Tea at Trianon: Biden's Choice

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, July 26, 2024

Biden's Choice

From The New York Post:

Biden’s always been crafty. Cunning. Not for the country. For himself. For family. He never christened some extra special anything else for anybody else. Always the No. 2 guy. Never the brains. Not really sweating. Just glad-handing. We’re talking smiling. Surviving. Taking bows. Photos. Making friends. Connections. Learning how everything operates. But for him. Accomplishing for any other guy — zilch. When it comes to him, he’s savvy. The way he operates is it’s permanently his ass he’s saving. The man always knew how to hang on. If looking for accomplishments, try Biden’s son. Or Joe’s wife’s hairdresser. Or certain business people who operate his home state of Delaware, which is smaller than my Raisin Bran box. (Read more.)