Special Blog Story:
The Harvest and the Wind
In one harvest season, when the autumn rains came, the people, as they always did, braced for the onslaught of They Who Have No Remorse; but that year, the Hordes did not come, and the people, after much anxious waiting, realized they had been spared.
They rejoiced in their harvest, they drank deeply from their full vats of wine, and they ate heartily of the meats of the livestock that had not been taken from them as had happened every year before for so very long.
In the Great Hall of the Eerf, during the Night of Feast, a drunken man, John the Younger, stood with his full cup of wine and hollered, "I propose a toast! A toast, I say, to the Hordes."
Everyone stopped. The room fell silent in puzzlement.
The drunken man went on, "They who have vexed us for lo these many years, they who have been the scourge of our land, they who have taken so much from us and left us with so little... they who have now SPARED us: we humbly thank them."
No one in the hall spoke, for even though each and every one of them had such bitterness, such rage, such personal tragedy brought by the Hordes, John was saying what they all felt deep within: not bitterness; not rage; not anger; but instead, gratitude.
Esther of Evarb spoke up: "They heard our prayers, you see. I told you, if we all prayed as one, if we all held hands and sang as one voice, they would hear our plea and leave us in peace. I told you!" And what seemed like everyone in the room nodded silently.
But the quiet was soon broken by an old man who stood up and slowly, deliberately crossed the center of the Great Hall, walking as he was toward the back door. The clunk-clunk-clunk of his cane let everyone know his unspoken disgust as he made it to the door, which he opened. The bitter autumn wind swept into the room; then he turned around to look at the people.
He scowled at them, and then he growled: "Feel that cold, cold night wind. Feel it right down to your bones.
"You forget that wind when the Spring comes, don't you?
"You forget the bitter cold when the breezes turn warm and soft in the summer sun, don't you?
"But then comes this ill wind again: it blows as it chooses, coming here, going there, swirling across the world...
"But always, always, it returns to our land... when it chooses."
He turned and walked out, leaving the door open behind him. As he disappeared into the night, he called back, "The Hordes are letting you rebuild this land they have shattered these many years. When they come back, they will have far more to take here than they've had for a long, long time...
"And you all will be as fattened and drunk as they please."
John the Younger marched briskly over to the door and slammed it shut. "Old fool," he grumbled.
And the party continued.
The Dark Wraith has told his story for the day.
Published 11/13/2006 12:06:00 PM
<< 31 Comments Total
From one old fool to another: excellent post.
And now, they think themselves safe.
I am not inclined to be grateful, drunk, complacent or even nice. I know the hordes are regrouping. How can we grow the best harvest and still not make it even more attractive to the hordes of greedy barbarians? Can't. Instead, grow a fabulous harvest and suggest that each barbarian disrobe entirely and submit extensive confessions before being allowed to eat. Then feed them their meals in prison. It may not keep us safe, but it sure will be fun!
Solitaire
DW,
Could we help the poor villagers build a fence aroung them, you know, to keep out the Hordes?
Good afternoon, Dark One.
We need the "Seven Samurai" or in a later mold, "The Magnificient Seven" to help hold back the hourds.
Now is not the time to stop fighting, it's time to redouble the effort. The hourds will be back in force. They are licking their wounds and their suporters are still there.
Nothing like being a righteous fool.
Alright, I'll admit it, I can't spell anymore. Must be brain damage from seeing the shrub too many times. Hordes.
Damnit.
Old wise grammer master, is horde Old English for whore?
My Pet Goat,
In the vein of the tête-à-tête between DW and PoLT over at Blondesense,
"horde" is lousy English past tense for heard, I think.
Either that or it means something difficult to do, i.e., hard.
Sorry, it's the rain!
..."horde" is lousy English past tense for heard, I think.
As in we heard the passing of wind? If so, this must be the stink left behind. Lieberman won't rule out GOP caucusing
What we can do to protect ourselves next time from the hordes is dump all the DLC corporatist douche bags and Republican Lites like Lieberman.
These assholes always leave the door cracked for the hordes to come back with their moderate centrist stance and unwillingness to unhook themselves from the corporate tit long enough to do some actual work for the people.
I hope everyone is prepared because the battle is just begining.
Get ready for some of the corporatists to start selling out the Democratic Party.
This time however I think it will be different.
We all got fat and lazy during the Clinton years and let the hordes coming rushing in in 2000.
I don't think we'll let that happen again now will we...
This is utterly OT, but there's no place to put the link and I think it's worth sharing.
- oddjob
Good evening, OddJob.
Thank you for the link to that video. That was some darned good computer animation for a one-person effort.
The Dark Wraith is always a fan of good animation, of course.
Good evening, PoliShifter.
