Circa 55BC

Here it is. What have we learned in 2,065 years?

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." Cicero - 55 BC

So, evidently nothing.

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."
- Jean-Baptiste Karr, circa 1839

"Meet da new boss! Same as the old Boss!"
- Peter Townshend, circa 1969

And that Cicero was a pretty smart fella.

bravenrace wrote: And that Cicero was a pretty smart fella.

He was just another politician who changed with the prevailing political winds.

bravenrace wrote: And that Cicero was a pretty smart fella.

yup.. He really stopped rome from going down.

Maybe he was blocked by the opposition at every turn

didn't that usually end in assassination?

mad_machine wrote: didn't that usually end in assassination?

In his case YES!. Though he did it like a man and stuck his neck out and told them to F off.

Just to fan the flames a bit in good fun

        DIVORCE  AGREEMENT



        Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al:

        We have stuck together since the late 1950's for the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course.

        Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

        Here is a model separation agreement:

        --Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.

        --We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them.

        --You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU.

    --Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military.

    --We'll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and you can go with wind, solar and bio-diesel.

--You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell. You are, however,  responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them.

--We'll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street.

--You can have your beloved lifelong welfare dwellers, food stamps, homeless, homeboys, hippies, druggies and illegal aliens.

--We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's and rednecks.

--We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .

--You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us.

--You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.

--We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.

--You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, political correctness and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N. but we will no longer be paying the bill.

--We'll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks and over sized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.

--You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors.

--We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right.

--We'll keep "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "The National Anthem."

--I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine", "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", "Kum Ba Ya" or "We Are the World".

--We'll practice trickle down economics and you can continue to give trickle up poverty your best shot.

--Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our flag.

Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like-minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you answer which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.

Sincerely, John J. Wall Law Student and an American

P.S. Also, please take Ted Turner, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Barbara Streisand, & Jane Fonda with you.

P.S.S. And you won't have to press 1 for English when you call our country.

Nice

Will not feed the troll

I can't read it all, it runs off the right side of the GRM window.

In reply to cardiacdog:

Good grief, that is just offensive.

Otto Maddox wrote: In reply to cardiacdog: Good grief, that is just offensive.

Not offensive, just carried to an extreme to make a point.

It's a joke in an over the top sarcastic sort of way...if you are offended, maybe you should have read the top line

cardiacdog wrote: It's a joke in an over the top sarcastic sort of way...if you are offended, maybe you should have read the top line

I guess they would have thought it was funny if John Stewart had come up with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dWsxMD057w

This piece is 32 years old but it sounds as if it was written today. Watch it all, I'm betting you'll see it in a different light today than you did when you first heard it.

http://youtu.be/IF2RYhNhBdw

In reply to slefain: I love that movie, one of my all time favorites. PS- scary avatar you got there. looks like you met one of my orthopedic bretheren

Otto Maddox wrote: In reply to cardiacdog: Good grief, that is just offensive.

Nothing that hasn't been reversed and aimed at Conservatives by the Other Side.

Note that I am neither a Conservative nor a Liberal by the conventionally-accepted definitions.

93EXCivic wrote:

bravenrace wrote: And that Cicero was a pretty smart fella.

He was just another politician who changed with the prevailing political winds.

Our entire form of government was highly influenced by his teachings. Read your history. Just do it in a book that contains fact.

In reply to cardiacdog:

Sounds reasonable to me.

spitfirebill wrote:

cardiacdog wrote: It's a joke in an over the top sarcastic sort of way...if you are offended, maybe you should have read the top line

I guess they would have thought it was funny if John Stewart had come up with it.

Exactly. Bleeding heart, sappy, care about everyone types that reach out to coexist with everyone until you happen to disagree with them, and then they attack.

carguy123 wrote: I can't read it all, it runs off the right side of the GRM window.

HOW FAR RIGHT IS IT?

In reply to Gimp:

Well played, sir.