Tyrants Lived Before

 

We see nothing new in t.rump. History shows us many examples. Some may regard the wannabe ruler as a new thing in the world, but he is just like Lysander in 454 BC.

There is nothing new under the Sun. We Humans as a species are capable of both sublime goodness and also brutish thuggery. 

'3 Lysander now summoned from their various cities to Ephesus men whom he saw to be most eminent for confidence and daring, and sowed in their minds the seeds of the revolutionary decadarchies​  afterwards instituted by him, urging and inciting them to form political clubs in their several cities, and apply themselves to public affairs, assuring them that as soon as the Athenian empire was destroyed, they could rid themselves of their democracies and become themselves supreme in power. 

4 Moreover, by actual benefits he gave them all a confidence in this future, promoting those who were already his friends and allies to large enterprises and honours and commands, and taking a share himself in their injustice and wickedness in order to gratify their rapacity. Therefore all attached themselves to him, expecting to attain all their highest ambitions if only he remained in power. 

5 Therefore, too, they neither looked kindly upon Callicratidas at the first, when he came to succeed Lysander in the admiralty,​ nor afterwards, when he had shown by manifest proofs that he was the justest and noblest of men, were they pleased with the manner of his leader­ship, which had a certain Doric simplicity and sincerity. They did, indeed, admire his virtue, as they would the beauty of a hero's statue; but they yearned for the zealous support of Lysander, and missed the interest which he took in the welfare of his partisans, so that when he sailed away they were dejected and shed tears.

6 Lysander made these men yet more disaffected towards Callicratidas. He also sent back to Sardis what remained of the money which Cyrus had given him for the navy, bidding Callicratidas ask for it himself, if he wished, and see to the maintenance of his soldiers. And finally, as he sailed away, he called Callicratides to witness that  the fleet which he handed over to him was in command of the sea. But he, wishing to prove the emptiness and vanity of this ambitious boast, said: "In that case, keep Samos on the left, sail to Miletus, and there hand the triremes over to me; surely we need not fear to sail past the enemy at Samos if we are masters of the sea." 3 To this Lysander answered that Callicratidas, and not he, was in command of the ships, and sailed off to Peloponnesus, leaving Callicratidas in great perplexity. For neither had he brought money from home with him, nor could he bear to lay the cities under forced contribution when they were already in an evil plight. 4 The only course left, therefore, was to go to the doors of the King's generals, as Lysander had done, and ask for money. For this he was of all men least fitted by nature, being of a free and lofty spirit, and one who thought any and every defeat of Greeks at the hands of Greeks more becoming to them than visits of flattery to the houses of Barbarians, who had much gold, but nothing else worth while. '

This webpage reproduces one of The Parallel Lives by  Plutarch published in Vol. IV of the Loeb Classical Library edition,1916

The text is in the public domain.

[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Lysander*.html]

Self Defense for Election Workers

Some American voters have regressed from civilized behavior into aberrant beings with infantile attitudes, 'If I can't do what I want, I will shit on your dinner; or maybe I'll shoot you with my assault rifle'. You election and court workers are decent people conducting business for the American people; you hear death threats in your workplaces and your homes. Those threats are crimes, and, they are simply despicable.

Know that most Americans are with you and have your back. You are not alone.

I suggest some mechanisms that will help you avoid the vileness directed at you. This is low level beginning stuff that is easy to follow. They are small steps, but will be effective in reducing the volume of threats. It's my list and it has not been reviewed; please ask your employer's attorney to review before you start using these ideas.

Know that we will not judge you for your decision to retire if that is best for you and your family. You are heroes.

Here are the steps to take:

1. Do NOT accept that the threats are part of the election process and are just 'political'. They are crimes.

2. Change all your online, remote and computer passwords immediately.

3. Change them again every month. Use English words you can remember easily and add a number or symbol as well. Or, use computer generated passwords.

4. Do not answer the phone or click on any email from a sender you do not know personally. Never open any attachment from an email. Screen all calls to your business and home phones and personal cell phone. Record and save each threat no matter how mild it appears. Law enforcement will collect the calls and look for patterns that lead to criminal charges. 

Use this as your phone's greeting: "You have reached Mary Smith's personal telephone. Since I am a public servant employed by the [United States, State, County or city] any threat you make directed to me or my family is a crime under Federal and local law. Know that I will forward your threat and your Phone number to law enforcement with a request to arrest you. Leave your message now." 

5. Record all of the message and the phone number and any other identifying fact the caller discloses. 

6. Save them into a digital format like Excel that can be sent to detectives. Remember, collections of large volumes of data about threats can suggest patterns and identify the cdriminals behind the calls. Data is the phone number, the date and time of the call, your rating of the call threat level and any other facts the caller reveals. 

When we have several thousand people doing this, we will know a lot about who is behind the calls. We can prosecute those people as well as the caller. A person who facilitates a crime is also guilty of a crime. 

7. Rank the nature of the threat using this code or some other:

Cat 1 - credible explicit death threat to public official, probably illegal

Example: The following message led to an arrest: 

The man allegedly said in a voicemail left for Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Sept. 27, 2021, according to the Justice Department:

'When we come to lynch your stupid lying Commie [expletive], you’ll remember that you lied on the [expletive] Bible, you piece of [expletive]. You’re gonna die, you piece of [expletive]. We’re going to hang you. We’re going to hang you,'

Cat 2 - Emotional, unfocused rant mentioning death

Cat 3 - Hatred expressed, no specific threat of violence

Cat 4 - Unemotional disagreement with explicit rationale

Cat 5 - Unemotional disagreement with zero rationale

8. Give your records to local law enforcement as well as to places which collect the data like the FBI or election fairness organizations. Request that law enforcement file criminal actions and proseucte the people who threaten you. 

Report here for Califonia: Report all threats or acts of workplace violence to the DGS Workplace Violence Referral Line at (916) 376-5344.

D O J here  https://tips.fbi.gov/home