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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Heads to Roll, Feet to the fire? The Inquisition's back?

Recently a couple of cliches, or euphemisms have resurfaced from the medieval past.

Heads to roll: Which brings to mind beheadings, decapitations, and guillotines.

Feet to the fire: Reminds me of the burning of "heretics" or martyrs.

The hyperbole of these expressions are "bone chilling", and a reminder that the past sometimes "rears its ugly head", all over again.


I. "Heads to roll"


Someone's head should roll, but whose?
Foreign Policy - Peter Feaver - ‎8 hours ago‎If it is the latter, then President Obama should acknowledge this forthrightly and take whatever steps are necessary, changing policy and perhaps personnel.

DeMint: Obama "Has Downplayed Terrorism"
CBS News (blog) - Daniel Carty - ‎12 hours ago‎
HEAD SHOULD ROLL ASAP. There is absolutely no excuse for the Xmas day bomber. Obama needed to come home days ago as well. The fact that the bomb failed ...

Hows' that 9/11 Commission reorganization working?Hot Air (blog) - Ed Morrissey - ‎11 hours ago‎If her head should roll, it should be because she has utterly destroyed her credibility with the American public — but even that depends on whether she did ...

Mitchell Predicts: Head To Roll
NewsBusters (blog) - Mark Finkelstein - ‎12 hours ago
‎Not a surprise, but still noteworthy: a heavy MSM hitter is now strongly suggesting that, post-NWA 253, a senior Obama ...

II. "Feet to the fire"

Obama Starting to Open Up White House Visitor Logs
ABC News (blog) -
Jon Garcia - ‎2 hours ago‎I am thankful to the advocacy groups who held the administrations feet to the fire to make this happen. Liberals are often lampooned for not pulling ...

Remembering Rockland notablesThe Journal News LoHud.com - ‎Dec 28, 2009‎In 2009, Rockland lost many who helped shape our communities, kept our history alive and held our elected officials' collective feet to the fire. ...

Anxious Democrats divide over path forward
Politico -
Jonathan Martin - ‎15 hours ago‎... who has no southern roots and little experience with racism, failed to respond to his enemies and hold other democrats feet to the fire. ...

Bold moves for gold in record-breaking yearGlobe and Mail - ‎18 hours ago‎Mr. Regent, to his credit, put the dealers' feet to the fire. By pushing for the largest bought deal in Canadian history, a $3.5-billion financing, ...

Government Technologist: Holding The Fed CIO's Feet To The FireInformationWeek - John Foley - ‎Dec 18, 2009‎... US deputy CTO and director of the White House's open government initiative, invites the public to hold the administration's "feet to the fire" by coming ...

6 Steps to Making New Year's Resolutions That Work
PsychCentral.com -
John M. Grohol - ‎Dec 29, 2009‎Such an informal pact can help hold your feet to the fire when you feel discouraged or want to give up — they can offer you some encouragement and support ...
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Scapegoats vs. accountability
True/Slant - ‎7 hours ago‎If we want responsible government we have to hold their feet to the fire – and having them root out scapegoats does just the opposite. ...
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INTERVIEW: Morelle predicts 'chaos' in 2010
Rochester City Newspaper -
Jeremy Moule - ‎4 hours ago‎
What's got to happen is taxpayers have to hold legislators' feet to the fire when it comes to voting on budgets, when it comes to making statements about ...

Knocking Down Excuses for Reid & Obama on Kos
Firedoglake (blog) - ‎Dec 28, 2009‎That is a pretty damaging scenario half of this community who enabled this failure (unlike the activist half holding feet to the fire) have gotten us into, ...

Between the Lines: Breathtaking audacity by Democrats in Washington in full ...Fulton Valley News (subscription) - ‎Dec 25, 2009‎This behavior is, of course, aided and abetted by the left-leaning mainstream news media who hardly ever hold left feet to the fire. ...