On a seaside estate during the 1918 Spanish Flu, a rebellious servant spearheads an uprising against his wealthy employer. It all begins at the home of JC Horton, a crusading leftist journalist. Horton reports on life inside the plague-ridden city, describing the brave proletariats and the brutal police officers. His wife turns the pages and is suitably impressed. The idiotic Horton plans to run as a candidate for the newly formed progressive party and then one day, fingers crossed, take a seat in the Senate. But no sooner has he hatched his plan he is exposed “the face of fraud” by a magazine article.