“Thus always to tyrants! “Brutus supposedly shouted as he stabbed Caesar to death on the floor of the Roman Senate on the Ides of March.
The Ides of March corresponds with March 15th in the Roman calendar. Romans celebrated the holiday by settling debts so it was fitting that it was the day Julius Caesar was assassinated. The Ides of March settled the Republic’s debt with a dictator.
You can bet Robert Mueller is very familiar with Roman history and the Ides of March. A product of Catholic Schools who went on to Princeton, then UVA Law School, Mueller would have studied Latin, which uses a lot of source material from Caesar’s time in order to get young minds excited. He’d have read Cicero’s Catilene speeches, railing against a populist who tried to bribe his way to power. He would have read about the rampant senate corruption leading to the civil wars and the decay of the republic to the point that Caesar was able to seize power.
Mueller served in America’s legions in Vietnam before returning to civilian life, working for the republic in Washington DC, whose stone buildings and marble monuments inspired by classical architecture. During his lifetime, he witnessed the US mimicking Rome’s trajectory to empire and oligarchy. Perhaps his investigation will prevent our descent into Roman despotism.
Julius Caesar spent a lifetime soldiering and returned to Rome after a string of major military victories. Trump, a boastful coward, is certainly no Caesar, but he’d like to be. The President’s speeches, tweets and actions reveal him to be a tyrant.
By the 15th of March, Michael Cohen will have testified in Congress, the Epstein case may be reopened, and the Mueller Report may have already been issued. The death of a thousand cuts will be well underway for the President.
Recent history has shown that the Special Counsel’s Office likes to drop indictments on Fridays. This year the Ides of March falls on a Friday. Here’s hoping Mueller slides the knife in, unsealing the indictment we’ve all been waiting for. It’s time to settle debts.
Sic Semper Tyrannis.
Wes Clark Jr. 