Briefly from the Deep South

MUST READ: Even if you have not yet read Al Franken�s current bestseller with the ungainly title, �LIES and the LYING LIARS WHO TELL THEM: A Fair and Balanced Look At The Right� you must read the excellent review by Bob Witkowski found online at http://www.atwitsend.org Click on the appropriate link when you arrive.

Mr. Witkowski is a former student from long, long ago of my aging Pop. I have never met him personally but have enjoyed frequent email exchanges with this most talented fellow. Bob is a professional photographer, family man, strong supporter of the Second Amendment, former talk show host, world traveler, and pundit extraordinary.

Mr. Witkowski is liberal, more liberal, perhaps, than ninety percent of the good folks who read DEMOCRACY MEANS YOU. A Yale graduate, he writes extremely well, and has a keen sense of the music and cadence of our English language. You must know from the outset that Mr. Witkowski and I do not agree on many of the specifics of modern American politics. We do agree, however, on the concept of individualism, a kind of �Don�t Tread On Me� way of looking at society which often seems to border more on the Libertarian or Anarchic than either Democrat or Republican. I consider �Wit� a real neo-rugged individualist whose lifestyle proves he is willing to live in accordance with his own cherished principles. A far cry is he from the cerebral pundit who talks the talk, but lives a comfortably detached existence in Georgetown, Westchester, or The Upper East Side.

A good book review is likely to do one of two things: either spur the prospective reader to purchase or at least read the damn thing, or turn him off completely. Bob�s review effectively does the former. Having read and re-read it now, I plan to buy, borrow, or steal my own copy just as soon as possible.

Instead of trying to summarize the many aspects of LIES and LIARS, Bob Witkowski, after a few introductory remarks, looks carefully at Franken�s treatment of the funeral service for Paul Wellstone and the way the �right wing media� dealt with it. Without giving any of his keen analysis away, it makes for fascinating, provocative, reading that will raise many questions and force the thoughtful individual to think just a little more and do some research of his own.

Witkowski would have made one hell of a teacher.

ARNOLD IN A LANDSLIDE and the bull goes on and on and on. Both major parties have their own slant on what the result means; neither of them has it right.

The Recall Election is not about political parties or politics, it�s about a man who is looked on as the best bet to lead California out of its Bunyanesque Slough of Despond.

I strongly urge our good readers to go rent a 1993 Schwartzenegger movie (one that bombed) called THE LAST ACTION HERO. In it, Arnold plays a movie actor named Jack Slate, who is cast as a heroic on screen character of the modern, blow-�em-to-bits genre. Jack is, through a bit of incidental magic, forced to move from movie fantasy to the real world of crime and criminality in the company of his greatest fan, a young teen boy. The movie is really not very good, but it does give, I think, a clue to the Arnold victory.

There is a long-standing debate among historians, sociologists, and political scientists about something called (sometimes) �The Great Man Theory�. This states that the most important events of history are the result of action by key individuals who move history along until we reach our own day, when, according to the Roman Livy, �we can endure neither our vices nor the cure for them�. Opposite this notion is the concept that human events are moved by forces well outside the ability of any one individual to control which makes the individual merely a pawn in the larger sum of historical inevitability.

Californians have hitched their star to �a great man�. That he enjoyed a successful movie actor was a plus for his election. People in trouble, real or imagined, usually reach out to an individual who they think can help them. It has been thus since the dawn of history. The Twentieth Century saw the election or selection of men like Hitler and Stalin on one hand, but Roosevelt, Churchill, and Eisenhower on the other. These were great men who made significant contributions to their people and their times.

There is another trend in American politics that we seem to have been getting away from in recent years. It was once said that a man elected as president or, often, governor, became the leader of all the people. Lyndon B. Johnson is cited as the great example�.a conservative, racist Texan who, when president, pushed through the most far-reaching civil rights legislation in our history. LBJ became the president of the entire American People despite his regional, parochial background and Southern roots.

Maybe Arnold can do the same in California. Hope so. Those poor guys out there need all the help they can get.

We will have a lot more to say about �The Great Man Theory�. It is something I believe in passionately.

THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT will be taking up the lawsuit begun by atheist Michael Nedow who objected to the fact that his little girl was �forced� to recite the Pledge of Allegiance with the tainted and terrible phrase �under God� inserted therein. I am an atheist and come from a short line of atheists. I don�t like Mr. Nedow who seems to be a simpering, self-serving little twerp who loves to appear on any talk show at the drop of a Hail Mary. He brought his suit �on behalf of my daughter� even though neither the little girl nor her mother, who has legal custody, has absolutely no objection to the offending phrase. Strange, this motivation.

It is hoped that the Supremes will start infusing some common sense into this whole misunderstood church/state relationship and toss out Nedow�s short-sighted suit. There is absolutely nothing wrong with �under god�, an occasional prayer, or a manger scene on the steps of your local city hall. People like Nedow give the rest of us atheists a bad rep.

You can read more about this subject at a recently updated LukeLink YOU�RE A SINNING LITTLE BASTARD, LUKE, AND YOU WILL SURELY GO TO HELL

Obligations of family, school, and life in general (look again at the title and weep for Luke) have forced brevity this week. I just didn�t want to have a no-show for Ian at DMY. We are hoping that our schedule will permit at least one weekly offering here, over at Political Pulpit Dot Com and my own site. And, hopefully, over at Professor Bohannon�s upcoming political web page if he ever gets it going. He has some great ideas, just slow getting his ass in gear.

Working hard on a narrative of a run-in with the Juvenile Justice System back in the seventh grade�this in an effort to get all my closeted skeletons out in the open should yours truly ever run for political office. Like Arnold�s early encounters with members of the opposite sex, we hope they will not be held against me.

So Check out: LUKE�s LIFE OF CRIME: The No-System Juvenile System, Part 1

You might want to take a peek at our first and only appearance on local radio which is this week�s feature at http://politicalpulpit.com

Or see the whole damned �kit and kaboodle� listed on our TABLE OF CONTENTS http://members.aol.com/luciusson/contents.html

Ciao for now,

Luke Angelo
Macon, Georgia
Deep In The Heart Of The Recessive Deep South.

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Luke Angelo, Cyberbrat Out Of Hell, lives in Macon, GA, where he regularly causes trouble and proves that the pen is far mightier than the Mayor