http://youtube.com/watch?v=sbRom1Rz8OA

#114 Do not beat thy slaves too often or with great force or thy will have to deal with severe depreciation on thy slave's Blue Book value...

This code of conduct is a simplified version of Francis Hawkins' Youths Behavior, or Decency in Conversation Amongst Men, which was based on a sixteenth-century set of rules compiled for young gentlemen by Jesuit instructors.

you think this country as it currently conducts itself exhibits any virtue? I don't at least compared to Washington. Our current president is an infantile imbecile, and a great majority of the populace is the same (yes, you can say 'thus it was ever so') but at critical points in history sometimes you need something other than a total jackass in charge, say what you will about slave holding, etc., Washington was no GWB, and the quaint little 'rules' he forced himself to memorize were a big part of what he didn't turn out to be.

and just to say it, no, I don't think the republic has much of a future, we're very close to careening off the cliff that many a previous 'empire' has gone over... with the possible exception of the British (a rather decent fade) most empires have, and this is now how 'we' collectively apparently see ourselves. Washington would be appalled and deeply saddened.

but hey, the (incorrect) attribution of the authorship of these arcane manners to Washington as a young teenager makes for great entertainment in the comments... pass the bread, I'm off to the circus

And I'm a bit tired of the Good Liberals who act like this is the first time we've been involved with torture. That's about as silly as those who thought we lost our "innocence" in Vietnam.

OTOH, Nixon? Oh, good ol' Milhouse might be an improvement on this current lot. Never thought I'd say it...