From: kfl@KeithLynch.net   
      
   Tim Merrigan  wrote:   
   > Two points, one, it was already known that William the Bastard's,   
   > aka the Conqueror, parents weren't married (at least to each other).   
      
   Yes, that was the point of my joke -- that something that's been known   
   for nearly a thousand years was being presented as a shocking new   
   discovery.   
      
   Another part of my joke is based on the fact that probably everyone   
   now living who has any Anglo-Saxon ancestry is a direct descendant of   
   his.  So the likelihood that anyone now living who is descended from   
   Alfred the Great isn't also descended from William is pretty much zero.   
      
   > And, two, it doesn't matter whether he had a legitimate claim to   
   > the throne, as, since he took the throne by force of arms, the   
   > line starts with him.   
      
   He actually did have a pretty good claim.  He didn't just randomly   
   march into England and say that it was his now.  Unfortunately, two   
   others also had pretty good claims, which is why there was a war.   
      
   That's what scares me about those who say that the 2020 election was   
   stolen.  Who is president (or king) is usually much less important   
   than that everyone agrees on who that is.  The worst case for 2024 is   
   if half the US population, including half the military, believe that   
   one guy won and the other half are equally sure that the other guy   
   won.  Civil wars seldom end well.   
   --   
   Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/   
   Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)