The ghostly elite

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Above is a picture of nine sovereigns of Europe that was taken at the funeral of England's King Edward VII. Standing, L-R: King Haakon VII of Norway, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, King Manoel of Portugal, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George I of Greece, King Albert of the Belgians. Seated, L-R: King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King George V of England, King Frederick VIII of Denmark.

Tsar Nicholas of Russia was missing, but Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was present at the funeral. Of course it was Ferdinand's assassination that set the wheels of WWI into motion. Many if these leaders, in some way, shape or form, were responsible for Europe spinning out of control and descending into carnage. Fittingly, these Kings were either removed, or had their power greatly diminished for their stupidity.

Not so fittingly, a lot of men also died in the mud because of their stupidity.

All to often that is the price of the foolishness of elites. Karl Marx, a foolish man in his own right, once said that history repeats itself, "the first as tragedy, then as farce." Not always. Sometimes tragedy follow tragedy. This time, let us hope for farce, it might be the best we'll get.