Tea at Trianon: Self-Promotion Masquerading as Principle

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, July 22, 2016

Self-Promotion Masquerading as Principle

From Tom Piatak at Chronicles:

There are some simple rules governing modern American political conventions. If you speak at the convention, you endorse the nominee. If you can't endorse the nominee, you don't go. You certainly don't use a prime time speaking slot to try to sabotage your party's fall campaign.

A number of Trump's foes have refused to endorse him, even though they had all pledged to support the GOP's nominee. All, except one, chose to stay away from Cleveland. The only absentee to come under any criticism for skipping the convention is John Kasich, and that is only because he is the governor of Ohio. If Kasich were the governor of Michigan or Pennsylvania instead, his absence would generate no more comment than Lindsey Graham's.

Last night, of course, Ted Cruz ostentatiously broke all these rules. It was self-promotion masquerading as principle. It explains why almost no one who works alongside Cruz in Congress has anything good to say about him.

And it may backfire. Cruz's antics last night will certainly drive up the ratings for tonight. If Pence's terrific speech from last night is any indication, Trump's speech tonight will be good. And if Trump does deliver a masterful speech tonight, with tens of millions of American watching, it will be the political equivalent of a grand slam. (Read more.)