bonds? How about a bridge or swamp land, I mean, oceanfront property...in Detroit?" "Yeah, that Cheney guy looks like the Devil incarnate," said Bob. "Speaking of Flint Michigan, did you know that, during the time of his failed run for the presidency that Ross Perot was one of the largest, if not the largest shareholder in General Motors? With his data processing company so entwined in GM, he wanted to be President of GM, before he ever had thoughts of becoming President of the United States. Instead of making him their president of General Motors, GM and their board of directors buy Ross out for 750 million dollars," said John. "No kidding. Gee, I didn't know that," said Bob. "The top management at GM didn't like Ross's ideas," said John. "Too business in the way of an IBM executive, GM executives preferred shooting from the hip, especially when it came to rewarding their top executives with huge and undeserved bonuses, stock options, and golden parachutes. Ross wanted to rock their good ship lollipop by making them accountable and by making them more profitable." "I wish someone would give me a big, fat bonus check for doing my job," said Bob. "While I'm on the subject, just wondering, Bob," said John, "do you have a golden parachute?" "A golden parachute? I don't have any parachute. When I fall, I'll hit the ground and die." "Instead of a parachute, instead of making a soft, safe landing, we all have slides that goes straight down to the bottom, as if an express elevator that broke a cable or a sinking ship, in the way of the Titanic that falls to rock bottom. Oh, yeah, trust me, your sunken vessel is the closest you'll ever get to the good ship lollipop," said John. "I have a canoe," said Bob, "but it has a hole in it." "If it was up to Ross, ala a Michael Moore clone in his spirit of outrage, inequality, and unfairness, he would have done away with big bonuses and stock options for those managers who didn't do anything at GM, other than to collect fat paychecks and ruin a company that once had a huge disparity between Honda and Toyota," said John. "The sad thing is that, 30-years ago, Ross Perot identified all that was wrong with GM. He identified those very things that caused them to finally go bankrupt and the same things that GM was reluctant to change and implement, even after our government gave GM a big, fat bailout check. Just in the way that he paid to help rescue POW's in Viet Nam with his own money, truth be known, Ross Perot had our best interests at heart." "Wow, I didn't know that either," said Bob, "that he helped rescue the POW's. "Let me ask you this, Bob," said John. "Did Papa Bush or Little Bush reach into their deep pockets to help free and rescue prisoners of war? Hell no! Why not? Because they didn't want the war to end. If they could they'd start another war. If they could, they'd bomb France." "You got that right," said Bob. "No one likes the French anyone." "Let me ask you this," said John, "and all those people in America sitting there with tens of thousands of dollars in student loans, no job, no money, no food, no gas for your 12-year-old car, no medical insurance, no house, no hope, no future, and no unemployment extension, where's your bailout? Did you get a bailout? Did anyone, but those who didn't need a bailout, get a bailout. Let's see a show of hands. How many of you got a bail out? How many of you were bailed out?" "Gees, that's odd. No one is raising their hand," said Bob, while looking out into imaginary crowd. "Of all those of you that really needed a bailout, as staunch supporters of our government, of democracy, of equality for everyone, and of the middleclass, did any one of you receive a bailout? Or did all the bailout money go to the ones that really didn't need a bailout in the first place and that continue to steal our money with inflated charge card interest, imagined oil shortages, advertise drugs on television in the way they used to advertise cigarettes and hard liquor, and sell us inflated and price fixed insurance policies that we don't want or need? Let me ask you this with a show of hands," said John. "How many of you really need a bailout?" "Gees, nearly everyone in the room has their hand raised. Wow. Go figure," said Bob playing along with his friend's rhetorical questions by looking out again at the imaginary crowd. "Boy, oh boy, President Kennedy said it when he said, Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country," said John. "I nearly gave my life for my country," said Bob, "when I was fighting their war." "Give me a break. Just give me a frigging break. Are you kidding me? What more can we all possibly do for our country that we haven't done for our country already. We gave them our sons and daughters in wars that we can't possibly win, all for the sake of oil and to make a few, Caucasian men billionaires," said John. "We worked all our lives and now they begrudge us our 401Ks, our retirement benefits, and our Social Security. It's time our country did something for us. It's our turn. It's time our country bailed us all out. It's our turn and it's time." "Yeah, it's time our country did something for us," said Bob pounding his fist in his hand. "God Bless America. Of the approximately 313 million people in America, I am one of the 99% of the middleclass that doesn't have a voice in Washington or a job. The other 1%, a little more than 3 million people, have it all and control everything," said John. "The rest of us are all just mere pawns in their games of skullduggery and deception. If you ask me, they can't wait for we pain-in-the-ass baby boomers to die." "Bastards. No good dirty bastards," said Bob. "Only, can you hear it? Can you feel it? The wind of change is blowing," said John. "I can hear it," said Bob. I can feel it." "Now there is something bigger and more powerful than any group of politicians. There is something more frightening and feared by every Republican politician. The middleclass is the most frightening thing on the planet. The middleclass is the sleeping giant that has finally been shaken awake. We are the middleclass and we're all angry. We're not taking it anymore. We want our fair share. We're tired of being robbed and cheated. We've had it with the lies and broken promises. We don't want speeches and we don't want infighting," said John. "We want jobs," said Bob. "We want money. We want benefits. We want affordable homes and universal healthcare. We want the best schools for our children." "We want the hope for a brighter tomorrow," said John. If you enjoyed the story, please vote. I need the support of your vote. So very many readers don't vote. Please don't forget to vote, make a comment, and/or add me and this story to your favorite lists. Thank you for reading, voting for, and/or making a comment on my story.