A Man For All Seasons

DallasNews Religion | Dave Tarrant:

“I was reading the obituary of Jack Valenti, who worked for LBJ in the White House before becoming a Hollywood lobbyist and who helped create the current movie ratings system. Turns out his favorite movie was the 1966 film, A Man For All Seasons. ... The movie came out in the midst of an increasingly unpopular war, where the government was accused of duping the public about what was really happening in Vietnam. Does that sound a little familiar?”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Sound familiar? Sure does. Those medieval Englishmen could have been talking about wiretaps, Gitmo, torture and the Patriot Act, all intended to make us safe from evil:

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!

Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?

William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!

Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!