Annals of Government: Well, it's now official. Abq Jew can now happily state - along with millions of happy voters - that the current Outgoing Incumbent (OI) president is a Lame Duck.
The phrase "lame duck" was coined in the 18th century at the London Stock Exchange, to refer to a stockbroker who defaulted on his debts.
The term was transferred to US(!) politicians in the 19th century.In the literal sense, the term refers to a duck which is unable to keep up with its flock, making it a target for predators.
There are many in the Senate and the House of Representatives (including, alas, several Democrats) who are also Lame Ducks. Yes, that makes (in a manner of speaking) Three Lame Ducks. Lined up. In a row.
An Unholy Trinity, you (or Abq Jew) might say.
The Constitution of the United States, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government.
Its first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches:
the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress (Article I);
the executive, consisting of the president and subordinate officers (Article II); and
the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts (Article III).
What are the three branches of government?
WRONG answers ONLY.
Boy, did @NurseSheepie and the others get WRONG answers. Including:
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| Me, Myself, and I |
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| Offense, Defense, Special Teams |
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| Rock, Paper, Scissors |
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| The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly |
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| Moe, Larry, and Curley |
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| Huey, Dewey, and Louis |
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| Snap, Crackle, and Pop |
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| Bed Bath & Beyond |
Larry, Darryl, and Darryl
Patty, LaVerne, and Maxine
Shlemiel, Shlimazel,
Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!
And, finally -
Which brings us to -
Wherein Abq Jew seriously discussed (seriously) the shamrock, both as a symbol of Ireland and as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity.
Problems with threes. Again.
Whereupon Abq Jew asked:
We Jews have our own set of Trinities! There are, in fact, lots of threes in Judaism -
- Noah had three sons: Ham, Shem and Japheth
- The Three Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
- The prophet Balaam beat his donkey three times.
- The prophet Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of a large fish
- Three divisions of the Written Torah: Torah (Five Book of Moses), Nevi'im (Prophets), Ketuvim (Writings)
- Three divisions of the Jewish people: Kohen, Levite, Yisrael
- Three daily prayers: Shacharit, Mincha, Maariv
- Three Shabbat meals
- Shabbat ends when three stars are visible in the night sky
- Three Pilgrimage Festivals: Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot
- Three matzos on the Passover Seder table
- The Three Weeks, a period of mourning bridging the fast days of Seventeenth of Tammuz and Tisha B'Av
- Three cardinal sins for which a Jew must die rather than transgress: idolatry, murder, sexual immorality
- A Beth Din is composed of three members
Many more sets of threes appear in Pirkei Avot, a compilation of the ethical teachings and maxims of Mishnaic-period Rabbis.
The first verse of Pirkei Avot tells us
Moses received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua; Joshua to the elders; the elders to the prophets; and the prophets handed it down to the men of the Great Assembly. They said three things:
Be deliberate in judgment, raise up many disciples, and make a fence around the Torah.
Plenty of the following verses also tell us "three things," But it is the second verse to which Abq Jew wishes to draw your attention.
Shimon the Righteous was one of the last survivors of the Great Assembly. He used to say:
On three things the world is sustained: on the Torah, on worship, and on deeds of lovingkindness.
Any one of these three things - Torah, worship, or lovingkindness - would not be enough. Indeed, any two of these things would not be enough. But these three things together enable us to build a sturdy structure for living in the world.
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