CRUZIN TO CANCUN. S1 E5
INT. DEN, SENATOR TED CRUZ'S HOME--DAY
Senator Cruz, wrapped in a blanket and warm scarf, ear muffs
and hat sits at a desk typing away on his laptop while
wearing gloves.
SENATOR CRUZ
Christ Heidi, it's fukkin cold in
here. My fingers feel like they're
about to shatter. What's the
thermostat say?
HEIDI CRUZ
It's 34 degrees in here.
SENATOR CRUZ
Fuck me, I can't work like this.
HEIDI CRUZ
What work? The Senate is in
recess.
SENATOR CRUZ
I need to reach Trump and set up a
meet at Mara-Lago to kiss his ring.
HEIDI CRUZ
So that's what you call it? I
think that can wait.
SENATOR CRUZ
No can do. We're all dead--you,
mee, the kids-- without that trip.
Any idea when they'll get the power
back on.
HEIDI CRUZ
No. The phones are out and the
battery is dead on my cell.
SENATOR CRUZ
Yeh, we gotta get out'ta here muy
pronto.
HEIDI CRUZ
What say we hit Cancun? How about
the Ritz?
TED CRUZ
Good by me, but first we need to
get the girls' permission.
HEIDI CRUZ
OK, OK, but why bother? You know
what they're going to say.
SENATOR CRUZ
Yes I do. It's a formality. I need
cover if we do this. I mean what
kind of cold-hearted bastard would
flee the country to leave his
constituents freezing and hungry,
no heat no electricity, no water
and no sanitation unless there was
a good reason?
HEIDI CRUZ
Oh my, sounds like a border camp in
Mexico.
SENATOR CRUZ
Yes, but this is Texas. Who would
fault me for seeing to the safety
of my children? Am I not after all
their dad, at least that's what you
told me.
HEIDI CRUZ
Beto O'Rourke.
SENATOR CRUZ
Exactly! That's why the kids have
to make the decision. But, let me
get this straight. Even if I figure
out a way to twist myself up in
knots and double-talk my way outta
this, it won't be right?
HEIDI CRUZ
Figured that out by yourself, did
ya'? So I guess we're going, huh?
SENATOR CRUZ
Not much of a choice. It's up to
the kids.
Few political dog-whistles are as effective as invoking the word “socialism” to smear political opponents. The mere mention crowns it with an exalted status as the premier gateway to communism. However, I suspect that more capitalists have become criminals than socialist societies have become communist. Nevertheless, socialism is looming as the unqualified evil boogeyman of American political discourse.
Conversely, contrarians might say that capitalism is the seed of our societal and political problems. After all, it’s said that “money is the root of all evil.” No one can deny that unchecked capitalism breeds greed, and greed breeds corruption, and corruption is the incubator of criminal behavior. Ah but no, common sense tells us that all societies, not just capitalist ones, have criminals. Common sense also tells us that we are dependent on each other to fulfill our most basic needs. Sorry folks, that’s socialism.
One has only to look at recent disasters to see that many could have been avoided with regular maintenance and service to systemic infrastructure. Unfortunately, while in most cases penny-pinching encourages quick profits, it eventually delivers catastrophic systemic failure. That’s capitalism gone amuck. When an airline crashes, it’s often a maintenance issue. When a bridge collapses, again it’s a maintenance issue. When the power grid fails for the state of Texas, oh yeh, definitely a maintenance issue.
In our society it’s accepted that profits are privatized and losses are socialized. Think about that. You and I accept paying for all the bad decisions made by government and businesses seeking to cut corners. The total yearly cost of all natural disasters in the United States far exceeds the deferred cost required for prevention. At the root is climate change and climate deniers. If we so deplore socialism, we need to change this would-be equation at the front end, not mop up after it.
Take for example the energy disaster in Texas. Privateer capitalists managed the energy grid in such a way as to maximize short term profits by minimizing maintenance and eliminating contingency planning. When failure overwhelmed the state, the Federal Government, the one so despised that Texas would have nothing to do with all its “Big Government” regulations, steps in with disaster relief to ameliorate the problem as best it can for the moment. Additionally, other socially conscious organizations hasten to the rescue, mounting campaigns for donations to supply shivering Texans with food and water. I doubt any Texans will be complaining about socialism as they take their handouts back to their water-soaked homes.
