Apology

From Plato’s “Apology”; Socrates Speaking:

“If you say to me, Socrates, this time we will not mind Anytus, [the man who was calling for Socrates execution.] and you shall be let off, but upon one condition, that you are not to enquire and speculate in this way any more, and that if you are caught doing so again you shall die; - if this was the condition on which you let me go, I should reply: Men of Athens, I honor and love you; but I shall never cease [to question]. . .

For know that this is the command of God; and I believe that no greater good has ever happened in the state than my service to the God. For I do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or your properties, but first and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul. . .

Athenians, I am not going to argue for my own sake, as you may think, but for yours, that you may not sin against the God by condemning me, who am his gift to you. For if you kill me you will not easily find a successor to me, who, if I may use such a ludicrous figure of speech, am a sort of gadfly, given to the state by God; and the state is a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. I am the gadfly which God has attached to the state, and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you. You will not easily find another like me and therefore I would advise you to spare me.”

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I can see how it went. The “camp friend” visited his troop just as he had been trained. He made small talk with the leaders and boys. One leader said he knew me.

“Oh yah,” says my guy.

“Yah,” replies the scout leader, “I used to go to church with him; he is a loud mouthed trouble maker.”

The camp staffer was feeling “bad” when he told me. He didn’t know how I’d take it; I’m such a pleaser at camp. But I am a Loud Mouth Trouble Maker, most of the time. I explained that to him. He’ll be Okay when he gets older.

I used to go to Sunday school; I used to teach the class. On a day a wise old bishop asked me into his office; on another day a young bishop would do the same. They both wondered why I always had to ask so many questions in Sunday school; did I have a testimony? I answered them both the same. I suggested that a testimony that can hold through a flood of questions is a better thing to have than one kept safe in ignorance.

I can honestly say that after each and every Sunday school “discussion” I have stirred up, some class members have thank me for making them think. But I am sure more of them have been angry at me for forcing them out of the usual, “pray, go to church, read the scripture”, formula for righteousness. They have had all the answers down since Primary, why arouse them? So I quit going.

I can imagine some of my friends and foes alike asking: But why, Lysis, can’t you just shut up? Why can’t you go to class and sit there like everyone else and recite the mantra? You have known it (pray, go to church, study the scripture) since you were a child. If Prophets and Seminary Teachers have agreed, why do you question?

A young friend, visiting from California, talked me into attending Sunday school one last time this past spring. I made the teacher cry. Now don’t be so hard on me. She was teaching the “Samuel ragging on Saul” lesson; you know the one were Saul is thrown out as king for disobedience. Why hadn’t he killed all those wicked goats and sheep!!? Don’t worry, I won’t go back.

In his “Apology” before the five hundred and one Athenian judges Socrates replied:

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“Some will say: And are you not ashamed, Socrates, of a course of life which is likely to bring you to an untimely end? To him I may fairly answer: There you are mistaken: a man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong – acting the part of a good man or of a bad. Whereas, upon your view, the heroes who fell at Troy were not good for much, and the son of Thetis [Achilles] above all, who altogether despised danger in comparison with disgrace; and when he was so eager to slay Hector, his goddess mother said to him, that if he avenged his companion Patroclus, and slew Hector, he would die himself – ‘Fate,’ she said, in these or the like words, ‘waits for you next after Hector’; he, receiving this warning, utterly despised danger and death, and instead of fearing them, feared rather to live in dishonour and not to avenge his friend. ‘Let me die forthwith,’ he replies, ‘and be avenged of my enemy, rather than abide here by the beaked ships, a laughing-stock and a burden of the earth.’ Had Achilles any thought of death and danger? For wherever a man’s place is, whether the place which he has chosen or that in which he has been placed by a commander, there he ought to remain in the hour of danger; he should not think of death or of anything but of disgrace. And this, O men of Athens, is a true saying.

Strange, indeed, would be my conduct, O men of Athens, if I who, when I was ordered by the generals whom you chose to command me at Potidaea and Amphipolis and Delium, remained where they placed me, like any other man, facing death – if now, when, as I conceive and imagine, God orders me to fulfill the philosopher’s mission of searching into myself and other men, I were to desert my post through fear of death, or any other fear; that would indeed be strange, and I might justly be arraigned in court for denying the existence of the gods, if I disobeyed the oracle because I was afraid of death, fancying that I was wise when I was not wise."

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For years I have attended Larae Larkin’s History Seminar at WSU. I have learned a lot and found the presenters, for the most part, to be informed and interesting, and with few exceptions capable of handling questions. Many actually conducted seminars rather than “Sunday School” lessons. I have great respect for Professor Larkin and the program she has crafted at the University – but . . .

On October 25, 2006 – the seminar leader was Omar Cater. (I am sorry, I have tried to check the spelling of his name, but for all his fame and influence I cannot find anything. My bad I’m sure.) Larae’s glowing introduction promised a man of deep experience and ability. There were a good number of his fans; interns from his business I suppose, in the room. Who would have guessed he had brought along a cheering section?

His own comments about his various activities and accomplishments soon left Larae’s praise of him in the dust. Discussions, held in the last week or two, with four-star-generals and kings sounded very impressive. But then he turned to the course for the night. He wrote the number 650,000 on the board and announced that that was the number of civilian deaths in Iraq since the “American Invasion”.

“That’s a bogus number!” I said.

He rushed across the room and roared in my face, “That’s bullshit!” There was some applause from my fellow class members. Many of them have no doubt wanted to swear at me for a long time. I’m sure Omar expected me to be cowed by his anger and the fact that he had just talked with generals. But I have attended too many Sunday school classes to be so easily scared into submissive acquiescence.

“I know how they came up with those numbers, and they aren’t legitimate.” I explained.

“They are!” He was almost screaming at me. I have noticed that when neo-libs get cornered, their defense mechanism is often to scream, use vulgarity, or if they are writing, to spread out the exclamation points (!!!!!!!!!)

“The numbers are from the “Lancet” I said and the method of coming to those numbers is not legitimate. They may as well make them up out of the air.”

Coming right up into my face, he yelled I didn’t know what I was talking about and returning to the board, he informed the class that the war was killing more people than Saddam. I thought that would be the end of the clash. Omar went on to show slides of the numbers of people killed in the twentieth century. Having established that the Communists killed the most, he suddenly turned back to me.

Looking back, I can see now that Cater was already off track in his “lecture”. He had intended to point out that the “methods” of dealing with killing used in the 20th century had not worked and then lead the class haply down the “UN is the answer” trail. But now he was distracted. He was still thinking of his dust up with me; his mind wandering off course. At this point he demanded I explain what was wrong with the numbers provided by the “Lancet”. I am fairly certain he was confident I would not know. Thanks to our adventures here in the Agora I was ready. I explained the BOGUS methods employed, of sampling small and uncontrolled neighborhoods, where killings were frequent, and where people could fabricate at will, and casualties be counted again and again by different reporters. Then these numbers are presented as representative of distinct and factual victims. Those numbers are then multiplied by the total number of people in Iraq and a fantastic BOGUS number concocted. Cater even gave an example of how it could work. If a family of nine had been killed in a neighborhood, and five persons were polled; asked if they knew anyone who had been killed, and answered nine each, “Lancet” would then report 45 killings in the neighborhood.

“Yes,” I said, “and multiply that number by the number of people in Iraq to get a fantastic number that bares no resemblance to reality.”

Let me explain how the Agora might conduct a similar study. Killer X is a Democrat, he has killed 10 women. We then take the number of people who voted for John Kerry in the 2004 election, roughly 59,000,000 and come up with the number of people murdered by democrats in the US to be around 590 million people. The fact that there are barely 300 million Americans would not matter, because as Mr. Cater explained – ‘they have a methodology based on real numbers!!!!!’

Mr. Cater asked me what number I would accept. I said that the number of Iraqis killed counted by the Iraqi government is around 45,000 – “Iraqi Body Count” puts the number at around 47,000. He was indignant. He admitted that the 650,000 was not necessarily accurate, but that people believed it to be, caused the US great harm.

I pointed out that it is the enemies of the United States that use such a BOGUS number like a club to beat the war effort with; that those who know the truth should challenge such false “statistics”.

He replied that it didn’t matter how many had been killed – even one killed by American troops made us enemies all over the world.” He then erased the 650,000 number from the board.

By this time Cater had lost control of the room. He tried to bring the discussion back to the United Nations; but was now challenged by several of my colleagues. His analysis of the Christian Right’s support of Israel was questioned by a teacher from the local Christian academy. His attempt to push the UN as a solution to all wars was questioned by several with references to the “Oil for Food” scandal, and failures in Iraq and with North Korea.

I asked him to give one example of a success of the UN in negotiating peace. He tried to go back to Camp David.

When I asked him why Arafat had rejected the peace agreement offered by Israel, Cater insisted that there had never been any written offer to the Palestinians by Israel and that the “Peace Talks”; which he hinted that he had been involved in; failed because Arafat was not a good negotiator. That Arafat was in essence “tricked” by the Israelis.

Having failed to establish any creditability for his “negotiations through the UN will solve all” theme, Omar spent the majority of the rest of our two and one-half hours insisting that he had nothing against President Bush but that Bush was taken in by bad advisors. This mantra, right out of the neo-lib talking points for the week, did not impress me. He attacked Rumsfeld and Cheney as though saying their names would anger the mob; and at last, as the minutes of the “seminar” ran out, said:

“You saw this week, didn’t you, that Bush says he never said stay the course?”

“That’s not what he said,” I said.

Once more “mad” Omar was in my face. “I was a Bush lover,” he screamed. There was some more applause from the class. “I had a right to my opinion, but I couldn’t lie.”

Interestingly enough this was exactly what I was pointing out about his presentation.

“Have you ever read the article; did you listen to the Stephanopoulos interview?”

“You just love Bush, but you can’t lie.” He snarled.

“It doesn’t matter if I love President Bush or not, I love the truth!” I replied.

“What did he say?” Omar demanded. He didn’t think I knew, but battles in the Agora had prepared me.

“President Bush said, ‘we’ve never been stay the course, George. We have been – we will complete the mission, we will do our job and help achieve the goal, but were constantly adjusting our tactics, constantly.’ That’s what he said. He never said ‘I never said stay the course’.”

“News papers don’t lie!” Omar yelled, bending into my face. By this time the class was leaving; herding themselves out the doors. He stepped back to say goodbye to the few “seminar” attendees still in their seats and received some polite applause.

I gathered my papers and left.

