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I saw the President charge the people for a wall, and we put it by. Then he charged it to us again, and we put it by again. And then he charged it the third time. We put it the third time by. At end, he suffered a compromise in name but scorned it in spirit, claiming undue power from the façade of a crisis and charging us regardless of our outcry. We have a word for a leader who unduly consolidates power: Dictator. In ancient Rome, this was a title conferred by the legislature, and they customarily resigned after the crisis had passed to avoid abuse of power. The office was abolished after Julius Caesar*, who refused to step down after his term ended. Sidebar: Caesar was not technically a dictator, the title having been retired before his time, but instead embodied an evolution of the role. He represented an “extraconstitutional office with virtually unlimited power,” meant to “restore the republic” (a sentiment with disturbing resonance today). For those new to the story of Julius Caesar, I refer you to Shakespeare’s classic play. I’d say to go skim it and then come back, but it’s not exactly a quick read. So spoiler alert, I guess? Reader beware, I guess? The parallels between our current head of state and good ol’ Jules run deeper, too. Shakespeare’s language seems eerily prescient. Just listen to some of Caesar’s lines. About the soothsayer who foretells Caesar’s downfall and is brusquely dismissed: He is a dreamer. Let us leave him. As a certain contingent clings to a diminishingly white America, can anyone say DACA? After taking power: Let me have men about me that are fat My mind turns to the administration’s ceaseless hiring-and-firing, the investigation into the campaign’s corruption, forgotten promises to drain the swamp, and The Daily Show’s Trump bingo card.
Students of history or theatre know what follows such a power grab. The rest can probably guess. Beware the Ides, Mr. President. Your hubris will be your downfall.
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10/10/2022 11:26:08 pm
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