Between now and the end of the first week of June, this one word, STOP, and its many meanings will be weighed by many of the high members of the Democratic party.
It’s odd isn’t it, some meanings of the word STOP, actually mean GO. And some meanings of the words STOP really do mean cease now, the time has come. The work is done.
TO PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS, means one would, in a project, a war, in love, in politics, in family life, in rage, in celebration, tear out or ignore all normal signals indicating that cessation ought be at hand; that one must bring all locomotion to a halt, that reason ought rule.
The ancient king, Midas pulled out all stops. He was rich beyond belief, yet beyond all reason he began to wish that all he touched could turn to gold. This was granted to him by the gods, and he pranced about touching everything in sight, delighted that it instantly turned to gold. But, then he touched his own little daughter who turned into a beautiful golden trophy. But, she was then incapable of humanity, mirth or love.
STOP AT NOTHING, means crashing through all barriers, exploding through all obstacles, do whatever necessary to take the battlements,
as at Troy, where household after household of women and children were murdered by the staggering, death-maddened soldiers
STOP UP ONE’S EARS, do not listen; stay away from naysayers, set aside all advices so as to not to be swayed or lured…
as Odysseus stopped up the ears of his sailors with honeycomb so they could not hear the Sirens singing from their island Anthemoessa, attempting to lure the sailors to jump into the waters to try to swim to the Sirens—but in treacherous seas that would surely drown the sailors before they could reach the island.
DEAD STOP, as in fallen; as in a sudden physical death, wherein the plant, tree, engine, person suddenly loses all energy,
like the snake-haired Gorgon, Medusa who in classical Greek mythos is said to turn humans into stone should they gaze upon her face. But she is brought to a dead stop when she falls into a heap as Perseus beheads her.
ROLL TO A STOP, losing momentum, or slowing momentum, going from accelerating to coasting, stopping down, so to speak, coming to a more graceful stop,
as did Odysseus as the lone survivor of the Argonauts. He had to face the whirlpool of death, Charybdis, a monstrous mouth which swallowed huge amounts of water three times a day and then threw them back up creating an enormous whirlpool. Odysseus survived by grabbing hold of a small fig tree overhanging Charybds’ maw, but his raft was sucked down into the whirlpool. Yet, as the water was expelled from the maw, his raft surfaced. Though ragged and torn, Odysseys was set aright, and slowly made his way home again
So it goes. Between now and the end of the first week of June, this one word, STOP, and its many meanings will be weighed by many of the high members of the Democratic party…. Which version of STOP each will follow or urge others to follow, remains yet to be seen.
__________
CODA
“Lysis” is the last part of a dream or a drama, a word psychoanalysts use for the resolution phase of a dream; what the ending points toward, or how the story ends. For now.
The photo is of the new digital stop lights, which save enormous amounts of energy over the single bulb lights still used in most traffic lights.