Scott Wesley Brown Sings a Warning

Scott Wesley Brown is an extremely talented and successful Christian "musicianary," a man whose devotion to the gospel, to theological orthodoxy, to compassion in action, and to standards of biblical justice have provided, for many years now, a dramatic inspiration to untold numbers around the world. And yet Scott's zeal in the Lord's cause grows ever stronger and he's as energetically involved in building the Church as if he was just getting started.

Having been of direct help to us at Vital Signs Ministries in our first years of service as well as to the AAA Center for Pregnancy Counseling here in Omaha when we were getting that ministry started, Claire and I (along with the whole Vital Signs team) have long held the greatest appreciation and affection for Scott.

He is, most definitely, the real deal.

And with such compelling musical exhortations as "When America Is Not America Anymore" to his credit, our appreciation just keeps growing. Give a listen (and a look) to Scott's moving new song here in this YouTube presentation he alerted us to this weekend. If you're not already, I think it will help move you to join us as die-hard SWB fans.

For more about Scott Wesley Brown, his music, his live events, and how you can help out in his terrific I Care global ministry, check out the official SWB web site right here.

Sharon Osbourne: An Abortion Was Her Biggest Mistake

"Everybody has something in the closet, and I reckon the best policy is always to be honest, then it can't come back to haunt you," she says. And she holds her hands up to her own "big mistakes". The biggest brings her to tears. "I had an abortion at 17 and it was the worst thing I ever did. It was the first time I'd had sex, and that was rotten. I'd always thought it was going to be all violins, and it was just awful.

"I was two months gone when I realised. I went to my mum and she said, without pausing for breath: 'You have to get rid of it.'

"She told me where the clinic was, then virtually pushed me off. She was so angry. She said I'd got myself in this mess, now she had to get me out.

"But she didn't come. I went alone. I was terrified. It was full of other young girls, and we were all terrified and looking at each other and nobody was saying a bloody word. I howled my way through it, and it was horrible.

"I would never recommend it to anyone because it comes back to haunt you. When I tried to have children, I lost three - I think it was because something had happened to my cervix during the abortion. After three miscarriages, they had to put a stitch in it.

"In life, whatever it is, you pay somewhere down the line. You have to be accountable."

(Source, reporter Jenny Johnston's story in The Daily Mail, Dec. 20, 2004; an edited version re-posted at the Silent No More website)

"The Wanderer" Sings of "The Thunderer" -- Dion's Tribute to St. Jerome

Last weekend I posted (and not for the first time) a poem by Phyllis McGinley over on The Book Den. She entitled it "Death at Suppertime" and it has some remarkably appropriate applications for modern culture...especially remarkable given that the poem was written in 1949!

Anyhow, I was pleased to come across another Phyllis McGinley connection in a recent New York Times story about one of my favorite rock 'n roll heroes. As Times reporter David Gonzalez puts it -- "That’s right, Dion — for those unfortunates who need a last name, it’s DiMucci — the doo-wop legend from Belmont, now 68, with the heart of a bluesman, the soul of a Catholic and the epitome of old-school Bronx cool."

The article describes how Dion's great respect for St. Jerome, the brilliant scholar who translated the New Testament from Greek into Latin and then the Old Testament from Hebrew into Latin, led to an appreciation of the Phyllis McGinley poem about St. Jerome, "The Thunderer." Dion, a diligent student of Scripture, something unfortunately too rare among Catholics, had long appreciated Jerome's dicta, “Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ.” But reading McGinley's poem intensified his interest in Jerome and he ended up writing a song using the same name.

The story of that song and how it's impact has traveled from Jerome to McGinley to DiMucci to an upstate New York disc jockey to kids singing on street corners ala Dion and the Belmonts back in the early 60s is here in this Times piece. And if you'd like to pursue the matter (I certainly did), then here's a brief sample of of Dion's song from his Son of Skip James album. You can order it online there and several other places too.

And here is a copy of copy of Phyllis McGinley's original poem. It was published in her Times Three: Selected Verse from Three Decades with Seventy New Poems, a book which won her the Pulitzer Prize.

