The 5-fold 10-fold comparison - Day 8

Day 8: I wrote this series of articles because I wanted to offer something that had come to me that no one else was talking about (because of the walls we all put up—except me, of course—between the various things we label, such as religions and other touchy subjects) yet which the article in Living Buddhism plus the occurrence of Hanukkah at this time gave me the courage to finally share. I believed that in sharing this secret knowledge—or at least introducing it, as I haven't even begun to scratch the surface—I might set a ball of progressive thought and ideas in motion if even only one person reading this was inspired enough to take me up on it. Every religion lapses into a state of orthodoxy. Once in a very long while, someone courageous enough comes along and challenges that static orthodoxy, and a new religion is born, fresh with genuine ideas for humanity's betterment. And then it too lapses into formality and structure and people, instead of being inspired by its founding ideals to embark on a unique, courageous life, instead cling to its rituals, in effect avoiding the very thing it was supposed to help them accomplish—live uniquely and courageously. This is true of atheism as well as every other form of secular humanism, few people really doing the hard work of maintaining a critical mind about all things, particularly that which they themselves believe, but instead clinging to commonly accepted notions of truth and reality because that's what gets them through the day. Yes, growth is not easy while stagnation is. But struggle, as SGI President Ikeda says, is the nature of all things, and this becomes readily apparent if we observe animal and plant life closely as they struggle every day against the elements and all kinds of vicissitudes. Like Oedipus, we've invented myriad ways to avoid struggle, only struggle stands before us in every direction whether we like it or not.

And yes, even SGI members, as sincere as they are, are more wont to repeat, to parrot the words of their mentors, afraid to reinvent the wheel by being too original in their approach. However, I feel that if we are truly to realize the benefit of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the supreme virtue that we must recognize is that, while actively share the struggles of our mentors and fellow members, we must never look outside of ourselves, to that which other people have said, even if they are completely correct for our own answers. For the whole purpose of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is to realize the truth that is both eternal and unique to each moment and situation from within our own lives and from that contribute something great to humanity. For if we were to depend on another person, as the Catholics do, or a book, as the Protestants do, just to use a couple of examples to describe the whole gamut of these other belief systems, which include atheism and other forms of secular humanism, then we will have thrown away the greatest treasure, the most precious gem that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is—our life, our Buddha wisdom, itself. And then our religion or belief system will have really nothing to stand out from the others. So my quest here was less to convince non-Buddhists of the supreme benefit of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as it was to hopefully open the minds of SGI members to the great treasure in their own lives and traditions from before the embraced Buddhism that they are overlooking, to break down the walls that separate us from others and to open the doors and allow fresh air to circulate inward and outward. In 1272, the same watershed year the Nichiren wrote perhaps his most important work in some respects, The Opening of the Eyes, as he was in the middle of his brutally severe exile in the harsh cold of Sado Island, a monk named Thomas Aquinas wrote his earth-shattering work entitled Summa Theologica, which reversed centuries of the Platonic dualistic orientation of Christianity by stating that everything is God and God is everything. Perhaps the Church did not get the implications of what he was saying when the later canonized him as a Saint, but isn't that the way things usually turn out, eh? Aquinas lived in a very enlightened part of the world at that time, the south of France, in which Christians, Jews and Moslems lived side by side, inspired by each other and coming up with some of the most amazing writings of all time, of which Aquinas' is just one. And we think ours is the enlightened age... A year later, in 1273, also in that part of the world, the seminal work of Jewish Mysticism, known as the Zohar, was written. Finally recognizing, as Aristotle was forced to admit in a sort of footnote, which he coined the “first cause”, that the didactic and the logical has its limits and that there is something that transcends this construct of the human mind (upon which Talmudic Judaism had relied for centuries), the Zohar spoke of the 10 emanations, without mentioning by name to what or to whom they referred, emanations that are essentially all human qualities, but good ones, ones associated with God. The highest, first, of these is called “Ayin” which literally means “nothing”. Like the Sutra of Immeasurable Meanings, which is the introductory sutra to the Lotus Sutra, which postulates 34 negations, statements negating the “true entity” as being anything among 17 pairs of opposites, so as to say that the true entity is none of these, this also sets us up for something different that is not anything of this world and can't be described by any human words. However, hidden in this, as the text of the Zohar then pulls the curtain back to reveal, is the true entity, so to speak that is hidden in those 10 emanations of God. And guess what that is called: “Ein sof”. Now the thing you need to know is that Hebrew is not written with vowels, only with consonants, which is why it is possible to say that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo actually contains within it the name of God. The word “Ein”, meaning without, is the same word, i.e. using the same consonants as the word, “ayin” which means nothing. But “Ein sof” literally means without end or no end. Suddenly the negative is transformed into an endless positive. Just as the Chinese character “mu”, the silent character at the end of Nam (which would literally be pronounced Na-mu if it were pronounced, but thank goodness it isn't otherwise the daimoku would be very arrhythmic), which literally means not or without, when paired with the words “ryo” (measure) or “hen” (boundary), means immeasurable and boundless, in other words omnipresent, omniexistent. The Zohar talks about the contraction which God had to perform in order to create the world out of Himself. Hence, it is clear that the Zohar also bridges the gap between man and God, between Buddha and ordinary being. Isn't it curious that these two works came out right after Nichiren, by succeeding in not being executed at Tatsunokuchi Beach when a bright comet or orb flashed across the sky scaring the executioners, revealed himself as the Buddha of the Latter Day (which I believe that his revealing of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo would be enough for him to be the Buddha of the Latter Day)? How connected this world is.

I know I'm probably treading on a lot of toes in presenting all this and I also know that I'm making a lot of people uncomfortable. Perhaps the one saving grace is that very few people are likely to be reading this so most that receive it or see it posted won't get offended. And, after all, haven't I already stated in my Essential Teaching or Secular Humanism lecture on Day 4 that the gap between man and God, between man and Buddha has already been eliminated? Well, not quite. The Essential Teaching does not reveal how we can make use of this fact that we already possess Buddhahood, nor does secular humanism offer any hope for humanity, merely an alternate way of looking at truth. I know that to many, my presentation of Nichiren Buddhism as the thought system offering a better solution—in fact, the only solution—must seem quite illogical because isn't religion what we're moving away from? But that's where the scientific reasoning of secular humanism can be deceptive (although scientific reasoning can also prove the validity of Nichiren Buddhism using both empiric and deductive methods). Because by identifying it as religion versus non-religion, you are only shedding light on one of many parameters that need to be looked at to investigate a belief system before you're able to definitely come to a conclusion about it. And, as I said I think quite a few times, we're not looking for an extreme but a middle ground, one that embraces the essential truth that is really at the heart of all the teachings.

Thus, I hope that what I have presented gives all of you, whether SGI member or non-SGI member some new ideas to ponder on. While of course I don't want you to close the door to this conversation, nonetheless, rather than diving in the deep end, all I ask—and this is meant for all of you—is that you ponder, entertain the thoughts I am sharing, with this one other thought in mind: What will really save humanity from the humongous problems we are all now facing? And, if you are convinced that nothing will save humanity and that we are doomed to undergo Armageddon within a year or two or three or ten or fifty, ask yourself this: What have I got to lose by speculating on this and seeing if maybe I'll prove myself wrong? Every day, a million things come up to give me a reason to believe I have been a great fool for following the path I am following. But you know what keeps me going? Not the full knowledge that despite what my circumstances seem to be trying to tell me, I'm right anyway, but that as long as I have nothing to lose fighting these voices, I'm doing what seems to be the most meritorious thing prized among people—I am waging the good fight. For that, like Jesus, Martin Luther King and the many others who no one would consider a loser, even should the worst present itself as my mortal end, I will still have won if at least one other person is inspired by my example of not letting go of hope. And for that, I know that whatever belief system, crazy as it may seem to you to be, I use to inspire me to go on, that indeed is the winning belief system. For now, I will end this, go back to my job, my movies and the other endeavors of my life and leave the rest of this discussion to you. Thank you for taking the time to listen.

The 5-fold 10-fold comparison - Day 7

Day 7: Today is almost the final day of this festival and as you can see I've been devoting all 4 of the second set of 4 days to the shamash, the pinnacle candle, the source of light for all the other candles. This is because what I am trying to do, as has been documented already, is the hardest thing possible. In the last episode, I presented irrefutable proof of the superiority of Nichiren's Buddhism (known in the 5th and final comparison as the Buddhism of Sowing (Living Buddhism Nov-Dec 2010, p. 97), as compared with the Buddhism of the Harvest. Let's look at the concept for a minute. Shakyamuni's Buddhism is called the Buddhism of the Harvest because although he spoke of the True Cause of his enlightenment in the Life Span Chapter (“Ga hon gyo bosatsu do”, “Originally I practiced the bodhisattva way”) (Someone else, if it's alright, please provide the reference for this because I haven't been able to purchase the Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Chapters yet, but that's the book it's from), he didn't mention what that is. His being a Buddha since he did that practice eons ago is called True Effect. Because his being the Buddha is an effect all can see clearly whereas the cause he made, although stated, is not shared to enable one to understand it (his own disciples having made enough causes in their own previous lives that they could attain Buddhahood just through hearing this Life Span Chapter), it is considered the Buddhism of the Harvest. But since Nichiren cut to the chase and stated directly what the True Cause is, chanting and embracing Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, a simple practice anyone can do (the rest of what you need to know coming out of your own life from chanting this phrase), his Buddhism, which SGI members practice, is considered the Buddhism of True Cause. And one can easily observe SGI members outdoing everyone else in making causes for other people's happiness if one puts oneself in an environment where SGI members come together. And I started to talk about the effects. But the fact is that you can't just stand on the sidelines hoping the effects will become apparent. You have to get into the act yourself. You have to start making those causes to help other people yourself, even if it goes against your grain. You also have to start believing in yourself if such is not presently the case, to believe you have unlimited power for good, for the attainment of something powerful to contribute to humanity, that you are at least as important a player as anyone else, and that each person's contribution is of inestimable value. That's a lot to bite off, I know. Hence, why we chant. And faith in what will come has to be a part of it since you have to make the cause first, even though the effect is instantaneous, though many don't see it in their lives.

But why do I have to participate in this creation of world peace when I don't want to. Maybe I'm happy right now and don't need anything more than what I have in life. Or maybe I'm not really happy but I'm comfortable enough and as long as I keep going along with the program I've been following, I'm not going to get concerned with or involved in anything outside that. To be sure, each one of the preceding philosophies I mentioned, even paganism, has its value. How much more so, having shown clear proof of their benefit, are Judeo-Christianity, Christianity, self-empowered Christianity (i.e. Protestantism) and secular humanism absolutely wonderful systems that are enough for whoever wants them. And indeed, there are lots of people today practicing each one of them who seem to be doing very well. For, as I already showed, they are all great philosophies based on the best of human potential. Those of the earlier systems obviously won't be convinced by my argument for the greater efficaciousness of the latter systems. How much more, then, will no one be convinced of my endeavor to show the greater proof of Nichiren Buddhism? Indeed, as was the case in Nichiren's time, even the most convincing and logical sounding arguments are somehow not enough to move people to believe that what they've just heard is really going to benefit them. Every day, one hears accidents being reported on the radio and TV, as drivers, though they've heard over and over the benefit of driving safely and defensively, either become bold, become impatient, or panic thinking they might be late to work, accidents that could have been avoided had they followed what they had heard and that even made sense to them. The human animal is far from the logical reasoning being that we have always hoped we were. What will shake us into sense?

If nothing else, let's look at the ways in which the other 4 systems are coming up short. I mentioned vast inequality of wealth not being able to be taken care of. War rages on, destroying many, many lives and sapping economies. And although more people than ever before enjoy political freedom, how much freedom do they truly enjoy? How much of the decisions affecting their lives do they truly feel they have the power to make. And now, as a result of the brilliance of science, a pernicious thing never brought about by the earlier 3 systems, or even by paganism, is putting a date on our world's end, and not in a good way, as the polar caps are melting faster than ever, vast amounts of forests providing much needed oxygen are disappearing, many forms and species of life are disappearing in ways we have no idea what impact it will have on us, and natural disasters, such as hurricanes, as well as man-caused ones, such as the yearly group of wildfires in western United States, some in very affluent areas, brought about as a result of climate change, are getting greater in number as the years go on, and yet none of these 4 systems has shown itself effective in curtailing it. Even the 3rd system, Protestantism, may be considered a partial accomplice in that it helped spur on the industrial revolution that led to the present threat on this planet. And, with nuclear stockpiles of weapons becoming less secure as political events occur threatening the stability of many parts of the world, it is almost certain that as climate change, which already threatens many densely populated areas with being underwater in the near future, heats up around the globe and the economic consequences of such became really severe, that the chance of nuclear Armageddon occurring is surely a likely possibility. I'm sorry but it's time for a reality check.

It's not the chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo will somehow magically save the world. Oh no. A lot more work than that will be needed. But it's the Buddha wisdom, the God wisdom, if you prefer, that emanates from the life of the person that chants it, that will give rise to a solution. And if the consistently recurring examples of empowerment that arise in the lives of those who chant and the true and unsurpassed aura of peace that prevails in the environments where SGI members gather are any indication, I'd say, let's give this thing at least a try since it's clear we lack the willpower to put into practice Al Gore's very wise advice about what we should be doing at the present moment but aren't. And that's just one example. Another is ending war completely and for good. Where is that occurring? So which would you prefer? Nothing to lose by switching to this strange sounding philosophy? Or everything to lose by sticking with the one we're comfortable with simply because that's how we were born, that's the environment we group up in and that's what makes sense to us?

I've already pointed out that close to 99% of everything we believe, we believe by faith, not by proof. All of the discoveries of science were discovered by other people, not us. How do we know they are correct? By faith. They work for us and thus our faith in them is strengthened. Almost none of us, and I bet no one reading this, has conducted scientific experiments to test these beliefs for empirical proof, nor has worked out the axioms and theorems in his head to satisfy analytical or deductive proof. So we just have to decide if we're willing to leap across the chasm by way of faith or stay on this side and risk what may happen due to comfort or fear.

The original purpose of these essays was not to prove the supremacy of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo but to prove the connection between Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and the belief systems of the west, to show that what Nichiren talks about in his writings can make sense to people in the west if we know where to make the substitutions. It was more to show that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is not only the hidden truth of the Buddha's 80,000 teachings but also the hidden truth of the Bible, as well as all the myriad great works of the secular humanists. To show the connection more than the difference. To show how the Gohonzon is the embodiment of the original scroll of the Jewish Law, as, when written in Hebrew, the sacred name of God (since vowel sounds are arbitrary) are contained with the the phrease “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo”. To show that Christ and Buddha mean the same thing, only in two different language, and that pre-Nichiren Buddhism has no real claim to being closer to the truth than Christianity, both equally being preparatory, the Book of Revelations talking about the same thing in the “end time” as the Buddha did when he predicted the Latter age being one of “quarrels and disputes” (again, if someone could provide me the page reference for this, great), but that out of that something more wonderful than anything before would occur. To show that the more science uncovers, especially as it probes the metaphysical world, the more the truths people are realizing when they chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are being uncovered.

The 5-fold 10-fold comparison - Day 6

Day 6: It's amazing about life that when you get what you desire and it doesn't fulfill you the way you thought it would, your perspective on happiness truly changes and deepens. We saw how 4 different philosophical systems made people's lives progressively better than the previous one and arrived at the very one that seems as though, in providing for almost every need and want, should have closed the book on which philosophy is the best. Yet few today, despite all this, would agree, if any at all would, that we have arrived at the pinnacle of human existence. The suicides I mentioned are perhaps a reflection of this. It seems as if there is really no answer and that we've just been deluding ourselves all along. Maybe the ancient Greeks were right after all. No matter how fast or hard we run from pain and toward pleasure, it's all in vain. We're going to go through what we're going to go through and that's the end of it. I remember the words of my step-mother's mother, whose parents, very good people and observant Jews, died in the Holocaust, saying something that many people said after that horrendous and bloody war that caused so much horror in the lives of so many people. She said she couldn't believe in a God anymore if this is what He could allow. My wife's father felt the same way about the Buddhist temples in China after the horrors he witnessed at the hands of the Japanese in his village. They seemed to be useless money-making devices. And what does it say of science that we have been able to find a way now to eliminate all life yet we still are unable or unwilling to protect it?

Yet we've shown even in the examples I've quoted in this series, the amazing human ability to stretch ourselves beyond the limits we had previously kept ourselves entrapped within. Where does this ability come from? In 1253, a young man in Japan, who had taken to studying Buddhism at the seminary in order to understand why people were suffering and how this teaching could help end their suffering, declared that the truth hidden in only the Lotus Sutra of all the Buddha's teachings lay in chanting the phrase Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which literally means dedication to the title of the Lotus Sutra, the mystic law lotus flower sutra. He declared that this could dispel the sufferings of all people. In doing so, he took the name Nichiren, Sun Lotus. As he felt, the sun had at last begun to rise on the long night of human history. People, upon hearing this, thought he was absolutely crazy and they became enraged when he continually declared that all the major Buddhist schools of Japan at that time were practicing erroneous teachings not in accord with what the Buddha had taught and that therefore the people were undergoing much suffering. As he continued to teach this, however, it caught on with some people, and, although they underwent much hardship as a result, those who held onto this teaching became very happy, so much so that they were even willing to risk their life to stick to it, as did 3 farmers who were beheaded in Atsuhara in 1279 for refusing to give up this faith. Nichiren himself, though many attempted to kill him several times, and though he was exiled to a very cold island in the northern sea at the worst time of year where no one was known to return from alive, from 1271 to 1274, managed to live—and not only live but live happily—for many years afterward until he died of natural causes in 1283. The high government officials and wealthy priests who were behind his persecutions, on the other hand, all died miserable deaths at the end of their lives, the ruling family being beset by internal killing.

In 1928, a Japanese educator named Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, who had developed the theory of value creation (known in Japanese as soka), a secular humanist of the highest order, encountered Nichiren's teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The following is what he himself said of his experience with this practice: “When I eventually made the firm determination to adopt this faith, I was able to affirm, in the actualities of daily life, the truth of the words of Nichiren Daishonin: 'When the skies are clear, the ground is illuminated...' (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 376) And with a joy that is beyond the power of words to express, I completely renewed the basis of the life I had led for almost 60 years. The sense of unease, groping my way in the dark, was entirely dissipated; my lifelong tendency to withdraw into thought disappeared; my sense of purpose in life steadily expanded in scope and ambition, and I was freed from all fears; I became possessed with the irresistible and bold desire to effect the reform of national education with as much haste as was humanly possible” (The World Tribune, Nov. 18, 2010, p.2 or www.tmakiguchi.org). Today, the Soka school system exists in quite a few countries and many educators around the world are studying Makiguchi's theory and implementing them in their teaching methods, thus enabling children to grow not merely into effective specialists in one thing, cogs in the wheel of a vast economic system that seems to dictate more to people than it does provide them with a true sense of meaning, fulfillment and happiness in life, and, instead, to contribute to significant and meaningful improvements in the lot of humanity.

In 1978, I first heard the words Nam-myoho-renge-kyo when a fellow student at Bard College would bravely chant them in his dorm room every morning. I myself was inspired to take up this faith and practice in 1988 when I was told by an SGI member at an SGI discussion meeting that no prayer to the Gohonzon (the object Nichiren first inscribed containing personages from the Lotus Sutra representing the myriad phenomena of life with Nam-myoho-renge-kyo written down the center in bold lettering, which, when chanted with focus on it, enables one to tap into one's greatest inner potential for good, happiness and value creation in the world) goes unanswered and that there are no rules other than the one rule to embrace the Gohonzon and never to slander it (which I came to learn actually means never to slander life, one's own or that of others, by any form of disparagement). In the 22 years since then, I have encountered much hardship and struggle, but guess what—much growth. I have tapped into a self that I somehow always knew I had but never had an ounce of the courage needed to manifest it. My relationship with my parents, deeply strained for many years, has undergone light years of improvement. While some may attribute this to coincidence, I can unequivocally say that if this were a coincidence, then so is the fact that my stopping at a red light while there is traffic whizzing by and my survival to get through the intersection only after the light turns green would have to also be a coincidence.

But I think the greatest actual proof of how this practice, like the sun, outshines the earlier life philosophies mentioned, which are at best like bright stars and the moon, is my own observation of what I see when practitioners of this philosophy, the members of the SGI (Soka Gakkai International), today's organization which President Makiguchi founded with the publication of his book, The System of Value Creating Pedagogy in 1930, coming together. For it is then that I can appreciate the vast difference between the attitude, life condition and feeling of these people and places and those among people who live based on one or more of the earlier philosophies. For, whereas, mostly in the world today, there is a focus on who's to blame, in the SGI, the focus is on how can we all come together to solve the problem(s) and advance together. Whereas fear, factionalism and cliques prevail in society, in the SGI, people from backgrounds as diverse as you can imagine, come together and put aside their differences. All the assumptions and stereotypes I had grown up hearing about particular groups of people, are completely refuted not merely in words but in the behavior of people from those groups of people when they participate in SGI meetings. People like myself who never smile, actually leave meetings beaming.

What is irrefutable as proof and utterly striking is the degree to which SGI members, without pause, break or discouragement when initial efforts fail, continue to go out of their way to encourage other people, to comfort them, to work tirelessly for their happiness. For years, I couldn't believe myself and challenged this behavior in SGI members as fake. It just seemed to good to be true. But gradually, as chanting softened the hard inner wall I had put up to protect myself from what seemed like a very cold, or at best, untrustworthy world I lived in, I came to understand that these oases of peace and joy that beam at SGI meetings, community and culture centers are far from fake. After attending a 4-day conference at the SGI Florida Nature and Culture Center, I was impressed that world peace is indeed very possible if such a wonderful experience could be created. And it wasn't merely the place but what the coming together of all those people in that one place devoted to actively making peace happen that convinced me that all the things most people have written off as utterly impossible, a vain pipe dream, are very real so long as we are willing to make it happen. But the key ingredient is me. You. I'll go into this next time.

The 5-fold 10-fold comparison - Day 5

Day 5: On the Hanukkah menorah, there are two sets of 4 rows of candles flanking the shamash, the master candle that sits above these two rows, in the center. It does not sit on one end to symbolize a progression from lowest to highest, but sits, rather, in the center, symbolizing the uniting of two flanks, not simply sitting above the rest but acting only to guide them to shine their own lights. Hence, it is a symbol for democracy, in which individual rights and the greater, common purpose are harmonized. On day 5, Jews who celebrate Hanukkah, light the first candle on the other side of the shammas, having completed the first row and now moving on to the second. We, in this discussion, have proceeded quite differently, my point being to see the commonality of each of the branches on either side. In the traditional 6-branched candelabra which is one of the many symbols of Judaism, each of the 3 candle holders on both sides is connected with its corresponding one on the other side. The Hanukkah menorah, with 8 branches, is sometimes constructed this way. This is the image I had for my 10-fold comparison. So, in effect, we've lit all the other candles and now it's time to focus on the shamash itself, the candle which is used to light all the other candles.

Nichiren Daishonin speaks of the three kinds of proof necessary for any teaching or belief system to prove its validity. These are documentary proof, theoretical proof and actual proof. Documentary proof refers to a statement's validity in light of a commonly accepted document of authority. In Nichiren's case, he was referring to the Buddhist texts as a means of proving or disproving any Buddhist school's teaching and practice as being a teaching and practice that accords with the text of the sutras. Obviously, that does not hold in the west since almost no one regards Buddhist texts as the authoritative text upon which to base one's truth or truths. We would want to use a text that most people hold in authority, such as the Bible, which is one of the reasons I have gone through great pains to shed light on the relationship of Buddhism to Judeo-Christian teachings. Of course, in today's world, many people do not accept the Bible so it's function as a source of documentary proof is now very limited. In the United States, the text of the Constitution is used as documentary proof to judge any law passed by Congress or action taken by the executive branch. But obviously, for our purposes, we would need something else. Perhaps, if there is one thing secular humanism has eliminated is the validity in the modern world of any form of documentary proof. Nonetheless, it still has a limited value because limited numbers of people hold certain texts to be sacred or at least greatly revere the words in them. Great writers like Shakespeare are often held up in conversation to help prove or make a point. The second proof, theoretical proof, refers to whether something makes sense or not. Of course, “sense” is very relative. What makes sense to me may not make sense to you. Nonetheless, because we all have to survive together and moreover because we actually need each other to survive, we have evolved and must conform to certain commonly accepted perspectives on life and on the universe. Not that these can't be challenged. Obviously, postulating that the earth is round went against the grain of common sense at the time it was first postulated, but it, as we know, turned out to be of much greater use to all of us to change that accepted notion of common sense, and now, today, there is no one in the world who still believes what everyone believed in 1400, that the earth is flat and has edges. Hence, even theoretical proof cannot be completely relied on because it too has flaws and limitations.

