ent than real. And Bergman is to be commendedrnfor fighting against those atrnCBS who wanted to spike the inter’iewrnlest it invite a lawsnit from Brown andrnWilliamson and sour the network’s pendingrnsale to Westinghouse. The film’srnmoral posturing oer Bergman’s battle,rnhowever, is at best a sidebar pretending tornbe the central issue.rnUnhl we kick the habit of moral outrage,rnwe’ll never be able to think clearlyrnenough about tobacco to address its dangersrneffecti’ely. We’ll just throw morernmone’ at it, hoping it w ill go away. Hasrnour dreadful experience in trying to regulaternand ban other drugs not taught usrnanthing? To introduce the law and itsrnmam-chance minions into these mattersrnis to invite waste, crime, corruphon, andrnuntold misery, not to menhon the insufferablernmoralizing of media celebritiesrnand Hollywood filmmakers.rnAnd now a closing word about a filmrnthat exerts no serious strain on our will tornbeliee: Pokemon: The First Movie. (Thernsubtitle is a voluntar- warning label.)rnThe production is a colorful, stylizedrnJapanese cartoon of ineffable cross-culturalrndvnamics —which is to say I have nornidea what it’s about. Can anone tell niernwh’ all the human characters look Western?rnIs there an Asian ersion of theserncartoons? Well, I v’on’t press these c[uestions.rnLiam, mv ten-)’ear-old son, wasrncompletclv charmed by these pocketrnmonsters, which is, I learned, whatrn”Pokemon” means. That was goodrnenough for me, especially at matineernprices.rnGeorge McCartney teaches EngUsh atrnSt. jolju’s UniversityrnThe Founders’rnReading ofrnAncient Historyrnby David B. KopelrnWhy is the Second Amendmentrnunder such constant attack? Onernimportant reason is the depressing historicalrnignorance of most Americans, particularlyrnof classical history.rnBut suppose that modern studentsrnwere required to read Tacitus, Plutarch,rnLiw, and other classical historians. ThernFounders of the American Republic allrnknew the sad story of the Roman Republic.rnWhat the Fomiders had learnedrnwere lessons that illustrate the importancernof a virtuous armed populace as anrnessenhal check on the inexitable depredationsrnof a central go’ernmcnt and itsrnstanding arm).rnCarl Ricliard’s excellent The Foundersrnand the Classics: Greece, Rome, and thernAmerican Enlightenment is the first bookrnto examine exactly what the Floundersrnlearned from ancient history-. Let’s lookrnat some of the lessons which illuminaternthe Second Amendment.rnWliile those who support gun prohibitionrndeclare that the Second Amendmentrnis obsolete, die Founders imderstoodrnthat eents of manvears past couldrnproide useful guidance for the present.rnJohn Adams w rote that whenever he readrnThucdides and Tacitus, “I seem to bernonlv reading the Historv of ni ownrnTimes and mv own life.”rnThe Founders did not beliexe thatrntrann’ should be resisted onl passieh’.rnDennis Hcnigan, lead attorne) for anhgunrnactivist Sarah Brad)’, claims that anyonernwho believes that an illegihmate go’-rnernment can be resisted by force underrnthe Second Amendment is an “insurrectionist.”rnBut the Pounders carefulK distinguishedrnbetween legitimate resistancernto hrann and illegitimate insurrectionrnagainst lawful authorit)-.rnFor example, after the imposition ofrnthe Stamp Act in 1765, John Adamsrnpraised “the same great spirit which oncerngave Caesar so warm a reception” andrn”which first seated the great grandfather”rnof King George III on the throne of Fngland.rnCaesar’s assassin Brutus was ‘enerated,rnas was the much earlier LuciusrnBrutus, who led the o’erthrow of Rome’srnTarquin monarchv in 510 B.C. Likewise,rnThomas Jefferson lamented that so man’rngood Romans chose suicide rather thanrnlife under an emperor, when “the betterrnremedy” would be “a poignard |a smallrndagger] in the breast of the hrant.”rnCaesar’s use of the standing army tornsubdue Rome was used b}-Antifcderalistsrnto show that an arm’ drawn from thernbest, most faithful, and most honorablernparts of socieh’ could still be used to enslaverntheir countrx’. And e en .Americansrnwho felt at least a small standing armv tornbe ncccssar’ were aware of the dangers.rnAs James Madison wrote in Federahst 41,rn”the liberties of Rome proved the finalrnvictim to her militar- triumphs.”rnThose concerned about standingrnarmies frequendv pointed to the manyrncoups perpetrated by imperial Rome’srnstanding forces. During the final monthsrnof Watergate, man)- citizens worried thatrnPresident Nixon would mobilize thern82nd Airborne Division in order to retainrnpow er, echoing the fear of the imperialrnpresidenc’ articulated by George Mason:rn”When he is arraigned for treason, he hasrnthe command of the arm- and navy, andrnma- surround the Senate with thirtvrnthousand troops. It brings to recollectionrnthe remarkable trial of Milo at Rome.”rnMa.son was referring to the famous trialrnof T. Annius Milo in 52 B.C. Milo andrnClodius were rival demagogues in the decavingrnRoman Republic. When Milornand his gang ran into Clodius and hisrngang on the Appian Wa, Clodius endedrnup dead. Milo was put on trial, with therngreat orator Cicero ser ing as his defensernattornew Cicero wrote a brilliant argumentrnin Milo’s defense, but, after Milo’srnenemv Pompe’ surrounded the courtroomrnwith troops, was intimidated intornnot deliering it as written.rnAlthough Milo was deprived of thernbenefits of Cicero’s eloquence, histor’rnwas not. The text of the speech survived,rnand students in colonial America werernexpected to read Cicero in the originalrnLatin:rnThere exists a law, not writtenrndown anywhere, but inborn in ourrnhearts; a law which comes to us notrnb’ training or custom or readingrnbut bv derivation and absorptionrnand adoption from nature itself; arnlaw which has come to us not fromrntheorv but from practice, not by instructionrnbut b’ natural intuition. Irnrefer to the law which las it downrnthat, if our li’es are endangered byrnplots or violence or armed robbersrnor enemies, an- and e’er’ methodrnof protecting ourseKes is morallvrnright. Wren weapons reduce themrnto silence, the laws no longer expectrnone to wait their pronounccnients.rnFor people who decide tornwait for tiiese will ha’e to wait forrnjustice, too—and meanwhile theyrnmust suffer injustice first. Indeed,rnccn the wisdom ol a law itself, byrnsort of tacit implication, permitsrnself-defense, because it is not actualKrnforbidden to kill; w hat it does.rnFEBRUARY 2000/47rnrnrn