Pistols for Two, Coffee for One

For all its faults, and there are many, pre 19th century western culture had did have one thing going for it: Militant politeness

If you were rude to someone in public you could expect to receive an invitation to breakfast with them. The kind of invitation that read:

“Pistols for two, coffee for one”

Has a lot of downsides I agree, being a good shot is not a skill exclusive to the virtuous among others, but damn if it doesn’t have some merits too.

Growing up in the American Midwest we had a more rough hewn code which went along the lines of:

“Hell yeah I believe in freedom of speech, you are free to say anything you’re willing to lose teeth over”

My left canine is crooked because of just such an exchange.

As I’ve gotten older and hopefully wiser I recognize the fallacy of winning arguments with fists instead of words, reason over violence.

The question remains; “How do you overcome those who have no respect for reason, and only understand violence?”

Zelensky had to sit in that chair and maintain his dignity while these cowards, these puppets of the country killing his people at that very moment, belittled him on an international stage.

He, a wartime president, a man respected and beloved by his country and the free nations of the world, was talked down to by a convicted felon and his sycophantic lap dog and told to grovel and thank them personally for our honoring a treaty signed by the US in 1994

Zelensky had to sit there with these too assholes and balance this thought in his mind:

“No two faces have ever needed punching more in the history of the world, and here I sit with two fists. But I love my country and for them, and them alone, I will not punch these faces.”

Zelensky is a better man than I will ever be, I could not have done that thing.

trump and Vance are not worthy to tie this mans boots and he walked out of that office with honor and his dignity into the welcoming arms of the free world while we, once the acknowledged leader of that world, have become a pariah state. Mocked openly and justly.

No country should ever again sign a treaty with us in good faith. No country should ever come to our aid again unless they get cash upfront. Our word of honor is garbage, our treaties are just paper, tossed in the fire at our convenience.