The Four Horsemen of The Administration

As those of you who are regular readers know by now, I am not a religious person in the sense it is understood in modern America. I am, though, fascinated by the concept of religion and the trappings we have devised around it in our search for meaning in a chaotic and unforgiving universe. It's one of those trappings I want to think about today.

Chapter 6 of the biblical book of Revelations speaks of what we know as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

who are described vividly in the text ...

Verse 2 introduces the first horseman, usually called Conquest, although he is not actually named in the text: "... and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer."

Verse 4 speaks of the second horseman, unnamed, but generally understood to be War: "And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword."

Verses 5 and 6 tell of the third horseman, likewise unnamed, but known as Famine: "... and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine."

And finally, Verse 8 presents the last of the four horsemen, and the only one actually given a name - Death: "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."

I have long been fascinated by the idea of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as symbols of the horrors we inflict upon ourselves, and it occurs to me that they are well represented at the highest levels of the current administration:

Conquest, of course, is represented by Der Furor, who certainly craves the crown our Constitution denies him* and is always focused on conquering his enemies, real and imagined. And I'm quite sure that the idea of riding a white horse while wearing a crown would appeal to his unjustifiably inflated sense of himself as a heroic figure.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, probably the most outspokenly aggressive** (and unqualified) person ever to occupy the office, gallops in on the red horse of War, loudly proclaiming his doctrine of maximum lethality and minimum empathy and compassion***.

Upon the black horse of Famine sits Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose destruction of the US Agency for International Development and relentless paring back of foreign aid programs has slashed vital food aid provided to some of the world's most desperately needy people. Honorable mention might go to his sidekick, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, whose enthusiastic support of Der Furor's economic policies wreaks havoc on American farmers and the harvests they will no longer be able to send to starving populations.

And the final horse, the pale horse representing Death, trots in bearing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who is certainly doing his best to empower Death by enabling the unchecked spread of diseases once thought vanquished.  

There are many interpretations of the meaning of The Four Horsemen, and they have appeared in various guises in film and literature. But they ride today in the guise of members we have elected or have seen appointed to offices where they can do terrible damage.

I'm afraid that, in measurable ways and for many of us, Hell does follow with them.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* At least until Justices Alito and Thomas convince the Supreme Court to grant it to him.

** If you think about it, Secretaries of Defense have tended to be less bellicose than the presidents they serve, largely because many of them have themselves "seen the elephant" and are thus more cautious of sending our men and women into harm's way.

*** One might argue that empathy and compassion are inconsistent with the waging of war, but war traditionally is governed by rules designed to protect the innocent. It should be noted also that the ability to deliver deadly force is not the sole province of hairy-chested macho white men, as proven by the millions persons of every combination of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation who have served the nation with distinction over the years.