Posted on 12/22/2004 8:38:32 PM PST by Congressman Billybob
Dear Jon,
So “America (the Book)” was named Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly. More than successful, it’s a cultural phenomenon. I had to see what the shouting’s about. If your goal was money and self-promotion, congratulations. If you had a higher goal, close but no cigar.
Begin with the Foreword “by” Thos. Jefferson. Ol’ Tom was one of the greatest political thinkers in history. I’m not going to pick on deliberate falsehoods or fake quotes. Nor brevity, nor attempts at humor. Just flat-out, factual errors.
You have Jefferson say “we” composed “the Declaration and the Constitution.” You credit 26 collaborators on this project. Didn’t any of you know that Jefferson was in Paris when the Constitution was written? There was a movie with the title “Jefferson in Paris,” played by a sober Nick Nolte. Did all of you miss it? But I digress.
You have Jefferson call the Constitution “a living document.” He thought no such thing. In the Kentucky Resolutions, he wrote “Put not your faith in men, but bind them down with the chains of the Constitution.” Elsewhere, he repeatedly called the federal courts “the most dangerous branch,” if they took the law and the Constitution in their own hands to rewrite as they chose.
It’s not that you and your colleagues were ignorant of Jefferson. When you got to the free press, on page 136, you used the great quote from Ol’ Tom about choosing between “government without newspapers, or newspapers without government.” Y’all did your homework, when leading to the answer you wanted. (But you used a corrupt source and blew the quote.)
That the Founding Fathers “weren’t perfect” is self-evident. Ben Franklin said it best at the close of the Constitutional Convention. His speech on compromise included this: “Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad.”
The one thing we got right, two centuries ago, was writing a Constitution that worked and lasted. Though there are several 5,000-year-old civilizations, the oldest Constitution is ours, at 215 years. Our successes have stemmed from that, with more than a little assistance from Franklin’s Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights Clause. (Every nickel of your royalties are based on those few words.)
Jon, compliments where compliments are due. You almost got the story of the Constitution right. It’s true that “the Founders prayed that the Constitution would be ratified, respected and upheld....” You missed only one, overwhelming point. Amendment of the Constitution is right there in the document. It says that Congress and the states have that power, NOT a bare majority of the Supreme Court Justices on any given Friday (when they conference their decisions).
Of the 191 Members of the United Nations, 185 have written constitutions, in most cases just unenforced window dressing. For all your bemoaning the fate of the United States, you miss this essential point. But there are many lesser errors in your work.
Just on a fast read, and without doing extra homework, “America (the Book)” has an average of 1.5 gross historical errors per page. Let’s just sample the prime numbers: P. 1, in every election since 1789, more than two people have run for President; P. 3, you assume no demagogues in Athens – perhaps y’all were ignorant of the ostracism of General Alcibiades, leading to the fall of Athens?; P. 5, Gutenberg did not lead to the dumbing down of literacy, the National Education Association has done that; P. 7, Machiavelli’s influence on American democracy is not “none,” it is massive. Don’t you follow politics at all?
Jon, you’ve written a book of humor, not philosophy. Still, you are too bright and well-educated to hide behind that excuse. You seek to be a “newsman” while you condemn the breed. And you seek to “educate” while you amuse. Sometimes the humor IS subtle. Like the quote without attribution to Otto von Bismark (P. 66). Or the bow to Eric “Otter” Stratton’s legal summation in “Animal House” (P. 91).
I called you a “magnificent b*stard,” because your goal was higher than mere amusement and money. (You certainly caught my reference to General Patton, commenting on Field Marshal Rommel.) You sought to put useful information in the hands of many people, even if tricking them into it. Fair enough. Surely there will be a second edition. Next time, talk to a couple people who REALLY know the details of your subject.
Sort of like Victor Borge at the piano, you need to know the music straight before you can conduct a side-splitting take-off. Fair enough?
Cordially,
the (More er Less) Honorable Congressman Billybob from Western Carolina
About the Author: John Armor is a First Amendment attorney and author who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. CongressmanBillybob@earthlink.net
Here 'tis.
Absolutely excellent! Be sure to actually send this to the aforementioned bast*rd.
Man. I'd hate to have you review my book. You're a hard man. Thanks for the great review. I knew something was fishy the minute they started touting how good this book was.
It reminds me of that book, Cold Mountain. All the elites were talking about how good it was and I had trouble getting through the entire book.
The writing was not that good and the author seemed to stray off the storyline here and there. And then they made a movie about it, which didn't accurately portray the characters in the book. Another Hollywood masterpiece.
You rarely disappoint, sir. Well done.
I haven't read John "I'm Important" Stewart's book, but WOW what a demolition.
And to offer perhaps a bit of an addendum, claiming Machiavelli has had to effects on American politics is like claiming Sun Tzu has had no effect on American military strategy. The work is so seminal, such a statement would have to be considered a joke.
My Christmas wish is for Santa to bring me a little monkey that looks like Jon Stewart.
Well its no mystery why Stewart is such a media darling -- because he shares the values of leftwing elitists. Yes, he will take shots at the Left, but as with Letterman and Conan, the shots at the right will always be greater in number and given greater effort.
And yes, that whole bit about suggesting the Founders would be dismayed at conservative insistence on having the Constitution mean what it actually says, and not be subject to whatever the latest Sup Court wants it to say, is nonsense.
I read the thread title and laughed my way inside. :D
Amendment of the Constitution is right there in the document. It says that Congress and the states have that power, NOT a bare majority of the Supreme Court Justices...
Thank you, sir.
Merry Christmas and God Bless
"On every question of construction [of the Constitution] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
see Merriam-Webster
Main Entry: sat·ire
Pronunciation: sa-tIr
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin satura, satira, perhaps from (lanx) satura dish of mixed ingredients, from feminine of satur well-fed; akin to Latin satis enough
1 : a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn
2 : trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit
also see "fake news" or "rubber chicken"
Aaah, the smell of fresh napalm in the morming...;-)
Nice job, Billybob -- I enjoyed your essay, and the spanking of Jonny-Boy Stewart.
Thank you, Congersman Billybob!
Your posts always seem to be home runs.
Keep up the outstanding work.
I was always under the impression that a prime number was evenly divisible only by itself and one (eg 1,2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23,29,31,37,etc).
If one is not a prime number, then is there such a thing as a prime number?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.