Then As Now

[poliphilo]

Napoleon's Egyptian campaign was a real fuck-up. His army came down with the plague. Napoleon cut and ran, but before he did so he cleared out  the plague hospitals by poisoning all the patients.

Later, Nappy's favourite artist, the Baron Gros, painted him visiting the hospital in Jaffa.  Brightly lit amid the encircling gloom,  he  extends a healing forefinger and touches the infected sore of some poor, suffering soul.  Like Jesus. Exactly like Jesus.

The Battle of Eylau was another fuck-up. The Russians withdrew, drawing the the Grande Armee deeper into the killing winter of the Motherland- and Nappy was able to chalk it up as a victory. Gros paints him riding across the previous day's battlefield at the head of a team of doctors who minister impartially to French and Russian. His eyes roll heavenwards, his arm is extended as if in blessing. 

And we talk as though spin were something Karl Rove invented.

Comments

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

Well, those of us with intelligence don't talk that way - but Rove definitely is a master at it, though as it's now been proved, sooner or later a house of cards will fall down.

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

And I just realized that sounded wonky and could be misconstrued.

What I meant was that a great many people out there really do seem to be utterly clueless about history and past experience. It's rather frightening, really. But those of us who pay attention, who are moderately well-read (I say that because I no longer think I am well-read these days) and who use our brains instead of allowing someone else to tell us what we think, know that there is more to this world than the last ten-twenty years.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I used to think I was well-read too.

There are so many books out there. Even the best-read of us have only skimmed the surface.

[mokie]

His eyes roll heavenwards, his arm is extended as if in blessing.

Or as if to say "If you believe this, you obviously never played Risk as a child..." (To borrow a bit from Eddie Izzard.)