have been treacherous
in order good might come out
apparent evil
Adapted from Mark Twain’s essay, “To the Person Sitting in Darkness” published in 1901.
Mr. Twain writes:
Having now laid all the historical facts before the Person Sitting in Darkness, we should bring him to again, and explain them to him. We should say to him:
“They look doubtful, but in reality they are not.
There have been lies; yes, but they were told in a good cause.
We have been treacherous; but that was only in order that real good might come out of apparent evil.
True, we have crushed a deceived and confiding people; we have turned against the weak and the friendless who trusted us; we have stamped out a just and intelligent and well-ordered republic; we have stabbed an ally in the back and slapped the face of a guest; we have bought a Shadow from an enemy that hadn’t it to sell; we have robbed a trusting friend of his land and his liberty; we have invited our clean young men to shoulder a discredited musket and do bandit’s work under a flag which bandits have been accustomed to fear, not to follow; we have debauched America’s honor and blackened her face before the world; but each detail was for the best.
We know this.
The Head of every State and Sovereignty in Christendom and ninety percent. of every legislative body in Christendom, including our Congress and our fifty State Legislatures, are members not only of the church, but also of the Blessings-of-Civilization Trust. This world-girdling accumulation of trained morals, high principles, and justice, cannot do an unright thing, an unfair thing, an ungenerous thing, an unclean thing. It knows what it is about. Give yourself no uneasiness; it is all right.
Now then, that will convince the Person. You will see. It will restore the Business. Also, it will elect the Master of the Game to the vacant place in the Trinity of our national gods; and there on their high thrones the Three will sit, age after age, in the people’s sight, each bearing the Emblem of his service: Washington, the Sword of the Liberator; Lincoln, the Slave’s Broken Chains; the Master, the Chains Repaired.
According to Wikipedia, “To the Person Sitting in Darkness” is an essay by American author Mark Twain published in the North American Review in February 1901. It is a satire exposing imperialism as revealed in the Boxer Rebellion and its aftermath, the Boer War, and the Philippine–American War, expressing Twain’s anti-imperialist views.
I had kinda sorta made a New Year’s resolution to keep my posts in the world of words and avoid political commentary.
So the resolution lasted 6 days into the New Year.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, well, there it is.
I keep coming back to something Barack Obama said during the 2024 election.
President Obama referred to the birth certificate claims that were made about him and Mr. Obama said, “Remember when we thought this was crazy as he could get?”
As President George W. Bush said back in 2017, “That’s some weird shit.“
There on their high thrones the Three will sit, age after age, in the people’s sight, each bearing the Emblem of his service:
Washington, the Sword of the Liberator;
Lincoln, the Slave’s Broken Chains;
The Master, the Chains Repaired.
And so we watch.
No Haiku For You 