That’s it.

I must get me a ticket to the book tour…. must.

Hmmm… this brings to mind the following. Would anyone care to comment on these five signs which supposedly characterized Rome as she was deteriorating from within, prior to her fall? My understanding is that they come from the research of Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

They were:
- A mounting love of show and luxury/affluence
- A widening of the gap between the very rich and the very poor
- An obsession with sex
- A freakishness in the arts, masquerading as originality
- An increased desire to live off the state

Gibbon was such a fun writer, but his theories may have been a little complex for some groups of people. In case you didn’t have time to read the entire book, Gibbon primarily blames Christianity for the fall of the Roman Empire.

“As the happiness of a future life is the great object of religion, we may hear without surprise or scandal that the introduction, or at least the abuse of Christianity, had some influence on the decline and fall of the Roman empire. The clergy successfully preached the doctrines of patience and pusillanimity; the active virtues of society were discouraged; and the last remains of military spirit were buried in the cloister: a large portion of public and private wealth was consecrated to the specious demands of charity and devotion; and the soldiers’ pay was lavished on the useless multitudes of both sexes who could only plead the merits of abstinence and chastity. Faith, zeal, curiosity, and more earthly passions of malice and ambition, kindled the flame of theological discord; the church, and even the state, were distracted by religious factions, whose conflicts were sometimes bloody and always implacable; the attention of the emperors was diverted from camps to synods; the Roman world was oppressed by a new species of tyranny; and the persecuted sects became the secret enemies of their country. Yet party-spirit, however pernicious or absurd, is a principle of union as well as of dissension. The bishops, from eighteen hundred pulpits, inculcated the duty of passive obedience to a lawful and orthodox sovereign; their frequent assemblies and perpetual correspondence maintained the communion of distant churches; and the benevolent temper of the Gospel was strengthened, though confirmed, by the spiritual alliance of the Catholics. The sacred indolence of the monks was devoutly embraced by a servile and effeminate age; but if superstition had not afforded a decent retreat, the same vices would have tempted the unworthy Romans to desert, from baser motives, the standard of the republic. Religious precepts are easily obeyed which indulge and sanctify the natural inclinations of their votaries; but the pure and genuine influence of Christianity may be traced in its beneficial, though imperfect, effects on the barbarian proselytes of the North. If the decline of the Roman empire was hastened by the conversion of Constantine, his victorious religion broke the violence of the fall, and mollified the ferocious temper of the conquerors.”

from the 39th Chapter of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Vanquisher on September 12, 2007 at 10:52 AM

There were a few shows in recent years (one in particular that I love) with the qualities you mention and it features a tight nit family who will do almost anything to help each other with thier problems and parents who try to impose order no matter what crazy out of control things are happening. The mother is a take charge disciplinarian who sometimes even complains against the trouble burecracy causes in thier lives. Who even knew this show was there? It got drowned out in the fad of reality television and because it was about a “family” many mistakenly believe it is just a kids show.

I completely agree with the assessment that the Senate was knocked flat (even though they’ll never admit it) by the “will of the people” on the near perpetration of the migrant sedition act of 07.

If “we the people” would just come to realize how powerful we really are this nation would make a sharp right turn and find the track again.

Do you teach your kids to not play with fire or do you never ever have matches in your house and let them be shocked by the revalation that fire exists when they go off to college?

Today playing that clip over Laura speaking is cheesy and classless and just makes it appear she is right lol.

You can’t even criticize the pornified culture without getting a dose of it on the Today Show.

You gotta know they did that on purpose to try and make Laura look like a crank. But Laura is too smart for that, she handled the whole thing with total class.

Speaking of downhill racers, as Katie Couric’s ratings continue their Nestea plunge even as she tours Iraq, Mickey Kaus writes:If CBS’ hiring of Katie Couric was all about damaging the NBC Today show (rather than boosting the CBS Evening News)……

I believe the same thing happened a while back either on Gibson’s or Cavuto’s shows when discussing the same subject, and they showed Paris Hilton’s Burger King ad? Laura was quite perturbed, to say the least.

Please read this post on Patterico.com and especially notice the first comment.

You can’t even criticize the pornified culture without getting a dose of it on the Today Show. Game, set and match to Touchdown Laura Ingraham.

Vanquisher on September 12, 2007 at 10:52 AM

Just take a gander at the networks’ new fall lineups. Submitted for your [dis]approval: ABC’s DIRTY SEXY MONEY. I’m disgusted by the mere promo spots.

But I suppose it’s just the Dynasty/Dallas/KnotsLanding/FalconCrest for the 21st century. Hopefully the marketplace will decide its early cancellation.

So simple! Hello!

Great interview.

I’d comment by saying that it proves that government can’t control anything in terms of societal behavior. Furthermore it proves that silence about such behavior is deadly.

Rome, the most powerful government the world had seen, couldn’t even squash a new religious movement born on her fringes, namely, Christianity. I’m just speculating here, but it’s pretty obvious that Rome’s attempts to squash the new religion sent those who practiced it into hiding. As a result, the marketplace changed, and many who were interested in not having society go that direction were silent in order to stay alive. Their forced silence unwittingly aided and abetted the gluttonous hedonism that ultimately did wither the Roman Empire from within. It withered Rome by sapping her strength and resolve for hard work, allowing invading armies to chip away at her and even promoting division that split the empire in two for its last century.

Methinks there’s a lesson here for us. Rome teaches us that, if we’re silent now, we may not have much to speak up for later. I’m sure it’s that concern that drives Laura to write and say what she does. We’ve been quiet out of a less serious but still very real threat of persecution. The more we don’t speak, the more the price of speaking out will rise, and the more our chances of speaking effectively will dwindle. Accordingly, in this light, empowering the people now is important because we still can be.

find it here

/Censorship was soooo terrible.
/sarc