--------------------
'"What sluggards, what cowards have I brought up in my court, who care nothing for their allegiance to their lord. Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest."
The king's [Henry II of England] exact words have been lost to history but his outrage inspired four knights to sail to England to rid the realm of this annoying prelate. They arrived at Canterbury during the afternoon of December 29 [, 1170] and immediately searched for the Archbishop. [Thomas] Becket fled to the Cathedral where a service was in progress. The knights found him at the altar, drew their swords and began hacking at their victim finally splitting his skull.'
--------------------
Sara Palin put a target on this woman, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Democrat of Arizona, and called for her minions to 'reload'. Sharon Angle called for 'Second Amendment remedies' if Democrats retained any power in Congress. Among others, right wing radio, Dick Armey and the Tea Party, and FoxNews commentators (doing the bidding of Roger Ailes), enriched by the Koch brothers and Karl Rove's political fundraising arm and encouraged by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and John Roberts, continue to inflame the passions of the right wingnuts. We shouldn't be surprised.
And yet Giffords lives. Maybe she wasn't the ultimate target, Jim?
ReplyDeleteAs Graham Harman says in The Speculative Turn (p. 297):
"Reality must not be confused with ultimacy."
But, hell, sometimes it's a pretty good indicator.