i was looking at a photo in the n y times of the rostrum of the house of representatives and i noticed ( for the first time...it is an index of how much attention i actually pay to these people and their processes as i try to render them irrelevant to my existence ) that there are fasces on either side...a roman symbol of civic authority that was subverted by mussolini...and the source of the name fascism...so i was curious...with all the political hysteria rampant these days...about exactly when they appeared...surely not post WWII...and it would seem not...they predate the house remodeling in 1951 and the subsequent changes have not seen them removed...so not a signal from the cold war then...rather simply more of the neo-classical kitsch that defines the capitol and shows its denizens see themselves as the heirs of rome...empire..and the deep seated strain of violence it left behind...there is talk of "draining the swamp"...it is an empty promise...whoretown is and always will be a trysting place when the full moon rises over the swamp...there is no cure...civic authority wants its way...no matter what it costs the polity.
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