Just as we need a viable two party system, we also need a co-mingling of solutions born of different political philosophies, like capitalism and socialism.
A few years back I filmed the Iditarod race in Alaska and had the opportunity to interview the mushers and get an inside look at their dog teams. I was surprised to learn that most teams were not the prototypical Huskies that we all imagine, but rather very ordinary short-haired mutts. Apparently the mixing of breeds imparts a quality of strength and resilience, creating the best dogs to undertake the grueling race in below zero weather. Also consider this… Damascus steel, prized for its strength is used in the creation of the very best knife blades. It consists of multiple layers of iron and steel folded into one another. It’s very costly but worth it. Take a look at sterling silver. It’s an amalgam of 92,5% fine silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper, increasing its malleability and resilience, thereby minimizing scratching. And of course, the greatest example of this type of blending practice is the one we are living—America, the melting pot. It remains the core of our belief in America as a great nation. I could go on and on with other examples, but suffice it to say we need to embrace each other for the strengths we bring to a functioning and cooperative society. We need be a Damascus society.
Once the prominent structure on the Atlantic City Skyline, the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino closed in 2014. It has deteriorated so much in recent years that chunks of it were peeling off. After being sold in 2016, the new owner decided it best to demolish it. The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino was one of three failed casinos Donald Trump owned in New Jersey. All three filed for bankruptcy protection multiple times and all went belly up, the result of Trump’s management style– self-dealing financial troubles, and cheating small local contractors.
In short, under Trump’s management it had fallen prey to the same kind of thinking that currently resulted in the shut-down of the Texas energy system, a complete failure due to lack of maintenance, a misguided means of cost control for short term profits, near-sighted thinking with no contingency plan or even a viable plan for the future.
But not all of Texas was so affected. El Paso took a hard lesson from the blackouts it experienced in 2011 and made significant infrastructure changes to their energy system to forgo this and future tragedies.
You see, the state of Texas had adopted a “go-it-alone” policy regarding it’s energy grid and declined sharing energy with either of the two grids that define the 47 contiguous other states. Fortunately for El Paso, their location is on the far western border of Texas, too far from the Texas grid, thereby prompting them to join the closest grid, the Western United States grid. Consequently, unlike Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, El Paso did not have to go it alone. There is a broad lesson here that can be gleaned from these two events.
Now, as Biden restores the relationships with our allies and dismantles the Trump policies of isolationism, a renewed sense of optimism and cooperativeness is born. The United States will not have to go it alone. Soon Biden will address the much neglected infrastructure problems that lord over our future, as well as the urgent need to address climate change. We need to take heed the lessons placed before us and realize that substantial investment in prevention will bear significant rewards in exponential savings and productivity.
You cannot be unaware of the severe weather crisis Texans are living through. It began with power outages for four million Texans leaving them without electricity and heat, and has progressed to rolling power blackouts, three hours on and eight hours off. Without electricity, they are cut off from the news and their cellphones are mere paperweights.
It is the fourth day of freezing temperatures. It is as cold in many a Texas home as outside it. Freezing pipes are bursting, forming huge icicles hanging from light fixtures and chandeliers and ice-rink floors throughout. Water must be boiled to be consumed and bathing is nigh impossible. People stand in lines, hundreds long, waiting for hours in freezing temperatures just to enter a darkened grocery store to peruse the largely empty shelves using flashlights. Streets are unplowed and unsalted. Driving without snow tires is dangerous and risky.
