Notes:

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This is an updated version of the presentation I delivered to the Northern Virginia chapter of ARMA on March 15 earlier this year.  The title references the date of the presention (the Ides of March) and the climactic scene of Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar" -- in which Caesar's friend, Brutus, participates in stabbing and killing him.  In the scene, as he lay dying, Ceasar mournfully says to Brutus, "Et tu, Brute?"  In Latin, Brute is the familiar version of Brutus, just as Sammie is the familiar version of Sam or Samuel in English.  Uncle Sam, of course, stands for U.S. (us), as in "we the people of the United States" of America, which is the opening clause of our Constitution.

Is the analogy too strong?  Can it be true that our own government is actually stabbing us in the back?  Of course, it is easy to get carried away with rhetoric and overstate any case.  However, let's take a look at what Marilyn Vos Savant has to say.  As you may know, she is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for highest IQ and is best known for her weekly "Ask Marilyn" column in Parade Magazine.