The Thunderer

God’s angry man, His crotchety scholar
Was Saint Jerome,
The great name-caller
Who cared not a dime
For the laws of Libel
And in his spare time
Translated the Bible.
Quick to disparage
All joys but learning
Jerome thought marriage
Better than burning;
But didn’t like woman’s
Painted cheeks;
Didn’t like Romans,
Didn’t like Greeks,
Hated Pagans
For their Pagan ways,
Yet doted on Cicero all of his days.

A born reformer, cross and gifted,
He scolded mankind
Sterner than Swift did;
Worked to save
The world from the heathen;
Fled to a cave
For peace to breathe in,
Promptly wherewith
For miles around
He filled the air with
Fury and sound.
In a mighty prose
For Almighty ends,
He thrust at his foes,
Quarreled with his friends,
And served his Master,
Though with complaint.
He wasn’t a plaster sort of a saint.

But he swelled men’s minds
With a Christian leaven.
It takes all kinds
To make a heaven.

Sarah Palin: " Children are the Most Precious and Promising Ingredient in this Mixed-up World."

The Family Research Council, in congratulating Todd and Sarah Palin on the birth of Trig Paxson Van Palin, writes:

If anyone can relate to the struggles of raising a special needs child in this unforgiving world, it's Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R). Last week, she and her husband welcomed their fifth child, Trig Paxson Van Palin. During her pregnancy, the couple learned that Trig would be born with Down's syndrome. A pro-family champion who has advanced the culture of life at every opportunity, Palin was faced with embracing this harsh reality in the public spotlight where she has so often lived out her personal beliefs.

Although it was difficult at first, Palin says she and Todd now feel chosen by God to raise "an absolutely perfect" son. In an era when over 80 percent of Down's syndrome babies are aborted, the Palins feel they have been extremely blessed. In a personal letter to her family and friends, Palin wrote, "Many people will express sympathy, but you don't want or need that, because Trig will be a joy. You will have to trust me on this... Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed-up world you live in... Trig is no different, except that he has one extra chromosome." To the people who think that Trig shouldn't have been born, Palin says, "Look around. Who is perfect or even normal?"

Now back on the job, Palin is using her testimony as motivation to work even harder to protect unborn children. This week, she helped to bring new legislation to the floor that would ban partial-birth abortion and promote parental consent on minor abortion. A woman who has never wavered in her defense of life, Palin is off to a great start as an up-and-coming GOP governor with political skills and personal ethics. We congratulate the Palins on their newest addition and pray that their story is an inspiration to couples everywhere.

Remembering Dr. Liviu Librescu, A Hero from the Virginia Tech Massacre

Earlier this week (April 16) was the anniversary of the murders of 32 students and faculty at Virginia Tech. Debbie Schlussel marked the tragic day by paying tribute to one of the victims, Dr. Liviu Librescu, an American/Israeli Jew who was an esteemed Visiting Professor at the university. Librescu's bravery and self-sacrifice in saving 22 lives -- though he forfeited his own -- should be much more heralded and appreciated than it has hereto been but, thankfully, principled people like Schlussel are doing their part to honor this fallen hero.

Read Schlussel's tribute to this "scientific superstar" and view the compelling 10-minute video clip she provides right here.

Charlton Heston Didn't Just Portray Heroes; He Was One

Our friend Doug Patton has written a fine piece about Charlton Heston. Check it out here.

The Religion of Oprah

Oprah Winfrey was troubled "in her spirit" when in her late twenties she heard a preacher quote the Scripture that God was a "jealous God." She decided then that she had to "open her mind", take God "out of the box", seek "something more than doctrine" and let the "absolute, indescribable hugeness of what we call God" overcome her Baptist intolerance. Since then, her consciousness has expanded, her spirit has been freed, and her insistence that there are millions of ways to reach "whatever you call is God" is being spread throughout the world.

A bit bothered by this?

Take a look at this video clip to find out more (in Oprah's own words) about her eerie New Age religion.

And then give a few minutes to Frank Pastore's Town Hall column, "Questions that Bother Oprah and Today's New Age Thinkers." You'll find it informative and helpful as well.

(Hat tip to Sonja Jost Hockenbury for the clip.)

