Sometimes the use of historical events or persons is a little weird. It’s like the event or person is so far out of the context that the original significance is lost. I have two examples in mind:
1) For some reason, a “diplomat” in the Foreign Office in England sent around a foolish memo of brainstormed ideas re: Pope Benedict XVI’s STATE VISIT (at the invitation of the Prime Minister and welcomed by Queen Elizabeth I), with a list of suggestions, all in poor taste. This memo included the notion that the pope should apologize for the Spanish Armada.
Why?
It failed! The Spanish lost!
Perhaps Queen Elizabeth II should apologize for her namesake’s lack of interest in the Battle of Lepanto, the great naval battle against the Turks the Spanish won. The Foreign Office apologized and the diplomat has been reassigned.
2) For even less reason, the Republican Governor’s Association has adopted Guy Fawkes as a heroic figure. “Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November” is being adapted (“Remember November”) as a motto for peaceful regime change in the mid-term general election.
The problem is that Guy Fawkes conspired to blow up Parliament and the royal family early in the reign of James I in a foolish plot by desperate Catholics to overthrow the government and lead an uprising in England—The Gunpowder Plot.
Oh—he failed. And because the Gunpowder Plot failed, things got a lot worse for Catholics in England. I don’t think that’s a parallel the politicians thought of!
The Foreign Office and the Republican Governor’s Association should investigate these historical analogies a little bit further before citing them. I can suggest a source of good information . . . .
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