The Personal is Political. The Political is Personal.

 
died on the 4th of July



Some historical figures who did so include:

Johann Tetzel

preacher remembered for selling indulgences and for speaking the couplet "As soon as a coin in the coffer rings / the soul from purgatory springs." . . corrupt . . . a spiritually impotent hypocrite

William Learned Marcy

In a speech in the Senate defending Van Buren against an attack by Henry Clay, Marcy made the unfortunate remark that "to the victors belong the spoils of the enemy", and thereby became widely known as a champion of the proscription of political opponents.

Walter Long

his on-screen persona was crude and thuggish . . . In 1915 Long wrote a black-face minstrel play . . . ends up with a warning that blacks who don't respect the white man's laws risk being lynched.

Suraj ud Dowlah

He was a cruel and profligate fanatic. . . . He then permitted the massacre infamously known in history as "The Black Hole of Calcutta."

Raynald of Chatillon

When the Latin Patriarch of Antioch refused to finance this expedition, Raynald had the Patriarch seized, stripped naked, covered in honey, and left in the burning sun on top of the citadel. . . . Raynald's forces attacked Cyprus, ravaging the island and pillaging its inhabitants.

Gerda Steinhoff

Nazi concentration camp overseer . . . took part in selections of prisoners to be sent to the gas chambers. . . she received a medal for her loyalty and service to the Third Reich. She was devoted to her job in the camps and was known as a very ruthless overseer.

New media reports suggest that, according to certain apparent experts on these kinds of things, when an individual dies, you can look at the personalities of others who previously died on the same date, and then piece together insights into the character of the person who just died. The newly deceased is believed to be "in the mold" of the earlier decedents.

Believers in the accuracy of the method claim it to be "just incredible," the amount of illuminating information that the exercise can reveal about the character of the newly departed.

We at TiR will not presume to pass judgment on the reliability of this seemingly mystical, quasi-astrological method. However, we suppose that believers in it must believe, too, that the data, when presented, can speak for itself.

posted by TiR at 7:01 AM