"In Hope of Eternal Life"

Amid the daily battles of the culture wars, the Christian must ever be mindful of "the hope that is in us" -- the confident hope that gives us the inspiration, strength and wisdom to fight effectively for the cause of Christ. And that hope, of course, moves us to retain a passion for evangelism, spreading the good news of a coming Kingdom even as we seek to fulfill our biblical responsibilities in this one.

In this regard, then, be encouraged by the testimony of the "coolest cat" in Hollywood's 1960s, Steve McQueen.

...When Steve discovered he had lung cancer, he began to take stock of his life, and to look for the answers and for the hope he had not found during his lifetime. He wanted to know what came next and was yearning for hope in the "beyond." Both his third wife Barbara Minty and his flying instructor Sammy Mason encouraged him in his spiritual search.

McQueen eventually made it to a Billy Graham crusade. By the end of the meeting, Steve McQueen had given his heart to Jesus Christ. He still had many questions, though, and he sent word through one of the evangelists he wanted to meet with Billy Graham. They were able to meet in a limousine on the way to the airport.

McQueen told Graham be believed Jesus was the Son of God and he had put his trust there, but he had many questions about the scriptures. Most importantly, McQueen wanted to know how could he be sure heaven awaited him. Graham turned his Bible to Titus 1 verse 2: "In hope of eternal life, which God, Who cannot lie, promised before the world began..."

The was the verse he had longed to hear. McQueen was excited and asked, "What was that verse again?" and told Graham he needed a pencil and some paper so he could write down the verse. Billy Graham instead gave Steve McQueen his Bible.

Some time after this Steve went to Mexico for some experimental cancer treatments. He died there... but that was not the end of Steve McQueen. They found his Bible in his hands, turned to Titus chapter 1 and verse 2, with his finger laid on top of that verse, his future sealed by God, Who cannot lie."

March 1983: A Really Bad Month for the Kremlin

It was 25 years ago this month, March 1983, that the Soviet Union went into hysterics, both realizing and arguably beginning the terminal phase in its deadly life cycle. The Kremlin had been deeply troubled ever since the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan in January 1981, a total turnabout from its confident surge in the latter 1970 s, when it looked like Moscow was winning the Cold War.

The Soviet leadership was taken aback by Reagan’s bravado in his very first press conference, where the new president calmly explained to a stunned Washington press corps that the Soviet leadership had “openly and publicly declared that the only morality they recognize is what will further their cause, meaning they reserve unto themselves the right to commit any crime, to lie, to cheat.” Reagan had left no doubt that Jimmy Carter was out of the White House...

Paul Kengor, professor at Grove City College and the author of (among other books) God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life and The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism, has a riveting account of the Kremlin's really bad month.

By the way, if you're interested in learning more about Kengor's interest in Reagan, give a listen to this 10-minute Vital Signs interview.

Uh, Forget the VP Talk. Governor Palin's Having Another Baby.

Gov. Sarah Palin shocked and awed just about everybody around the Capitol on Wednesday when she announced she's expecting her fifth child.

The governor, who recently turned 44, told a handful of reporters as she was leaving work to expect a new member of the first family, then headed to a reception at the Baranof Hotel to feast on king crab. Palin said she's already about seven months along, with the baby due to arrive in mid-May.

That the pregnancy is so advanced astonished all who heard the news. The governor, a runner who's always been trim, simply doesn't look pregnant. Even close members of her staff said they only learned this week their boss was expecting...

Having a baby as governor has happened elsewhere, but it's rare. The former acting governor of Massachusetts, Jane Swift, in 2001 was the first governor in office to give birth when she delivered twin girls.

Palin beamed as lawmakers, Cabinet members and others came by to congratulate her at the Baranof reception, a legislative event Kodiak officials sponsor annually. Her husband, Todd, was there holding the couple's sleepy 6-year-old daughter Piper in his arms.

Palin said she's not aiming to take any time off from her job as governor, assuming all goes well with the pregnancy. She said when she had Piper -- Palin was mayor of Wasilla at the time -- the baby was born on a Monday and she returned to the office on Tuesday. "I've always been a believer that God's not going to give us anything that we cannot handle," Palin said.

Todd Palin, a BP oil field worker currently on leave from his job, said he's thrilled to be headed toward five-time fatherhood. "I'm really excited," he said. "Every child you get from God. The more the merrier."