The third criteria of proof, actual proof, is the only solid basis for establishing the validity of any teaching or thought system. And believe me, I have speculated, based on Plato's dualistic allegory of the cave, that everything we perceive is really untrue, especially in that it has formed the basis of most of western thought right on up to the present day. Yes, it is true that our senses can lie or deceive us. But what else have we? Otherwise, the universe would be entirely random and nothing would be reliable or authoritative. However, that cannot be but sheer nonsense since everyday we live based on beliefs either proven by what we have perceived with our senses or, more often than not, based on faith in what others have told us. We have to rely on both perception and faith in order to survive. And we do. Otherwise, we'd live totally outside pattern and totally random, with no assurance that we'd even make it through the next minute. Maybe if I drive through that red light with traffic whizzing across my path, I'll make it. How many of you really believe the law of perpendicular collision of two moving objects is not reliable? I didn't think so. Hence, we use the best of what we have and it works! By golly!

So now that we've agreed that actual proof is a good criterion for judging the validity or truth of something, let's now examine the four systems of thought we have talked about in the preceding chapters. We've already seen that while the human freedom of choice of Judeo-Christianity caused Adam and Eve a lot of suffering, it still protected them and gave them a much better outcome than the mythological determinism of ancient Greek thought gave Oedipus. We also saw that Christian mercy and latitude gave a starving man a happier ending to his Sabbath than strict, unwavering adherence to Jewish law did. And we saw that countries which translated the Bible into their vernacular and gave their people a direct relationship to God fared better than those which kept them ensconced in ritual and shrouded in mystery, relying on a clergy to be the intermediaries between them and God. We continued to examine history and saw that as people put man at the center of their activities that they enabled more people to become even happier and live better. Hence, we've already seen 4 examples of actual proof that certain systems worked better than others.

There are also great examples of human beings evolving toward better more compassionate ways of treating each other. God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac on the altar, to show his faith. Nothing unusual about that. All the people of that land—and many other lands in ancient times—sacrificed their first-born in order to appease gods so they would give them a good harvest. After all, if the gods got angry and many people starved, that would make sense as a worse outcome. So killing one's first-born would be a way of sparing many others. But, all of a sudden, at the last minute, God orders Abraham to stop it, just as he's about to let the knife come down. God doesn't need Abraham to show that to prove his faith. Thus, human sacrifice is outlawed. Also, the great contribution of Christianity toward humanism in the west has been greatly underestimated. Two years ago, when the Olympics were about to happen, PBS had a program on the ancient Greek Olympics. It was far from the friendly competition we see today. The games were cutthroat, bloody and often to the death. The Roman practice of going to the Coliseum and watching people bludgeon each other to death was quite common. These things today and even 1,000 years ago are and were considered quite barbaric. The Christian spirit of love towards one fellow human beings, partially from Judaism and partially, as modern theological historians have discovered, derived from eastern ideas, including Buddhism, which had become quite prevalent in the now connected worlds of ancient Greece and India (thanks to Alexander the Great) after the very humane Buddhist-propelled rule of King Ashoka in the first century C.E. The impact of this spirit, as Christianity, unlike anything else, became prevalent in Europe, changed western civilization forever into one in which even today it is hard to transgress basic rules of consideration and respect for others so as at least not to inflict injury on them unless provoked. The impact of free commercial exchange that came out of the Reformation led to the growth of wealth for many people, thus making Protestantism a clear winner in the battle to show actual proof in terms of its ability to benefit many people, and the effect of the scientific revolution based on secular humanism led to advances so unfathomable in terms of anything that came before that more people than ever have been and are able to be free of hunger and poverty, there being food banks and shelters at the very least to take care of the less fortunate, who are still, in many ways a lot more fortunate than people used to live, who had to get up at 3 or 4 in the morning, often in extreme cold, without any heat, just to labor hard in order to survive. The benefit today of vaster literacy than ever that leads to more mobility and ability to be part of the network of commerce, as well, is a clear indication that secular humanism—which parallels the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra that Buddhahood is an ever-present reality in the lives of all people—is the biggest winner in showing which way of thinking displays the most actual proof of benefit both of individuals as well as of enabling society to live better.

But! What about the fact that there is still, despite the philosophical basis for absolute equality, still great disparities among people? Why, if man—humans are the center, the starting point of all endeavor, are so many of us being left out, living in poverty, in fear, unsatisfied even despite having all that one could desire? Why, even though at the push of a button or two, we can communicate with someone around the world or be in Beijing within 24 hours, are people still killing both themselves and others? What is missing?

The 5-fold 10-fold comparison - Day 4

Day 4: In talking about the trends of human religious evolutionary consciousness, as I mentioned earlier, it is dangerous and oversimplifying to think of specific time periods in history as belonging completely to one mode of thinking versus another. As I already pointed out, some of the major religious evolutionary developments we are heirs to involve progressions of consciousness that we ourselves struggle with on a daily basis and that most of us have thought patterns belonging to each of the 5 different modes of thinking identified in Nichiren's and my comparisons. It is necessary to say this now because in examining the period of the Renaissance, which we started to get into last week up to the time we're currently living in, the ability to identify clear trends of a particular period is not that easy. Notable achievements of the Renaissance, from Galileo's and Copernicus' identification of astronomy in a way challenging orthodoxy to Shakespeare's deep understanding of human beings and his ability to get inside the heads of everyone from pagans to Jews to Christians to skeptics—in fact, to see the unique ways each person thought—in many ways define the next trend in human consciousness that will be identified today.

In terms of Nichiren's 4th Buddhist comparison, he identified it as the difference between the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra and the essential teaching. The Living Buddhism article from the Nov-Dec 2010 article on page 96 talks about two big differences, (1) the difference between merely possessing the Buddha nature and actually being able to manifest it, and (2) the difference between cause and effect time-gap and cause and effect simultaneity. Nichiren identifies the first half, the first 14 chapters of the Lotus Sutra, as the theoretical teaching in which the fact that all people have the Buddha nature, is elucidated, and the second 14 chapters as the essential teaching, in which, in the 16th, Life Span chapter, Shakyamuni reveals that whereas everyone understood him to have attained enlightenment when in a deep meditation at the age of 30, in actuality, he had really attained his enlightenment eons ago and the many lives he had previously lived as an unenlightened person, as he had told his disciples about throughout his teachings as parables, were actually lives he had lived while already a Buddha. The significance of this is that Buddhahood is not something separate from ordinary life. We don't become a Buddha through Buddhist practice, nor, as the theoretical teaching maintains, do we manifest the Buddhahood we already have as something apart from an unenlightened state, and then enter nirvana, never to return to this world again. Rather, the real implication and significance of this Life Span chapter is that we are always both a Buddha and an ordinary person. Remember how I told you in the last segment not to become attached to labels and titles? Well now more than ever is when you're going to need that understanding. All of a sudden, in saying this, everything was turned on its head. No wonder, as Nichiren lamented, no one in the Buddhist world got it right. No wonder they had lapsed into worshiping statues of images of Buddhas hoping to attain salvation that way.

I thought long and hard about how I would categorize and name the corresponding western development to the Essential Teaching of the Lotus Sutra's Life Span chapter, and clearly the term, “secular humanism” won the day in my mind. The word secular can be misleading, however, because this does not mean atheism necessarily, although I would probably place the more orthodox observants of Christianity among Protestant denominations, including today's popular Evangelical movement, more closely with the 3rd group which corresponds to the Theoretical Teaching of the Lotus Sutra, but there are definitely developments in the Christian world that challenge the dualism of orthodox Christian thinking enough to be considered in this 4th group, the secular humanists. These range from many of the leading thinkers of the Renaissance, such as Montaigne, to pull a name out of a hat, who were Christians, to England's Queen Elizabeth who, ahead of her time, and probably due to the intense religious persecution she experienced, almost being put to death more than once, established the first English kingdom where freedom of religion prevailed (though, unfortunately such freedom was short-lived), to Shakespeare, who I already mentioned, and of course many people today, both Christian and non-Christian, both religious and non-religious fall into this category. I think what clearly defines it, keeping in mind how the Life Span chapter turns everything on its head by getting rid of the distinction between Buddha and non-Buddha, establishing that Buddhist practice exists within regular society, not just in religious practices alone, is the coming together of God and man, or humans, as one and the same. Pantheism is a great example, the teaching that God is in everything. The spirit of America's founders clearly is in this group, and of course, the many who reject religion altogether, are clear examples of this. What unites them all is their belief that humans are central to everything. Of course, scientific endeavor is central, the seeking out of the truth through observation, reason and experiment. I really should have started talking about science in the last installment because embedded in the thinking of the Reformation was also the understanding that God's works and truth are communicated through everything, not just through religious texts. However, perhaps, this installment is the better time to speak about science because the big achievement of the Protestant movement was making God's word more accessible, i.e. making the Bible's very word more accessible. However, the beginnings of seeing the natural world as not divorced from the supernatural or metaphysical world was also a feature of the Protestants and it is not surprising that the economies of these countries in northern Europe took off while those of Catholic southern Europe did not to the same degree.

But what separates the aspect of the scientific movement that goes with part 4 from that which goes with part 3 at the time of the scientific revolution (in which scientific thinkers were not challenging the words of the Bible) is that these were and are willing to take up inquiry and discovery that may challenge the understanding of the Bible and to challenge it. Hence, while the Reformation afforded one the ability to understand and know God on a personal level through direct contact with His word, the scientific revolution enabled people to explore their world with no holds barred, even if it meant, or means, coming up with a completely different truth. Hence, this opened up a mode of understanding, that is only today becoming more accepted and common, that of pluralism and relativism. Contact with other cultures in the world in the last 200 years has speeded up the breakdown of absolute “truths” as we discover an amazing variety of them. In fact, my article, as well as the work of Joseph Campbell, has been to discover the common elements in seemingly uncommon and belief systems, even that seem to contradict each other but may not do so as much as we think.

To conclude this comparison, we have seen the increase of human freedom progressively and the current development, both in terms of Buddhism and in terms of western thinking, effectively closes both the temporal and the spatial gap between what is seen as the great and the ordinary, the highest and the lowest, as one is both instantly a Buddha and there is no God outside of man himself.

The 5-fold 10-fold comparison - Day 3

Day 3: One thing I really love about Buddhism, particularly Nichiren Buddhism—and of life itself—is the concept of the Middle Way, the recognition that one of the biggest stumbling blocks to our linguistic and mental capacities is our need to define and dualistically contrast things in order to understand them clearly with our mind. But as the Buddha warns Shariputra in the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha's ultimate teaching, which we will be discussing in this section, “Go chi-e mon. Nange nannyu. Issai shomon. Hyaku-shi-butsu. Sho-i sha ga.” (The Liturgy of Nichiren Buddhism, p. 1), which means, “The door to this wisdom [the Buddha's wisdom] is difficult to understand and difficult to enter. Not one of the voice-hearers or pratyekabuddhas is able to comprehend it.” (ibid. p. 20) The voice-hearers and pratyekabuddha were the Buddha's disciples from his earliest teaching period, the period we described in the last session as Hinayana, lesser vehicle teachings. Hence, because they were able to practice these very difficult teachings, they were considered the Buddha's foremost disciples. Shariputra, in particular, to whom this passage is addressed, was considered the smartest, the most intelligent of the Buddha's disciples. He was the equivalent of, in modern terms, a philosopher/theologian/rationalist of the highest degree, someone who could do the most complicated mental operations, concentrate well and commit all of the many teachings he learned to memory. Yet, in this passage, he is told he cannot begin to understand (i.e. enter the door) to the greatest wisdom in life. I believe this is so because even though one may master logic and mental calibration, life transcends and does not follow these mental calibrations and methods that we humans have constructed to understand the truth. For example, we say a thing is good or bad, large or small, round or square. Or we give names to everything. But none of these effectively secure for us the knowledge that makes us ultimately free or happy. And while there is a correct and incorrect method for evaluating and defining things to enable us to live together and with ourselves with clarity, when it comes especially to the deepest and most significant matters, such constructs completely fail us. Hence, we commit ourselves to war. And then we commit ourselves to peace. To love. And then to independence. We eventually learn—if we keep an open mind—that none of these things has an absolute value. For example, what if you are forced into a situation in which the absolutely only way to save one life is to destroy another? Although this justification has been used quite liberally in getting people to go to war, it sometimes holds. The point is that you are asking for big trouble if you cling hard to absolute definitions about life.

Thus, we saw in the last installment the idea of devoting oneself to the happiness of others. But unless clearly defined as needing to be coupled with devoting oneself to one's own happiness, all kinds of problems are sure to easily arise, the most obvious of them being the fact that we cannot take good care of others if we are a mess and falling apart and also that it is easy to be duped by unscrupulous people into supporting evil in the guise of helping someone. A pernicious and dangerous example is when an entire large religious institution takes advantage of such sincerity and good-heartedness. The Living Buddhism I have been quoting from defines the 3rd comparison as that between “True Mahayana and Provisional Mahayana” (LB Nov-Dec 2010, p. 96). True Mahayana is the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni's ultimate (although not final) sutra (the Nirvana, which confirms what was taught in the Lotus, being the last), in which he declares unequivocally with respect to every sutra preceding, “I have not yet revealed the truth” (L.S. Chap. 2). The major point and huge significance of the Lotus Sutra is its revelation, unique among all the sutras, that all people possess the Buddha nature, meaning they have the potential for ultimate enlightenment. “The pre-Lotus...teachings...insist that [certain] people, which include] evil people and women...are...incapable of becoming enlightened...On the other hand, the Lotus Sutra...elucidates how everyone...can equally attain Buddhahood.” It explains that while Shariputra, considered foremost in wisdom, was unable to attain Buddhahood through his wisdom, he could nonetheless attain Buddhahood through faith in the sutra, just as anyone else could. Hence, the Lotus is a great equalizer, or, better put, revealer of the inherent equality which is the true nature of all human beings, because all it requires is faith in it, rather than austere and very difficult practices, including the provisional Mahayana perogative to love all people unconditionally. Or better put, faith in the sutra itself, will arouse the Buddha wisdom and compassion that makes us naturally love others, without trying to force it. The ability of all people, equally, to attain this wisdom is what safeguards our being taken advantage of by people claiming to possess religious authority simply because they are in a high position within the religion one believes in.

What is the watershed event/phenomenon in western culture that parallels this opening of the highest spiritual wisdom to all? In 1517, a very brave Christian priest named Martin Luther publicly stated that no priest nor the Pope has any greater authority in Christian faith or understanding than anyone with sincere faith. Around this same time, the printing press had been invented and soon the actual text of the Bible would be available to more people—in their own language, instead of Latin—than ever before. In my last installment, I had spoken about the doing away with ritual and precepts or commandments which were central to Judaism and Hinayana Buddhism when Christianity and Mahayana Buddhism offered a way that was more accessible to so many more people. What happened to these movements that they somehow became ensconced with the very stumbling blocks and shackles they themselves had once overthrown by the Latter Day, during which time Nichiren and Martin Luther made their appearances? Nichiren, in discussing the limitations of the Buddhist temples of his day, clearly and easily identifies the limitations of the pre-Lotus Sutra Mahayana teachings upon which they are based, which do not teach that all people are capable of enlightenment, thus fostering a climate of inequality. In the case of the Christian Church that existed in the Middle Ages and at the time of Luther, I have always been suspicious of the movement of Christianity from the time the Romans took it over from the common people. I have been suspicious of the Roman Church, or, as it is better known, the Roman Catholic Church, as really the last ditch attempt of the Roman emperors to seize control of what, on its own merit, had become the most popular way of life in the empire, and thereby maintain control over the people. The huge weight given to papal authority clearly attests to my argument that the Roman Church, rather than a religious institution, is more of a political one. However, in that the last two popes, beginning with Pope John Paul II, have been so sincere in their efforts to respond to the challenges of the modern world, especially in meeting equally with Jews and Moslems with open arms and an intent to come together, as well as John Paul's brave opposition to the Iraq war, I want to lend my strong support for this expression of a truly Christian spirit.

Nonetheless, historically, an exciting movement was on foot in Europe during this period during the middle of the second millennium, not only in terms of Luther, but also in terms of many other luminaries of the period known as the Renaissance, a period in which not only religious authority buyt political authority underwent much upheaval as things became more democratic. The invention of the printing press not only opened up the words of the Bible to large number of people but also the words of many other people, thus bringing learning to more people than ever. And, although this upheaval involved huge amounts of violence, it is still hugely exciting to think that one's relation to wisdom, to truth, to God, was no longer to be dictated either by a rule book that one had to blindly obey nor by a religious authority who could at will decide for you what God's word was, but only through faith alone. This empowerment of people is something scholars and historians of many belief systems celebrate as they examine this period historically known as the period of the Reformation as well as the Renaissance.

The 5-fold 10-fold comparison - Day 2

Day 2: Before making the next comparison, I wish to make it clear that in talking about events and trends in human history and imagination from centuries ago that the progression in human spiritual evolution is not as simple as a division in historic periods, as modern history and these religions themselves, do. And while it is helpful (otherwise I wouldn't do it) to pinpoint changes in human consciousness collectively at certain time periods, I think it would do us a lot better to identify these different patterns being elucidated by each comparison in ourselves with the understanding that each progression we identify is still an aspiration on some level for ourselves to strive for. It would not be incorrect at all to say that luminaries such as Siddhartha, Moses and Jesus were not simply ahead of their time—they are still way ahead, in many ways, of our time. And, if you look closely at yourself and those around you, how many times have you encountered the thought pattern, “It's all because of [so-and-so]...”, or “Because I did [such-and-such] at the age of 18, 20 years ago, I'm screwed for life...” The concept that causes we didn't make but others made or causes we made in the past have more power than our present causes is a very powerful human trait and not so easily dismissed as a phenomenon of what we consider a “less enlightened time period”. The responsibility for Adam and Eve's action rests squarely with them in the Bible's presentation of it, not with the snake, who is really Satan (although Satan is obviously blamed for making a bad cause, and, as well, the snake is just a snake in the actual text of the Bible; that it was Satan doesn't get introduced until many interpretations later).

But enough of that. I'd like to set up the next comparison with a parallel between the Biblical story we are referencing and the story of Prince Siddhartha leaving the palace against his father's wishes. Both involve disobedience and both involve an encounter with suffering. For those who don't know it, Prince Siddhartha, who is also known to us as Shakyamuni Buddha, grew up living the privileged life of a prince, obviously wanting for nothing. One day, as a young man, he happens to be at one of the gates, at which he encounters a beggar. He goes to the other 3 of the 4 gates, at which he encounters an old person at one, a sick person at the third, and a corpse at the 4th. Fascinated by this glimpse into 4 lives totally alien to his, his curiosity propels him to venture outside the gates against his father's wishes, upon which begins his quest that leads to his enlightenment. Is this not the same thing as wanting knowledge of good and evil and is not disobedience the action that is taken? Obviously, it's cast in a very different light. I paralleled it to show the biblical story in a different light, as humankind's quest—thirst—for knowledge...for wisdom. Ignorance is not bliss. We only see it as bliss when knowledge enlightens us to some of the hard facts of reality.

Siddhartha's quest eventually leads him to the doctrine of the 4 sufferings, upon which he clarifies the 4 noble truths. Without going into detail, his discovery is that earthly desires, which are human tendencies, such as greed, anger and foolishness, are at the root of all suffering and that if only they can be eradicated, humans can experience bliss. Thus began Shakymuni's (I'm going to use this name now, since we are identifying him as the Buddha sharing his enlightenment, as opposed to the prince seeking it) teaching of practices to eradicate desires.

However, trying to eradicate desire requires pretty much an eradication of one's entire being since desire is interwoven so intricately in all lives. It became a practice that was observed by a very limited number of people because, as Shakyamuni himself said, the capacity to maintain such a practice is just too difficult for most. To enable the rest of his followers to attain enlightenment, therefore, Shakyamuni switched to a different kind of teaching, one which “instead of urging the elimination of earthly desires, state[s] that by opening up and manifesting the wisdom of enlightenmnet in our lives...we can properly control those desires and construct a pure, strong, self-motivated life”. (Living Buddhism, Nov-Dec 2010, p 95). These two different teachings, which came to be identified in later ages as Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle because of the tiny amount of people who can practice them) and Mahayana (Greater Vehicle), is what we are comparing today in our second comparison.

There is a second part of the Mahayana that is noteworthy. Hinayana practitioners were taught to seek their own enlightenment. But in Mahayana, the desire to enable others to attain enlightenment is of paramount importance. One of the key elements that resounds through these teachings is that the happiness of others is our own happiness. As SGI President Ikeda states, “Nichiren Daishonin writes, 'If you light a lantern for another, it will also brighten your own way' (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1598). Please be confident that the higher your flame of altruistic action burns, the more its light will suffuse your life with happiness. Those who possess an altruistic spirit are the happiest people of all.” This change was obviously and still is obviously a radical departure from the vantage point of many people.

Which brings us back to the question of why the Jews weren't as successful against the Romans in defending their land and their temple in 70 C.E. as they had beeen against the Syrians in 165 B.C.E. Obviously, Flavius Josephus' account of this history is much more authoritative than I can hope to be, but as we talk about lighting candles in this season of the burning of many lights, not just one, the contribution of each person can help shed greater light than just the one who is held in authority. Which is a good way to bring me to a book that may help shed light on this lack of success in defending their land, a book in fact which is one of the most if not the most widely read books ever—The New Testament. Particularly the 4 Gospels. For it is in this, or these, writings that we can get a glimpse into the society and religiosity of that time period. We see those in charge of the Jewish religion at the time concerned more with ritual than meeting the problems and difficulties of the people head on. A notable example of this that comes to mind is the person starving, for whom the cultivation of wheat for bread on the Sabbath would abate his hunger and maybe even save his life. Jewish Law, if followed literally, prohibits this. Jesus, on the other hand, demands that saving people or enabling them to become happy is more important. Hence, we see the same disparity here that exists between the Hinayana Buddhist teachings and the Mahayana ones. One is concerned with ritual and the following of rules to the letter while the other is concerned with helping people. I apologize to my Jewish friends for this stern critique. If it makes you feel any better, most Christian authorities today are just as guilty of departing from their own original teacher, Jesus, as were the Pharisees at the Temple. But we will get to that in the subsequent comparisons. The point is that acting for the sake not just of oneself but for others as well is the surest path to happiness and a much more evolved and advanced way of living. I can already see many, myself included to a large degree, in our current time period, already dropping out of the running. For, as hard as individual freedom is, to come back to the question I posed at the end of yesterday's session, meaningful freedom, i.e. one in which the discourse and sharing among people is central to living, is even harder. I think it is obvious to see that today looking at the world, and even penetratingly at ourselves.

Another point I wish to bring up as we are moving progressively through humankind's past, present and future evolution in spirituality, thinking and living, is—despite their limitations—the 3 time periods identified in both Christianity and Buddhism as the Former, Middle and Latter Days. In Buddhism, the Former Day is a time when Shakymuni's teachings are very strong and able to help people and Hinayana is the main practice, the Middle, a time when Hinayana can save no one because people's capacities have become less and Mahayana is required, and the Latter a time when none of Shakymuni's teachings have any power because people are completely lacking in capacity (in his own words, by the way, not someone from a later time period) but the “True Law” which Nichiren taught as Nam-myoho-renge-kyo can save anyone. In Christianity, the Former period is the time of the Old Testament, the Middle, the time when Jesus' salvation held out promise to save all people, and the Latter (upon which the Mormons have even named their church) the “end time” when everything is going to get stirred up and Jesus will return to lead people to salvation. It is remarkable how similar both religions' views, written up in earlier time periods when there was little to no contact between them, and how true they've played out. Well, we'll get to the “end time” or the actual nature of the Latter Day and Nam-myoho-renge-kyo later on in this lecture. For now, I would like to end noting that the practices of Christianity and Mahayana Buddhism, both focusing on becoming better people, self-control without the extreme of precepts or commandments as in their respective earlier teachings, and in doing good for others, are still quite widespread in the world.

The 5-fold 10-fold comparison - Day 1

Day 1, The Real Day 1: I greatly apologize for sending and posting my article before I found out that the 8 day festival of Hanukkah actually starts tonight, not last night. But, as thoughts have gone through my mind regarding what I am trying to do and what I am trying to shed light on, perhaps having an extra 3 days to wrap up might not be such a bad thing after all, for those actually interested in moving civilization forward, a premise upon which I base my thoughts and beliefs and something which is common to Nichiren Buddhism, western religion and secularism, particularly from the 1800s through 1970s, when elements of despair and cynicism greatly challenged the notion of progress which people such as John F. Kennedy championed.

