Comments on Badtux the Snarky Penguin: The blood of tyrants

Indeed. Anybody who thinks the French are pussies ...

2007-07-15T17:10:01.695-07:00

Indeed. Anybody who thinks the French are pussies needs to listen to that song. A little too eager to throw their lives away for glory (I understand that French soldiers were practically *fighting* for the privilege of being dropped into Dien Bien Phu long after it was clear that it was a suicide trip), but lacking in the martial valor? I think not.

I wouldn't complain about Americans being pussies, BTW. Most people, regardless of their national origin, do not like violence and will resort to violence only if left with no choice in the matter. Thus far our monarchs have left us some choice, the better to keep us on the ranch where we sheeple are more easily fleeced. I fear, however, that they've forgotten the lessons of Bastille Day...

- Badtux the Bastille Penguin

That scene from "Casablanca" still brings a tear t...

2007-07-15T16:33:12.102-07:00

That scene from "Casablanca" still brings a tear to my eye. When you are in for a fight with TPTB, you better be bloodthirsty. That being said, we have no need to worry about a Bastille Day in this country, blood is so-o icky!! And up to now we have given away much of what our forefathers worked and fought for in exchange for a chimerical promise of a piece of the pie. Literally speaking, a crumb is a piece of the pie.

Badtux, have you seen these? The Trap: Episode One...

2007-07-15T14:38:40.349-07:00

Badtux, have you seen these?

The Trap: Episode One (Adam Curtis, BBC

The Power of Nightmares Part 1: Baby it's Cold Outside - by Adam Curtis

If you watch them, you'll see why I thought of them when I read this post.

minstrel boy,

you recommended a book somewhere, in someone's comments and I just finished it, along with two others by Loewen.

Thanks for the recommendation, I learned a lot.

Indeed, revolutions rarely turn out well. I am awa...

2007-07-15T12:53:23.205-07:00

Indeed, revolutions rarely turn out well. I am aware of no revolution that has not ended up with a bloodbath. What about the American Revolution, you say? Well, the American Revolution was not exactly a revolution. What it was, was a civil war between two parts of a nation (England and its colonies) that had grown apart with time. Wars of secession like that one can sometimes turn out reasonably well, but that is the exception to the general rule.

But hey, we're Americans. We don't need to obey any steenkin' rules of history. I mean, it's like that general rule that occupying a foreign nation against the will of its people is always a bloody mess that ends with either genocide or defeat. We're Americans, so we don't need to obey that rule. U S A! U S A! U S A! Woot!

- Badtux the History Penguin

While there is a certain appeal to your idea, unfo...

2007-07-15T10:31:05.346-07:00

While there is a certain appeal to your idea, unfortunately, the immediate result of a revolution is often a civil war. And, we've been through one of those before, and I have no desire to see another one. It was bad enough in the 1860s; I shudder to imagine what it might be like in the 2010s.

Of course, given the way things are going in Iraq, we may get to witness a civil war up close. :-(

Dave

and where is the bandwho so vauntingly sworethat t...

2007-07-15T09:21:48.749-07:00

and where is the band
who so vauntingly swore
that the havoc of war
and the battle's confusion
a home and a country
should leave us no more
their blood has washed out
their foul footsteps pollution
no refuge could save
the hireling and slave
from the terror of flight
and the gloom of the grave
and the star spangled banner
in triumph doth wave
o'er the land of the free
and the home of the brave

the seldom performed or noticed 3rd verse.

the minstrel who knows that the last words of the anthem are NOT "play ball."