As Texans burn furniture and wooden fences for heat, fingers are being pointed in many directions. Rick Perry blames the failure of the wind turbines to function in freezing weather and claims this disaster is the consequence of the Green New Deal, a shameful attempt to make political hay at the expense of his fellow Texans when the sun is not shining. But consider this: The Green New Deal is but a proposal, not active policy, and has no bearing on the downturn in Texas weather. And looking north towards Iowa, clear-eyed observers can readily see their wind turbines operate at 100% in the coldest weather. No, these excuses are mere deflection for his failures as former Texas Governor and his ridiculous appointment as Trump Energy Czar, Secretary of Energy, the man who in a debate with Trump could not remember the name of the very department he would eventually preside over, leaving one to wonder just how did Texas, the largest U.S. producer of oil and natural gas fail so miserably?
No, the Texas disaster is the logical consequence of the misapplication of conservative policy principles regarding big government, deregulation, privatization, climate change and tight purse-string management that directly resulted from the deregulations instituted by Rick Perry as Governor of Texas, allowing ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas which manages the state’s power grid and is overseen by the Public Utility Commission of Texas whose members are appointed by the state’s governor, to favor profits over service.
Texas is an energy island and in order to avoid regulation by the Federal Government, does not share energy with the other 47 contiguous states who support each other through the management of the two major electrical grids overseen by FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Thus, in so doing, the winterization of Texas’s facilities–power plants and turbines–was ignored and maintenance was reduced for increased short-term profit.
After several power plants shut down due to the below-freezing temperatures, ERCOT was caught with their pants down, so to minimize their failure turned off power to millions of customers, admitting they faced shutting down power or risking a collapse of the grid altogether because their equipment could not handle the extreme temperatures. In truth, Texas’s energy market incentivizes cheap prices at the cost of delaying maintenance and improving power plants. In 2011, the state experienced similar blackouts as the rolling blackouts today. Following those blackouts, FERC gave a series of recommendations to ERCOT to prevent future blackouts, including increasing reserve levels and weatherizing facilities to protect them from cold weather. Nevertheless, ERCOT disregarded those warnings and limped along on underinvestment and neglect until it all came home in disastrous fashion.
I have often thought that given enough pain, Americans would rise up and demand action, but loud voices are not enough without a focused vote for policy change. Floods, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, drought, forest fires, extreme heat and extreme cold are all symptoms of something very wrong and quite different from the former lives we enjoyed, excessive consumption without consequence. Blind ignorance creates false Messiahs.
While America is finally coming to terms with the Covid-19 pandemic, there is yet another, more aggressive virus infecting our nation and the world at large that has yet to be brought under control—Trumpism.
Like Covid, the most immediate remedy is to isolate the virus through masking and social distancing. Masking was effectively accomplished by Twitter when it permanently removed Trump from its site, and social distancing became practical when Trump quarantined himself in Mara Lago. But as in the case of the Covid pandemic, we need remain vigilant lest the many other virulent mutations of the disease cause a reinfection.
While Trump’s polling numbers are on the decline, the symptoms of Trumpism remain—rampant lying, quasi-legal and illegal activities, hatred of the media, hidden financial transgressions, fraud, racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, fascism, authoritarianism, the growing numbers of hate groups and preposterous conspiracy theories, the rise of homeland terrorism, the many forms of outspoken white supremacists, political whack-a-doodles like Marjorie Taylor Greene and sadly, the culmination of all of these into the growing predisposition for, and ultimately several demonstrations of, armed insurrection.
It may well be that the dominant mutation will prove to be the dark horse, Lara Trump, who is being touted as a Congressional candidate in North Carolina 2022. But also consider that Ivanka Trump is no slouch, as she is eyeing a Senatorial run in Florida. Say “goodbye,” Marco Rubio. You should have stood for something ethical, rather than to be subservient to a fraudster. But clearly, Don Junior has put himself out front at rallies to be the big-mouthed successor to the king. Son Eric may just have to be content with a role as Court Jester, replacing Rudi Giuliani who may well be on his way to a deserved rest of “involuntary confinement.”
These mutations are very real and will make every attempt to infect our society with far reaching global consequences evidenced as environmental and economic disasters and armed conflict. Vaccinate now while you can!