Aside from Piper, the Palins have three other children: Track, 18, serving in the U.S. Army at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks; Bristol, 17, a high school junior; and Willow, 13...

She's kept a hectic schedule in recent days, traveling last week to the National Governors Association conference in Washington, D.C., followed by a trip to Los Angeles on Monday for a Newsweek magazine conference also featuring Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. The magazine profiled the two in its Oct. 15 "Women & Power" issue.

With Palin riding extraordinarily high popularity ratings, pundits have mentioned her as a potential vice presidential candidate. But she said Wednesday night she's "not pursuing or perpetuating it," adding, "I have no desire to leave my job at all as governor."

Palin said she decided to reveal the pregnancy after she felt the signs were giving her away, like doing less running this winter and being "ravenously hungry." She's known as a fashion plate, but said she hasn't been dressing differently to cover her barely perceptible bulge.

Palin noted another Alaska governor welcomed a new baby to his family while in office -- Mike Stepovich, who served as territorial governor in the late 1950s. Having kids and serving as governor are entirely compatible, she said. "To any critics who say a woman can't think and work and carry a baby at the same time, I'd just like to escort that Neanderthal back to the cave," Palin said.

(Source: This morning's Anchorage Daily News)

Oh yes. Congratulations can be sent via this contact page.

For Weekend Web Reading

* Federal Spending By the Numbers 2008

The Heritage Foundation has created an important economics lesson that is very instructive, very current and very do-able even for math dummies. As Brian M. Riedl puts it, "Before the nation can come together on federal budget solutions, it has to agree on the basic budget facts. This paper provides 12 pages of tables, charts, graphs, and bullet-point explanations of recent trends in federal spending. Updated with the most recent 2008 budget estimates, most of the underlying data come directly from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)."

* Cheers for Chile’s Chicago Boys

Guy Sorman, French journalist, economist, philosopher and author of many books (including Empire of Lies: The Truth About China in the Twenty-First Century due out next month) has written a fascinating article for City Journal describing how conservative and creative economic policies (the two are not antithetical, by the way) are transforming such South American nations as Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and especially, Chile. These countries are democratic, progressive and oriented to the free market philosophy Americans associate with Milton Friedman. On the other hand, other South American nations prove a tragic contrast, remaining stuck in the poverty, paranoia and repression of that so often marks the Marxist left.

The article represents an engaging success story which, like the first item I mentioned in this weekend's recommendations, can be understood and appreciated even by mere Liberal Arts majors like myself.

* Tributes to William F. Buckley

Earlier in the week I listed a few noteworthy tributes written after the passing of this great American. Many, many others have followed. You can find them all over the web this weekend but here are just a few sources I'd suggest trying: National Review Online; Claremont Institute; Weekly Standard; and this particular article at the Heritage Foundation.

People Do Change: David Tyree is an Inspirational Case In Point

...From special-teams demon to Super Bowl deity. From moonlighting drug dealer to born-again Christian. From a child who drank alcohol and smoked marijuana with his family to a sober father and husband who started his own nonprofit organization.

This is David Tyree’s version of his transformation...

From a life he described as "the devil’s den" to a fervent, consistent walk with Christ is the course taken by New York Giants Super Bowl hero, David Tyree.

Read this brief but moving story as told by the New York Times.

John McCain: A Son's View

Here's a view of John McCain you won't see from the MSM.

It's a view from the eyes of his eldest son, John “Jack” McCain, a Midshipman enrolled at his dad's alma mater, the United States Naval Academy.

(Jack is the one on the left, holding aloft his younger brother, U.S. Marine Jimmy McCain, prior to Jimmy's deployment to Iraq. The photo comes from the McCain family via GoMids.com)

It's an article that's interesting, informative, humorous and (look out, Ann Coulter) even a bit charming.

Here's just one excerpt:

...When asked about his dad's age, 71, and whether or not it should be an issue with voters, Jack was quick to point out the tremendous health of not his dad, but his grandmother. “His mother is what, 96? She is very sharp. She travels the world. So as far as genes go, you don’t have to worry about that for at least another 15 or 20 years.”

