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KING OF THE DELTA BLUES SINGERS, Vol. II
Robert Johnson
released: 1970
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I fell in love with the music of ROBERT JOHNSON in the late 1970s, and played it frequently during the early 1980s while hanging out with [link> THE LEAGUE OF SOUL CRUSADERS in my “Liquidated Youth”. (Some people have a “drinking buddy” but I had a “drinking gang”.)
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I owned both of the 'KING OF THE DELTA BLUES SINGERS' albums, and though Vol. 1 had Robert Johnson's most revered Blues masterpieces, including his great “devil” tunes, I always preferred Vol. 2 because I felt it contained more sonic variety. (Even my Ma loved “They’re Red Hot” because of all the changes in pitch that Johnson’s voice assumes in that cut.) I played the hell out of Robert Johnson in those days, and the other Soul Crusaders became infected with the Blues as a result. (They eventually learned some of the words to “Love In Vain” and we’d sing it while driving to the next watering hole.)
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By now, everyone’s heard that Johnson sold his soul to the devil for his prodigious musical talent. (What’re ya tryin’ to cast doubt on one of the great stories in the history of American music? Why ya blasted commie, I oughta -- a-Woo-Woo-Woo!) And hopefully you know that Led Zeppelin ripped off Johnson (and Wolf and Muddy) shamelessly with their first two albums. (Remember that line from Led Zepp II, where Plant sings, “You can squeeze my lemon ’til the juice runs down my leg”? They stole it directly from R.J. But R.J. wasn’t always so crude with his sexual references; he could also be funny. In “From Four Until Late” he sings, “A woman is like a dresser; some man’s always rambling through its drawers.”)
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I have myriad Robert Johnson/Booze ’N’ Blues memories intertwined throughout my personal history to keep me company in my sober, old age. When we [link> Soul Crusaders were in an energetic drinkin’ mood we’d often play Springsteen’s 'BORN TO RUN', 'MORRISON HOTEL' by The Doors, or 'TOO-RYE-AY' by Dexy’s Midnight Runners. When I was in a more mellow, contemplative mood, I’d drink to Van Morrison’s 'ASTRAL WEEKS', 'PIRATES' by Rickie Lee Jones, or 'SMALL CHANGE' by Tom Waits. (Of course, when we were in a Country-Western frame of mind there was just no substitute for the album 'MY BABY BUSTED MY HEART BUT I’M CRYIN’ ’CAUSE I SLICED AN ONION' by Yoey O’Dogherty And His Corn Liquor Boys.)
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But at 3:30 AM, when all the other Soul Crusaders were passed out, me ’n’ Twinkie would head for his bedroom. I know what you’re thinkin’, and it wasn’t like that at all! Despite his nickname, Twinkie and I were both manly men -- like lumberjacks, OK? And we were just going into his bedroom to listen to Robert Johnson. One night, we experienced a Liquidated Magical Moment: we simultaneously heard an R.J. lick that was literally “IMPOSSIBLE” for a single guitarist to play. Our heads snapped and we looked to each other, both of us slack-jawed. We never could find that exact same spot on the album again when in a sober state, so it was just one more of those mysterious things that happen when Boys ’N’ Booze meet (you rummies know what I’m yakkin’ 'bout).
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Twinkie’s real surname was “Johnson”, and borrowing the lyric from 'Kind Hearted Woman Blues', we used to sing out “Now there ain’t but the one thing makes Mister Johnson drink” every time he was having female troubles. (And he was ALWAYS having female troubles, so he did a lot of drinking. I only drank when I didn’t have a woman to give me trouble, meaning this lonesome boy also did a lot of drinking.) And Robert Johnson even inspired me to write my own Blues song, 'Devil On My Coattail Blues'. I’d sing it for ya, but I like ya too much to do that.
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The best performance of R.J.’s 'Love In Vain' that the Soul Crusaders ever gave was the night an angry Napoleon (aka Nappy), my brother (The League’s 5’ 6" “enforcer”), decided to stumble home from The Music Machine dance club when a smart woman declined his request for a dance. It would have been about a 12-mile walk, so we went looking for him shortly after he stormed out.
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Meanwhile, Napoleon had entered a bar to buy a cigar for the walk home, when some big, fat feller with some artificial hair started some crap with Nappy just because he was only 5’ 6”. Well, Nappy -- never one to take any crap from anyone -- reciprocated with some lip o' his own and then left the bar with his cigar.
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Fat Feller, figuring he would show his bar buddies how tough he was, went out after little Nappy and took a swing at him. (Ooooh, big boo-boo, Fat Feller! Ya just don’t antagonize “Little Mad Guy”.) With freakish quickness, Nappy flicked a left jab to set Fat Feller up, and immediately followed that with the right cross.
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Now ordinarily, Nappy’s right cross is enough to send ANY man to the next lunar cycle, if not to the Moon itself. But in this case, being in the “100-proof condition” that he was, Nappy’s punch merely succeeded in putting Fat Feller’s head into the full speed Linda Blair Exorcist-Spin Cycle. By the time the headlights of our van flashed upon the two combatants squared off with each other in the street, Fat Feller’s head was just coming to a stop, his toupee was lying in the dirt in the next county, and all of the fight had gone out of him. (Who knows where it went -- but it was later reported that something with its tail between its legs was seen yelping Westbound on Pico Boulevard, moving with great haste toward the Pacific Ocean.)
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We hustled Napoleon into the van while apologizing to Fat Feller. (Nappy was involved in this altercation, so naturally we had just “assumed” it was his fault.) But undoubtedly Fat Feller couldn’t hear the apology because of the ringing in his ears. And we drove off singing, “Ooooh-Ooooh, all my love’s in vain!”
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When I converted my Robert Johnson LPs to compact disc, I bought ’The Complete Recordings’ but the thing gave me the blues because I didn’t like the fact that all of the alternate takes were placed back-to-back with their released versions, so that unless I wanted to take time to program the player first, I was hearing many of the songs twice in a row. I later sold that set and acquired 'KING OF THE DELTA BLUES SINGERS Volume 1 and 2' separately, and I’m much happier now.
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Whether you need a soundtrack for drinkin’, fightin’, cryin’, or just general 'carryin' on' -- or need great Blues just for listenin’ to ’cause that’s the kinda guy or gal ya are -- 'KING OF THE DELTA BLUES SINGERS' is the real deal, the genuine article, true Blues for the true you. Buy it today and start creating your own intoxicated Robert Johnson memories!