When brought before the Athenian court, Socrates attempted to explain to his judges why so many disliked him. He recounted the visit of his friend, Chaerephon, to Delphi where Chaerephon was told that ‘no man was wiser’ than Socrates. Socrates, accepting that the God could not lie, still set out to find a man wiser than himself to see if he could refute Apollo. Here is how he recounts his search and the anger it stirred against him:

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“I should say to him [Apollo], ‘Here is a man who is wiser than I am; but you said that I was the wisest.’ Accordingly I went to one who had the reputation of wisdom, and observed him – his name I need not mention [perhaps it was Omar]; he was a politician whom I selected for examination – and the result was as follows: When I began to talk with him, I could not help thinking that he was not really wise, although he was thought wise by many, and still wiser by himself; and thereupon I tried to explain to him that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise, and the consequence was that he hated me, and his enmity was shared by several who were present and heard me. So I left him, saying to myself, as I went away: Well, although I do not suppose that either of us knows anything really beautiful and good, I am better off than he is, -- for he knows nothing, and thinks that he knows; I neither know nor think that I know. In this latter particular, then, I seem to have slightly the advantage of him. Then I went to another who had still higher pretension to wisdom, and my conclusion was exactly the same. Whereupon I made another enemy of him, and many others besides him.

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A week passed and I was rushing to the classroom at the college. My play practice duties and a quick stop at my favorite restaurant – Maverick – had made me almost late. As I rushed, panting, to the door I was met by Professor Larkin.

She said we needed to talk. What happened “last week” was unacceptable. Omar was a famous man who talked to kings and it wasn’t right to ambush him. She said she had had phone calls and the blow up was all over campus. Omar had brought some of his friends and interns to hear the presentation and they were angry. She pointed out that many in the class were new teachers. She had been told by someone that they came to hear two and a half hours of Cater, not half an hour of some crank.

I explained that I didn’t care if Omar was a king, that it was impossible for me to sit there and let him lie to the class. I love truth and learning it. Hard to do when the teacher is telling unchallenged lies. He had every opportunity to answer my questions and validate his points.

Dr. Larkin explained that there had been swearing and shouting. I reminded the Professor that I had neither sworn nor shouted; it was Omar that had done that.

Well, we can’t have you challenging the professors any more. These are new teachers and they are here to get the information the presenters bring for them.

I fear her greatest concern was that some of the folks in the class said they would not attend if I were there disrupting. I must admit that the possibility that her efforts might suffer through acts of mine was painful to me.

She said some nice things about me, complemented my intellect, and said she had often appreciated my questions, but…

She asked if I would agree to sit in the back of the class and save my questions and comments for the breaks or for after the lectures. I felt like I was back in the bishop’s office; maybe in front of the Five Hundred and One

I explained I could not do that. I told her how much I appreciated the classes and how much I had learned over the years, but that I could not sit back and listen to disinformation.

It seems odd to me that she would choose controversial subjects and book controversial speakers and then want to avoid controversy.

I was reminded of when BYU brought in the “Kiss” by Rodin and then allowed the prudish hypocrites in the student body to have the work removed because it titillated their dying passions.

Now we had a bunch of “teachers” demanding my silence because my questions tweaked their dying minds.

Such judgment of them may be rather a conceit from me. Perhaps they are just tired of my stupidity, my arrogance, my nasty disrespectful harangue. It is hard to judge ones’ own statements. We are often like the makeup covered fools who only see themselves as the perfectly sculptured image presented in their morning mirrors. They carry that image of themselves about in their minds all day while the grease and powder slump and slide into a grotesque.

Anyway, I told Professor Larkin that I would not attend under the conditions she had set down. That I did not need the class, nor did I want to listen to unchallenged lies pushed by agenda driven presenters. I love folks with agendas, but only if they can be challenged. “You won’t come in and sit down?” she asked.

“No. Don’t flunk me.” I said.

“I won’t,” she promised, looking quite relieved. She had no doubt been expecting some nastiness. Such is my reputation. "If you ever want me back, you know were to find me.” I said, and I left the University.

As gadfly or crank, I have made my share of enemies. I can see how my disruptions in Sunday school could draw the ire of those who seek only the conformation of their Faith, but I had thought that in a University class; filled with teachers non-the-less; I would be tolerated. At least I could provide a path to truth, a way for those I challenged to let the brilliance of their ideas show as they shot down my questions to their claims. I was wrong.

Did I feel like Socrates holding the cup? Well, maybe a little.

Socrates ends his “Apology” like this:

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“But I see clearly that the time had arrived when it was better for me to die and be released from trouble; wherefore the oracle gave no sign. For which reason, also, I am not angry with my condemners, or with my accusers; they have done me no harm, although they did not mean to do me any good; and for this I may gently blame them. . .

The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways – I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows.”

Zen Superman and Achilles on a Motorcycle

I remembered it this morning while I was in the shower. I must do a lot of thinking in the shower; that’s probably why I can never remember if I washed my hair. In the last web post – the one on Heroes – an Anonymous blogger gave a quote in support of Odysseus’ excellence. I knew when I read it that I knew it – but from where? I looked through Cahill and Hamilton, a friend’s Western Culture anthology; nothing. But this morning in the shower I remembered; Pirsig’s *Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance*, page 341 to be exact.

It is only reasonable that Anonymous, as an A. P. English Teacher and bookstore loiterer, (both honorable occupations) would be familiar with Pirsig. I first heard of *Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance* the second time I went to University. Pirsig was all the buzz in the College of Education, but I was too busy jumping through hoops to read. Besides I wasn’t interested in “Eastern Religions”.

It was not until after I had achieved my life’s dream and become a high school History teacher, that I was reminded of Zen and Motorcycles.

People often ask me why I chose to teach high school; after the “Those who can do, those who can’t teach, and those who can’t teach – teach teachers" joke, (the last “can’t teach, teach teachers” line is my own; crafted the hard way in years of Education classes and in-service training) I quip that I chose an occupation which allows me to get paid for reading and talking, my favorite things. I do not say more to most. Who could understand? It’s like explaining why one spends every summer at Boy Scout Camp.

I digress.

Soon after I began teaching high school, one of my colleagues mentioned that *Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”* was her favorite book. In those days I was in ah of high school teachers with more experienced than myself. I read the book, twice; cover to cover then back and again. I loved it, still do, and was eager to discuss the ideas of Classical and Romantic understanding, the absolute and the relative, with my “peer”. The first opportunity came and I charged in. I began with some pithy point, perhaps on Odysseus and Arête; her face was blank. I tried to broach Pirsig’s masterful analogy on the two types of motorcycle drivers; she had no clue. Then it became clear to me – she had never read her favorite book! What were we paying her for?????

Come to find out that Ms. _____’s experience with Pirsig was limited to an Education Class discussion on his experiment with teaching without standards. She did not even know that Pirsig comes to the conclusion that it doesn’t work. She lamented that we have to “grade our students”.

This was the second time a woman had done this to me. As a boy I had read *All Creatures Great and Small* so I could share the experience with an "aspiring veterinarian" who said she love the book. I soon found out she only loved the cover.

I digress.

Since reading “Zen” (which, by the way, has very little to do with Eastern religion and every thing to do with Western thought), I have often contemplated – played out in my mind as if it were my own memory - the “seed crystal” moment in Pirsig’s book. It reads:


“Sara! Now it comes down! She came trotting by with her watering pot between those two doors, going from the corridor to her office, and she said, “I hope you are teaching Quality to your students.” This in a la-de-da singsong voice of a lady in her final year before retirement about to water her plants. That was the moment it all started. That was the seed crystal.

Seed crystal. A powerful fragment of memory comes back now. The laboratory. Organic chemistry. He [Pirsig’s former self called Phaedurs] was working with an extremely supersaturated solution when something similar had happened.

A supersaturated solution is one in which the saturation point, at which no more material will dissolve, has been exceeded. This can occur because the saturation point becomes higher as the temperature of the solution is increased. When you dissolve the material at a high temperature and then cool the solution, the material sometimes doesn’t crystallize out because the molecules don’t know how. They require something to get them started, a seed crystal, or a grain of dust or even a sudden scratch or tap on the surrounding glass.

He walked to the water tap to cool the solution but never got there. Before his eyes, as he walked, he saw a star on crystalline material in the solution appear and then grow suddenly and radiantly until it filled the entire vessel. He saw it grow. Where before was only clear liquid there was now a mass of solid; he could turn the vessel upside down and nothing would come out.

The one sentence “I hope you are teaching Quality to your students” was said to him, and within a matter of a few months, growing so fast you could almost see it grow, came an enormous, intricate, highly structured mass of thought, formed as if by magic.” (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance, pgs 161-162)

The wonder and the maddness begins here. In a suite of crowed offices in some old Montana college. However, it isn’t until Pirsig's Aristotelian mind and his Romantic heart super saturate his soul; and then touched by Plato’s attack on the Sophists, his championing of Socrates; that Phaedrus has his epiphany. We read on:

“The halo around the heads of Plato and Socrates is now gone. [But only for a moment, only in the supersaturating heat of Pirsig’s mind.] He sees that they consistently are doing exactly that which they accuse the Sophists of doing – using emotionally persuasive language for the ulterior purpose of making the weaker argument, the case for the dialectic, appear the stronger. We always condemn most in others, he thought, that we most fear in ourselves. But why? Phaedurs wondered. Why destroy arête? And no sooner had he asked the question than the answer came to him. Plato hadn’t tried to destroy arête. He had encapsulated it; made a permanent, fixed Idea out of it; had converted it to a rigid, immobile Immortal Truth. He made arête the Good, the highest form, the highest Idea of all. It was subordinate only to Truth itself, in a synthesis of all that had gone before.”

Then came madness!!!!

It is telling that Phaedurs (Pirsig) ignores Achilles in his discussion of Arête. He was looking in the wrong place for Quality.

He looked to the life of Odysseus, the phony all rounder, “seeking the safety of his home”, and missed Achilles, whose rage at injustice and sorrow at the murder of his friend, drove him to a sacred sacrifice.

In the modern myth, we have Superman – who will never lie and gives his “God like power” in the service of man. The choice is clear; will it be the eternal Good or shifting opinion hiding out at home, or is it in the Bat Cave.

The True Hero

To the Ancient Greeks a poet was greater than a prophet. The Prophet – the oracle – spouts the words of God, but the Poet takes the inspiration of the Gods and crafts them into beauty, truth refined.

It is time for book reports in my Honors World History Class. Top of my list – the Iliad; way down the line - The Odyssey. I have often heard the Iliad described as a man’s book - all that blood and sweat, comradeship on the battle field, and eternal glory earned through prowess and courage. The Odyssey is a woman’s book – some guy coming home to his wife. Neither view is correct.

I have noticed that Odysseus gets all the attention in high school English classes, and why not – most high school English teachers are women, and all of them have been trained at universities by professors passing on the misconceptions noted above. But there is something more sinister at work here, the effort to discredit the war hero, the hero that replaced the sacred king and gives his life in battle not on the alter stone. Odysseus’ deceit is exalted while Achilles’’ service is debased.