At the close of day three of impeachment arguments, each side felt secure that they had adequately presented their case and were poised to conduct the vote the following day. But something unexpected intervened in the process that evening when CNN Reporter Jamie Gangel revealed that Congressperson Jaimie Buetler Herrara had told her that in the heat of the assault on the Capitol, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pleaded with Trump “to publicly and forcefully call off the riot.”
Trump countered that Antifa, not his supporters, was responsible, presumably to argue that he was helpless to control Antifa, but when McCarthy countered that was not true Trump turned snarky, “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” to which McCarthy angrily responded, “Just who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”
Herrara went on to say, “You have to look at what he did during the insurrection to confirm where his mind was at. That line right there demonstrates to me that either he didn’t care, which is impeachable because you cannot allow an attack on your soil, or he wanted it to happen and was OK with it, which makes me so angry… we should never stand for that, for any reason under any party flag. I’m trying really hard not to say the F-word.”
The significance of this revelation is that it confirms Trump’s knowledge at the time and his refusal to take action to stop the violence.
Other Republicans echoed her sentiments.
Representative Anthony Gonzalez, Ohio:
“I think it speaks to the former President’s mindset. He was not sorry to see his unyieldingly loyal Vice President or the Congress under the attack by the mob he inspired, in fact, it seems he was happy about it or at the least enjoyed the scenes that were horrifying to most Americans across the country.”
Another GOP Member familiar with the call:
“This proves that the President knew—very early on—what the mob was doing and he knew members were at risk and refused to act… It’s a violation of his oath to office to fail to come to the defense of Congress and the constitutional process immediately… This shows that Trump knew what the rioters were doing, that he supported it and that he facilitated it by failing to act.”
Just as Republicans were comfortable that the vote would be taken the very next day and their painful ordeal would mercifully be at an end so they could go home, this bit of late-breaking news added an unwanted layer to the arguments previously made by the impeachment managers and as they watched helplessly, Jamie Raskin motioned to include the testimony of witnesses.
What followed was the most outstanding moment in the impeachment proceedings when Trump’s lead lawyer, the indignant Michael van der Veen, took the floor to rail passionately against the motion in what would have otherwise been an Academy Award performance, were it not for the setting. Gesticulating wildly, with a spectacular variety of wrinkled grimaces, he displayed his virtuoso range as an actor and lied by saying that Kevin McCarthy did not have that conversation with Trump, (By the way it’s OK for lawyers to lie. They are not, as witnesses are, subject to perjury) and then paper tiger that he is, threw a raging conniption fit, claiming he would call hundreds of witnesses in response taking their depositions at his office in Philadelphia to include Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Harris. He stopped himself short of using her first name since he seems to be unable to pronounce it, as evidenced the day before. He was nevertheless laughed at and took immediate umbrage.
Unfortunately for the personal injuries attorney from Phillie, unfamiliar with Senatorial rules, he did not understand that each and every witness would have to be confirmed by a separate vote, which meant that his childish threat to exacerbate the process was going nowhere.
Moving on, he further tried to make the argument that her testimony would be irrelevant since it regarded a conversation between her and McCarthy made after the January 6th riot and therefore could not have been part of the incitement. He failed to acknowledge that it was really about what Trump knew and did not do at the time of the riot that confirmed his intentions that day.
While all this will surely fall on the deaf ears of Republican jurists, it is to their everlasting doom to be this short-sighted, if this simple survey taken by Michael Smerconish carries any weight. Simply stated, “Was Trump glad or sad that the Capitol was invaded?” An astounding 37,497 Americans responded in mere minutes, affirming by 99% that they believed Trump to be glad. Americans were watching and listening and comprehending.
At the close of the second day of the prosecution of Donald J, Trump’s impeachment trial, several GOP senators met behind closed doors with the attorneys for Trump, among them Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham and the aggrieved, misquoted Mike Lee of Utah. Previously that day, media reported fifteen empty Republican seats on the floor of the Senate. Taken together these two events might be regarded as clear signs that Republicans on the Senatorial “jury” will deliver a verdict without considering the evidence and are working hand in hand with the defense to insure a favorable resolution to their collective will.