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But whatever you do, don’t listen to 'KING OF THE DELTA BLUES SINGERS' while in public -- especially while you’re driving -- or you’ll have M.A.R.J. (Mothers Against Robert Johnson) madd at ya, and that’s even more dangerous than having Napoleon madd at ya!
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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GLENN MILLER: THE POPULAR RECORDINGS (1938-1942)
The Glenn Miller Orchestra
released: 1989
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This may be a bit more information than you want, but I first realized that Glenn Miller's MOONLIGHT SERENADE was my all-time favorite piece of music in 1990 while I was on a second floor "lavatory throne" at The Sundowner Hotel & Casino in Reno, Nevada. I was minding my own "business" when the song was piped into the men's room over the casino's sound system. I recognized the beautifully lilting melody as belonging to Glenn Miller, and the bygone Big Band era seemed to beckon me, transporting me back in time. I was almost convinced that when I exited the stall I would find a restroom attendant present, who would offer me a genuine cotton towel and ask if I wanted a shoeshine and a splash of Old Spice before rejoining the suit and fedora-wearing gentlemen and sleek black dress and single strand pearl necklace-wearing ladies in the gambling parlor.
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Instead it was my T-shirt and baseball cap-wearing Pa and Bro I found waiting for me at the slot machine infested snack bar. I hummed the melody and asked my Dad if he knew the title. He was pretty sure that it was MOONLIGHT SERENADE I was trying to imitate. When I got home, I realized that I had recognized the song because it was one that my girlfriend regularly played on the jukebox at our favorite watering hole.
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A week or two later I was in a record store debating whether to buy a single disc Glenn Miller compilation or this 3-disc set. I finally settled on this package, and I have been rewarded generously ever since!
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I can't praise this collection enough. Look at what you get: 60 songs and instrumentals presented primarily in their recorded chronology so you can track the orchestra's progression. It comes with a very nice 36-page booklet that contains 8 historic photos; an exhaustive discography that catalogs every track -- its recording date, full personnel and master number, and extensive, insightful liner notes penned by Mort Goode. And what about the music? It's FABULOUS! I shudder to think that I might have missed out on such richness by settling for some cheap 10-song Greatest Hits compilation at $7.95 or so.
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Here's what the producer says about the sound: "We did not attempt to remove surface noise. We found that this made for dull recordings, lacking the spark and flair that must have characterized the original recording sessions... We clarified the bass somewhat and the high-end as well, but in general our changes were minimal. It was our intention to faithfully reproduce the music of one of the greatest popular artists the United States has ever produced."
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To be sure, at times the age of this music is aurally apparent -- for instance, there is slight but noticeable "crackling" on MOONLIGHT SERENADE, and I WOULDN'T CHANGE IT FOR THE WORLD! NO WAY! It only enhances the wonderful effect of this time machine whenever I play it. Many of these recordings are derived from the original sources, so this is the REAL Miller Sound! Why would you want anything else?
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I love many of the Big Bands of yore. Benny Goodman may have had the most accomplished and exciting musicians; Count Basie may have had the most cohesive rhythm section; Duke Ellington may have been the most ambitious arranger; Artie Shaw may have been the most inventive; and Tommy Dorsey may have had the best singer. But Glenn Miller had "THE SOUND" -- that lush, incredibly romantic musical dreamscape style. But make no mistake, his boys could also stomp on the accelerator when they were "In The Mood". Miller had it all, and that was well known in his time. Consider this excerpt from the liner notes: "The Glenn Miller sound was a 'sound for the times.' The band won honors in the Metronome 1940 Dance-Band Contest. The comment read: 'Miller hung on tenaciously throughout. Not only did he dog Benny's heels, but he also kept shoving Tommy Dorsey for top sweet honors. When the final smoke had cleared, the popular Glenn was perched on the second rung of all three ladders, the greatest example of all-around showing in the history of the contest.'"
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And yes, it's all here! The beautiful ballads, the energetic dance romps, and the silly lyrics that speak of a far simpler, more innocent time.
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Glenn Miller's THE POPULAR RECORDINGS (1938-1942) would have to be my choice if I could only carry one compact disc with me to that imaginary "Deserted Island." (Has anybody ever explained how we're going to get electricity on this island in order to play our "Island Discs"?) This set would have to go with me because I can't imagine never hearing MOONLIGHT SERENADE ever again. Plus, it's just loaded with terrific tunes to daydream by. But you'd better hope that you aren't there with me because I'm gonna be pretty cranky on that island without my Pat Metheny Group recordings. I'll take it out on the macaws by blasting the rip-roaring GLENN ISLAND SPECIAL every time they're trying to sleep. That'll serve 'em right for driving me up the banana tree with their incessant squawking!
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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BRAINWASHED:
How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth
by Ben Shapiro
published: 2004
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...was to forgo a college “education.” Why? Because I managed to avoid the type of brainwashing that Ben Shapiro so clearly illustrates in his book BRAINWASHED.
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I recently [circa 2004] arrived home from work surprised to find BRAINWASHED in my mailbox. It had been sent to me by a good friend in Kansas (I’ll call him “Kevin” [1]) whose nice Sister I dated for five years over a decade ago. “Kevin” sent it because, as he said, "it’s a good book” and he wrote, “I expect a full review of this.” (This is the review, with footnotes!)
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Because Ben Shapiro was a columnist for UCLA’s newspaper, THE DAILY BRUIN, and because I have a significant connection with UCLA, “Kevin” thought I’d find the book particularly interesting. He was right. I was born a “Bruin” at the UCLA Medical Center in 1959 [2] and worked for the campus Parking Department for nearly a decade. I remember all too well the dogmatic Liberalism of the indoctrinated students and the pronounced Leftist lean of the school’s Socialistic bullhorn, THE DAILY RUIN. [3] (I’d try reading it over dinner at The Cooperage food court but it would invariably “ruin” my appetite!)
