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| Triumph of Titus and Vespasian, by Giulio Romano, c. 1537 |
In old-timey Rome, the highest honor for exceptional military achievement, Vir Triumphalis (Man of Triumph), was celebrated with Roman Triumphs.
In the midst of vast adoration and revelry, a slave held a Laurus crown over the head of the recipient. To prevent extreme hubris and resulting national disaster, the slave would continually whisper Memento Homo (Remember, you are only a man) or Memento Mori (Remember, you have to die).
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| The Daily Life Of Gods by Alexey Kondakov |
The contemporary response to ego-bumming mortality appears to be YOLO, "You Only Live Once", and that isn't very contemporary.
Snapshot of Yolo County Fair billboard 1960-1970.
For example, the acronym YOLO was listed in a 1968 article discussing watercraft names.
The saying is older . . .
"You only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough." - Comedian Joe E. Lewis, c. 1940
"[Be] covetous of time . . . we live but once in this world." - Samuel Richardson, 1747
and the sentiment is much older. For example,
"Eat eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die,"
is a conflation of two biblical scriptures. Horace contributed Carpe Diem (Seize the Day) and Virgil added Tempus Fugit (Time Flies).
All three appear to be more cautionary than debaucherous.
Regardless, our current would-be Caesar, appears to have won with,
"What the hell do you have to lose?"
Megadonors contributed $107 million to Trump's inaugural version of Roman Triumphs. For comparison, $53 million was contributed to Obama's 2009 inauguration.
Trump's parade route was shorter, the celebrities were fewer, and Trump attended three gala balls as opposed to a more typical ten.
He was, however, clearly the winner in one aspect. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators around the country protested the new White House occupant.
The $100 million cost of security was picked up by federal taxes.
A public accounting for how the donations were spent isn't required, and it is a bit of a mystery. . .
Sort of.
Funding legal counsel for Trump and offspring can't be cheap.
Just saying.
So, why the big donations?Fund-raiser Mel Sembler has an idea.
"A lot of the people who were not on board early on are now getting on."
Translation, a lot of mega rich corporations, assuming America wasn't crazy enough to vote for an unsuitable, unstable, and unprepared president, backed someone else and now they are scrambling to buy a seat at the table.
"It’s important to have your name there if you are in that business. It’s like supporting your community."
Translation,
"You have a nice little business there. It would be a real shame if something should happen to it."
The cost of paying someone to continually follow our would-be Emporer, probably since he was four, whispering,
"You ain't all that."
would have been a good investment.
#NotMyPresident #Trump #Power #YOLO
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| Mutual Assured Lunacy, Postscript |
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| Some More Than Others
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