Truth and Consequences
演讲人：Charlton Heston查尔顿·赫斯顿
1924.10.04~2008.04.05
Well，here I am still in the chariot.I am pleased to be among political thinkers，and I hope，political activists ...fellow charioteers，if you will.
My life has always been pretty active.I marched with Martin Luther King in 1963，long before Hollywood found it fashionable.Supporting civil rights then was about as popular as supporting gun rights is now.Yup，I"m currently the President of the National Rifle Association.
Clearly，my views are not bound by political correctness.The thought police do not frighten me.I hope I frighten them.
Since your Political Union debates follow traditional structure，my resolution would go something like this：Be it resolved that societal dishonesty can kill you.That is to say，a world without consequences is a world without truth，and that you can die from that lie.
I believe that in your heart you already know something is profoundly wrong.When bartenders are responsible for drunk drivers"acts，and gunmakers are responsible for criminals"acts，and nobody is responsible for O.J.Simpson"s acts，something is wrong.
As students，you should search for truth.Your brain evolved to demand reality.It can best process information against an unchanging backdrop of certainty.
But that"s hard to find.Your world is all spin.Actions are further and further removed from consequences.Cause and effect are，at best，theoretical.Equal and opposite reactions are no longer PC.
The Dow tops ten thousand，but our lives are not enriched.We enjoy unprecedented affluence，but our souls are impoverished.Our lungs inhale the rarefied air of prosperity，but our hearts yearn for nourishment.You lack that invisible anchor that tethered your grandparents to reality-you know what I"m talking about.
Our nation"s abundance is like a narcotic that masks our malady-we feel too good to acknowledge that we"re sick.We"re like the cocaine-snorting rock star，who dares not look in the mirror-the ghoulish reflection would ruin the buzz.
In his book"The End of Sanity，"Martin Grosssays"，blatantly irrational behavior is rapidly beingestablished as the norm in almost every area of human endeavor.There seem to be new customs，new rules，new anti-intellectual theories regularly foisted on us from every direction.Underneath，the nation is roiling.
Americans know something without a name is undermining the nation，turning the mind mushy when it comes to separating truth from falsehood and right from wrong.And they don"t like it."Let me give you two good examples：This Administration"s approach to crime and to war.Our government"s duplicity proves my point.
If you drove into Richmond，Virginia，today，you"d be greeted by billboards with giant words that say，"An illegal gun gets you five years in federal prison."These warn all felons that Project Exile is in effect.Project Exile simply enforces existing federal law.Project Exile means every convicted felon caught with a gun，no matter what he"s doing，will go to prison for five years.No parole，no early releases，no discussion，period.
My，my-incarcerating armed felons.What a novel idea.It works，like no other anti-crime policy ever proposed.Project Exile，in its first year in Richmond，cut gun homicides by 62percent.And as you"d expect，related gun crimes like robbery，rape and assault also plummeted.That means hundreds of people in Richmond today are alive and intact who，without Project Exile，would be dead or bleeding.
For years the NRA has demanded that Project Exile be deployed nationwide.Makes sense，huh？The laws are already on the books.Just enforce them.But Bill Clinton won"t do it.Whenhe says he"s serious about fighting crime，consider that as a matter of policy-as amatter of policy-the Clinton Administration is not prosecuting violations of federal gun law.In fact，they reversed the Bush Administration"s policy of prosecuting felons with guns.Instead，with plea bargains，a wink and a nod，they"ve been letting armed felons off the hook.From 1992to 1998，prosecutions have been cut almost in half.So while Project Exile was saving lives in Richmond，federal prosecution for gun law violations everywhere else dropped by 46percent.
Such fraud could not happen without the news media"s alliance in the dishonesty；it goes utterly unreported.Here are more examples.
Everyone remembers the press"s podium-pounding for Clinton"s Crime Bill and its"urgently needed"juvenile gun transfer provisions.It became law.But nobody is reporting that，out of thousands of certain offenders，his Justice Department bothered to prosecute only five people in 1997and six in 1998.
Everyone remembers all the press support for his "desperately needed"semi-auto gun ban-that outlawed guns based solely on their appearance.But nobody is reporting that，out of thousands of certain offenders，the Clinton Administration prosecuted four people in 1997and four in 1998.
Everyone remembers that media love-child，the Brady Bill.Mr.Clinton repeatedly claims that a quarter million handguns have been prevented from falling into the hands of convicted felons.But nobody is reporting what matters to you：How many of those quarter million people were convicted and taken off your streets for the federal crime of being a felon trying to buy a gun？Try nine！
It"s surreal.Mr.Clinton stands in the Rose Garden with his ten propcops，lip-biting in pained support of some new law.The press does its best to get it passed.It becomes law.Then everybody forgets about it.
And Americans buy it over and over and over again.
Maybe you think a politician"s lies can"t hurt you.But let me tell you，armed felons can.