Tea at Trianon: Warring Factions Behind the Scenes

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

Saturday, August 31, 2024

Warring Factions Behind the Scenes

Kamala's interview. From The Transom:

What struck me from the very start was how bad this shot looked. Bad lighting, bad makeup, messy hair, the color choice of gray, Walz's collar askew, a camera angle making Kamala look small, water cup center shot, pole splitting the center, a crowded background that makes it look like things are growing out of their heads, off the rack poorly fitting suits, Dana looking like the tallest person in frame... this whole thing just looks bad. One of the big things I’ve gotten wrong about this election post the shift to Kamala was an assumption that the production values would go way up considering her close association with California and Doug Emhoff’s Hollywood connections… this ain’t that.
As I told Hugh, this wouldn’t be a big deal if this was just one of a dozen interviews. But the campaign isn’t doing a dozen interviews! Instead they invested way more importance in this one shot at a conversation, so the optics and tone took on more political weight. The campaign itself made it seem like Kamala Harris is scared to sit down even for softball questions that should be easily answered by any generic politician. Instead, Harris showed again her potential for deer-in-headlights incapability to handle the most basic, obvious questions. (Read more.)