Tea at Trianon: Of Canada and Greenland

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

Sunday, March 30, 2025

Of Canada and Greenland

From Amuse on X:

To say that Canada is militarily helpless is not to indulge in hyperbole, but to confront a reality long obscured by diplomatic euphemism. The Canadian Armed Forces are not merely under-resourced; they are structurally incapacitated. The nation lacks the manpower, equipment, logistical depth, and political seriousness to defend its own vast territory, much less contribute meaningfully to the defense of NATO allies or embattled democracies like Ukraine. The Canadian military is, to borrow Hobbes, nasty, brutish, and short—in staffing, in supplies, and in strategic thinking.
Begin with manpower. The Canadian Armed Forces are authorized to field around 101,500 personnel. As of 2025, they are short by at least 16,000. This is not a minor discrepancy; it is a hemorrhage. Nearly 15% of the force exists only on paper. And even among those still wearing the uniform, a distressing number are functionally undeployable: overweight, undertrained, or shackled by bureaucratic delays that make a military posting resemble a Kafkaesque waiting room.
In some vital specialties—aviation technicians, naval crews, combat medics—the effective manning levels have dropped to less than half of what operational requirements demand. Training pipelines are slowed to a crawl. The few who do enlist find themselves waiting upwards of a year and a half for security clearances and medical screenings. And when they finally report for duty, the story turns tragicomic: in one recent deployment to Europe, