Julius Caesar, right? The classic Shakespearean play that's not about killing your leader, but about how it's bad to try to stop approaching tyranny by violent acts? The half of the play after the assassination that deals with the infighting between the conspirators that leads to a civil war in which tens of thousands are killed?
In an interview with Business Insider on Monday, University of Notre Dame Shakespeare Studies chairman Peter Holland pointed out that in the play, Brutus and Cassius' decision to kill Caesar and restore democratic rule backfires spectacularly, suggesting Shakespeare wanted the audience to agree that this decision was the wrong course of action.
"What's the result?" Holland said. "Chaos, civil war, a battle at the end of the play [in] which Brutus and Cassius both die, which we know was a huge bloodbath, 20,000 people died on the battlefield. And there's nothing in this that says 'Oh, you just get rid of your aspirant dictator and everything is going to be fine.' It says exactly the opposite. What you get is the dissolution of the state, and it leads directly to the creation of Roman emperors."
Holland suggested that this interpretation — a basic reading taught in high schools — was almost universally agreed upon among academics who study Shakespeare.
"I've never seen any academic writing about the play anyway that suggests that assassinating Julius Caesar is a good idea," the Notre Dame professor said. "I don't mean it isn't out there, but nothing I've ever read. And I've read a hell of a lot."
You know what everyone should REALLY be worried about? This:
Russian Cyber Hacks on U.S. Electoral System Far Wider Than Previously Knownby Michael Riley and Jordan Robertson
Bloomberg News, June 13, 2017, 5:00 AM EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-06-13/russian-breach-of-39-states-threatens-future-u-s-elections"In Illinois, investigators found evidence that cyber intruders tried to delete or alter voter data. The hackers accessed software designed to be used by poll workers on Election Day, and in at least one state accessed a campaign finance database. Details of the wave of attacks, in the summer and fall of 2016, were provided by three people with direct knowledge of the U.S. investigation into the matter. In all, the Russian hackers hit systems in a total of 39 states, one of them said."
"Such operations need not change votes to be effective. In fact, the Obama administration believed that the Russians were possibly preparing to delete voter registration information or slow vote tallying in order to undermine confidence in the election. That effort went far beyond the carefully timed release of private communications by individuals and parties."
"One former senior U.S. official expressed concern that the Russians now have three years to build on their knowledge of U.S. voting systems before the next presidential election, and there is every reason to believe they will use what they have learned in future attacks."
This is the sort of thing that should keep all Americans up at night.
Because you don't need to change a single vote in order to undermine our confidence in the election process.