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Ben’s book is very good, and though I’ve given it an overall grade of Four Stars, if you have a son or daughter currently (or soon to be) enrolled at ANY university in this country, then you should consider this a Five Star book and run -- don’t walk -- to acquire a copy of it. [4]
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In BRAINWASHED, Ben addresses many pillars of Liberalism and shows how they are promoted throughout the university system. One of the most cherished, of course, is Affirmative Action which provides us with “Diversity” which is that essential tool for creating the strength of “Unity.” [5] On page 53, we meet that rare Latino student who approves of Ben Shapiro’s anti-Affirmative Action protest because he doesn’t “want everyone thinking whatever I do in life, I got the opportunity to do it because of my race. It’s insulting.” That reminded me of “Kevin’s” Sister. I met her on the UCLA campus while she was a student. One trait that attracted me to her was her independent stance and determination to make it in life on merit and not a “gimme.” She was half Mexican [6] and therefore eligible to check the “Hispanic” box when applying to UCLA, but she told me she marked “White” instead because she didn’t want to always wonder if she was accepted merely because of ethnicity. [7]
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Another section of Ben’s book that elicited some very personal UCLA-related memories for me was titled RODNEY KING AND THE LOS ANGELES "UPRISING". I was a UCLA employee at the time of the L.A. Riots and I still find it somewhat ironic that the first night that rioting broke out, I was meeting my best friend from the department -- I’ll call him “Lonnie” [8] -- after work for video game competitions, which we commonly referred to as “Ass-Whuppins”. [9] “Lonnie” was Black. [10] That the jury found the police officers innocent in the beating of Rodney King was reprehensible. The aftermath even more so.
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Back then, I was supervising student employees and responsible for training them in various aspects of special events preparation and equipment maintenance. One student I remember fondly was a young, Black comic book artist whom I’ll call “Stephen”. [11] Shortly after the Rodney King riots, he and I discussed the issue and I explained many factors that the media, the politicians, the police, and the citizens were either ignoring or not cognizant of. Afterwards, “Stephen”, this young Black man, paid me one of the finest compliments I’ve ever received. I won’t state what he said [12] as it might seem boastful and self-serving, but his ability to set aside emotion and preconceived judgments in order to gain real understanding of complex dynamics filled me with hope for our young, Socialistically-indoctrinated university students.
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Under Partisan Politics, Ben discusses minimum wage laws. He understands the folly. I got an object lesson in it many years ago: Being an ice cream junkie, I was a regular at Dairy Queen. One day I noticed that the price of their “Blizzards” had gone up and I enquired about it. The manager answered honestly, “The minimum wage went up, so our prices did too.”
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Got that? The companies aren’t going to see the wage increase cut into their profit margins so they pass the increased cost on to you, the customer. Now, who generally earns a “minimum wage” in this country? Young people who are employed at fast food restaurants, video stores, convenience markets, music shops, smoke shops, etc. Where do young people spend most of their money? Fast food restaurants, video stores, convenience markets, music shops, smoke shops, etc. Their minimum wage increase gets absorbed into the market the moment they receive it because of the raised prices to cover the wage increase. Their financial situation therefore hasn’t improved one whit, but don’t the Leftist politicians look so “humanitarian” when they fight for the Little Guy?
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The only area in which Ben Shapiro needs to do a little more “homework” is The War On Terrorism. He is misguided by the Neo-Conservative party line in this regard and needs to ask hard but reasonable questions and insist upon reasonable answers. I found Chapters 8 and 9 to be the obvious weak links in an otherwise very good and important book. (But Genetically Modified Crops make me nervous, Ben! Can we REALLY improve on God’s “nature”?)
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On page 78 you’ll find the whole heart of the matter -- as accurate a statement as can be found in any political book by anyone. Ben is undoubtedly more percipient than even he realizes. We’re led to believe that the “solutions” to all of our problems (which were deliberately created by pseudo-Socialists in BOTH major political parties) “is Global Socialism”. What a surprise! [13]
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I highly recommend BRAINWASHED by Ben Shapiro. And though the writer is a Conservative, I have it on good authority that this one doesn’t burn books, drown cats, mug old women, steal candy from children, or even blow deadly secondhand smoke into the faces of liberals. Read this book and then you’ll understand why colleges are referred to as “institutions of higher education”. [14]
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] Because that is his name.
[2] After putting my Mom through 9 months and 3 weeks of pregnancy, and 40 hours of labor. Obviously, I was very eager to come into your world.
[3] Uh… I meant, “The Daily Bruin”.
[4] Before your child is transformed into a morally impaired Marxist marionette.
[5] Hee-Hee! To quote Jo Van Fleet from the movie, East Of Eden, “If you don’t think that’s funny, you’d better not go to college.”
[6] It was her left half.
[7] I always did like intelligent women.
[8] Because that was his name.
[9] I usually gave more than I got.
[10] Unfortunately, I’ve lost touch with him, but I’m guessing he still is.
[11] Because that was his name.
[12] He said, “It’s just as well you never went to college. They have nothing to teach you.”
[13] See my guide titled “(BE FIRST ON YOUR BLOCK TO) WAKE UP TO THE POLITICAL MATRIX.”
[14] Because nowhere will you find teachers “higher” and more in need of being “institutionalized.”
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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[This review was originally published at Amazon.com on Wednesday, May 18, 2005]
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INHERIT THE WIND
starring Spencer Tracy
1960
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I recently rented INHERIT THE WIND to see for myself if it was really as bad as I'd heard. It was. I am astounded to find how many reviewers have excused its massive deviation from fact under the banner of "entertainment." Has our capacity to evaluate information diminished to the point that we are no longer able to differentiate between simple entertainment and pure propaganda? When a movie presents a supposedly intellectual argument, and paints EVERY SINGLE MEMBER on one side of that argument as a buffoon maroon, but shows the other side as thoughtful, open-minded and humanitarian, you can bet the farm that you're being propagandized!
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Some reviewers have equated the movie with an indictment of the horrors of "McCarthyism". These folks have been twice-bamboozled! Obviously they don't do any independent research, but just ingest whatever gets fed to them. Click HERE if you want to learn the truth about Joseph McCarthy and "McCarthyism".
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INHERIT THE WIND pretends to portray the famous 1925 Scopes "Monkey Trial" with a little dramatic license. This movie strays SO FAR from the facts that even saying it is "based on" the actual event renders that term so elastic as to be meaningless!
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John Scopes is renamed Bert Cates (Dick York), Clarence Darrow becomes Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy), William Jennings Bryan becomes Matthew Harrison Brady (Fredric March) and Dayton, Tennessee, becomes Hillsboro, Tennessee. The playwrights, Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee, did not alter the names because they thought they could improve on them, but so they could legally reinvent history. The idea was to twist the truth and present it as entertainment "based on" a true story, knowing that over time, the drama will become accepted as factual by the masses. And it worked! Look how many of us grew up thinking that INHERIT THE WIND was an essentially accurate account of the "Monkey Trial."
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All of the Christians (believing in "Creationism") in the movie are portrayed as emotionally-overwrought, brain-dead bigots. Paint any other group with such a broad brush and you'll be in court for the rest of your life, but here in Amerika, it's always "open season" on Christians. Hardly sympathetic to both views, in reality, Darrow called Christianity, Bryan's "fool religion".
