Fear is the foundation of most governments.
-John Adams
Saturday, January 07, 2006
COURT OF THE SUN KING
CENTER FOR ORGANIZED DECEPTION
"I have heard of patriotism in the United States, and I have found true patriotism among the people, but never among the leaders of the people. This may be explained by analogy: despotism debases the oppressed much more than the oppressor: in absolute monarchies the king often has great virtues, but the courtiers are invariably servile. It is true that American courtiers do not say "Sire," or "Your Majesty," a distinction without a difference. They are forever talking of the natural intelligence of the people whom they serve; they do not debate the question which of the virtues of their master is pre-eminently worthy of admiration, for they assure him that he possesses all the virtues without having acquired them, or without caring to acquire them; they do not give him their daughters and their wives to be raised at his pleasure to the rank of his concubines; but by sacrificing their opinions they prostitute themselves. Moralists and philosophers in America are not obliged to conceal their opinions under the veil of allegory; but before they venture upon a harsh truth, they say: "We are aware that the people whom we are addressing are too superior to the weaknesses of human nature to lose the command of their temper for an instant. We should not hold this language if we were not speaking to men whom their virtues and their intelligence render more worthy of freedom than all the rest of the world." The sycophants of Louis XIV could not flatter more dexterously.
"For my part, I am persuaded that in all governments, whatever their nature may be, servility will cower to force, and adulation will follow power. The only means of preventing men from degrading themselves is to invest no one with that unlimited authority which is the sure method of debasing them." -Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
I can think of nothing more degrading, more craven, than blind support of an elected official. That a human being sits at the head of every office of this country I am entirely certain. Respect for the office is guaranteed, but respect for the individual holding that office must be earned by consistency of word and deed in conjunction with the laws of our land.
The fact that the Presidency is a singular title does not endow the holder of that title with more reason, more judgment, more rights, more humanity than any other citizen. It most assuredly does not allow them to overstep the law because they are concerned with expediency.
If anything, such a unique office should demand more humility before the people and more oversight by the people. That, for the privilege of serving the people, the President should seek for himself a higher standard.
---
"You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe." -John Adams
While it is often said that we are a country of laws, we are more than that -- we are a country of rights. These rights need not be earned, they are not granted upon citizenship, nor subject to certification or fee. While we must respect the forms of government which other nations have formed, we must recognize within their people these same rights, whether guaranteed by their laws or not.
Force can only restrain exercise of rights, never revoke possession of them.
---
"His Ministers, generals, mistresses, and courtiers soon found out his weak point, namely, his love of hearing his own praises. There was nothing he liked so much as flattery, or, to put it more plainly, adulation; the coarser and clumsier it was, the more he relished it. That was the only way to approach him; if he ever took a liking to a man it was invariably due to some lucky stroke of flattery in the first instance, and to indefatigable perseverance in the same line afterwards. His Ministers owed much of their influence to their frequent opportunities for burning incense before him...." -Duc de Saint Simon on King Louis XIV
"Bush's real friends are his old Texas and school buddies from Andover, Yale and Harvard Business School. He calls them all the time -- but the talk is usually comforting and jocular, of sports and old days. They rarely dispense pointed political advice or brace him with bad news. Chief of staff Card is widely described by insiders as a decent and honorable man, but also as a family retainer who tells the president what he wants to hear. Exhausted by predawn arrivals at the White House, Card is expected to step down soon (though he denies the rumors that he wants to replace Treasury Secretary John Snow). The lead candidates to replace Card are all loyalists, like OMB Director Josh Bolten, or Bush's old confidant and former Commerce secretary Don Evans (who is lukewarm about working full time in Washington)." --Evan Thomas and Richard Wolffe, Bush in the Bubble
---
"Louis XIV., playing at backgammon, had a doubtful throw; a dispute arose, and all the courtiers remained silent. The Count de Grammont came in at that instant. "Decide the matter," said the king to him. "Sire," said the count, "your Majesty is in the wrong." -- "How so," replied the king; "can you decide without knowing the question?" -- "Yes," said the count, "because, had the matter been doubtful, all these gentlemen present would have given it for your majesty."
The President's most recent admission of unlawful surveillance on American citizens raised a chorus of assent from many in his court. This outpouring of agreement is not exceptional. What seems so remarkable at this point is the highly-dissonant sound of opposing voices emanating from the throats of conventional yes-men.
When the courtiers no longer give his Majesty a pass, what will happen to Versailles?
---
"It was this love of praise which made it easy for Louvois to engage him in serious wars, for he persuaded him that he had greater talents for war than any of his Generals, greater both in design and in execution, and the Generals themselves encouraged him in this notion, to keep in favour with him. I mean such Generals as Conde and Turenne, much more, of course, those who came after them. He took to himself the credit of their successes with admirable complacency, and honestly believed that he was all his flatterers told him." -Duc de Saint Simon on King Louis XIV
"Of all the president's advisers, Cheney has consistently taken the most dire view of the terrorist threat. On Iraq, Bush was the decision maker. But more than any adviser, Cheney was the one to make the case to the president that war against Iraq was an urgent necessity." -Newsweek cover story Nov 17, 2003
We come, at last, to the Honorable Mr. Cheney.
He appears as Louvois, the war minister, inflaming the President's aggressive passions, playing on his pride and strong belief in mandates, from both God and the People. Pushing for neverending war while draining the coffers beyond all previous records.
Though we must discount Louvois' skillful reorganization of the army, for Cheney has demonstrated only that he can underequip and misappropriate every branch of the military.
Perhaps we may even find a bit of Colbert in him, relentless corporatism bearing the torch of the mercantile tradition. He represents that great intersection of State and Corporate interests, fully able to appease businesses by force of law.
Comparisons of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes to Cheney's constant machinations toward investing the Executive with ultimate authority (in effect nullifying the protections of Constitution), though, might be too much of a stretch.
---
"While conversing with the philosopher Bernard de Fontenelle one day, Louis XIV remarked upon his lack of faith in the existence of honorable men. 'Plenty of honorable men exist, sire,' Fontenelle replied, 'but they do not seek the company of kings.'" -Bernard de Fontenelle
"Never imagine that skill and talent are all that matter. In court the courtier's art is more important than his talent; never spend so much time on your studies that you neglect your social skills. And the greatest skill of all is the ability to make the master look more talented than those around him." -The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene
Not enough that the King himself displays marked lack of talent, but those around him seem lacking themselves. Lest some feel this issue resides firmly in the realm of left-wing sour grapes, they must ask themselves some very tough questions concerning the reason behind the appointment of candidates considered almost unanimously unqualified or underqualified.
How can a person display incompetence such that his own selected sycophants must continually struggle to keep the general consensus toward their patron slightly above the low-tide mark of buffoonery?
The filling of government posts should not be used as a dumping ground for wheedling toadies and shameless bootlicks. The meritocracy should be a linchpin of conservatism, but how to explain the mass of the right which feel they deserve their position as unproven appointees simply because they dropped some dollars into Bush's coffers?
