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Show -101- The Professor stifled his urge to make an ironic comment about /the presidency. He had been about to say, "Just where we are now," but an image from last night's television broadcast came to mind: the President standing quietly as members of the board flaunted their authority before the cameras. No, this was no time for irony. "The bastards!" he muttered. His three colleagues looked at him in astonishment. He had a reputation for being softspoken and mildmannered. "Who?" the professor who had quoted Shakespeareiasked. "The board.' Who else? They're vain and self righteous. They're slavish idiots, most of them. They have only one idea - call in the police! They have one desire, to please the governor." "They're an extension of the governor's power," his colleague insisted. "Of course they are, so he's the danger. They're just -" He found the word difficult to repeat with the proper emphasis. "- bastards!" "What is the governor?" The Professor paused, his soup spoon suspended. "The Hero with a capital »H«, he said speaking slowly. "The fake hero. The Romantic hero." They all laughed? thinking he was making a joke, and he let them? He knew if he went on, he would make a speech. He put the spoon to his mouth and drew in the nasty broth. |
