It was said of Charles II of England that the king’s “desire of power … had less proceeded … from ambition than from love of ease.” The same can be said of recent Republican kingpins in the White House and the Senate, who conduct their sparse federal deliberations on the golf course or at luxury resorts.
One of the surest vehicles for securing Charles’ repose in long-term luxury consisted in his famous propaganda speeches in which he instilled fear of any security without his leadership. For example, he noted that the “happiness” of the people depended upon him and could be obtained only by unity around his rule. Any lack of unity would bring “misery” imposed by those outside the patriotic circle and would be “no fault of mine.”
To bolster this propaganda, Charles added conspiracy theories to keep the people confused and occupied. One historian notes the king was associated with no fewer than 15 “false plots” that “inflamed them with dark suspicions against their fellow citizens.”
A kind of Christian jihad involving either clandestine or judicial killing of political enemies also framed public events, the former popularly justified by reference to the righteous assassins Jael and Ehud in the Bible.
With so much executive action afoot in Charles’ administration, the deliberations of Parliament came to be seen as merely “an amusement to the public.”
Kimball Shinkoskey
Woods Cross, Utah
Comments
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Thank you Mr. Garcia. Finally a constructive solution to all of our problems (Letters, Nov. 16). You have, as normally the conservative ilk does, decided to blame all of the problems in American government on American government and the solution is to change it and all those people at the top. It appears that you assume these 535 elected individuals plus nine Supreme Court justices are equally responsible for our current state of affairs. They aren’t. We are. We put 535 of them there.
Please Mr. Garcia, no trips 2,000 years back to Rome and Greece. There are few if any equivalencies so, even though we have inherited some of their least desirable human traits, greed, ego and violence, these traits have followed humans and were not created by current politicians.
To suggestions of eliminating gerrymandering (the act of intentionally affecting voting districts for political gains) you supply a typical liberal response: “If only that were possible.” Giving up before the battle is engaged, are you? Gerrymandering is not required in constitutional redistricting. My solution is an oversight committee reporting to the state Supreme Court.
Where are your specific solutions? Action is required for sure. Tell us whom to contact. Place a political ad in the newspaper.
“We the people” are the ones who should control the representation that controls the government but we aren’t. The low Valley turnout and the results prove that doing the same thing over and over again, even just complaining, and getting no results is not effective. Make no mistake — I am not asking to stop protesting over and over again. I am asking that you use all your contacts, help us out. Can you suggest whom to email, phone or go to see to help Texas and the nation? Have you taken these actions? I have! My point: Much more needs to be done.
Ned Sheats
Mission