Now for the truth, the Iliad speaks to the heart of what made the West. It centers on the struggles of a true hero, Achilles. He does all he can to avoid war, suffers nine years in loyal service to his high king, and then revolts against that king when unjust acts strip Agamemnon of his right to power. At last Achilles chooses to go home to his fatherland and the unborn grandsons who will be the last men to remember his name; he rejects eternal fame, and seeks peace. But then comes the unjust murder of his best friend. Achilles abandons his just rage against his king and his hope for joy and does his duty by Patroclus.

The Odyssey exposes the forces of Relativism, the canker that can destroy civilization. Its false hero is a lecher; scheming and tricking his way from bed to bed for twenty years, a rationalizer, who sneaks into his own house to test his wife’s fidelity. His double standard is exalted by generations of unread scholars. Had Penelope lived as her husband had done, she would have died at his hands. Once home, Odysseus murders the unarmed guests of his home’s hospitality, and then proceeds to hang the girls who loved the unfortunate victims of his anger in a fit of spite.

The problem is that the Iliad and the Odyssey continue to be taught to students who do not read them by teachers and professors who have never read them. Hence the tired misconceptions are reiterated.

Misconception one, Achilles died for glory, he chose eternal fame and a short life.

The truth, Achilles chose to go home – it was his best friend’s murder that bound him to the fate he had rejected.

Misconception two, Hector killed Patroclus in a fair fight.

The truth, Patroclus was naked, wounded and a helpless prisoner begging for his life when Hector cut him down in cold blood.

Misconception three, Achilles left the fighting of the war to the Greeks because he was a “spoiled brat” wanting his own way.

The truth, Agamemnon had committed the same outrage against Achilles that Paris had done against Menelaus. Achilles states the truth quite clear on this – Agamemnon is no longer worthy of obedience because he has behaved unjustly. Achilles is the inspiration to Jefferson. Homer prophesies and crafts the words of the Declaration of Independence by Achilles’ lips.

Misconception four, Achilles thinks only of his own childish wants while deserting the army of the Achaeans to defeat.

The truth, Achilles destroys the one Trojan that could stand in the way of Achaean victory and saves the lives of all the army at the cost of his own.

Now to the frauds perpetrated to support Odysseus, the false hero.

Fraud one, Odysseus is a clever man who uses his wits to win; as in his “battle” with Polyphemus”.

The facts, Odysseus gets caught stealing another man’s food, gets that “man” drunk and blinds his one eye, then Odysseus lies his way out of danger and lies about his identity until he thinks he’s out of danger. Then in a fit of pride reveals his name and brings the wrath of God down on the head of his crew. He, conveniently, escapes the consequences of his crimes.

Fraud two, Odysseus is a great “sea captain” leader and king.

The facts, Odysseus losses his ship and his crew – every one of them lost while their Captain and King schemes and sleeps around to save his own skin.

Fraud three, Odysseus loves his wife and home more than war.

The facts, Odysseus is only interested in his own animal needs. He indulges his passions throughout his circuitous journey and then disguises himself to trick his way into his home. He is not interested in the feelings of his long abandoned bride, only in her celibacy. He would have eagerly killed her had she lived as he had done.

Fraud four, Odysseus is a great hero.

The facts, Odysseus traps his victims unarmed by deceit, murders them while they are supposedly under the protection of his hospitality and in his pride-driven rage he even murders the man who has helped him.

Fraud five, Odysseus represents a just king cleansing his house of pollution.

Ridiculous, Odysseus having murdered his guests, goes on to callously hang the girls who have served their lovers as Odysseus’ “conquests” have serviced him.

It is no wonder the Romans, who actually read the works of Homer, exalted Achilles, and despised Odysseus. The study of Homer’s works was the foundation of liberal education for millennia. Hidden under the dark cloud of medieval Christianity, Homer's art burned bright enough to illuninate the Enlightenment. The greatness of Homer’s poetry is the inspired truth of how to live like heroes. In an age where only heroes can save the West from the dark night of superstition and hate, the Iliad and the Odyssey and the truths the master crafted are miss taught to the peril of civilization.

Down With the Death Star

The most frightening of all the *Star Wars’* villains was Governor Tarkin. In the first movie he commanded the Death Star and “held Vader’s leash”. He was not afraid of the Emperor or the Empire or any of those Jedi types. He clearly stated that each governor would rule their own sector and when asked how order would be maintained without the imperil bureaucracy he coldly answered that “fear of this battle station will keep the systems in line.” Tarkin coldly destroyed the entire planet of Alderaan. No other monster, robot concoction, or clone, no matter how powerful in the force, ever did anything like that. What was most terrifying about Tarkin was that his power was “real”, something we could all identify with; not levitated debris or leaping, light saber wielding ninjas with inordinately high counts of some “bug” living in their blood. Tarkin’s power came simply from his intellect and his willingness to kill anyone who stood in his way.

This past weekend I found myself discussing Kim Jong Il’s threat to the world. The question came around to why his people support him. Some Fox News reporter recently sneaked into North Korea and returned to report that the people there seem to genuinely support the little dictator. Of course she was never out of sight and earshot of a minder sent by Kim to watch her and any Korean who might speak to her. I do not believe that the people of North Korea would tolerate Kim Jong Il for half a day if it weren’t for the machine gun totting thugs that benefit from his power and keep him in power by fear.

I am aware that at some level the “true believers” might buy into some of the lies. Perhaps they, like Winston Smith in *1984*, really have come to love Big Brother, but it is only after torture and fear have destroyed reason.

The thugs that keep the monsters in power do so for their own benefit. They are like the Praetorian guards of Rome. Once the Emperor turned on them, he found himself dead and his replacement bribing his way into power; not with the senate or the people, but with the thugs.

It has been the same throughout history:

Robespierre tricked the French people into giving him power, but he had to murder 40,000 innocents to keep it – and when he became too weird for his thugs they marched him off the “temple mount” and up to the guillotine.

Lenin pretended to serve the people, but when the fact of the failure of Communism become so painfully clear that the party turned against him, he kept his power by murder and terror.

Stalin followed Lenin to power in the USSR, not by merit or the love of his comrades but by murder, and kept his power through a reign of terror. When his thugs felt threatened they saw him murdered. His successors, those who recoiled from killing, fell. Brezhnev hung on by threatening to kill the world and refilling the gulags.

Hitler lied his way to power, but he kept himself there by fear. In the end, when he had shot and poisoned himself to hell, Hitler’s “loyal” followers danced in the bunker.


Mao murdered his way into power and kept it through the most devastating and terrifying slaughter in history. Fear, not love or belief in the little red book kept the “system in line”.

If Saddam’s Iraq or bin Laden’s Caliphate could stir the least moment of loyalty, there would be no need for mass murder, bombs, and endless terror.

Now we come to Kim Jong Il, pretending to command the loyalty of the starving and miserable peoples of North Korea. They may well be ignorant of any other way of life, but it is the tanks and guns of the thugs, not the propaganda or the promises that keeps this mini monster in power.

I saw the first *Star Wars* eighteen times in theaters. Remember, it played for more than a year, and there were no video tape rentals in those days. Once the movie left the theater your chance of ever seeing it again was next to nil. None of us doubted the justice of the “galactic rebels”. We didn’t need the three “episodes” still in Lucas’ head, we automatically knew who to justly fight. Any power that must be maintained by murder must be rebelled against. Our reason teaches us that.

The peoples of China, Iran, North Korea, Vietnam, and Cuba, along with others, wait for the instant they can defy the monster and in a blaze of joy bring down the “Death Star”.

Burmingham to Belfast to Baghdad and Back

Burmingham:

This past week’s Civics lecture brought us to a biography of Thurgood Marshall. It was wonderful to follow his life as he used the bludgeon of the Constitution, the Law, and Reason to smash down the doctrine of Separate-but-Equal and end legal segregation in the United States. In passing we contemplated the heroic suffering of Martin King and the wonder that was and is the power of Civil Disobedience. But our study had revealed something else to us. The wonders of the Civil Rights movement sat upon a deep and dark foundation. The United States of American had almost failed to happen. The dividing barrier that almost ripped America into pieces before it could be, was slavery.

We had studied Franklin’s attack on that horrible institution; Jefferson’s fear of that Fire Bell in the Night, and realized that Washington and others had had to plug their noses and swallow that stinking evil in order to establish the Republic. But it didn’t end there, the war against the bigotry, greed, and ignorance that made slavery possible was millenniums old. It was obviously not a reasonable condition, and yet at times it seemed to be a universal part of the human condition.

It is important to realize that it was not simply the realization of its injustice that ended slavery and set America on the road to Burmingham jail and the admission that racism and segregation are not reasonable. That miracle was wrought on bloody battlefields. Hundreds of thousands had to die violent deaths to end that colossal inhumanity of man to man. The Civil War is the single most horrific sacrifice to end American bigotry and ignorance inspired hate although it was neither the alpha nor the omega of that fight. The actions of Marshal and King were majestic and magical in their application of law and justice to end evil, but their successes were founded on the bloody battlefield sacrifice of 360,000 boys in blue.

Belfast:

Last week I attended a lecture at the university. The presenter professor, Thom Kearin, is a Sociologist who seems to have devoted his life to the study of the Belfast Murals. Hideous graffiti that soils the walls of that city to intimidate, inflame, and commemorate murder. It was surprising to me that Professor Kearin seemed to have affection for these monstrosities. He has carefully cataloged and photographed them and now laments that their numbers have shrunk from over 600 to less than three. He scornfully said that the only thing the American Government has pressured the Northern Irish and British governments to do, of late, is remove the murals. “Why don’t they, the U.S., pressure the Government to end segregation and the laws that support it?” he queried.

Professor Kearin then went on to introduce us to the “peace walls” of Belfast. Walls that divide the Irish Catholics from the Irish Protestants.

“Who built these walls?” asked a student.

“The Government!” the professor replied.


“Why?”

He went on to outline the centuries long struggle between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. The Battle of the Boyne to the Bog Side “Massacre”; to the fact that over the last 30 years an average of one person has been murdered every day in Northern Ireland in the name of Catholicism or Protestantism. But what pained me the most was a statistic he seemed to drop in passing, almost as if it were a positive terrorist accomplishment, a proof of British failure; one third of those killed have been British soldiers.

There were three points during the lecture where I got my oar in. Kearin was deprecating the British government for institutionalizing segregation, “oh that evil government”.

1. I asked, “what if the government were to start busing kids from Catholic schools to Protestant ones, and vice-versa. What if the government took down the walls and forced landlords to integrate and meet quotas on housing.

His reply, “There would be civil war.”

“So,” I questioned, “It is not the government who has institutionalized bigotry, it is the bigots that will not bend? Why do you blame the government for keeping the peace?

“I can’t disagree with you,” was his scholarly reply.

2. “You say that the only thing the U.S. government is doing is calling for the destruction of these murals?” I asked.

“Yes,” replied the professor.

“But isn’t that about all they can do, they cannot magically make these people get along; perhaps all they can do is try to remove the emblems of hate and the memories of the blood feud.”

