tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post2637707949623264494..comments2023-11-10T04:17:00.492-05:00Comments on View From The Porch: Politics: That metaphor's getting stretchmarks.Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-62842342640354734752007-08-16T04:35:00.000-04:002007-08-16T04:35:00.000-04:00Tam, the reason the Left stopped teaching History ...Tam, the reason the Left stopped teaching History and Geography as topics in schools is that it makes it easier for them to argue anything they want to argue. Specifically, they are free to sweep the lessons of history about communism under the rug. (Dead Ukrainians? Cultural Revolution? Great Leap Forward? ... )<BR/><BR/>And the right jumps in too and says that the constitution is based on the 10 commandments (and ignores little things like Greek Democracy, Magna Carta, and few other things - like the whole of the Enlightenment). <BR/><BR/>Since no one - or very few - know history, we are bound to repeat parts of it.Zendo Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00094772654735415974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-90916356225014492422007-08-15T21:36:00.000-04:002007-08-15T21:36:00.000-04:00Thanks for the tip, and I enjoyed reading your ana...Thanks for the tip, and I enjoyed reading your analysis of Mr. Walkers report.Cameron Baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13307571300836692213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-41837640010287476972007-08-15T20:28:00.000-04:002007-08-15T20:28:00.000-04:00Actually, the circumstances of the U.S. (and Weste...Actually, the circumstances of the U.S. (and Western culture in general) are more like the late <I>Republic</I> than the late <I>Empire</I>. The first Emperor of the West probably hasn't been born yet.Akatsukamihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02728195684558703059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-45326584179085481942007-08-15T17:37:00.000-04:002007-08-15T17:37:00.000-04:00On the other hand this IS true"fiscal irresponsibi...On the other hand this IS true<BR/><BR/>"fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”<BR/><BR/>Just cross out the central and add an S to government.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-58202583058342546252007-08-15T14:44:00.000-04:002007-08-15T14:44:00.000-04:00"The most fun thing about the matter of Rome is th..."<I>The most fun thing about the matter of Rome is that you can argue about anything with it. To sum up, _________(insert your shibboleth here) delenda est.</I>"<BR/><BR/>...and <I><B>THAT</I></B>, ladies and germs, is a quote for the ages. :)Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-2761732349878433192007-08-15T13:55:00.000-04:002007-08-15T13:55:00.000-04:00You can blame Cicero or Sallust, but every Bartlet...You can blame Cicero or Sallust, but every Bartlett-scanner who jerks Rome into the barfight thinks he's a conservative. Usually it's "LBJ conservative," same as Augustus. Adams and Jefferson had a tickle-fest over Rome and ended up agreeing (more or less) that there wasn't really any Republic there to save. At various times, The Irish, the scandis, the heathen chinee and various euro-trash have been cited as the barbarians at our gates (and at various times, I spose, all have been); during the Calhoun era, slavery was cast as no big deal; it just made the US an heir to Rome...<BR/><BR/>The most fun thing about the matter of Rome is that you can argue about anything with it. To sum up, _________(insert your shibboleth here) delenda est.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-15954408079391617282007-08-15T12:15:00.000-04:002007-08-15T12:15:00.000-04:00"Not to mention all those sane, modest, compassion..."<I>Not to mention all those sane, modest, compassionate leaders Rome had.</I>"<BR/><BR/>After the early 4th Century, the empire had no "leader". East and West each had their own Augustus, or emperor, as well as their own Caesar, the declared successor of the Augustus. You think Pelosi, Bush, Cheney, and Reid get into spitball fights? Imagine <I>that</I> situation...Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-23199104509663936102007-08-15T12:10:00.000-04:002007-08-15T12:10:00.000-04:00"Where are our foederati?"In the part of the US th...<I>"Where are our foederati?"</I><BR/><BR/>In the part of the US they call 'Aztlan' resolutely speaking their own language and attempting to reintroduce their own laws by switching the areas allegiance to Mexico.GeorgeHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10736838055941100599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-86054693364858347062007-08-15T12:05:00.000-04:002007-08-15T12:05:00.000-04:00Not to mention all those sane, modest, compassiona...Not to mention all those sane, modest, compassionate leaders Rome had.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-88865385274293072592007-08-15T09:58:00.000-04:002007-08-15T09:58:00.000-04:00Storming the Heavens and Barbarians, Marauders, an...<I>Storming the Heavens</I> and <I>Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels</I> by Santuosso; <I>Rubicon</I> by Holland; <I>The First Century</I> by Klingaman.<BR/><BR/>Of the originals, Tacitus or Caesar are probably the easiest reading.Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-77428140444063542652007-08-15T09:46:00.000-04:002007-08-15T09:46:00.000-04:00Can you recommend one book on the history of Rome?...Can you recommend one book on the history of Rome? Not Gibbon though - I've read most of the first volume and I have a couple of complaints:<BR/><BR/>1. I want to know about the rise of Rome too (I know - the word decline in the title should have clued me in)<BR/><BR/>2. Gibbon was a little too victorian in his descriptions of the debauchery. I want lurid details.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Thanks,<BR/><BR/>KeithAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-64378995139075690732007-08-15T08:38:00.000-04:002007-08-15T08:38:00.000-04:00"Oh, really? Where are our foederati then?"Mowing ..."Oh, really? Where are our foederati then?"<BR/><BR/>Mowing lawns, picking tomatoes, working construction, and generally doing "those jobs Americans won't do"...Cybrluditehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02222195374935367060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-83015224637660905962007-08-15T08:23:00.000-04:002007-08-15T08:23:00.000-04:00I suspect he saw a paperbound copy of Gibbon's Dec...I suspect he saw a paperbound copy of Gibbon's <I>Decline and Fall</I> (not Waugh's - that would be just too perverse) and decided that hey, no one's ever used <I>this</I> comparison before.<BR/><BR/>Not in the last forty-five seconds, anyway.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com