Fear of Trump reprisals has overwhelmed these “Chicken-Littles,” but the depth of their spinelessness is best understood when looking at the totals of those running for re-election in 2022. Of the 50 Republican Senators, only 16 seats are at stake in 2022. 34 need have no fear of being primaried. These men fear not only their careers, but their very lives and those of their families for a vote of conscience. There is ample evidence of the ire of the mob in this regard.
Further codifying that “the fix is in,” the defense team leaked that they plan to wrap it up in a few hours, perhaps as little as three or four, not the allotted sixteen they have been granted. While it can also be interpreted as futile to argue against the overwhelming and irrefutable evidence presented by the impeachment managers, the mendacity of this move is little more than lipstick on a pig for an indefensible position, signaling a corrupt bravado not unlike a mob boss who has bribed and threatened a jury. Considering the imbalance of firepower, a short rebuttal was best.
For all their whining about the need for unity, these short-sighted dullards fail to understand the depth of anger that will permanently lodge in the throats of reasonable Americans witnessing these proceedings and the negative impact it will have on the image of the United States throughout the world, especially with our incredulous democratic allies. In what other system of justice are witnesses also jurors and permitted to conspire with the defense? In what other system is corruption so openly flagrant? The very idea of America has become a laughing stock, a perpetual late-night, talk show joke.
But our humiliation does not stop there. Perhaps the one sad example of unified disparate elements within our society can be readily identified in the diversity of flags carried by the mob of Trump supporters on January 6th, the “patriots,” he called upon to storm the Capitol building to “Stop the steal.” Trump flags and MAGA flags severely outnumbered the Stars and Stripes, but Civil War Confederate flags waved proudly among and alongside Nazi swastikas, next to the familiar Revolutionary War snake decrying “don’t tread on me,” Jesus flags, “Thin Blue Line” flags, an overwhelming assortment of flags identifying radical fringe elements, and even the flags of Mexico and South Viet Nam, an amalgam of the insane and profane with the holy. Is this the new “melting pot?”
And what of Trump. What were his expectations? What was his endgame? By inviting his supporters to “Stop the Steal” on January 6th, he must have had some idea of just how that might be accomplished. Only a violent protest held any real possibility for that outcome.
As Impeachment Manager, Representative Neguse summed it up:
Was it foreseeable?
Did Trump encourage the violence?
Did he act willfully?
Regarding assertion 1: After months of propagating the “Big Lie” and the failure of all other attempts to overturn the 2020 election, there was no other alternative left to Trump but to stop the certification as a remedy.
Regarding 2: There is a long well-documented history of Trump encouraging violence at his rallies, against dissenters and against the press. When flag waving supporters drove a Biden campaign bus off the road, Trump tweeted support. He has expressed his love for violent fringe groups and tweeted support to the armed mob that surrounded the home of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and threatened to kidnap her. He has remained silent in the face of the many death threats made against lawmakers and politicians who do not agree with his position regarding the election he regards as fraudulent.
Regarding 3: Did he act willfully as he stood before the mob and directed them up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol. When he was informed of the violence, he was indifferent and ignored the many requests made by those close to him to intervene to stop it.
All we can do is wait and see. But there is a small glimmer of hope this morning as Nikki Haley breaks with Trump, “He let us down. We shouldn’t have followed him.”
Well, the Impeachment Managers just finished their first day of presenting the arguments in the case against Donald J. Trump. What should be obvious by now is that at every step along the way to the violent riot at the Capitol building, Donald Trump was inextricably involved, from months before to the very hours and minutes of those terrible events as they unfolded live.
But for now, put the violence aside and consider the intent. Whether violence was the chosen means of then President Trump or not, does not factor into his very culpable intent.
