Blog Against Theocracy & BushCo Posted by christian h., 02 Jul 2007 05:00 am

A Parable

By James Killus

batbadge2007.jpg
The True Wisdom of Solomon

3:15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to
Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and
offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a
feast to all his servants.

3:16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and
stood before him.

3:17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one
house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.

3:18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered,
that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no
stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.

3:19 And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid
it.

3:20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while
thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead
child in my bosom.

3:21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it
was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was
not my son, which I did bear.

3:22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the
dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the
living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.

3:23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth,
and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the
dead, and my son is the living.

3:24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword
before the king.

3:25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half
to the one, and half to the other.

3:26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king,
for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her
the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it
be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

3:27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and
in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.

3:28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged;
and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in
him, to do judgment.

4:1 So king Solomon was king over all Israel

The story of the true mother was a tale spread by Solomon’s people at a time of civil crisis.

Solomon had an elder brother, Adonijah, who was the rightful heir to the throne, (or had, at least, a more legitimate claim than Solomon) but Adonijah had already been executed at Solomon’s command, along with a number of Adonijah’s supporters.
Solomon’s tale of justice was actually a warning to any remaining supporters of Adonijah. “I am not the legitimate heir,” he was telling them. “I’ll not hesitate to split the Kingdom, just as my father David warred against King Saul.” The “wisdom of God” that was in him, was, in fact, the ruthless calculation of a warlord. “If I cannot be King,” he told the people of Israel, “No one will.”

But history is strange, and is written by the victors. So ruthless cunning is now recorded for all time as wisdom and justice.

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Responses to “A Parable”

  1. on 02 Jul 2007 at 7:43 am 1. Oaktown Girl said …

    The organizers of Blog Against Theocracy are sponsoring another anti-theocracy blogswarm with the theme of “Patriotism” July 1-4, 2007. Now that we have our fist BAT post up, (thank you kindly, James), our name should appear on that list as well sometime soon.

    Question: if Bush read the above parable, would he just do that awful snickering laugh he does and say:

    1. “I don’t get it”, or
    2. “That is uniquely American”

    If Cheney read it, would it burst into flames in his hands, or would just say it was Biblical precedent for “Executive Privilege”?

    Lieberman wouldn’t be able to say anything at all because his tongue would already be wedged so far up the King’s ass. (Sorry, folks. I know it’s still early in the morning, but true is true).

  2. on 02 Jul 2007 at 9:07 am 2. black dog barking said …

    The wisdom spin has a more universal re-tell-ability, Tale for the Ages™ appeal than the “Fuck with me and I’ll take you down too because I’m a total asshole” arc. Tales of wisdom must be quite rare given that 3,000 years later this pretty much state of the art.

    Another Bush response to MoJ’s hypothetical:
    3. Wonder why Solly didn’t blow baby up with firecrackers. Works on frogs. (Gunpowder wasn’t discovered for another ~2000 years.)

  3. on 02 Jul 2007 at 10:28 am 3. Oaktown Girl said …

    This is the reason for my above extra-hostility toward Lieberman. He’s all in favor of domestic wire tapping and of having surveillance cameras everywhere. No worries, right? I mean, since there’s never been any history of government abuses of wiretapping and surveillance before. Let the U.S. be just as Orwellian as we need to be to stay “safe”.

    What a crock of shit. There is no “safe”. We’re giving up our freedoms for the illusion of safety.

    Isn’t someone gonna tell that boot-licking jackass, “Hey the terrorists don’t ‘win’ if we stop shopping. They ‘win’ if we throw away every freedom and principle America is supposed to stand for.

  4. on 02 Jul 2007 at 10:55 am 4. christian h. said …

    James, thanks for this parable - I was totally uninformed about the background you describe (not surprised, but unaware of the details). I would really like to have a glimpse into the future and see how historians, revisionist historians, etc. discuss Bush in the future.
    To be fair, there at least is a tradition of writing history as opposed to simple hagiography nowadays, but of course historicism (history as “reporting what really happened”, disinterestedly, and devoid of interpretation and evaluation) is a delusion.