And what better way to intro into the first comparison, in which I will present a way of thought and living that was so very different from the progressive spirit of continual advancement that characterizes the three above noted traditions. Nichiren's first comparison is between Buddhism and non-Buddhist teachings (of which, of course, we are talking about the non-Buddhist teachings he was familiar with, not the ones we are). It is noted as the “internal way” vs. the “external way” (Living Buddhism, Nov-Dec 2010, p. 94). “Buddhism teaches that the principal cause determining our happiness or unhappiness lies within our own lives, that we are the protagonists with the power to decide our own destiny.” (ibid.) “By contrast, a closer look at the non-Buddhist religions and philosophies revelas...that some do not recognize the principle of causality... [while others] expound doctrines of determinism or fatalism...” (ibid.) In order to avoid getting a challenge, since some of the readers of my article may have different perceptions of the various eastern philosophies and religions than do I or did Nichiren, I will avoid specifically naming all those he mentions except to briefly illustrate my point by comparing the Hindu concept of karma and the Buddhist one. Whereas Hinduism recognizes the concept of karma, and even did before Buddhism existed, as most of you probably can surmise from the caste system, the Hindu concept of karma views actions (which is what the Sanskrit word karma means) as being increasingly more powerful depending on whether they were made earlier rather than later. Hence, over the transmigration of countless numbers of lives, so much karma was created that our ability to change it in the present one is all but impossible, the actions taken over these uncountable number of lifetimes being too many for anyone to even think of overcoming through all one's actions in the present, no matter how “perfect” they are. Hence, if you are born an untouchable, an untouchable you will stay for countless lifetimes in the future and there's nothing you can do about it. In Buddhism, on the other hand, actions at any time carry equal weight and the effects of causes made are exhaustible, hence allowing present good causes to effect future good effects in like measure. This is a very scientific definition of freedom, that our present actions are totally up to us and therefore we are not bound by anything in our past or external to us in our present. Of course this also carries with it the weight of not being able to blame our past or anyone else for our circumstances.

Now what comparison in our western heritage corresponds to this? I can clearly state that the comparison we are looking for is that between Judeo-Christian monotheism and the religions which preceded it. I can already hear some people buzzing how the existence of an “external” God enables us any greater freedom than the existence of many “external” gods and goddesses? And, to a large degree, the fact that the Canaanites killed their first-born sons to supplicate these gods and goddesses so that they would favor them indicates a clear belief that their actions must have had at least a chance of having some impact on the deities. But the thing you must remember is that in order to elucidate the progression of our civilization from a child-slaughtering one into one in which we currently believe only terrorist-slaughtering, self-declared enemy slaughtering and serial killer slaughtering is justified (and one which many of us hope to progress further to one in which no killing whatsoever is justified), we need to understand that everything moves in gradations and shading and not in absolutes, even if God told Abraham to kill his first-born and then told him not to. I'd like to illustrate why this comparison nonetheless applies by a look at the Book of Genesis, looking at two of its features. In the first feature, the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we will look at how it compares with the story of Oedipus Rex. Let's take the latter story first, as presented in the play of Sophocles. In it, an oracle comes to Oedipus' parents, telling them that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother. In an effort to avoid this, his father travels to another country and gives the baby away to a poor family so that it will be impossible for him to get anywhere near his parents and do those horrible things that the oracle predicted lay in store for him and them. As this ancient myth, upon which Sophocles' play is based, recounts, however, somehow Oedipus later on in life ends up doing those very things that was predicted without him or his parents being aware that it is him. Before I contrast this with Adam and Eve's disobedience in the Garden of Eden, I must forewarn you that, while it might seem easy to dismiss this story as an example of the misguided thinking of extreme fatalism, which it indeed is, there is nonetheless wisdom contained within in. How many times do we end up against the very thing we put all our effort into avoiding? While I definitely agree that there is a much greater limitation in viewing life, the world and the cosmos as seeming to have a mind or logic totally independent of what we consider to be reason or good, than there is in believing we have power to alter destiny in favor of what we consider to be our unique ability to create value, good and happiness, I think it would be extremely unwise not to heed the wisdom contained in this ancient Greek perception of life by thinking “I can do anything” and that the trials and pitfalls that seem to accompany most endeavor are simply the result of a way of thinking. One need only observe the countless examples of people suffering with chronic issues who sincerely and even desperately try to reform only to fall flat on their face in the pitfall of their past behavior or circumstances once again to understand and respect the extreme difficulty that accompanies the endeavor to be free and in control of one's destiny.

Now the story of Adam and Eve is also a story that does not have a happy ending (although both Bibles, Jewish and Christian, as well as Milton's Paradise Regained all present a future that indeed does end very happily). But I think what makes this story not as gut-wrenching as that of Oedipus is only secondarily the fact that it does not contain an actual murder and maternal incest. For the subsequent story of Cain and Abel does contain a murder and you will agree that this story does not seem half as horrendous as that of Oedipus. The answer is simply thus: Adam and Eve choose to take the action that has dire consequences, not to avoid it. The story of Oedipus definitely conveys to us the sense that life is completely out of control and we are at the mercy of a relationship an all powerful universe has with us, who are totally lacking in power, like when a child, unaware of how to drive is at the wheel and we are in the passenger seat. The story of Adam and Eve on the other hand, as painful as the consequences are of their action, still yet contains the comfort that they understand that their suffering wasn't inevitable but something they freely brought about through an action they took. This brings us to the second significant point in the Book of Genesis, the fact that God created Man, and Woman, in His Own Image. In the original Hebrew text is the word, or phrase, “B'Atzmo”, which means ones own or same self. The reason this is important is because we're not just talking about a physical or visual resemblance but rather the possession of all the same attributes. In Buddhism there is the expression that one who practices as the Buddha teaches will attain all 32 attributes of the Buddha. This symbolizes the same totality that is envisioned uniquely in humans in the Book of Genesis. And, in terms of the argument I am making today, it is the attribute of freedom and power that God, in making Adam and Eve just as He Is, that is one of the defining qualities here attributed to humans, one, by contrast, lacking in the ancient Greek view of humans. God commands Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the tree containing the knowledge of good and evil but God deliberately chooses not to prevent them from doing so, should they so choose. Because their freedom is too important to sacrifice in order to save them from the suffering that will follow. In this, I can see the same entreaties of a parent to his or her child not to engage in actions that they know will cause them suffering in the future, fully knowing that they may engage in them anyway and that nothing they, as parents, say or do, can prevent them from doing so and experiencing the consequent suffering. For at least from suffering can come a lesson and wisdom, whereas to deprive one of freedom is to stunt one's growth, one's full development as a human being. It is for this reason I believe that the ancient religions eventually died out while the Judeo-Christian tradition survived and still survives very strongly even today. I believe it is has nurtured the more fully human side of us than those previous, more fatalistic world views. Perhaps it may partly explain the victory of the Jews over the much more powerful Syrians in the battle for control of the Jerusalem temple that underlies the celebration of Hanukkah. Of course, a little over 200 years later, the Jews fell at the hands of the Romans, who razed all but one piece of the western wall of the temple, a site at which Jews today pray fervently. I believe part of the explanation of why people sometimes win and sometime lose, even if they believe in their own autonomy and freedom, can be explained by the next comparison we discuss tomorrow, and I will set it up for you by leaving you with the question, even with our freedom, what makes it truly meaningful? Is being free alone enough?

Take care and hope you enjoyed tonight's discussion.
Marc

The 5-fold 10-fold comparison - An introduction, by way of the Hanukkah Menorah, to my contention that both eastern and western religions all lead to

Day 1: The magazine Living Buddhism in its November-December 2010 has an article on The Fivefold Comparison (p94). As now is the 8-day festival of Hanukkah that Jews celebrate around the world, and because the menorah, the candelabra that is lighted each of the 8 days, is a perfect symbol for the unity of eastern and western religious traditions in progression toward Nichiren Buddhism, I would like to introduce my contention that Judaism and Christianity (and probably Islam, though, being ignorant of it, I cannot talk authoritatively about it) are not really non-Buddhist but rather are provisional teachings, of equal stature in terms of the True Buddhism of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as are the 79,999 teachings that Shakyamuni taught prior to the Lotus Sutra. In doing so, I hope to shed light in what is significant in our own heritage as Westerners that is of a progressive nature as well as clarify how much the truth of Buddhism that is revealed by the practitioner chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is already contained within the earlier teachings of our own heritage and is not, in fact, something foreign to it.

Now, although there are 10 comparisons I am presenting, just as there are 10 adjacent relationships between any 2 adjacent candles on the 9-candle menorah, I intend to present them in the subsequent 8 days because in actuality, just as each of the candles of the menorah, when viewed carefully, is on the same branch or stem as that equally farthest from the shamash, which is the central candle that is used every day to light each of the other 8, so, too, is each comparison mentioned in the Buddhist concept of the 5 Comparisons equivalent to one of the 5 western comparisons I am matching up with it. That will enable me to present each comparison on 5 of the 8 days, leaving 3 days left to introduce, which I am doing today, sum up and to wrap up.

As a final note for today's lecture, since I am bringing in the Festival of Hanukkah, which I know most of you are unfamiliar with, I would like to very briefly summarize its significance. In approximately 165 B.C.E., the Jews, in their long history of being persecuted by powerful people, were then being persecuted by the kingdom of Syrian under a king named Antiochus, who, trying to have the Hellenic culture of the ancient Greeks prevail in his kingdom, banned this very culturally different religion known as Judaism. The Jewish temple at the time was seized and converted into a Greek shrine dedicated to the god Zeus. The Jews, led by a leader named Judah Maccabee, revolted and eventually won back control of their temple. In rededicating their temple to their own religion, they needed to light a special lamp. But the oil they had would only last one day. Miraculously, however, this oil managed to last 8 days, giving them enough time to maintain the lights of the temple and to secure enough additional oil for the future. Thus, since that time, this miracle has been celebrated as the festival of Hanukkah, which literally means dedication. In fact, the holiday has been so inspiring to Jews throughout history as an example of faith, courage and dedication to an ideal that even my atheist Jewish parents lit a menorah every year for 8 days in our house while we sang songs, had special Hannukah chocolates and received money. After practicing Nichiren Buddhism, two other things related to Buddhism struck me about this holiday. There is a writing of Nichiren Daishonin called General Stone Tiger, in which Nichiren, using the example of a general who was so determined to avenge the killing of his mother by a tiger shot an arrow into a boulder he believed to be the tiger that he was able to penetrate and split it, illustrates the power of strong faith in the Gohonzon. I feel that the story of Hanukkah, in which a lamp that was by reasonable standards supposed to burn only for a day last for 8 instead, illustrates equally the power of the human spirit to move things previously thought unmovable. Nichiren says that if even these occurrences prove the power of faith in a non-Buddhist setting, how much more so then should our own practice of faith prove its tremendous power if only we practice with this same spirit of determination and resoluteness. The second thing that touches me is the name given to the holiday, which commemorates the re-dedication of the temple, symbolizing the ability to restore that which was damaged and start anew, which means “dedication”. The reason I think it is deep and significant is that Nam (Namu) of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo means exactly that—to dedicate one's entire life to something. Perhaps there is no way other than to begin this first courageous attempt on my part to light the candle shedding light on the deep parallels between western religion and Nichiren's Buddhism than in illustrating this fundamental Buddhist spirit which is so illustrative of this Jewish holiday.

I hope you will enjoy my insights and learn from them. If you respond, I probably will not be able to respond to you because my time is very limited. So don't be upset. I respond to many people who mass email me and never hear back from them. If you do not wish to receive this, please be comforted that there are only 7 more of these coming and all you have to do is simply click on the delete button. Once again, I apologize in advance for any disturbance and hope you understand it is not intentional.

Sincerely,
Marc Ginsburg

Why? Because...

To smell a beautiful fragrance of flower, you have to go right up to it and put your nose against it. But shit can be smelled 100 miles away. The evil and the stupid will always drown out the wise and the good and influence a lot more people. Unless the wise and the good are smart and really understand that fact at every moment. We scream in whispers of encouragement while they pound back with bombs and huge amplifiers. But they themselves have neither fists nor voices worth anything. It's all a sham.

Words of wisdom are never abstract

“There is no rule of thumb for seizing opportunities, hitting off the right moment or adapting oneself to circumstances; it is all a matter of native wit.” (Liezi (Lieh Tzu), The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, Nichiren Daishonin, as told by Nikko Shonin, p10) “The shrewd are good at weighing the future. The wise are good are preparing for the future.” (Huai-nan Tzu)) (World Tribune, 9/3/10, p4) It's only when there's something impossible that you want of much that you MUST have it and are racking your brains to make it reality that the meaning of these passages will become clear to you.

The key is to fight harder when it seems like it's all over

I chant in tears as dry as a New Mexico Arizona riverbed. I chant in pain. I chant in nausea. I chant as I almost pass out and drop to the floor. But I will never give up. I will never give in. I will not allow the devil the defeat of me that he savors. I will win.

Written Wed 8/4/10

Postscript Sat 8/7/10: I had a great Saturday today. I feel really good.

It's The Little Things that Push Our Buttons

1.Now that I've been able to to move forward with the realization that the supreme evil—my slander of the Law—is one (while being two) with my enlightened self—one of the vicious ordinary hells—that of anger and rage erupting from relationship stupidity—is erupting worse than Hawaiian volcanic lava—and I'm chanting to find it's enlightenment but as yet all I'm seeing is Chinese letters going down a scroll and the voice of an enraged man chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Sometimes it's the lesser evils that attack us the hardest.
___________________________
Postscript: A few daimoku later: As usual, i realized that we were arguing over bullshit, not anything real, you know, nickel and dime, dollars and cents bullshit, not affairs of the heart, but the kind of bullshit our present system puts 99% of us through, using a multibillion dollar marketing campaign to do so, while the other 1% stupidly wastes their time reading the Dow and going to pieces over its rises and falls daily. So I gave her a hug and all is better. This is indeed, a much lesser evil than supreme slander. But it's hard to tell a homeless or unemployed person that when they're in the throes of it. Chant for Victor, my neighbor with the sheet metal business who says he has not time for anything other than walking the dogs I see him with every morning. I'm hoping to awaken in him the confidence that he can go to an SGI picnic on a Saturday afternoon and his business will still be okay, maybe even better.

When it comes to life, there are no baby steps

Life gives you absolutely no training unless you are one of the billions of mindless clones. If you are a free individual, your only hope is a parent or teacher who understands life who can train you with baby steps. Because life, sure as hell (which is its largest aspect of the 10 in its pyramid structure quantification of hell to Buddhahood in the time of the Latter Day of the Law until kosen-rufu is achieved) ain't gonna give you anything less than full-speed giant steps. And you've got to learn fast. In most cases, you're probably best off at the mercy of life. Because most parents and teachers are dead wrong, having been trained themselves by people who are dead wrong.

America's Great Yet Unbelieved Mission

"From the Writings of Nichiren DaishoninFriday, August 6, 2010: Though numerous, the Japanese will find it difficult to accomplish anything, because they are divided in spirit. In contrast, although Nichiren and his followers are few, because they are different in body, but united in mind, they will definitely accomplish their great mission of widely propagating the Lotus Sutra. The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 618Many in Body, One in Mind Written to the lay priest Takahashi on August 6, year unknown"

This passage holds the key to why the United States of America is the place for kosen-rufu, the widespread accomplishment of a change in the human mind from a warlike, limited and depressed/cynical view and lifestyle to a peace-rich, limitless and positive/challenging view and lifestyle--because whereas the Japanese are same in body but not always the same in mind, Americans are very different in body, coming from all over the world seeking, in one mind, the greatness of a better life and a better and more inclusive and embracing dynamic. This one, united mind, namely that "all men [and women] are created equal", ever striving "to form a more perfect union", not a perfect union that just stays as it is but one ever improving, "more perfect" than the previous perfection--that is the "one mind" of which the Daishonin speaks. Let us never let this torch go out, which is the key to our accomplishing and leading the way for kosen-rufu in America and throughout the world. America today is like China at the beginning of the Middle Day, a totally Confucian country, with some touches of Taoism, at the time that Buddhists seeking to spread the great teachings of their mentor ventured across the treacherous Himalayas armed with their idealism. But the Chinese viewed Buddhism as a foreign religion, alien to their country and found no use for it. Obviously, history shed a very different light on it than was apparent at the time. America's mission is far greater than any of the Buddhist countries of the past, India, China, Japan or the other Asian countries--America's mission is to completely change the thinking and living of the human race as it's never been changed before. What has occurred in our initial 235 years is merely prep work, laying the foundation. The true great drama and glory will be seen when all the citizens of the United States of the World are living truly free because they have all unearthed from their life the endless fruits of supreme wisdom.

Even Slander of the Law Contains Enlightenment

1.Written 8/5/10, middle of the night, early morning, while doing ox-tiger gongyo: This is very important, a key change in my being: While I chant, I feel my slander of the Law doing intense battle with my enlightened self, which, me so immersed in the slander, feels like it(my enlightened self i)'s someone else outside myself. And at that moment, I feel the enlightened aspect of even my intense slander, and then I am calmed somewhat—slightly. (This was added 8/5 later that day in the afternoon:) And that cause plus the realization has morphed into a great change and I feel good at work and totally good about everything I am doing. It's not only ordinary hell that contains Buddhahood. It is even the worst hell—slander of the Law itself—that contains the best Buddhahood—the Buddhahood of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. But you'll never understand this unless you chant through your slander without trying to suppress it.

You asked me why I hate Obama?

You asked me why I hate Obama? I was in the middle of a depression as thick as miasma when I read your comment and so could not respond then. But I went to a Soka World Peace Gongyo meeting since then which was amazing in the report from Rock the Era and the encouragement and determinations of the youth, including the over 36ers, so I can respond now. I don't hate Obama. Did Josei Toda hate his delinquent disciples who persistently didn't get the vision of real change in the human condition that Toda understood? Of course not. He scolded them because he didn't want their lives to be in vain, wasting all their efforts on a lesser vision of reality and what really can be possible for humanity. They compromised with the harsh aspect of reality because they didn't understand their own power. I hope you understand through this why I admonished our President and public servant, Barack Obama, in my signature to his recent online birthday card, in the hope that he will throw off the transient and provisional aspect of his understanding of reality and stand up to the demons permeating and controlling Washington so that he can truly serve the people of America and the world with the virtue of sovereign, which is nothing other than to protect the people from harm by standing up to evil. But I fear that it is us, the Soka Gakkai members alone, who can truly be trusted to fulfill and embody this virtue of sovereign. Only when a lion roars can the bowels of jackals be counted on to rot so that they don't harm other living beings.*
*The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin - Vol. 1 - Page 494 LETTER TO THE BROTHERS http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=494&m=1&q=bowels%20rot

Take Responsibility, Don't Blame What's Outside You!

Our society is not becoming undone by the abusers, the thieves and the exploiters. We are destroying ourselves by being so willing to be enslaved, victimized and inferior to what we perceive as "the "norm" or "the successful people". Stop that! "I'm diabetic and I'm going to test my blood sugars in front of you if necessary 100 times a day. Get used to it and get over it!" It's time for us who think we have less rights or freedom than others because we don't "fit in" to throw off the slavemasters inside our heads.

Why nothing short of an immediate switch to clean energy will lead to a definite end to our planet in the next few years

The following is my letter to the New York Times:
I am sorry to alarm you and your readers but a truthful warning about imminent danger is never convenient, to borrow Al Gore's insightful word (or word clause). I have been a proponent of the criminalization of oil since before the BP spill. Now that the real dangers of our continued use of oil are plain for all to see, it would make sense that such a stance be supported by each and every one of the 6 billion people that inhabit this threatened planet, threatened by our continued use of energy whose source is oil. Now I am not speaking out against nuclear or even coal, although I would hope people use common sense and move instead directly to wind, solar and water first before toying with those dangerous forms of energy acquisition. However, because oil has proven itself for the last 40 years to be a huge source of danger to our population, which means you who is reading this, the time for mild measures such as simply saying eliminate oil consumption is over and the time to impose stiff criminal penalties on those who use it--it doing far more damage to far more people than the drugs whose sellers are thrown into long prison sentences each year. If we look at the cause of each of our 3 biggest crises in the last 10 years, every one of them could have been prevented had we taken the clean energy experts at their word 40 years ago and switched immediately when the Saudis used it as political bait. 1) September 11, 2001: It is clear that our dependence on middle eastern oil is the number one cause of terrorism, plain and simple. Islamism is the number two cause. Because our dependence on oil came first and Islamism came as a result. The Taliban, with whom we are now at war, fought the Soviets (as our allies). They, nor any hard-line opponent of ours in the Middle East is interested in colonizing the United States and taking over our people. They simply want us out of there. Plain and simple. The sooner we abandon the greedy hold of our oil company executives on those coveted pipelines that run through Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, the sooner the need for our brave and valiant soldiers to have to fight and die will be over. Sure we've already created enough animosity to be at risk of some terrorists. But it is simple sense that the moment we abandon their lands, these few terrorists will be unable to galvanize large numbers of their youth to have any desire to go over an ocean to fight us. The sooner we abandon oil, the sooner our borders will be truly safe. 2) Katrina: Katrina is just the tip of the iceberg of the insidious effects of fossil-fuel-burning-produced climate change. In this, coal and natural gas are equally at fault, which is why it makes more sense to, instead of supporting the Wall Street bankers who run those companies, switch to clean energy now. And, as I said, it's just the tip of a huge iceberg, the worst part of which we haven't begun to see yet. My good friend, Mr. Al Gore, can provide you with much better examples of what lies in store for us if we continue to do nothing to eliminate our dependence on unclean sources of energy such as oil. We are already seeing Eskimos displaced from their land because it's underwater. Before 1992, when Hurricane Andrew struck and devastated parts of Florida, hurricanes were a pretty rare occurrence. I need only point out to a simpleton how obvious it is that the global climate has changed to make it clear that those who say climate change is not a man- made occurrence are beyond out of touch with the reality everybody else sees clearly. But that's not all. Hurricanes and other severe storms have wiped out and slaughtered many people in the interior of our country and as far up the east coast as the very densely populated northeast. Deadly tornadoes have spread far and wide in our nation's interior. Wildfires make an ever more frequent appearance on our western shores--another heavily populated area--every summer without fail. How long will it take, as Bob Dylan would say, before those standing in the way of the earth and her 6 billion plus population take the necessary swift action to end these disasters? Glaciers on top of the Himalayan mountains are melting and guess who will soon be underwater if nothing is done? The 2 most populated nations in the world, India and China. Want to entertain yourself for a moment with the potential economic disaster that would occur? I don't think one could even imagine it. 3) The BP disaster: And yet, after all the evidence I've already given based on the above two tragedies, there are still people right now who, after seeing clearly how dangerous oil is through this 3rd and most obvious example of why it should be criminalized, want to go right ahead with business as usual as if it's no big deal.

This is strike 3. This is out 3. To cheat nature and humankind at this point would be something even Hitler in his wildest dreams never dared imagine--the complete annihilation of the entire planet, not just the entire human race but every other species alive. I think our flirtation with danger is beyond over and if we don't act immediately and swiftly to eliminate oil, we may not get another chance. The halls of Congress is the first obvious place phones should be ringing off the hook from each and every one of you. But we can't stop there. We need to call every official at the United Nations and make the elimination of oil a major priority.

The costs to the American people alone of the world's continued use of oil is skyrocketing. When oil becomes scarce, the price alone will be beyond the pale, but the human, environmental and pocketbook cost of each of these disasters, including the massive defense budget we've now had for the past 7 years, is something we should think about when we think about switching to clean energy. Then we will see the the costs of that switch are far less. Here are some of the immediate rewards: 1. More people will get jobs. Jobs for oil are mainly overseas. Therefore, transfer that manpower to the United States and see how many currently unemployed people are put back to work. First, there are the scientists. These are the ones who will train people in these forms of energy. 1a. Then there will be the massive numbers of people required to work out the transition, scientists, economists, government planners, corporate planners. In short, whole sectors of the currently unemployed population will be needed for this massive and quick shift away from fossil fuels to solar power, wind and water.

2. But the biggest reward will be the fact that these are renewable. And this is the clean big secret that the gurus of free market economics have gone to great lengths to shield from you. But it's too late. The BP disaster has let this friendly cat out of the bag. It's time to make this move and save big time over the huge profits these polluters continue to make. Because renewables aren't subject to possession and demand, the way in which sellers love to hold the rest of us hostage in a free market economy. They are at our disposal in unlimited numbers. All we require is the know-how. But that starts with replacing members of Congress who answer to oil company lobbyists with people who answer first and foremost to their constituents and refuse to take a penny from providers of dirty energy and planetary destruction.

One word of caution for anyone who's still not convinced: While it is true that climate change may not eliminate this planet and us that quickly, there is something else that the clearly resultant economic shifts and disasters caused by increasing climate change will--nuclear terrorism. If you think it won't happen, guess again. All we need is a large enough population devastated by climate change and economies will have no choice but to collapse, people will get desperate and either a rogue leader or a terrorist in the midst of a situation of anarchy and chaos will get his hands on nuclear missile. Want to chance that? If so, then ignore my letter.

