Christine Flowers: A classical lesson in modern betrayal
The Death of Julius Caesar by Vincenzo Camuccini
One of the most famous phrases in history is one that my high school Latin teacher Sister Mary David intoned with deep solemnity as we were studying Caesar: Et tu, Brute? Literally it translates into “And you, Brutus?” — words spoken by a dying despot who, bleeding from many stab wounds, was likely killed by the final blow from his adopted son. But over the centuries it has taken on a more universal meaning, namely, the cry of ultimate betrayal.
I thought of what Sister Mary David would say about the Democrats ultimately successful but excruciatingly tortured campaign to remove Joe Biden from the presidential race. The diminutive Mercy nun would have likely looked me directly in the eye and said “that was a bloodless assassination.”
It may be tasteless to invoke virtual assassination only days after someone tried to commit an actual assassination against Donald Trump. I apologize in advance for the offense. But we cannot ignore the parallels between what happened to Caesar and what the triumvirate of Pelosi, Obama and Schumer — along with their lesser accomplices — did to Joe Biden.
Of course let’s dispense with the obvious differences first: Joe Biden is not a despot, nor was he killed. While I find his character and politics anathema, no honest person would call him a dictator. Crazy in the head conspiracy theorists can blather on about forced vaccination plots, and more reasonable folk can legitimately condemn his positions on abortion and Title IX, but he is not Caesar. For that matter, neither is Trump. The rhetoric from the insane wings of both parties is dangerous, and should be ignored.
And, although his cadence, pallor and ability to communicate in an articulate manner would suggest otherwise, he is not actually dead.
But the Democrats employed everything short of physical intimidation to get him to step down from the race. They pretend that their efforts began in earnest only after they saw his horrific debate performance in June. But they knew, and we know they knew, and they know we know they knew, for many months. Independent reports and comments made on deep background as well as a few on the record indicate that Biden’s diminished capacity was obvious to everyone inside his inner circle for a long time. They only appear to have started the campaign to unseat him when what they knew was televised for everyone to gape at.
Which brings us to the central question: did the Dems push for Biden’s withdrawal because they care about the nation, or about their own power? In the case of Brutus, a Republican in the ancient sense, his treachery was motivated by a desire to resurrect the Roman Republic and neutralize a dictator. The fact that the dictator was his beloved adopted father made it a deeply difficult task, and a great betrayal.
It’s hard to see the nobility in what the Dems have done. If they cared about the country, they would have demanded Biden’s withdrawal when the signs of age-related dementia became obvious to them. Instead, they waited until it became obvious to us. As I said on Facebook, there is no honor in desperation.
Some might argue that they are trying to save the country from Trump, who they consider a fascist. But what do you call people who thwart the will of the electorate by essentially coercing the primary winner to step down? Are they patriots? Traitors? Or something in between?
So the deed is done. We wait for the fallout. We wait to see who will succeed to the throne, so to speak. We will see if there is a bloodless but bitter battle between Octavian and Antony, or Kamala and whoever.
In the meantime, we come neither to praise Biden, nor to bury him. We come to mourn the state of our nation and its flawed and unworthy leaders.
Christine Flowers is an attorney and lifelong Philadelphian. @flowerlady61
You want betrayal? After four years of loyal service, Trump tried to hang his own VP, Mike Pence. Mike Pence is the reason Trump won in 2016. The Evangelicals only got on board with Trump after his picked “born again” Mike Pence for VP. JD Vance will end up with the same horrible fate. Trump will stab him in the back like he did to Mike Pence and everyone else. The Evangelicals won’t care. Trump is their God. He’s not a politician to MAGA. He’s God. It’s laughable. As for Biden, the debate made it clear he’s not fit to run for POTUS. It’s a shame Republicans didn’t take down Trump a proven lunatic and convicted felon. Biden may have dementia, but Trump is just flat out crazy, a criminal, and too old!
You got it backwards, Ms. Weaver. Pence betrayed Trump. And the reason Trump won was because of Hillary and her basket of deplorables and bleached hard drives. Evangelicals were more swayed by someone ending Roe v. Wade. Age was not a factor when Biden was in the race, right? Dems have no one CLOSE to Trump with real world and White House experience except Obama. Oh – and don’t lean too heavy on that ‘convicted felon’ thing. The dem lawfare sham is coming full circle.
How did Pence betray Trump?
By not challenging the 2020 election results and siding with the white house lawyers on relenting.
Pence admitted that there were voting irregularities based on mail-in ballots, but not enough to mount a challenge.
You’re right Kamala Harris does not have the same experience as Trump. After all she was;
for 7 years she was the California Attorney General
For 5 years she was a U.S. Senator
For 4 years she has been Vice President
She is almost 20 years younger than Trump.
Many, many people understood Biden was never going to be the Democrats’ candidate. We were laughed at by the sheep and all the very polite and nice people. Ramaswamy, who at the time was running in the Republican presidential primary, all the way back on Nov. 8, 2023, said Biden would not be the Democratic nominee come November 2024: “End this farce that Joe Biden is going to be your nominee,” Ramaswamy said during the GOP primary debate. “We know he’s not even the President of the United States. He’s a puppet for the managerial class.” Yes, there is a managerial class. Millions who do not need to conspire – they understand it is in their best interests to simply behave in certain ways: exclusive golf memberships, hire C.P.A.’s to navigate the tax code, send their children to private school and shake their heads at the (inner cities like Philadelphia’s) broken public schools, etc. But there are many thousands that do indeed conspire. They are in roles of real power, and they hate the United States. They hate the Puritan ethics that made the United States great, and they are in charge currently – Communists and certain specific elites compromised by Communists.
Many, many people are aware that the Hunter Biden laptop proves Ukraine is a money laundering cesspool for BOTH Republicans and Democrats. 51 of the most powerful intelligence workers blatantly lied about that laptop – and most of them knew at the time they were lying. Those Ukranian flags and Hate Has No Home yard signs continue to be pathetic. We knew the masks were theater and tyranny. We know Trump is a clown and the vote is rigged by the mail in vote harvesting. We know boys become men and girls become women and surgeries and drugs do not change that. We know not to give up our guns. We know to make lists. Come Christmas time we’ll check them twice. Vote. Violence is never the answer.
“We know not to give up our guns. We know to make lists. Come Christmas time we’ll check them twice. Vote. Violence is never the answer.” So your making lists of traitors, but your not going to kill them with guns. How does that work?
Kamala’s hiring and experience was was made possible by her relationship with SF Mayor Willie Brown.
She’s another political fraud like Bobo Biden, as evidenced by the last 4 years as his cackling sidekick.
Name 1 accomplishment by her as VP without going on a snipe hunt.
Ask Santa Claus about lists. Countless people have guns, and they make lists, and they do not commit violence. You have fallen for pathetic Communist propaganda about guns. Hopefully you will wake up, soon, Comrade.
Never in the history of the United States’ republic have the FBI, CIA, DOJ, and Pentagon so vastly exceeded their constitutional and legal parameters or violated the careful guardrails between civilian and military. “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands…”
Trump is a clown. The Trump administration printed too much money.
Biden was a clown. The Biden Administration printed too much money.
And George W. Bush seems like a brilliant orator and speechmaker compared to Vice President Harris. God help us. It is all theater. We even had Hulk Hogan tearing off his shirt at the RNC. We have become Idiocracy, the 2006 American science fiction comedy film directed by Mike Judge. The generals are out of control.