Hung, Drawn, and Quartered

When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

- Dr. Johnson

Major General Thomas Harrison was Oliver Cromwell's right-hand man, back in the bad old days of the English Civil War (1641-1651). When King Charles I lost the war, he was convicted by Parliament and condemned to death. Harrison was one of the men who signed his death warrant.

But Fortuna's Wheel governs all men, and fickle goddess that she is, the Kings returned to England after Cromwell's death. Then it was payback time. Harrison was arrested, tried, and found guilty of Regicide, the murder of a King. His was a gruesome end, that October morning:

On Saturday the 13^th of October 1660, betwixt nine and ten of the clock in the Morning, Mr. Tho. Harrison, or, Major General Harrison, according to this sentence, was upon a Hurdle drawn from Newgate to the place called Charing-Cross; where within certain Rails lately there made, a Gibbet was erected, and he hanged with his face looking towards the Banqueting-house at Whitehall, (the place where our late Sovereign of eternal memory was sacrificed) being half dead, he was cut down by the common Executioner, his Privy Members cut off before his eyes, his Bowels burned, his Head severed from his Body, and his Body divided into Quarters, which were returned back to Newgate upon the same Hurdle that carried it. His Head is since set on a Pole on the top of the South-East end of Westminster-Hall, looking towards London. The Quarters of his Body are in like manner exposed upon some of the City Gates.

For those who don't know London, Charing Cross is nowhere near the Tower of London and it's adjacent execution ground, Tower Hill. So General Harrison met his fate somewhere other than by the modern day pub called The Hung Drawn and Quartered which stands opposite Tower Hill, and upon which is displayed Pepy's famous diary entry. It's a fabulous place. Jetlagged beyond all endurance, I discovered it one rainy English evening; it's so good that I return each time I'm back. It's quite posh for a pub, as it's in what looks like it used to be a bank.


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Many people faced their last morning on Tower Hill. We can't know, but can presume that some had wonderfully concentrated minds.

There is a revolution sweeping this land, one that - fortunately - won't end with heads displayed on pikes. But it is a revolution nonetheless. Everybody's talking about the disaster facing the Democratic Party in November's election, and I believe that the (political) carnage will be greater than I've ever seen. But the concentration that the Democratic candidates will find so wonderfully sharpened will be sharper still from seeing the carnage that the Republican party (and some Democrats) is experiencing right now.



John McCain is in the political fight of his life, and has a new campaign ad out. In in, he paints himself as a secure borders warrior, giving the lie to a career of nudge-nudge-wink-wink on the subject. It's not playing out the way I expect that he hoped - the Youtube page with this video is covered with comments dripping with contempt for him. It's worth a read, for the comments.

When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

The Democrats are fixin' to suffer a historical defeat in six months - I don't know that they'll lose 100 seats, but I don't know that they won't, either. And good riddance - you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. But the Republicans are taking a proper thrashing, and they've earned every bit of it; 2006 and 2008 weren't enough to concentrate their minds after all, and so Sen. Bennett (Retired - UT) and Sen. McCain (Repenting, but likely too little, too late - AZ) can join Sen. Reid (Despondent - NV). Perhaps they can open a Las Vegas bar. They can call it the Hung Drawn and Quartered.

The Dinosaurs smell a change in the air, and roar their defiance.