The Ides of March

For John, BLUF:  This is all about Western Culture and its attraction to individual freedom.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Ides of March

The Ides of March (/aɪdz/; Latin:  Idus Martiae, Late Latin: Idus Martii)[1] is the 74th day in the Roman calendar, corresponding to 15 March.  It was marked by several religious observances and was notable for the Romans as a deadline for settling debts.  In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar which made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history.

And, the assassination of Julius Ceasar was not the only event on this date. 

On the fourth anniversary of Caesar's death in 40 BC, after achieving a victory at the siege of Perugia, Octavian executed 300 senators and equites who had fought against him under Lucius Antonius, the brother of Mark Antony.  The executions were one of a series of actions taken by Octavian to avenge Caesar's death.  Suetonius and the historian Cassius Dio characterised the slaughter as a religious sacrifice, noting that it occurred on the Ides of March at the new altar to the deified Julius.

You lose your Republic and you end up with a dictatorship.  And that is not good for the People as a whole.

In fact, Reporter Salena Zito, writing in The Washington Examiner, examines this issue under the headline "The culture curators want to think for you".  Here is an exerpt:

One of the most significant reasons conservative populism began to rise in 2009 was that these people lacked a connection or commonality with our cultural curators, and they weren't wrong.  The people who run things in this country have little in common with the very people who use their products or watch their shows or attend their football or basketball games.

Part of that reason is the culture curator boardrooms have very little diversity — not only racial or by gender, but also in culture.  Rare is someone who attended a community college or state school with any input in how something is marketed.  There is also a scarcity of gun owners or churchgoers in newsrooms getting dispatched to cover gun control, hunting, religious freedom, or the anti-abortion movement.

And, back to the Ides of March, here is Actor Jeff Dunetz writing at The Lid Blog;

Remember March, The Ides Of March Remember

There is a nice embedded video of the movie Julius Ceasar.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff