Monday, November 05, 2007
Guy Fawkes Day! I've never really had a clear picture of why this is celebrated: leaving aside the anti-Catholic dimension of the holiday, the fact that a conspiracy to overthrow the Crown in Parliament was thwarted has always impressed my American mind as the opposite of what one would have a party about. Here in the States we let off fireworks to commemorate successfully doing exactly that. I guess there is a sense in which the holiday is about the triumph of the Rule of Law, but the mob rule aspect associated with burning a figure in effigy seems inconsistent with such a theme. (Thanks to Making Light for reminding me.)
Update: Scott Horton has a good take on it here: "Happy Counter-Terrorism Day"
Update: Scott Horton has a good take on it here: "Happy Counter-Terrorism Day"
// posted by Bill @ 3:01 PM 
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