Tea at Trianon: DEBATE ANALYSIS

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

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

DEBATE ANALYSIS

From The National Pulse:

In tonight’s ABC Presidential debate, one candidate – Donald Trump – displayed vivid, righteous indignation, channeling frustrated Americans on the critical topics of the economy, foreign policy, immigration, and especially trade. The other, Kamala Harris, came off as scripted, platitudinous, and hollow on major policy points.
Thanks to the listlessness of Congressional Republicans over the past decade, Harris had an easier time with one topic: Obamacare. But across the board, Trump was far more in touch with the day-to-day American experience, rightly quizzing at the end of the night – if she has all these plans, why hasn’t she done it? She is, after all, in office right now, without much of a “boss” to answer to nowadays.
But with inflation still squeezing the average American, economic stagnation, trade imbalances, and real-world illegal migration horrors manifesting across the country, Trump seized the mantle of ‘MAGA’ – Making America Great Again. Regular readers will be acutely aware that if I really didn’t believe so, I wouldn’t write it.
Trump’s consistency across the 90 minutes was key to this.
While Harris attempted to needle him on crowd sizes and financial inheritance, Trump always brought the issue back to the policy debate at hand. Kamala, on the other hand, couldn’t wait to get away from the subjects. This was interesting, particularly because Trump is often accused of being the “personal” debater, whereas tonight, it was Harris who attempted to play the man rather than the ball.
On the issue of war, the distinction was especially clear: Trump spoke of limiting the cost of human life, and Harris spoke of limiting the damage to the failed policy of neoconservatism, interventionism, and globalism.
Particularly on Israel, she will likely regret her comments, especially in places like Michigan where the Arab-American population will be angered by her declared allegiance. Trump, again, has been consistent on the topic for well over a decade now. (Read more.)