Sincerely and very truthfully,

Marc Ginsburg

23 SYNOPSES – THE WORLD OF MARC GINSBURG FROM A TO Z

Marc Ginsburg
mgmgfilms@ymail.com

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An American Idol contestant falls in love with another contestant, sings his heart out for her and amazes everyone...
A young man watching others get the sex he wants grows up into a pedophile and starts the first pedophile recovery group...
A high school senior has everything going for him...except a class bully is able to take that all away...
A diabetic wishes to trade his life with any nondiabetic even if everything else is horrible...and gets his wish...
A young politico hopes to change the world as Party Chairman...but everything is against him...even his own life...
A man can't get over the unfulfilled loves of his youth and gets to go back and have them...and gets many surprises...
A businessman feigns conservatism, then buys a media outlet which he uses to widely broadcast an opposing perspective...
A couple that took a long time to get married helps two once star-crossed lovers, now divorced, find their love again...
Jesus and the Buddha come back in 2005 and are picked up and thrown into Guantanamo because they fit the profile...
An escaped slave works to support the Union army, putting herself in grave danger to rescue other slave girls...
A Jew in 1930 and an Arab in 2010 encounter prejudice and police trouble based on rumor...pushing them to the limit...
A Buddhist tries to repay his debt of gratitude by going to poor countries to serve the people who made his clothes and food...
A 12-year-old slave is made a bed-wench, her babies are taken away and she tries to make a baby with a slave boy she loves...
A man has a sexual encounter on Chatroulette, then meets her in a cab, they have sex and she disappears...but not from his mind..
Bourne meets Bond for the most dangerous mission—to capture the most wanted terrorist—but a missile is launched for the U.S..
A man is disenchanted with his wife, has an affair, yet can't leave his wife...but when he does, the girlfriend leaves him...
A screenwriter puts everything on hold to become successful.
..but success is a big compromise—both of his art and life... i
A Buddhist is put in prison in 2060...where he wins over the inmates and shares his amazing story of success and persecution..
A teen loves his gadgets and the net...but doesn't see trouble coming...yet his cyber skills help him catch a predator..
Life is hard for a young Buddhist but a gentle older friend plus his own sincerity pay off...but his friend is murdered...
The politico tries to get back into the fight but encounters a new onslaught of setbacks...
A man who only tells the truth is annoying to everyone else.
..until he goes to a country where everyone tells the truth...
A educator with novel methods has success but gets fired...then as an SGI Buddhist, he's headed for much greater persecution...

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My name is Marc Ginsburg and my life, like those of my heroes, has been a drama of anything but ordinary events. I speak through my movies to real people with real characters, people who, like the majority of today’s Americans and people throughout the world, are suffering with unemployment, foreclosure, depression, domestic violence, bullying...and a whole host of other issues, political, religious, sexual, coming of age...

For this exciting project, my goal is to raise $2 billion and to recruit the best talent to start working on these productions right away. I invite you to join with whatever support you have, even if just to point me to someone you know.

Please enjoy the synopses of the movies I gave you a taste of above, followed by a few clips of script, and I look forward to working with you!

Marc Ginsburg


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23 SYNOPSES – THE WORLD OF MARC GINSBURG FROM A TO Z

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AMERICAN IDOL 1
BEHIND BLUE EYES 2
BULLY 3
DIABETIC HELL 4
DNC CHAIRMAN 5
DON’T COMPLAIN PORTNEY 6
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS 7
HARRY, SALLY AND THE MONTAGUES 8
JESUS AND SHAKYAMUNI 9
KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE 10
PARALLEL SEMITES 11
REPAYING MY DEBT OF GRATITUDE 12
RUNAWAY SLAVE 13
STRANGERS 14
THE BOURNE CONNECTION 15
THE CHEAT 16
THE CONFESSIONS OF A WRITER 17
THE GREAT HUMAN REVOLUTION 18
THE LOST GENERATION 19
THE LOVE OF CHRIST 20
THE REPUBLICAN EMPIRE STRIKES BACK 21
TO TELL THE TRUTH 22
VALUE CREATION 23

SAMPLE EXCERPTS FROM SCRIPTS 24








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AMERICAN IDOL

Brian, a male contestant on the TV show, American Idol, falls passionately in love with a female contestant, Gem. His performances are all about that. But she spurns his love because she's just had her heart badly broken and is going on the show to put all that behind her. But he will not give up. In fact, his performances become so geared to winning her love that the song contest becomes secondary to him. However, the more he puts his love into his singing, the more he wows everybody including the judges. But Gem still isn't won over. In fact, she dates, has sex with and gets engaged to one of the other contestants, Jeremy, who clearly doesn't seem to be as passionate about her as Brian does. This only makes Brian's performances more amazing as he sings of his spurned love for her. Will he or won't he win her love in the end? Gem, whose performances, born of her own tough life experiences, outdo those of the other contestants, and it comes down to a context between Brian and Gem for the winning spot...and for each other.


















1
BEHIND BLUE EYES

When Joe Bernstein was in college in the 1970s, it seemed the other guys were getting laid and finding love but he wasn't. When he got older and became a college professor, married and with kids, his obsession with the casual sex he had missed turned into an active pursuit of casual sex on the side—only from much younger women who reminded him of the young women he once longed for but never got to sleep with. But it doesn't stop there. He starts hanging out with underage girls, first in real life and then online, leading to sexual advances toward and sex with many of them, as well as underage boys, the kids being as young as 12 and 13. One day, he arranges to meet a girl on Facebook who says she's 18 but whose picture looks 14. It turns out to be the New York City Police. He's sent to jail, where he's beaten, raped and humiliated. He is filled with terror and dread. A fellow inmate introduces him to the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and the Buddhist philosophy of unlimited hope and human potential saying he can turn his life around. He tries this and becomes more hopeful. He comes up with the idea of starting a recovery group for sex addicts, pedophiles and predators, similar to AA. He starts by holding meetings with other pedophile inmates. He tries to engender an atmosphere free of blame where they can open up. Eventually, the outside world gets wind of his activities and he goes on the talk show circuit but a dramatic public debate ensues as many people are outraged that predators are being vindicated. However, he holds his own, helping other child molesters reform, and expands to form an online recovery group in which strict rules are applied about sites you must absolutely put a lock on and aggressive outreach is made using search engines that predators tend to go on.
Upon his release on probation, his wife and children, themselves teens, are at first furious, feeling betrayed, but then are won over. The college he had worked for rehires him as a counselor for students with risky behaviors.

Behind Blue Eyes is a serious, provocative film about the human side of becoming—and unbecoming—an active pedophile. 2
BULLY

Jake is a high school senior who's got everything going for him. He and his girlfriend, Nancy are part of a close-knit circle of friends. Julian, who's big and strong, along with his really cute girlfriend, Nadine, and his other friends, bully and taunt Jake. Jake comes back with smart answers but Julian beats him up. Nancy calls the cops but Nadine defends Julian and the cops say they can't arrest anyone on hearsay. As the bullying continues, Jake starts becoming more disheartened and short-tempered and retreats from his friends. His friends stop hanging out with him and his grades drop. He gets into a big fight with Nancy and she stops hanging out with him. He finds comfort in a street crowd that is hanging out, doing drugs, stealing and dealing. One of these boys jumps him, taking his wallet and blackberry. His heart sinks. He tries to thumb a ride home but gets none so he ends up walking home through dark streets in the rain. His hopelessness turns to anger and he makes a new determination to fight to get his life back. At that moment, he gets an instant message from Nancy asking him to come over which he does. She tells him about Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, a chant that a friend turned her on to that really helped her. They chant together, after which they make love for the first time. Jake approaches his old friends offering to study together, which helps his grades pick up. Jake tries to stand up to Julian and his friends when they bully him but he cannot avoid either backing down or getting beat up. So he and Nancy chant with determination to win. Again, Julian intimidates him. They chant again with even more determination. All of a sudden there’s a knock at the door. It’s the street boy who robbed him. The street boys return his wallet and blackberry saying they’re giving up the life of crime and drugs since one of them got busted and they got scared. Jake offers to help them get back to school and study with them. They go for it and also help him stand up to Julian. Together they overcome Julian. Jake goes on to get straight A’s and the other boys get A's and B pluses.

3
DIABETIC HELL

Jed Weinstein thinks uncontrolled diabetes is making him old at 50. After a very severe blood sugar swing that leaves him completely exhausted and a royal pain to his wife, Susan, he cries out, right before going to sleep one night that he'd be willing to trade his life with anyone who's completely healthy even if they live in worse circumstances, and then falls asleep. He wakes up in in a poor urban neighborhood in the arms of an unfamiliar woman who scolds him to get up and stop being a lazy bum and sends him out for a loaf of bread to make breakfast. Once outside, he is shot in a cross-fire. Susan, meanwhile, is discovering the man she thinks is Jed to be acting very strange and too flirtatious. Jed then wakes up in Darfur, in a similar scenario only in much more dilapidated conditions, again not lasting the day due to a cross-fire as he goes out to find food. Susan, meanwhile, gets worried when she hears “Jed” talk about hiding from the government troops. Jed next wakes up in Saudi Arabia in bed with a Saudi woman, but this time her husband walks in the door and catches them, clubs them both over the head and instantly kills them. Jed's wife, meanwhile, starts to think Jed is really cuckoo when he asks her when her husband will be coming back. Jed's next adventure is waking up in Peru, where this time he actually survives long enough to find his name is Raul and he is part of an extended family, with 5 of his own children, and figures out a way to tell them that he's not really the person they think he is. They find his story strange and funny thinking maybe he's an ancestor entering Raul's body. The men all go out to do backbreaking work as ship builders, which is tough on Jed. While working, he has an accident, in which an object falls on him, killing him. Susan, meanwhile awakes to a man she finds a pleasure to talk to, who really appreciates being in the U.S. and she then realizes what's been going on. Finally, Jed wakes up back at home. He tests his blood sugar and finds it's very high. He's ecstatic! Susan says, “Oh no!”, thinking it's another one of those strange people in his body but her spirits are restored when she finds it's just the crazy but lovable husband she knows well. 4
DNC CHAIRMAN

Mike Greenbaum becomes the DNC Chairman at a time when the Republicans hold power. Mike must deal with myriad challenges that come at him quickly, from his brittle diabetes, constant exhaustion, and his often strained relationship with his girlfriend, Alice O'Reilly to the never ending demands of his new job. His ambitious plans to change the Party image and unite the Presidential candidates are snagged by the realities of politics and media. He also favors the bright, chipper, feisty and assertive Senator Gerri (Geraldine) Harrison, even asking her leading rival, California Governor Bill Parker, to tone down his campaign. At Alice's insistence, Mike goes on vacation with her to Ireland, where he proposes to her. However, a huge public spat between Gerri and Bill after a too close to call Illinois primary, leads to Mike’s being called back to Washington by DNC leaders, right after the proposal. Mike tries to get out of it but a senior Senator tells him his job is on the line. Alice's heart drops as she sees it can never work out between them and breaks it off, leaving Mike crushed as he goes back very reluctantly. Gerri and Bill patch up their differences. She wins the nomination by one vote and then chooses Bill to be her running mate. They give inspiring speeches but their opponent, Republican Senator John Blik, displays equally gripping rhetoric at the Republican Convention. Mike still tries to reach out to Alice but his fast paced schedule gets in the way. She is polite yet noncommittal as he catches her on her way out to a date. Gerri’s numbers are way down. Mike makes the outrageous decision to run her campaign. Her numbers improve, the race gets close but then her husband, a Supreme Court Justice is discovered to have had an affair 12 years earlier with a 17-year-old student in his law class. One night, strained by ill health, Mike leaves the campaign headquarters early but, while backing into the road, gets hit by a speeding drunk driver, is knocked unconscious and is fighting for his life in the hospital. Alice calls Gerri to see how Mike is doing. In a final debate, Gerri and Blik square off heatedly. Alice goes to visit Mike in the hospital, still unconscious. 5
DON’T COMPLAIN PORTNEY

Michael Goldstein grows up believing there's no way he could ever make it with any girl he really likes. Every time a girl he likes actually likes him back he can't bring himself to ask her out. One day he encounters Nichiren Buddhism with the promise that no prayer will go unanswered and decides to test it out on his bad luck with women. He practices very sincerely and meets Hannah Jones. They fall in love, it feels so good and they get married. However, the rapture and romance fade as the struggles of daily living take over. As time goes on, he starts to regret his lost opportunities and wishes he could do his life over again and get all those girls he “blew it” with. One day, at a county fair, there is a wish tent. A ugly old crazy gypsy woman is granting children their wishes. He tells her he wishes to go back and have sex with any female who ever desired him. Reluctantly, after a fuss, the gypsy grants his wish and he finds himself back in his younger body, having to reorient himself to people in his life and them puzzled by him. He finds women he never expected coming on to him and getting him into bed with them. He has the rude awakening of having to sleep with many older, uglier and fatter women as well as many girls he doesn't even remember, enjoys the sex with some of them, while the encounters with girls he actually wished for now seem too short and unmemorable to be worth all his years of pent up desire for them plus everything he now must go through. He misses Hannah and even goes back to where she said she had lived at that younger age and tells her of his love for her, but she turns him away, totally not interested in him. Eventually, though, the day he actually met her comes back and they go through rapture again, but he's still forced by the fate he wished for cheat on her with women who had wanted him. Eventually the day comes when he had made the wish. He tests it picking up a woman to see if he can walk away, which he can but Hannah's pissed off and leaves him. Now he's really sorry. He chants hard to get her back.
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FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

George Bentley rises in the world of finance, shrewdly giving the impression of being very conservative as he moves up in that world while he secretly trains a core of men around him in his real, progressive views as well as a group of bodyguards. When his fortunes rise, he buys out top media conglomerates and changes the programming, offering equal time for different political views and provocative questioning as well as interspersing political and cultural programming with popular entertainment. Public opinion starts to change, but corporate leaders create a new media outlet with powerful reach that demonizes George. He then works on politicians, lobbying congress to pass tough campaign finance reform and other socially responsible programs. But these laws never pass as other lobbyists and loud tea party protests stop it. One day, on a trip to China to seek strict regulations on carbon emissions, George suddenly finds himself on a no fly list and is unable to return to the U.S., while his station is yanked as a national security measure. He appeals to the Chinese consulate but they won't budge and when his visa expires, he's put under house arrest. Fans of his network get congress to impeach the President and his VP is lagging in election polls, so the President is removed. The new President pardons George, reinstates the station, declares the emergency over, and invites George to the White House to work out a deal. George brings his team and tells the security staff he’ll meet with the President if he lets his camera team in. The President says photo op only but all equipment must be turned off otherwise. George refuses, the meeting is called off and the station once again is yanked with news reporting George was belligerent and possibly dangerous. The President pulls ahead in the polls but they are still close. George is arrested as a national security threat. The President and his opponent privately have a heated argument over whether George should have a trial. The President relents but George is still sentenced to death row and taken to a high security prison, where he's raped and beaten by guards and offered a lighter sentence for publicly renouncing his views. 7
HARRY, SALLY AND THE MONTAGUES

Harry, Sally and The Monteagues is a humorous and touching romantic comedy about two older couples, one happily married after first not being friends and then being friends for what seemed like forever and the other bitterly divorced after passionately falling in love the moment they set eyes on each other, the four of whose lives intertwine again with the children all moved out. Harry and Sally (from When Harry Met Sally), are celebrating their 21st wedding anniversary with some friends and renewing their vows because Harry insists that “21 is a coming of age”. Among the friends that show up are Harry's friend, the very passionate and hot-tempered Romeo, and Sally's friend and Romeo's ex-wife, the quiet and pensive Juliet, after not seeing each other in 15 years. The atmosphere becomes tense as old wounds get stirred up, Sally upsetting Harry because she can't take vows with the tension. Privately, Juliet tells Sally that she's really upset that there had to be a scene. Back outside, Romeo is cool and quiet, but Harry apologizes anyway. The next day Harry and Sally have a big fight over them, Harry not understanding why Sally's mad at him, which upsets her more. She insists he cut Romeo out of his life but he refuses yet then agrees not to invite him over or to common social events. Romeo calls Harry more frequently and when they get together, Romeo says his passion for Juliet came back and Harry tries to dissuade him. Sally, meanwhile, calls on Juliet more and more to make sure she's okay and Juliet's myriad of confused emotions eventually leads her to confess she can't get rid of a feeling for Romeo. But neither Harry nor Sally know this about their respective friends' ex-spouses' feelings; Sally keeps Juliet's feelings under wraps to Harry and Harry keeps the fact that he's even meeting Romeo under wraps. Eventually, however, they all bump into each other walking and talking in opposite directions on the bridge over the lake near the Boathouse in Central Park. They all freeze for a second and Sally's the first to interrupt saying, “You see, Harry, this is why I told you never to hang out with Romeo.” The four start talking over each other, but finally the two “star-crossed lovers” trade love poems. 8
JESUS AND SHAKYAMUNI

Jesus and Shakyamuni each, before their deaths, warn their followers that as difficult as it is to stay true to what they've taught while they are still alive, it would be nearly impossible after they die, and then each die, Jesus on the cross, and Shakyamuni in the grove of sal trees. They both come alive again in 2004 in the United States but arouse the suspicion of people around them who see someone who looks middle eastern and someone who looks south Asian, and are thus arrested by federal troops and taken to Guantanamo. They both separately undergo the gamut of heavy duty torture techniques to extract confessions from them but the guards who torture them can't get them to speak a language anybody understands, even the prisoners (since they speak ancient languages), the prisoners including both real terrorists and peaceful people. While Shakyamuni engages in meditation practices, Jesus engages in prayer to God, both striving under unbelievable pain and suffering to be patient and unconditionally loving. There's a prison guard who chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, a Chinese-Japanese Buddhist chant unfamiliar to Shakyamuni, but he's afraid to share it with anyone and keeps it to himself. Because no one understands them, the two prisoners are put in a special cell where they somehow figure out that the other one is intensely spiritual and through gestures, develop a liking for each other. The prison brings in linguistic experts to see what language they speak and that’s when Jesus’ and Shakyamuni’s identities are discovered, but the prison authorities refuse to entertain the belief that they are the reincarnations of the revered founders of their respective religions but that they are terrorists posing as these people and they therefore torture and treat them worse. Eventually, Jesus picks up Arabic words and Shakyamuni some of the Pakistani dialects, and they start conversing with and teaching fellow prisoners. Soon they have a movement of peace and kindness going that's so pervasive that the guard who chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo shares it. Then they hear that the prison is closing and they rejoice and dance. 9
KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE

In this sequel to Runaway Slave, Daisy, who changes her last name from Peterson to Thompson in order to escape detection, becomes a crusader for justice—helping the Civil War and helping girl victims like her who had been raped as “bed-wenches” as early as 12 years old to produce slave children for the master. She works with the abolitionist group she belongs to to help manufacture and sew provisions for the union soldiers. They talk about how excited they are to support the troops because they are sure this will mean the end of that abomination that is slavery. As they work together, Daisy, who works hard and is very serious, shares her stories about being raped constantly by her master while she was as young as 12, and how she'd sneak out to try to have a baby with a slave boy she loved, but the baby was always light-skinned and taken away from here. When Daisy finds out that a group of black soldiers is going down to fight the confederates, she stubbornly insists on going with them because she says she has work to do. Although everyone tries to talk her out of it, saying it's way too dangerous, she refuses to listen. She knits a uniform for herself as well as clothing made of green camouflage and goes down dressed as a male soldier. Once in the south, she changes at night into the green camouflage and, knowing the ways of the plantations, hides and waits for opportunities to rescue girls who are bed-wenches. She succeeds in rescuing some girls, who she firmly whisks away from their plantations, but has to go back more than once for others and never is able to rescue still others. These girls are themselves inspired by her and try to help her but she refuses their help because of the danger. Once, Daisy is ambushed by a group of southern white men while she is trying to save a girl. They beat her almost senseless and start to prepare a bonfire to burn her alive, but then one says stop let's have some fun and they proceed to gang-rape her. But in the midst of it, after the second guy has started on her, a group of black union solders who had been following her to protect her open fire and she manages to escape. Later, for her heroic acts, she is called to Gettysburg, where President Lincoln gives her a medal. 10
PARALLEL SEMITES

Parallel Semites is two parallel stories juxtaposed side by side, one concerning a Jacob Weiss, a Jewish shoemaker living in New York in 1930, and Yaqub Wahid, an Arab cab driver in New York in 2010. At home over dinner with their wives, they mention how things are tough. The Weiss' radio and Wahids' TV broadcast incidents concerning their respective ethnic groups along with determinations by the cops to fully investigate by arresting and holding whoever they have to. The two men notice people looking at them with greater suspicion when they're in public, avoiding them, and brawny men give them intimidating looks. At work, Jacob listens on the radio to an Irish Catholic priest decrying the huge economic woes of the present as the result of rabble-rousing and dangerous Jewish communists while Yaqub, in his cab, hears a Jewish rabbi saying that extremists in the middle east are responsible for the current state of tension and danger to Americans. Both disclaim prejudice, saying let the events speak for themselves. One day, the two men get fed up with the toughness of their respective situations, Jacob losing business due to the depression and Yaqub's fares going down due to both less people taking cabs due to fears provoked by the recession plus cab sharing, and these lead to brawls with other men they meet. Both end up getting taken in by the police and both almost get deported but because they are both American citizens, they end up getting let go but given a date for a trial. Before the trials, Jacob gets approached by a radical socialist Jewish group and Yaqub by an underground Islamic group but both, frightened out of their wits, tell the recruiters to go away. Unfortunately, at the trials, they receive tough questioning on the people who tried to recruit them and, though they deny any association with them, they get put in jail, with a promise to get released if they provide the sought for information. Fellow inmates suggest they make up stories about the members of these groups and both try that approach but it doesn't work. Eventually, members of each group are exposed and they are let go. Their reunion with their wives is bittersweet as they are free, but feel isolated and life is tougher now. 11
REPAYING MY DEBT OF GRATITUDE

Repaying My Debt of Gratitude is a story about John McFerdan, a Nichiren Buddhist who, upon reading in the writings of Nichiren and of SGI President Ikeda, that repaying one's debt of gratitude is the most important thing of all and that the way to do it is to share Nichiren Buddhism with them, wants to repay his debt of gratitude to those who were involved in his feeding, clothing and sheltering, so he goes where these people live in poor countries to introduce people to Nichiren Buddhism, first to Bangladesh, where he works long hours doing hard work for little money until his brittle insulin-dependent diabetes compounds his problem and he can't stay, not having all the diabetic supplies he needs, and then, after returning to the U.S. and getting his material support together, to El Salvador, but he encounters the same problems as in Bangladesh and can't stay there either. Back to the U.S., having not been able to get anyone to actually practice Buddhism in either country, he is troubled feeling his debt is now huger. A fellow Buddhist named Janice tells him that his sincerity is amazing but that he doesn't have to go to the ends of the earth to repay his debt of gratitude to the people who helped him. Instead, she says, he can build a better world right here without going anywhere simply by chanting for those people and finding a way to make a real difference in peoples' lives. She says even if it's not the same people who helped him, by helping others who he can help, it will eventually impact the lives of the people who sustained his life in a positive way. She says there's a profound reason we meet the people we do, which is that we owe each of them a profound debt of gratitude. She then playfully says, “Let's pay our debt of gratitude to each other,” which he doesn't get until she reaches over and kisses him. Soon, they are married and she discovers she's pregnant and says, “Looks like we're getting a chance to repay our debt of gratitude to someone else who's come back to collect it.” As John becomes happier with Janice, more people take notice and he gets a chance to pay his debt of gratitude to them by sharing Buddhism with them as well. 12
RUNAWAY SLAVE

In 1850, a 12-year-old “bed-wench” (a girl slave that slaveowners had sex with in order to produce baby slaves) named Daisy also has a 15-year-old “true love” named Thomas, a fellow slave who she sneaks off to make love to after her master, John Peterson, has forced himself upon her and then fallen asleep. Daisy often gets beaten and raped by John. She desperately hopes to have children with her “love”, and they make love in the barn whenever she's able to get away without being seen. The slavemaster attends church regularly as is normal and expected of him, devoutly singing hymns and acting especially nice to all the other white people he meets there on Sundays. When he's with Daisy in the afternoon, he sometimes plays a chasing game with her, which she plays along with, running as fast as she can and hoping to tire him out. But he always catches up with her and backs her into a corner. At this point, she has a look of sheer terror as she knows what's about to happen. John's wife is clearly upset every time he sleeps with Daisy and her distaste shows. When he either asks her for things or orders her, she says, “Why don't you get your bed-wench to do it for you?” Each of three years from the ages of 12 to 14, Daisy has a baby, all of which are light skinned and all of which are taken from her immediately. The first two are sold as barter for payment by her slavemaster to another slavemaster, while the third is given to an older slave girl of 17 to nurse, who is more developed on top, but who doesn't love the baby the way Daisy does. Somehow, her fellow slaves learn of the Underground Railroad and she plans an escape with Thomas, trying to have, with Mrs. Peterson helping her escape to him, as much sex with him as they can so she can have his child and not John's. She finally does but it's a stillborn. John catches some rebellious slaves who are planning an escape, including Thomas, and kills all of them. Daisy, fortunately, is not with them at the time. The slavemaster's wife secretly helps Daisy escape to the Underground Railroad. John suspects his wife and beats her like crazy and rapes her. Daisy, in the woods with her fellow escapees, sobs tears of deep pain. 13
STRANGERS