All you have to ask yourself is this: “By his words and actions, by his texts and tweets, did Donald Trump seek to overturn the legitimate election of President -elect Biden?” After all legal means had failed in sixty-one court attempts, and his thinly veiled quasi-legal (I’m being generous here) effort to pressure Attorney General William Barr, the state legislatures of Michigan and Pennsylvania, several Governors, Vice President Pence and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger proved worthless, Trump found himself with only one recourse, to turn his attention to his base to stop the electoral vote certification, as he so explicitly had proclaimed many times, “Stop the steal!” To that end, for nineteen days prior to January 6th, Trump pulled 50 million dollars from the contributions made to his campaign to spend on TV ads that ran up to the date of the riot, ads that encouraged his base to join him in DC to overturn the election. No, “Stop the steal” was not some spontaneous phrase delivered in a speech prior to the riot, but a recurring part of his campaign urging his base to “save the date.”
As compelling as the evidence was, it may well have fallen on deaf ears. By all accounts, even Republican Senators speaking with media after the close of the hearing, the Impeachment Managers were masterful, logical and compelling, and the evidence was deeply disturbing. But even more disturbing is that several members of the Senate “jury” were openly complicit in the incitement, notably Senators Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Lindsey Graham who all appeared to be mentally AWOL from the hearing. It can be said that when known criminals sit in judgement of their co-conspirators it is clearly a mark of corruption.
As they evacuated their seats on the floor, removing themselves to the balcony, feet up on the backs of chairs, relaxed in the confidence that by agreement between the two parties, no cameras would be pointed their way, they showed their disdain as feigned boredom shuffling papers, reading magazines or doodling on their notepads, such is the face of complicity.
If Democracy is to mean anything, then surely the Republican Senators who refuse to abide by the majority vote regarding the constitutionality of the proceeding and have pledged their loyalty and their ultimate vote to Trump and not the Constitution, are merely echoing Trump’s refusal to abide by the election result. For Republicans the rules don’t seem to matter. They care not what has been agreed, but what they feel, what they fear. While these Senators decry the so-called “disenfranchisement of 71 million Trump voters, they willingly seek to disenfranchise the 81 million Biden voters who rightfully determined the outcome of the Presidential election. Surely, they know how democracy works. They know the rules. They lost. What else is there but to do the right thing?
As the nation waits for the outcome of the Senate trial of Donald J. Trump, popular wisdom says it’s been predetermined by the Republican Senators who have already committed to a pre-trial verdict of not guilty. What purports to be a serious consideration of the facts and evidence of the charges laid against Trump will in all likelihood be little more than a game show to validate who is the real Donald Trump.
To Americans:
He is a failed President. TRUE
To Trump’s 30% base:
He’s a successful businessman, an extremely stable genius. Somebody who tells it like it is. FALSE
To the Media:
He’s a well-documented liar telling over 20,000 lies since taking office. TRUE
To Republicans:
He’s just a ticket to ride. TRUE, but they’ll deny it.
To our allies:
He is a threat to the planet. TRUE
To Putin:
He is a puppet, a useful idiot. TRUE
To our enemies:
He is a vulnerable ego-centric child, easily managed. TRUE
To Democrats:
He is a self-admitted misogynist and philanderer, a bully, a documented racist, white supremacist, failed businessman, tax dodger, fraudster, loudmouth narcissist, deluded braggart, supporter of dangerous fringe groups like the Proud Boys, Qanon and the Klan, a faux Christian, a kidnapper of small children and babies, an accessory to murder, and ultimately a traitor guilty of sedition who went to extremes to stop the process of a certified election, in other words, an elected terrorist. TRUE
If we agree that the most likely outcome of the trial will be a “not guilty” verdict, then we must acknowledge that the verdict is being determined solely by the 30% misinformed and loyalist Trump base, those he controls and in turn controls the Republican Senators, for the weight of public opinion and that of the world is that Donald J. Trump is an aberration, a stain on democracy, a threat to the planet and future generations
It’s minority rule by a misinformed segment of the public.
C’mon GOP Senators do your job, pull up your big-boy pants and man up!
S1.E4 Survival of the Fittest
By Michael Caporale
EXT. THE FOREDECK OF THE HMS BEAGLE--JANUARY, 1836--DAY
Storm clouds hover, as the HMS Beagle precipitously heads into the Bermuda Triangle. Charles Darwin, battered with rain leaves the deck to seek shelter below. As he navigates the stairs, he slips and hits his head, knocking himself unconscious.
