So, what's the upside?

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

Putting aside the hyperbolic straw men of deporting 11 million people and tearing families asunder, I think we conservatives may be getting too riled up about too little.
Seriously what is the upside for the majority of illegals to seek a path to citizenship? Free education? Got that! Free health care? Can get that!! Welfare, but of course! Fear of deportation? Seriously? with the catch and release program used by the feds, not to mention all the sanctuary cities. The right to vote? Well, there is that, but that is more of an upside for dems than the illegals.
Now if this was a pure amnesty, I could see it, but to pay fines, back taxes get in line,etc all for the opportunity to get something you already have, nope, don't see it.
My theory will be tested soon (at least here in Ca) with the authorization of driver's licenses, we will see if it's the stampede to get them as the state seems to think.

Politics in Fiction & Entertainment - HBO / BBC - Rome

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Ciarán Hinds as Julius Caesar (L) with Kevin McKidd as Lucius Vorenus (R)

Maybe it was all the recent "Obama is an emperor" talk, but I recently started re-watching the HBO/BBC co-production of Rome. It's a pretty gritty view of Rome, starting with the period immediately before Julius Caesar became dictator in Rome through the capture and death of Marc Antony & Cleopatra. Along with the inter family-politics, grudges, and jealousies of leading Roman families, it's largely historically accurate, although it does play with some facts (but no spoilers from me), and I was cool with that. Two fictional characters Lucius Vorenus (played by Kevin McKidd), and Titus Pullo (played by Ray Stevenson), and their relationships are counter-played against the drama of the more recognizable names. The leading families, who enjoy great wealth, are played against most of the lower classes to great effect (as you will see in the clip below)


When Rome first aired, I wasn't impressed with the less-than-grand representation of Rome. I fully admit it, I'm a fan of those widescreen, and at the time "newfangled stereo" 1950s/1960s versions of Roman / Biblical epics, even if I know they weren't especially accurate. But with Rome, but I was fascinated by the humanity (and the inhumanity) of all the characters, and particularly with Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo. The acting is superb (e.g. Simon Woods cast as Octavian, Ciarán Hinds as Julius Caesar, David Bamber as Cicero, Kerry Condon as Octavia) The producers were meticulous in their accuracy in many ways: e.g. hiring extras who worked in the fields they represented on screen (a butcher in the series was a butcher in modern Rome), and working with historians and experts in respective fields to visually capture the look of the period. The recreation of a Roman calendar wall and the humorous "newsreader" (wonderfully played by Ian McNeice) were interesting compared to their rather static modern versions. The series is highly watchable (and its great for binge viewing during a snow or rain storm), but despite its popularity, Rome was cancelled by HBO due to high production costs, even though the series was originally going to be a five season production, and that would have included Palestine during the period of Jesus of Nazareth.

Here is a clip that takes place in the aftermath of Caesar's death, and the reading of his will, naming of Octavian as his heir; and a violent foreshadowing of the bigger struggles that lay ahead for Marc Anthony and Octavian. Strong language warning.


Charlton Heston as Marc Antony in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (1953).

Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra with Rex Harrison as Julius Caesar, visiting the tomb of Alexander the Great in Cleopatra (1963).