Tea at Trianon: Trump's "Gettysburg Address"

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

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Trump's "Gettysburg Address"

Every voting American should listen to Trump's speech. From NewsMax:

GOP nominee Donald Trump Saturday outlined an ambitious plan for his first 100 days in office, saying on the first day alone he has several steps he plans to take to end Washington's corruption. "One thing we all know is that we will never solve our problems by relying on the same politicians who created these problems in the first place," Trump said to a supportive, cheering audience in historic Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. "Hillary Clinton is not running against me, she's running against change. And she's running against all of the American people and all of the American voters."

It's time to for Americans to "dream big" once again, said Trump, outlining in what he called a "contract between Donald J. Trump and the American voter," that begins with "bringing honesty, accountability and change to Washington, D.C."

The first six measures, Trump said, will be "immediately" pursued on his first day of his first term in office to "clean up the corruption and special interests collusion in Washington." Trump said he would institute:

"A Constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress;

A hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce federal workforce through attrition, exempting military public safety and public health;

A requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated. Regulations are killing our country and our jobs. Fourth, a five-year ban on white house and congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service.

A lifetime ban on white house officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government;

A complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections. That's what's happening."

Also on the same day, Trump said he will begin taking "and really taking strongly" seven actions to protect American workers. (Read more.)