Mark Newsome plays a new Internet game, Chatroulette, in which you get to interact live with total strangers face to face. After a couple of boring encounters, Mark sees what looks like a naked woman (Holly) under a blanket who appears to be having sex with someone. She astonishes Mark by asking him if he wants to have sex while this is going on. So he undresses but she tells him to keep it off camera and he masturbates while she has sex and they talk sexy. Afterward, he asks her to meet in person but the moment he says this, she disappears and is replaced by another person. Several days later, he hails a cab and Holly turns out to be in it as a fellow passenger. She recognizes him but he doesn't her at first until she starts talking and tells him. After a few moments of silent tension, she suggests having sex and he thinks she's asking for a date and asks to exchange numbers but she justs wants to do it in the cab. They do it discreetly but the cab stops when they're in the middle of it and a woman gets in with two children. Holly, thinking quickly, covers for them pretending they're a married couple and gets him to follow her out of the cab at her stop, paying for both herself and Mark. Mark asks her for her number while reaching into his wallet to pay her back, but when he turns around she's gone. Two weeks later he tells his friend, Jason about her saying he can't get her off his mind. Jason tells him about chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as a way to fulfill his desire to reconnect with her but warns him not to be a stalker. Mark chants and tries to find Holly, whose name he still doesn't know, and gets frustrated. Jason and others encourage him to just trust chanting which is hard for him while others suggest he move on and put her out of his mind. But he can't and keeps trying. Other women try to get with him but he can't get into them. At one point he's at an atrium and so is Holly. She spots him and tries to get away surreptitiously, at which point he notices her and tries to follow her. A few weeks later, about to give up, he meets Holly, this time with her big husband, who remembers him from Chatroulette. He thinks it's over for him but Holly sees something in him. 14
THE BOURNE CONNECTION

Former CIA Special Ops member Jason Bourne (from The Bourne movies) and British agent Jane Bond (Bond's latest incarnation), are assigned, unbeknownst to each other, to the toughest assignment in the world—to capture Al-Qaeda's most dangerous man, Wazim Al-Salemi, and to break up a key ring of cells. The two discover each other in a dark cave in the northwest tribal area of Pakistan, each disguised and doing Muslim prayers and noting the defect in the other's accent. Bourne is here because he has been given the chance to clear his name from a past involvement with a criminal CIA Operation and because he's really good at operating in dangerous areas, while Bond is here because it's felt that a woman, fully covered, would be able to penetrate deeper into the dark world of terrorism. They have to be careful to keep incommunicado at all times because of the high level of the enemy's technical expertise. Bond's own high-tech expertise and ability to penetrate codes, along with Bourne's ability to quickly pick up and remember details, as well as their working together are indispensable to their survival and success. They undergo several life-threatening encounters with terrorists, including one in which Bourne saves Bond from gang-rape. Kaleb, a young man of 18 who is associated with the sympathetic side of the Pakistani Taliban that hates Al-Qaeda and is very familiar with the tribal culture joins forces with Bourne and Bond. In Islamabad, where there is a lot of anti-Al-Qaeda sentiment, Kaleb helps them get in good with key people they need to get to the center cell. The CIA network, however, isn't totally purged of its previous dirty laundry which puts Bourne and Bond in danger when his old nemesis, Vosen, shows up in an aircraft, almost kills them and enables a group of terrorists to hijack a nuclear missile silo, steal a missile and head for the U.S. Bourne and Bond intercept them and scuffle with them, but one of them launches the missile. They manage to kill the terrorists and then chase the missile across the Atlantic, saving it just in time before it almost crashes into Philadelphia. At an awards ceremony attended by three heads of state, they learn one of the men they killed was Al-Salemi. 15
THE CHEAT

Bruce McIntyre fell in love with and married the beautiful Evelyn Sanders. After a lot of romance and passion, they soon discover they've got very little in common. He's into classic rock, she's into top 40. He's passionate about left-wing politics, she could care less, thinking all politicians are corrupt and useless. He wants to go camping and on bike trips, she wants to go to luxury hotels and sit on the beach all day. He's a loner, who loves books. She's into hanging out with girlfriends and watching TV. He wants to be left alone, she wants him to spend all his time with her. Eventually, they get into fights that leave him feeling devastated. So he finds a younger woman, Jocelyn, and has an affair with her on the side. She wants him to leave Evelyn. But something happens every time he tries to leave Evelyn. He can't bring himself to do it. When pressed by Jocelyn, he tells her he feels trapped and somehow just knows that Jocelyn'll leave him the moment he leaves his wife. He is scared she just loves him because she knows she can't have him (even though she denies it). Then he encounters Nichiren Buddhism, which gives him the courage—and the inability to take it anymore—to leave his wife. As soon as he does so, he goes and tells Jocelyn that he is hers, but, just as he feared, she promptly gets scared and leaves him. Although crestfallen at first to go from two women to no women, thinking his foray into Buddhism was a curse, not a benefit, he begins, as time goes on, to discover that it’s not only okay to be alone and he doesn’t need to be with someone to be happy but he actually finds life more enjoyable now than he ever did. As soon as he recognizes that, he becomes good friends with a Buddhist woman he meets and finds that in sharing the Buddhist desire for a better and more peaceful world, he naturally feels a better love with her than he had with either Evelyn or Jocelyn.



16
THE CONFESSIONS OF A WRITER

Doug Michaels is an SGI member with a day job as a medical transcriptionist who spends his spare time writing screenplays, telling the SGI members that he'll do SGI activities when he becomes famous. His life is constantly in front of a computer. He tries to get out of social and family events and gets into a lot of intense arguments with Stacy, his wife, who's just about had enough of his ignoring her that one day she leaves him, which devastates him that he can't write anymore so he just sits and chants. An agent calls him about a screenplay he had sent offering a contract for a major rewrite for a nice amount of money. Very unhappy to have to butcher his work, he wallows away the time and presses for an extension. The agent can't get it and Doug is forced to sell the screenplay at a lower price with no contract. People say at least his name'll be out there. He becomes bitter and writes a scathing screenplay about a screenwriter's hellish life, with a harsh ending, deriving great pleasure from it. The other movie comes out and it's nothing like his version, the professional writer credited, Doug only credited in small print as adjunct screenwriting consultant. Bills really pile up. Then, an independent film company wants to buy his angry screenplay for a low price and offers him a production role, in which he calls for special effects and dramatic acting. After initial disappointment, the film rises to great popularity, is bought by a big movie production firm and remade with amazing special effects, top actors and 3-D. It busts the box office. Doug remembers his promise to do SGI activities. But the SGI members barely recognize him and notice his gruff tendency. His movie success means little to them. Two members try to help him overcome his negativity using human revolution, the commitment a Buddhist makes to change his life at the core, taking full responsibility for lofty goals to help people. But he must first learn to make friends. It doesn't come easy but his efforts to do so pay off. One day, out of the blue, Stacy calls. She notices his change and they get back together. 100 years later, people in China, the world’s greatest power, are lining up in droves to see his movies with subtitles. 17
THE GREAT HUMAN REVOLUTION

On July 3, 2060, members of the elite U.S. military police arrest Joshua Lewis for the treason of practicing Nichiren Buddhism. He is taken to an underground maximum security federal penitentiary where he is thrown into a small and uncomfortable dark cell and subjected to sensory deprivation and overstimulation. Each morning he is awakened early and put on a chain gang to do hard labor. He is always put between the two biggest men, who take turns raping him. Gradually, the positive attitude he fights to maintain wins over his fellow prisoners and, through prison bars, he tells his life story of growing up in a Buddhist family, becoming a musician, getting involved in the Buddhist youth movement, falling in love and getting his heart broken, then finding a passion in working for the happiness of others inspired by then SGI President Shin'ichi Yamamoto's amazing spirit and actions. Based on this, young Josh had resolved to bring Buddhist humanism and passion to double the then current number through becoming a world famous musician. He speaks to the inmates of the struggles it entailed including being diagnosed with type I diabetes but how he refused to let anything stop him. The inmates warm up to him and some, including the big men, ask him to share the Buddhist practice with them, which he does quietly when they are chained together each morning. He then recounts his inspiring of a huge wave of people to become SGI members through his huge popularity, then leading to his becoming U.S. President. Due to weakening of the SGI leadership, he became SGI President concurrently for two years, was reelected U.S. President but then, due to dissension in the SGI caused by a faction of leaders, he resigned the U.S. Presidency. The SGI power struggle grew, causing great confusion. Violent extremism abroad caused the U.S. government to be under attack. The United Tea Party took over and declared martial law. This led to Josh's eventual arrest and imprisonment. After telling his his story, a nuclear missile is fired at the U.S. and a tremor is felt in the prison. The inmates are then freed. Out in the gloomy day, Josh leads them, teaching them to chant and muster hope and courage. 18
THE LOST GENERATION

Leo Barnstead is a high school senior who spends almost all of his waking time with gadgets or computers, usually multitasking, that he barely has any attention or time for offline things like socializing or schoolwork. Even his contact with his friends is almost exclusively online. A classmate named Marissa likes him and contacts him online with a fictitious screen name and gets his interest through chatting and texting. When she feels secure in their friendship, she reveals her real identity and they hang out offline—a first for him—and he asks her out on a date, which they really enjoy, a Netflix live streaming movie on his wide screen computer with surround sound, followed by music, dancing and more intimate contact. But Leo's too self-possessed and too involved with his gadgets and online obsessions, even while having sex with Marissa, playing with his iPhone. One day, a very attractive girl named Jackie texts him and sends seductive pictures of herself, which causes Leo to get really hot with Marissa. Jackie invites him over to have sex with her. Leo eagerly goes to meet her. When he gets to the house, he is met by a very friendly man who says he’s Jackie’s dad and invites Leo into a room filled with all kinds of cyber gadgets which Leo is riveted to. Jackie enters the room in her underwear and with her nipples showing right above the bra line. She looks smaller and younger and is not smiling. Suddenly, the man grabs Leo from behind, undresses him and fondles him. Jackie suddenly turns pale and leaves the room. The man yells at her and runs after her. Leo quickly puts his clothes back on, runs out real fast and speeds back home in his car. He tells his mom about it. She tells him he's safe because of the protection from her chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo every day and doing SGI activities for peace plus the chanting Leo himself used to do. Marissa encourages Leo to pursue the pedophile. It is not easy but with his friends' help, they put their cyber savvy to use and catch him. Marissa then says they should rescue Jackie, and using their savvy they find her at another pedophile's house. She's really an orphan named Dawn. Marissa befriends her and tells Leo from now on to leave his gadgets at the door if he wants to see her. 19
THE LOVE OF CHRIST

Life is an emotional battle for Jason Ross, a young member of the Nichiren Buddhist association, SGI. Fellow member Danny Miller's accepting nature and eccentricity make Jason feel comfortable with him. One day, while doing the Buddhist chant, Jason loses hope and explodes in a rage. He determines to break through by chanting and makes the daring decision to go to Japan and see SGI President Ikeda. On the plane, he meets Moriko, an SGI member who works for a Japanese-American business, who likes him for his courage as a fellow practitioner and invites him to stay with her family. Danny, meanwhile, loses his job. A man named Don tells him of a lead saying to meet him at a pub. There, he and his buddies drink and Danny gets drunk. A young woman named Judith lures him to sleep with her. But touched by his spirit, she reveals that the men were planning to kill him so he escapes but the men catch him and drive him to a field where they crucify him on a burning cross. Jason, meanwhile, is trying to see President Ikeda but has to wait all day as President Ikeda is very busy. President Ikeda finally comes out, greets Jason with a warm hug, praises him and invites him to attend their headquarters meeting, at which Jason, overcome with the warm embrace, is moved by President Ikeda's heartfelt speech, at just the moment Danny is writhing in unfathomable pain on the cross but remembers to chant and then passes out with a smile and dies. Before Jason leaves Japan, he proposes to Moriko, catching her off guard but she says yes. Joyfully, he goes home, astounding people by his spirit. He then gets a call from the police about Danny's being missing. He calls Danny's wife, who's hysterical and the members chant for Danny. Judith calls the police and tells them what happened. Jason's heart sinks when he hears it. The members tell Judith about Buddhism and she decides to practice. Moriko returns to America and she and Judith try to encourage Jason. At a memorial for Danny at the SGI center, Jason is about to speak but breaks down in tears and walks out. Judith and Moriko try to encourage him on the spot but his pain runs deep. A letter comes from President Ikeda.
20
THE REPUBLICAN EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

In this sequel to DNC Chairman, Mike Greenbaum can't stay out of the political fray as he had hoped to. The nation is beset by massive unemployment and foreclosure and crime starts to go up. His wife, Alice, is concerned because he is crippled from his previous car accident and his heart isn't at 100%, not to mention his lifelong problem of diabetes. But she knows fighting for justice is his passion and deeply admires his willingness to fight for it and so allows him to travel the country to understand what people are going through as she stays back in Washington, doing her law practice. When Mike returns, he pays a visit to President Gerri Harrison, his good friend whose campaign he had supported. But the Gerri he sees in the White House is not the same defiant, feisty Gerri from the campaign trail. She takes Mike to task about his idealism saying once you're President, your power is all a myth as people from career politicians to corporate lobbyists really rule the roost, saying that even to get elected, she had to make a secret deal. Mike is very disheartened by this glimpse into the reality of Washington plus the great gap between it and what Americans are now going through. He starts to write a book hoping to change things, and blogs and tweets actively. Senator and Presidential campaign loser John Blik has a show on FOX which a producer invites Mike to share portions of so as to ridicule Mike. Mike gladly accepts but Blik controls the show and Mike is ridiculed, not getting the vehicle for his ideas he had hoped for. Alice strongly urges him to take it easy and regroup, which is not easy for Mike, and her feelings of being unimportant to Mike resurface and cause tension. Meanwhile, Democrat poll numbers weaken while anger at the Democrats who now hold power in Congress and the White House manifests in a new populist Tea Party movement which starts to grow. Mike tries to keep at his writing, blogging and tweeting and to give more to Alice, which she appreciates somewhat. His online exposure leads to Mike's being approached to run for the Senate from New York State, which he accepts. Although he meets a lot of anger towards many of his views, he is happy to be among the voters campaigning again. 21
TO TELL THE TRUTH

John Ferguson tells the truth all the time as a way of fighting for justice, equality and freedom. But he gets in huge trouble all the time with everyone, from his wife, who, when she asks if he loves her, says he did in the past and still does from time to time but desires change very quickly and are out of his control, to his boss who likes his work as a cost controller but hates his offending remarks to and about people, to the other people in his life, such as his fellow SGI Buddhists, who he annoys when he insists on saying “a mentor of mine” instead of “my mentor”, or “a Buddha”, not “the Buddha”, which they prefer, and even, of course, strange women who he voices his sexual desire for. He maintains a cheerful, upbeat and engaging disposition but his words of insistent honesty sound like those of an angry adolescent such that it seems incongruous. Eventually, his wife leaves him and he soon loses his job. While he's disheartened, a fellow Buddhist tells him about a country where people are actually required to be truthful and everyone gets along because they all understand each other, lying being a capital offense. And they even speak English there. So he eagerly takes the money he's got saved up and books a vacation there. Once there, he notices how people seem to be more at ease and happy as they insult each other and it's not a big thing as everyone, being imperfect, is subjected to it at least once a day. But after the initial rapture, he starts to feel very alone and uncomfortable and can't figure out why. He begins to realize that he misses the constant consideration and praise he used to get back in the U.S., even if done in diplomacy rather than honesty, and is really put off by the many come-ons he's subjected to by ugly people of both sexes, that he realizes the value of the consideration and morale boosting that he now misses and determines that he'll go back home and practice it. But first he determines to share SGI Buddhism with as many people of this honest country as he can so they will be able to make that change. Once home, he shares with both his (ex-)wife and his (ex-)boss his newfound epiphany. 22
VALUE CREATION

Thomas McGovern grows up in the 1970's with an avid curiosity for life. He's picked on by other kids for being different but he is very sure of himself. In 2000, he is teaching geography in high school, excitedly sharing unusual views with his riveted students. In 2001, he arrives in New York to start a new life as an educator and writer. The September 11 tragedy jolts him. He gives an impassioned talk at his 2003 first book signing about revolutionizing education. He applies for and gets a teaching position in an “inner city school”. There, he tries an unorthodox approach, using hip-hop to motivate the kids. He gets fired. He's relocated to several different schools in succession but he sticks to his methods. Someone sympathetic to him at the Board of Ed gives him a really messed up and dangerous elementary school which no one wants to teach at, but he is able to get kids motivated there too. He presses the City Council for improved conditions but gets laughed at. He keeps a pocket journal of notes for an upcoming book. A young colleague who looks up to him buys him an iPad. In 2028, a fellow principal introduces him to the SGI-USA, a Nichiren Buddhist group, in which Tom sees parallels with his ideas. He joins and has new energy to publish his book, “Self Discovery: The Mutual Guide of Student and Teacher” in 2030. The economy worsens and in 2032, the school is forced to close. Tom puts his full energy into Buddhism, meeting together with several colleagues, forming the Educators Union for Authentic Living. The situation in the world gets dire and tensions build. Tom jumps into SGI-USA activities and refocuses the EUAL on religious revolution. The military draft is reinstated and the U.S. invades the E.U., forming an alliance with Russia and Japan. Living conditions get worse. In 2041, the President declares martial law, suspends the Constitution and outlaws religious freedom, requiring every citizen to carry a national ID, fly a flag and wear a crucifix. The U.S. attacks China. The SGI-USA curtails activities but Tom defies them and still holds EULA meetings. He is thrown in prison, where he dies, having stayed true to himself and lived victoriously. 23
* * *

SAMPLE EXCERPTS FROM SCRIPTS

* * *

THE LOST GENERATION opens with a montage of different cyber images: Email, iPhone, Gmail, BlackBerry, Facebook, iPod, YouTube, Twitter, then characters shown—main characters with Facebook pages, secondary with images on iPhone. Underneath is music which switches timbers according to the device used—at times the theme song is a ring tone.

This montage fades into a text message, which is how the movie opens. As LEO, a cyber-fanatic high school senior, is reading the message and replying, the teacher calls on him to answer a question.

TEACHER
Mr. Barnstead, what kind of
marketing plan would you devise?

LEO is startled and taken aback. He looks up, puzzled.

LEO
Well...
(pauses, racking his brains)
...it would have to be something
new.

TEACHER
Something new... What else?

24
LEO
It would definitely have to have
something really exciting and
different about it.

TEACHER
You already said that...New.
Different. That's the same. But
you'd need a lot more to stay
afloat in the market.

A new text message pops up on the Leo's iPhone.

TEACHER
That device you have in your in
your hand now. Why do you use it?
It's obviously exciting for you to
even use it while you're in class.

A few of the girls giggle. The Leo notices and blushes very slightly. Some of the other boys smile.

TEACHER
What features can't you bear to
part with? What features make it
impossible for you to put that
device down so you can pay
attention to your real education.

LAUGHTER from around the room. The teacher gives the Leo an almost sarcastic look.

TEACHER
'mmmm?

LEO
(puts down iPhone)
Sorry. 25

TEACHER
No, forget about sorry. You've
already been caught.

Some of the boys in the class give a pained, disapproving expression. The teacher goes on, ignoring the atmosphere.

TEACHER
So we're going to turn your
obsession into something you can
learn from. What is it about that
device that makes it so exciting?
And not just exciting but
indispensable to you? If you can
answer that question, you then
have one of the tools it takes to
start a business.

He gives a look of triumph.

TEACHER
In fact, that's going to be your
assignment tonight. Each of you
write a short paper on something
you use every day that you find
indispensable to your life and
identify what makes it
indispensable.

Another message appears on Leo's iPhone.

TEACHER
That is the first step to
understanding what kind of item
you want to market.

26
Leo types with attempted inconspicuousness: “cant talk rt now”.

TEACHER
But you'll need a lot more if you
want to start a business. What are
some of the other things you think
are needed?

Leo types further: “tch onto me”.

OTHER STUDENT
Money?

TEACHER
Money. Definitely startup capital.
But that's the least of it. What
else?

Leo receives message: “got u. ltr.”

* * * * * * * * *

From THE BOURNE CONNECTION:

The images suddenly disappear and the cave is dark once more.

BOND
You have to be careful when
transmitting to not give away your
location. The data file is
transmitting a cluster of
locations so as to confuse any
interceptor but a cyber-savvy
terrorist can wirelessly cause an
explosion in each one of these
(MORE) 27
BOND (cont.)
locations. But don't worry, even
the geekiest cyber-terrorist isn't
that fast.

BOURNE
Somehow I don't associate geek
and terrorist.

BOND
Well, you better start now. This
is a very different world we live
in.

* * *
INT – BUS DAY

Bond is sitting in a seat under which is a box. She fiddles with it secretly, without looking at it and without it being apparent to anyone on the bus. However, the moment she does so, a man on the bus lunges for her but Bourne immediately grabs him and scuffles with him. A second man gets involved and Bourne scuffles with him too, in the process getting a something strapped to his waist off him.

BOND
(screaming in Pashto)
It's a bomb!

Two other men from the front of the bus lunge for them. Bourne takes them both on while Bond throws the waistband with the bomb strapped to it out the bus window, smashing the glass into many pieces.

BOND
(screaming in Pashto)
Keep driving! 28

Two seconds later the bomb explodes 30 feet behind the now speeding bus.

* * *

INT – HOTEL ROOM DAY

BOURNE
Excuse me, I saved your life.

BOND
You didn't save my life.

BOURNE
Then what do you call what just
happened?

BOND
You saved my honor. My dignity.
Not my life. It was I who saved
your life yesterday.

BOURNE
Oh, I suppose that makes me your
slave...your subject?

BOND
No, not my slave, my subject...
my subordinate. Which is what your
superior told you.

BOURNE
Since when have I ever followed
my superiors?

29
BOND
Listen, don't get all macho on
me. Do you want to save lives and
really create world peace or do
you just wanna be sloppy and
careless?

BOURNE
(flabbergasted)
Wha?!

BOND
And, by the way, the lives you'll
be saving includes your own.

BOURNE
Now who's getting all...

BOND
(interrupts)
This is not a simple matter of
superior-subordinate either. I'm
not doing this just to flatter
my ego. This is a matter of life
or death. Of paying attention to
details. You have to take
everything I say exactly as I say
it in every detail. Those men
could have helped us. Now, because
you blinked at the wrong split
second, we have to alter plans and
come up with a new strategy as
there's no telling when we'll be
thrown into danger we won't be able
to escape from.

* * * 30

BOURNE
So what do we do till we intercept?

BOND
Nothing.

BOURNE
Nothing?

He proceeds to grab her and passionately kiss her. She looks at him startled, but goes back to her usual cool, unperturbed look.

BOURNE
This could be our last moment
alive.

BOND
Oh no, I will not let that happen.
Now's the time to chant. Come on.
There's no time to be wasted.
There'll be plenty of time for
lovemaking afterwards.

They start chanting. Slowly, as they chant, their plane achieves a speed that's slightly faster than that of the missile.

* * *

BOND
If that bomb makes landfall, Philadelphia's history.

They then position their plane in front of the missile as they are now over land, Tom's River.

31
BOND
How much do you know about nuclear
missile technology?

BOURNE
Now's not the time to ask a
question like that!

They then open up an air funnel in the back of the aircraft so as to suction in the missile carefully and defuse it. While Bond carefully manipulates the plane's controls, Bourne slowly but steadily maneuvers his way around the missile to where there's a switch that he, using a code given to him by NSA, unlocks and the bomb is now safe and harmless. They are now over Highway I-295, fast approaching Camden. All of a sudden, Bourne struggles with his grip as a wind current shifts and the plane is knocked about a little. Because Bourne is now in the back of the bomb and exposed to the atmosphere, he is unable to maintain his grip and falls. Fortunately, a parachute opens up and Bourne's fall is broken somewhat. He lands, face down, with a splash, in the Delaware River.

* * *

BOURNE
(to Bond)
Thanks for not yelling at me about
slipping.

BOND
Oh I have no problem with a man
who loses controls and slips after
the job is done.
32
* * * * * * * * *

From BEHIND BLUE EYES:

A Facebook chat window pops up unexpectedly:
(In blue) Marla
(In black) Hi!
(In gray) Me
(In black) Oh, hi! How are you?
(In blue) Marla
(In black) Fl gd
(In gray) Me
(In black) Glad to hear it.

There's teen porn going on in another window which is currently visible on the computer screen. Joe's Facebook profile has a picture of him when he was 18. Marla's looks 14.

(In blue) Marla
(In black) So were d u liv?

He waits, looking like in deliberate thought.

(In gray) Me
(In black) Oh, I'm an East Coaster. I'll bet you're a west coaster.
(In blue) Marla
(In black) No i lv in ny. how bout u?

Again, Joe looks very deliberate in thought.

(In gray) Me
(In black) Oh wow that's great. Me too.
(In blue) Marla
(In black) We shd meet.
(In gray) Me
(In black) Well not exactly in NY. But
33
There's a pause.

