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McCarthy Had the Right Idea (Flash, 276 words. Some mild language.)
I've had some trouble writing recently, and this is just something I threw together to get back into some kind of rhythm. I like it, so I thought I'd post it here. Might hang on to it and work it into a bigger story.
McCarthy Had the Right Idea
When I was a kid, my grandfather would read to me before bed. My favorite was Robin Hood, but he refused to read it to me. He was convinced that it was a Marxist creation, planted by the communist party to introduce America's youth to redistribution of wealth. In his mind, it was anti-capitalist, and therefore anti-American. And, as he so eloquently put it, he didn't spend his youth "fighting those commie bastards in Korea" so he could let them corrupt the mind of his own grandson with that "steal from the rich, give to the poor bullshit."
Years later, when I was home after my first semester in college, he would rip Marx's communist manifesto out of my political philosophy book and use it to wipe his ass before tossing into the fireplace and using it as kindling. I came down for dinner and found him in front of the mantle, smiling wildly at the dancing flames.
"Boy," he said thoughtfully, "McCarthy had the right idea."
"Pop, McCarthy lied to induce panic and further his own political career. How could you say he had the right idea?"
He sighed and turned to look at me. "I told your parents not to let you go to that goddamn liberal college. Fill your head with commie bullshit, they will."
"Your right," I told him, smiling to myself. "I should have joined the army."
He seemed satisfied with this response, and neither of us spoke as the fire started to die down. When a smoldering pile was all that was left of Karl Marx's ideals, he closed the grate and headed for the dining room.
"Bourgeois that, cocksucker."
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