3. A lady in the class inquired, “How can these people do these things and claim to be Christians, when the teachings of Christ so clearly teach otherwise?”

I butted in to reply, “If you read in the bible you will find plenty of examples of the chosen people killing the “evil ones” to inhabit their land.”

“Yes’ the professor agreed, “The Old Testament is very big among many of these people, and it is full of instances of killing off the people you don’t like to grab their land.”

“I am not so naive as not to know what is in the Bible,” the lady almost sobbed, “but how can they be so evil?”

“Because it is how they are taught the Bible.” I replied, “And if they are not taught to reason they can be mislead.”

“How are things now?” another student asked.

“Better” Kearin replied.

“I wonder why?” I thought.

At the end of class, Kearin passed out a set of pictures from the Bog Side Mural series, a series of eleven wall side paintings, ten of which commemorate Belfast’s Bloody Sunday, one is a dove of peace. He asked us to fill out a survey to give our impressions of the paintings. I did my best, but in the comments’ section I wrote, “I see no need to memorialize hate with eyesores erected to celebrate black hooded murders.” The idea that there is any value in building monuments to hate, to celebrate when religious and cultural differences become the blood feud, where crime is glorified and the police and soldiers who attempt to bring peace are vilified, seems to me to be a dastardly dam to the spread of reason.

We must not forget that the “better life” in Northern Ireland has been bought by the blood of 3,650 British soldiers who selflessly died that others might live in peace and freedom.

Baghdad:

The killing goes on in Baghdad. Al Qaeda terrorists stir up hate between Sunni and Shiite to continue millennia of murder in the name of God. The ever increasing number of American soldiers, who have come to Iraq to bring peace and freedom necessary for reason to grow, are dying, murdered by terrorists and thugs who kill for power, hate, and Allah. Someday, perhaps soon, the killing will stop, reason will prevail. The Iraqi Constitution and its noble implementers and heroes will bring law and justice to the people of Iraq. It is their natural right and their reasonable desire. But when they do, we must not forget that the triumph of reason has been paid for by the sacrifice of the most sacred of blood.

And Back:

Herodotus, my hero among all historians, had a favorite line. He would say, “To compare small things with great. . .” and then go on to do just that, putting the history of the world into perspective by an examination of some small fact or situation.

So, “to compare small things with great. . .” One wonders how it can be that people, who by nature partake of that same reason that makes God, God, can kill and murder, hate and divide for so long and only be brought together at such horrendous sacrifice.

In Davis County there is a new high school being built. It will be up and running by next school year. The students for Syracuse High will have to come from somewhere. The overcrowded halls and classes of North Ridge and Clearfield highs will go to fill the new school, and they will be left in need for more students, those student will, of course, come from communities whose children now attend Layton High. And how will Layton High be filled? From the crowded hall of Davis High. Then more students will be brought up from Viewmont and at last balance will be attained. That is the reasonable and best way to take advantage of the new school and make education the best for students. But now long taught hatreds come to the surface. Enraged “parents” flood the e-mails of the Realignment Committee, and “mobs” threaten the School Board meetings. How far will the hatred and prejudice go? Will someone strap on the dynamite to prevent their virgin child from association with the polluted population of Layton High?

What is it that makes folks from Kaysville so afraid of having their children associate with Layton folks? What is so repugnant about the halls of Clearfield High; so disgusting about having a dart for a mascot? How can reason prevail when some people think they are so much better than others, when some groups think they are justified in hating those who live and believe differently? Where is the Divine light of reason when you ask a mother to let her child go to school with a crowd she doesn’t like? Is it true that rich kids are better than poor ones? Does Mutton Hollow divide intelligent and good people from scum and riffraff? All these things will be debated and shouted. The tears will flow and Christian charity be forgotten, and the will of Allah will be invoked to attack and disdain. I only hope that there will be brave and courageous leaders who will sacrifice, that reason might someday prevail. I hope reason will not have to be bought with blood, but what price will Davis County folks have to pay for reason to prevail?

Mr. Foley, You Are a Brainless Man

I enjoy how lines form plays become impeded in my mind after listening to them hundreds of times in rehearsal and performance. Some favorites: “You can’t handle the truth” “I shall call it Bottom’s dream, because it has no bottom.” “I do not think about things, I do not think about.” “Do you ever think about things you do think about?”

Now I am listening to *The Crucible*, beginning to end, once ever two days. In the play; as the Witch Trials come crashing down around Judge Danforth’s ears, the Reverend Parris revels that his niece; the leading accuser of the twelve “witches” already hung, and the seven scheduled to die at sunrise; has stolen Parris' money and fled. The Judges reaction is to scream: “Mr. Parris, you are a brainless man!” By the way, so was Judge Danforth.

Now who will prove to be brainless?

If Mark Foley has sexually abused young men; his crimes need to be uncovered and he needs to be punished. If his crimes do not go past the e-mails and text messages at present disclosed then the least we can say is: “Mark Foley, you are a brainless man!”

I have cut and pasted the “sexually explicit” text messages and e-mails that the Congressman is know to have sent to a High School aged boy who had worked for him:

ABCNews.com posted these instant message exchanges:

Maf54: You in your boxers, too?
Teen: Nope, just got home. I had a college interview that went late.
Maf54: Well, strip down and get relaxed.

ABCNews.com also cited this exchange:

Maf54: What ya wearing?
Teen: tshirt and shorts
Maf54: Love to slip them off of you.

A third example from ABCNews.com:

Maf54: Do I make you a little horny?
Teen: A little.
Maf54: Cool.

Some excerpts from the email.

glad your home safe and sound...we dont go back into sessionuntil Sept 5,,,,si its a nice long break...I am back in Florida now...its nice here..been raining today...it sounds like you will have some fun over the next few weeks...how old are you now?...

I am in North Carolina..and its over 100 degrees in New Orleans...wow that's really hot...well do you miss DC...Its raining here but 68 degrees so you can argue..did you have fun at your conference....what do you want for your birthday coming up...what stuff do you like to do

how are you weathering the hurricane...are you safe...send me an email pic of you as well....

The teen boy is 16 years-old.”


"Click on the blue "16 years-old" above and get the "full" story.

We can all now judge the inappropriateness of these comments and the level of “evil” they represent. Now let’s sit back and watch what their effect will be on the nation.

1. Will the Congressman resign or will he cling to his office no matter what shocking information is reveled? (We already know the answer to this question, but it’s still worth asking.)

2. When he is accused of criminal activity will he lie to a grand jury?

3. When brought before a federal judge will he perjure himself?

4. Will the media unite to attack or to defend him? Will they attack him as a sexual predator or tell us that there is nothing really to get up set about because it’s “just sex.”? (Of course there will have to be some actual sex reveled before this defense can be made. Will it matter if the boy kept the “blue dress”?)

5. Will Foley call a news conference and shake his finger at America and tell us he did not have “text” with that boy!

6. Once he has denied his e-mails will he require his staff to march one at a time to the microphone and say, “I believe the congressman”?

7. What will the ACLU do about the leaking of private e-mails to the press?

8. Will this boy’s name be leaked to the press, and will pictures of him be published in the “Enquirer”?

9. Will he be called a trailer trash bimbo and attacked by the “party” machine?

10. Will those who have long condemned the sexual exploitation of women, (oh, excuse me I meant boys,) in the work place; suddenly abandon their cause because Mark Foley is a supporter of their "special issue"?

11. Will Foley’s wife uncover a vast right wing conspiracy? (Okay, I know Foley doesn’t have a wife; maybe he could get some help from Hillary.)


This scandal may well change the history of he world, it may well place the party of “Cut and Run”, or now, “not stay the course but change the course, but we don’t know how”, in power and precipitate the eventual fall of the West?


“Mr. Foley, you are a brainless man.” Who else will prove to be brainless?

I Think the Professor Doth Protest Too Much

I recall the first time I realized the power of history; it was my freshman year of high school. In a discussion on the Puritan’s persecution of the Quakers and the Salem Witch Trials, my teacher had said that it seems that when ever a persecuted religion gains power itself, it begins to persecute those who disagree with it. In the simple faith of my youth, I protested that my religion had never done that. Mr. Nielson assigned me to read Wauneta Brooks, *Mountain Meadows Massacre*. How my eyes were opened.

Wednesday, Sept 20, 2006, I attended the Arrington Lecture at the LDS tabernacle in Logan Utah. There Professor Thomas Alexander of BYU presented his spiel concerning the efforts of Brigham Young and the brethren to investigate and “deal” with the Mountain Meadows Massacre?

The highlight of the evening (for me) was Alexander’s reference to Professor George Ellsworth as his mentor and example as a great teacher. I believe I recall Alexander saying that, George Ellsworth was the greatest teacher he had ever had. The same is true for me!! I don’t believe I ever stand before my students but that George Ellsworth is somewhere in my mind.

Unfortunately Alexander was no Ellsworth. He must have done his best in the crowded hour long power point presentation, but it soon became obvious that his agenda did not agree with the facts or with his knowledge of them.

It comes down to this.

Q – Did Brigham Young order the Mountain Meadows Massacre?

A – We can never know, but he had definitely set the stage in the minds of his fanatic followers necessary to carry out the slaughter. He had sent his minions throughout the territory to preach resistance to the American Army on its way to the Great Basin. He had been preparing the “Saints” for a siege in the mountains and told them that this time they would not retreat but would stand and fight. He had sought and made treaties with Indian tribes to fight against Americans and had even contracted with them to steal the cattle of immigrant companies to run off to the mountain strongholds he planed to build.

Q – Did Brigham Young do every thing he could have done to find out what happened at Mountain Meadows?

A – We can never know, but we do know that what he told, or allowed his surrogates to tell, the world did not describe what actually happened. I believe that Brigham Young knew exactly what happened immediately after the massacre. He promulgated other stories, while he was himself getting different information, the truth. The point here is that if Brigham Young was as deceived as he claimed to be, he was not doing his best to find out the truth, and if he did find out the truth, he intentionally obfuscated. He sent George A. Smith, whose preaching had stirred up the Furies requisite for the massacre in the first place, to investigate it. The details of Smith’s investigation and of the four other investigations Young ordered between 1859 and 1870 are unknown. The official reports did not enlighten the truth. His motives for doing this would be worthy of consideration but that does not alter the fact that he was not telling all he knew or was not finding out all he could. Young was Governor of the Utah Territory at the time of the Massacre and President of the Church. He surly could have mounted an adequate investigation had he wanted to. I believe he did and then covered up his findings.

Q – Were the people responsible for Mountain Meadows adequately dealt with?

A – Absolutely not. The Civil War interrupted the government’s ability and desire to investigate the massacre; which occurred in Sept. 1857 but was not widely know for a year afterwards. When efforts to find the truth were re-initiated in the 1870’s the trail was either cold or well covered.

Although the actual activities of “that terrible day” were well known by 1870, as were the names of the culprits, only one man – Jon D. Lee – was made the scapegoat for the murders, and executed. Case closed?