  5. on 02 Jul 2007 at 11:05 am 5. Oaktown Girl said …

    Yes, James, the parable is perfect for the BAT event. With Bush saying Jesus is his favorite philosopher (could have fooled me), and the Religious Right Wrong having total, unfettered access to the White House, it’s more important than ever to understand the real story behind these Bible stories.

  6. on 02 Jul 2007 at 12:34 pm 6. James Killus said …

    I should give a tip of the hat to Larry Gonick’s Cartoon History of the Universe which is where I first ran into this bit of scholarship, though I did do some other research on it as well.

    There was a Steve Allen short story once that ran a reverse twist on the thing, referring at the end to “the woman clever enough to fool a King and steal another woman’s child,” but that was just Allen channeling O. Henry.

    The Aesop’s Fable relative is The Dog in the Manger, but the ostensible moral, “People often begrudge others what they cannot enjoy themselves” misses the point of what are nevertheless called “Dog in the Manger Tactics.”

    My real question is, what happens when the dog in the manger encounters someone who is willing to burn down the barn?

  7. on 02 Jul 2007 at 3:12 pm 7. christian h. said …

    By the way, W has commuted Libby’s sentence. That’s what we call “rule of law”, I suppose.

  8. on 02 Jul 2007 at 3:15 pm 8. JP Stormcrow said …

    1) This is one reason that it is so imperative to “win” in the near-future. Not only do we need to just for getting better in the present, but we must “win” the narrative. I want to be part of controlling the legacy of these guys - and not only of the vicious corrupt pols, but the press as well. I want kids 200 years from now, going to bed saying - “Tell me the story of Timmeh,Cokie, David Broder and the Beltway Kool Kidz, tell me again how we almost lost our democracy through laziness and greed.” Kind of a reverse George Washington and the cherry tree mythology.

    2) Will have more on this when I get home and can check the book, but this parable brought to mind Joseph Heller’s God Knows, an irreverent narration by David in his waning years. The book is a mixed read, but it is entertaining, and has a lot about Solomon in it, whom David treats as an absolute nitwit.

    I once took a crack at rewriting several biblical tales from a more skeptical point of view - Samson was my favorite, another spirit of the Lord appearing to a woman and … voila - a child on its way!!

    6 Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, ‘You will conceive and give birth to a son

    Awesome, how much that happened.

  9. on 02 Jul 2007 at 3:23 pm 9. JP Stormcrow said …

    By the way, W has commuted Libby’s sentence. That’s what we call “rule of law”, I suppose.

    I’m sure an angel of the Lord appeared and instructed his faithful servant George W. Bush thusly, so that we shall know who they are that are truly blessed of the Lord, and shall no more trouble ourselves with the deeds of the mighty and the powerful, and live out our lives in bliss, knowing that we are acting out our appointed roles in God’s Great Plan - one small part of which is bombing Iran.

  10. on 02 Jul 2007 at 5:13 pm 10. Oaktown Girl said …

    Crimony. I’m at work, so christian’s comment on the Libby news was the first I heard about it. (I get so much breaking news from this here blog - who’d-a thunk it?

    Sheeet. Well, I guess it’s off to Firedoglake for the gorey details whenever I get a chance to read’em. There’s only ONE talking point to be hammered on here, and so far, sadly, the Dems have not been doing it, and that talking point is:

    THE REPUBLICANS ARE SOFT ON TREASON!!!

    And unlike Republican talking points, this one is actually the TRUTH, not spin.

  11. on 02 Jul 2007 at 7:32 pm 11. JP Stormcrow said …

    3:27 Then the king answered and said, Commute his sentence, and
    in no wise pardon it yet: he still must stay quiet.

    3:28 And all the Beltway Kool Kidz heard of the judgment which the king had judged;
    and they feared the king: for they saw that the power of Satan Cheney was in
    him, to do judgment.

  12. on 02 Jul 2007 at 7:59 pm 12. JP Stormcrow said …

    Scooter and pals celebrating at Babs Comstock’s place.

