the bomb first!" Crowley snapped. "Finish those reds off before
they start it. In fact, I'm not even sure they've got the bomb. They're
not smart enough to...."

"There was sputnik, you know," Ross interrupted sourly.

"Yeah, but built by those captured German scientists. We're way ahead of
those Russkies in everything. Hit 'em now. Finish 'em off. The eggheads
in Washington are scared of their own shadows. Another thing I'd end is
getting suckered in by those French and English politicians. What does
America need with those countries? They always start up these wars and
get us to bail them out. And I say stop all this foreign aid and keep
the money in our own country.

"And we can do a lot of cleaning up right here, too. We got to kick all
the commies out of the government. Make all the commies and socialists
and these egghead liberals, illegal. In fact, I'm in favor of shooting
them. When you got an enemy, finish him off. And take the Jews. I'm not
anti-Semitic, like, understand. Some of my best friends are Jews. But
you got to realize that wherever they go they cause trouble. They stick
together and take over the best businesses and all. O.K., you know what
I say? I say kick them out of the country. And they all came over here
poor and made their money here. So let them leave the way they came.
We'll, like, confiscate all their property except like personal
things."

Patricia had closed her eyes in pain long before this. She said, softly,
"I imagine somewhere along in here we'll get to the Negroes."

"I'm not against them. Just so they stay in their place. But this
integration stuff is bunk. You got to face facts. Negroes aren't as
smart as white people, neither are Chinks or Mexicans or Puerto Ricans.
So, O.K., give them their own schools, up to high school is all they
need, and let them have jobs like waiters and janitors and like that.
They shouldn't take a white man's job and they shouldn't be allowed to
marry white people. It deteriorates the race, like."

Crowley was really becoming wound up now. Wound up and expansive.
"There's a lot of things I'd change, see. Take freedom of speech and
press and like that. Sure I believe in that, I'm one hundred per cent
American. But you can't allow people to talk against the government.
Freedom of speech is O.K., but you can't let a guy jump up in the middle
of a theater and yell fire."

"Why not?" Ross growled. "Freedom of speech is more important than a few
movie