Professor Alexander Summarized his presentation on four points. Here are my notes on his summation questions and answers:

1. Did the leadership investigate? Yes.

2. Did the leadership try to help the federal government? Yes.

3. Could they have done more? Yes.

4. Did they deal fairly with those involved in the incident? No

Here are Professor Alexander’s summery questions with my answers:

1. Did the leadership investigate? Yes, but they either intentionally chose not to do so properly, highly unlikely, or they found out the whole ugly truth within days and spent a century covering it up.

2. Did the leadership try to help the federal government? They said they had, but they did not help the government as much as they could have had they really wanted the government to know the truth. They then blamed failure on the feds. The truth is that Brigham Young was himself governor until 1859 and neither needed nor wanted the permission or support from other federal officials to discover the truth and punish the perpetrators.

3. Could they have done more? Yes, in fact, I believe they did do more. Brigham Young and Church leaders surely knew the truth, but buried it rather than bring it to light and punish all who committed murder in God’s name. They misled and then hid under the cover provided by the Civil War. When the war was over, they did not bring forth the truth but rather offered up Jon D. Lee as a scapegoat sacrifice for the benefit of the Church and its Leaders.


4. Did the church leadership deal fairly with those involved? [in this mass murder carried out by religious fanatics?] No. The President and Apostles who preaching had instigated the hatred and the circumstances requisite for murder never publicly took responsibility for their actions; in fact they hid the truth from the world for generations. Those who actually took part in the murders (save one) were never brought to trial, and the Stake President and Bishop who ordered the massacre were never punished. Although Haight, the stake president, was excommunicated for a time in 1870, he was eventually reinstated in the church. The bishop, (Lee was not the Bishop!) who had supreme secular authority over the killers, was not disciplined by church or state. The men who did the actual killing were not brought to justice or ever put on trial for their crimes; they hid their secret throughout their lives and died thinking they had gotten away with murder. The only one to pay for his sins, in this life, was Jon D. Lee. His show trial was to end the issue, and once it became clear he no longer intended to go like a lamb to the slaughter; he was taken to Mountain Meadows, forced to sit down on his own coffin, and shot. [It is interesting that Jon D. Lee, excommunicated at the time for mass murder, has had all of his priesthood blessings restored. It gives me hope for Judas.]

NOW WE HAVE ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF OBFICATION AND DECIETE: That Bill Clinton’s cowardice, inaction, and preoccupation with a young girl “working” in his office set the stage for 9/11 is well know. Now comes Clinton claiming he did everything he could to get bin Laden. I heard him today claim that he tried to get bin Laden – and the failure was everybody’s fault but his own.

I have long chuckled at the 9/11 commission. One of the members was Jamie Gorelick, the very Clintonista who put up the wall between the CIA and the FBI that prevented our national intelligence agencies from detecting and stopping the September attacks. Talk about sending George A. Smith to investigate the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

I wonder what answer Fox News would have expected to get from Brigham Young if they had been able to ask him if he had ordered the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The same one they got by asking Bill Clinton if 9/11 was his fault.

I think the “lady” doth protest too much!

Come On; Think About It

Once upon a time, in Sunday school, we were discussion tithing. The discussion veered into why people do not pay their 10% to God. The “consensus” answer – because they want the riches, the evil money! The discussion bumped along until it had come round to why people do pay tithing. The “consensus” answer – because if they do God will bless them with riches, the blessed money! I couldn’t help but ask, “What is the difference between a person whose motive for not paying tithing is to get rich and the person whose motive for paying tithing is to get rich?”

Many a sermon has been preached about the evils of wealth. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter into heaven.” Unless it’s a pretty big needle or a well ground camel, that sounds impossible to me. And yet this call to righteousness by rejecting the evils of wealth always ends up with a promise that a mortal life of sacrifice and poverty will end you up in a palace on a golden street in heaven with infinite plenty – and some promise, infinite power. Doesn’t it seem a little odd that God would teach us something is evil and then reward our abstinence by heaping that “evil” on us for eternity?

Now consider the Islamic fascist’s position. Sex is so evil it cannot be displayed or discussed. Movies that display it must be censored, music that invites contemplation of it must be banned, books that mention it must be burned, people who indulge in it stoned, and women who represent it must be covered head to foot in bags and buried out of sight – and if they show themselves, buried alive. And what is the reward for such abstention, for a life of celibacy and a death achieved by detonating one’s self to kill the immoral Western culture that flaunts it? Seventy-two virgins and a heaven of sex. Doesn’t the hypocrisy of such a belief cry out its falseness?


The Pope quotes a medieval ruler whose world was being torn apart by the “holy warriors of Islam”. The emperor said that teachings that inspire murder to spread a belief system bring violence to the world. And what is the response to the Pope by those who insist that Islam is a religion of peace? Violence! Think about it!

In The Crucible

I am preparing to cast my version of the *Crucible* - and launch myself on two and a half months of what counts for work in my life. It is challenging to keeping a cast of teenagers focused on a play – to get them to do their best through readings and memorization and character development, to get them to give their best through night after night of repetitive performance. But it is my hope that the message of this play, and this day, will steal us all for the challenge; and that those who come to see our offering will use it for a moment of contemplation, a point of reference in a world gone mad. Thus I seek to do my part.

In the last tragic moments of the play John Proctor seeks to save his life by confessing to the foolish charges pushed on him by a bunch of screaming girls and the mindless superstition of a fanatic religious cult. Read with me the last few lines of Aruthur Miller's *The Crucible:

DANFORTH: Come, then, sign your testimony. Give it to him. Come, man sign it.

PROCTOR: You have all witnessed it – it is enough.

DANFORTH: You will not sign it?

PROCTOR: You have all witnessed it; what more is needed?

DANFORTH; Do you sport with me? You will sign your name or it is no confession, Mister!

(His breast heaving with agonized breathing, Proctor now lays the paper down and signs his name.)

Parris: Praise be to the Lord!

(Proctor has just finished signing when Danforth reaches for the paper. But Proctor snatches it up, and now a wild terror is rising in him, and a boundless anger.)

DANFORTH: If you please, sir.

PROCTOR: No.

DANFORTH: Mr. Proctor, I must have—

PROCTOR: No, no. I have signed it. You have seen me. It is done! You have no need for this.

PARRIS: Proctor, the village must have proof that—

PROCTOR: Damn the village! I confess to God, and God has seen my name on this! It is enough!

DANFORTH: No, sir, it is—

PROCTOR: You came to save my soul, did you not? Here! I have confessed myself; it is enough!

DANFORTH: You have not con—

PROCTOR: I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!

DANFORTH: Mr. Proctor—

PROCTOR: You will not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tiuba [think France and Spain, who offer obeisance to Terror], I am John Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part of salvation that you should use me!

DANFORTH: I do not wish to—

PROCTOR: I have three children—how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?

DANFROTH: You have not sold your friends—

PROCTOR: Beguile me not! I blacken all of them when this is nailed to the church the very day they hang for silence!

DANFORTH: Mr. Proctor, I must have good and legal proof that you—

PROCTOR: You are the high court, your word is good enough! Tell them I confessed myself; say Proctor broke his knees and wept like a woman; say what you will, but my name cannot—

DANFORTH: It is the same, is it not? If I report it or you sign to it?

PROCTOR: No, it is not the same! What others say and what I sign to is not the same!

DANFORTH: Why? Do you mean to deny this confession when you are free?

PORCTOR: I mean to deny nothing!

DANFORTH: Then explain to me, Mr. Proctor, why you will not let—

PROCTOR: Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!

DANFORTH: Is that document a lie? If it is a lie I will not accept it! What say you? I will not deal in lies, Mister! You will give me your honest confession in my hand, or I cannot keep you from the rope. Which way do you go, Mister?

(His breast heaving, his eyes staring, Proctor tears the paper and crumples it, and he is weeping in fury, but erect.)

DANFORTH: Marshal!

PARRIS: Proctor, Proctor!

HALE: Man, you will hang! You cannot!

PROCTOR: I can. And there’s your first marvel, that I can. You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs. (Elizabeth, in a burst of terror rushes to him and weeps against his hand.) Give them no tear! Tears pleasure them! Show honor now, show a stony heart and sink them with it! (He has lifted her, and kisses her now with great passion.)

REBECCA: Let you fear nothing! Another judgment waits us all!

DANFORTH: Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for these, weeps for corruption!

…

Now a fanatic religious cult has shown their true intent with us. Today, Saturday, September 02, 2006 the Islamic-Nazis call on all Americans to confess to the truth of Islam or die. We stand before the “judgment bar of terror”. In the days to come Nancy Pelosi and Harry Read will coax us to sign away the truth for the promise of peace. What proofs will al-Zawahri demand of our submission? Such confession may well be easy for the relativists among us – but how for those who love the truth!

What will be the last tragic lines in the story of the West? Where will we stand on that day, when the terrorists come to use us? Will we be ruled by our reason or by our fears? Will we fight or give them the pleasure of our tears?”

No One Is So Blind. . .

Three incidents of the last week give me pause – much reflection – some frustration.

Shortly after I returned from camp I answered the phone to kindly voice; it conjured the picture as a sweat faced, elderly woman. After establishing who I was, she told me she was the daughter of ________ and asked if I knew who _____ was. I said I knew him well, but before I could finish my thought, she interrupted to say, “Well, your father did.” Since I could not deny my father knew ______ better than I, I did not contradict her. She continued, “I hear you tell a very funny story about my father shaving a hippy.” I knew the story she meant at once, but I thought sadly – it is not about her father at all, though I do mention his name at the very beginning of the story as someone who once offered me a job. I was thinking she perhaps wanted to hear the story or to get a copy of it and was trying to think of a way to tell her that unfortunately the story was about someone else, when she launched into a vindictive. She accused me of hurting the feelings of _____’s numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren by making light of his alcoholism. She then demanded I stop telling the story. I was flabbergasted. I assured her that I made no such implication about her father, that the story was about someone else entirely and that I only mentioned _______ in an absolutely true and benign reference to someone who once tried to help me. She would not believe me. Her voice was never raised, but she assured me that she knew the truth – that I was saying hurtful things about her father. She said she had been told this by people she believed and insisted that I stop using his name. Then she hung up. I couldn’t recall her name. I had no way of getting her back to tell the story and give evidence of her father’s totally innocent role in it. So she is left believing that thousands of people have heard her father defamed, and I am left to contemplate ______’s hither to unknown drinking problem and his daughter’s determined ignorance.

