David: "The Quality of Mercy" title is drawn from the same source as
Compton's book, Shakespeare. It has a lot to do with that episode.

Probably the pilot movie won't be shown again this year, which again is
actually to the good. Not much you really need to know from that one to enjoy
the rest. (And I think it'll be out on tape eventually.)

Haven't heard final word yet on the schedule, but that looks right so
far.

A little something for your perusal, given recent discussions on
religion.

Here's something interesting for y'all...and I wonder very much if the
news media is gonna cover this or not.

Before I retire at the end of the day, I go out and watch TV to come down
a bit. I cannot just go from the keyboard to bed, I *hate* that. So about
1:45 this morning, I settle down in front of the set, and I'm flipping
channels. I come across the Trinity Broadcasting Channel, and I stop, because
the three guys on the screen look actually honestly *scared* by something. I
pause and listen. One of them is saying that they should pray for the
president. Now my first thought is, "Ohmygod, something's happened to
Clinton." But it doesn't feel right, so I stay a bit longer.

Now I had to put a lot of this together from the pieces of what they were
saying, but after about half an hour, enough pieces were there to make sense
of the conversation. Apparently, an hour or two before, they had had a guest
evangelist on (whose name was *never* used during the period I was watching,
they would only refer to him as their distinguished brother), giving his guest
speech.

Well, apparently the evangelist was decrying the state of the country,
and Clinton signing the anti-abortion protest bill, and declared something to
the effect that Clinton was the manifestation of the evil in the land, and
that God had given this evangelist a prophecy that on June 9, the evil in the
White House would be struck down.

He was saying that on June 9, Clinton would be killed in answer for his
crimes against christianity, as near as I could determine.

My jaw is now squarely on the floor. And these three guys who followed
that segment are doing damage control. And they're clearly scared, because
making a threat against the president is a federal offense, "prophecy" or no.
They had to find ways to diminish the prophecy without diminishing the
prophet, their "distinguished brother." So they brought Nehemiah into the
discussion, and how his prophecy that the city would fall in 40 days turned
out not to happen because the people repented, and so some prophecies

And one of the three was saying that the worst thing for the church in
this country would be for some "religious nut" (his own words) to decide that
he was the instrument of this prophecy, and kill or try to kill the president.
He also seemed upset with some groups in the christian community who had gone
too far, and were going to have to be slapped down.

It was the single most riveting forty-five mintutes I have spent in front
of the TV, watching these people, knowing who their audience is, knowing that
if anything happened they'd be called to task for it, knowing the possible
consequences, *trying* desperately to talk some of the more, shall we say,
eccentric viewers of this kind of programming out of killing the president.
*Without* saying that the "prophet" who after all they just put on their
network...was a nutcase.

Now, again, this went out on national TeeVee last night/early this
morning. I'm gonna be REAL curious to see if the news media picks up on this
one.

jms