Tea at Trianon: Trump, Biden and Ukraine

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

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Trump, Biden and Ukraine

From the Washington Free Beacon:

Joe Biden's family ties to an influence peddling scheme at a Ukrainian gas company could hurt the former vice president's 2020 campaign, political scientist Ian Bremmer told CNN on Tuesday. "[Joe] Biden does have a problem here. I have to say $50,000 a month for Hunter Biden—clearly to be selling influence because otherwise, no one would ever pay him that kind of money—for a company that, frankly, was pretty corrupt and has been before and has been since under investigation," Bremmer said.

Bremmer is president of Eurasia Group and Time magazine editor at large. He told CNN's New Day Hunter Biden was named to the board of Burisma, Ukraine's largest private gas company, for his ability to sell influence during the Obama administration. Hunter Biden is the son of 2020 Democratic primary frontrunner Joe Biden. Bremmer said the former vice president was likely aware of his son's ties to the company and its ongoing corruption woes.

"It's hard to imagine Joe Biden wasn't aware of it," Bremmer said. "I expect that President Obama, if he had known about the reality of the situation, would've probably told Biden ‘get rid of this, we shouldn't have your son working in this situation.' That would have cost him something. I fear even if maybe Biden wasn't aware but Biden should've been aware that that would cause an issue for him." (Read more.)

From The Daily Wire:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has proven to be a voice of reason in the face of a national hysteria based over the White House’s newly unclassified phone call transcript. Shortly after President Trump released the transcript of his July phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that gave no indication of a quid pro quo wherein Ukraine would investigate former Vice President Joe Biden using his influence to have a prosecutor fired for investigating his son’s business dealings, Graham flatly dared the Democrats to impeach Trump.

“Those who believe that the transcript is a ‘Smoking Gun’ for impeachment, do something about it — have the courage of your convictions,” the South Carolina Republican tweeted. “The House of Reps should take a vote to formally open an impeachment inquiry. Let the American people see where Members of Congress stand!” Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Graham also said that it would be “insane” for the U.S. government to impeach Trump based on the phone call with Zelensky. “From my point of view, to impeach any president over a phone call like this would be insane,” said Graham. (Read more.)

From Mollie Hemingway at The Federalist:

Trump released the transcript of the phone call, which showed that the media and other Resistance figures’ early reports of the call mischaracterized it. Last week, it might be noted, Democrats were demanding the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh due to a false report in the New York Times of dubious provenance to begin with.

What Tapper highlighted is worth highlighting, though. While during the Russia hoax, nearly all prominent Republicans expressed concern about collusion with Russia to steal the 2016 election, rushed to microphones to condemn the president for what turned out to be a false smear of sedition, and went out of their way to protect the relentless investigation of him based on lies secretly funded by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, this time, it’s mostly just Mitt Romney.

The standard of evidence required from Resistance figures in and out of the media to perpetrate yet another Russiagate is so high that it might be impossible to meet. But at the very least, it’s higher than what’s offered now. Yes, Democrats have wanted to impeach Donald Trump for the crime of winning the 2016 election, and they very well might do that no matter what they pretend the underlying reason is. But Republican politicians, Romney and those like him excepted, are either smart enough not to fall for this particular Resistance effort, or they’re simply savvy enough to realize there is no appetite for Republican politicians to assist Democrats in undermining a duly elected Republican president based on questionable hearsay, a complicated narrative that doesn’t even add up, and a desperate desire to undo 2016. (Read more.)

More HERE. And HERE. Share