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Contrary to some opinions, the acting does NOT make INHERIT THE WIND worthy of your time. Fredric March and Claude Akins are mere caricatures, but they're not to be blamed as Brady and Reverend Brown were written as cartoon blowhards. Tracy's naturalistic performance is enjoyable, as usual, but Tracy was ALWAYS Tracy from film to film -- there's nothing new here. Gene Kelly was fine as the cynical, MENSA-Donkey newspaper reporter, but it was a simple part to play. The best, most sympathetic performance was actually turned in by Florence Eldridge as Mrs. Sarah Brady. Now her I believed.
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If you're interested in comparing the events portrayed in the movie INHERIT THE WIND with the REALITY of the 1925 "Monkey Trial", to see just how far the playwrights deviated from truth, click HERE and go to my guide titled "WOULD YOU LIKE TO... STOP FALLING FOR SPENCER TRACY'S MONKEY BUSINESS?" You'll be surprised -- no, SHOCKED at how seriously the movie distorted the facts in order to condition people to the dogma of Darwinism!
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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[This guide was originally published at Amazon.com in March of 2005, and it was largely based on a chapter in the 1999 book TORNADO IN A JUNKYARD: The Relentless Myth Of Darwinism by James Perloff. I give the book my highest recommendation.]
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THE PROBABILITY OF HIGHER LIFE FORMS EMERGING BY CHANCE ARE COMPARABLE TO THE ODDS THAT "A TORNADO SWEEPING THROUGH A JUNKYARD MIGHT ASSEMBLE A BOEING 747 FROM THE MATERIALS THEREIN."
~ eminent astronomer, Sir Fred Hoyle, 1981
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"AN HONEST MAN, ARMED WITH ALL THE KNOWLEDGE AVAILABLE TO US NOW, COULD ONLY STATE THAT IN SOME SENSE, THE ORIGIN OF LIFE APPEARS AT THE MOMENT TO BE ALMOST A MIRACLE, SO MANY ARE THE CONDITIONS WHICH WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE BEEN SATISFIED TO GET IT GOING."
~ Nobel Prize-winning, DNA co-discoverer, Dr. Francis Crick, 1981
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The movie INHERIT THE WIND (1960) pretends to portray the famous 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial with a "little" dramatic license. John Scopes is renamed Bert Cates (Dick York), defense attorney Clarence Darrow becomes Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy), prosecuting attorney William Jennings Bryan becomes Matthew Harrison Brady (Fredric March) and Dayton, Tennessee, becomes Hillsboro, Tennessee.
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The playwrights did not alter the names because they thought they could improve on them, but so they could slander without fear of a libel lawsuit. The idea was to distort the truth and present it as "entertainment", knowing that over time, the drama will become accepted as factual by the masses.
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All of the Christians ("Creationists") in the movie are portrayed as emotionally-overwrought, brain-dead bigots. Paint any other group with such a broad brush and you'll be in court for the rest of your life, but here in Amerika, it's always open season on Christians.
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Let's compare INHERIT THE WIND (ITW) with REALITY and see if we can't detect some deliberate dishonesty...
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INHERIT THE WIND (ITW): Cates is arrested by the town fathers while teaching Darwin's Evolution in class and is jailed. Later an angry Christian mob threatens to lynch him, and he is injured when a zealot throws a rock through his jail cell window.
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REALITY: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) placed several advertisements in Tennessee, offering to pay all expenses for the person who would help them challenge the Butler Act (State law forbidding the teaching of Evolution in public schools). Scopes was recruited. He was not jailed at any point because it was only a finable offense. Scopes confessed in his autobiography that as a substitute Science teacher, he couldn't even recall actually teaching Evolution. (Incidentally, the ACLU was founded by Roger Baldwin who served as its executive director for 30 years and who wrote in his Harvard reunion book that "Communism" was his "goal". See the book: THE ACLU VS. AMERICA: Exposing The Agenda To Redefine Moral Values by Alan Sears & Craig Osten.)
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ITW: Drummond is given a rude welcome by the narrow-minded Christian townspeople. He is portrayed as a brave underdog fighting an unjust system.
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REALITY: A friendly crowd greeted Darrow at the train station and the town held a banquet in his honor. Darrow was not a lone warrior fighting against a stacked deck; the ACLU imported a team of lawyers and "experts."
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ITW: Brady bellows, "The people of this State have made it very clear that they do not want this zoological hogwash slobbered around the schoolrooms!" And he says, "The way of Scientism is the way of darkness."
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REALITY: Bryan was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. At the trial he said, "Give Science a fact and it is not only invincible, but of incalculable service to man."
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ITW: Brady illustrates his narrow-mindedness by stating that he has never read Darwin's 'The Origin Of Species' and that he "never will."
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REALITY: Bryan quoted extensively from Darwin's writings in the Dayton courtroom.
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ITW: The judge refuses to allow Darwin's texts to be admitted as evidence in the case.
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REALITY: Bryan himself offered Darwin's 'The Origin Of Species' as evidence into the trial.
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ITW: Brady is portrayed as an obnoxious boor with a penchant for delivering long windy speeches.
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REALITY: Bryan didn't even speak in court until the 4th day of the trial, by which time Darrow had engaged in considerable oratory, including a 2-hour speech on religion and bigotry.
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ITW: Drummond is refused the right to put Evolution "experts" on the stand to testify.
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REALITY: Darrow declined to put his experts on the stand for fear of Bryan's cross-examination. Instead, he had them submit affidavits. (Ironically, most of the Evolutionary "evidence" Darrow's experts discussed -- Piltdown Man, useless vestigial organs, embryonic recapitulation -- are now discredited ideas.)
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ITW: Brady betrays the trust of Cates' fiancee by putting her on the stand and forcing her to testify to things about Cates that she revealed confidentially to Brady the night before. Later, she sobs to Brady's wife, "If he could do such an evil thing, he must be an evil man. And everything he stands for must be evil too!"
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REALITY: Scopes had no girlfriend and no women were ever called to testify in the case.
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ITW: The jury finds Cates guilty and he is fined $100. Outraged by the small fine, Brady delivers an irrational, impassioned speech, suffers a heart attack and dies in the courtroom.
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REALITY: After putting Bryan on the stand and trying to make him look foolish, Darrow changes the plea of Scopes to guilty, ending the trial. Darrow did this in order to prevent Bryan from questioning HIM on the witness stand, and to keep Bryan (who died 5 days after the trial) from making a closing argument. Darrow admitted in his autobiography that he had intended to employ this tactic from the beginning of the trial. The ACLU's purpose for the trial had been merely to disseminate Darwinism and publicly assail Christian fundamentalism.
