Friday, December 12, 2008


GIVE THEM MERCURY (NOT THE DRUGSTORE)

Among the Romans, the deity who presided over commerce and banking was Mercury, who, by a strange association, was also the god of thieves and orators. The Romans, who looked upon merchants with contempt, fancied there was a resemblance between theft and merchandising and they easily found a figurative connection between theft and eloquence; hence, thieves, merchants and orators were placed under the superintendence of the same deity. On the seventeenth of May, in each year, the merchants held a public festival, and walked in procession to the temple of Mercury, for the purpose of begging pardon of that deity for all the lying and cheating they had found it to practice, in the way of business, during the preceding year. Lying, Cheating, Thievery and Eloquence? Hmm ... perfect. The very elements which best describes this administration. Experts in cheating and stealing. Eloquent in lying. Perhaps, Executive Secretary Ed Ermita and Speaker Boy Nograles would now care to start the new year with statues of the Roman god Mercury to be given as Christmas gifts to cabinet members and congressmen respectively. And then have GMA sign an Executive Order (E.O.) making Mercury the patron god of cabinet secretaries and congressmen. While at it, let it also be the official icon to be prominently displayed all over the Office of the President.

No comments: