The Spirit of Party

Title: The Spirit of Party Setting: A modern, chaotic TV debate stage. Red and blue lights flash aggressively. Characters:

• REP. HAWK (Extreme Right): Aggressive, shouting, unkempt.

• REP. DOVE (Extreme Left): Overly calm, condescending tone, clutching a binder.

• GEORGE WASHINGTON: The General. towering, wearing his Continental Army uniform. He does not look like a painting; he looks like a man who survived smallpox and freezing winters. He is terrifying.

---

(The scene opens mid-argument. REP. HAWK is leaning over the podium, veins bulging.)

REP. HAWK: ...and that is why the whole country is going down the drain! You listen to me. Your s*** is all f***** up! You stand there and you talk like a f***ing weakling! You got no spine!

REP. DOVE: (Smiling benignly, putting a hand on their chest) I hear that you are feeling frustrated, and I want to validate that emotion. But over here, we are making a safe place for you. We believe it is perfectly okay to be soft. It is valid to be exactly who you are, even if who you are is—

(Suddenly, the studio lights blow out with a sound like a cannon shot. The red and blue backlights die, plunging the room into a grey, cold twilight. A heavy, freezing wind sweeps through the studio, knocking over the podiums.)

(From the shadows, a heavy boot steps forward. GEORGE WASHINGTON enters. He isn't smiling. He is carrying a riding crop and wearing a sword at his hip. The air pressure drops.)

REP. HAWK: (Stuttering) Who... security! Who is this guy?

REP. DOVE: (Nervously) Sir, we are in a closed session, I’m going to have to ask you to honor our boundaries...

WASHINGTON: (Voice low, rumbling like thunder) Boundaries? I drew the boundaries of this nation with blood and surveyor’s chains.

(Washington steps into the light. He looks at Hawk, then at Dove with absolute disgust.)

WASHINGTON: I warned you. In my final address to the people, I warned you against the baneful effects of the Spirit of Party. It is a fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.

REP. HAWK: Look, George—can I call you George? We’re just fighting for the soul of the country! It’s these guys! They compromised everything!

WASHINGTON: (Screaming, sudden and brutal) SILENCE!

(Both Representatives flinch physically.)

WASHINGTON: Do not speak to me of compromise! You speak of "parties" as if they are tribes! I fought to build a Union. A United States. Not a Kingdom of factions!

(Washington points the riding crop at Rep. Hawk.)

WASHINGTON: You. You spew venom and division. You use the tongue of a brawler to divide brother from brother. You think strength is found in how loud you can insult your neighbor? That is not strength. That is the howling of a rabid dog.

(Washington whips around to point at Rep. Dove.)

WASHINGTON: And you. You coddle the mind until it rots. You speak of "safety" while the foundation of the Republic cracks beneath your feet! You smile while the walls burn!

REP. DOVE: But... the later Presidents... Jefferson... Adams... they said parties were inevitable! The Congress compromised!

WASHINGTON: (Stepping closer, towering over them) Then they were weak! They compromised on the one thing I told them would destroy us. They let the "alternating domination of one faction over another" sharpen the sword of revenge.

(Washington grabs the two podiums—one red, one blue—and shoves them together with massive force, crushing them.)

WASHINGTON: You want to play games with the Union? You want to act like children squabbling in the mud?

REP. HAWK: We... we represent our constituents!

WASHINGTON: You represent nothing! Your parties mean nothing! You are ghosts fighting over a graveyard!

(Washington draws his sword. It rings through the silence. He drives the point into the floor between them.)

WASHINGTON: You have forgotten that you are countrymen. You have forgotten the name "American." So, I shall let you feel the wrath you so desire.

REP. DOVE: What... what are you going to do?

WASHINGTON: I am not going to do anything. I am going to leave you here. Together.

(Washington turns his back.)

WASHINGTON: If you cannot find the Union, then you shall be consumed by your division. You want a fight? Then fight until there is nothing left but ash. I did not cross the Delaware for this.

(Washington walks into the darkness. The wind howls again, louder this time, drowning out the politicians. The lights do not come back on.)

REP. HAWK: (Whispering) He... he's gone?

REP. DOVE: (Terrified) I think... I think we're in trouble.

(Blackout.) 

paul statchen prompted, assisted with google Gemini AI