Safe Haven

 The infamous Juror #3 was played by Lee J. Cobb, and of course his intransigence was driven by his distance from his son. He saw his son in the defendant. He got called a sadist by Henry Fonda’s Juror #8, and he did a fair amount of yelling. But in the end, I’m pretty sympathetic. The real bigot is Juror #10. He goes on a big rant, and gets shunned by all the others. Ed Begley. He had to be a heck of an actor. The anger ranges from subtle to explosive. I think the lesson is that anyone can seem normal when they aren’t pressed.

 The basis for all the case law that we think of as “human rights” is natural law, and revealed Christianity.  [Sarcasm on] It’s cool on the worldwide Left to think of “human rights” as pertaining to sexuality, as long as it’s abnormal, or involving the intentional killing of preborn people in the womb. Wars are always bad, especially when engaged in by the United States. Actually, wars started in response to the “evil” hegemony of the United States are good, obviously. [Sarcasm off] Somewhat inconveniently, the only time sexual minorities are actually erased are in countries that happen to be enemies of the United States. Forgive me, but I think the idea of Christians being the problem is patently absurd. Domestic politics is absurd, silly, and even destructive. But you know, we can ignore people who say crazy things. Then again, doing politics might involve hearing things that sound crazy, but are actually not. Doesn’t it seem clear that people stay in bubbles where they nev...

 I had some pretty rough days as a child. Most people don’t know. Whenever I could, I would escape to my room and watch PBS. Because in St. Louis where I grew up, Channel 9 comes in the best, even today. It’s a moral intuition that told me Fred Rogers was safe. Don’t bother me about his views on homosexuality; by the time I get to Heaven, the Lord has already talked it over with him. [Did you just baldly assert that Fred Rogers is in Heaven?—ed.] Yep. Feeling pretty safe about that one. But if he needs my prayers to make it all the way Home, he’s got them. Pete’s sake, I feel like he’s a friend of my Dad, at the very least. He’s been dead 23 years, and he still seems present. I know I’m not the only one. I’ll elaborate my conflicted views about public television and radio later. Suffice it to say that I really don’t know if I would be here, without Mr. Rogers.