Tea at Trianon: A Familiar Claim

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, February 10, 2023

A Familiar Claim

From Jonathan Turley:

Various intelligence and defense figures including former Defense Secretary Mark Esper have suggested trying to capture the Chinese surveillance balloon to analyze its equipment and any content. China admits that this may be its balloon but denies that it is used for surveillance. It says that it was lost accidentally due to weather. So the balloon may be ours but it was lost. However, the government is likely to oppose anyone collecting or using information from the balloon. That sounded vaguely familiar. Indeed, Abbe Lowell may have a new client (Indeed, a client with past dealings with his current client, Hunter Biden).
Update: After the United States shot down the balloon, China appeared to send out a Lowell-like message that “China will resolutely uphold the relevant company’s legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time reserving the right to take further actions in response.”

China notably invoked a claim of “force majeure,” or an extraordinary event that can negate contractual obligations. In this case, it is saying that the balloon was not intentionally sent into the United States but lost due to no fault of its own. Such a contractual claim indicates that it may still claim property rights to the balloon and that it was not really abandoned or lost legally.

In a letter last week, Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell called for an array of criminal investigations as well as threatening lawsuits against critics and media figures. It also appeared to confirm that the laptop is indeed Hunter’s. However, the next day, Lowell told NBC “These letters do not confirm Mac Isaac’s or others’ versions of a so-called laptop.” It is a curious position but one that may appeal to the Chinese government (Indeed, this may be the type of legal acumen that prompted the Chinese to give millions to Hunter and his associates).

So here is the pitch. The Chinese first issues a flurry of letters threatening anyone who takes or uses information from the balloon with theft, defamation and privacy lawsuits, the loss of tax-exempt status, and undefined “criminal investigations.” Then you issue a statement the next day saying that, even though China may sue, “these letters do not confirm the United States’ or others’ versions of a so-called spy balloon.” So if there are surveillance capabilities found on the equipment, it is not necessarily yours. You then attack both critics and the media for a “dirty political trick” in using (or “manipulating”) any information found on the property lost by the CCP. (Read more.)