(In blue) Marla
(In black) Where?
(In gray) Me
(In black) How old are you?
(In blue) Marla
(In black) 18
(In gray) Me
(In black) Get outta here. You're not 18.
(In blue) Marla
(In black) Yes I am.
(In gray) Me
(In black) No way.
(In blue) Marla
(In black) I know I look yung. Everybody says that.
(In gray) Me
(In black) Are you in school?
(In blue) Marla
(In black) Yeah of course.
(In gray) Me
(In black) Where do you go?
(In blue) Marla
(In black) Stuyvesant. I graduate this year.
(In gray) Me
(In black) Wow, that's a great school.
(In blue) Marla
(In black) How bout u?

Joe really hesitates.

(In gray) Me
(In black) Burke Woods.
(In blue) Marla
(In black) Burke Woods?
(In gray) Me
(In black) I know, nobody ever heard of it.
(MORE) 34
(In blue) Marla
(In black) HS?
(In gray) Me
(In black) No it's a college. I'm a freshman.
(In blue) Marla
(In black) U'll have ta tell me bout it sometime.
(In gray) Me
(In black) Sure.
(In blue) Marla
(In black) So let's meet. What's ur #?
(In gray) Me
(In black) How bout under the Washington Square arch?
(In blue) Marla
(In black) Cool. Give me ur # in case I have to cancel or dont see ya.
(In gray) Me
(In black) Wait, we didn't say a time.
(In blue) Marla
(In black) How bout 8?
(In gray) Me
(In black) Great. Can't wait.
(In blue) Marla
(In black) Me neither. #?
(In gray) Me
(In black) Oh, right. 917-413-(cuts off)
(In blue) Marla
(In black) K, see ya at 8!
(In gray) Me
(In black) Right.

EXT – WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK NORTH IN FRONT OF ARCH NIGHT

Joe is there. Two NYC Police Officers approach him.

FIRST OFFICER
Joseph Bernstein?

35
JOE
Excuse me?

FIRST OFFICER
We know you've come here to meet
an underage girl. Now let's see
some ID.

JOE
I don't know what you're talking
about.

He pulls out a wallet and shows his driver's license. The first officer pulls out a piece of paper and shows it to Joe. The name and address on this warrant and your ID completely match up.

JOE
Hang on one second. The girl I
arranged to meet is not under age.
She's 18.

SECOND OFFICER
You have the right to remain
silent and to an attorney.
You are being charged with
unlawful solicitation of a minor.

JOE
But she's 18.

FIRST OFFICER
Mr. Bernstein, what kind of fools
do you take our undercover team
for? Are you really going to agree
to meet a young woman who you've
never met who says she's 18 with a
picture that clearly is nowhere
near 18? 36

They put handcuffs on him.

* * * * * * * * *

From DON'T COMPLAIN PORTNOY:

MICHAEL
When it comes to sex men never
remember their successes but spend
the rest of their life remembering
the girls they couldn't hook up
with. But women only remember the
guys they were with, while
completely forgetting even the men
they pined away for, to say
nothing of those they just wanted
to sleep with for one night.

HANNAH
That's not true.

MICHAEL
Yes it is, look at you. I've never
heard you once talk about the
guys you couldn't get, only about
the litany of lovers who were great
in bed, who sucked in bed, but the
key word is in bed.

HANNAH
Just because I haven't told you
about them doesn't mean I've
forgotten them.
37

MICHAEL
But it wasn't enough for you to
talk about. That's my point.

* * *

DR. ROSS
Did you really think you weren’t
going get caught?

Michael is very nervous and pauses.

MICHAEL
Well, that room is a bookroom.
What we did is a thing of books,
an act of literature, a black girl
and a white boy fall in love...
That’s the stuff of romance, of
high tragedy...

Dr. Ross looks at him with a quippish smile. Mr. Schuman chairman is less amused.

MICHAEL
You know, a mixed couple situation.
It’s got drama, passion.

They stare at him, Dr. Ross smiling, Mr. Schuman stern.

DR. ROSS
We’re not going to suspend you
because your behavior up till now
has been stellar. But we have to
revoke your service privileges.


38
NARRATOR (v.o.)
I considered myself in a too-good-
to-be-true world. I got laid right
away...twice...and delayed a
bullet. That’s when I began to
think the whole thing was a dream
and that I’d been asleep way too
long and would never wake up.

SCHUMAN
By the way, I don’t want you to be
under the impression there was
anything literary about what you
did. You have to grow up first...
to live a while...to coexist in a
nonsexual way as true friends...
before you can even begin to know
what love is.

NARRATOR (v.o.)
His words pierced right through me
because I realized how true they
were. Later on, I got the idea that
I could have said...

MICHAEL
Yeah, but at least I gave it a try
instead of just sitting there a
coward like I did in my first life...

NARRATOR (v.o.)
...but I was unable to say anything
as it hit me that I had turned my
back on the real love in my life
in order to pursue a fantasy of
lust. The realization that I was
probably never going to be able to
get out of this wish-come-true and
go back to Hannah and the rest of
(MORE) 39
NARRATOR (v.o.) (cont.)
my real life was itself a bone-
chilling rude awakening.

SERIES OF SHOTS DAY

Michael or Violet are shown hanging out (separately) with other students, who smile and talk to them about the incident or the other one.

NARRATOR
That pretty much did it for me and
Violet. It was enough to shock her
into wanting to have nothing to do
with me or with boys in general.
Word of mouth kept flying for
awhile about our passionate tryst
and it was almost impossible for
either of us to talk to anyone in
school without that subject coming
up. Especially to the opposite sex.
(pause)
That is, until Sheryl came along.

* * * * * * * * *

From THE LOVE OF CHRIST:

JASON
Everything comes easy to you.

DANNY
Only because I’ve been in practice
longer than you. 40

JASON
You seem like you never had a
problem.

DANNY
You just said the three of us
couldn’t deal with the tide.

JASON
But you handle it perfectly...at
least you seem to.

DANNY
I know. That’s the dirty trick life
plays on us when we’re young. I
just know how to fake it better
now. You’re so sincere...honest.
That’s better than things coming
easy.

Jason looks away showing that that was not what he wanted to hear.

* * *

(From the scene where Jason is chanting alone to his own Buddhist scroll, the Gohonzon)

JASON
(shaking his fist
tensely
I hate you! I hate you! I hate
you!

He starts to cry and sob, although it’s forced sobbing with no tears. 41

JASON
I’m so ashamed of myself! You’re
nothing but an embarrassment to me!
(pause, then loud and
prolonged yell)
I hate you!
(pause)
You asshole!

He then puts his head down in utter defeat.

JASON
(in a lower voice)
Nothing ever works out! Is it too
much to ask for just a little...
(tenses up and voice
gets louder)
...tiny thing?!

He raises his finger and starts to cry but no tears come and it seems forced.

JASON
(glaring straight at
Gohonzon)
I do everything! You do absolutely
nothing! That’s it! I’m giving up
chanting!
(louder, furious)
I’m giving up chanting!
(slight pause)
Do you hear me?

He waits for the answer he knows won’t come.


42
JASON
I said, do you hear me?
(pause)
No, of course not! You don’t have
any power! That’s because you’re
a fuckin’ piece of paper! This
religion is so bogus. Trust the
Gohonzon. Do shakubuku. As if I’m
not already the biggest
laughingstock... Then I have to
really humiliate myself by talking
to strangers about this thing...
Boy, did I get rooked this time!

He puts his head down and pure hopelessness emanates from his whole being. After a while, he starts to chant again, seeming to regain a little composure. The daimoku then gets louder and he infuses it with his anger and even rage, but keeps chanting.

* * * * * * * * *

From HARRY, SALLY AND THE MONTEAGUES:

INT – ROOM DAY

Harry and Sally are sitting on a love seat appearing to be talking to a camera or an interviewer.

SALLY
(Demurely and pleasantly)
We first met when he needed a ride
home from college. The University
of Chicago. We were driving to New
York City. 43

She pauses. She looks toward Harry to get him to say something and he says nothing. She turns back to facing forward and and smiles again.

SALLY
He was going with my friend,
Amanda.
(pauses again)
Reese.

She pauses again, looking a little bewildered.

SALLY
Or was it Rice?

She looks around again. Harry finally gives in and talks.

HARRY
Look, hon, does it really matter?

SALLY
(a little disenchanted)
No, I guess not.

* * *

Harry strikes a champagne glass, getting everyone's attention.

HARRY
We thank you for giving up your
New Year's Eve to celebrate with
us the renewal of our vows.
You see, it was midnight 21 years
ago that we got engaged.

44
SALLY
(smiling brightly)
Yes, it was so romantic.

HARRY
What, romantic? You said you hated
me.

People give bewildered looks.

SALLY
(still smiling but less)
I didn't say that.

HARRY
Yes, those were your exact words.
You said “How do you expect me to
react?” and then you broke down
in tears.

SALLY
(not smiling at all)
You left out “when you do this to
me.”

HARRY
When you do what to me?

SALLY
No, Harry, that's what I said.
(then recomposing and smiling,
to guests)
That's when I realized that that's
just Harry. But underneath he's
really a great guy. It's just it
takes you so long to get to what's
underneath...
45
* * * * * * * * *

From STRANGERS:

INT – THE BACK SEAT OF THE CAB AS IT'S MOVING DAY

Holly is sitting in it already but Mark doesn't at first notice it's her.

MARK
57th and Lex, please?

The DRIVER looks back at him in a foul mood and then at Holly. Mark suddenly notices there's another passenger yet still not knowing it's Holly.

MARK
Oh, are you going a different way?
I'm not used to this cab sharing
yet.

HOLLY
You're not good with change.

Mark is startled, recognizes the voice a little but still doesn't place it.

DRIVER
It's okay. I take her to 72nd and
Broadway first.

MARK
(a little peeved)
Oh, I guess that's alright.

46
HOLLY
That better be alright, lover boy.

MARK
I beg your pardon?

She looks at him, smiling, about to laugh, amused as hell and he starts to get the feeling of familiarity about her. She's dressed in a very colorful off-beat dress that's half stylish/chic, half bohemian, going down to her feet as if a throwback to an earlier time.


MARK
Hey, don't I....? Wait.

He points at her.

HOLLY
Chatroulette? Don't you remember?

Mark hesitates while getting it all straight in his head.

MARK
Oh my God! I don't believe it! Of
all the.... Well this is weird.

HOLLY
Yeah, isn't it?

MARK
Yeah, wow! Hallelujah for cab
sharing.

She smiles at him. They sit for awhile, the cab moving, stopping in traffic, then moving again, the ride kind of bumpy along the way. She looks at him. He looks away. Then he looks at her but 47
she has looked away. He starts to try to say something but can't. All of a sudden she turns to him.

HOLLY
(quietly)
So you wanna have sex?

MARK
Yeah, let's exchange numbers.

HOLLY puts her finger up in a disapproving way to say no and then moves her face closer to his. He moves toward her and they start kissing. Then they start fondling each other under their clothes and she gets on top of his lap, pulls her dress discretely up yet in such a way that it covers everything and they have sex in the moving cab. They moan quietly and rock discretely. Soon, the cab pulls over and the door suddenly flings open. A smartly dressed woman in her 30s and a boy of about 10 and another of about 7 are there.

SMARTLY DRESSED WOMAN
Come on, Treg, get in the cab. I
don't have all day.

TREG (10-YEAR-OLD)
Why me? Why not Tony?

SMARTLY DRESSED WOMAN
Come on, don't argue with me.

She pushes him in while pulling TONY(YOUNGER BOY) in next. Treg pushes himself against Mark and Holly who are in an embarrassing sexual embrace. Holly looks sharply into the eyes of Mark, who looks bewildered and embarrassed. She quickly puts her right hand, on the opposite side of where Treg is, into the section where their crotches, hidden under the dress, are touching. Mark looks even more dazed and embarrassed and instinctively tries to stop her but then gives in as the next moment, she's off him 48
and his pants are sloppily closed. He shifts uncomfortably which gets the attention of the two BOYS and the mother, who, on the far side of THEM, looks very suspiciously and angrily at Mark.

MARK
Sorry, I'm not used to sharing a
cab.

HOLLY
(So only he can hear, smiling)
Nice save.

The MOTHER keeps looking at Mark and Holly with an angry, appalled and disgusted look. The boys both seem unhappy. Everyone is silent as the cab makes its way through the city noise and traffic. Mark looks extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed while Holly looks away toward the driver side mirror with a serious, aloof, almost blank expression. Finally, Mark turns to Holly.

MARK
(quietly)
Listen, why don’t we introduce
ourselves?

He stretches out his hand to shake hers.

MARK
I’m Mark.

Holly looks at him with a mixture of surprise and anger.

HOLLY
Did you forget your pills again,
Mark?


49
MARK
(very bewildered)
What?

HOLLY
Oh, never mind.
(to MOTHER)
Early Alzheimer’s.

MOTHER
(still with angry look)
Is that why you two engage in lewd
and disgusting behavior in public?

HOLLY
I beg your pardon?

MOTHER
I saw what you were doing.

HOLLY
Look ma’am, we’re almost at our
stop. Let’s finish this ride out
in peace if you don’t mind.

The mother is about to say something but then doesn’t and turns her head away disapprovingly. The taxi goes a little bit more, then slows down and stops. Holly turns to Mark with her hand grabbing his wrist.

HOLLY
Come on, Mark, this is where we
get off.

MARK
What’re you talking about? I get
off on the east side.
50
HOLLY
No, Mark, that’s tomorrow. Today,
we’re on the west side.

MARK
What’re you talking about?

HOLLY
(firmly and loudly)
You want my number or don’t you?
(pause)
Then get out with me!”

Holly gets out, tugging Mark’s wrist, and Mark, bewildered, follows her. She slams the door shut and goes to the driver’s window, which is now lowered and hands the driver what looks like a bill or a set of bills.

HOLLY
This is for my friend and me. Have
a nice day.

DRIVER
Thank you, ma’am.

The cab pulls off.

MARK
Thanks.

He reaches in his pocket, pulls out his wallet and looks inside.

MARK
Let me give you something for it.

He pulls out a bill and turns to her but she is nowhere to be seen.
51
TWO WEEKS LATER

INT – NEW YORK CITY COFFEE SHOP DAY

Mark and his friend, JASON, are sitting at a table drinking cups of coffee.

MARK
I haven’t been able to get her out
of my mind.

* * * * * * * * *

From DNC CHAIRMAN:

EXT - WASHINGTON, D.C. DAY, AROUND DAWN

Rain is coming down.

INT - MIKE’S APARTMENT, BEDROOM DAY

An annoying ALARM goes off. It is dark. Mike tosses and turns in bed, stretches again to rouse himself out of bed while the ALARM continues. He finally manages to land his hand on the clock and stops the noise. He looks very messed up and out of sorts but manages to get up. He’s naked.

INT - MIKE’S KITCHEN DAY

He, now in his underwear, turns in circles then goes in the kitchen. He starts to fuss and begins to get coffee together to put it in the coffeemaker and make it. The phone in the living room RINGS. He goes and picks it up.


52
MIKE
(tired sounding)
Hello...

MAN (v.o.)
(filtered)
Morning, Mike...

MIKE
(mumbling)
Morning...

MAN (v.o.)
(filtered)
Mike, Senator Hayes just called.
He says he can’t make it.

MIKE
(still half asleep)
He’s got to make it. Attendance is
mandatory for committee chairs. No
exceptions...

MAN (v.o.)
(filtered)
We don’t have any committee
chairs!

MIKE
Minority leaders... ranking
members... Whatever!

* * *



53
INT - MIKE’S OFFICE DAY

Mike is with Gerri.

GERRI
Alice called me.

MIKE
Alice called you? Why?

GERRI
I think the question you should be
asking is, why haven’t you called
her?

MIKE
Huh? I just spoke to her.

GERRI
Mike, Alice told me about your
conversation. She said you told her
you couldn’t be the man she wanted
you to be.

MIKE
But it’s not because I didn’t want
to. I just know my limitations.

GERRI
Limitations? How dare you?! You go
around the country talking about
how there will be no limitations
to making this country a better
place and doing right by our
people—a very difficult, nearly
impossible task, and yet you dare
to set limitations on your ability
(MORE) 54
GERRY (cont.)
to make the woman who loves you
happy and satisfied?! You sure got
your priorities ass-backward,
Michael Greenbaum.

MIKE
You think I should call her?

GERRI
Of course you should call her! Who
was the last one to call the
other?

MIKE
I don’t remember.

GERRI
Jog your memory a little harder.

MIKE
Oh, it was her.

GERRI
And did you call her since?

MIKE
I didn’t think she wanted me to.

GERRI
What is it about you men, you’re
all alike?! Pay attention to her.
That’s all she wants. You’re lucky
to have someone that good in your
life.

MIKE
But what about the campaign? 55

GERRI
Mike, life is short. I’m running
for President, yet you don’t see
me ignoring my husband. I know you
like to get all consumed with your
work, and believe me, I think this
is a hundred times better than the
half-assed way a lot of people do
things. But, Mike, I think you’ll
find that all the sincerity and
effort you’re putting into this
campaign will pay off even more if
you take the time to enrich that
effort with a little love. Make
her important. Tell her how much
she means to you. Tell her how
lucky you really are to have
someone like her. Those little
things say a lot.

MIKE
All right, I’ll call her right
now... God, I miss her.

GERRI
I’m glad to hear it. I’ll call you
later.

MIKE
Thanks Gerri.

She leaves. He picks up the phone and dials a number.

ALICE (v.o.)
(filtered; excited)
Oh my God, Mike, hi! I didn’t
(MORE) 56
ALICE (v.o.) (cont.)
expect to hear from you. I’m in
the middle of something. I'll call
you right back.

She hangs up. Mike looks at the phone the way someone does when they don’t have a chance to respond. Then the phone buzzes almost immediately. Mike looks curious.

MIKE
(with anticipation)
Yeah, Eileen...

EILEEN (v.o.)
(filtered)
Joe is here to see you.

MIKE
(surprised, a little
crestfallen)
Oh, send him right in.

Joe comes in.

JOE
Hi, Mike, how’s everything going?

MIKE
Just great, Joe. How ‘bout you?

JOE
I’m glad you’re in a good mood.

MIKE
Yeah. Have a seat. Just one thing.
I’m expecting an important phone
call, so we may get interrupted.
57
JOE
That’s okay.

MIKE
So how are our campaigns?

JOE
That’s why I wanted to come in
person to tell you. UPN called me
about an hour ago. They said they
were unable to find the time for
our show after all.

MIKE
(in disbelief)
I thought you said that wasn’t
going to be a problem.

JOE
No, actually, what I remember
saying was things turn on a dime
when it comes to media. I’m so
sorry, Mike. I know how important
this was to you.

MIKE
Was? No it’s not a thing of the
past yet. Don’t give up.

JOE
I’m sorry, Mike, all channels are
completely closed to this show.

MIKE
But why the sudden turnaround?


58
JOE
Well, their official line was that
they couldn’t find a suitable time
slot anywhere for it. What that
usually means is the advertisers
don’t want to put their spots
there.

MIKE
But we have our own spots. We don’t
need the other advertisers.

JOE
It’s not that simple, Mike.
Advertisers have a funny way about
them. They’ll pull the plug on an
entire network that’s running just
one show they don’t like.

MIKE
You mean, they won’t even run ads
on the other programs?


JOE
That’s right.

MIKE
How ardently have you pursued all
paths? What about other networks?

JOE
I doubt any of them will go for it
after already rejecting the idea
out of hand once. But I’ll be glad
to make another pitch.

59
MIKE
Joe, I know this is like banging
your head against a brick wall,
but keep trying to get someone’s
attention.

JOE
I’ll do that but I’m telling you,
it’s a hundred to one, you’re
wasting your time.

MIKE
Well, I’ll take a chance on the
one.

JOE
Mike, I’m telling you as a good
friend and a trusted advisor,
give it up. Let it go.

MIKE
(Looks upset)
All right, Joe.

JOE
Welcome to politics, Mr. Chairman.

He walks out. Mike sits still, staring blankly for a very long time.

His cell phone RINGS, breaking the long silence. Mike continues to sit, staring as if in shock. After about four RINGS, he answers the phone.

MIKE
Hi...
60
ALICE (v.o.)
(filtered)
Hi... You sound like a different
person.

MIKE
The network rejected our reality
show. They won’t give it air time.

INTERCUT - INT - ALICE’S OFFICE DAY

ALICE
Oh... Is this a bad time? Would
you rather... Why don’t you call
me when you feel like talking?

MIKE
No, wait. I do wanna talk. Now I
need you more than ever.

ALICE
Because your little game plan fell
through?

MIKE
It was a big game plan.

ALICE
I’m sorry... I just don’t wanna
feel like... You know... Second
banana... The girl you’ll come to
only when the chips are down.

MIKE
I just found out about this after
I called you before. That’s why I
sound like a different person. I
(MORE) 61
MIKE (cont.)
was really into this, Alice. I was
sure we could get this going and
it was so important because
without it now, the Republicans
will always have the advantage.

ALICE
Oh, I don’t know about that. You
gotta have faith. You were talking
about being the real Christian
Party. Well, faith is what being
Christian is all about. Faith is
what keeps you going.

MIKE
You’re so right. I miss you.

ALICE
I miss you too.

MIKE
What are you doing this evening?

ALICE
I’ll just go home, curl up with a
good book, see if anything
exciting’s on TV... You know, the
usual. How ‘bout you? You’ve
probably got meetings, phone
calls...

MIKE
(interrupts)
Alice...

Alice continues as if not hearing him.
62
ALICE
...speeches to write...

MIKE
I say everything off the cuff...
natural.

ALICE
Well, that’s efficient. It gives
you more time to do all those
other million things you can’t
live without, that the world will
come to an end if you don't...

Mike interrupts.

MIKE
Alice, I want to see you tonight.

ALICE
Oh, I don’t want it to be on my
conscience that the world fell
apart because I stopped you from
saving it.

MIKE
Let it be on mine, then.

ALICE
You’re right. You do talk well off
the cuff. Your sweet talk is
pleasantly intoxicating.

MIKE
I’m glad it’s working. Because it’s
how I really feel in my heart.

63
ALICE
I know. Sincerity you never lacked.

MIKE
So will you have dinner with me?

ALICE
Yes.

INT - MIKE’S OFFICE DAY

Mike is with Joe.

MIKE
Joe, I appreciate your coming in on
such short notice.

JOE
No problem. I figured you wanted to
map out a new game plan.

MIKE
Exactly. This is what I’ve decided
to do. We’re going to start the
debates early. Like ASAP. And we’re
going to make our united Party the
focus.

JOE
Well, I’ll say one thing for you,
you don’t like to make things
easy. You know, you’re going to
have to convince not only the
networks but also your own
candidates. They may not want to
be overshadowed by the Party.

64
MIKE
Well, let that be my problem, Joe.
You deal with the networks. Also,
I want to moderate.

JOE
That could be a very tall order.
First, let’s get this scheduled.

MIKE
Joe, you’re a really good media
person. But you always seem eager
to compromise.

JOE
That’s how you get things done.

MIKE
And make sure to get as many of
these debate shows as you can.

* * *

(At one of the Presidential Debates)

GERRI
A President who refuses to change
course at all is as useless as a
driver who makes a wrong turn yet
refuses to stop and seek
directions when he’s clearly lost.
To see this as an either-or
situation, where we either stay on
this same course with no end in
sight...

65
BLIK
(interrupting)
Excuse me, the defeat of these
terrorists is the end in sight. It
is clearly in my sight and in the
sight of many Americans. It’s just
that too many of you Democrats see
this in terms of a set number of
months or years. You don’t pay a
carpenter or a plumber to work a
set number of hours. You don’t tell
a car mechanic, “Do what you can
in 8 hours.” No! You want a fully
repaired car. We have to defeat
terrorism.

GERRI
Oh, come on, John, this is, if
you’ll excuse me, crap. This enemy
is embraced by this government in
so many countries, Saudi Arabia,
Afghanistan, by abandoning it to
go into Iraq, and even in America
by our failure to secure our ports
and our laxity in real security as
a result of your tax cuts which
you prided yourself on making
permanent the other day. So don’t
even go there. You have no war on
terror. You’re just shoring up and
consolidating power and vast
wealth for yourselves. I don’t
even want to hear these lame
arguments anymore. And I know
America is tired of hearing them
as well!

HUGE APPLAUSE. 66

BLIK
You’re an expert at taking
conspiracy theories and crafting
them into well-reasoned sounding
rhetoric.

GERRI
John, reality check here. These
are facts, they’re not conspiracy
theories.

* * *

EXT - IRISH COUNTRYSIDE, ROAD DAY

CLOSE-UP - INT - MOVING CAR DAY

Mike and Alice are driving. The scene is extremely picturesque, with sparse, early-spring greenery amid a breathtaking landscape.
MIKE
I didn’t realize how amazing your
country is. I mean, we’ve been
driving for a couple of hours
already and it’s been breathtaking
everywhere. I love it.

ALICE
I’m glad you like it. Let’s put on
some music.

She turns on the radio and looks for a station. It turns out to be talk.



