"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate"

This is from the Cathedral in Florence, where Micheleno's fresco shows Dante holding a copy of his Divine Comedy next to the entrance to Hell, which Dante says bears an inscription, the ninth (and final) line of which is the famous phrase "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate", or "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

This is what comes to my mind as I think about the folly of our elected representatives, and our own in sending them off to represent us. Stimulus, indeed. Have they no shame?


The main question in my mind will be in what circle of Hell they will be consigned to. These are concentric circles representing increasing degrees of wickedness, with each circle's sinners being punished with the same sin he committed during his lifetime.

I suppose there is a chance they may wind up in the fourth circle (see Gustav Dore's illustration above left) made up of the avaricious and the prodigal pushing huge money bags around for all eternity.

But my bet is on the ninth circle, reserved for the most wicked of all, the traitors. They are frozen in a lake of ice to varying depths with their Master Satan at the center. I don't think treason is too harsh a word in these circumstances. The dreams of the revolutionaries of the 60s seem to be at last coming true. Is there any hope that this is a very bad dream on my part?