V for Vendetta. On this day, 1606: Guy Fawkes Dies.

[Philosoraptor]

*On this day in 1606, would-be assassin Guy Fawkes faced the gallows for plotting to blow up the British Parliament building with two tons of gunpowder. Fawkes leapt from the platform, falling to a quick death. The "Gunpowder Plot" was an elaborate one, orchestrated by Robert Catesby in hopes of eliminating the Protestant government of King James I. Today, the English celebrate Guy Fawkes Day on November 5th by putting on various pyrotechnic displays in commemoration of his foiled plot.

.....remember, remember, the 11th of September.....

* source: the daily calendar my wife got me for Christmas.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. ... shall never be forgot.

[Olney Blue]

2. "There's something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there?"

[TheWatcher]

3. People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

[tomreedtoon]

24. I'll go one step further. People should be afraid of...

the people who are afraid of their governments. That's where the loonies, assassins and child rapists come from.

It's the people who ARE NOT afraid of their governments that I'd like to hang with...if I could find any.

[TheWatcher]

25. Are you suggesting those of us who fear the current crop of criminals

In Washington are child rapists? Loonies? Assassins? or are to be compared to such?

Seriously Tom, please go fuck yourself.

You are the lowest form of garbage.

[tomreedtoon]

27. Basically, I wrote it wrong, and I apologize.

That's the problem with me trying to be too clever. Especially without much sleep.

See, my contention is that there are a lot of people afraid to speak their mind and make decisions because they're afraid of what could be done to them. They don't believe they have any hope. And their frustration backs up into the madness and insanity that Columbine experienced in Harris and Klebold.

The guy who bombed the Olympic Village (which a couple of friends of mine just barely missed) had his mind frustrated because he was made to be afraid of democracy. He felt that the only way to stop from killing fetuses was to kill a bunch of adults instead.

There are a few people who are NOT afraid of their government. Cindy Kelly, for instance. Keith Olbelmann. Those are the people we should model ourselves after, and encourage in their endeavors.

That clear it up? Or do I need more sleep?

[TheWatcher]

28. That definitely clears it up, and I do heartily apologize.

And as far as who we should model ourselves after, you are quite correct.

And as for the rest of your post, I do agree. Some people are definitely driven to extremes sometimes, and the results are very tragic. However, because of the current climate we live in, many People are afraid to speak up out of fear of being silenced as well, and we have seen plenty of evidence that efforts are being made to silence those who do. These are very frightening times we live in. We have seen it before. It did not end well.

Look at Montel Williams. I am not a particular fan of him, but he is a good example of someone who was silenced for speaking out, and he was trying to speak up for our troops. It wasn't even an Anti-War stance, he was just trying to find out WHY the names and information was being held from us.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I also understand about no sleep.

Insomnia is something I am all too familiar with.

And besides, with the kind of trouble this country is in, who can sleep?

[water]

26. Yeah, any entity which regularly steals without so much as a blink is horrifying!

[Philosoraptor]

4. How did this happen?

V: Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine - the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, thereby those important events of the past usually associated with someone’s death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, a celebration of a nice holiday, I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat.

There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission.

How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.

Last night I sought to end that silence. Last night I destroyed the Old Bailey, to remind this country of what it has forgotten. More than four hundred years ago a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you’ve seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked.

But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot. People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people. Strength through unity, unity through faith! I am V. At last you know the truth. You’re stunned, I know. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it, that beneath this wrinkled, well-fed exterior there lies a dangerous killing machine with a fetish for Fawkesian masks. Vive la revolution!

[Liberal In Texas]

7. Thanks for posting this. n/t

[Olney Blue]

18. Love this thread, Philosoraptor!

Just a minor clarification to the post above: These quotes below at the end of the speech above were not part of the "how did this happen speech": (I have watched this movie dozens of time and I have the DVD)



People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

Strength through unity, unity through faith!


I am V. At last you know the truth. You’re stunned, I know. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it, that beneath this wrinkled, well-fed exterior there lies a dangerous killing machine with a fetish for Fawkesian masks. Vive la revolution!


:hi:

[RFKJrNews]

23. I chose this date to post an Op-Ed on the subject...

...as applies to the present century:

"IS AMERICA A FASCIST NATION?"

http://rfkin2008.wordpress.com/2008/01/31/op-ed-is-america-a-fascist-nation/

Please read and distribute widely. This is a MAYDAY bulletin, friends!

PS - thanks for the great post.

[Echo In Light]

5. Funny thing is I work with some younger folks who didn't connect the dots

In understanding the methods of control our govt uses until watching this movie ... as if it was perceived on a visceral level and then put into perspective upon seeing clearly framed examples.

[Philosoraptor]

6. It is a stunning movie, I watched it in amazement.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

17. I was flying back from the whirled cup in deutchland

when I saw it.

Wow. that was all I could think.

[leftchick]

8. my ten and twelve year old sons got it

but then they have me for their Mom. :)

[Olney Blue]

20. From your excellent posts, I would say you are

a wonderful mom, leftchick :hi:

[leftchick]

22. I hope so OB

I surely hope so. :)

[DavidDvorkin]

14. I work with a 40-something guy who didn't Guy Fawkes was historical

He thought everything in the movie, including the original Gunpowder Plot, was invented.

[The Stranger]

15. I think it is easy to understand but hard to accept, it and easier to remain in denial about it.

We were taught all along that our government was good. Seeing the truth causes quite a deep dissonance.

[begin_within]

9. I say we should

[Philosoraptor]

10. ..................

[CorpGovActivist]

11. Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_31">January 31: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes">Guy Fawkes enters the history books, and the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Plot">Gunpowder Plot shall not be forgot.

Joe Trippi missed a moment.

- Dave

[Philosoraptor]

12. ..............

[earth mom]

13. Time for some V I'd say! nt

[sarcasmo]

16. Kick and Nom.

[malaise]

19. V is one of the great movies of

all times.

[Jed Dilligan]

21. From another Guy Fawkes Day poem:

"This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
Not with a bang but a whimper."

-T.S. Eliot