I have to say that I agree with you that the political landscape has changed to the extent that the DLC can no longer stand (or grovel, as the case may be) as the only voice of the Democratic Party with some hope of being heard. Especially for the past six years, but even before that, the DLC has used the idea that the electorate shifted Right to pose itself as the alternative to Republicanism.
You might recall that I have been noting signs—tentative and small as they might have been—of a movement back to the Left among some groups: in "Fire and Seeds," I noted one component of that building shift, which has now become more obvious and broad-based, what with this last election.
What concerns me is that some in the mainstream media seem to be trying to frame the just-completed election as some kind of victory for conservatism by claiming Democrats who won did so by shifting their positions to comport with a conservatism in the population.
Bull. What's happening is that the electorate is beginning to move to the Left, and the DLC needs to get off its high horse about how it stands on the "reasonable" or "bi-partisan" or "centrist" moral platform.
Party of the "Big Tent" or not, there isn't enough canvas in the country to let the elephants in unless they're willing to deflate themselves down to reasonable proportions. But then they wouldn't be elephants anymore.
And while we're at it, it seems to me that, while the Democrats have the moment, it might not be a bad idea to open the flap on that tent to let a few new Green animals in and kick a few old smelly animals out.
We'll see how 2007 plays.
The Dark Wraith is looking forward to the fun.
Good evening, Mr. Goat.
Did you know that in Old English the word that we now pronounce as "whore" probably back then meant something along the lines of "dear one"?
Both lexical and valence shift, all in one word.
What's the significance of that? Well, maybe in a thousand years, the phrase "George W. Bush" might mean something other than "imbecile."
The Dark Wraith is just speculating there, of course.
Good evening, BlackDog.
Actually, vis-á-vis the Democrats and the type of fighting machine they need, I was thinking of something more along the lines of the movie Zulu.
The Dark Wraith looks darned good holding a spear and wearing a loin cloth, y'know.
Good evening, Father Tyme.
Actually, rather than build a fence around the land of the Eerf, it would be better to build a fence around the South and the West.
That way, the hordes would have nothing to destroy but one another.
The Dark Wraith should offer to help draw up secession papers for They Who Have No Remorse.
And to those who noticed the oddities of some of the named places in the post, I cannot say whether or not most people caught the backwards spellings of some of the proper nouns in the story. I'm assuming everyone did, but I don't know.
The Dark Wraith received a couple of e-mail messages asking if those backwards spellings were intentional.
Good evening, Solitaire.
Nor am I, obviously.
What worries me is that I am seeing way too much about "investigations" and "hearings" and this and that, but way too little about getting voting and voting machine reform to the top of the legislative agenda.
This needs to be done right away; and the entire process of elections needs to be federalized. Nothing short of that is going to solve the problem the Republicans are going to permanently pose as a political party willing to cheat and steal in elections.
I wandered into a Republican message board where some fellow living in another reality was actually talking about how he was afraid the Democrats were going to "steal" the election that is still up in the air in the 15th District of Ohio (the one about which I wrote last week).
At first I thought to myself, "There's a boy smokin' the gooood stuff"; but then it occurred to me that, if he and his fellow Republicans feel so much like like they're some kind of victims of persistent election fraud, then they'll surely be glad to see wholesale, sweeping election reform, and not the kind of phony "reform" of that silly HAVA thing.
Let's just hope the Democrats in Congress can hold off on hanging the neo-cons long enough to get this important business done first.
The Dark Wraith needs a little time, anyway, to go out and buy popcorn to munch on during the investigative hearings that will be running non-stop for the next two years.
Good evening, Kelley B.
One of the unfortunate things for me about getting old is losing the ability to ever feel safe.
I remember the times in my life when I was living in my car (whether it actually worked or not was another matter, at least in one case of about a month-and-a-half). No matter where I was parked, I couldn't feel safe. If it wasn't the cops, it was the idiots who thought they were funny harrassing the street people.
In those times, I thought to myself about the times when I had a place to live, a place that wasn't just warm, but also where I was secure in my person and in my boxes of books and treasures. I imagined also how great it would be when the hard times were over and I could be assured of always ever after being where I knew I was safe and secure and warm.
It was for me a terribly long journey coming to understand that such a place just doesn't exist, certainly not for me, and probably not for anyone. I honestly wouldn't wish that sense of fear before surrender upon anyone.
But I'm glad now that both the sense of fear and the sense of surrender are over.
Now, at least I can be assured that I'm pretty much ready to deal with the 21st Century.
The Dark Wraith hopes others are, too.
Good evening, Dark Wraith.
I didn't even realize those words were spelled backwards until I read your comment in the comment thread! I could kick myself.
Perhaps, it was because the article was so interesting and easily read. I really enjoyed it. I usually have to go back through something to get the whole effect. I'm glad I read the comments because everyone pointed out more bits that I missed the first reading.
