Monday, March 3, 2008

The War of the Ruses

No, that isn't a typo; we are not examining the clash between the houses of York and Lancaster, although having raised that straw man, it is interesting to note that in the beginning, the basic philosophy of each house was merely to gain power. Each house had blood ties to the Plantagenet family and the civil wars between the two houses, red rose symbol from Lancaster coat of arms, white from York, was ultimately about succession to the throne of England.

So,what have we here? The House of Clinton, whose coat of arms bears the sign of the ears of cuckoldry, and The House of Obama, whose coat of arms, pundits assert, should be a swath of green for untried and inexperienced, flourishing nicely under the House of Democrats, whose coat of arms should bear a large swatch of yellow to commemorate their refusal to stand up to the House of Bush. And now the civil war to see which gets the relatively clear shot at eight years in The House which, contrary to popular belief, was not an invention of Aaron Sorkin.

Look to history for examples of how little human behavior has changed over the millenia. It is more than fun to note for example that when Henry VII, arguably an effective ruler, died, the fortunes of England were on the rise, the treasury, if not bloated was at least comfortably about the middle. For Henry VII, read Bill Clinton. Now along comes Henry VIII, of wife fame, and squanders big time the treasury, literally makes religious history, and introduces into the web of events the precursor of the presidential signing statement.

Oh, woe is us.

The House of Obama never sought the notice much less the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan, yet the head of the House of Obama was called upon repeatedly to repudiate anything sounding vaguely nice about its leader from Farrakhan.

The House of McCain actively sought and was given endorsement by a so-called man of the cloth from San Antonio, Texas, a man of such splenetic passions and bigotry as to raise gorges as well as eyebrows. The leader of the House of McCain publicly acknowledged his pleasure in being thus anointed and was not called upon to repudiate in any way the views of his champion.

Double standard.

The first performance on record of Romeo and Juliet by the English playwright Shakespeare, was mounted during the anguishing arc of the War of the Roses. At one point early on in the play, a character proclaims as though to the feuding families of Montague and Capulet, "A plague on both your houses," At which point, the audience rose to deliver a standing ovation.

It is difficult not to have convictions about the current War of the Ruses. My own had their origins in the anyone-but-Hillary sentiment, clamped like a limpet onto the candidacy of John Edwards, then shifted with a tad of remorse to Obama, where they grew with a steady progression of admiration for the way he emerged with the presidential dignity and responsiveness I so value in a leader. He has stood tall to the tsunami of attacks.

On this day before what appears to be a critical point in the campaign, we watch with interest to see where and when and how the House of Hillary will shed a tear.

9 comments:

R.L. Bourges said...

Double Yesss. (that's about as literate as it gets out of me right now, unless I add a high five to go with it)

Anonymous said...

If only Shakespeare were around today. He'd be a blogger, for sure.

Kaytie said...

Hey! Look who's here! (Either me or you, depending on which side of the table we're at!)

I'm glad to find your blog, Shelly, and look forward to catching up.

Cheers,

Kaytie

Unknown said...

The famous words of Mercutio resound endlessly in the ears of warmongers. I swear I was just thinking about doing a post on Romeo and Juliet earlier this morning, but from a completely different direction. I know it's nice empty and echoig real estate, but could you please kindly stay out of my head? :oP

lowenkopf said...

Renee Lucie--I'll settle for a high two and a half and a blow-out in Texas and a close call in Ohio.

Liz the photographer--Shakespeare would then have linked to Ben and Chris, which sounds like ice cream but is really his theatrical buds.

Hey Kaytie, good to connect again. There is life after graduation and you've got the novel to prove it.

Okay, Muse, let's see who gets there first with a post about the opening line from Hamlet and Macbeth.

Lori Witzel said...

Nothin' to add except I did my part for a blow-out in Texas.

Have you read up on the Kinky Effect yet? Some info here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87851341

R.L. Bourges said...

well you've got your answer in Lori's link - Where when and how the House of Hillary will shed a tear starts with the "grown men" in her campaign staff. Don't cry for me Argentina...etc

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Unknown said...

LOL, Shelly I'll stick with the other literary tack I was going to pull from Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice. The romantic in me must have it's way today.