Did anyone notice the Bush propaganda that was just sneaked in on the....

[Robeson]

...History Channel's documentary of Rome?

Essentially, they just compared the victory of Octavius over Antony, as being the same as Bush's victory over Saddam. Yes, in a show about ancient Rome, they used Bush as a mirror of Augustus. I shit you not.

[sakabatou]

1. History Channel has jumped the shark

[acmavm]

2. Not really a fair or accurate comparison. Augustus won.

.

[Inland]

3. You are shitting me. Seriously?

I can't believe it.

[Robeson]

5. No I'm not. They even built Octavius and Antony up as being the...

...two most powerful men in the World, then made the comparison of Octavius' victory over him as being similar to Bush over Saddam. Thus, obviously to the dumbasses out there, leaving the impression that Saddam was the second most powerful man in the World. Speechless.

[bklyncowgirl]

4. er Antony vs Octavian (Augustus) was a civil war.

Not an historically valid comparison. Too bad I missed it. Most of that series has been pretty good.

We are soooo like the Romans.

[Robeson]

6. No shit. It boggled my mind. Where to begin and where to end...

...on that one?

[BlueJac]

7. Bush will go down in history....

but not like the fuck thinks.....he is, and will be, the king of the worst all time presidents ever!!:rofl:

[Cleita]

8. That is a real stretch isn't it?

Octavius and Antony had a civil war essentially. Both were Romans. If they wanted a comparison of invading a foreign country, maybe Julius Ceasar conquering Vercintegorix, the High Chieftain of the Gauls might have been a little more accurate, except that even Caeser admired Vercintegorix, which I don't think you could say the same about Saddam.

[Robeson]

9. Its beyond a stretch. Its six degrees of bacon.

[NewJeffCT]

14. and, that battle wasn't that one-sided, either

having just watched the History Channel show on Caeser vs Vercintegorix, and the big final battle was actually very close and was saved when Caeser himself led the final charge into battle... and we know Bush is a Chickenhawk supreme, no getting his hands dirty like Caesar.

[In Truth We Trust]

10. The only Roman emperor Chimpy can be compared to is Nero!

[Robeson]

11. I compared him to another one on this thread in the World History...

...Group... http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=277x206#207

But yes, he is as out-of-touch and gilded as Nero.

[Mein Bush]

18. I'd say a blend of Nero... and Caligular!

Afterall Caligular used to party pretty hard. All this partying may have affected his shit-for-brains thinking.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

24. Caligula appointed his horse to the position of Consul

Bush appointed his horse association man to the position of FEMA Director.

[Robeson]

25. You might appreciate this.....

...from Albanian poet Rudolf Marku...

Caligula's horse

And it came to pass that Caligula's horse
Was proclaimed senator.

A fair horse, almost divine,
It strode majestically into the hall,
Greeted everyone with due regard,
Taking no notice of rank or office, even of the ministers,
And went straight to its appointed place
Modestly,
As if it were ashamed of being there.

It immediately saw through those around it,
Murderers, profiteers, sycophants, wheelers and dealers
It never assented
to the conquest of other countries,

To the lowering of salaries, or to the raising of prices,
Nor did it take any notice of pompous speeches,
Never did it applaud,
but listened to the speeches of the orators
with sheer indifference
And it never dreamed of taking advantage of its senatorial
position to publish fat books.

On occasion, glancing at the sleepy faces of its citizens,
It would dream of how it used to frolic in the meadows,
Of the clear blue sky, of spring water.

Later it was engulfed by such sorrow
That the senators began looking askance at it,
They began murmuring about its wild past,
About the dubious company it kept, about its unbridled lifestyle.

Nonetheless, it lived a long life
And it used its power better than anyone else had,
That is:
not at all!

[Mein Bush]

26. Such insight!! Mr Ed would have been a much better President.

He would also have dished out less horse-shit to the American people and the world.

Great post.

[Robeson]

28. Thanks. I do love that one...

...:thumbsup:

[NYC]

21. Both played stringed instruments

while cities were being destroyed.

[mcscajun]

12. They'd be more accurate if they compared him to Commodus

from Wikipedia:

He is often considered to have been one of the worst Roman Emperors, among the caliber of Nero and Caligula, and his reign brought to a close the era of the "five good emperors" (though he was not one of them).

Commodus is often thought to have been insane, and he was certainly given to excess....Commodus would wage wars of his own against the Germans, often winning partial victories and then claiming honors for them (the victories) in the Roman Senate.

Commodus also had a passion for gladiatoral combat, which he took so far as to take to the arena himself, dressed as a gladiator....Commodus entered the arena fully armed and fought hapless opponents armed only with wooden weapons....For each appearance in the arena, he charged the city of Rome a million sesterces.

He appointed his cronies to administer the Empire, and shared in the money these men stole.

The popular movies The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) and Gladiator (2000) were loosely based on the career of the emperor Commodus, although they should not be taken as accurate historical depictions of his life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodus

Look familiar, does it?

[Robeson]

13. Another good comparison.

[Cleita]

16. I agree. He is closer to Commodus than Nero? Nero does

fit though because a lot of people aren't familiar with Commodus.

[mcscajun]

17. This is true...Nero gets all the press.

He probably had a Rove ancestor as his press agent.

[Mein Bush]

27. Bush doesn't get all the press?

At least in Nero's case the press is negative but we can all hope.

[mcscajun]

30. No...my comment was that Nero gets all the press vs. Commodus

:)

[TankLV]

29. NOW I know where we got that synonym for toilet!

[MojoXN]

15. Oy...

Historical revisionism is an unfortunately ubiquitous phenomenon these days. I wouldn't read too much into a pro-* bias if I were you. Believe me, there are historians as eager to push THEIR ideology as any neocon that you ever did see. Oftimes, said agendas coincide. In any case, rejoice in the fact that the overwhelming crush of historians are quite liberal. The future will remember US with particular fondness, I'm certain.

MojoXN

[jean]

19. can we track down who's in charge of content for that show?

[Robeson]

23. My thoughts exactly. My wife and I tried to continue watching it, ....

...but every comparison they made of Rome was compared to GHWB, or GWB, and Desert Storm, or the current glorious war in Iraq. They were beyond the pale in connecting Rome with the Bushinistas. It kind of got weird after a little while. It was like the Bush's were our only benchmark to compare things to, as if there is no history before Bush. Eventually, we had to turn the show off. Or should I say, it turned us off.

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Oh yes

I can clearly see the comparrisons. :eyes:

[neebob]

22. Sounds like the show I watched the other day

only I came in a Vespasian. I wouldn't still have been watching if I'd heard the mention of Bush and Saddam. How stupid.