It certainly is a good warning to all who might become complacent.
"Now, at least I can be assured that I'm pretty much ready to deal with the 21st Century.
The Dark Wraith hopes others are, too."
I still get the jimjams, but they are of shorter duration and more infrequent than before. "Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean somebody isn't out to get me".
RE: DW's curse of 41 & his family
Well, 41 always was both an utterly shameless and brainless shill.....
- oddjob (who still regrets voting for 41 back in the day when he was too foolish to know better)
Top of the morning to you, Darkest One.
I liked this story. It reminded me of an old country western song "The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions." Which is not to be confused with the Chimporer's favorite old drinking song by George Jones, "White Lighting."
I really have no business posting a comment this time of day. At the very least I should have had some java and found my land legs. Ya know?
Awww, screw it. Just blame it on my "chemo brain." Yeah, that's the ticket. I'll milk that chicken til the cows come home.
"oddjob (who still regrets voting for 41 back in the day when he was too foolish to know better)"
Oddjob, that is indeed a hideous revelation, but perhaps we can absolve each other. PoLT voted, in his very first election, for Barry "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice" Goldwater.
Zulu
LOL. I'm sure you would look very dapper in a loincloth, though I still fear we may be the ones wearing the redcoats in this analogy.
Zulu frickin' ruled. It's nice to see I'm not the only one who remembers Michael Caine's big screen debut.
Good Morning Dark Wraith:
re QoD: the problem with people as dumb as the president is that they actually would need to become a wee bit smarter in order to be able to comprehend how stupid they are.
re Zulu: i did a paper on Rourke's Drift while in grad school. the movie (which is a true masterpiece) had to tone it down. although they left out one very cruicial bit of information. well before the zulus arrived the color sergeant and a few soldiers went out beyond the walls. they put a series of colored stakes into the ground at 100, 150, 200, 300 and 500 yard intervals. the troopers behind the barricades knew exactly the settings for the sights on their martini-henry .45's and with the stakes out there they didn't need to do any estimation. the volley fire started at 500 yards and only became deadlier as the zulus advanced. the movie also discounted the number and effect of the rifles on the zulu side. they had captured over 1,000 and ample ammunition the day before and they were well versed with their use having been trading for firearms with the portuguese for over 50 years.
all told though there were ample stories of heroism on both sides. the british survived because the zulus had been on their feet for three days and realized that there was no tactical or strategic value to the place. and, warrior to warrior, they felt a kinship that reached across the barricades. the movie is worth it for michael caine alone. he originally wanted the part of trooper hook. when he was cast as the young lieutenant the director told him to "make him every toff you've ever despised."
all told it is an example of an excellent movie with adequate history.
That was a fabulous story, oh Darkest One.
Yes the hordes are probably regrouping while the regular people rebuild. but you know something? I'm working on this quantum physics, create your own reality type of deal. I am not careless but I live as if I am safe. I won't let those bastards get the best of me.
I don't think that meaningful campaign finance reform can take place until the people of the US fully understand the degree to which our form of government has been distorted by the money in the political system. I do think that the investigations into the corruption raging in Congress will have the capacity to educate the people. Then there can be a powerful push to FORCE Congress into giving up the corporate tit.
Congress WILL have to be forced, because all incumbants benefit from the bribery money.
Solitaire
What we can do to protect ourselves next time from the hordes is dump all the DLC corporatist douche bags and Republican Lites like Lieberman.
Ahhh, we tried so hard to get rid of that whining excuse for a sea slug.
We need to get rid of the Carvilles and the DC Dems that are on the take.
To All...
I was thinking the other day that money has always been, and always will be a factor in modern elections. No matter the safeguards, someone will find a cheat. I propose that since we are paying public officials for their work for US, that rather than monetary limits, we have campaign time limits. It kind of sucks to elect someone to represent you and have them spend 2 years of their life on the campaign trail rather than doing their job. The same for the President. If my manager is forced to work 50+ hours a week with no overtime for something like 30 grand, then I believe that those elected to run the country, rather than a convenience store, should be spending hours like those. Limit campaigning for candidates to weekends and say, 6 weeks for the 6 months prior to the primaries (keep track like a business does vacation time...if Congress or whatever is not in session, then campaign then...). Give them a full 3 months after the conventions...I can be generous once every 4 years. Report card where missing votes outside of their "campaign allottment"(unless they are involved in something in their home district)deducts a %. Miss more than 10%, get a warning. Miss more than 20%,get a public censure. At 30%, dock the sucker's pay and spread it all over the media(hell, their opponents will do that).
Campaigning for someone else- do on your own time, not my dollar-including the $$$ to flit about in Airforce One. Time limits and very public accountability for elected officials doing their jobs should A) make the average schmuck pay a bit more attention, just because he won't be inundated for months and months, B) make people feel less like elections are just a waste of time and $$$, C) with less time, less $$$ will be spent.
