As I watch these hearings in the little window on the side of my computer screen [Biden sparring with Petraeus. Kind of whining.], I keep thinking about Kings.
I remember when I took history, all we talked about was the Kings and the Queens, the Kaisers, the Emperors, the Popes, and the Generals. It seemed like all the wars were between this King and that King for power. As things evolved, governments began to move away from such things. The interests of the people were increasingly represented, and the whims of the Kings faded into the background. Now, we’re back to Kings again. The King of Islamic Fundamentalists attacked America, mad at our old King for fighting the Iraq King who had invaded the Kuwait King’s territory. Our new King, son of an old King, then attacked and killed the King of Iraq, and is now threatening to attack the King of Iran. The British King dropped out. Now we’re hearing our Ministers and Generals talk about supporting our King’s policies against all the evil Kings. It’s like the ancient game of chess, all about protecting and capturing Kings.
OZYMANDIAS
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
And so history could just repeat itself although the name will be different.
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!â€
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Devoutly to be wished, a forgotten Bush, a fallen Cheney, sand blowing around. Great image…