    Of course this is only after Dick and Babs double-teamed him with:

    You didn’t hear it, you didn’t see it!
    You never heard it, not a word of it!
    You won’t say nothin’ to no one,
    Never tell a soul what you know is the truth!

  13. on 02 Jul 2007 at 9:46 pm 13. JP Stormcrow said …

    James,

    Got to complement you on your timing. Have read several people mockingly comparing the Bush commutation to a judgment by Solomon. (What they would know if they would stop by, is that the comparison need not be mocking.)

    For instance, Steve Benen at Washington Monthly: “…commute only part of Libby’s sentence so that he could pretend this was some kind of deeply profound Solomonic judgment,”

    …and I got too wrapped up in reading & writing and YouTubing on Libby to check up on the Heller book tonight.

    I have not seen anything as crisp as Oaktown Girl’s “Republicans Soft on Treason”. I am also trying to judge if this approaches the Saturday Night Massacre - which I believe was also “legal”. (probably not).

  14. on 03 Jul 2007 at 1:31 am 14. The Constructivist said …

    I am trying to do one or two serious things between golf blogging, which is why I’ve been away for so long, but I have another Bush parallel for you all!

  15. on 03 Jul 2007 at 4:16 am 15. JP Stormcrow said …

    And I really like the Kumg Fu Monkey post you link to in that post as well. His characterization of this as a video game “exploit” is very apt.

    … an exploit can be defined as a case where a player knowingly uses a flaw in a game to gain an unfair advantage. In many concrete cases, it can be difficult to distinguish between cheats, exploits, and players who optimize their strategies for playing.

  16. on 03 Jul 2007 at 6:19 am 16. Kiera PSI said …

    I’m sure “they” don’t see it as treason. After all, Libby was loyal to “them”, and aren’t “they” the representation of the good ol’ USA?

  17. on 03 Jul 2007 at 7:35 am 17. christian h. said …

    Treason seems like too strong - or loaded - a word to me, quite apart from the fact that I often find myself in support of actions that could be described as treason.
    Then again, we should probably appropriate the word for our purposes, since it has lost all meaning outside the political fight anyway.

  18. on 03 Jul 2007 at 8:29 am 18. Oaktown Girl said …

    I absolutely stand by the word “treason”.

    I say BushCo is soft on treason because the act of willfully outting a covert CIA agent IS a treasonous offense. And since BushCo did not lauch a rigorous investigation into who leaked Valerie Plames’s name, and furthermore actively participated in the conspiracy to impede the prosecutor’s investigation of who was involved in this crime and who was involved in the cover-up, they are nothing if not soft on treason.

  19. on 03 Jul 2007 at 10:17 am 19. James Killus said …

    The more accurate description would be “the enabling of war crimes.” I recently saw a CSPAN “Booknotes” where author Steven Bach was describing those who went to prison for that crime after WWII and how Leni Riefenstahl was almost certainly guilty of it, but the evidence was not available at the time of the Nurenburg Trials.

    The initiating war crime in this case, is “Crime against Peace,” which includes inventing false information for the purposes of supporting a war of aggression and conquest.

    The difficulty with all such labels is that, however accurate, they strike the wavering ear as extremist, and lend credence to the “leftist extremism” labels. I takes decades for tonal changes to work their way through a large populace, such that the mainstreaming of right wing extremism took at least the time from Goldwater to Reagan, and I would argue it really took 20 more years after that.

    Moreover, the American public is intrinsically more hospitable to right wing sloganeering and always has been.

    So, the real propaganda sweep of this particular moment in time should be different, preferably of a tone that ridicules rather than indicts (since, as we have seen, indictments do not stick). By happenstance, we have one ready made:

    “The Bush Administration: Less accountable for their crimes than Paris Hilton. She did her time; let them do theirs.”

  20. on 03 Jul 2007 at 10:33 am 20. Oaktown Girl said …

    The more accurate description would be “the enabling of war crimes.”

    I’m cool with that. But as you also say, “the American public is intrinsically more hospitable to right wing sloganeering…”

    So the difficulty with a soft on “war crimes” talking point is that post-9/11, the propaganda effort to equate “war” with “patriotism” has been amped upped immeasurably: America is always on the side of right and Goodness (very close to “Godliness”), so if we go to war, the cause simply has to be just, and any questioning thereof is implicitly anti-American.