Now, note there are no limits mentioned for someone not holding elective office. If someone is truly serious about a run for the pres, then they can resign their seat if elected. If they are a private individual, they can knock themselves out....leaving space for other parties and individuals to come to the fore. But here we sit with candidates announcing their presidential bids before all the votes are counted on this one. It offends me the way Xmas decorations before Halloween offend me. To everything there is a season, and the campaign season has expanded to the point where some public servants get nothing done but campaigning.
OT- I have been covered up at work, and now need to pay the phonebill(which got overlooked last payday)before I can get on-line at home, then there's the fact I am leaving town for the holidays, so it may be that I vanish for a week or two. I'm alive, am planning to be on at least once more before Wednesday, and will be heading up to Michigan. Folks in Ohio,Mich or WVA who may want to see if I babble as badly in person as on-line give me a holler-Checking my e-mail and deleting spam is on my to do list, so I should check it again before I leave.
Good evening, Wild Clover.
To begin with, I share your annoyance at the Christmas decorations that have been going up since late October. I wish to high Heaven someone would explain to these fool retailers and wholesalers that their desperation for early Christmas season sales is so greatly at the expense of any joy I would take in the season that I make note of the stores that cannot control themselves on this matter, and I shop elsewhere.
Now, down to the meat of your post. You have offered an idea that has set me to thinking about its implications.
Implementation of time limits would be difficult, and monitoring would be very complicated. Well-financed incumbent politicians would have so-called "independent" committees (many of them falsely "grassroots" in nature) run ads on the candidates' behalfs, so some kind of control would have to be put on that kind of nonsense.
Also, non-office holders contending for positions would simply have to be put under the same set of rules since, otherwise, well-connected "outsiders" and their special interests could very easily pick off decent incumbents by swamping the airwaves during periods when the incumbents couldn't respond.
That leads to another problem: dark arts gambits. If I were on the payroll of a challenger, I would leak a really ugly rumor about the opponent at a time when he or she would not be allowed to respond for days or possibly weeks. The way around this, as you broadly note, is accountability, and this would have to be strict liability in the sense of what is called respondeat superior: anything that benefits by incidence one side and is done in such a manner that the other candidate is disallowed from immediate response causes monetary or worse punishment to the candidate (not his agents) launching the attack.
I would argue to apply campaign time rules to non-incumbents, too, just on the argument that, "Look, if you win the election, you're going to have to live under these campaign time limit rules then, so you might as well get used to them now."
Another aspect I have been thinking about is the effect of campaign time compression on campaign costs. It would make for a very interesting dynamic in terms of cost structure. My suspicion is that it would substantially increase the costs of things like air-time, print media ads, and other means of promotion. That could, in an odd way, be all to the better, although it would certainly hamper the efforts of third-party candidates.
One idea that has come to me from reading your comment is something along the lines of what in the law profession is called the "IOLTA." This is a pool of money into which each and every practicing attorney pays (by virtue of interest earned on client's payment accounts). The funds in IOLTA are used, among other things, to provide legal counsel to those who cannot afford it.
What if we were to institute a system where every candidate had to contribute a percentage of what he or she raised into a pool that was distributed based upon how little the candidate was generating through fundraising efforts? Obviously, there would have to be some determinative limits on just what candidates would qualify; otherwise, we'd have all manner of hacks and strange people coming out of the woodwork, and we'd end up with the possibility of something approximating some of the campaigns in Europe. That wouldn't be too bad in and of itself, but it has been that tendency to allow all manner of small, disaffected groups to get into the political process and stay there that has given neo-fascists the time to slowly, methodically build themselves from nothing (as they were in the 1990s) to the point where they are now serious contenders about to step onto the national stage in maybe five countries, including Poland, The Netherlands, and Germany. Although I'm a big fan of open political discourse, I am equally a fan of quiet, benign suppression of nasty little political parties that are allowed enough free rein to gather momentum and get themselves an audience: fascism has a way of spreading from a tiny hard core into a more general population of people with only minor initial inclinations to Right-wing attitudes.
Anyway, all that rambling aside, it seems to me that there's merit in your idea of campaign time limits. Maybe this is something that we need to bring up at some point in a more formal way.
The Dark Wraith suspects this idea will meet with more than the usual initial resistance among politicians.
Good Afternoon Dark Wraith
While we're wishing, I'd wish that all those political spots be banned outright(I know, I know, free speech and all that). I mean, how do you learn anything about a candidate in 10, 20 or even 30 seconds??
When you cut out the commercials, then they would be forced to have debates, and we might actually learn something about the candidates' views and how they might react to an emergency.