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I have only scratched the surface of the discrepancies between INHERIT THE WIND and REALITY in this guide. If TRUTH matters to you at all, pick up a copy of TORNADO IN A JUNKYARD: The Relentless Myth Of Darwinism by James Perloff. Most of the material for this guide was borrowed from chapter 17 of that outstanding book for laymen.
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All these decades after the release of "WINDY", in the "genuine" SCIENTIFIC community, Darwinism is as dead as Darwin, and Microbiology and Physics are well on their way to circumstantially proving that a Supremely Intelligent Designer is responsible for life as we know it. Chapter 7 alone ("Vegas Odds On Life") of TORNADO IN A JUNKYARD will put Darwinism to rest for anybody with half an ounce of grey matter in their skull and honesty in their heart!
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As for you RADICAL ATHEISTS lining up to post your negative comments against this guide, keep this in mind: They will NOT...
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1) Alter the Truth one whit.
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2) Affect me in the least.
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3) Convince me that YOU exist!
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Now go have a really nice day!
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
(2005, March)
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THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW:
Floyd's Hair-Raising Adventures
VHS tape released 1992
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Somewhere in the heart of Dixie, yonder in the South
There's a small place called Mount Airy
But as living mythology embraced in my mind
It goes by the name Mayberry
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Her favorite citizens enter into my house
Slipping in by way of TV
And in just thirty short minutes they lighten my life
And they teach my heart how to see
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There's the round Mayor Pike and the round drunken Otis
Sheriff Taylor and Barney Fife
Who at five feet seven, a hundred thirty-eight pounds
Is built like a thin-bladed knife
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Of course there's Goober, Gomer and the sweet Thelma Lou
and the ever-cooking Aunt Bee
There's Helen and Howard and don't forget Opie and
With the first whistled notes, there's me!
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Only a few doors down Main Street from Andy's courthouse
You'll come to a famous "clip joint"
This small shop is the business of barber Floyd Lawson
And this brings me now to the point
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Floyd is a fair barber and a right nervous fellow
In his shop the men come to sit
They get hair cuts, play checkers, and tell their Fish Tales
Or just "loaf", as Opie calls it
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In this tape's Episode One, Floyd's dream is realized
A shop with "two chairs -- no waiting"
But unbeknownst to him the new man is a bookie
Just barber-impersonating
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When Barney goes undercover as an old lady
He breaks up the gambling ring
And Floyd Lawson with his dream handcuffed and arrested
Goes back to one-chair barbering
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In Episode Two, while writing to a rich widow
Floyd is really stretching the truth
Claiming to be a man of business enterprises
and also a little more youth
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But being a "prince of a fellow", Andy steps in
And he helps Floyd to save the day
But only to find that with his very next letter
Floyd has once again gone astray
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In searching old files Deputy Fife discovers
The case of a punch in the nose
And reopening old wounds between Floyd and Foley
Soon the town is coming to blows
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The Sheriff is able to repair the strained friendship
And a Mayberry riot avoid
And in the final scene we see One-Bullet Barney
Fork over a nickel to Floyd
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Here's my favorite sitcom and it always has been
Ain't an episode I don't know
I'd say two of the three episodes presented here
Represent the best of the show
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I would place 'The Deceiver' and a 'Punch In The Nose'
Right firmly in my own Top Ten
I own Hair-Raising Adventures on videotape
And watch it again and again!
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This collection is worth every Star that I gave it
It's better than gold or a dog
I'd rather have it than seventeen supermodels
or a lifetime supply of grog
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Don't you call me a liar and dispute what I say
Or although I'm just Stephen T.
I'll pick up a rock and heave it right through your window
Just as though I were Ernest T.
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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Most of the time, I am reading 3 nonfiction books at once: I am always engaged in working my way through The Holy Bible between January 1st and December 31st with a daily reading schedule; I have one book in my tiny office where I do my "paperwork" when the mood strikes; and I have a third book to read whenever I'm not drinking at the bar.
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Have you ever been quoted in a book published by someone you've never even heard of before?
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In January of this year, I wanted to find something I had posted on an Internet site but I couldn't remember where it was. So I did a Google search with some keywords or phrases to see if I could locate it. One of the search results I got seemed odd. It looked as if someone whose name I was not familiar with had quoted me, so I clicked on that, and here's what I found:
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In 2008, the following book of 231 pages was published.
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UNITED WE FALL:
Ending America's Love Affair With The Political Center
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by Phil Neisser
Praeger Publishers
Westport, Connecticut
London
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Phil Neisser is Professor and Chair of the Department of Politics at the State University of New York at Potsdam. He is co-editor of 'Tales Of The State: Narrative in Contemporay U.S. Politics and Public Policy' and numerous articles critical of the idealization of centrist politics.
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The inside flap of the book gives the following description of the publication:
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UNITED WE FALL argues that today's harmful levels of polarization in American politics can be ratcheted down only by giving up the twin notions that the center is the sweet spot for political efficiency, and that all differences deserve equal weight in the democratic balance. The American people need, instead, to embrace a political credo of civic engagement, confrontation with open ears, and spirited debate. The commonplace "United We Stand" must be supplanted by the insight that democracy is strongest where it acknoledges and formalizes real division.
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But surely bipartisan rancor in America and extremist violence around the world are symptoms of too much disagreement -- not too little? No, asserts the author. The root cause of political violence of all stripes is the failure of opposing camps to engage each other openly and persuasively on their genuine and irreconcilable differences.
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...And so on and so forth...
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From my Google search result I wasn't able to see what quote from me the author had included in his book, only the note indicating where he had gotten it. The notation on page 208 said:
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31. Stephen T. McCarthy, October 7, 2005, customer review of Tale [sic] Brooke, One World (End Run Publishing, 2000), http://www.amazon.com (accessed September 17, 2007).
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Like a dog who smells a cat roaming around on the other side of a closed door, I wanted to open that door (or open that book), but I wasn't willing to pay much money to scratch that itch. However, I soon found an inexpensive, used Oklahoma library copy of the book for sale online and also found I had free money (accrued credit card points) that I could use to get it without paying a cent. So, I ordered it.
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I found myself quoted on page 81 of Chapter 4: United We Stand and Conspiracy Thinking:
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Page 80:
United We Stand is just one of the obstacles. Conspiracy thinking, because of its erroneous conceptualization of power, is another." ...
