Two Reasons to Celebrate October 7

October 7, 2012

There are 2 reasons to celebrate October 7th.
#1 – On October 7, 1571 a small group of good guys beat a much larger group of ferociously feral bad guys. To be more precise, the vastly outnumbered good guys gave the bad guys a Texas sized ass whipping that still resonates after all those years.

If they had not…

The world would not have seen or heard of – Let me list them – the Divine Comedy, Petrarch, St. Thomas Aquinas, St Francis of Assisi, Michelangelo, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Borgias, Titian, the Medicis, Raphael, chiaroscuro, Caravaggio – Dare I say the Renaissance? – Correggio, Vivaldi, nessum dorma, “thieving magpies”…

Columbus would have had to undiscover America.

Machiavelli would never have become an adjective.

David, the Pieta, the Last Supper, La Giaconda – all would have stayed locked up in the artists’ souls. Bernini would have stayed a stone mason, metal worker, and a house painter.

Prosciutto would have been banned.

Sausage? Fuhgedaboutit!

What happened on October 7, 1571 was simple.

A Muslim terrorist, rich beyond Croesus, assemble 1000 – repeat – 1000 war ships His goal, conquering and ruling Italy, was straightforward and announced.

Had he done so he would have kept the Islamic promise of “stabling their horses” in St. Peter’s Basilica.

HE WAS DEFEATED.
IT DIDN’T HAPPEN.

A world without the perpetual orgasmic qualities of Venice, a world without the endless debate between white sauce lovers and red sauce defenders, a world without sharp and clear Tuscan whites, a world with meatless melons, a world without Pavarotti, a world without Yogi Berra, a world where having a bottle of Riserva Ducale would be a flogging offense, a world without joy…The world would have been greatly lessened.

You may wish to check the years 732 and 1683. Both were years when turbaned Islamic killers tried to end Western Civilization. Might there be a pattern developing here?

Edmund Burke, as decidedly a non-Italian man as can be imagined, said “Alas, experience is the only school where most men learn”.

Will we ever learn?

#2 – It’s my birthday.




KEVIN SMITH
WARRIORBARDIT@BELLSOUTH.NET