[StBernard] HBO's John Adams

[Westley Annis]

If you've missed it, I highly recommend watching HBO's mini series "John
Adams" starring Paul Giamatti.  I have nothing but praise after watching the
first two installments, which HBO often repeats.  Based on historian (and
documentary narrator) David McCullogh's novel, it shows the nitty-gritty
politics of how our founding fathers created this great nation of ours.  
 
The script's dialogue often comes right out of the minutes and manuscripts
of the Continental Congress, so what you hear the actors say is nearly
verbatim from the debates and discussions they had in Philadephia on how
they would declare independence from Great Brittain.  It's extremely well
done.
 
One of my favorite line thus far naturally came from Benjamin Franklin.
When asked by John Adams if he agreed that "expressing one's thinking aloud
was a good thing," Franklin quickly replied "oh, absolutely not, I've often
found thinking aloud has been the cause of most of the world's misery."
 
The program also dispells the myth that our founding fathers were all weathy
men and were not risking much.  In fact, the majority of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence were eventually caught by the British and
executed, in addition to have their land and property taken.
 
Hope you get to see and enjoy the show.
 
John Scurich