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Page 81:
"Each grand conspiracy theory is actually several, as the assumption of successful secrecy allows theorizing to spin into endless variation. One believer's list of conspirators includes the "talking heads" in the media, "International Bankers, Secular Humanists, 'Progressive' Educators, New Age Gurus, The United Nations, American Politicians, Secret Societies, Fabian Socialists, Darwinists, [and] Marxists," all of whom are said to be "working in concert to construct the New Age World Order." [31]
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As stated above, Neisser was quoting me from a review I had written and published in 2005 at Amazon.com for the book ONE WORLD by Tal (not "Tale") Brooke. Today, you would not find that review at that website because one of the information gatekeepers, who work for the evil-doer Jeff Bezos, removed all of my BigBitch.com reviews. People like me, who know too much and aren't shy about sharing what we know to educate others, we must have our voices silenced by those who work for "the ruler of this world".
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However, I have good news! Although Phil Neisser wrongly tried to cast doubt on the facts I shared, and despite the fact that Amazon.com tried to make my review of ONE WORLD disappear from the Internet, I saved a copy of it which you can read by scrolling down one blog bit or by clicking HERE.
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As for Neisser's book, I'm finally about ready to read it. I just put it in my tiny office where I do my paperwork. (It's near the sink, right next to the room deodorizer.) After I finish reading it (assuming I will finish it) perhaps I'll critique the crap out of it and post a review of it on this blog. ...Or not.
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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For 'Part 1 Of 2: The Introduction' click HERE.
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ONE WORLD
(Special Millennial Edition Of 'When The World Will Be As One')
by Tal Brooke
published: 2000
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ONE WORLD by Tal Brooke is really nothing less than the ideal primer on the full scope of that oft repeated phrase "The New World Order". It provides a quick but incisive glimpse of every facet of this diabolically deceptive Cubic Zirconia.
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When the epiphany occurred for me many years ago, and I suddenly saw the Big Picture of my intensive studies, I entertained the idea of writing a book that would pull together all of the seemingly disparate threads of "The New World Order" to illustrate for my readers the full weave of the specious utopian dream. But shortly thereafter, I encountered Brooke's ONE WORLD and realized that I had been beaten to the punch. That's fine. As long as the Truth has been elucidated by SOMEONE, it didn't need to be me.
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I can still clearly recall that night, sitting at my desk and believing that I was engaged in two separate studies: religion and politics. And then suddenly, in a moment, it was as if the curtain on the stage was pulled back to reveal all of the props, the painted backgrounds, and the costumed players who were acting out the play titled "The New World Order", just as it had been penned by the unseen playwright -- the prince of darkness. I was astounded to realize that all of the different scenes actually formed acts, and that the acts formed a unified but very dark story. I found there were no independent nor secular parts. They all coalesced into a single production. And to carry this analogy one step further, one could argue that [link) The Holy Bible is the review written by a Critic who has seen the dress rehearsal. He says it's a bad show, and it will close before its scheduled run is completed. And since the Critic owns the theater, we can take His Word for it.
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One can separately study the different arms of the Shiva-like New World Order entity: G. Edward Griffin's, THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND: A SECOND LOOK AT THE FEDERAL RESERVE will give you a full understanding of the money powers behind it -- the muscle, the bodyguard. NONE DARE CALL IT TREASON: 25 YEARS LATER by John Stormer illustrates and totally PROVES (with countless footnotes to sources) the myriad machinations of the political realm. Walter Martin's THE KINGDOM OF THE CULTS goes into the spiritual forms it can assume and the sophism it employs. David Barton's ORIGINAL INTENT: THE COURTS, THE CONSTITUTION AND RELIGION examines the legal bulwark of the entity and the judicial means by which it seeks to undermine the foundation of the Truth that opposes it. Or TORNADO IN A JUNKYARD, by James Perloff, which unveils the pseudo-logical secular birthright that it claims and then uses to suck in those adherents who lack a Spiritual bent. And I don't propose that ONE WORLD should be read in lieu of any of those other titles, but ONE WORLD serves as an excellent overview that, like a road map, can be used to graphically perceive how these many paths converge at a predetermined "place" even when the traveler may have had a different destination in mind.
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Tal Brooke writes with great power, passion, intellect, and lucidity! He has a creatively-infused mind that can transform thoroughly researched nonfiction into a book that reads like a page-turning suspense novel. Like me, he is an "Idea Bulldog" who once he has gotten a grasp on the target, shakes it out violently and relentlessly until every piece has come loose. And now it can be observed and examined from every imaginable angle so that a full understanding of the machination can be obtained, and the functioning of its gears understood.
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A couple of years ago I loaned my copy of ONE WORLD to a friend and later asked her if Tal Brooke's writing reminded her of anyone she knew. "You!", she answered. She recognized the inner "GRRRRR!" that Brooke and I share. In many respects, ONE WORLD is the book I would have written if Tal Brooke had not. (Now whether I could have pulled it off nearly so successfully may be quite another matter.) A couple of his chapters that castigate what I call "McChristians" brought to mind an essay I wrote many years ago, which segues into another observation...
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Tal Brooke is a Born Again Christian and writes pointedly from that worldview. That's OK, because it is largely correct. But Brooke misses the nuance on a couple of occasions when he fails to recognize the subtlety that separates the wholly deceived New Ager from the kernel of truth that does exist in some "New Age" teachings, and which is responsible for pulling the person with that mindset into the arena completely.
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For example: On page 57, he correctly identifies the "cornerstone of the New Age movement: MAN IS GOD." But on page 83 he lumps in with that definition the Gnostic idea that man is a "spark of the Divine." But these are NOT synonymous. In the first, it is argued that God does not exist apart from the mind of man, whereas in the second, the "spark" is not substantive apart from the Divine Flame that gives it birth and meaning.
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Brooke also dismisses the concept of reincarnation, with its ties to the New Age school, as being antithetical to the message of The Bible. This is simply not so. (See my 4-part online guide (link:] REINCARNATION AND THE HOLY BIBLE)
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The prince of darkness, the ruler of this world cannot draw people to himself by feeding them a diet comprised entirely of lies -- that's too easily discerned even by the nitwit. His genius is in mixing his leaven (a Biblical symbol for sin and evil) with the overarching truths that call naturally to the mind of man, and which the mind can enthusiastically embrace. Not recognizing that the dough also contains the leaven (poison) that the devious cook has intended for him, the man ingests and assimilates it and afterwards, unwittingly sends his compliments to the chef. (See Matthew 13:33 & 16:5-12) But having recognized the devil's leaven, Brooke has chosen to run the entire meal down the garbage disposal. I don't really have a problem with that. For most people, erring on the side of caution is preferable to running the risk of contracting food poisoning!
