In the film “300,” Spartan king Leonidas knew his country was under an imminent threat of attack from the Persians, led by the tyrant Xerxes. The law of the land – as depicted in the film and based on historical accounts – was that before a king could commit his soldiers to war, he had to get the approval of the loathsome ephors.
The ephors decided military matters in a way not all that dissimilar from how the U.S. Congress is the only body having the power to declare war under our Constitution. In the film, Leonidas paid the ephors a visit to explain the threat, outline his strategy to defeat it, and plead for their approval. The ephors denied him that approval, leaving Leonidas furiously apoplectic at their refusal to recognize a very real threat while using the excuse that war can never be waged during the time of the Greek festival known as the Carneia.
Ephor: Sparta wages no war at the time of the Carneia.
Leonidas: Sparta will burn! Her men will die at arms and her women and children will be slaves or worse!
After getting their attention with his anger, Leonidas continued explaining his strategy:
Leonidas: Wave after wave of Persian attack will smash against Spartan shields! Xerxes’ losses will be so great, his men so demoralized, he will have no choice but to abandon his campaign!
Ephor: We must consult the oracle. Trust the gods Leonidas.
Leonidas: I’d prefer you trusted your reason.
A short time later, the cause of the inexplicable behavior exhibited by the ephors was revealed when emissaries from Xerxes arrived after Leonidas had gone, in order to buy the ephors’ cooperation with Persian coins. The tried and true axiom of ‘follow the money’ was proven right once again.
An important line of distinction must now be drawn before discussing the words and inaction of New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and that of state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. That distinction has everything to do with behavior, not motive.
In the case of the Ground Zero mosque, red flag after red flag is being waved in the face of both leaders. The Attorney General has the power to investigate the funding of the Cordoba Initiative’s mosque. The Mayor has the power to endorse that investigation and give more teeth to the rising public opposition. Instead, both Cuomo and Bloomberg continue to ignore the multiple alarm bells, which seem to grow louder in direct proportion to the furious public apoplexy over their continued support for the mosque.
To illustrate just how insanely perplexing the behavior exhibited by Bloomberg and Cuomo has been, consider the mounting examples that should be cause for concern.
The name of the mosque was changed from the Cordoba House to Park 51 because of the Muslim history in Cordoba, Spain; countless audio and video excerpts of Imam Rauf have implicated him as anti-American; mosque developer Sharif El-Gamal has a lengthy rap sheet; El-Gamal’s partner, Hisham Elzanaty was found to have contributed to the Holy Land Foundation, a Hamas-linked Charity convicted of financing terrorism; a close associate of Rauf signed the same 9/11 Truth document that former green jobs czar Van Jones signed; and most recently, Rauf missed a court date relative to very credible charges that he’s a slumlord who has allowed his properties to fall into various states of disrepair.
At this point, Bloomberg and Cuomo are behaving as the ephors did in the film.
It’s time we find out why.
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