Ozymandius
Last week Gerald R. Ford, former President of the United States, died. Ford was appointed Vice President by President Richard Nixon when Spiro Agnew resigned from the post because of legal troubles, he then became President when Nixon was forced to resign in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Ford immediately pardoned Nixon, thus preventing the trial and probable conviction of his predecessor.
Ford was never elected Vice President or President and wasn't successful in his election bid after a fairly uneventful partial term in office (with the notable exception of pardoning an obvious criminal)...he was far from what would be considered a "great" President, but, apparently he was better than the rest of us. Five days of memorial services, bands, twenty-one gun salutes, honor guards and being buried at a museum dedicated to him (of course, he also has a Presidential library, they all do now)...that's a lot of pomp and circumstance for a mediocre President. All of this is actually a "toned down" version of a Presidential burial since he was such a "regular guy"...believe it or not.
Like most politicians, Ford will have as many things named after him as is humanly possible...an airport, an aircraft carrier (it's in the works) and whatever else his friends and supporters can manage. Then, his body will rest in the modern equivalent of a pyramid, the grounds of his own museum (Ozymandius must build his monuments). You see, the "elites" believe this is what they deserve...since they are better than the average person. That's what these people have to believe, in my opinion, if this kind of grandiose burial is considered muted.
Without humility, people will govern as tyrants...that's the danger in politicians thinking the way they do. Eventually, they will be tracing their bloodlines to prove their divinity...and immunity to the laws they create for the rest of us.
When I'm being beaten to death by an orderly in a nursing home so that a weapons manufacturer can have a corpse to use for ballistics testing, I'll be remembering every state funeral that my tax dollars funded and wonder if a library dedicated to me would make my passing more pleasant. I doubt I would notice the difference.
Okay, less caffeine, more focusing on positive things for a while...Happy New Year!
Ford was never elected Vice President or President and wasn't successful in his election bid after a fairly uneventful partial term in office (with the notable exception of pardoning an obvious criminal)...he was far from what would be considered a "great" President, but, apparently he was better than the rest of us. Five days of memorial services, bands, twenty-one gun salutes, honor guards and being buried at a museum dedicated to him (of course, he also has a Presidential library, they all do now)...that's a lot of pomp and circumstance for a mediocre President. All of this is actually a "toned down" version of a Presidential burial since he was such a "regular guy"...believe it or not.
Like most politicians, Ford will have as many things named after him as is humanly possible...an airport, an aircraft carrier (it's in the works) and whatever else his friends and supporters can manage. Then, his body will rest in the modern equivalent of a pyramid, the grounds of his own museum (Ozymandius must build his monuments). You see, the "elites" believe this is what they deserve...since they are better than the average person. That's what these people have to believe, in my opinion, if this kind of grandiose burial is considered muted.
Without humility, people will govern as tyrants...that's the danger in politicians thinking the way they do. Eventually, they will be tracing their bloodlines to prove their divinity...and immunity to the laws they create for the rest of us.
When I'm being beaten to death by an orderly in a nursing home so that a weapons manufacturer can have a corpse to use for ballistics testing, I'll be remembering every state funeral that my tax dollars funded and wonder if a library dedicated to me would make my passing more pleasant. I doubt I would notice the difference.
Okay, less caffeine, more focusing on positive things for a while...Happy New Year!
posted by itsjustme at 11:32 PM
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