WELCOME TO JERRY’S FOLLIES

Welcome to the Follies. You have happened upon what is essentially a scrap book of my favorite scholarly and topical essays, some previously published in four private collections:
• The Crackpot Papers, 1993
• Right Again, JP!, 1997
• How Do You Do It, JP?, 1999
And, of course, There You Go Again, JP, 2002. There is also some more recent work currently being collected as Don’t You Have A Sense Of Humor Anymore, JP?

For many years, I have been interested in church history and how Jesus' gospel of love got mangled by the professional Christians. Even I recognize that some of my criticism is harsh and those sensitive about religion might be well advised to skip those.

A lot of this stuff is what used to be called political satire although I admit it sometimes slips over the line into sarcasm and cynicism. For example, do I really think Henry Hyde was the Ayatollah of Illinoiah? Well, yes. But I probably should not have said so because it might be offensive to my Iranian friends. I am, however, not responsible for the way I feel. Why did I so dislike Honorable Hyde? Is it merely because he was stupid and hypocritical, or is it because he so often played the clown? And why the soft spot for the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the Great Gasbag of American public life? I have no idea.

The long form essay has been slowly dying since the middle of the seventeenth century.  You still see them in magazines like Harper's and The Atlantic which are published for the two or three people who have time to read them.  Otherwise their only function is to grace the coffee tables of upscale doctors' waiting rooms.

God how I miss Bill Clinton, the only public figure ever expected to tell the truth about his extramarital sex life.