    So what I’m saying is that I think many Americans are fine with our leaders being soft on War Crimes, because war is good, and we all know you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelet.

  21. on 03 Jul 2007 at 11:45 am 21. JP Stormcrow said …

    Just another piece of evidence of James’ prescience in doing the Solomon thingie yesterday:

    From Concurring Opinions:
    He did manage to split the baby a bit - by commuting his sentence, rather than pardoning him

    …and more from Talking Points Memo:
    Tony Snow explains Bush’s Solomonic decision

  22. on 03 Jul 2007 at 12:46 pm 22. James Killus said …

    Yes, Oaktown Girl, that’s it exactly. They are “soft” on being “hard.”

    Which, if you examine it a bit, is the point of my Parable #2, the saga of Benjamin Rush.

    It is also why I think that this is a job for ridicule of the right sort. I am entirely serious when I say that I think they compare unfavorably to Paris Hilton and that the point should be made at every opportunity. Let the subliminal message be that they are girly men, lacking even the moral fiber of a celebutante.

  23. on 03 Jul 2007 at 12:57 pm 23. Oaktown Girl said …

    Too bad I’m just thinking of this now, but it just occurred to me that a good WAAGNFNP July 4th celebration alternative and/or addition would be “Gojira Fest!”.

    Gojira Fest!™ would be images, poems, songs, tributes, tales, prophesies, and of course parables of Gojira, and featuring the other WAAGNFNP cast and characters. (JP’s Biblical-esque speak for this Festival would be perfect).

    Is anyone going to be around this weekend? If so, anyone up for a WAAGNFNP Gojira Fest™ starting on Friday and going through the weekend?

  24. on 03 Jul 2007 at 1:20 pm 24. christian h. said …

    I think it’s a great idea, but I’m moving my stuff up to Chicago on Saturday (but will move myself back down, I’ll stay here another couple days), so I can’t promise much active participation (moving sucks!). I will participate as much as I can, though.

  25. on 03 Jul 2007 at 1:24 pm 25. Oaktown Girl said …

    A lot of people may be gone or busy this particular weekend. If too many people are going to be away, maybe we can do Gojira Fest™ next weekend.

    The other benefit of waiting is that it gives people more time to get their Gojira Fest™ stories, songs, parables, etc. prepared. Also, it’ll be Bastille Day weekend. Any takers for next weekend?

  26. on 03 Jul 2007 at 1:27 pm 26. James Killus said …

    I will note a soft spot in my heart for Gojira’s immigrant cousin, Godzilla:

    Oh no, they say he’s got to go
    Go go Godzilla, yeah
    Oh no, there goes Tokyo
    Go go Godzilla, yeah

    History shows again and again
    How nature points up the folly of men
    Godzilla!
    –Blue Öyster Cult

  27. on 03 Jul 2007 at 1:45 pm 27. Oaktown Girl said …

    Dammit, James!**
    While your WAAGNFNP Party Patriotism is commendable, please wait till the Festival. Please re-post for Gojira Fest™.

    (And Gojira by any other name is still Gojira. The WAAGNFNP welcomes all who honor Gojira, by any name, and who eagerly await the Glorious GNF).

    **Too bad you don’t go by Jim. You rob me of the chance of saying, “Dammit, Jim!”

  28. on 03 Jul 2007 at 1:51 pm 28. christian h. said …

    Bastille Day weekend - all for it. Vive la Revolution! And praise Gojira, of course.

  29. on 03 Jul 2007 at 2:13 pm 29. Seattle said …

    “He’s dead, Jim.”

  30. on 03 Jul 2007 at 2:46 pm 30. James Killus said …

    I was planning to post the lyrics in their entirety for Gojira Fest. As well as, perhaps, excerpts from my novel SunSmoke, drawn from the last part, “Godzilla vs the Smog Monster.”

    I do, in fact, answer to Jim, if so invoked. There is also one single person in the entire world who is allowed to call me “Jimmy” without the likelihood of me doing him serious injury.