I intended to finish Ann Coulter’s book *Godless* sometime over the summer, but never had time to read. I did lend the book to one of my staff. After much reminding, he finally returned it to me the day he left for home. It was warped and growing mold. He assured me he had read it and that it was all “bunk”. Last week I picked up reading where I had left off in the spring. To my surprise Coulter spends the last several chapters of her book debunking Darwin. For years I have been a staunch supporter of Darwin. With great affection I recall Carl Sagan’s calm and quirky voice assuring us that evolution is not a theory – but a fact – that the mechanism of evolution is Natural Selection as put forward by Charles Darwin. I read and reread *Origin of the Species* years ago – and it seemed utterly reasonable, and piled on top of it were the text book pictures of spotted English moths and “The Cosmos” series reenactment of the “growing amino acids in a flask” experiment. From the same PBS program there were all those cute little line drawings that “evolved” in forty seconds from a bunch of squiggled molecules to Eve standing at the foot of the tree of life. I have directed the play *Inherit the Wind* twice at our high school. It seemed so logical; who could challenge it? For years the “brothers across the road” have tried by sending over their photocopied articles and issues of the “Ensign” to dissuade me. But there was never any answer in their harangue, never any challenge in their contentions. Then came Ann Coulter and there went Darwin. Friday, I lent my moldy copy of *Godless* to the Principal of the Seminary. I am left to contemplate the shallowness of my long held positions, marvel at the power of truth, and wonder if there is still another page to turn.

Thursday, in a very hot classroom full of cranky and resentful sophomores, I tried to stir an argument. Somewhere along the line to the idea of “Absolute Truth that exists but cannot be known,” one student blurted out, “Why do you keep attacking Saudi Arabia?”

“Don’t you mean, why do WE keep attacking Saudi Arabia?”

“No you!” – he replied bitterly.

“Why would we attack Saudi Arabia? They are our ally in the war on terror.” I ventured.

“Then why did we blow up Saddam Hussein?”

“We didn’t blow up Saddam Hussein, we arrested him, besides, Saddam is not from Saudi Arabia, he is from Iraq.”

“No he’s not” the student insisted, “He’s from Arabia.”

“Well, maybe his ancestors, but he was the dictator of Iraq,” I ventured.

“No he wasn’t. Why should we believe you? You could just be telling us anything.”

This was a perfect segue into the quote on the board, the same one that is on the masthead of the Agora, and I took advantage of it to move the discussion that direction. At the end of class I called the student forward, hoping to seek together the origins of Saddam Hussein, and perhaps learn something on which to reason. But he replied, as he stalked toward the door; “I’ve got things to do!” I was left alone, in the stuffy heat, to contemplate how difficult it is to get the blind to see.

My father’s words came to me, “No one is so blind as he [or she] who will not see!”

From Heaven to Earth

It has been difficult to leave Paradise and I am still a little empty with the separation, but I must admit; there is one think I have been looking forward to back here in the real world. That is to check up on our Anonymous’ predictions of stories in the summer
NEWS. It has proved as pleasant as I had hoped. Here are Anonymous’ predictions with the truth of the summer NEWS to contrast:

“Let me give you some of the headlines you will miss while we will be gone this summer Liesis:ROVE INDICTED! Cultrure of Corruption Runs Deep in White House
***The TRUTH – Rove was acquitted and the culture of corruption has died as a Democrat talking point as the REAL crimes of Democrat politicians are revealed daily.

Iraq Civil War Broadens; Bush Signals Cut & Run
***The TRUTH – The war on terror in Iraq continues – it is painful, but the increasing abilities of the Free Iraqi army every day takes on more and more of the burden of the war. Rather than running Bush has proved himself right!

Bush Approval At All Time Low (To be run weekly until your too soon return)
***The TRUTH – Bush’s Approval rating of 37% - 40% is higher than in the Spring and continues to rise as the elections near. Go figure!!!!

Debt Ceiling Raised; Spending Deficit Projected To Grow
***The TRUTH is that the deficit has been cut in half after only two years of the Bush plan – this in spite of War and disaster. Bush predicted it would take ten years to cut the deficit in half. He’s so humble!!! Reaganomics still works. Anonymous – needs a new crystal ball.

Trade Deficit Still Out of Control
***The TRUTH: U.S. Economy: Trade Deficit Narrows as Exports Rise (Update1)
Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in June as exports rose to a record, helped by a pickup in economic growth abroad and a weaker dollar.
Imports exceeded exports by $64.8 billion, following a $65 billion shortfall in May that was larger than previously reported, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. American imports of cars and consumer goods such as televisions and clothes also rose.

Cheney Continues To Say Deficits Do Not Matter - President Agrees
***The TRUTH – A lot of people agree with this statement, but I can’t find any quote from Cheney.

Dollar Continues To Fall (Down 7% last week alone - that was a true headline from last week as investors decided the Republican majority is not serious about deficit control.)
***TRUTH – the dollar is mixed in it’s relations to the Yen and Euro – but the economic consequences Anonymous predicts have been proven as specious as the rest of his predictions.

Cheney STILL Insists Iraq Has WMD, Calls For Nuking Anbar To Be Sure Of Their Destruction ***TRUTH – I love this one!!! as Iraqi WMD possession has been proven this summer. Of course you had to trust to Silver Lining to get the truth. We also now know that Saddam was spending billions on bribes and preparing to launch a nuclear build up that would make Iran’s and North Korea's look like a joke. One will look hard in the liberal biased media for these truths – but then, they were too eagerly hoping that Anonymous would be proven right. Wrong again Anonymous!!!

Cheney Demands U.S. Nuke (insert country or Blue State here)
***TRUTH – this never happened, but the democrats dropped their own bomb on a “blue state” by turning Lieberman into a sure win independent and a sure loss of a seat in the Senate for the Democrats.

No One Held Accountable In White House
***TRUTH – The person that is being held accountable here is Anonymous – for his silly predictions and his sad dreams for the destruction of his own country.

Oil Prices Record High, America Still Addicted To Oil -
***Truth: CRUDE oil prices slumped overnight to levels last seen in June, amid signs of an economic slowdown in the United States and a lowering of tensions in the Middle East, dealers said.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, closed down $US1.83 at $US70.06 a barrel.
It had tumbled as low as $US70 in earlier trading, hitting its lowest point since June 21.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for October delivery settled down $US1.25 at $US71.58 after earlier dipping to $US71.31, its lowest level since June 28.
Crude futures have shed around $US4 over the course of the week

Bush Continues Erosion Of Democracy At Home
***TRUTH – Thanks to George Bush Democracy is safer than ever in America and spreading throughout the world. Go George GO!!!!

Taliban Resurgent In Afghanistan As Coalition Forces Struggle To Keep Up Pressure With Limited Resources (that was a headline last week too, maybe you saw the General in charge of Asian ops give that press conference.)
***TRUTH – NATO has taken over the war against the Taliban and is mopping them up in southern Afghanistan. Sadly the war on Terror goes on, on all fronts – encouraged by the nay-sayers like Anonymous, but the Taliban victory Anonymous is hoping for will not happen!!!

Former White House Officials Call Bush "Twit"
***TRUTH – Can’t find this quote in the NEWS either. How about you Anonymous?

Bin Laden On The Loose; Al Queada Still Plotting
***TRUTH – Bin Laden and his Al Queda were foiled again in Britain just over a week ago. What a great victory for the West - Yesterday one of Bin Laden’s closest confidants was caught in Pakistan. Can Bin Laden’s demise be far behind? Many hope he will be gone soon – but of course Anonymous is rooting for him!


-It's a shame I won't be able to tune in here every week and read your ridiculous apologizing and rationalizing about how all of this news is actually great and not the sign of some of the worst leadership this country has yet endured. But it isn't that big of a shame. We still got six months of ridiculous Republican control to hear the same stupid type of things being said in the news almost every day.
***TRUTH – America continues to benefit from the courageous leadership of President Bush. In the weeks to come we will see how well it (The US) follows that leadership. Anonymous – would you care to make some predictions on the November elections? That should give us something to look forward to on November 8th. As for “not being able to tune in every week” Well now you can give us a try!

Muse Misused

I believe in the Muses in the way I believe in all the gods. It is hard to deny them when their workings are everywhere manifest in the world. There is something “supernatural” in the production of beauty; rules applied by mere mortals that allow the creation of beauty worthy of God. I often explain this to my students by referencing one of the exceptional English and Writing teachers at our school. She has inspired my own children as they have participated in her classes. I ask the class if any have had poetry from Ms. Merrill. When those lucky ones raise their hands I remind them of the time she taught them the basic rules of poetry and then had them apply those rules to some random words and; what occurred? Yes indeed – they created something wonderful. I continue the point by asking if they ever wrote something – in answer to a question perhaps - and then found in their answer nuances of understanding, even insight, that they of themselves did not possess. Most everyone attests to such a miracle of the Muses. I myself have painted human figures, and found myself staring into their eyes, “how beautiful you are,” I have thought, “and I made you out of mud (pigment) and tree sap (gum Arabic binder). It must be the Muse! This is why the Greeks placed the poets above the prophets. A prophet merely recites the words of god; a poet, under the inspiration of a Muse, transforms words into new creations of beauty that have life beyond the artist. Often the writer does not even understand the power he creates; the magic is beyond his mortal comprehension. I have often thought of Twain’s disclaimer in *Huckleberry Finn* as an example of a wise author acknowledging that the might of the Muse is beyond his design, and his book will reach beyond his vision.

This manifestation of the magic of the Muses and the mortality of the Poet is found in the works of many playwrights, from Aeschylus to Arthur Miller. Next fall I will be directing the Miller play, *The Crucible* at our high school. I have avoided the work for years because of its over utilization by English teachers, and its misapplication in the Social Studies. The story, of how fanatic religion over powers reason to result in the most ungodly atrocities in the universe, is misread by most Social Studies teachers and political spin misters. Everywhere they misapply the horrible atrocity in colonial America to the anti Communist zealousness of Joseph McCarthy and the House Committee on Un-American Activity.

It has always troubled me that McCarthy was made into the villain of the Cold War. I don’t excuse his wrong doing; he failed at his noble cause of defending freedom when he became what he hated. But Miller fails when he dismisses the evils of Communism to condemn McCarthy, as if McCarthy was representative of America. To quote Miller’s own words from http://www.playbill.com/ (An article furnished me by our Drama Director at the high school). Miller says, “There were monuments in those days when there was no way to respond logically or reasonably to what was happening. Yes, we were in a cold war with the Soviets, and the Communists had taken over China, and there was the fear of nuclear destruction. But the cure for the fears was false, taking people who had no connection to sabotage and throwing them all together and calling them traitors and destroying a lot of lives.” Reducing the atrocities of Communism to the Cold War and the fear of nuclear attacks, elevating the atrocity of blacklisting and name calling above that of the mass murder of tens of millions of human beings, and the enslavement of billions more, demonstrate that Miller ‘s Muse speaks beyond Miller’s mind.

The real monsters of the “Cold War” were in Moscow, Peking, and Hanoi, not in Washington. Thankfully Miller’s Muse allowed him to write an allegory of fanaticism that applied to the gulags and the death camps of Stalin, Brezhnev, Mao, Ho, and Pow Pot. Sham on the small minded who could not see the divine truth, but rather choose to imagine that *The Crucible* told a story applicable to their petty concerns. The real witchcraft in this misunderstanding of Art is that the monster of Communism could be transformed by the pampered liberals of America into the victims. The true devilry was that the term “McCarthyism” became a sledgehammer pejorative, while decrying Communism became a social crime.

