The Editor speaks: Plots

The plotting that has been going on to
get rid of US President Donald Trump ever since he won the Election
is not new.
Neither is the suspicion that Trump
himself is encouraging it since there is an election next year. He is
counting on the public's ill taste at impeachment when the supposed
crime(s) he has committed seems petty in their eyes.
Republicans know this to their cost
after the impeachment of President Bill Clinton failed. They lost
heavily at the next election.
Today (Nov 5th) marks the
anniversary of Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night/Gunpowder Plot.
There are huge celebrations in the UK,
especially England, to mark this PLOT, that dwarf the Halloween
festivities, even though they are indeed growing in popularity.
This Plot had similarities to what is
going on in the US today. This time it was the Protestants against
the Catholics. Today it is the Republicans against the Democrats. And
the loser will pay the price.
The Gunpowder Plot took place four
hundred and fourteen years ago. Will Trump's attempted impeachment
live that long? It will if it is celebrated every year.
So what was the Gunpowder Plot about?
There was a Protestant King, on the
throne, James 1st, who was once Catholic. He turned on them. The
Catholics were astounded and angry. His mother, Mary Queen of Scots,
had been a Catholic and his wife was a Catholic. The Catholics in
England had been forced to worship the breakaway Christian faith
started by Henry VIII – The Church of England.
Queen Elizabeth II, James' predecessor
had cemented the Church of England's place and by the end of her
reign the government was becoming more and more anti-Catholic.
In 1603, there were two small Catholic
plots against James – the Bye Plot and the Main Plot.
James was scared and in February 1604,
he announced his 'utter detestation' of Catholicism. Hundreds of
recusants were rounded up and fined.
And so the seeds were sown for the
biggest plot of them all. The Gunpowder Plot.
A group of Catholics got together to
blow up the king and the Houses of Parliament, this being the place
where all of the country’s laws are made. In October 1605, one of
the plotters gave the game away whilst trying to warn a relative, who
was an MP. On 4 November Guy Fawkes was caught red-handed with the
gunpowder just before the king was due to open Parliament.
However, there is now strong suspicion
that the government encouraged the plot to give an excuse to take
even stronger measures against the Catholics. James, you see, had
tried to be tolerant to the Catholics. After the plot failed many of
the plotters were horribly executed immediately and the others were
tortured. Some bodies were even dug up and mutilated.
This served as a example of what would
happen should anyone dare to stage a Catholic plot against the
government. The Gunpowder Plot was the last Catholic plot in England.
SOURCE: BBC – The Gunpowder Plot -
Bitesize
If Trump is able to convince the
American people that this latest impeachment attempt is a plot this
might indeed be the last time any US President is impeached.
WARNING -Too many plots spoil the pot!!
Published November 5, 2019
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