The Ultimate Answer to Kings: Have fun stormin' the castle!

They say that Louis XIV had the inscription Ultima Ratio Regum cast into all the cannon of the French Army. It means "The Ultimate Argument of Kings," and that always struck me as one of the most honest and up-front things any ruler or would-be ruler ever said. "We can dress it up prettier than this, but when it comes down to the unvarnished truth this is what it's about: You'll do as I say or I'll send my goons to kill you."

I thought about that for a long time. If there's an ultimate argument, it seems only logical that there must be an ultimate answer. For years I thought the ultimate answer must be the bullets in my rifle, but it never seemed quite right. I've got bullets - he's got frigging Cannon Balls. I mean, if there were three hundred million rifles throwing bullets at him, then maybe. But we all know that's not going to happen. So if there's an ultimate answer to his ultimate argument, it sure as hell ain't bullets.

It finally came to me - and that's when I left the city, abandoned a goodly percentage of my goods, and gave all that was behind me a good, stiff Randian Shrug.

The ultimate answer to kings is not a bullet, but a belly laugh.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Have fun stormin' the castle!

I'm just going to sit back, cackle evilly, and let others prove my point now...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Oooohhh...you started somethin' now, Joel! Shame on you! ;); December 14, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Emily said...: Neanderpundit may really have mis-chosen his moniker. Neanderthals had a larger brain than modern humans do. But that guy ... well, I don't know what size his brain is, but he sure proves your point by not using much of it.

I left a few words over there.

I don't expect them to understand my comments any more than he understood a word you wrote, Joel.; December 14, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Emily said...: Just FYI ... I took the time to make some extensive and (I hope) well-reasoned comments over at Neanderpundit.

But somebody there -- I presume the Neanderthal himself -- obliterated my words and changed them into whiny, conservative idiocies of the very kind Joel was mocking.

... Once again, of course, proving Joel's point about conservatives being increasingly incapable of intelligent discussion.; December 14, 2009 at 5:30 PM
Joel said...: I saw that. That was pretty low, even by "og's" clearly not very high standards.

Sorry that happened to you, E.; December 14, 2009 at 5:37 PM

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Monday, December 14, 2009

Have fun stormin' the castle!

4 comments:

Why the hell did you scroll all the way down here?