Obama Is Giving Up Some Executive Power, and He’ll Still Get No Credit

[bvar22]

76. An Educational excerpt from Wiki so that everybody can enjoy the visual.

A petard was a small bomb used to blow up gates and walls when breaching fortifications,

Petard comes from the Middle French peter, to break wind, from pet expulsion of intestinal gas,

Petardiers were used during sieges of castles or fortified cities. The petard, a rather primitive and exceedingly dangerous explosive device, consisted of a brass or iron bell-shaped device filled with gunpowder fixed to a wooden base called a madrier. This was attached to a wall or gate using hooks and rings, the fuse lit and, if successful, the resulting explosive force, concentrated at the target point, would blow a hole in the obstruction, allowing assault troops to enter.

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If a petard detonated prematurely, the petardier would be lifted by the explosion. In addition, the usual human response is to get away from trouble by the most direct means possible, but a straight line is rarely the safest route of departure while under fire, and this is particularly true after setting a petard. The backblast went straight back from the fortification: if the petardier also moved straight back he would be [font size=3]"hoist by his own petard"[/font].