A Liberal Heaven and Hell Story
While vacationing on
a ranch, Paul Martin gets thrown from his horse, lands on a
rattlesnake, gets bitten and dies because the emergency room at
the nearest hospital is too understaffed to treat him in time.
So his soul arrives in heaven and he is met by St., Peter at the Pearly Gates.
"Welcome to Heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it
seems there is a problem. We seldom see a Liberal around these
parts, so we're not sure what to do with you."
"No problem, just let me in, I'm a believer' says Martin.
"I d like to just let you in, but I have orders from the man
Himself. He says you have to spend one day in Hell and one day in
Heaven. Then you must choose where you'll live to eternity."
"But I've already made up my mind, I want to be in Heaven"
replied Marti. I'M sorry but we have our rules and with that St.
Peter escorts him to an elevator and he goes down, down, down all the
way to Hell.
The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a lush golf
course, the sun is shining in a cloudless sky and the temperature is a
perfect 72 degrees. In the distance is a beautiful clubhouse.
Standing in front of it is his dad, and thousands of other
Liberals who had helped him out over the years. Pierre Trudeau, Jean
Marchand, Pelletier, St. Laurent etc. The whole of the "Left" was
there, everyone laughing, happy and casually but expensively dressed.
They run to greet him, hug him, and reminisce about the good
times they had getting rich at the expense of the "suckers and
peasants." They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster
and caviar.
The Devil himself comes up to Martin with a frosty drink, "Have a Margarita and relax, Paul"
Uh, I can't drink no more, I took a pledge says Martin dejectedly.
"This is Hell son. You can drink and eat all you want and not worry, and it just gets better from there."
Martin takes the drink and finds himself liking the Devil, who
he thinks is a really very friendly guy who tells funny jokes like
himself, and pulls hilarious nasty pranks, kind of like they pulled on
the GST and Free Trade promises. They are having such a great time that
before he realizes it. It's time to go. Everyone gives him a big hug
and waves as Martin steps on the elevator and heads upwards.
When the elevator door reopens he is in Heaven again and St
Peter is waiting for him. "Now it's time to visit Heaven the old man
says, opening the gate.
So for 24 hours Martin is made to hang out with a bunch of
honest, good-natured people who enjoy each other's company, talk about
things other than money, and treat each other decently.
Not a nasty prank or frat boy joke among them, no fancy country
club and while the food tastes great it's not caviar or lobster. And
these people are all poor, he doesn't see anybody he knows, and he
isn't even treated like someone special.
Worst of all to Martin, Jesus turns out to be some kind of
Jewish hippie with his endless 'peace' and 'do unto others' jive. Whoa
he says uncomfortably to himself. Pierre Trudeau never prepared me for
this.
The day done St. Peter returns and says. Well, you've spent a
day in Hell and a day in Heaven. Now choose where you want to live for
eternity. With the 'Jeopardy' theme playing softly in the background
Martin reflects for a minute, then answers, Well I would never have
thought I'd say this...l mean Heaven has been delightful and all...but
I really think I belong in Hell with my friends.
So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down,
down, all the way to Hell. The doors of the elevator open and he is in
the middle of a barren scorched earth covered with garbage and toxic
industrial waste, kind of like Sudbury.
He is horrified to see all of his friends, dressed in rags and
chained together picking up the trash and putting it in black bags.
They are groaning and moaning in pain, faces and hands black with
grime.
The Devil comes over to Martin and puts an arm around his shoulder.
I don't understand stammers a shocked Martin, Yesterday I was
here and there was a golf course and a clubhouse and we ate lobster and
caviar, and drank booze. We screwed around and had a great time. Now
there's just a wasteland full of garbage and everybody looks miserable.
The Devil looks at him, smiles slyly and purrs.
"Yesterday we were campaigning" today you voted for us! "