His last words were, “I forgive everyone, and I ask everyone to forgive me.” Know who I am talking about? Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, who declared himself Emperor of Mexico when arriving with his Austrian fleet, uttered these words some years later in front of the firing squad that meant to send a signal to powers contemplating further foreign occupation.  That was after he gave his executioners a sack of gold to bribe them not to shoot him in the head – to no avail; either they felt he deserved it or they were bad at aiming their rifles.

All this came into my head yesterday during a spell of truly foul mood induced by the Kavanaugh hearings. The unbridled arrogance of knowing you can get away with lies, of knowing the boys club will support you on and off the court, just to ensure a regimen that preserves privileges and visions of a society that prohibits equality and justice for the gain of the White male few, riled me.  It generated dreams of historical events where power found its master, however temporarily.

A visit to a museum that is housed in what used to be Maximilian’s Austrian castle reveals the obscene riches that accompanies the kind of hubris associated with the Austro-Hungarian emperors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miramare_Castle 

Empress Sissi used to visit, as did many others of the clan, enjoying the scenery, the swimming and, one assumes, the freedom of court etiquette during these holidays. Apparently she was into heavy workouts and even had rings and a barre installed to do her exercises when the weather didn’t allow jogging outside. That was before the three hours daily spent on her hair. Now, where did I read that? Why does my brain even retain these annoying tidbits? Whatever.

A gaudy dwelling Trump would certainly enjoy as his own, given the ratio of gold to everything else. He and his brethren should be told of the fate of those who inhabited it, however, from the aristocrats who were executed, whose wives became certifiably insane, who died in wars, or were persecuted for war crimes (like the Nazi Gauleiter Friedrich Rainer who had aquisitioned the castle and was sentenced to death by hanging after the war, by a Yugoslav court in 1947.) The castle saw occupation by the Brits and later the Americans until it was dedicated as a museum in the 1950s.

 

 

I have little patience when I visit these kinds of historic museums, always thinking about how that accumulation of luxury was achieved on the backs of the less fortunate.  Then again, there is often beauty to be observed, whether in the architecture, or the garden design, or the craftsmanship that went into the furniture and trimmings. And secret doors, leading directly from the conjugal bed to the chapel…. I guess the prayers went unheard.

 

 

 

Today, all I could think was that occasionally justice reaches even into these folds of power.  May that be not just a historical occurrence – the pest on all of our current enablers!!!! And on all around the globe who serve injustice.