Thursday, June 17, 2010

Unity of Purpose, Purposeful Unity

Each of the three branches of government has worked together to prevent a national reckoning over torture.

-Dahlia Lithwick
I've always gotten a chuckle out of the "three branches of government" figure of speech. It's generally taken to suggest some kind of separation and independence, when really all it means is that they're all part of the same fucking tree.

Posted by IOZ at 9:13 AM | email »
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11 comments:

mistah charley, ph.d. said...

It's like fingers on a hand - each can move somewhat independently, yet they are also part of a larger organism.

9:58 AM
the talking dog said...

One must admit that since government is a "faith-based initiative" as it is, having an entire "branch" of it with designated high priests (and priestesses) complete with black robes and "chambers" (instead of mere "offices") devoted to telling us that the outcomes preordained by our rich and powerful betters are "fair," "just" and "required by law"... is a pretty nifty function, all things told.

10:07 AM
¯\(°_0)/¯ said...

As a poet once said:

"Together, as a flawless melody,
Our love shall be a song, pure yet intense;"

10:16 AM
Jack Crow said...

talking dog,

in that vein, have you ever noticed that most banks look like either (a) greek, baroque and roman temples, or (b) shopping mall outlet fundamentalist churches?

high church and low church banks, protected by the grand panjandrums of the high and low church courts

10:22 AM
Professor Coldheart said...

have you ever noticed that most banks look like either (a) greek, baroque and roman temples, or (b) shopping mall outlet fundamentalist churches?

My understanding is it's a holdover from the days of bank panics. In order to assure their customers that they weren't going to vanish overnight, banks started competing with each other in displays of permanence. Look at how old and sturdy we are! Some fly-by-night operation couldn't afford these imitation Doric columns, could they?

10:30 AM
David said...

Some fly-by-night operation couldn't afford these imitation Doric columns, could they?

Given the tendency of the rich to make things that the poor can't afford mandatory, I wouldn't be surprised if imported marble friezes were part of the banking code.

11:12 AM
the talking dog said...

It's even more amusing when you learn that when federal appeals courts decide cases by a vote of all of the active members of that court, it is referred to as "en banc" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_banc) ... one CORRECTLY suspects that the etymological roots of "bench" and "bank" are the same (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=ban)

Banks and courthouses appear similar architecturally because both are, as correctly noted by Professor C, confidence building institutions, hearkening to Olympian grandeur to perform their rather human (and often mundane) functions, which often involve the dispensing of money, freedom or servitude, etc., etc.

11:20 AM
LP Steve said...

Branches of the same tree... fingers on the same hand...

Or three-card monte, a "confidence building institution" if ever I saw one.

11:46 AM
StonedTerrorist said...

New shit has come to light!

12:30 PM
Enron said...

Actually, there are five branches, not three.

4:09 PM
mds said...

"It's like fingers on a hand - each can move somewhat independently, yet they are also part of a larger organism."

Yeah, the fingers on my hand are definitely involved in a larger organism, though far less frequently than I might wish.

3:32 PM

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