Free Republic

[1] I. Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet? quem ad finem sese effrenata iactabit audacia? Nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palati, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populi, nihil concursus bonorum omnium, nihil hic munitissimus habendi senatus locus, nihil horum ora voltusque moverunt? Patere tua consilia non sentis, constrictam iam horum omnium scientia teneri coniurationem tuam non vides? Quid proxima, quid superiore nocte egeris, ubi fueris, quos convocaveris, quid consilii ceperis, quem nostrum ignorare arbitraris? [2] O tempora, o mores! Senatus haec intellegit. Consul videt; hic tamen vivit. Vivit? immo vero etiam in...

Thursday on the Senate floor Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) used the words of philosopher and politician Marcus Cicero who advocated to return to a Republican government after the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar died. Cruz addressed the speech to President Obama using the words of Cicero saying: The words of Cicero powerfully relevant 2,077 years later. When, President Obama, do you mean to cease abusing our patience? How long is that madness of yours still to mock us? When is there to be an end to that unbridled audacity of yours swaggering about as it does now? Do not the nightly...

The Wisdom of Cicero is Timeless

Sen. Ted Cruz took to the Senate floor Thursday to deliver a slightly changed version of a very old speech as a form of protest against President Obama's planned executive action on immigration. The Texas Republican, in a four-minute address, gave a gently edited version of Cicero's first oration against Cataline. Obama was substituted for Cataline, the U.S./Mexico border was swapped in for the Palatine Hill, "women" was added to references to men, "pen and phone" made an appearance, "execution" was changed to "defeat" and the IRS scandal showed up near the end. The video is above, and the text...