"Based on a True Story" (Sort of)

Hollywood is famous for making movies that are supposedly "based on a true story", most of which barely resemble the source material in the slightest, but at least they added an additional disclaimer on this one.

Domino was released last year and sports the usual claim of being "based on a true story", with the unusual addition of "...sort of".

I haven't seen this movie, and I have no intention of doing so, given some of the content, but I stumbled across it recently and thought it worth a blog post.

The tagline is "I am a bounty hunter". It's a classic Hollywood favorite; a young girl who bucks the "gender stereotypes" and takes on a man's job. I can only imagine the fun they must have had, painting young Domino Harvey, daughter of actor Laurence Harvey, as a heroic role model for women, taking up heavy weaponry and glamorously blowing the bad guys away.

Nothing unusual so far, except that this movie--or rather, the movie's real-life subject, the real Domino Harvey--threw a little irony into the mix.

You see, Hollywood loves to glamorize twisted behavior and rarely, if ever, show the consequences.

Rebellion against God's design in one area almost always brings on rebellion in other areas of life. Domino Harvey was no exception. Homosexuality and drugs became a part of her life, and we'll never know what misery she suffered alone.

She was only 35 (going on 36) last year when the movie was planned for release. Knowing how her story had been modified and "enhanced" by filmmakers, she spoke of making a documentary of her life so that people could hear "the true story". Instead, she accidentally summed it up in one evening.

On June 27, 2005, she overdosed and died in her bathtub.

Hollywood can ignore the consequences of their beloved rebellion against God, but there's now a headstone somewhere standing as a monument to 35 years of pain and misery that ended in a drug overdose.

One of Domino's actual quotes that made the movie is "flip a coin; heads, you win, tails, you die."

It apparently didn't cross Domino's mind that either way, you will reap what you sow.

Domino's short 35 years on this earth is one sad testament out of many to the "feminist dream". Each story is different. Some involve drugs and violence, others involve boardrooms and lawsuits.

Some end with drug overdoses, others in venereal disease and yet others in the lonely emptiness that comes from cutting off God's blessing of a family.

The tragedy of Domino Harvey is just one of a long list of miserable lives that serve as the raw material from which Hollywood has "cooked up" a lethal batch of glamorous rebellion against God.

"Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

In other words, the rebellious high may look good on the silver screen, but watch out for the hangover. In Domino's case, as in so many others, it lasts for eternity.

Word Games: "Immigrant Rights"

True Patriots will do well to take note of the words used by liberal activists--especially those in the media.

Rush Limbaugh likes to say that "words mean things". The Left understands this and they go one step further. They say "words mean things--and we say what those things are."

Whoever defines the terms and criteria of the debate wins.

Take the current hubbub surrounding our borders and those who violate them.

According to the media, the pro-illegal alien crowd has been "protesting for immigrant rights".

Excuse me?

What these people are rallying to support has nothing to do with rights, and does not concern immigrants in general. Far from it. It concerns illegal aliens, (also known as criminals) and their blatant violation of our legitimate, legally adopted immigration laws.

They do not have any right to violate our laws or expect aid from American businesses and citizens while doing so.

If we once surrender the terms and use the lingo handed us by the left, we've lost the debate.

Courage in Politics

I'm back! I've been a little busy to post for the last two weeks or so, but I'm back!

It's not often that we see true courage in politics, so I thought I'd point it out.

By the way, the exception to the above statement is virtually every candidate running on the Constitution Party platform. This takes a tremendous amount of courage, both because they stand for the truth, and because, as a result, they wind up as targets for persecution from people who call themselves "conservatives", including friends, family, and so-called conservative organizations.

Within the two major parties however, such courage in defense of the truth is becoming more and more rare.

Here in Michigan, we have three Republicans running to replace our Democrat senator Debbie Stabenow in the 2006 elections.

I've spoken with all three of them, and as usual, the rhetoric is thick and difficult to pierce. Most of what these gentlemen say sounds great...as far as it goes. That's the problem. It doesn't go very far.

In spite of the most probing questions that I have been able to ask, (without having a concentrated sit-down interview--which I doubt their campaign managers would allow) I'm not convinced that any of them have the intestinal fortitude to take a stand even on those topics where they verbally sound conservative, with one exception.

His name is Jerry Zandstra. In response to a question I asked him about what he would do when faced with a blatantly unconstitutional appropriations bill--supported by the Republican majority in Congress and the Republican President--he said that he believed that one of the qualifications necessary for anyone to hold the office for which he is running is that that person not need the job. In other words, they need to be willing to lose the next election if that's what it takes to do the right thing.

Needless to say, I agree whole-heartedly. Talk is cheap, however, and I have taken his words with a grain of salt.

Recently, however, Mr. Zandstra has taken an action that speaks far louder than those words.

In our state, an organization called Michigan Citizens for Life has stepped up to the task that we should have taken in hand years ago.

This organization has initiated a petition drive to put an amendment to our state Constitution on the ballot in November. This amendment recognizes for the purposes of Michigan law and the Constitution that personhood begins at conception, and that all persons are to have the protection of the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses from that point.

I'm disappointed to say that the organization calling itself "Right to Life" (both national and state branches) has opposed any measure that would result in such complete protection of innocent human life. They opposed the South Dakota measure and successfully defeated it the last time it came around, and opposed it this most recent time, though happily they lost that battle. They have also registered their opposition to this new effort to protect unborn children here in Michigan.

Mr. Zandstra, being pro-life not only in word but also in deed, informed Michigan Right to Life of his intention to support the initiative.

He was told in no uncertain terms that if he did so he would lose his MRTL endorsement.

He did. He announced formally that he would support the petition drive and MRTL summarily revoked their endorsement of him.

Right to Life's endorsement is perhaps one of the most important to any Republican candidate. Mr. Zandstra demonstrated that he was willing to risk losing the election if necessary in order to do the right thing.

For this courage, I applaud him. Neither of the other candidates have demonstrated such courage, and for that reason, I consider him to be the best candidate running on the Republican ticket.

This is not the first time that he has taken a risky position, but this is perhaps the largest risk to date.

It still remains to be seen to my satisfaction whether his worldview is as whole and complete as it must be in order to tackle the many difficult tasks facing our next United States Senator, but he has at least demonstrated a certain integrity that bodes well for the rest.

Thank you, Mr. Zandstra, for demonstrating that there still exist politicians who can take a stand for right no matter what.



Michigan Citizens For Life
Mr. Zandstra's Campaign Website