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Like Brooke, I had to learn of the New Age evil the hard way. He was once a personally-selected disciple of the false messiah Sai Baba of India, and followed him for 2 years. (See his intriguing book, AVATAR OF NIGHT.)
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I was a misguided, third-generation student of the Edgar Cayce readings. (*Cayce was once asked by a seeker, "Would a study of THE SECRET DOCTRINE be of benefit?" His answer in reading #470-10 was, "The study of any portion of same would be of benefit, but only in so far as it will enable the self to open for that which may be given in its meditation. Commence, and then we may aid." THE SECRET DOCTRINE, in case you don't know, is one of the premier New Age "bibles." It was channeled by the luciferian Theosophical Society-founder Helena Blavatsky and contains the frightening assertion that "the Great Serpent of the Garden of Eden and the 'Lord God' are identical." -- Vol. 2; pg. 132. You get that? Lucifer is god! Thanks for recommending a book containing that great truth, Edgar!)
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Later, I spent 5 years intensely studying and practicing A COURSE IN MIRACLES. After nagging doubts forced me to appeal to Him for the Truth, imagine my chagrin at having Jesus Christ reveal to me in no uncertain terms that -- despite the clear-cut claim of A.C.I.M. -- He, Jesus, DID NOT dictate the Course and that it is actually a demonic deception! Not everyone's ego can admit to being duped after investing so much time and dedicating so much energy to a path; not everyone can go back to the drawing board despite the embarrassment. Brooke and I both deserve credit for that much at least.
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I cannot concur with ONE WORLD in its totality, and a book of this nature desperately calls for an index, which unfortunately has not been provided. But don't think that I do not strongly suggest that you acquire, study, and take very, Very, VERY seriously Tal Brooke's book, because I certainly DO recommend it without reservation! This is one of the most important and penetrating books you could read about the times in which you live. Take me seriously, YOU!
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"Imagine no possessions -- I wonder if you can -- No need for greed or hunger -- A brotherhood of Man", John Lennon sang in IMAGINE, a song he proudly described as "virtually a communist manifesto." But when Lennon died, his estate was worth many, many millions of dollars. For tax purposes, he owned Hereford Cows that he had never even seen. Like all Utopia salesmen, when he denounced private property, he meant YOUR private property, not his own. He wasn't practicing what he preached, but then they never do! It's Liberalism's trademark.
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In the current issue of the Phoenix New Times is a review of the book THE SPACE BETWEEN THE STARS by Deborah Santana, wife of the famous Rock guitarist, Carlos. The article mentions that when she became pregnant in 1974, the couple's meditation guru, Sri Chinmoy, advised her to seek an abortion, which she did. This was the same Sri Chinmoy who served as the interfaith chaplain to The United Nations.
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It's a shame that this "guru" urging the nations of the world to seek Peace, Love, Understanding, and Equality, didn't urge that any of those great virtues be shown to the individual that Deborah Santana was Divinely ordained to carry in her body. That's because there is no real truth to the Utopia that the New Age promoters pay lip service to. These are simply hypocrites, figuratively (and sometimes maybe literally) selling their souls to demonic forces and selling their twisted idealism to undiscerning and unsuspecting men and women. Peace for the Earth will not come by a Rock star's manifesto, a guru's advice, or the appearance of a Maitreya. It will come only when The Son of God returns and brings it with Him, as promised.
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Until then, do yourself a favor and purchase ONE WORLD if you want to see how the incestuous relationship between the Media's Talking Heads, International Bankers, Secular Humanists, "Progressive" Educators, New Age Gurus, The United Nations, American Politicians, Secret Societies, Fabian Socialists, Darwinists, Marxists, and Technology is working in concert to construct the New Age World Order -- the dark prince's inky social condition. (Even if all of these ideologues do not recognize their dark, spiritual benefactor.)
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And lest anyone be tempted to suspect that Brooke has reached conclusions that require a stretch of logic, he opens ONE WORLD with this succinct and transparent quote from Madeleine Albright's 1997 Harvard University commencement speech: "Today, I say that no nation in the world need be left out of the global system we are constructing."
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Do read Tal Brooke's somewhat futuristic book before it becomes merely a history book. This Brooke will carry you, the reader, to the stormy sea of the coming New World and then identify the sly sharks that swim in it, so that you will not make the mistake of becoming their chum.
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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PROPHECY 20/20
by Dr. Chuck Missler
published: 2006
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PROPHECY 20/20 by Dr. Chuck Missler will do for your insight into Bible prophecies about world events what carrots will do for your eyesight. It’s been said that eating lots of carrots will improve your vision, and I believe it. Have you ever seen a rabbit seeing an optometrist? See?
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Well, I think PROPHECY 20/20 will also help you to see where we currently stand on God’s timeline. And I’ll tell you right now what time I think it is: I think we’re about to get that “wake-up call”; I think the alarm clock is about to blare; I think it’s later than you think. Anyone who believes that all is well with the world is dreaming... but not for long! We’re about to wake up to a nightmare!
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When one has read as many books on Bible prophecy about the End-Times as I have, they reach a point of diminishing returns. I thought: Do I really need to read another book on this subject? Well, I’m glad I did because Chuck Missler’s PROPHECY 20/20 is so up-to-date, and Missler always organizes his material in such a logical fashion. I even learned a few more very important things -- not bad for an old dog, eh? This is the fourth Missler book I’ve mentally digested and each one has been a memorable meal.
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PROPHECY 20/20 will give you a sharp overview of past Biblical prophecies fulfilled and then explore those yet to come. And I strongly urge you to dig in now because that light you see at the end of the tunnel (if you’ve got your eyes open at all) is indeed an oncoming train!
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Did you know that an Old Testament Bible prophecy certifiably written at least three hundred years before the birth of Christ foretold the EXACT DAY He would ride that donkey into Jerusalem and proclaim Himself the King of Israel? Did you know that an EMP attack could, in a matter of minutes, blast the United States back into the 1800s? (Do you know what an EMP attack is?) Did you know that Allah is not the Arabic name for God, but is the proper name for the moon god, and that’s why the crescent moon adorns mosques throughout the world? Did you know that three thousand slave labor camps in China are presently exploiting tens of millions of slave labor prisoners to produce much of the $45 Billion dollars in Chinese goods imported by America, and that America still designates China as a “Most Favored Nation Trading Partner”? And did you think that America won’t answer to God for this?
