Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Donate to Ace of Spades HQ! Contact
Ace:aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com Recent Entries
The Jury is Deadlocked in the Daniel Penny Soros Prosecution
"Trust the Science (TM)" High Priest Jake Tapper: Is Global Warming Causing This Increase in Earthquakes? Notably Potent Pugilist Keir Starmer Demands That His MPs Ram Through an Elder Euthanasia Bill Without Taking the Time to Debate, or Even Read, It THE MORNING RANT: It’s Time to Stop Blaming HR for Woke Corporations; Corporate Hostility to Any Labor Expense Mid-Morning Art Thread The Morning Report — 12/6/24 Daily Tech News 6 December 2024 Overnight Open Thread - 12/05/2024 [Roger Ball] 1950s Cafe Acting Secret Service Director Ron Rowe -- The Man Responsible for the Near-Assassination of Donald Trump -- Explodes With Feigned Self-Righteous Rage When He's Asked Why He Displaced the Actual Head of Biden's Security Detail to Stand Next to Him at a Pu Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024 Captain Hate 2023 moon_over_vermont 2023 westminsterdogshow 2023 Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022 Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022 redc1c4 2021 Tami 2021 Chavez the Hugo 2020 Ibguy 2020 Rickl 2019 Joffen 2014 AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups
|
« More Failure to Lead from Obama |
Main
| What Happened to Newspapers and Where Are We Going? »
March 14, 2009
Manuscript From ca. 1340 Mentions Robin HoodEd Morrissey ties it to politics, though I'm not sure the brief mention... “Around this time, according to popular opinion, a certain outlaw named Robin Hood, with his accomplices, infested Sherwood and other law-abiding areas of England with continuous robberies..." ...really establishes, as the article he sites headlines, that he was an unpopular figure. Or if Robin Hood is really a political figure with any relevance whatsoever. Yes, he stole from the rich to give to the poor. But what was his main beef? Confiscatory taxation rates. And tyranny. Seems like a bit of a muddle. And, given that many right-wingers do in fact fear they may be called upon some dark day to take up arms and become outlaws against a tyrannical state, I'm really not seeing the obviousness of deeming him some kind of left-wing icon.* Folklore and fiction can conjure up premises justifying pretty much anything. Start with the fantastical premise of The Matrix -- that everyone around you is in a computer-induced coma and/or an "agent" of the machine itself -- and presto-chango, you've just given your heroes justification to shoot policemen en masse.** My primary interest in him is, of course, as one of the earlier Pulp Action Heroes. Sure, there were plenty of others before him, but usually connected to religious pantheons no one believes in anymore. Robin Hood's a Pulp Action Hero you can buy into without having to also buy into Zeus and the Babylonian God Marduk. I knew there was "debate" on whether or not he existed, but I thought it was like the "debate" on whether or not King Arthur existed -- which is to say, look, everyone knows he's wholly invented, but we're going to trot out some scholars offering very vague and weak evidence and pretend they're offering serious evidence because We all want it to be true. In other words, History Channel crowd-pleasers of dubious scholarship. I really didn't know there was any evidence at all he actually existed. Granted, this isn't strong evidence -- even the chronicler himself attributes the mention to mere "popular opinion" -- but it's surprising, at least to me, that there is any legitimate reason to think he existed at all.
Besides that, every thief is first and foremost a capitalist, and if he was "stealing from the rich to give to the poor," let's just say I think he and his men were defined as First Among the Poor, and got almost all of the loot. And tossing out some money to the locals? Buying goodwill and protection. Same thing the Mafia does in its strongholds; same thing, in fact, Hezballah or Hamas do. John Murtha, too. That's how criminals stay out of jail. Hey, I like Robin Hood. What can I say. I don't want one of the earliest books I remember reading -- Howard Pyle's account -- tarnished as left-wing propaganda.
Yeah, kind of all silly and a mixture of truth, exaggeration, and outright fabrication, but again, it's fairly easy to conjure up a starting premise which justifies anything, and that has little to do with real-world politics. It's dangerous to apply real-world politics to any historical period -- liberals kept insisting the Populares in Rome were like the Democrats, and the Optimates like the Republicans, no matter how many times my Roman history professor told them that comparison was jackass and reductivist -- and especially goofy to apply such politics to a fictional millieu which has been dreamt up for no other reason than to give the hero a swell background to swashbuckle about in. I Seem to Be Unclear: Ken and Ed Morrissey wonder why I'm defending Robin Hood by comparing him to Hezballah, Hamas, and John Murtha, or saying every thief is a capitalist. (Not every capitalist is a thief, note.) Well, I'm comparing him to those unsavory types just for the proposition that every "revolutionary" is not in fact really a revolutionary. Some "revolutionaries" are just posturing as such. Kinda like Hans Gruber. I'm making the point that whether Robin Hood -- if such a figure even existed -- was driven by greed, desperation, vengeance, or justice, it would not hurt his PR to toss a few shekels to the locals to buy some goodwill. An anti-monarchial left-wing revolutionary would toss money to the locals. So would a right-wing anti-tax crusader. So would an everyday thief with no particular purpose other than filling his own pockets. I'm just questioning how much stock we could put into a thief's posture of "robbing from the rich to give to the poor." Does it indicate his real politics? Actual idealism? Or it just a business expense? Jesse James and John Dillinger, I'm sure, were quite generous with money in the communities they relied upon to support and shelter them. For any criminal to become a folk hero, he's got to have some people who like him. And few things make someone more likable than tossing a lot of money around. | Recent Comments
Lemmiwinks:
"331 Well, the Check Engine light in Her Majesty's ..."
Gref: "294 Julie Newmar was an inventor on two US patents ..." Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd: "Could global warming be causing gender disphoria? ..." Tom Servo: "I think this administration is going to go all in ..." Pudinhead: "317 When's the last time you spotted a Daddy Long ..." Field Marshal Zhukov: "So a couple of beers is now a drinking problem? Bo ..." Lemmiwinks: "Sea level change? There is very little ice that i ..." National Health Services: "Well, the Check Engine light in Her Majesty's car ..." rickb223 Gold & Silver Spot Prices [s][/b][/i][/u]: "26-year-old mother tells her 4-year-old daughter t ..." Kindltot: "[i]And don't get me started on "coastal erosion." ..." Obligatory Seinfeld reference : "*Meh. You're no Jayne Mansfield.* https://youtu ..." THE DNC: "Could global warming be causing gender disphoria? ..." Recent Entries
The Jury is Deadlocked in the Daniel Penny Soros Prosecution
"Trust the Science (TM)" High Priest Jake Tapper: Is Global Warming Causing This Increase in Earthquakes? Notably Potent Pugilist Keir Starmer Demands That His MPs Ram Through an Elder Euthanasia Bill Without Taking the Time to Debate, or Even Read, It THE MORNING RANT: It’s Time to Stop Blaming HR for Woke Corporations; Corporate Hostility to Any Labor Expense Mid-Morning Art Thread The Morning Report — 12/6/24 Daily Tech News 6 December 2024 Overnight Open Thread - 12/05/2024 [Roger Ball] 1950s Cafe Acting Secret Service Director Ron Rowe -- The Man Responsible for the Near-Assassination of Donald Trump -- Explodes With Feigned Self-Righteous Rage When He's Asked Why He Displaced the Actual Head of Biden's Security Detail to Stand Next to Him at a Pu Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |