the times are changing
or, tempora mutantur
… and we change in them
Or Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis, which can be translated as:
Times are changed; we also are changed with them
or
Times are changed; we, too, are changed within them.
We change WITH the changes?
We are changed BY the changes.
In the first, we change to meet the challenges brought by change.
In the second, we are changed by those challenges brought by change.
I have to say that things have changed in the world of politics in the time that I have been around.
Not to mention any names, but there was a time when, if a candidate for ANY OFFICE, from dog catcher to President of the United States, was named in headline, just NAMED, about an encounter of any kind, from a cup of coffee, to the beast with two backs, with anyone, let alone with a porn star, that candidate would be FINISHED.
Can anyone remember Gary Hart?
But Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis.
Times change and we changed with or we were changed by the times.
The current news cycle has a story about a candidate for Public Office who had a ‘tryst’ with a porn star.
No one denies that this happened.
No one denies that the candidate was married at the time.
No one denies that the candidate arranged for hush money to be paid to the porn star to keep the story quiet.
(UPDATE: truth be told, rereading the accounts, the candidate in question DOES deny the tryst took place 3/18/2023)
What is at question here is whether or not the candidate paid the porn star off with funds diverted from political contributions.
Because using money to pay off a porn star so the porn star would keep quiet about their ‘tryst’ would be WRONG if the money used to pay off the porn star so the porn star would keep quiet about their ‘tryst’ came from political contributions.
There is a tragedy here.
And it is not about the candidate.
That old wise man changed with the changes, watched and learned, and built a house on the rock with a firm foundation.
That old foolish man was changed by the changes and saw his house on the sand go splat.
No Haiku For You 