That Marley was dead there could be no doubt. All the papers carried the news, the coroner had performed a thorough autopsy, and Scrooge himself had identified the body and bore witness at the funeral.

Was Scrooge certain in his identification? Of course he was! Scrooge and Marley had been friends for more years than either could remember and both considered the other to be family. In reality, each others’ only friend and the only family either cared to associate with.

Marley was a long time politician spending many years at different levels of politics, holding the office of U.S. Senator when he died. Though respected by colleagues and considered a flagstone of his political party, he showed little caring for fellow politicians. Secretly, he hated most of his constituents though was sure to put on a good air while in public to ensure reelection.

Scrooge did less. As the owner and editor of an elitist newspaper, he was often openly critical of the general public. Cold and haughty, he made no secret of the fact that he thought most people were barely functional members of society who were all too eager to flush the world down the drain in exchange for their own selfish wants.

To him, civil rights activists were the worst of the lot. People had too many rights to begin with and didn’t know what to do with the ones they had. They tended to treat them as little more than punch lines to a bad joke and fear of an uprising were those rights to be taken away for their own good was what lead to an ineffective and emasculated system of government. The very idea that a potato farmer from Idaho had as much say in how the country is run as a Harvard educated lawyer from Boston turned his stomach.