Tea at Trianon: The Wall: Moral and Good

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, March 24, 2019

The Wall: Moral and Good

From Chronicles:

As for the moral issues involved, virtually all Democrats of note—from Nancy Pelosi down to the inimitable Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—have declared the Wall “immoral.” (Oddly enough they have pointedly refused to characterize Israel’s effective security fence in similar terms.) In reality they don’t want it because they don’t want to stop illegal immigration.

The appeal by Pope Francis in his address to an interfaith conference in Abu Dhabi on February 3 (“let us commit ourselves against the logic of armed power, against . . . the arming of borders, the raising of walls”) is equally incongruous. It is reminiscent of the Pontiff’s assertion, three years ago, that a person who thinks of building walls instead of bridges “is not Christian.” Such assertions need to be examined in the light of history.

Had it not been for the walls, Christendom would not have survived the onslaught of Islam, notably during the sieges of Vienna in 1529 and 1683. Two centuries earlier, in July 1456, 6,000 Christian soldiers successfully defended the walls of Belgrade from Sultan Mehmed’s army of 50,000. During the siege Pope Callixtus III ordered the bells of all churches to be rung every day at noon, as a call to prayer for Belgrade’s defenders.

In 1565 the walls of the Grand Harbor in today’s Valletta enabled fewer than 7,000 Christians to withstand an assault by 50,000. And yes, the Vatican is surrounded by the Leonine Walls, 40 feet high and 12 feet thick, erected by St. Leo IV (an eminently “good Christian”) in 848-52 to defend against the Saracens. They still stand, and their gates are protected by Swiss guards with metal detectors and other paraphernalia of strict border security. Thank God for the walls. (Read more.)

From The Washington Examiner:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of the Trump administration by deciding federal officials can detain immigrants at any time for possible deportation after they have served their time in the U.S. for other crimes. The 5-4 decision reversed the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which said officials have to detain these immigrants immediately or they are exempt from ever being detained. Justice Samuel Alito delivered the majority opinion for the court, and he was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh. Justices Steven Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan dissented. (Read more.)

Also from The Washington Examiner:

The Defense Department has identified $12.8 billion in possible funding that it could use to fulfill President Trump's call for a border wall. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., released the 20-page spreadsheet on Twitter Monday night. Trump last month declared a national emergency at the border, and said he wants to use $3.6 billion for border wall projects. The Pentagon's list said it has found possible funding sources that are "in excess of the amount needed." (Read more.)