Mood:
caffeinatedTopic: "Past is Prologue" (3)
As he strolled downhill, Frodo looked at the line of pine trees to his left, and then stared back toward the creek running through the open field straight ahead. He knew every inch of that which he saw. He had been here before. Then again, he had read Bruce Catton's great book "Andersonville" when he was only 12 years old. Perhaps the impact made on the young Hobbit's mind had created this sense of deja vu as he toured the site of the horrid prison camp in rural South Georgia. The entire concept of reincarnation has haunted Frodo all his days, and the feeling persists. In what follows this day, Frodo will explore a few potential instances in the continuum of a troubled soul.
John, the brother of Richard the Lion Heart, had accomplished little but, by birth, he was entitled to rule in the absence of the King. While he sat upon the throne the Kingdom weakened. Civil unrest grew as the gulf between the landed gentry and the farmers of the feudal system widened. The rights of the free born were under assault, and fear was the tool used by the illegitimate king to maintain his power.
George, a child of privilege sought glory before power. Once the great Civil War had come to a close, and his rank was reduced from General, he sought assignment to the Western frontier, where a savage land and peoples seemed ready to fall before the sword. The hero of such a conflict could return to Washington and take command. He did not do his homework, and he attacked without fully understnding his enemy. When those about him urged caution, he pressed on, and fell with all those who followed at the Little Big Horn.
Perhaps Heinrich, or Wolfgang, or Ernst, the name is forgotten, believed so firmly in the strength of leadership that he deified the commands given to him. An ideological obsession drove him into the face of the storms, when he did not have adequate clothing or equipment. The glory of the Fatherland was worth any sacrifice. It was a battle that could not be won, and the Siege at Stalingrad ended his quest.
Perhaps other roles were played, falling more neatly into the breaks in time represented by the three examples cited. There is, to Frodo, too much to be coincidence when the instances of folly throughout history lead so directly to the President of the United States. Should we survive the current experience, Frodo dreads what is to follow.
Posted by loveysdaddyga
at 5:05 PM EDT