67
IRISH REPORTER (v.o.)
(filtered)
...just in from America. In a very
heated and close 3-way race in the
Democratic primary in the state of
Illinois, a winner has been
declared. We go now to our
correspondent in Washington, John
Mulloy.

MIKE
(impatiently)
Who is it?

MULLOY (v.o.)
(filtered)
This is John Mulloy reporting from
Washington. In what turned out to
be a stunningly close race in the
Democratic primary elections here
in the U.S., they have finally
declared a winner in the very close
Illinois primary. After a long
night where the result seemed to go
back and forth among the candidates
with a lot of recounting and
lawyers for all 3 of the candidates
looking hard for evidence of vote
fraud, the winner turned out to be
Gerri Harrison.

MIKE
Finally.
MULLOY (v.o.)
(filtered)
This was a big boost to the
Senator’s campaign because had she
68
MULLOY (v.o.) (cont.)
not won here, this would have
effectively put her tally way
behind that of her rivals. As it
now stands, it’s an extremely
tight race, at 836 delegates
committed to Light, 810 to Parker
and now 831 to Harrison.

MIKE
(with utter surprise)
Boy, Bill really dropped.

MULLOY (v.o.)
(filtered)
As you can see, there was plenty
of reason for the tense mood
between the campaigns as this race
was tallied up. There was and is a
lot of bitterness among Illinois
Democrats. By the official tally,
the gap between the 3 candidates
came to no more than 1,000 votes
in this heavily populated state
made up mostly of Democrats. That’s
a very small margin, much smaller
than the 55,000 vote win for
Harrison over Light in Pennsylvania
earlier.

* * *

EXT - DOOR OF A HOUSE DAY

Mike and Alice are there. The door opens. COUSIN KATIE, a woman in her 30’s, is there.
69
KATIE
(suddenly becoming excited)
Alice!

Katie throws her hands around Alice and they embrace.

ALICE
Hi, Katie.

KATIE
It’s so good to see you.

AUNT KAYLA, a woman in her 60s approaches the doorway.

AUNT KAYLA
Who’s there?

KATIE
It’s cousin Alice.

INT - DINNER TABLE NIGHT

Mike, Alice, Katie, Kayla and SEVERAL FAMILY MEMBERS, OF 3 GENERATIONS are sitting around a table.

AUNT KAYLA
(looking penetratingly
at Mike)
So have you set the date?

Alice turns extremely red and tense.

ALICE
(abruptly)
We haven’t set an official date
yet.

70
INT – SMALL BEDROOM NIGHT

Mike and Alice are alone together, standing near the bed, both looking very slightly embarrassed.

ALICE
I’m sorry about the whole thing
about marriage and all.

MIKE
That’s okay. That’s important to
your aunt.

ALICE
You know, now that’s it out
there...

MIKE
What?

ALICE
Well, you never asked me.

MIKE
Oh, I’ve just been so busy...

ALICE
What? You’re too busy for me?

MIKE
Why are you getting all upset? You
know what it’s been like.

ALICE
Mike, do you realize what you just
said?
71
He starts to respond but she puts her open hand on his chest to stop him.

ALICE
I mean, there was a reason I wanted
us to get away and spend some time
together.
(starting to get
choked up with
emotion and tears)
But I guess you didn’t see that.
MIKE
(tenderly)
Are you mad because someone else
brought up marriage before I did?

ALICE
(in tears)
Mike, I was really hoping we’d find
a way to move to the next step.

MIKE
We can move to the next step.

ALICE
(suddenly hope
in her eyes)
We can?

MIKE
Yeah.

ALICE
You’re not just saying that to make
me feel better.


72
MIKE
Of course I’m...no wait a minute,
we’ve been down that road.

He suddenly gets down on his knees.

MIKE
Alice...

ALICE
(eyes sparkling
with newfound hope)
Yes?

MIKE
You’ve been the light in my life,
the beacon of hope through all the
madness of Washington politics. If
it weren’t for you, I’d probably
have gone crazy by now. Since I’ve
been with you, I’ve really been
the luckiest man alive. And you’re
so gorgeous on top of that.

She smiles at him with a little embarrassment.

MIKE
Alice...

ALICE
Yes? What is it Mike?

MIKE
Alice Kelly O’Reilly... Will you
marry me?

ALICE
What was that? 73

MIKE
Will you marry me?

ALICE
(throws her arms
around him)
Oh, I will, I will, yes. I’ve got
to tell Katie.

She runs out of the room like a schoolgirl. Mike’s phone RINGS. He answers it.

MIKE
Hello...

STEVE, A DNC OFFICIAL (v.o.)
(filtered)
Mike, it’s Steve.

MIKE
Hey, Steve, guess what? Alice and
I are getting married.
Oh that’s great. Congratulations! I
wish I could revel with you but
unfortunately we have a very tense
situation here at the DNC.

MIKE
Oh no, what’s going on?

STEVE (v.o.)
(filtered)
Someone put a very hostile ad on
the Internet toward Gerri and
endorsed it as from the Parker
campaign.
74
MIKE
Did you see the ad?

STEVE (v.o.)
(filtered)
Yes I did. It’s now one of You
Tube's most popular videos.

MIKE
Does it verbally condemn Gerri?

STEVE (v.o.)
(filtered)
It calls her a “self-centered
power-hungry woman”.

MIKE
Has anybody claimed responsibility
for it?

STEVE (v.o.)
(filtered)
No, but Phil’s already issued a
strong statement condemning the
Parker campaign. Drew did issue a
official statement denying any
responsibility.

MIKE
Steve, can you handle this one? Do
you need me to speak to Gerri or
Bill?

Alice and Katie walk in.



75
STEVE (v.o.)
(filtered)
It’s beyond that now. The media is
on top of this one and it looks
like we’re in big trouble.

MIKE
So you’re saying you need me to
make a press statement. Let me
type something up and email you.

Alice starts to look a little worried.

STEVE (v.o.)
(filtered)
You’ve gotta come back.

MIKE
I can’t. I’m getting married.

Alice smiles but with concern.

STEVE (v.o.)
(filtered)
Oh, this is really bad timing. Let
me see what I can do and get back.

They hang up.

ALICE
What’s going on?

MIKE
Alice, I hate to tell you this,but
there’s trouble back home. We may
have to leave early.

76
ALICE
Oh, no. How early?

MIKE
Somebody put out a very slanderous
ad about Gerri, endorsing Bill...

ALICE
Can’t they handle that until you’re
back?

MIKE
The media’s all over it now. Alice,
it’s not going to go away.

ALICE
So what are you saying, we’ve got
to cancel the wedding?

MIKE
Not cancel, just...

Mike’s cell phone RINGS.

MIKE
Steve asked me back. Nobody’s ever
done that.
(answers it nervously)
Hello...

LARRY (v.o.)
(filtered)
Mike, I just spoke to Steve.

MIKE
Aren’t you gonna offer me
congratulations and best wishes?
77
LARRY (v.o.)
(filtered)
No time for that. Mike, this is
serious. You have to come home now.

MIKE
I can’t Larry. This is a delicate
moment for me and Alice.

LARRY (v.o.)
(filtered)
Mike, would I be calling you, were
it not absolutely crucial?

MIKE
First of all, it’s at least three
hours to the nearest city, Galway.

LARRY (v.o.)
(filtered)
Then we’ll have a plane there for
you in four hours. Can you swing
it?

MIKE
You better let me speak to Alice.

LARRY (v.o.)
(filtered)
Hurry up. Swift action means all
the difference.

MIKE
All right.
(hangs up)
I’m sorry, baby, the most
intelligent man in the Party says
(MORE) 78
MIKE (cont.)
I need to get back ASAP. We’ll
definitely get married as soon as
I clean up this mess.

ALICE
(crestfallen)
No we won’t. It’ll be something
else.

MIKE
No baby, I really mean it.

ALICE
Mike, it’s that same story again.
How many times have we been through
this? You know, maybe this is
really the best thing for me. That
way I can see what I’d be getting
into.

MIKE
No, come on, you’ve gotta have
faith. I love you.

ALICE
I'm sorry, Mike.

MIKE
But I love you.

ALICE
It’s got nothing to do with love.
It’s will you be there. I’m sorry,
Mike, your life is just too
complicated. You need a superwoman.
I just want what every girl
deserves. 79

MIKE
(heartbroken, lost)
Maybe I...If I don’t go back,
that’s the end for me.

ALICE
That’s okay Mike, do what your
heart tells you. Don’t fool me or
anyone else. If you go back, I’ll
totally respect you for your
commitment to what you believe in.
I’ll probably still even love you
because I’m a fool. But I need
more. I gotta look out for myself.
But please don’t stand here and
tell me that’s the end for you.
You’ve just got a choice to make.
It’s not an easy one but you’ve
gotta make it and you’ve gotta
live with it. That’s what life’s
all about. Compromises.

Mike stands with shoulders hunched over forward.

ALICE
It’ll be okay, Mike. You’ll be
okay. I’ll be okay. We just gotta
go on. I really appreciate the
effort you did make for me. And I
realize it’s not your fault that
you can’t give me what I want. But
the fact is you can’t. We have
different lives. I can’t be an
appendage to a saint.

She stops. There is silence, stillness.
80
ALICE
Mike, go ahead, make your call.
Don’t make this any harder than it
has to be.

Mike’s phone RINGS.

ALICE
Well, how ‘bout that for timing?

MIKE
(like he’s
been punched)
Hello...

LARRY (v.o.)
(filtered)
Well, did you make your mind up?

MIKE
Larry, you’re a cruel bastard.

LARRY (v.o.)
(filtered)
Welcome to politics, Chairman. It’s
about time you woke up to reality.
So are you in or out?

MIKE
Alice already...

Larry interrupts.

LARRY (v.o.)
(filtered)
She’s there right now, I take it.

81
MIKE
Yeah, she just said I have to make
a choice.

LARRY (v.o.)
(filtered)
I said that to you months ago.
(pause)
So what’s it to be? The bells of
rapture? Or the stench of the shit
hole?

MIKE
Well, when you put it like that,
it sounds like an easy choice.

LARRY (v.o.)
(filtered)
Let me put it to you another way.
If you leave Alice, there’s still
a chance that she might come back,
even if it’s slim. But if you leave
the DNC, you’ll lose this
opportunity forever. Does that
help?

ALICE
Mike, go. I want you to go. If you
give up your dream for me, you’ll
never be happy.

MIKE
But I’ll never be happy without
you.

LARRY (v.o.)
(filtered)
What? 82

MIKE
Hang on Larry. Alice, I’m really
torn.

ALICE
Mike, if you quit this thing to
stay with me, you’ll be miserable.
If we split apart, sure we’ll both
be miserable for a time, but we’ll
move on with our lives and we’ll
be okay.

MIKE
All right, Larry, I’m coming.

LARRY (v.o.)
(filtered)
I’m sorry Mike it has to happen
this way. But this is only the
first of many tragedies you’re
about to experience.

INT - AIRPORT TERMINAL ARRIVAL AREA NIGHT

A weary, haggard Mike Greenbaum comes out with his luggage. He’s immediately greeted by Larry, STEVE, Joe and several other DNC staffers.

MIKE
Hey, guys, nice of you all to come
greet me like this. I’ve just been
forced to break up with my fiancée
after barely proposing to her.

JOE
Barely? You mean naked?
83


MIKE
I’m not in the mood Joe. I’ve been
through severe insulin shock thanks
to so much else being on my mind
that I forgot to check my blood
sugar. I’m on reverse jetlag which
means it’s 6 o'clock in the morning
Irish time, which means I’ve gotten
next to no sleep for the past 24
hours. Shall I go on?

LARRY
Mike, we all really appreciate what
you’ve just done. That tells me
more than anything you’ve done up
to this point - That tells me that
you’ll fight for the Party no
matter what, even when the chips
are down. And boy are they ever.

MIKE
Now, Larry, what kind of magic is
it that I’m supposed to do here
that none of you can do?

LARRY
You’re not supposed to do any kind
of magic. All you can do is stand
up there and have the rotten eggs
thrown at you while you do damage
control. We realize you’re not the
best person at this and we realize
that you’ll probably fall on your
face no matter what you try to say.
But we also realize that this is
(MORE) 84
LARRY (cont.)
where your naïve optimism is really
needed to win back voters.

MIKE
Well I hate to disillusion you,
Larry, but I’m a total failure. You
should have replaced me long ago.

LARRY
If I believed that, I would never
have called you. How’s the speech
you wrote?
MIKE
What speech?

STEVE
You said you’d work on something.

MIKE
Forgive me, Steve. So much has
happened in the last 24 hours, it’s
hard to remember all the details.
You’ll have to brief me on
everything and show me clips.

LARRY
Oh that we intend to in whatever
time we have. For now, though,
you’ve got press upon you, so think
fast on your feet.

All of a sudden REPORTERS are noticeable moving towards the group. A REPORTER points Mike out to other REPORTERS.

REPORTER
There he is.
85
MIKE
(to Larry)
I feel like I became a superhero.

LARRY
(in low voice)
You did. You just notice it more
now because you went away and came
back. The exact opposite will
happen to you in an even shorter
period of time.

MIKE
(to reporters)
Hello, gentlemen, ladies. This is
Mike Greenbaum here.

The REPORTERS look curiously at each other.

MIKE
I’ve been on vacation so I’m just
getting back in gear. I understand
that while the cat was away, the
mice played.

The REPORTERS burst out laughing.

MALE REPORTER 1
Did you have a nice vacation?

MIKE
I’m not here to talk about that.
I’m here because I understand a
couple of my people did what any
normal person would under very
stressful circumstances. It’s a
very human thing.
86
WOMAN REPORTER 1
Mr. Chairman, Gerri Harrison is on
record saying that Bill Parker is
a—and I quote—“mean-spirited devil
dedicated to destroying my campaign
and the good-natured,compatible
spirit of this race”.

MIKE
(relaxed)
Did she say that?

WOMAN REPORTER 1
And I have Bill Parker on record
saying that Gerri Harrison is a—
quote—“liar who stole votes from me
in the Illinois primary and is
intent on breaking the rules of
honest and fair elections.”

MIKE
I think anyone who’s a parent knows
how brothers and sisters sometimes
really fight mean. But that they
really love each other deep down.

WOMAN REPORTER 2
But these are fully grown adults.

MIKE
That’s okay. We’re all children at
heart, deep down. I’m sure the
pleasure you’re all deriving from
this mess is making your day as
well.


87
WOMAN REPORTER 3
I have more comments from the two
candidates.

MALE REPORTER 2
Is it true that your girlfriend
dumped you in Ireland?

MIKE
I don’t think that’s any business
of yours. We’re not here to talk
about my girlfriend.

WOMAN REPORTER 3
Bill Parker said—and I quote—“Gerri
Harrison is running a pathetic
campaign in the face of little to
no accomplishment in her years of
public service...”

The reporters are swarming and vying to get in questions.

MIKE
(in much louder voice)
The people know both Gerri and
Bill are absolutely amazing public
officials who have done so much for
this country. They will remember
that when they vote.

* * *

EXT - FRONT OF BART AND AMY’S HOME DAY

A NEWS TEAM is there with Bart.

88
REPORTER
I’m here with Bart Henning, the
husband of Amy Henning, who was
a 17-year-old law student of
Justice Harrison 12 years ago
while Senator Harrison was
campaigning for her Senate seat.
In a shocking revelation, Bart
claims that Justice Harrison had
sex with Amy at that time. Bart,
what can you tell me about that?

BART
From what she told me, she was
engrossed in her study when he
came over to her. She explained
that she was putting together an
argument for a case. While she was
getting into the details, before
she realized it, she found him
coming on to her.

INT - HARRISON CAMPAIGN HDQTRS DAY

Gerri is standing and talking with a staff member, PATTY BOYLESTON.

GERRI
Where’s Mike?

PATTY
He overslept. He said he wasn’t
feeling well. Are you okay with
all this?

GERRI
Well you know what they say. If
(MORE) 89
GERRI (cont.)
you can’t take the heat, don’t get
in the fire.

INT - HARRISON CAMPAIGN HDQTRS DAY - LATER

Mike stumbles into the office, where everyone is.

MIKE
Please don’t be mad at me. My
sugars have been all over the place
again. I just had to sleep. It’s
crazy. What’s going on?

PATTY
We don’t have a clue about this
story.

MIKE
You mean you don’t know who
originated it? This is weird.
They’re going after John. Not you.
I think they’re trying to make you
invisible.

PATTY
H’mmm. You might be onto something.
But are you sure this is part of
the same campaign as those other
stories about John?

MIKE
People never liked John because he
has very strong positions.
Together with Gerri, they’re a
formidable couple.

90
PATTY
Yeah...

MIKE
They’re trying to marginalize Gerri
by attacking John. If they attacked
her, the attention would be on her.
And then her numbers would go up.
She’d come off as a woman who’s
being bullied and pushed around by
a bunch of men. You see how
brilliant?

PATTY
H’mmm...fascinating. I agree. Woman
tend to be made invisible. We have
to change that quickly.

GERRI
Hang on a second, both of you. I’m
getting a little uncomfortable
about the fact that this young
woman is not saying anything.

PATTY
Well, yeah, that’s the point.
They’re marginalizing her, a woman.
She’s not even being given a chance
to be in the spotlight.

GERRI
Not being given the chance? Or not
taking the chance?

They give her mystified looks.


91
GERRI
I thought at first this was their
latest smear tactic, but I’m
beginning to wonder if there isn’t
some truth to this.

MIKE & PATTY
(almost at same time)
What?

GERRI
Why would a young girl, a young
woman like that, not be so eager to
come forward? If it’s not true as
you say, wouldn’t she have no
problem either playing it up
along with them or denying it?

MIKE
Maybe she’s not as good at lying
as they are.

GERRI
Oh, come on. They wouldn’t cast
their story so badly.

MIKE
(looks at her intently)
You mean, John...

PATTY
That isn’t like him.

GERRI
It’s okay, you don’t have to
protect me. Something just doesn’t
feel right. I think she’s staying
(MORE) 92
GERRI (cont.)
away from the camera because it’s
the truth.

MIKE
Wow... Well you’re certainly
taking it very well.

PATTY
He just doesn’t fit the picture.

GERRI
You don’t know men.

She quickly and deliberately dials a number on her cell. The (internal) phone RINGS.

JOHN
(filtered)
Hi, honey... I’m so sorry...

GERRI
(with calm anger)
You’re sorry? What are you sorry
about, John?

JOHN (v.o.)
(filtered)
That they’ve stooped this low to
fuck with us on a personal level.

GERRI
Uh-huh... So you think they’re
fucking with us...

JOHN (v.o.)
(filtered)
Well, yeah, what else could it be? 93

GERRI
I don’t know, John, why don’t you
tell me? There seems to be a lot
of fucking going on lately...

JOHN (v.o.)
(filtered)
You don’t mean to tell me you
believe this nonsense?

GERRI
It doesn’t mean anything to you
that the accusation is being made
by the husband of the girl you’re
accused of having the affair with
while the girl is keeping
completely mute?

JOHN (v.o.)
(filtered)
You lost me. That makes the whole
thing even more outlandish.

GERRI
And you’re supposed to be one of
the best legal minds. If after all
this, I still make it to the White
House, I’m going to fill the Court
with women. Listen to me carefully,
John. I know it’s hard but try to
put yourself in the shoes of that
young woman. You’ve just been
presented to the public as having
been molested, having an affair,
whatever it was, with a married
man. And on top of that, this
(MORE) 94
GERRI (cont.)
married man is a famous person with
a lot of prestige and clout. Now,
assuming this story is a complete
fabrication, what would be the
first thing you would want to do?

JOHN (v.o.)
(filtered)
Deny it.

GERRI
Touché. Now let’s say you were the
same girl but you wanted to hurt
us politically. Then, what would
be the first thing that you’d want
to do after your husband made these
damaging charges?

JOHN (v.o.)
(filtered)
Well, the political department is
more your forte, not mine.

GERRI
All right, let me put it another
way. And don’t forget, this young
woman who you are alleged to have
had sex with is no political hack
either. Now you want to hurt my
chance to get elected. Would you
corroborate the accusation along
with your husband or would you
refuse an interview.



95
JOHN (v.o.)
(filtered)
Which of the two is more
believable?

GERRI
You tell me.

INTERCUT – INT - JOHN AND GERRI’S HOUSE DAY

JOHN
You think I had sex with her
because she’s not saying anything?

GERRI
(annoyed sounding)
I’m not saying I think that.

JOHN
(getting upset)
Well do you or don’t you think
that? You don’t have to get
political with me. You’re not
saying you think this? Why don’t
you just tell me straight what you
think?

GERRI
Excuse me, who’s not telling who
straight? Why don’t you tell me
straight whether you had sex with
her or not?

JOHN
(exasperated)
All right. I did not have sex with
that woman.
96
GERRI
(smiling)
What a classic choice of words.
Where did I hear that before?

JOHN
You said to be straight.

GERRI
Never mind. Let’s go back to that
original train of thought. The girl
doesn’t want to grant an interview
at all. If nothing happened, why is
she not coming forward?

JOHN
Because that way it looks more
like something really did happen.

GERRI
John, how dumb do you think I am?
I went to law school too, remember?
I know all the tricks of mind
manipulation, remember? Or did you
forget everything that came before
that hot, lusty affair?

EXT - YOUNGSTOWN STREET DAY

Gerri is walking and stopping and shaking people’s hands. She shakes hands with a woman in her mid 40s.

WOMAN
Hi! I think you are handling this
whole affair very well. I for one
applaud you.

Suddenly she feels a tap from behind and turns her head. It's Jake, her campaign staff manager.

JAKE
(quietly to Gerri)
I’ve got some important news.

GERRI
(to people on the street)
I’m really sorry, something came
up.
(moving away,
quietly to Jake)
What’s going on?

JAKE
The young woman finally spoke. She
said she did have an affair with
John. It’s all over the news.
They’ve preempted everything. I’m
really sorry Gerri.

INT - GERRI’S CAMPAIGN OFFICE NIGHT

Mike and Gerri are alone.

MIKE
I don’t know what to tell you
Gerri. This is like when straight
up becomes backwards up in rock
climbing, you know what I mean?

GERRI
Yeah, I kinda get the picture.

MIKE
You know what? Cancel any
(MORE) 88
MIKE (cont.)
appearances after this for now and
let’s regroup. I'll fly back to
Washington and talk to John and
maybe if he cooperates, we can move
this thing along faster.

GERRI
All right, thanks Mike.

She exhales, releasing tension.

GERRI
I’ve been needing some downtime
since forever.

* * *

INT - JOHN’S CAR NIGHT

He’s driving and Amy is in the passenger seat.

JOHN
These decisions and later decisions
about what is constitutional are
part of an elaborate discussion
that will always be open-ended and
will go on long after our
lifetimes.

AMY
Would you call yourself a moral
relativist?

JOHN
I would call myself a moral
(MORE) 99
JOHN (cont.)
absolutist in the body of an
interpretive relativist.

AMY
What does that mean?

JOHN
That means that there are definite
principles that are absolutely
right or wrong but there is no
definitive document or set of words
that will give you a clear answer.

The car ride becomes a little bumpy and they shake up and down.

INT - JOHN’S AND GERRI’S BEDROOM NIGHT

John and Amy are in the dark undressing each other as they kiss passionately and caress each other. They do this for a while and then she pulls him on top of her and they have sex. She, unable to control herself, begins to make SOFT BREATHING NOISES, and as they go at it and he gets more into it, she finds herself making low-volume MOANING SOUNDS every now and then, but the BREATHING SOUNDS are more consistent. After a while, he then MOANS in a low harmony to her SOUNDS.

END FLASHBACK - DISSOLVE BACK TO PRESENT DAY SCENE WITH CLOSEUP OF JOHN’S FACE, which now starts to come unfixed and moving. ZOOM OUT.

JOHN
I did do it. I made a big mistake.
I'll resign. I'll do what I can to
save Gerri’s campaign.


100
MIKE
(still emotional)
There’s nothing you can do to save
Gerri’s campaign. Just stay away
from it. And stay away from her.

INT - MIKE’S APARTMENT NIGHT

Mike enters. He turns on the light. Things look a mess, all over the place. He throws his coat down on the mess and sits on the sofa brooding. He starts looking through papers, clippings and magazines near him. As he reads one thing, he tosses it in disgust and picks up another. He picks up a piece of paper on which is written, “...so if you take faith in this Gohonzon and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo even for a while, no prayer will go unanswered...” He tosses that paper just like the others, then reconsiders and picks it up and rereads it: “...so if you take faith in this Gohonzon and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo even for a while, no prayer will go unanswered... ” He then turns it over and reads: “By chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with confidence in our innate Buddhahood—or highest human potential—we can dispel self-doubt, challenge our problems courageously and reveal our innate wisdom and compassion.” He reads on, “We believe that happiness is being able to experience profound joy that comes from never being defeated by any problems in life.” Then, “‘I have learned the power of determination. I have learned to never give up.’” He rereads it intently, focusing on the paper. Then he picks up a phone and dials a number.

