Tea at Trianon: Step Back from the Abyss

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, June 6, 2024

Step Back from the Abyss

From @CynicalPublius on X:

I am hoping there are still a few rational Democrats in existence, so I am writing this post in hopes reason will pull them back from the abyss they are about to throw the United States into. The following statements are indisputable, verifiable facts:

1. The criminal prosecution of the leading Presidential candidate of the opposition party is a wholly unprecedented event that violates all American political norms.

2. In recorded world history, literally every time a nation’s ruling political party acts against prevailing political norms and imprisons or kills the leadership of its major political opponent, the history books record such action as tyrannical despotism. Think about it, just as examples—Ancient Greece and Socrates; Ancient Rome and Julius Caesar; the French Reign of Terror; Russia, Lenin and the Romanovs; Stalin and his purges; every other Soviet premier and the Gulag; Nazi Germany (enough said); the British Raj and Gandhi; Mao’s Cultural Revolution; Lech Walesa, Vaclav Havel and the Warsaw Pact versions of Poland and the Czech Republic; South Africa and Nelson Mandela; Vladimir Putin and everyone who ever opposes him; the list goes on and on and on. History records EVERY SINGLE EXAMPLE of this phenomenon as the embodiment of abject evil and tyranny.

3. When tyrants imprison their opponents, they always justify the action as being necessary and lawful. Always. Without exception. Additionally, when that happens, there are MILLIONS of citizens who believe in good faith that their leaders' actions are justified. Average Germans in 1933, average Russians in 1917 and average Chinese in 1970 all GENUINELY BELIEVED that they were the good guys and the actions of their leaders were entirely justified.

These are facts. Indisputable. Undeniable. Here’s another set of facts: in the USA in 2024, the ruling party is seeking to imprison the leader of the opposition party, acting against historical political norms; the leadership doing this believes its actions are necessary and lawful; and average American Democrats believe fervently that the actions of their leaders are entirely justified. The parallels to historic tyranny are powerful, precise and alarming. Democrats, please consider these facts. I implore you to reconsider your actions. You are not the good guys. Instead, you are the average German of 1933 or the average Chinese citizen of 1970. I warn you now: History is about to mark you as yet another despicable entry in the pantheon of evil tyranny. Step back from the abyss. There is still time. (Read more.)