In further defense of his dad’s health, Jack enjoys telling the story about how he and his dad hiked the Grand Canyon last summer. “He hiked 30 miles…9 down, 15 across and 6 up in two days. We started out on the North Rim [of the Grand Canyon] and made it to the South Rim. If age is ever an issue [just think of] 30 miles, two days, in 115 degree heat…and carrying a back-pack as well. And my dad doesn’t have any cartilage in his knees.”

One of the most memorable parts of the excursion, especially for a political science major, was being able to listen to his dad talk about “any period in history.”

“…If you start in China and head all the way to the United States, he knows about it. We probably had a four-hour conversation about the Ottoman Turks.”

Tony Snow Sounds Off

Former White House press secretary Tony Snow is interviewed by Reason Foundation senior analyst Shikha Dalmia, his former colleague on the editorial board of the Detroit News. Enlightening reading.

Doctors Advise Aborting the Baby Who Just Won the Heisman! How Many Others Haven't Escaped Such Misdiagnoses?

The young woman was an American missionary serving in the Philippines when in 1987 she went into a coma after contracting amoebic dysentery. She survived but the doctors on the scene afterwards explained that the treatment she had received included strong drugs, drugs that had surely caused irreversible damage to the unborn child she was carrying. Misdiagnoses?

The doctors advised her to have an abortion.

But Pam Tebow refused. Her Christian faith taught her the sacredness of all life, and she and her husband prepared to receive their new baby, whatever his physical liabilities, with joy and gratitude. And, of course, they prayed that God would protect their child from any negative reactions to the drugs.

Their faith held. Their prayers were answered. And now, 20 years later, all of America can see the evidence of their confidence as their son, University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, became the first sophomore in the history of the NCAA to win the coveted Heisman Trophy.

Here's the rest of the story (and a very interesting, moving one it is) from LifeNews.com.

Aryan Sister: Leni Riefenstahl Revisited

In a discerning and well-written essay published in the Fall edition of the Claremont Review of Books, Algis Valiunas reviews two recent books about famed Nazi apologist, Leni Riefenstahl. You'll undoubtedly learn much about Riefenstahl that you didn't know (the MSM, filmmakers and historians alike have been naively defensive of her), but you'll also learn from Valiunas' review of the two books in question (Leni Riefenstahl: A Life, by Jürgen Trimborn, translated by Edna McCown, and Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl, by Steven Bach) about propaganda, the powerful lure of ambition, and other aspects of the "banality of evil."

It is an excellent, provocative read.

Ben Stein on the Market, Personal Thrift, the Military Family, and More

Ben Stein has some sage investment advice, much of it gleaned from his mistakes in the market, in this witty New York Times business news column. Well, I don't do the market and what I know about business is roughly the same as what I know about chemistry, but I do know that Ben Stein's writing (whatever the subject) is worth reading. Below I print his thoughtful conclusion.

...Finally, this year as every year, I learn that there are a lot of people out there who are of more use to the planet than I am: my wife (the world’s best human), teachers, parents of autistic children, firefighters, nurses, doctors, police officers, social workers, the incredible superstars of the military and, most of all, their families.

I WILL say it until the day I die: the military family is the marrow in the backbone of America. And if it seems that I am too upset about financial fraud, I would just like to say that I often cannot sleep at night seething that men and women are giving their lives for us in faraway places while at home their country is being plundered by men in $3,000 suits who get multimillion-dollar severances when they are caught.

How many military families lost homes because of predatory lending? I know of at least two, and that’s just in my little world. My resolution for 2008 is to keep on plugging for those “little people” who are a lot bigger than the hucksters on Wall Street. And to stop being such an extravagant fool myself.

Flip-Flopping Towards Death: What Ted Kennedy, Jesse Jackson and Bill Clinton Once Said About Abortion

Even the most powerful proponents of abortion know they're wrong. Here are their own words:

"While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life. Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized--the right to be born, the right to live, the right to grow old.

"I share the confidence of those who feel that America is working to care for its unwanted as well as wanted children, protecting particularly those who cannot protect themselves. I also share the opinions of those who do not accept abortion as a response to our society's problems--an inadequate welfare system, unsatisfactory job training programs, and insufficient financial support for all its citizens.