Now the mystery of Miller’s play will be made manifest in the present world. This summer Liam Neeson and Laura Linney are staring in a reprisal directed by Sir Richard Eyre. Eyre speaks inspired truth when he says, *The Crucible* will “always be pertinent to any society of whatever political leanings, because it’s about something fundamental – the tension between freedom and repression .” Now we will see if the miracle of the Muses will be recognized or denied. Will the critics see in the religious fanatics of Salem, fiends who crushed a man under stones to force him to confess to a crime that cannot exist and hanged 19 men and women for being witches, as an indictment of fanatic Islam that buries women alive for seeking education, and the tyranny of the cult of Saddam that instigated the murder of millions, or if the Art of Art Miller will be reduced to a political screed against the champions of individual liberty and freedom of choice that struggle to end “murder in the name of God” – surely the most damning manifestation of the Devil’s possession of mankind.

It will be revealing to see how Eyre’s version of *The Crucible* plays with the critics, if they notice it at all. I will be interested to see what the dark memories of Puritan fanaticism conger. Will it be the truth about the Islamic Fascists who murder and terrorize their way to power, or a misrepresentation of the forces that stand against them?

I will attempt to present things with less ambiguity with my production at the high school; which will get no press at all. I have been toying with the idea of dressing my actors as Taliban fanatics and placing the trial in Kabul before its liberation. I will have the summer to think it out. At the very least I will enlist the Muse in revealing the truth about where the real religious fanatics of today are to be found.

Summer is upon us; summer takes me away from the Agora. I would like to thank all who have read and contributed to our discussions over the past months. Next week, our house will be in remodel mode; Computer piled in a back room. I will keep in touch from one of the computers at school but I will not be able to compose another post for a while. In a few weeks I will be leaving computer terminals and the internet links behind for over two months. I will also be away from newspapers, radios, and televisions. The world will go on without me, but I like to think that I will be doing my part to make it better. I am grateful that such places as the one to which I am going can still be found. I am humbled by the fact that for nine weeks I will be blessed to spend 24/7 in a place of peace and bliss; Heaven with challenges. My thoughts and prayers will always be with those who defend our precious peace and freedom. As I enjoy the privileges that my heroes purchase at such great cost, I will do my best to give to those I serve the joy that America offers to the world. See you in September!

Perceiving Perception

Zeus must have been disappointed with the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. Not only did the U. S. come in second overall AGAIN – but those “Arian Supermen” from Germany came in first AGAIN. More importantly – nobody paid attention. What was the name of that city anyway?

On the other hand, all the Gods were probably very pleased with the 2002 Olympic Winter Games held in Salt Lake City. First, while the rest of America and the world were still cowering in fear from the attacks of 9/11, Salt Lake City joyously received the winter version of celebration of Zeus through athletic excellence. On the opening night President Bush stepped forward and stood in the midst of the U.S. athletes to give respect to their efforts and congratulate their courage. The inspiration of the President’s class and courage reverberates to this day. The most important homage paid to the Ancient Gods was what happened on the figure skating rink. The world watched as a young couple, Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, skated circles around the Russian favorites, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze. When the judges – some of whom (notably the French) later admitted to making deals – cheated by choosing the Russians, the challenge to their falsehood was immediate. Although the vast majority of spectators worldwide were in no way ice skating experts; quality was obvious to all and the outcry was powerful and unrelenting. The Olympic Committee accepted the judgment of truth, not the biased judges, and awarded gold medals to Sale and Pellertier as well. What pleased all who value divine reason was that the truth was recognized and justice demanded, in the face of those who would have lied, by the power of humans to recognize truth. When that truth prevailed, justice was done, and humanity’s ability to PERCIVE the true and the beautiful was vindicated.

We are able to apply that same perceptive ability to judging and acting of certain challenges to the President placed before the people of the US.

With several early May polls showing Bush’s popularity on the rise, it appears that more and more Americans are beginning to recognize the truth in several areas. Admittedly some polls show Bush at new lows – but it is telling that most reports fail to note the positive growth in the other polls and fail to point out that President Bush has still not fallen as low in the polls as most other Presidents since polling data has been compiled. He has still not fallen as low as Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter, or Bush the first (who is now more popular than Bill Clinton).

Here are some stories that are beginning to become clear in the public’s conscience and from which the divine reason common to all mankind will yet perceive the truth.

1. The incongruity between the angry out cry by the media over Scooter Libby’s alleged leak about Valerie Plame (allegations which did not result in any direct charge by the grand jury which investigated them) and the rush to defend and even glorify CIA Agent Mary McCarthy whose leaks have undoubtedly cost the lives of Americans and prolonged the war against terror.

2. Consider the attacks on President Bush over the price of gasoline while it was President Bush who fought to allow, and the Democrats in the Senate who blocked, the recovery of energy from Alaska’s oil fields. Had this nation been able to follow the Bush energy plan we would now have our own crud oil flowing into our refineries today. It is also note worthy that it was the enviro-radical lobby that prevented the building of refineries that would be able to provide cheaper gas even under present supply conditions.

3. Many people are beginning to marvel at the fact that, although the economy is better than it has ever been; with unemployment and the trade deficit down, personal income up, and the stock market about to reach all time record levels on real not (e)maginary business; Democrats keep talking about the fiction of American economic troubles.

4. How ironic that weeks after taking the word of “has been” generals calling for the ouster of the civilian head of the Defense Department as though silver stars gave ability to the wearer to speak no wrong, the same people are now saying that a lifetime of military service and four stars disqualify Michael Hayden from holding the post of CIA Director.

5. It is shocking that while the President is the only one to offer any workable and realistic plan for handling immigration concerns between the US and Mexico, the “ hate Bush crowd” attack the President as having failed the nation on this issue. The blocking of the President’s agenda is at last being noticed; perceptive Americans are beginning to lay the blame where it belongs, on the obstructionists in the Congress.

6. While the chant of “culture of corruption” is still the number one Democrat talking point, a Democrat Congressman, (Kennedy by name) has been given a free pass by capital police for driving under the influence and reckless driving. At the same time Louisiana Democrat Congressman Bill Jefferson is facing indictment on bribery and his cohort in crime, Vernon Jackson is facing 7 – 9 years in prison after confessing to bribing Jefferson. It does seem reasonable that if the briber is going to jail for bribing the Congressman, the Congressman should be going to jail too. In spite of her incessant attacks on Republicans, for unsubstantiated and unproven allegations, Nancy Pelosi insists that the Jefferson case is different from “Republican corruption”. It is a line that won’t hold up to the scrutiny of the perceptive.

In the end, the truth will prevail. Every day the prejudice of the media becomes more and more evident to the same thinking human beings who called foul to the misjudgments of Olympic judges in 2002. There is hope for those who have the ability to perceive truth in the miscalls and politics of those who push lies in the name of news. We must all seek to perceive the misperception that is being foisted on us, to sense the bias and the bogus. We can all have hope in the ultimate success of right; Reason will celebrate the triumph of truth.

Legacy

Last Tuesday morning I had the chance to attend the Engineering Day displays at the U of U. My son’s project was on display and I took the day off from class to go and see it. It was about 7:30 in the morning when my wife and I headed for the nearest “on ramp”. From a distance we could see the parking lot at the end of it. We headed for the old highway and down toward Farmington. There, where the long neglected Legacy Highway bridge passes over the Freeway, we decided to give I-15 a try. We were barely past the “last chance” exit when every thing bogged down to stop and go gridlock. As we sat there, I contemplated the frustration, pollution, waste, and danger imposed on us and the thousands around us each day. This filthy dangerous disgrace is the Legacy of Rocky Anderson’s political ambition; an example of and fitting metaphor for all the evil caused by those who put their political gain above the good of their fellows and the success of their communities.

The Legacy Highway fiasco is particularly vexing when we consider that after all the wait and all the legal wrangling and all the money lost and the expense increased that the highway will still be built. For ten years it will have phony restrictions placed on it, and then the Legacy Parkway will become a Freeway at last, with much more money spent to up grade it, with much more time wasted and lives lost all to gratify Rocky’s political ambition and the arrogance of some litigious professional protesters.

Now consider the next time you buy gas at inflated prices that President Bush has been trying for years to open the vast reserves of Alaska to our use, and the same political motivations have placed us in economic distress and at the mercy of our enemies. What a waste, what a gridlock, and what a “legacy” for the Democrats in the Senate who bought their power at the expense of the Nation they pretend to serve. Someday the oil will flow from the Artic to the people who need it, but the cost will be greatly increased by the delay forced upon the enterprise by those who could manipulate the mob to support their power.

Twenty Years of spineless immigration policy have allowed a flood of illegal aliens to cross into America, now our border policy has crashed. The politicians in Congress are afraid to take the steps to fix the mess that the President has suggested because they are still seeking political gain at the expense of their nation. Pandering to one side or anther on the issues – succumbing to threats and intimidation - the price of politicizing the immigration policies of our nation may now prove too high to pay. What a legacy!

Consider how day after day Democrats, Clintonistas, professional protesters, seek to bog down the liberation of Iraq, the growth of Democracy in Afghanistan, and the war on terror so they can hurt the President to gain their own power. Their legacy is built on the suffering of our soldiers and the lives of our allies in Iraq who suffer day in and day out at the hands of fanatics, murderers whose hope for world conquest is maintained by the constant obstructions thrown up by the “party out of power” and their media masters.

The high road to world peace will some day be built, but the cost will be greatly increased and the suffering of the peoples of the world will be greatly increased by those who throw up obstructions for the votes of fools.

Grunts

I began my carrier as a School Teacher instructing eighth grade American History classes. I taught the same lecture six times a day to large classes of barely pubescent boys and girls with very little light behind the eyes. My lunch break was a chance to escape the “adolescents” and fraternize with my colleagues in the faculty lunch room. There, for 180 plus lunch breaks, I sat and listened to the teachers at our school complain about the administration, the parents, the students, and the School District. Their most pointed attacks were always against the Principal and his Vices; how they did nothing, didn’t know what they were doing, and how our principals were paid too much for doing too little.

At the end of the year I was lucky enough to escape the Jr. High and take up my present position at the High School. The physical and mental changes that occur in students between the ages of thirteen and fifteen are truly miraculous. I will always be thankful to the dedicated Elementary and Jr. High teachers that prepare my students for high school and forever be grateful that I get to work with these students once they have achieved cognition.

