Perfect. I'm old enough to remember when Florida had decent governors. DeSantis isn't fit to be mentioned in the same breath as Askew, Chiles, Graham and (definitely not) Collins. I'll enjoy his humiliation much more than a well-brought-up woman should,
Ooh Rick -- piscine lips!! I do love it when you use terms like this!
As for Caligula -- you forgot a couple more noted aspects of his rule as Emperor of Rome:
1. His waking up from a month plus coma believing he was Zeus (no really, REALLY believed it)
2. Married his sister Drusilla (highly unusual move for an Emperor - though not so much for a pleb)
3. Killed his wife/sister and cut open her womb and ate their baby (remember the tales of Zeus eating his wife from whence rose Athena from Zeus' forehead)
4. Was killed by several men, but the 2 leaders were actually in the Praetorian Guard.
Always love your Substack posts, just wish I could afford even the $5/month...
Thanks Rick for reassuring me that my height of 5’ 10” is okay. And maybe not just okay, but the best of heights.
Also, thanks for the Little Boots story. I never tire of hearing about that little punk Caligula. I got turned onto the Stoics during Covid by David Drehle at WaPo. Absolutely recommend Marcus and Epictetus and, most especially, Seneca for everyone’s nightstands for the next year. It will be wild!
it's going to take a generation or more to wrestle control of Florida from the corrupt FL GOP, but if it can be done in Wisconsin it can be done in Florida.
"Caligula) decided they needed to goose his height by a few inches to make him look taller on the debate stage and at events."
What's super odd about this is I have several friends in Florida who now deeply regret their vote for DeSantis who said they voted for him almost purely on the basis that he was a little, pudgy-faced, home-grown American boy with a gentle touch. Now, he's trying to pretend he's some domineering force to be reckoned with. It's like when Michael Jordan decided he wanted to play baseball. Admirable that he tried to take up a legacy for his father, but, man, stick to what you're the best at.
Rick, love your work and talks and follow you on pretty much every platform, even the dreaded cesspool now called X. Excellent, hilarious piece and great framing.
"Since 'boot' is caligae in Latin..."
Just a small helpful tip from a Latinist: in the first declension feminine, caliga is the singular for boot, while caligae is either plural (boots), or genitive or dative (of the boot, from the boot). The same holds for other first declension feminine nouns (femina - feminae [woman], clava - clavae [key]). :)
Cheers from a fellow Florida Man and keep up the great work.
DeSantis’ boots are like Romney’s 47% comment. What seems like a trivial bit of information can, as Rick said, incinerate hundreds of millions of dollars and flush political aspirations down the toilet in a matter of hours. That’s politics for you.
Did anyone else besides me see the movie Caligula that came out in 1980? I know I’m dating myself, but I was barely old enough to get in to see it. If you did see the movie, you know some of the images that went through my head reading this but also thinking about Desantis. I feel a bit sick to my stomach now (but that’s normal when thinking of Desantis.) Good post, definitely enjoyed the history!
Perfect. I'm old enough to remember when Florida had decent governors. DeSantis isn't fit to be mentioned in the same breath as Askew, Chiles, Graham and (definitely not) Collins. I'll enjoy his humiliation much more than a well-brought-up woman should,
One other thing...
You are so right about DeSaster's wife being Livia!!
Ooh Rick -- piscine lips!! I do love it when you use terms like this!
As for Caligula -- you forgot a couple more noted aspects of his rule as Emperor of Rome:
1. His waking up from a month plus coma believing he was Zeus (no really, REALLY believed it)
2. Married his sister Drusilla (highly unusual move for an Emperor - though not so much for a pleb)
3. Killed his wife/sister and cut open her womb and ate their baby (remember the tales of Zeus eating his wife from whence rose Athena from Zeus' forehead)
4. Was killed by several men, but the 2 leaders were actually in the Praetorian Guard.
Always love your Substack posts, just wish I could afford even the $5/month...
Thanks Rick for reassuring me that my height of 5’ 10” is okay. And maybe not just okay, but the best of heights.
Also, thanks for the Little Boots story. I never tire of hearing about that little punk Caligula. I got turned onto the Stoics during Covid by David Drehle at WaPo. Absolutely recommend Marcus and Epictetus and, most especially, Seneca for everyone’s nightstands for the next year. It will be wild!
Let's Make America Great Again
it's going to take a generation or more to wrestle control of Florida from the corrupt FL GOP, but if it can be done in Wisconsin it can be done in Florida.
I'm grateful we can't hear the progression of thoughts that accompany Ron's uncanny valley expressions. He's so friggin weird.
"Caligula) decided they needed to goose his height by a few inches to make him look taller on the debate stage and at events."
What's super odd about this is I have several friends in Florida who now deeply regret their vote for DeSantis who said they voted for him almost purely on the basis that he was a little, pudgy-faced, home-grown American boy with a gentle touch. Now, he's trying to pretend he's some domineering force to be reckoned with. It's like when Michael Jordan decided he wanted to play baseball. Admirable that he tried to take up a legacy for his father, but, man, stick to what you're the best at.
The domineering forse is his wife, a weird dude, no doubt and with a weirder marriage.
Honestly, we're all watching the clown car under the weight of its own wildly unaccountable conspiracy theory rhetoric and I'm here for it.
Rick, love your work and talks and follow you on pretty much every platform, even the dreaded cesspool now called X. Excellent, hilarious piece and great framing.
"Since 'boot' is caligae in Latin..."
Just a small helpful tip from a Latinist: in the first declension feminine, caliga is the singular for boot, while caligae is either plural (boots), or genitive or dative (of the boot, from the boot). The same holds for other first declension feminine nouns (femina - feminae [woman], clava - clavae [key]). :)
Cheers from a fellow Florida Man and keep up the great work.
Joe
Delicious!
DeSantis’ boots are like Romney’s 47% comment. What seems like a trivial bit of information can, as Rick said, incinerate hundreds of millions of dollars and flush political aspirations down the toilet in a matter of hours. That’s politics for you.
For all the actually heinous stuff he did he will be remembered and with laughter and go go boots. Disrespect suits him. Broom him out.
Did anyone else besides me see the movie Caligula that came out in 1980? I know I’m dating myself, but I was barely old enough to get in to see it. If you did see the movie, you know some of the images that went through my head reading this but also thinking about Desantis. I feel a bit sick to my stomach now (but that’s normal when thinking of Desantis.) Good post, definitely enjoyed the history!
Yeah. Cool history.
Stunt governing 🤣
It seems that quote, with a slight change, fits: "Frailty (aka. Vanity) thy name is DeSantis". .