In many ways, the United States always resembled republican Rome. By the last half of the first century bce, the republic was teetering on the edge. Corrupt politics, mounting debt to fund foreign wars, societal breakdowns that left long held traditional values in disrespect and disregard left the every day Roman wondering if the world had gone completely mad?

As we look around our nation today, the parallels must be striking. The question is what happens next? Do we recover our republican form of government and manage to solve the innumerable problems that mushroom into full blown crises? If so... given how chaotic things seem today,

Or... is there some leader out there who is determined to cross the Rubicon?

Dave is rather ill this morning. It goes back to yesterdays episode of WTF, but the bottom line is that he will only get through two of a planned three segments today.

Still, it's time for the WA State Legislative Democrats to FAFO!

Welcome to 2023. New year, same old weirdness. Telephone Operators who man the 4-1-1 lines are now out of a job. We have a big list of things that will probably happen in 2023. Or not.

The Two Princes of England has us rooting for Oliver Cromwell to make a comeback.

No matter what Tik Tok tells you, putting potatoes in your socks is stupid. Almost as stupid as people who call 9-1-1 (which we should also retire) because they can't delete a voice mail.

It's the first episode of a new year for What the Frock?

Way back in 1972, Ricky Nelson, a superstar of 50’s and 60s music, played a gig at Madison Square Gardens in New York. A weird thing happened that night. Despite the attendance of other musical stars and celebrities, the crowd was… well… not impressed with the set list Ricky had prepared for the evening. The basically booed him off the stage.

A few weeks later, Nelson released what is arguably his most famous song – Garden Party, which contains this line:

It’s all right now, I learned my lesson well,

You see you can’t please every one, so you gotta please yourself

Now some in our nation are huffing and puffing about the GOPs Speaker “debacle,” but reality is that you can’t please every one. Is what we are seeing a “debacle” or is it… you know… democracy?

CONSTITUTION THURSDAY

In ancient Greek legend, Theseus was a brave man who travels to the island of Crete, where he defeats the Minotaur. In a legendary battle, Theseus saves the children of his King, destroys the evil beast, and returns to his father aboard a the same ship in which he had left for Crete. He forgets to change the sail from black to white, and thus even in triumph, as is so typical of Greek legends, there is a tragedy.

Today it is the ship which holds my interest. For the next several hundred years, the Athenians kept the ship in their harbor as a memorial to Theseus and his mighty deeds, which included founding the City of Athens. Each year they would honor Apollo by sending the ship to a nearby island with a shrine to the god, to keep their vows and to honor the victory and the successes of their city.

Many hundreds of years later, Plutarch would recount the story in his "Lives," and even more centuries later, the question would arise: if the Athenians rigorously maintained the ship, replacing every part that needed to be replaced because of time and decay, at what point was it no longer the ship of Theseus, but rather an entirely "new" ship?

It's only the morning of the 4th day of the year and already chaos is reigning. From the Monday Night Football scare, to the Congressional Speaker of the House election that wasn't, we see a lot of stuff happening in the nation. Including the return of the Praying Bremerton High School football coach.

Or... not?

George Santos is the most infamous man in America today. In case you've been under a rock, he was just elected to congress, but... it turns out that HE LIED ON HIS CV! In more than two centuries of congressional candidates running to serve the nation out of a sense of duty and honor, this has NEVER EVER, happened before!

Right?

Happy New year? I mean, that's what I am supposed to say, right? So I said it... but really is there all that much to be looking forward to in 2023?

We're going to endure the opening moves of the 2024 Presidential campaign, which, by the by, will include a lot of Trump vs the Democrats and the GOP. The war in Ukraine will drag on, even as American dollars pay for all that death and destruction. Taiwan faces an imminent communist invasion.

And here in the Seattle media area, the last day of the year was saddened by the loss of a radio stalwart...

Rabbi Dave, Friar Rod and Baptist Billy get together on the most joyous of days (Festivus) to rant and praise the best and the worst of the Holiday Season.

Whether it's TV or films or food or just their holiday plans, whatever happens, PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE COPS!!!!!!

NOTE: The dental procedures have begun, and as George S Patton once said, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. In literally the first minute, the decision was made to change directions and try something else first. Already the planned procedures have changed. So literally I have no idea what will happen next or when, except that it will not be before February of 2023. Thank you for the encouragements and messages. I really appreciate them.

One of the the things that I hate about being a modern person is that we are so skeptical of history. Today, we are constantly revising it, reviewing it, re-interpreting it. In fact, we are willfully forgetting it.

The stories told for untold generations are being replaced, not with the old ideas, reinforced by old legends and myths, but new ideas, underpinned by opinion and theory.

The power of the story of the past could restore many of those things, but it is being abandoned. Like the reason that I hate being in a Dentist chair goes back near on to three-thousand years..