{"id":4911,"date":"2013-12-11T14:29:02","date_gmt":"2013-12-11T19:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=4911"},"modified":"2013-12-18T13:35:59","modified_gmt":"2013-12-18T18:35:59","slug":"politics-as-usual-invictus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/politics-as-usual-invictus\/","title":{"rendered":"POLITICS AS USUAL: Invictus"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alison Collins-Mrakas<\/strong><\/p>\n

The world lost one of its most ardent defenders of democracy this week, former South African President and Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela.
\nHe was many things, but at his core, he was a man of integrity, who fought the fight with dignity and without bitterness. There is nothing I can add to the discourse about this remarkable man that has not already been said.
\nThus, I will honour him by dedicating his favourite \u2013 and presciently apropos \u2013 work of poetry, to his memory
\n
\nInvictus<\/strong><\/em>
\nOut of the night that covers me,
\nBlack as the Pit from pole to pole,
\nI thank whatever gods may be
\nFor my unconquerable soul.<\/p>\n

In the fell clutch of circumstance
\nI have not winced nor cried aloud.
\nUnder the bludgeonings of chance
\nMy head is bloody, but unbowed.<\/p>\n

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
\nLooms but the Horror of the shade,
\nAnd yet the menace of the years
\nFinds, and shall find, me unafraid.<\/p>\n

It matters not how strait the gate,
\nHow charged with punishments the scroll.
\nI am the master of my fate:
\nI am the captain of my soul.<\/p>\n

– William Ernest Henley<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Until next week, stay involved, stay informed, because this is, after all, Our Town.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alison Collins-Mrakas The world lost one of its most ardent defenders of democracy this week, former South African President and Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela. He was many things, but at his core, he was a man of integrity, who fought the fight with dignity and without bitterness. There is nothing I can add to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-1hd","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-14 12:51:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4911\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}