Monday, May 05, 2008

The War of the Roses

Admitting for the sake of argument that the use of “tribe” has unfortunate negative connotations when discussing the competing American groups, I propose “houses” instead: House of Lancaster, House of York, as in the War of the Roses; House of Ravenclaw, House of Gryffindor. It has a nice set of historical and collegiate associations that the Arts & Humanites folks might like, and the rest of us won’t mind anyway.

The A & H House (and perhaps every house) believes that it is the rightful ruler, considering the others usurpers, pretenders, and cadet branches. When out of power, their energy is devoted to getting back in; their representatives considered more deserving regardless of qualification; their personal honor tied up with the fortunes of their House.

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