The Weeping Star

 

 

See the lonely weeping star,
he's sad because it rains.
He'll have to wait another night
until he shines again.....

My Faith is very simple,
and isn't very loud.
It's knowing that there's always,
Stars above the clouds.....

Sleep well........❣

Two Dollar Bills and John Hanson

I remember when these were very common in the 1950's. They had a red seal on the front because they were testing a new kind of paper. There were also others  with the normal blue seal. They were Silver Certificates and could be exchanged for the old silver coins. 

Now everything is a Federal Reserve Note and there are no real silver coins. Today's paper money cannot be exchanged for any precious metal. 

If you have ever looked at the back of the new ones closely you will notice a black man seated with the other delegates. That is John Hanson of Charles County, Md. in John Trumball's painting of the Signing of the Declaration  of independence in 1776.

Before the Constitution was ratified he was one of several Presidents who served on a rotating basis. Not elected by the people, they were chosen by the other delegates. Some people confuse him with a black Senator of the same name who served after the Civil War and wanted to return the freed blacks to Liberia, the same as Lincoln had briefly proposed before his death.

John Hanson was born April 14, 1721 (Old Style calendar of 1732 was April 3rd) – and he passes away on November 15, 1783. He was an American Founding Father, merchant, and politician from Maryland during the Revolutionary Era. In 1779 Hanson was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress after serving in a variety of roles for the Patriot cause.

He signed the Articles of Confederation in 1781 after Maryland joined the other states in ratifying them. In November 1781, he was elected as the first President of the Confederation Congress; sometimes referred to as "President of the United States in Congress Assembled". For this reason, some of Hanson's biographers have argued that he was actually the first holder of the Office of President of the United States.

"Inherit the Wind" - Final Scene

To me this is the greatest scene in the film. Even more meaningful than the scene about Evolution; which is the whole theme of this film to begin with. And for good reason. 

This scene speaks to the duality of conscious. The integrity that is the ability to see more than one side, even though you may have already chosen yours. The ability to repect another human being, no matter how bitterly your disagreement may be. 

In this excange, when the two learn of William Jennings Bryan's death, these two, who have been allies in their cause, finally come to terms with the difference in their individual motivations. 

Here is the dialogue for the scene above. It is one of the most intense on-screen exchanges I have ever seen. The D stands for Henry Drummond, the fictitious name for Clarence Darrow, the Attorney for the Defense. The H stands for E.K. Hornbeck, the fictional H.L. Mencken, reporter for the Baltimore Sun. 

 D: I cannot imagine a world without Matthew Harrison Brady. What did he die of? Did they say?

H: He died of a busted belly.

D: There was much greatness in this man.

H:  Can I quote you  in the obituary?

D: Write anything you damn, write anything you please.

H: How do you write an obituary for a man who’s been dead thirty years?Say?  What did he say to the minister? It fits! He delivered his own obituary! They must have one here some place. Here it is: his book!  Proverbs, wasn’t it?

D: (Quietly) “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise in heart."

H: Well, we’re growing an odd crop of agnostics this year!

D: You know, Hornbeck, I'm getting damn sick of you.

H: Why?

D: Because you never pushed a noun against a verb except to blow up something.

H: You know, that's a typical lawyer's trick - accusing the accuser.

D: What am I accused of?

H: Contempt of conscience, sentimentality in the first degree.

D: Why? Because I refuse to erase a man’s lifetime?

H: You know what I thought of him, and I know what you thought. Let us leave the lamentations to the illiterate! Why should we weep for him? He cried enough for himself! The national tear-duct from Weeping Water, Nebraska, who flooded the whole nation like a one-man Mississippi! You know what he was: A Barnum- Bible-beating bunko artist! What is this? Be-Kind-To-Bigots Week?

D: A giant once lived in that body. But Matt Brady got lost. Because he was looking for God too high up and too far away.

H: You hypocrite! You fraud!  The Atheist who believes in God... You’re just as religious as he was!

D: Everything is grist for your mill, isn't it? Well go on grind it up; Brady's past, Cates future.....My God, don't you understand the meaning of what happened here today?

H: What happened here has no meaning...

D: You have no meaning! You're like a ghost pointing an empty sleeve and smirking at everything people feel or want or struggle for! I pity you.

H: You pity me?

D: Isn't there anything? What touches you, what warms you? Every man has a dream. What do you dream about? What... what do you need? You don't need anything, do you? People, love, an idea;  just to cling to? You poor slob! You're all alone. When you go to your grave, there won't be anybody to pull the grass up over your head. Nobody to mourn you. Nobody to give a damn. You're all alone.

H: You're wrong, Henry. You'll be there. You're the type. Who else would defend my right to be lonely?