"When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfil its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception." (Sen. Edward Kennedy, August 3, 1971)

Since writing this letter, Kennedy has become a leading abortion proponent in the Senate. He sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act, is a primary supporter of the criminalization of abortion protest, votes for taxpayer funding of abortion, and wins awards of appreciation by the abortion industry.

"There are those who argue that the right to privacy is of [a] higher order than the right to life...that was the premise of slavery. You could not protest the existence or treatment of slaves on the plantation because that was private and therefore outside your right to be concerned.

"What happens to the mind of a person, and the moral fabric of a nation, that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience? What kind of a person and what kind of a society will we have 20 years hence if life can be taken so casually? It is that question, the question of our attitude, our value system, and our mind-set with regard to the nature and worth of life itself that is the central question confronting mankind. Failure to answer that question affirmatively may leave us with a hell right here on earth." (Rev. Jesse Jackson, writing January 1977)

Rev. Jackson switched to a pro-abortion position before he ran for president in 1988.

"I am opposed to abortion and to government funding of abortions. We should not spend state funds on abortions because so many people believe abortion is wrong." (President Bill Clinton, writing Sept. 26, 1986)

As president, Mr. Clinton has not only signed into law five bills heavily promoting the practice of abortion and harvesting fetal tissue, but is now asking taxpayers to pay for every abortion via his national health insurance plan.

(The quotes, by the way, were taken from an Americas United for Life Forum in February 1994 which were reprinted in the May/June 1994 issue of Eternal Perspectives. I came across them while reading through EPM's excellent website.)

I encourage you to print these quotations and keep them around for use in your conversations, your letters to politicians and news editors, and for your kid's school projects.

Can Oprah Deliver the Presidency to Barack Obama?

Rick Klein and Nancy Flores discuss the "Oh My Gosh Oprah Factor" in today's The Note section of ABC News.

There are endorsements, celebrity endorsements -- and then there's Oprah. Ms. Winfrey makes clear that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is one of her favorite things at this white-hot moment of the campaign, with a full weekend scheduled that will bring Obama some glitz, energy, and enthusiasm in all the right places...

In South Carolina, an 18,000-person arena has been ditched for the 80,250-capacity football stadium [shown below] at the University of South Carolina in Columbia...

In New Hampshire, Oprah's Sunday night rally is "shaping up to be one of the largest events in New Hampshire Primary history," Scott Brooks writes in the New Hampshire Union Leader.

The campaign has given away some 10,000 tickets, meaning "the crowd size will be comparable to concerts by Justin Timberlake, Aerosmith and Neil Diamond." (Don't forget we're talking about New England.) Verizon Wireless Arena spokesman Jason Perry: "There's that awe factor."

"She's going to electrify the campaign trail -- there's no question about it," ABC's George Stephanopoulos said on "Good Morning America" Thursday...

"The Obama campaign's fondest wish is that Winfrey does for their candidate what she has done for products such as the Clarisonic skin-care system, sales of which increased 10-fold in just one week after her endorsement."...

"Blacklisted By History"

William Rusher, the former publisher of National Review and one of the conservative movement's most significant champions once served as associate counsel to the Internal Security Subcommittee of the Senate's Judiciary Committee in 1956-1957, investigating "the scope of Soviet activity in the United States." Therefore, on a number of levels, including personal experience, Rusher's opinions about Joe McCarthy and the Communist influence in American government in those years are ones that carry weight.

And that's why I'm ordering a copy of the book Rusher recommends in his column today.

...I have long since given up hoping that the above reasonably accurate description of the so-called "McCarthy controversy" will overtake, at least in my time, the version of events I described at the outset: the "lie agreed upon." But I rejoice to report that Crown Forum (a trademark of Random House) has just published "Blacklisted by History -- the Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies," by M. Stanton Evans. For anyone who wants, and has never been able to find, a true account of that epic battle, or who lived through it and simply wants to refresh those now distant recollections, this is the book for you.

Evans, a veteran journalist, doesn't shout. He displays, instead, a deadly meticulousness that is, at last, overwhelmingly convincing. After a generous look at the history preceding the controversy, he takes us through its various episodes step by step, refuting each canard that has passed, these many decades, for the truth.

He has performed a precious and indispensable service for the public record.