EXT. TAMPA BAY--FEBRUARY 6, 2021--DAY
Darwin awakens to find the Beagle docked in Tampa Bay.
He debarks the ship and stares in amazed confusion at the city skyline and the throngs of activity on the streets as Super Bowl 55 fans make their way to bars in and around the city and nearby areas.
CUT TO:
INT. TAMPA AIRPORT--SAME
As passengers deboard planes and head for the city, running for cabs, they celebrate the moment by removing their masks and breathing a sigh of relief. One approaches a cabbie.
PASSENGER
Take me to Ybor City.
EXT. TAMPA CITY STREETS--SAME
Several rowdy fans sit in the back seat of a cab stalled in traffic. They are all costumed as BUCCANEERs in support of the Tampa team. One of them notices Darwin looking lost.
BUCCANEER 1
Hey, check out that guy over there.
BUCCANEER 2
You mean that old guy.
BUCCANEER 1
Yeh, he’s a Buc fan for sure. Look at his outfit. Looks like he needs help. What say we give him a lift?
INT. TAXICAB MINUTES LATER--DAY
Darwin sits amid the three Buccaneers.
BUCCANEER 3
Hey, where’d you get your outfit? Man, that looks pretty damn authentic.
DARWIN
Where are we?
BUCCANEER 2
You don’t know? Dude, you ARE in a bad way.
BUCCANEER 1
We’re in Tampa for Super Bowl 55 and we’re taking you to Ybor city to party with us.
BUCCANEER 3
He probably escaped a nursing home or something, you know dementia.
BUCCANEER 2
Fuck! He could have Covid.
BUCCANEER 1
Oh SHIT!!!
DARWIN
What’s Covid?
BUCCANEER 2
Here, put this on.
They hand Darwin a surgical mask. He puts it on.
DARWIN
Why am I wearing this?
BUCCANEER 2
OK we get it that you don’t know, but it’s like this old man… see there’s this disease, a virus going around and the way to stop it from transmitting from one person to another is to wear this mask…
BUCCANEER 1
… and keeping social distance, like staying 6 feet apart.
BUCCANEER 3
… and avoiding large crowds! This virus is brutal. You could end up dead. But you don’t have to worry as long as you do these three things, you’re safe.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. AN YBOR CITY BAR--LATER THAT DAY
Darwin struggles to make his way through a packed crowd of young people. None are wearing a mask. Several are falling down drunk. The floor is wet with spilled beer and as Darwin is being careful not to slip again, he looks down and discovers a wet ticket to the game. He picks it up and looks around the room, then moves towards the door.
EXT. RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM--FEBRUARY 7, 2021--TWILIGHT
Darwin is seated between cardboard cutouts of fans. He truns to the one on his right.
DARWIN
Hello. Nice day for a game, is it not?… Oh dear, excuse me I have forgotten my social etiquette. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Charles Darwin.
Darwin extends his hand
DARWIN
Hmmm… you seem to be the quiet type. Have I offended you in some way?
Darwin continues to stare at the cardboard fan, then withdraws his hand. He reaches for his notebook in the breast pocket inside his coat and begins scribbling something:
“This disease is most peculiar. It takes a fully formed human and removes the innards, leaving only the two-dimensional resemblance of that human, stiff and lifeless.It Is yet another confirmation of the natural selection process, survival of the fittest. Through their actions, it strikes young adults while avoiding older, wiser adults who stay home, avoid large crowds and wear their masks. Unfortunately, that segment of humanity will be unable to replicate due to age and if allowed to continue to spread, this virus could mean the end of the human race… an endangered species will eventually become extinct.”
INT. A CITY BAR--LATER IN THE WEEK
A television blares forth the news to an empty bar.
TELEVISION ANCHOR
… and in an effort to support the continuation of the human species, the World Council on Procreation recommends that males over 50 make an application to become a sperm donor.
INT. SPERM BANK--DAY
NURSE
Here you go Mr. Darwin. May I call you Charlie?
She hands him a porno magazine. Darwin opens the door to a private booth and disappears.
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