Walter Patterson Herald ColumnistFifty years have passed since I sat in Mr. J. R.Pennington’s English class and studied William Shakespeare’s classic play, Julius Caesar. Like many of my friends, I resisted Mr. Pennington’s instruction as diligently as any 15 year old could, but through it all, I could tell that Mr. Pennington really liked the play. He talked about the “life lessons” that could be learned from reading this tragedy, and he pointed out daily how individuals can be betrayed by their friends. Ambition and envy threw the Roman Empire into civil war because of the actions of a so-called colleague, and
Caesar lay dead, his body mutilated with lethal knife wounds, all delivered by his valued associates.
Caesar had no reason to distrust Brutus. They were long-standing allies, and Caesar considered his friend a valuable confidante. But on the Ides of March, Brutus and a small band of conspirators, including Cassius, surrounded Caesar as he entered the Roman Senate and assassinated him. Just before he breathed his last breath, Caesar is reported to have uttered these fateful words: “Et tu Brute?” Translated that means, “You too, Brutus?”
How could his loyal friend be a part of a plot so sinister and so deadly? Caesar took these thoughts to his grave never knowing why Brutus had betrayed him. It is said that when Caesar saw his friend wielding the knife, he stopped resisting his fate and simply accepted death. This betrayal
was more than Caesar could comprehend or understand. Brutus’ plan had succeeded. He, along with the other assassins, had killed their leader – and friend.
Julius Caesar was a dictator, a Roman strong man, but there are lessons we can draw from this tragedy. For reasons that I cannot comprehend, the United States of America is under attack by its socalled friends, and at the rate we are going, the nation will die from a “thousand wounds.” Every day, we read or see on TV another attack on this country, its people, capitalism, the free market, and the U. S. Constitution.
One such attack is being led by one of Mississippi’s favorite sons, ex-senator Trent Lott.
The Law of the Sea Treaty, a proposal that has languished in the United Nations since President Reagan was in office, has reared its ugly head. This treaty, if approved by the Senate, has “been heavily influenced by the New International Economic Order, a set of economic principles first formally advanced at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. The agenda called for “fairer” terms of trade and development financing for the so-called under-developed and developing nations. Another way the New International Economic Order has been described is ‘redistributionist’.” Have you heard this term before?
This treaty is bad news for Americans since it will require that royalties be paid to the United Nations for minerals, oil for example, taken out of the ocean. Also, if the temperature of the oceans should rise onetenth of one-degree, then the United Nations has the power to mandate a carbon tax, shut down factories,
and in general, control the economy of any nation perceived to be causing “global warming.”
As a Senator, Trent Lott opposed this treaty. Like Ronald Reagan, he knew that if a treaty of this type were ever approved by the U. S. Senate, then the United States would become a third world economic power almost overnight. In effect, we would lose our sovereignty. While still a U. S. Senator, Lott said, “First of all, I am absolutely convinced it undermines U. S. sovereignty. Secondly, I think it would create a huge U. N. bureaucracy.” You know this is a bad deal for America when John Kerry, the arrogant and elitist Senator from Massachusetts supports it.
According to reports filed this year, Lott is partnering with former U. S. Senator John Breaux of Louisiana, a certified “Democrat progressive,” to promote the passage of this corrupt treaty. The firm is being paid $80,000 by Shell Oil Company and $30,000 by Pike Associates. It just seems to me that this is such a small
amount of money to sell out one’s country.
I see a lot of Brutus in Trent Lott, and, like Caesar, it is very hard for me to believe. “Et tu, Trent?”