Time for some culture

Reading this reference to Shakespeare "Once More Into the Breach!
The “breach” being the President’s ass, his head being what’s going in “once more.”"
(via Brad) I recalled an English translation of the last line of the 21st canto of the Divine Commedy "and he made a bugle of his breach." and thought it was time to consider the strange link between war, warriors, the heart of darkness and the place where the sun doesn't shine.

Hence Culture Time

History

What do Julius Ceasar, Alexander the Great, Richard the Lionhearted, Frederick the Great and Ernst Rohm have in common ?

Literature

A guy asks much younger guys for something

"Once more into the breach dear friends"

Henry V by William Shakespeare (not Mark Foley)

God's plan is explained

ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta.

Io vidi già cavalier muover campo,
e cominciare stormo e far lor mostra,
e talvolta partir per loro scampo;

corridor vidi per la terra vostra,
o Aretini, e vidi gir gualdane,
fedir torneamenti e correr giostra;

quando con trombe, e quando con campane,
con tamburi e con cenni di castella,
e con cose nostrali e con istrane;

né già con sì diversa cennamella
cavalier vidi muover né pedoni,
né nave a segno di terra o di stella.

L'inferno Cantos 21 and 22 by Dante Alighieri
(not Ted Hagard).

The English translation of the first line of the quote (last line of canto 21) which was clearly an embarassed effort to Bowdlerize Dante (the correct tranlsation of "culo" is "ass" as confirmed by a laureata of the scuola normale superiore).
The unfortunate translater may have had good reason to believe that he knew better than Dante what was and was not appropriate, but he should have remembered his Shakespeare.

Finally the supreme expression of this literature, the telos towards which Dante and Shakespeare were drawn is, of course, Keyboard Kommando Komics

I assure the alarmed reader that I am absolutely not homophobic and I even have an open ... mind about S&M. I just wish those guys would work out their fantasies with consenting adults.

update: The poor man explains (with a further kultural reference)

Basically, this is why when people whine about “civility,” I photoshop talking assholes on their foreheads. I’m trying to drag down the level of political discourse in this country - I’m really, really trying - but it’s like farting in the Augean stables.

I laugh out loud. My 9 year old daughter asked why I laughed. I said because I just read something funny written by Andrew Northrup. She asks if that is anyone important. I reply, very important and run to the hamper to put on my order of the Shrill t-shirt, which is slighly smelly but remains my most prized possession.