Maple street...

 

Joe Biden said, it didn't matter what he does someone won't be happy.

The way the press and Dummocrats are ripping him to pieces it reminded me of an old Twighlight Zone I saw years ago and never forgot:

The repubs also seem to be standing back watching as we devore ourselves!

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One late-summer afternoon, Maple Street is full of children playing and adults talking and doing yard work, when a shadow passes over, accompanied by a roar and a flash of light. Everyone notices, but they assume it is a passing meteor and resume their activities. The residents soon discover that their power went off, affecting stoves, lawnmowers, cars, phones, even portable radios, and they gather in the street to discuss the situation. Pete Van Horn volunteers to walk over to Floral Street, to see if it is affected. His neighbors, Steve Brand and Charlie Farnsworth, decide to go into town to investigate further, but Tommy, a neighborhood boy, urges them not to go. Tommy has read a story of an alien invasion causing similar issues, and says that the monsters do not want anyone to leave the street. Tommy adds that in the story, the aliens are living as a family that appears to be human but are actually scouts, and the power outage they cause is to isolate the neighborhood. The adults are incredulous, assuring him that the cause is natural.

Another resident, Les Goodman, tries unsuccessfully to start his car. However, after he walks away from the car, it starts by itself. This makes the neighbors suspect that Les may be an alien. As they all gather, one woman brings up Les' late nights spent standing in the garden looking at the sky, as if waiting or looking for something. Les, defending himself as a resident of Maple Street for five years, claims to suffer from insomnia and admonishes his neighbors that they should use caution and not panic. Steve tries to defuse the situation and prevent it from becoming a witch-hunt, but tensions remain high.

As darkness descends, Charlie begins keeping watch over Les Goodman's house. Steve suggests Charlie go home to bed. Another neighbor, Don, mentions that Steve has built his own radio set, which Charlie then claims no one has ever seen. As suspicion mounts, Steve's wife protests that it is a simple ham radio, but Steve sarcastically answers that he talks to aliens with it. Steve and the other neighbors continue to argue, using each person's idiosyncrasies as evidence that they are an alien. Steve warns that such behavior, looking for a scapegoat, is the surest way for the entire neighborhood to "eat each other up alive".

A shadowy figure walks toward them. Tommy exclaims that it is the monster. Claiming it may be necessary for protection, Don obtains a double-barrelled shotgun that Steve immediately confiscates. As the figure gets closer, Charlie panics, grabs the shotgun, and shoots the figure. When the crowd reaches the fallen figure, they realize it is Pete (who had gone to see if Floral Street had power earlier), and he is now dead. As Charlie struggles to defend his hasty action, the lights in his house come on by themselves, causing the residents to turn on him. Don suspiciously asks Charlie why his power is back on, while Les rebukes him for being so quick to kill and sow distrust, suggesting that perhaps Pete had found proof of Charlie's extraterrestrial origins, and that the former shot the latter to silence him. Even Steve does not advocate for Charlie, outraged by his senseless murder of Pete. Charlie makes a break for his house; everyone chases him, throwing stones, one of which smashes a porch lantern, causing the broken glass to fly at Charlie's face, cutting his forehead. Terrified, Charlie attempts to deflect suspicion onto Tommy. While his mother is quick to defend him, several neighbors agree with this idea, as Tommy was the only one who knew about the aliens' plans. Steve continues to try to defuse the situation, but no one listens.

Lights begin flashing on and off in houses throughout the neighborhood; lawnmowers and car engines start and stop for no reason. The mob becomes hysterical, hurling accusations, smashing windows, and taking up weapons as the situation devolves into an all-out riot. Meanwhile, at a nearby hilltop, two humanoid aliens are observing the riot on Maple Street while using a device to manipulate the neighborhood's power. They comment on how simply fiddling with routine leads people to descend into paranoia and panic that can be exploited. They also discuss their intention to use this strategy to conquer Earth, one neighborhood at a time. They then ascend a stairway into their spaceship, which then takes off.

Closing narration

edit

The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices ... to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill ... and suspicion can destroy ... and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own—for the children and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is ... that these things cannot be confined to ... The Twilight Zone!

Something to think about, no?

Noodle and crew