GE 1998-9 Season 5 Episode 8: Paulitorial
Note: this is not a transcript, but a working draft of the script, so there may be differences in the aired version.
PAUL: "Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we
have to fear is fear itself."
Great thought if you're a president. Nonetheless, heartening
words, and a sentiment that has lent hegemonic vigor to the
clustered colonies athwart the midriff of the North American
continent.
It has the ring of a progressive incantation that places humanity
at the centre of its own universe, granting, nay, admonishing, each
and every one of us to grab the power and invent the necessary,
conferring carte blanche upon us to set our own unbelievable goals
and seek them at any cost.
In fact, though, it's not true. There are many things to be afraid of.
Poisoning, for instance. You can be afraid of poisoning, whether
it be the on-purpose, "death to you" type, or the more benign
poisoning, eating raw chicken, say, or buying H off the street.
I have been dosing myself incrementally with arsenic to avoid just
such a situation. You gotta at least be aware that that sort of
thing can happen. And out of the blue, too.
That persistent cough ? The blurry vision ? The voices ? The murmurs ?
The shakes ? Those rough red patchy bits of skin that are always itching ?
Who's that in the shadows ? Are we heading down an evolutionary dead end,
the new dinosaurs walking in the old dinosaur's shoes ? Who is in control ?
What are the couple next door doing with all that electronic equipment ?
What can a dollar buy ? Guys from Mexico to whom you owe a considerable
amount of money, they could show up any day ! Always walk backwards in
the snow. What are those floaty things in your eyes ? Answer the phone
with a voice not your own "Hello, no Paul's not here, is there a message,
please ?" Does your lover really love you, or tolerate you ... or use you ?
Maybe she's watching you, maybe she's with the FBI, maybe she's a robot ...
Agh ... somebody's marked an M on the back of my coat ! I got ten fingers !
No, wait, that's okay ...
What happens ... after ? Are you more afraid of going to hell or that there
might actually BE a hell ?
Oh, jeez, I'm freaking out, here. How about a peaceful little musical
interlude ? This is Emile Benoit with "Lady Margaret."
CD cut 12 2:43