Tea at Trianon: Failing to Recruit

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, July 21, 2022

Failing to Recruit

From Sara Carter:

Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville said the United States’ inability to make military recruitment numbers is a “national security emergency.” Since the National Guard Association of the United States issued a statement June 28 explaining that every branch of the U.S. military has been having difficulty meeting recruiting goals for fiscal year 2022.
Struggling the most is the Army, which stated they have only recruited 40% of its total goal thus far in fiscal year 2022 with only three months left. A devastating reality is not just that the military is unable to recruit prospects, but that the number of qualified candidates and recruits are severely lacking.

The Army’s official website made the terrifying announcement that they have not faced this tough of a labor market since the military became completely volunteer based in 1973. “71% of youth do not qualify for military service because of obesity, drugs, physical and mental health problems, misconduct, and aptitude,” according to the Army recruiting website.

Another blow to recruiting which was pointed out by Senator Tuberville is that many recruits are ineligible due to their refusal (often upon religious ground, he said) to get the Covid-19 vaccinations. The Senator said he will continue to push for hearings on the issue with the Senate Armed Services Committee, on which he serves.

The Alabama Daily News reports on specifics, as well as the role the Biden administration has played into what has become a national security emergency:

The Army has shown hesitation to grant religious exemptions for its current soldiers. The branch released a statement in June along with data that showed that 4,736 active soldiers had filed for permanent religious exemptions from the vaccine as of June 23. Only 16 of those have been approved, and 1,185 have been denied. (Read more.)