Cape Girardeau lawyer, author and nationally syndicated columnist David Limbaugh will be autographing his new book "Persecution" at 7 p.m. Thursday at Barnes and Noble.

This is a must-read book for any politician, church leader, moralist or educator who wants to use his mental juices in focusing on the subject of intolerance to Christians.

The book is loaded with challenging chapters. I jumped to "Media and Hollywood Wars Against Christianity," which is loaded with examples.

The concluding chapter in the book consists of Limbaugh's "interviews of six of the nations foremost Christian thinkers for their learned opinions on the underlying reason behind the anti-Christian sentiment in America today and what the current trend, unabated, would mean for the future of American freedom." Really deep and penetrating.

"Persecution" made last week's Wall Street Journal non-fiction best-seller list. It also picked up plugs on the back cover. Sean Hannity: "At last some sense in the church/state debate." Cal Thomas: "Limbaugh brings a lawyer's mind and a Christian heart to his subject."

The six Christian leaders interviewed in the last chapter are: Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Michael Novak (author of 25 influential books on philosophy), Dr. Marvin Olasky (author of 14 books and editor-in-chief of World), Dr. James Kennedy, Nancy Pearcey and Dr. Ravi Zacharias.

The book has a best-seller 30 percent discount (members save an extra 10 percent for a total of 40 percent off).

Fall of a republic: A warning from Scottish historian Alexander Tyler circa 1787, regarding the fall of the Athenian republic:

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse (generous gifts) from the public treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world's greatest civilization as been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back to bondage.

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An estimated 200 people turned out for the monthly Arts Council of Southeast Missouri gallery reception last Friday. Most of them also visited the Garden Gallery opening on the second floor of Grace's Cafe in the 800 block of Broadway.

The Southeast Missouri Music Academy's Standing Ovation VII presented its always inspiring program at Old St. Vincent's Church Sunday.

Cape is the major cultural center between St. Louis and Memphis, attracting visitors in from over an 80-mile radius.

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Southeast Missouri State University's homecoming football victory capped off a busy university weekend with perfect weather for a great day including a well-organized, fast-moving parade of many floats and nine bands.

The Southeast Missourian and Zimmer Radio were happy sponsors of the halftime pickup truck football toss to be culminated at the Oct. 25 game. Red "noodles" were distributed to add to the festivities.

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Correction: In a recent column I attributed some wonderful quotes which I received from numerous e-mailers to comedian George Carlin. Now I hear he didn't make them and takes offense to the attribution given to him on the Internet. OK, George, I'm telling everyone you didn't make the remarks. Sorry. I'm especially alert to inaccuracies that come with many e-mails. These remarks were so kind and uplifting I felt they were worth sharing.

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I think we can do this: This is the informed opinion of Washington Democrat Norman Dicks, just back from visiting Iraq, as expressed to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a House hearing.

Given most reporting on these subjects of late, his optimism struck us as news. ...

Dicks said: "If we can give those generals the resources necessary to keep up their effort, I think this -- I think we can do this."...

Mr. Dicks isn't the only Democrat impressed with the coalition's progress in Iraq. Georgia Rep. Jim Marshall came back from a visit and wrote an op-ed for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last month in which he accused the media of reducing the chances of success in Iraq by publishing only the bad news. He repeated this view in the Washington Post Wednesday.

We suppose it's possible that the U.S. military and Iraqis sold all of these politicians a bill of goods during their visit to Iraq. Then again, their views echo those of nearly everyone who has visited Iraq, as opposed to those who merely read the papers or watch TV. The security problem in Iraq is serious, and Americans are at risk, but there is also enormous political, economic and security progress being made.

The House hearing, by the way, received very little coverage. That is in sharp contrast to blanket coverage given the six-hour grilling Mr. Rumsfeld received at the Senate last week, when West Virginia's Robert C. Byrd and others all but declared the war in Iraq to be lost. Not every American can go to Iraq to see for himself what is happening there. Which is all the more reason for the press to report what Members of Congress are saying after their visits -- even if it's good news. -- Excerpts from The Wall Street Journal

Gary Rust is the chairman of Rust Communications.