That first year at the high school I determined that I would not eat my lunch in the faculty room. In the twenty plus years of lunch alone I have perhaps sacrificed some friendships, but I have also spared myself thousands of bitch sessions

My small but intense administrative experience, I run Boy Scout Camps, has taught me that for all their sincerity, those who are not in charge cannot possibly understand all the challenges faced by those who are. It is so easy from the narrow point of ones own daily experience to fault those who have responsibility for and a grasp of much more. Thus it became too painful for me to listen to the same old, same old attacks on my Principal by those who had no comprehension of what he has to face.

One afternoon I was listening to a local radio talk show, the commentator was complaining about the salaries of administrators in the schools, insisting that they did nothing while getting paid more than the teachers “in the trenches” doing the real work of the school. My phone call actually got through to Mr. “Right”. I told him that it would be impossible for me to do my job as a teacher if it wasn’t for the Vice Principals that deal with all the problems of the school day in day out while I spend my time doing exactly what I want to be doing. The radio guy hung up on me.

I watch as our Vice Principals organize and coordinate all the “programs” placed on the school by National, State, and County officials; while they organize activities, attend all extracurricular activities and then have to deal with gangs, fights, drugs, angry parents, my mistakes, my disruptive students, and on and on and on. And then they get spit on by the students whom they seek to keep in school, the parents whose children the administrators seek to serve, and the teachers whose classes are made possible by these Principal’s service.

Last week, I was in the final session of the class I have been taking at WSU on Colonial America. The lecturer had been assigned to discuss modern manifestations of Colonial thought. While pointing out that the American military was now using military techniques developed to fight Indians in the French and Indian war, he mentioned Robert D. Kaplan’s *Imperial Grunts* claiming that the only way to really know how the military worked was to do as Kaplan has done - as my Professor put it - to talk only to privates, corporals, sergeants, and first lieutenants. I have not read *Imperial Grunts* nor, do I believe, has the Professor. His one reference to “using French and Indian War tactics” was no doubt fished off the internet. Be that as it may, I strongly disagreed with him that only the underlings have a true picture of “The War”. When I voiced my objection, a crusty old fellow who is quite open about his military service, jumped in to scold me. “If I have never been there, I don’t know what I am talking about.” To which I gave the above explanation of the faculty room grumblers. Of “teachers” who know nothing about the general operation of the “plant”, griping continually about things they do not fully understand. Later reference by the Professor to the implementation of the Injun fighting techniques in the War on Terror clearly indicated top down as well as “bottom up” adaptability in our military. But the point was made; those who gripe the loudest are often those who understand the least about “the big picture”. While the concerns of the “privates” must be addressed, as they are indeed the ones in the trenches, doing away with the folks on top just because the grunts don’t see the need for them is extremely short sighted, whether dealing with the operation of a school, an Army, or a Nation.

Of course, when enemies of those “in charge” are seeking allies in supplanting them, they can often find disgruntled, and usually ignorant, underlings ready to complain bitterly about the “management”. Yeas ago, when I was called on to fix a broken Boy Scout Camp in California, those who wanted to seem me fail actually held secret meetings “up canyon” with my employees looking for those who would complain against me in order to get ammunition to call for my removal. Fortunately for me, and I dare say for the camp, there were loyal “grunts” in the crew who were willing to put their faith in my efforts, even though they did not understand them completely. Thus the griping of the dissatisfied was countered by the support of the faithful.

Years ago, at my camp in Wyoming, a boy died of a heart attack. A few weeks later I had a disagreement with one of the young staffers who worked for me. In the week following his reprimand, he told a flood of lies and half truths to the scout master of the troop he had been assigned to as camp friend. That scout master returned home to write a letter to the National Office accusing me of a flood of failures that seemed to indicate that my crew and I had failed the boy who died and had somehow caused his death. The letter was forwarded to my Scout Executive and he brought it to me. Though each of the lies was easily dispelled by the presentation of the truth, the hurt and damage done by such disloyalty and bitterness was great. By the time the letter came to light, I had already sent the staff member home for other reasons; so I was spared any direct confrontation with him on the subject. Years later I received a letter from him. He was on an LDS mission and wrote of how guilty he felt for what he had said and done in a fit of anger and a desire to hurt me. “Would I please forgive him?” The letter is still in my files – it has not been answered.

It is with such experiences, of no real significance in the world, that I watch the attack by those out of power and out of the know on President Bush, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, and others in positions of responsibility. The truth of their successes is manifest in the safety and success of our nation, but the bitter bitching around the lunch room table continues by those who are out of the loop and long for self aggrandizement, a bigger “paycheck”, or to do malicious mischief to those who bear the real burdens of responsibilities. It would be wise for the people of this nation to consider the motivations and the knowledge of those who find fault.

If the Wine Is Sour, Through It Out

Last Tuesday night I rushed home from my Book Binding class at the U. After weeks of waiting my wheat paste had arrived and I would finally be able to attach the carefully selected cloth cover to the book I had built. I had cut and folded each pair of pages from the heavy watercolor stalk, built the two leaf signatures and allowed them to sit under weight over night. I had carefully measured and punched the holes for the thread and double stitched the text block together. I had used up the last of the ‘class issued’ wheat powder gluing the spine and had waited two weeks for the arrival of the bright colored silk threads I needed to create the hand sewn head bands. The wheat paste was supposed to arrive with the silk but the company from New York had sent starch instead of paste and I had had to wait anther two weeks for the right stuff. My wife, knowing how eager I was, had called me at school to tell me it had arrived. I had rushed home to hold it in my hand before heading off to the University. The instruction on Japanese book boxes seemed interminable. I have little interest in Japanese bindings or boxes, I wanted to get home and finish the “round spine” binding which filled my dreams with art books to paint and build.

When the professor released us to work, I asked some final questions about attaching strings to the head and foot of the spine and about placing extra PVA along the spine to insure the cloth would stick. Then I left. At home, I mixed the paste, searched up my biggest brush, and spreading the mixture across the precisely measured and cut cloth; began to cover my painstakingly prepared text block. Then reality met my dreams. I couldn’t get the cloth centered, I had trouble with the pasted cloth sticking to itself and not laying flat on the book. In frustration I abandoned the mounting method I had been taught and laid the book on the table to try and center the cloth and get it mounted smoothly. It did not adhere properly to the spine and in the morning the cloth had not shrunk to fit the cover as I had hoped. Ugly creases and wrinkles ruined my dream. At first I had told myself it didn’t look too bad – it would pass, but I fretted about it all day, and that night I ripped the covers off and started over again. The boards warped when I took off the cloth and I had to relax them with water then press them for a day to get them straight again, I bought and cut to size a new sheet of cloth, reattached the covers to the spine and let them dry over night; then sanded the paper hinges smooth. Friday night I was ready to try again. With the help of my daughter and wife I followed my teacher’s instruction the best I could, and the cloth hung straight on the spine. I pressed it flat with my bone folder and got it trimmed and tucked. It looked promising as I put it under pressure for the night, but in the morning the same ugly wrinkles had appeared along the spine, only a few this time – but my dream had been the perfect form I had managed on the small practice book I had made weeks before. I ripped the covers off and set out to build the whole thing over again. I have abandoned the old boards, cut new ones, glued and sanded, and prepared a new piece of cloth. Tonight I will take the carefully assembled components to my “master” and get his help. I took the class to learn to do this difficult thing right. I’ll keep you posted.

We all want the easy way. We dream of doing wonderful things then get bogged down in the difficulty of process, and all too often fail. We either settle or give up. We long for the easy way. Yesterday, I took the easy way on the *Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe*. As I sorted through the hundreds of folders that make up the “paper work” for Camp, I put in the new DVD of the movie and watched the adventures of Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy. Even in its movie form; C S Lewis’ masterpiece teaches the important lesson needed by a frustrated book binding student. There is no easy way to perfection!!! It would be so easy to settle for Turkish delight, but that is not the way to real happiness. True happiness and success in life, to paraphrase Norman McClain, comes through Art, and Art does not come easy.

I have been dismayed as the people of America lose their resolve in the war on Terror; as they think of abandoning Iraq and Afghanistan to the clutches of Islamic Fascism; the “cut and run” scenario that would leave “Narnia” forever in winter. Evil has always offered the easy way out but the “not one will be lost so give me all the glory” plan has been a lie from the beginning.

I am dismayed by elected officials that think that a vote on the floor of Congress declaring this or that about the illegal immigrants that have flooded our boarders will solve the problems that thirty years of feasting on Turkish delight has wrought.

I am dismayed by “educators” who think that more money and new strategies cooked up in University Education programs and Teacher Union discussion groups will replace hard work and high standards in the classroom.

I am dismayed that in the wake of hurricanes and other disaster, "spoiled children" demand more Turkish delight without being willing to rebuild and go on by their own sacrifice and the welcome service of others. They want every thing at once and perfection from the start.

In a nation accustomed to instant gratification, in a society used to having others do the hard work, where everything, as Saint Exupery explains in *The Little Prince*, can be bought in the shops; it is hard to get people to stay the course and do the difficult things necessary to build dreams into reality.

I have aspired to draw and paint for decades. At last I am beginning to produce some minor works that please me, my harshest critic. Now I have this dream of binding them in perfect “round spine” books. In my struggles I am often inspired by the words Irving Stone gave to Michelangelo in *The Agony and the Ecstasy*. The great artist had been struggling for weeks to cover Julius’ ceiling with the Apostles and appropriate designs. Discouraged, he went to the wine shop of a friend. The cup he was given had just been filled from a newly broached cask. One sip and he spit it out. The host was offended. “I can’t drink this swill,” the artist informed the innkeeper. The man took a cup himself, tasted the wine, and smashed the cask. As the sour wine gushed out onto the floor, he shouted, “If the wine is sour throw it out.” Michelangelo went back to the Sistine Chapel and scraped his carefully made frescos off the wall and went on to dream, plan, and produce the work that will be his master piece.

Some years ago the Drama Department at our high school put on the musical *Working*. It was well done, of course, but there was one scene that bothered me. In it a young man was singing as he pantomimed a steal worker lifting bars from one pile to another. The “worker’s” line went something like this, “If Michelangelo had had to paint the Sistine Ceiling a thousand times; even his mind would have been dulled.” As an aspirant to Art I knew the truth of this. In his life long struggle to become an artist Michelangelo had painted the Sistine ceiling a thousand times, many thousand times. He had spent months dissecting rotting corpses to master the details of human anatomy, and a life time copying the drawings of his masters to learn the craft necessary to place Adam and his Creator in the center of heaven.

Now there are some that will mistake, “throwing the sour wine out” for quitting. I can imagine the "Cut and Run" in Iraq crowd saying its time to throw the President out! But such “take the easy way out” types miss the entire lesson of mastery; one must stay the course to perfection through many a failed effort. What if Michelangelo had only painted the Sistine one time? What if Julius had fired Michelangelo after the artist had scraped his mess off the ceiling? What if Aslan had left Edmond to die on the stone table? What if I had placed my round spine binding on the heap of failed projects that litter my life? What if we had all accepted that Lie in the beginning?

Americans have hard choices in many things. The answer to the hard choices is never the easy way out.