A thousand years ago Edward the Confessor was mostly regarded as a good English King. He kicked the bucket. Naive man that I am, I assumed he’d planned for a suitable heir he found somewhere in the inbred family tree. Thus, a mature and well trained offspring specifically and clearly designated by the King would take the throne. God I’m such a fool!
The English nobility formed a council of “wise men”. Their job was to manage the power vacuum and pretend to be sad about the King’s death. I’m sure deliberations of the “wise men” was as stupid, immoral, and corrupt as the jackoffs in our Congress. Just as our Congress can’t even shit out a mangled unbalanced budget once a year without shenanigans, the “wise men” did shady backroom deals too.
[Note: as of February 2022, Congress hasn’t managed to shit out a federal budget. The government is running under the latest in a series of continuing resolutions. This happens often, sometimes many years in a row. During eight years of the Obama presidency there were relatively few true budgets. In 2022 I’d guess there will be no budget until after the election.]
Merry old England’s “wise men” reached into an orifice and found proof that the King had made a deathbed designation. Just before he croaked he said he wanted Harold Godwinson to be his successor. What was the proof? “Shut up or we’ll kill you” was the proof.
That’s how Godwinson wound up on the throne. If you think it sounds fishy, you’re disloyal to the Monarch. Pissing off the King drives up your life insurance rates.
Not everyone was delighted with the “Godwinson was designated in a room where you weren’t present but trust us” explanation but they rolled with it. People of the time understood that things were corrupt.
Are there any analogies to compare to now? Sure!
Back when there was snow on the ground, some Americans complained about a possibly tainted election. In January 2021 they “petitioned government for redress of grievances” to address this issue. That right was originally written into the Magna Carta (1215). It percolated through English common law until it was copy/pasted to the American First Amendment (1790).
Predictably, the First Amendment right wasn’t honored. It’s 2021 and the law isn’t the law. Isn’t that what my study of history is trying to teach me?
So American citizens have a Constitutionally protected right to “petition for redress of grievances” with an 806 year precedent. Of course, their concerns were ignored. It’s 2021 so that’s a given. Also something like 725 citizens were arrested. That’s new to America but common in lesser nations; like Uganda or whatnot. America is not devolving to a lesser nation’s lack of law; it’s already there.
[Note: in 2022 the FBI was still seeking 350 individuals to add to the original 725 it arrested. Who are these three hundred stealthy supervillians? Shut up and watch your ass or it might be you! (See how that works?) I also did a quick Google search to find out how many political prisoners are still in jail in 2022. It wasn’t clear and Google wishes I’d stop asking before I’m put on another list. The best I got was about 70 are convicted and processed. The rest are rotting in jail.
Like any subject of an objectively dangerous totalitarian regime I used VPN and privacy tactics. I did this even through I was searching for legally obtainable data. Like any totalitarian dystopia, the fact that I (or someone) Googled that question has been logged.]
[Note: In case you’re wondering “the right to a speedy and public trial” is in the American Constitution’s Sixth Amendment (1790). If you think 13 months in the pen isn’t “speedy” enough you’re a terrorist. Seriously, Biden and the press have declared you a terrorist. Asshole! Now you might get shit on by social media, or your bank might lock your finances, or maybe you’ll just get fucked by the FBI. (See how that works?)]
Anyway, somewhere between 700 and maybe an eventual 1000 citizens indefinitely detained for at least a year is isn’t the same as King Godwinson’s power but it’s on the spectrum. I assume dungeons suck worse than prisons but at that point aren’t we splitting hairs?
No matter what anyone says, indefinitely detained is indefinitely detained.
It’s new to me that America has political prisoners. That used to be a thing for the Russians or Chinese or North Koreans. In 2021 it’s something America does. That’s because the election of 2020 failed.
[Note: In early spring 2021 all of this was still a bit of a “conspiracy theory”. As with most recent “conspiracy theories”, it’s now fact. To clear the air, the following things are true in 2022: nobody has been charged with the actual crime of insurrection, the FBI had informants crawling all over the event, no Government employee was harmed, some “petitioners” were shot and killed by Government employees, the only people who used weapons were Government employees, and most who were arrested haven’t had their day in court. I’ll add that it’s only my opinion that Mike Pence demonstrated that he’s a douchebag but that’s probably pure fact too.]
It’s all a bit annoying because I like laws with written words. I’d almost prefer it if Nancy Pelosi wandered down to the National Archives Building to see the actual physical Constitution, whipped out a marker, and wrote “the King can throw you into a dungeon if you piss him off”. Why not? That’s exactly what Biden has done. If there’s still room in the margins, Pelosi might add “if Covid makes us scared we can do any damn thing we want”.
The real point is this: the King is the King, because he’s the King. It doesn’t matter if he arrived based on a sketchy election in 2020 or some committee’s bullshit story in 1066.
Did the Edward the Confessor really designate Harold Godwinson with his last dying breath? Who the fuck knows? I doubt it. Regardless, it wasn’t a clean and obvious succession like in fairy tales. The “fact” that the King made a choice on his deathbed is somewhere between sketchy and possible but English subjects agreed with it because they knew the system was corrupt; unlike their counterparts in 2021 who are still in jail.
I slowly digest this. My American tendency to fret over an election that smelled fishy is catching up with the way things have always been. If they have thrown you in jail, then they can throw you in jail.
That’s depressing so I’ll continue the story in my next post.
Comment l read on Flopping Aces post about similar subject:
Why does Joe Biden need the Russians to have immediate plans to attack the Ukraine? So the U.S. embassy can be ordered to destroy a ton of records, which coincidentally happen to incriminate Joe Biden?
An angle I had not considered….but nothing seems to be beyond the pale these days.
You know, there was a time when I’d reject that as a silly theory. In 2022 it seems plausible though a bit out there. I’d assume if you’re corrupt enough to start a war to hide data you’re corrupt enough to hide data without the fig leaf of a war.
I think this is more on Putin wanting to increase oil prices. The Russian economy isn’t doing great and oil revenues provide most of its cash. Also Russia has some legitimate concerns about NATO forces near its border. If Russia started send weapons, ammunition and “training” forces to Mexico the US would go nuts. If any records existed that would have incriminated Biden have been destroyed long before this.
You elect rot, you get rot. That goes hand in hand along with stupid.
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