The Ultimate Answer to Kings: Respect My Authoritah!

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, June 21, 2010

Respect My Authoritah!

Always remember - The law is the law. Follow it blindly, subjects.

4 comments:

The Grey Lady said...: But.... but that man must be guilty of something because we all know that police men are allll wonderful altruistic human beings that have our saftey and care at the core of their service to us. It's like a calling or something..right? ;)
Sorry my sarc was in need of usage, it was getting rusty or something.Thank you for providing a public service.; June 21, 2010 at 8:44 AM
Anonymous said...: The charges against Eric Wright were dropped, according to this article:

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/charges-dropped-against-eric-wright-tenn-man-arrested-after-rushing-wife-aline-wright-to-hospital/19526732

L2; June 22, 2010 at 6:24 PM
Joel said...: Charges are routinely dropped in situations like this. The problem is that the situation should never have arisen in the first place.

When the cop saw what was going on, wouldn't it have been much more nearly human of him to rush ahead and hold the door for the guy, instead of trying to ruin his life and maybe kill his wife in the bargain? Aren't cops supposed to exercise this thing called situational awareness?

Or did he decide to hassle this guy because he couldn't find any vicious chihuahuas to shoot?

If this is the way cops behave, what the hell good are they?; June 22, 2010 at 7:07 PM
Anonymous said...: You'll receive no argument from me, Joel. I just wanted to share the somewhat good news that this couple would not have to go through more intensely painful moments, and lose thousands of FRNs in the deal, trying to defend themselves.

I currently live in the land of cops who punch jay walkers, teens in lock up, and who stomp on potential gang members while calling them racial slurs. Oh, and taser unconscious diabetics experiencing a sugar low; beat up and harass the homeless while serving on the metro force; and take women to isolated places with a deal to keep them out of jail after falsely claiming they are driving under the influence and will have to go to jail.

I am not fooled into thinking they are our friends by any stretch of the imagination.

L2; June 23, 2010 at 12:13 PM

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Monday, June 21, 2010

Respect My Authoritah!

4 comments:

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