"I have been but little in," said Ninian hastily...

I'm listening these days to Barbara Tuchman's The First Salute, a book that uses the recognition (or was it?) of the revolutionary Continental confederation of American colonies by the Dutch governor of St Eustatius (who later claimed he hadn't) as a hook to explore both the effect of the American revolution on European international politics and also the history of the Netherlands themselves.

One of the points that Tuchman makes is that the constitutional arrangements, the complexity of the legislative process of the Dutch Republic would make our Congress look like a model of fascist efficiency. To pass major legislation, the national legislature, the Estates General, had to obtain the agreement of the estates (legislatures) of each of the seven provinces, which in turn had to obtain the consent of the cities of the province. Each province also had a pensionary, like a prime minister, and a stadtholder, like a president or governor. These two often contended for influence and authority, and though the stadtholders were supposed to be appointed or elected by their provinces, they gradually came to be hereditary offices (though, the Dutch quickly pointed out, not *royalty*! ;-)

The tensions between the different factions in the country (landlocked provinces versus seaboard ones, those who favoured more role for the nobility versus those who of a more oligarchic bent, those who favoured one Protestant faction against another or as opposed to Catholicism), combined with this chaotic political system, meant that for large swathes of time nothing got done, no appropriations were made, and the army and navy (the latter especially vital to the preservation of the Netherlands' all important trade!) fell into decay and neglect.

Only the liberum veto of the later Sejm, the Parliament of Poland, during the 17th century, when any member could veto a legislative proposal, seems more destructive of basic, functional government.

So, as we stumble towards a possible government shutdown, know that it could be worse.

And, please, don't blame the legislators who aren't compromising. Blame your fellow citizens, who elected them and are pressuring them not to bend or find common ground. We get the government we choose, and until people stop supporting candidates who proudly proclaim that they will "not back down" and until voters accept that they can't have everything that they, personally want, we will continue to have these "dog in the manger" showdowns. We need moderation in this country. We need it very badly if we are to function effectively--both the government and the larger society.

a Polish Commonwealth reenactment near Warsaw

Thanks to the Wars of Louis XIV blog for the link

Looks like Polish reenacting has many of the same elements that US reenacting does: heat, farbs, rectangular bales of hay, bored soldiers, ladies falling out of [the top half of] their costumes, enlisted men standing around in ranks waiting for an officer to finish [whatever: a conversation, his lunch, a slash...], copious alcohol consumption, very small cannons, lots of guys on one side and very few on the other [I like the one guy who has the stones to show up as a Turk at a 17th century Polish reenactment], vendors [their food stall looks better than most of the ones at our events--I bet it never sells funnel cakes!], and somewhat goofy looking battles.

But ZOMG! the clothes! and the furry hats! And most of all, the dozens of horsemen. Seeing dozens of HUSSARS! let alone reiters and pancerni--woooo! That must be terrifically cool when they trot across the field.

I also notice a striking absence of hugely overweight middle-aged men, a common feature of US reenactments (and I should know, having been one of them for many years). Plus, out of all those photos, I spotted one (1) pair on modern glasses and no wristwatches, both of which are far too common on Western European reenactors.

Plus, how cool would it be to be in a reenactment where *most* of the people were named Jan? ;-)

Old news, but still entertaining.

From the BNP Department of Stupidity or "If you're going to be a racist xenophobe, make sure you're not standing in front of a giant picture of a 'foreigner' risking his life for your country when you do it."

thanks to percyprune for this link to the artist's view of the fuss