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Although PROPHECY 20/20 examines far more than just America’s place in the End-Times scenario, one of the things I most appreciated about this book was Chapter 26, 'The American Challenge'. Many Christian preachers and writers love to extol the virtues of The United States; they lay it on thick about how we’re the last bastion of freedom, the warriors for Christ on the globe, the conscience and the example for the rest of the world, and all that other hogwash! Missler is one writer who doesn’t shy away from pouring the truth straight out of the vial:
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Where is the most dangerous place for an American to be? In his/her mother’s womb -- there’s a one in four chance of being murdered. Over the last 30 years the United States has experienced a: 560% increase in violent crime; 400% increase in illegitimate births; 400% increase in the divorce rate; 300% increase in single-parent homes; 200% increase in teenage suicides; and a 75% DROP in S.A.T. scores. The deterioration of each of these indicators -- and dozens of others -- can be traced to the year we outlawed The Bible from our schools. Think God might have something to say to us about all this?
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One area in which Missler and I disagree is the identity of “that great city Babylon” which is utterly destroyed in Revelation’s 18th chapter. He is looking for a reemergence to world power of the original Babylon in Iraq. One reason (among many) that I am sure New York City is “that great city Babylon” is that the 18th chapter of Revelation clearly marks her as a major seaport. This could hardly describe Iraq’s Babylon! I’m as sure as I can be that either New York City is “Babylon” or else the End-Times are still 100 years or more into the future because it would probably require that much time for another city to attain the wealth and influence described in Revelation 18. I believe just as strongly, however, that we now stand on the edge of “The End.” But as with all Bible prophecy, a “wait and see” attitude is the most prudent. (Although Missler’s observation on page 238 that the United Nations may be seeking to relocate itself out of New York “for a number of reasons” certainly doesn’t hurt my case any!)
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I highly recommend Chuck Missler’s PROPHECY 20/20. This book, along with END-TIME PROPHECIES OF THE BIBLE by David Haggith, may be the only two you really need on this subject.
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I’ll end with the Billy Graham quote found on page 245: “If God doesn’t judge America, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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THE PARTY OF DEATH:
The Democrats, The Media, The Courts,
And The Disregard For Human Life
by Ramesh Ponnuru
published: 2006
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THE PARTY OF DEATH by Ramesh Ponnuru is quite possibly the most important book published thus far into “The Aughts” (the year 2000 through 2006). This book goes straight to the heart of its subject, abortion, with penetrating logic, powerful arguments, and probing theories. This is hardly a diatribe; rather it’s reasoned fairly, but still a persuasive defense for Life, written from a purely secular position.
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This book deserves to be read and seriously contemplated by every single concerned adult, regardless of where they stand on this controversial and crucial issue. Are you Pro-Choice? See if your outlook can withstand Ponnuru’s insight and contentions. If so, you will finish the book more informed about your opinion. And if not, you will find yourself driven into the Light of Truth by a nonreligious text.
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Five Questions:
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1. Do you understand the great “misconception” about the Roe v. Wade ruling, and why it leaves the United States alone among its peers in offering no legal protection to the unborn at any stage of development?
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2. Did you know that when defenders of the Nebraska ban on partial-birth abortion cited the fact that no medical schools taught it as evidence for the claim that it had little medical value, some major medical schools began teaching it in time to affect the litigation?
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3. Are you aware that the much ballyhooed claim that the 1973 Roe decision was necessary to save the lives of women who were dying in large numbers due to illegal abortions is utter nonsense? The Centers for Disease Control reported that 39 women died from illegal abortions in 1972, while 24 women died that same year from the legal variety.
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4. Would you like to know how an offhand remark about the music group The Beach Boys was instrumental in transforming NORMA McCORVEY (the REAL name of “Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade fame) from an abortion clinic employee into a dedicated anti-abortion protester and dogged proponent of a Roe v. Wade ruling reversal?
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5. In 1984, Dr. Bernard Nathanson (himself an occasional abortionist at the time) asked his friend Jay, another doctor who was then performing 15 to 20 abortions daily, to tape his next operation with an ultrasound device. Dr. Jay did so, and what he saw during the playback in the editing studio later left him so unnerved that he never performed another abortion. Does this tell you anything?
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A November 2004 poll found that 55% of the public thought abortion should either be illegal altogether or illegal with only rape, incest, and for saving-the-life-of-the-mother exceptions. 31% thought it should be legal for any reason but only during the first trimester. Only 9% felt that abortion should be legal for any reason at any time. So, why has the Federal Government agreed to enforce a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a social issue that only 9% of the population concurs with? (And if you think I’ve misrepresented the ramifications of the Roe v. Wade decision, then you should certainly have answered “No” to question number one above!)
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In THE PARTY OF DEATH, Ramesh Ponnuru also illustrates with fine diamond clarity the interrelatedness of abortion, embryo destruction, and euthanasia, and how the slippery slope of the first two will logically and inevitably lead to a snowball effect concerning the last, and subsequently, a severe degrading of society’s regard for life in general.
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Ponnuru’s writing style did not especially appeal to me, and I wish he had spent a little more time detailing the physiological reactions to CHEMICAL birth control forms, so readers would better understand why these are considered abortifacients by Pro-Lifers such as myself. [*For additional information on this point, see THE FACTS ABOUT ABORTION (AMERICAN LIFE LEAGUE’S LIFE GUIDE SERIES).] Regardless, Ponnuru’s mental acuity and scalpel-sharp theoretical comparisons makes THE PARTY OF DEATH a true “must-read” publication.
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Many years ago, an 18-year-old girl calling herself “TOO YOUNG IN LAS VEGAS” wrote a letter to Dear Abby. She told how she had become pregnant as a result of being raped (a very rare occurrence, by the way). But TOO YOUNG gave birth to the baby anyway and then put the boy up for adoption. Three years later, she was still wearing around her neck a locket containing a photograph of her son. I saved that article because I thought then (and still do) that this was the greatest example of following Saint Paul’s exhortation: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21) I will always love that woman, whoever she is, for her brave, bold, life-affirming and evil-conquering act! If only we all had the Spiritual sight of TOO YOUNG and could equally see the glory behind the grime.
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In THE PARTY OF DEATH, Ramesh Ponnuru effectively dismantles the myth that colonial America did not consider abortion to be a common law crime. And in The Declaration Of Independence, this country’s establishing document, our Founders wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Now, what part of “Life” doesn’t contemporary America understand?
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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