Thinking About November 8th, 2016

Things will probably come our alright, but sometimes it takes strong nerves just to watch.
—  Hedley Donovan
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On This Day In:
2015	Lonely Teardrops
2014	Pleasurable Law
2013	Room For Justice
	In The Minds Of Others
2012	Extinction, n.
2011	Snap!

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Today’s Rule

In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.
―  Friedrich Nietzsche
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On This Day In:
2015	Remembering Oklahoma City
2014	Who Was That Masked Man?
2013	Enemy Mine
2012	Strengthen Me
2011	Service, Please
2010	The Church In Crisis…

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Ethical Energy

The truth is, hardly any of us have ethical energy enough for more than one really inflexible point of honor.
—  George Bernard Shaw
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On This Day In:
2014	Are You Likely To Defend It?
2013	Might As Well
2012	The Long And Short Of It
2011	Bravery

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Three Roars

The most fundamental problem of politics is not the control of wickedness but the limitation of righteousness.
To seek to achieve [American values] by military occupation in a part of the world where they had no historical roots, imbued the American endeavor in Iraq with a Sisyphean quality.
Long ago, in youth, I was brash enough to think myself able to pronounce on ‘The Meaning of History‘.  I now know that history’s meaning is a matter to be discovered, not declared.
—  Henry Kissinger
The three quotes are from the article “The Lion in Winter“
Written by Walter Isaacson
In Time Magazine, September 22, 2014
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On This Day In:
2014	Be R-E-L-E-V-A-N-T
2013	Lacking
2012	So Small A Thing
2011	Is Your Time Valuable?

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God, Give Us Men!

God, give us men!
A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office can not buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty, and in private thinking;
For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps.
—  Josiah Gilbert Holland
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On This Day In:
2014	Got Any Bezzy Mates?
2013	On Being A Nerd – Awesome
2012	Writers Write
2011	And History Has Proved This Correct
2010	Fascinating Discontinuity
	Tasted Bacon?

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Warning

The new generation, having inherited world mastery, had no time or inclination to defend it; that readiness for war which had characterized the Roman landowner disappeared now that ownership was concentrated in a few families and a proletariat without stake in the country filled the slums of Rome.
—  Will Durant
From his book: “The History of Civilization:  Caesar and Christ“
[A cautionary note to the 1%…  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2014	Always More Productive
2013	Is Not
2012	Loosely Translated
2011	Your Opinions Are Not My Facts

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On The Road To Failure

Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens.  They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people in order to betray them.
—  Joseph Story
Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States
[Found at one of the many blogs I follow:  http://jrbenjamin.com/
The specific post / page is at: http://jrbenjamin.com/2015/01/26/americas-threat-from-within/
Please visit the original site if you have a moment to spare…   —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2014	Each Moment
2013	Conversation
2012	4 Down, 11 Done (At Last)
	I’m Not Afraid
2011	Who’s Risk Is It, Anyway?

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