I is for Ipso Facto

The Rogue Speaks:

Ipso Facto is a phrase in Latin that means "by the fact itself." In other words, when you do something stupid like WeinerMan did, the effect is a direct consequence of his blatant narcissism and stupidity in posting the famous photo of his "manhood" on the internet. This loser has only been married to his beautiful wife for about a year. What was he thinking!!!!



Baron Acton (1834 - 1902) was the historian and moralist who wrote, in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."


Of course, one does not have to be powerful to engage in acts of greed, stupidity, and infidelity. Men living in or on the edge of poverty often commit moral improprieties in an attempt to shore up their manhood. Those men are rarely in the public eye, however, and it is only the politicians for whom we have cast our votes, whose acts of narcissism or greed quickly become fodder for the ever-present press.

I have read that the two most powerful forces in the lives of many men are sex and money. Maybe that's why there are always a number of scandals in our government involving one or both of those two things, and it has always been that way since the beginning of time.

Poor Kind David, God's favorite, just couldn't keep his hands off Bathsheba, and even had her husband killed so he could have her all to himself. God was not happy about that,so ipso facto He caused David's little son to die.


King Midas loved gold so much that he wished for "the golden touch" and his wish was answered. Everything he touched turned to pure, solid gold. His greed was as strong as his love for his little daughter. After he received "The Midas Touch" he went running around touching everything in sight-- books, furniture, trees, flowers. He was blinded by his desire for gold. During his wild spree, his little daughter came running to him and he hugged her, and ipso facto she turned into a block of hard cold gold. He was brokenhearted, and wanted his warm, loving little daughter back, but unfortunately, it was too late.



Because sex and greed are so much easier for the common man to comprehend, the latest political sex scandal has taken their attention away from far more pertinent issues facing the American public today. Here comes Ipso Facto again! What do you think the result of this focus has produced?

The following is a list of politicians who have been in the news in the last several years. What effect have these men had on your voting record?

Mark Foley
Larry Craig
Mark Sanford
John Edwards
Bill Clinton
"The Terminator"
Vito Fossella
Chris Lee
Eric Massa
Newt Gingrich
Gary Hart
Elliot Spitzer
John Ensign
Chris Massa

This is just a sprinkling of names in the long list of politicians who have disgraced themselves in the last ten years, and a good number of these have been sexual indiscretions. The list of politicians who have been in the game purely for greed is equally long.

The Latin words Ipso Facto are words that we need to remember and contemplate in our ever-changing world today. Do you think Latin is a "dead language"? Think again!!

I was determined to get this Alphabe-Thursday post out today, because I am going "under the knife" tomorrow for cataract surgery, and I don't really know just what the outcome will be. I hope that you will go to Jenny's blog and read the other offerings, because they will probably be a lot more interesting than mine!!