the risk of pantheism inherent in thenbelief that “nature incorporates wisdom,npurpose and beauty” and thatn”ethics . . . can look to nature for anfoundation of its principles.” Naturalnevidence of God’s goodness and gracendoes abound, yet believers also detectnin nature the effects of the Fall, sonmemorably described by Milton:nEarth felt the wound, andnNature from her seatnSighing through all her Worksngave signs of woe.nIn their eagerness to prove God’s governancenin nature, Augros and Stanciunimplausibly minimize the suffering,npain, conflict, and ugliness also quitenvisible in nature. No one with personalnexperience with trichinosis or tapewormsnwill readily acquiesce to thencheerful assertion that “parasitism isnrarely harmful to the host.” Nor willnreaders find it easy to reconcile thenclaim on one page that predators do notnreally threaten prey species with thenargument on a different page that cicadasnhave developed remarkable patternsnof reproduction to avoid being wipednout by predators.nAugros and Stanciu deserve highnpraise for rekindling a sense of wondernfor the divine patterns in nature. Yet ifnthe study of biology can at times stir anrecognition of providential harmony,nthat study should at other times remindnus—through disease, death, decay, andndeformity—that we do not live in thenGarden of Eden and that in a fallennworld the most sublime truths can onlynbe glimpsed “through a glass darkly.”nBryce J. Christensen is editor of ThenFamily in America.nThe Invisible Veepnby Ellis SandoznThe Body Politicnby Victor Gold and Lynne CheneynNew York: St. Martin’s Press;n213 pp., $15.95nExactly what Vice Presidents of thenUnited States are supposed to don(and not do) always has been somethingnof a political and constitutional mystery.nAs little as possible, is the recent elec­ntion’s hint. But even in more demandingntimes the sanitized quip attributednto Texas’s John Nance (“Cactus Jack”)nGarner, FDR’s first VP, that the officenwasn’t worth a bucket of warm spit,nseemed the unvarnished truth of thenmatter. The surmise is that, besidesnpresiding over the Senate and hopingnfor a tie vote so he can break it, the VicenPresident need only spend his time asnhe will and wait — in the event somethingndreadful befalls the President,nsomething like death or impeachment.nWho would notice if the Vice Presidentndisappeared for awhile? Say, fornsix months?nThese are the plausible questionsnpremised in the most entertaining politicalnnovel of the past year. The BodynPolitic, written by veteran politicalnjournalist and PR man Victor Goldnand novelist, editor, and chairman ofnthe National Endowment for the HumanitiesnLynne Cheney. The breezynclip of the narrative and language, theninsouciance of the dialogue, and thenoutrageous audacity of the story gainntheir sure-handedness and verisimilitudenfrom two expert White Houseninsiders. After all, while an authoritynon life inside the beltway in her ownnright, Lynne Cheney is also the wife ofnCongressman Dick Cheney (Republicannof Wyoming), who served as PresidentnGerald Ford’s chief of staff. AndnVictor Gold was a speechwriter fornSpiro Agnew and George Bush in daysnpast.nIn one of his nonpresiding moments,nit seems, the novel’s imaginarynVice President Bully Vandercleve suffersnfatal carnal arrest while enjoyingnthe companionship of network TVnanchorwoman Romana Clay. She isnvisiting for an evening in the VicenPresident’s townhouse while wife CissynVandercleve is out of the city. Thenrichest politician in America, formerngovernor of New York and three timesna candidate for the presidency. BullynVandercleve was about to be dumpednfrom the Republican ticket. So he hadntaken the weekend off to collect himself,nto prepare his withdrawal statement,nand to salve a wounded egonwhen the untoward event occurred.nWith Bully now dead in the bed,nRomana won’t leave the townhousenuntil the Secret Service agents assignednto the Vice President are called awaynfrom the entrances. She telephonesnnnFrank Lee (the Vice President’s pressnsecretary) to let him know what hasnhappened and to gain help in finding anway to keep things quiet.nThus the tale begins. At 0445 hoursnFrank Lee telephones the President’snchief of staff through Army Signal’snsecure system to let him know that thenlame duck Vice President is already andead duck, only to be curtly rebuffednand told to come to the White Housenat seven — if the matter still seemednimportant at that more civilized hour.nA cover-up begins that is intended tonlast only 48 hours and through the nextnTuesday’s Wisconsin primary. But itngoes on, and on, and on through thenSuper Tuesday primaries and the nationalnelection itselfnEventually it all ends with justicenbeing done. Frank Lee’s letter from then”Prison of the Stars” in AUentown,nPennsylvania, dated about one yearnafter the townhouse scene, concludesnthe book. It explains Operation Avis, asnit’s called (“Hertz” is the code namenfor the President), to an inquisitivenNew Orleans correspondent, Ms.nGwendolyn Dolittle. Femme fatalenRomana Clay, Frank Lee explains tonMs. Dolittle, “resigned as TV networkncorrespondent when Avis scandalnbroke. Later wrote best-selling book.nAll the Vice President’s Men, soon tonbe released as motion picture starringnRob Lowe and Demi Moore. Frequentlynappears as guest host on DavidnLetterman show.”nWhat happened between townhousenand penitentiary is too much funnto ruin by telling more here. JacknAnderson is quoted as thinking thatn”Gold and Cheney have written whatnmay be the ultimate Washington satire.”nThey surely have written the mostnhilarious political novel of the season.nEllis Sandoz is director of the EricnVoegelin Institute for AmericannRenaissance Studies at LouisiananState University.nMAY 1989/41n