William Makepeace Thackeray

I wonder shall History ever pull off her periwig and cease to be court-ridden?
William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Henry Esmond (1852), first page of Book One.

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Today in Freedom

On May 17, 1973, televised hearings regarding the Watergate scandal began in the United States Senate, Sen. Sam Ervin presiding.

Little did participants know that the name of the hotel in which the White House-arranged break-ins occurred would provide a template for most future political scandals: “-gate” would be suffixed to nearly every other possible designator of scandal. The Democratic vendetta against Republican Donald Trump for winning the 2016 election has been called “Russiagate,” for example.

And on May 11, 2020, Trump retweeted a previous post with one additional word: “OBAMAGATE!”

This could be called a “suffix meme.” Or “insufferable meme,” if you prefer.

Thought of the Day

Why is self-control, autonomy, such a threat to authority? Because the person who controls himself, who is his own master, has no need for an authority to be his master. This, then, renders authority unemployed. What is he to do if he cannot control others? To be sure, he could mind his own business. But this is a fatuous answer, for those who are satisfied to mind their own business do not aspire to become authorities.
Thomas Szasz, Ceremonial Chemistry (1974; Revised edition, 1985) p. 175.

— Thomas Szasz

Thomas Szasz

The Original -gate!

Bills of Suppression

So Low

Library Against Liberty

A Done Decision

Pander, Please

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