    My family and high school friends use “Pete,” (never Peter), and two or three college chums still apparently think of me as “Nash.”

    I am legion.

  31. on 03 Jul 2007 at 3:36 pm 31. Oaktown Girl said …

    I am legion.

    Really? That’s good to know. I think I’ll assign you to the Ministry of Offense and Defense where’s you’ll be working with MOOAD’s Tribunus Laticlavius christian h., and of course, MOOAD Minister spyder, who’s currently on a reconnaissance mission for the Party, so we really do need you now more than ever.

    In brief, MOOAD protects and defends the WAAGNFNP through the power of the pen and eternal vigilance. MOOAD is also in charge of launching scathing attacks against our enemies as needed. And since you are an excellent writer and a true Party Patriot, you are the perfect fit. We just need to get you an appropriate and mutually acceptable title (which we’ll handle via email - private Party business, mind you).

    Congratulations, James. It’s long overdue. Thank you for your Service to the Party. Keys and total access to the new and improved High Council Club and a pomp and circumstance-laden formal announcement as soon as we get you your title.

    Oaktown Girl
    Minister of Justice
    WAAGNFNP

  32. on 04 Jul 2007 at 6:12 am 32. christian h. said …

    Here is even more commentary on the Libby commutation cribbing from James, this time by Robert Novak himself. You know, the guy who inexplicably is still in the media elite’s good graces even though his willingness to play a role assigned by Rove and Libby actually started the whole mess.

  33. on 04 Jul 2007 at 6:50 am 33. JP Stormcrow said …

    You know, the guy who inexplicably is still in the media elite’s good graces even though his willingness to play a role assigned by Rove and Libby actually started the whole mess.

    Actually, this is but one of a long list of the journalistic crimes of Mr. Novak. my favorite was when he enthusiastically flacked for the Swift Boat book, never bothering to mention that his son was director of marketing for the publisher, Regnery. (Now he would have flacked for it anyway, but the connection gives it that little oomph to push him from a partisan hack status up to a personally corrupt, partisan hack.)

    And he focuses on what has become a big winger talking-point, that since Armitage did it first (and without really knowing the consequences), all subsequent leaks and disclosures are immunized, even when those doing the subsequent leaks had no clue that Armitage’s leak had occurred.

  34. on 04 Jul 2007 at 7:47 pm 34. Oaktown Girl said …

    It is also why I think that this is a job for ridicule of the right sort. I am entirely serious when I say that I think they compare unfavorably to Paris Hilton and that the point should be made at every opportunity. Let the subliminal message be that they are girly men, lacking even the moral fiber of a celebutante.

    By the way, James, that I think this is a very interested stratagem indeed. The Republicans let their crazed pit bull Ann Coulter (no offense to crazed pit bulls) go off unchallenged with completely insane attacks on the masculinity of Democratic males. So I’d enjoy seeing the Dems attack back in kind, without the added sick, despicable “Coulterisms” of wishing death on people and mocking people’s personal family tragedies.

    Anyway, I wish they’d do it, and for an even greater fantastical wish, I wish they’d stand by it afterwards. Anytime a “liberal” actually goes on the offensive for once, the Rethugs and corporate media cry out like stuck pigs about how the Dems are being “so mean”. Rethugs get a free pass on being as vicious as they want to be. Dems show the slightest bit of spine, let alone being “mean” (which they never are unless it’s to another Dem), and the whole world comes to a fucking stop.

  35. on 05 Jul 2007 at 1:26 pm 35. JP Stormcrow said …

    I didn’t follow upon my reference to Heller’s God Knows. It does deal quite a bit with the machinations between Solomon and Adonijah for David’s blessing for the kingship, with Bathsheba shamelessly pushing Solomon, who David dismisses as an idiot (”Why is he always writing everything down? Can’t he remember things like a normal person.”), but David finally caves in.

    The basic narrative that Heller builds on is all contained in 1 Kings 1:1-52, augmented by David’s flashbacks of his life (and future - he mocks Michelangelo’s David, including the size and uncircumcised nature of the penis.)