Peter Appleton

The 5th Amendment is out of the question. But there is another Amendment that I'd like to invoke. I wonder if anyone here is familiar with it. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

"Congress shall make no law... respecting... an establishment of religion... or prohibiting the free exercise thereof... or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press... or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances."

The fact is I… I've never been a man of great conviction. I never saw the percentage in it… and quite frankly, I suppose I, uh… lacked the courage. See, I'm not like Luke Trimble. He had the market cornered on those things. I never met the guy, but I feel like I've gotten to know him. The thing is, I can't help wondering what he'd say… if he were standing here right now. You know, I think what I think he'd probably tell you: the America represented in this room… is not the America he died defending.

He says I'm a communist. In fact, this very moment, some grey little FBI guy, in a grey little FBI suit, is hunched over my screenplay, checking it, line by line, for the poisonous Marxist propaganda which surely lurks therein. Hope they check the spelling. I can always use help with that.

'Ashes to Ashes', my movie! Could've been good, even with the stupid dog. My 'Grapes of Wrath', my shot at doing something really good, something...