Napoleon busts were all the rage, at one time. Arthur Conan-Doyle penned a Sherlock Holmes story titled "The Six Napoleons." In it, a seemingly crazed young Italian breaks into people's homes and smashes their plaster Napoleon busts on the floor. In the Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Tandem Target," a would-be assassin mistakenly shoots a Napoleon bust, instead of his intended human target.

People have had it in for Napoleon for years, France's version of ruthless world-conqueror. For this article, the editors at Die Zeit have decorated Napoleon in drag, for what purpose, I can only guess. The article states that women in France have become tired of everyone lauding male heroes and not giving women heroes any credibility.

The title "Cherchez la Femme" is an old French expression. If the husband asks, "Why are there no funds in my checking account?" You automatically reply, "Look for the wife!" The wife has already spent the money.

The tarted-up Napoleon bust irritates me. Most of the steam behind promoting heroic women in France comes from the feminists; but I can't tell if they want to promote heroines or emasculate the males. The bust provides at best a visual digression. Why not use a portrait of Marie Curie instead, or La Pasionaria, the heroine of the Spanish Civil War?

The curious title and the even curiouser photograph make the article muddled and unfocused from the start.


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March 31, 2023

How Long Do Republicans Wait?

Americans who vote Republican have to remember that, for people who work for the Republican Party, it's just a job. They may like their jobs. Mostly they prefer to keep their jobs. They may share the Republican sentiment for free-market principles and military readiness; but when someone like me comes along and suggests that Republicans petition for a nation of their own, they worry about things like job-redundancy and relocations more than they do about Democrat big-government and peacenik sell-out.


March 23, 2023

Release Grand Ole Prometheus!

Left-wing trash-talking of the GOP represents a concerted campaign that should concern its leaders. The scathing rhetoric suggests that the trash-talking will not end until the Left can make the GOP the permanent minority-party, and silence or discredit its associated media-organs. Older Americans familiar with the Nazi-smearing of the Jews should note the similarities in the left-wing method. Neither the Republicans nor freedom-loving people of any stripe should ignore the potential threat that these smear-tactics represent.


March 21, 2023

Republicans: a New Start

The Republican Party has a few tasks it needs to undertake. It needs to examine the philosophy it claims to represent and to take stock of its future, and stop thinking in terms of personal rivalries. We have more on the line than just choosing candidates and securing a victory in future elections. The GOP needs to regain a corporate sense-of-self. How can we move forward when we have deep doubts about the game, the rules, and not least the players?


Lloyd Bowers

loybow3@gmail.com


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