INT - JOHN AND GERRI’S HOUSE NIGHT

Gerri enters. She is exhausted, tense and angry. John comes out, looking guiltier than ever.

JOHN
Hi...
101
She gives him a very angry look and then puts her stuff down. She then picks them up again and proceeds to go upstairs.

JOHN
(apologetic sounding)
Let me help you.

He then follows her up the stairs as she ignores him.

JOHN
I know this is not enough, but I’m
really, really sorry about all
this. I’ve been a real failure and
I’m going to hand in my resignation
right away.

She keeps walking up the stairs and into the BEDROOM and puts the things down.

JOHN
Let’s go out and have a real nice
romantic dinner. I'll give you a
massage.

GERRI
(suddenly, shockingly
with anger and vehemence)
Don’t talk to me!

JOHN
I'll go.


GERRI
No, don’t bother. I don’t wanna
hang around here. I couldn’t
stomach it.
102
She nervously dumps out the dirty clothes from the bag and goes and gets a bunch of clean ones.

GERRI
Sorry for the mess. I'll call my
valet service and have them pick it
up. Just make sure to let them in
please.

JOHN
Of course.

She continues to pack items for a long trip.

GERRI
I'll be spending the night with
Mike. We are going to regroup and
figure this whole thing out.

JOHN
You sure you don’t want to talk
this through?

GERRI
You kept me in the dark for twelve
years. Now it’s your turn to wait.

She goes into the bathroom and makes up her face so it looks really attractive. She then reaches into the back of the cabinet and pulls out a fragrance bottle from way in the back and applies it lightly.

INT - OUTSIDE THE DOOR TO MIKE’S APARTMENT NIGHT

Gerri is standing there. The door is slightly ajar. His voice REVERBERATES throughout the house. He is CHANTING in a loud, fervent, almost angry VOICE, over and over and over.
103
MIKE (o.s.)
(chanting rhythmically)
fervently, over and over)
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, nam-myoho
renge-kyo, nam-myoho-renge-kyo,
nam-myoho-renge-kyo... (continues)

INT - MIKE’S APARTMENT NIGHT

As he chants, he puts his hands in front of him clasped together in a reverential position. Gerri, now inside, stands there, unnoticed by him, for a little while, completely startled and taking it in. After a little while, she taps him on the shoulder. Suddenly, noticing that she’s there, he stops, leaving a DISTINCT QUIET.

GERRI
(smiling)
I see I startled you.

MIKE
(embarrassed)
Oh, I’m sorry.

GERRI
No, I’m intrigued. What is that
that you were chanting there?

MIKE
I can’t believe I left the door
open.

GERRI
It’s okay.

He gets up and closes the door. She puts her stuff down.

104
GERRI
So what was that?

MIKE
Oh, it’s Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, a
Buddhist chant I learned many years
ago.

GERRI
Oh, really? What does it mean?

MIKE
I’m not totally sure of the exact
meaning, but I do feel something
when I chant. I feel hope. So I
figured we’re so beyond hope now
that...

GERRI
H’mmm.

MIKE
But we have to keep this a complete
secret. Don’t tell anyone. I don’t
want to lose the Christian voters.

GERRI
This thing must be working already.
I wasn’t aware that we had any
Christian voters at this point.

MIKE
Oh, we have lots. Don’t be fooled
by external appearances.

GERRI
H’mmm. Seems to have boosted your
(MORE) 105
GERRI (cont.)
confidence too. Maybe I should try
it.

MIKE
Sure. Here, sit down.

She does so.

MIKE
I’m sorry the place is a mess.

GERRI
Oh, please, we’ve both been through
a lot. I think we both need to
relax. Big time. I could really use
a glass of wine.

MIKE
Let me see what I have.

He goes over to his cabinet.

MIKE
I’ve got an old bottle of... How
‘bout a 1996 Merlot?

GERRI
Please, anything but that year.

MIKE
All right, then, I have a... 1986
Cabernet?

GERRI
Okay. I was kidding, but that
sounds fine.
106
He opens up the bottle and brings it over to the table. Then he goes and gets two wine glasses. He pours the wine in each. She looks at him, already starting to look better and raises her glass.

GERRI
To us. To total victory.

MIKE
(raising his glass)
To total victory.

They drink up. Gerri laughs and relaxes. Mike just sits there, deep in thought.

GERRI
(nudging him)
Come on, drink up. Oh, maybe you
shouldn’t. Will this affect your
diabetes?

MIKE
Well, it’s a dry wine. It
shouldn’t raise my blood sugar too
much.

GERRI
How is your blood sugar?

MIKE
Don’t ask. Let’s just relax. After
all we’ve been through.

She looks concerned and serious but then breathes out and relaxes again. Each sips the wine while the other talks.


107
MIKE
‘Member when you came up to me and
said you really believed in me
when everyone else was attacking
me or trying to change me?

GERRI
I can top that. You ‘member when
you were suspicious that everyone
was following you and tried to
cancel our dinner plans?

MIKE
Seems like it was just yesterday.
In fact, it seems like everyone is
still following us and trying to
foil our plans.
(pouring wine into
her glass)
Here, drink up some more.

GERRI
Thanks, Mike.

She moves her chair closer to him. He reaches his hand to her and starts to caress her on the neck, then runs his hand through her hair.

GERRI
(surprised)
I see you’re a fast mover.

MIKE
I’m a hot dude.

GERRI
(laughing)
- Well... Yes, you are. 108

They move closer. He puts his arm around her, turning red.

GERRI
Mike...

MIKE
Yes, my dear...

GERRI
Do you think we have a chance?

MIKE
Well, hang on. You haven’t even
left him yet. Let’s not worry
about that until we have to.

GERRI
Come on, that’s not what I meant.

MIKE
I know. But what the hell? I just
wanted to be virile and sexual
with you to ease the tension.

GERRI
I see. Is that what it takes to
ease your tension?

MIKE
Yeah, we men need a little bit
more than just a good Cabernet.

GERRI
(laughing)
You can say that again.

109
MIKE
But...do we have a chance to win
the White House?
(pauses)
No.

GERRI
You’re giving up?

MIKE
I didn’t say I was giving up. I
just said we don’t have a prayer.

GERRI
So what’s the point of going on?

MIKE
Well, that’s why I was chanting. I
was hoping to find out. Because we
have to win. There’s no way we
can’t win.

GERRI
I lost you.

MIKE
Because those people told me, no
prayer goes unanswered if you
chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. So
therefore, we now have to win
because I chanted.

GERRI
What if the other side chants?

MIKE
Oh I never thought of that. I guess
(MORE) 110
MIKE (cont.)
I'll just have to chant harder. But
I don't see them ever chanting.
It's too radical.

GERRI
I was just kidding.

MIKE
Don't worry. We’ll win. We have to.
We’re America’s only hope. We can’t
let this thing bring us down. We’ve
got to campaign like hell. So let’s
drink up, enjoy tonight and then
hit the trail running tomorrow.
What d’you say?

GERRI
Sounds like a plan.

MIKE
Okay.

He pours more wine and puts his arm around Gerri, pulling her head on his shoulder. They drink up. He caresses her.

GERRI
That feels real nice.

They continue to enjoy themselves in this way and then seem to be about to kiss.
FADE OUT.

INT - SUPREME COURT PRESS ROOM NIGHT

John walks out in his robe.

111
JOHN
Good evening. I come before you
tonight with profound and deep
pain, regret and apology concerning
my unforgivable behavior 12 years
ago. I am truly sorry to have put
America through this terrible
debacle over the past week. But I
most of all want to apologize
deeply to Amy Henning for my
unforgivable actions 12 years ago
and for the terrible effect it has
had on her life. Amy, I wish more
than anything I could turn back
the hands of time. I betrayed your
trust in the law of the land as one
of its most entrusted protectors. I
also hurt and betrayed my wife.
Gerri, I know that to ask your
forgiveness now is really out of
line but I also know that not to
mention how truly sorry I am is
worse. A couple of nights ago, you
asked me to resign my position on
the Court in order to spare
America having to be encumbered in
this mess at a time when vital
issues are of utmost importance. I
have thought long and hard about
the serious weight of my mistake
and how it impacts my ability to
fairly hear the very serious cases
that are of the utmost importance.
In my capacity as a Justice, I
have served our nation infallibly.
I have been asked to resign not
because of any impediment this
(MORE) 117
JOHN (cont.)
twelve year old crime had on my
ability to serve as a Justice but
rather because of the impact
learning of it has had on your
opinion of my abilities and
character and because it is felt to
be a big impediment to Gerri’s
ability to successfully win the
Presidency. However, neither of
these reasons concern my ability to
serve as one of your nine Supreme
Justices and therefore cannot be
admitted into the rationale for my
decision. For this reason, as I am
obligated to continue to uphold my
duty as your public servant to
protect your rights, freedoms and
well-being as Americans, I hereby
pledge to carry out the duties
which your elected officials have
entrusted me with. Thank you.

As he finishes and walks away, a SHOCKED SILENCE pervades. He walks through a hall, an area barred to reporters. While this is happening, his cell phone rings but he keeps walking, not answering it. He continues until he gets to HIS OFFICE. Once there, he checks his cell phone for the message.

AUTOMATED VOICE (v.o.)
(filtered)
One new message.

This is followed by a BEEP.



113
MIKE (v.o.)
(filtered/hysterical)
Are you out of your mind? You kept
a crime secret for 12 years and
you say that’s not enough to
demonstrate a violation of “good
behavior”? In what universe do you
live?

Suddenly the message goes quiet but background noise is audible, including the sound of Gerri gasping with horror.

INT - GERRI’S CAMPAIGN OFFICE NIGHT

Gerri is holding Mike from behind, her hands under his armpits, Mike limp like he fainted or collapsed.

GERRI
Mike, can you hear me? Somebody
tap him. Mike?

MIKE
(suddenly coming alive)
Wha..? What just happened?

GERRI
You blacked out. Are you okay?

MIKE
(woozy and exhausted)
Yeah... I'll be fine...

He tries to get up, and does so but with extreme difficulty.

GERRI
All right, Mike, it’s time for you
to go to the doctor.
114

* * *

INT - DODDS AUDITORIUM, PRINCETON NIGHT

Katie Couric is sitting at the moderator's desk.

COURIC
Good evening and welcome to the
final Presidential Debate live
from Princeton University. Tonight,
the candidates have requested to
dispense with time limits and have
a conversational style. Tonight’s
questions have also been derived
from a mixed group of sources.
Welcome, candidates. I’d like to
remind you that you have requested
a friendly dialogue so therefore
please try to respect each other
and not talk too long. The first
question tonight is from YouTube.

INSERT - VIDEO SCREEN: ENRIQUE ROLADO, A SEMI-ELDERLY THIN MAN DRESSED IN A SUIT AND TIE.

ROLADO IN VIDEO
(in Spanish; no titles; filtered)
This question is for Senator Blik.
My name is Enrique Rolado and I am
From Ecuador. My brother Amador has
lymphoma. He went to a hospital in
the United States for the
treatment. The doctor said that he
needs a transplant. But the U.S.
government will not allow it since
(MORE) 115
ROLADO IN VIDEO (cont.)
we are not citizens. If I can
donate my cells, I can save his
life. What will you do you as
President to save my brother’s
life?

COURIC
(looking flustered)
I’m sorry, I don’t know how that
got in there. Let’s move on to
another question. I’m very sorry.

GERRI
I’m sorry to interrupt, but do you
mean to tell me there isn’t a
single speaker of Spanish present
here who can translate?

COURIC
Well, actually...

She is interrupted by AN AIDE who leans in her ear.

AIDE
(virtually whispering)
I have Governor Parker on the line.
He says he can translate. I can
patch him through.

COURIC
(face really flushed)
We have Governor Parker on the
phone who offers to translate.

BLIK
Isn’t that off protocol?
116
PARKER (v.o.)
Don’t worry, I’m just going to
translate. The questioner has a
brother who went to a hospital here
in the U.S. because he has
lymphoma. His brother can save his
life as a stem cell donor but the
INS won't allow him to come here
because he’s not a U.S. citizen.
He specifically asks you, Senator
Blik, what you will do as President
to save his brother’s life.

BLIK
First of all, with all due respect
to the questioner, I find it
curious that, with the time for
this debate so limited, shouldn’t
we be restricting the questions to
American citizens?

GERRI
John, if you want to say you would
let a man die because he’s not an
American citizen, just say so.

BLIK
I think it needs to be made clear
who would be paying for this man’s
operation. It would be the
American people who would shoulder
the bill. Don’t forget, these are
people who don’t pay taxes and who
already live here at the expense
of the you, the taxpayer.


117
GERRI
Oh, but you have no problem saving
lives overseas in a war at the huge
expense of the taxpayer.

BLIK
That war is saving American lives
back here at home.

GERRI
Oh, I’m sorry, of course. This
was never about saving Iraqi lives.
Which, I suppose, makes more sense,
seeing how many of them have been
destroyed.

COURIC
(interrupting)
I'm sorry, let's move on.

BLIK
Excuse me, Katie, if I may just
have a second to respond.

COURIC
Sure, Senator.

BLIK
This is another example of that
pathetic bending over backwards
and apologizing that the Democrats
love to do. We're saving American
lives from terrorists who want us
dead. We don't have to defend that
policy. Thank you.


118
COURIC
Okay, moving on. Next is a question
from our live audience, from Peggy
Sharp of Valhalla, New York.

PEGGY, a young woman in the front row stands up.

PEGGY
Thank you. This question is for
Senator Harrison. You have said
several times in your campaign that
if you are elected things will not
get magically better, in fact that
they’ll even get worse. Would you
please explain?

GERRI
All right. Think back to how
things were when this Republican
government came into power seven or
eight years ago. We enjoyed the
greatest economic boom in our
history. And that didn't just
disappear with a change of office.
Now look at the present. When I
take office, these problems are not
going to magically disappear. It
will take a lot of hard work and
time. And it will require each of
us to be part of the solution.
This nation has progressed the most
when Americans were optimistic.
When we pioneered the frontiers and
settled new land. When we built new
technologies and brought in an
economic boom. When we were happy
to be working and contributing to
(MORE) 119
GERRI (cont.)
our nation’s prosperity. When it
wasn’t just about me but about us,
the two letters that spell U-S. It
was when it was about working
together and for each other. Those
men did not freeze in the winter
snow at Valley Forge for their own
personal gain but because they had
a larger vision in mind, the
freedom and prosperity of their
fellow citizens.

COURIC
Thank you. Let’s give Senator
Blik a chance to respond.

BLIK
Thank you, Katie. I'll try to keep
it simple. I’m not going to go into
a big explanation. Again, my
opponent wants to make you feel bad
for wanting to take care of
yourself or your family, as though
your obligation to someone you’ve
never met is more important than to
your own children and loved ones. I
think you ought to be proud to be
out for yourself and not feel the
least bit of guilt. That’s what
America was built for. We don’t
lean on anyone. That’s the
responsibility that truly comes
with freedom.

COURIC
Thank you, Senator. This next
(MORE) 120
COURIC (cont.)
question was submitted by email.
It’s from Fred Grogan of Pierre,
South Dakota. He writes, quote,
“I’ve been listening to the two of
you go back and forth and you’ve
both stated your positions clearly.
But what worries me is how decisive
either of you will be when the real
crisis hits. What can you both tell
me to assure me that you really are
ready for this unbelievably tough
challenge you want to take on?

Silence, at first, then they both try to speak at once, Blik winning out.

BLIK
You can’t tell how ready a person
will be for anything until it’s
upon him. But you can get an idea
about a person’s ability to take
swift action by observing his or
her resoluteness about his or her
ideas, about the consistency of
his or her statements, the
straightforwardness and simplicity
with which he or she answers a
question. These are all cues.
You’re right. Decisive action in a
single moment is an absolute
requisite for this job, before
politics or ideology.

GERRI
The right action. It’s not just
about taking action that looks like
(MORE) 121
GERRI (cont.)
you’ve got it together when in
fact, you have no idea what you’re
doing.

BLIK
Which you would be an expert in.

The ensuing dialogue gets more and more heated and sounding like an angry couple having an argument or a fight as they continue. They often talk over each other.

GERRI
John, I’ve been through a bitter
fight during the primaries that
almost cost me a trusted
friendship, a key level staff
shakeup, the discovery less than
two months before the election that
my husband cheated on me with a
teenager, then to have my campaign
manager and close friend hit by a
drunk driver and lie comatose in
the hospital...

BLIK
(interrupting)
Didn’t you say that stuff was
unimportant to you because the
issues concerning the American
people are what matter?

GERRI
There you go again totally twisting
the real issue out of context to
make me look like I’m contradicting
myself when in fact the point is
(MORE) 122
GERRI (cont.)
that I’ve been assaulted by all
these very real blows to my person,
and yet I have pressed on with my
campaign.

BLIK
Well, of course you will. Who
doesn’t want the big prize?

GERRI
Oh! The Presidency is no more than
a big prize to you!

BLIK
You’re the one trying to look like
a hero. You’re trying to use this
to get the people to vote for you
because they feel sorry for you.

GERRI
You mean all of a sudden I have to
act like a martyr simply because
I’m running for President?

BLIK
Well, that caller did say he
wanted the assurance that the
person he sends to the White House
would be a person of great
character and ability.

GERRI
You mean emailer.

BLIK
Fine. The point is, you won’t have
(MORE) 123
BLIK (cont.)
time for personal tragedy once
you’re elected. The President of
Iran isn’t going to not send a
long-range missile to wipe out one
or more of our cities because he
feels sorry that the President of
the United States’ husband cheated
on her. And the fact that you did
not have the sense to keep your
campaign manager from being behind
the wheel when he was in no
condition to drive doesn’t give
anyone the confidence that you’ll
handle our military affairs
competently either.

GERRI
The fact that I know how to talk
to and believe in talking to
people effectively is what will
make the leader of Iran not send
a long-range missile here.

BLIK
Somebody pinch me, I must be
dreaming.

GERRI
And the fact that I put protecting
and saving life before all other
concerns is what will make me a
much more effective commander-in
chief than someone who is trigger
happy and is ready to start a war
just to appear tough, even though
that might plunge this nation and
(MORE) 124
GERRI (cont.)
world into one of the greatest
tragedies that ever happened.

BLIK
If you’re so good at protecting
life, then why did you let Mr.
Greenbaum get in his car that
night in his condition?

GERRI
That’s...you know, that’s not even
worth a response. How dumb do you
think the American people are to
not be able to separate a
commitment to protecting life and
an accident that could have
happened to anyone?

BLIK
Oh, excuse me. President Harrison
has a commitment to protect life,
so don’t worry. That long range
missile that just took out Detroit
was just an accident.

* * * * * * * * *

From THE REPUBLICAN EMPIRE STRIKES BACK:

FADE IN:

EXT – OUTSIDE AN UNEMPLOYMENT OFFICE IN DETROIT NIGHT

Night pervades a dark sky imbued with gray. An old building comes into view. A crowd of people are lined up in front, 125
some with old overcoats, others looking more neatly dressed with second-hand jackets, others with slightly out of date designer clothes. All are waiting outside the office to get in. It’s dark and cold. The people, many of whom look like plant workers, have a blank look, not making eye contact with each other but seeming to connect anyway. While some look like nothing could stress them, others cannot hide their anxiety. As people talk to each other, puffs of steam rise up out of their mouths.

After a couple of moments, a number of people can be seen leaving the unemployment office. Then, all of a sudden, a greater number of people follow them, and then a few staff members come out behind them waving their hands to get the people out of the office.

FIRST STAFF MEMBER
That’s it, we’re closed.

SECOND STAFF MEMBER
(almost simultaneous)
Sorry, everybody out now.

They’re pretty determined to close the place quickly. Many of the people who haven’t been able to enter start getting very agitated and a sort of pandemonium erupts. In the midst of a lot of angry voices, the first staff member can be heard.

FIRST STAFF MEMBER
We’re open at nine o’clock
tomorrow morning. You can also
file online.

The pandemonium continues.

ONE ANGRY PERSON IN CROWD
Hey, I tried that. It doesn’t work.
126
ANOTHER PERSON IN CROWD
What if you don’t have a computer?

FIRST STAFF MEMBER
Make sure you’re here at nine.

The pandemonium continues as some people walk away in slow motion, showing looks of disgust.

Off to the side, a short distance away, in a dark doorway appears the shadowy silhouette of a man propped up against the door in. It is MIKE GREENBAUM. He is in a secondhand dark gentleman’s overcoat, leaning on his left side on one of the two crutches he carries. He is watching with a serious expression a huge commotion as people get in line to wait for the unemployment office to open. MIKE turns his eyes in the other direction and sees a whole other bunch of people in a crowd waiting for a church to open to serve food.

* * *

GERRI
Then you had the accident. I was
going to tell you. I just feel it
would be wrong to keep this from
you.

There is a tense silence.

GERRI
Do you have any idea what everyday
life here is like? I have very
aggressive and forceful people in
my office in droves. From the hill.
From lobbying firms. Do you know
(MORE) 127
GERRI (cont.)
what it is to try and stand up to
every one of them—whole groups of
them every day?

MIKE
Then you should resign immediately.
If you don’t have the stomach to
remember the people back home, who
sent you here, get off the pot.

* * *

GERRI
Here’s something I’ll bet you
didn’t know. So much of policy is
in back room political deals.
Guess where most of them are made?
In gentlemen’s clubs that don’t
allow women. How’s that for being
the first President to be kept in
the dark?

* * *

(On Blik's Talk Show)

BLIK
Your girlfriend.

MIKE
I don't have a girlfriend.
Remember? I got married.


128
BLIK
I mean your girlfriend in the
White House.

MIKE
Oh, give it up, John.

BLIK
What about that affair you had?

MIKE
I didn't have any affair.

BLIK
Before you were married.

MIKE
Then it wouldn't have been an
affair.

BLIK
Oh, so you did have an affair with
Mrs. Harrison.

MIKE
That's none of anyone's business.

BLIK
(smiling)
None of anyone's business. Oh, ho!
(with penetrating look)
Makes one kind of wonder who else
the two of you have been sleeping
with.

MIKE
John, are you really that starved
(MORE) 129
MIKE (cont.)
for real ideas that you have taken
up being a trashy tabloid?

BLIK
Friends, Mr. Greenbaum has just
said that the institution of
marriage is no more than the
substance of a trashy tabloid.

INT – EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF MSNBC NETWORK DAY

Mike is meeting with an EXECUTIVE

MIKE
You've got to give me a show. I
don't mind being in the stockade
but I'll be damned if the American
people are going to be thrown in
with me by having me exploited and
used to support lies and
deception.

EXECUTIVE
So quit then.

MIKE
Quit?

EXECUTIVE
Mike, like it or not, your
reputation is in the toilet based
on a decision you made to accept
the position at FOX. How would
putting you on our station help
the liberal progressive cause?

130
MIKE
It would vindicate your two most
notorious people in the news and
show the audience who they truly
are.

EXECUTIVE
First of all, Gerry'll get out of
it because she's the President.
It's you I'm worried about. I know
FOX is a tough place for a good
person to present himself in a
favorable and objective way but all
I've seen are bad decisions and
bad handling of yourself. You're
just too big a risk. There's not a
moment of my time that I would want
to sacrifice, I'm sorry, Mike. I
like you and respect you as a
person...But this is media. It's a
very vicious, cold and heartless
place. Think of it as a
Shakespearean tragedy, but that's
what we're dealing with. It's as
much beyond my control as yours.

Mike sits, stonefaced, seeming to ponder what was just said.

EXECUTIVE
But don't despair. In ten years,
this will all be forgotten. Maybe
even five. If you really want to go
into media, I think you should. But
be patient. And give the FOX thing
up. It's only going to keep
hurting you and your reputation.
And the American people, to use
your grandiose way of speaking. 131

* * *

INT - A PODIUM NIGHT

Mike stands composed and starts speaking.

MIKE
Every American has a unique
consciousness of being part of a
new nation while having ties to an
older, more ancient one rooted in
tradition. But our identity as
Americans is not tied to roots of
patriarchy but is ever forward
looking to how all of humankind
can interact and govern ourselves
better than we have up till now.
It is the cry of freedom from the
old, outdated ways of living that
were right for our parents and
ancestors but not right enough for
what we and our children and
descendants can be. America is
improvement, amendment, change...

He pauses, looks out over the audience and then resumes.

MIKE
We, as Americans, are all
different. But what unites all of
us is that we are fighters, not
blind followers. Whether
descendants of those who fought to
form this sublime ideal of freedom
and equality in the form of a
(MORE) 132
MIKE (cont.)
nation or someone just arriving,
having ached to be a part of this
freedom while in some other land,
we are people who are never
satisfied with the way things are,
but instead are people who always
question, seeking a better truth, a
better life, an eternal quest that
will never be satisfied.

Pauses again, then resumes.

MIKE
That is, unless we let it die by
becoming complacent, scared, angry
or xenophobic—wanting to slam shut
the very door our founders fought
and died to open wide to all
people for eternity.

* * * * * * * * *














133