Well, huh—Independence Day, commemorating the 13 colonies along the Atlantic seaboard driving a stake in the ground and proclaiming we were done with monarchs. That was in 1776; it took seven years of warfare and a huge boost from the French to make good on that bold declaration, but it held for 248 years—with that little blip between 1861 and 1865.
However,
SCOTUS has ruled that presidents whose surnames begin with T and end in P are,
in effect, above the law, and immune from prosecution for “official acts”. They’re
open to including breaches of national security, incitement to insurrection,
impeding the peaceful transfer of power and unparalleled corruption as “official
acts”.
Again,
if you have that magic surname. All others need not apply.
So
I’m not feeling like celebrating today.
Instead
I’m watching the expected Tory bloodbath in today’s election in Britain, as their
economic and social “policies” finally come home to roost. With any luck, Nigel
Farage will take an electoral as well as literal milkshaking, although he’s
running in Clacton, so he has a chance of finally getting to Westminster.
I’m also seeking out beauty, no matter how small.
©2024 Bas Bleu
I came to your blog following links down the rabbit hole whilst searching for information regarding David Royal. Like so many comments against your excellent post regarding his death i was trying to find out why he disappeared from Dalziel and Pascoe. Your tribute to him and your reflections on your friendship were wonderful. I have lost a few friends in the last years to illness of suicide and its always tough. Especially wondering what could one/should one have done differently. I then came across this post. Having just finished a couple of books on the English republic of Oliver Cromwell and the bloody revenge of the monarchists that followed i found your excellent post reminded me of two thoughts i had in reading those books. 1) Dis-information and propaganda are not new. The trial and execution of Charles I, and then the trial and execution of the judges that presided over his trial, were covered by pamphlets and propaganda from both sides that were just lies and half truths. The new industry of printing was the social media of the time. I found that kind of encouraging as the current 'echo chamber' of social media is perhaps not as new as we think. 2) The thinking and philosophy of the leaders of Cromwell's commonwealth, who paid for their temerity with their lives, gave us the idea that no-man is above the law, that we have a right to silence during trial and other principles that were taken on board by the philosophers who influenced the founding fathers. And your comments on the elevation of the office of POTUS to effective kingship is a betrayal of all of that. And i loved the final sentence on seeking beauty.
ReplyDeleteThanks. You're right about propaganda not being an invention of the 20th Century. Technology (beginning with the movable type printing press) just speeds the pace & expands the reach. Over the past few years I've struggled to find gratitude, & have sometimes had to look to very small things to help me with it. But I'm hopeful that this Guy Fawke's Day will see a righting of the pendulum. & I do believe that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Although I confess that the day they were handing out patience the line was way too long for me to stand in, so this period of waiting is painful.
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