Tea at Trianon: A Parent's Nightmare

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, February 22, 2024

A Parent's Nightmare

From Jan Greenhawk at The Easton Gazette:

When you meet Lisa G. your first impression is that of a strong, determined woman who will fight for the things she believes in. As you get to know her, you realize that her dogged determination is much more than just talk. She never gives up.
It's truly a gift that she doesn't give up, because Lisa has had to face one of the most difficult things a parent would ever have to face; the mental problems of a child and a school system that does do nothing to help. Worse than that, they seem to be encouraging much of it.
It's enough to make a lesser person throw up her hands and go curl up in a corner. Not Lisa.
I was going to write Lisa's story, but then I found a video clip of her speaking on behalf of Delegate Lauren Arikan's bill, HB 722-Gender and Sex Transition Procedures. (Read more.)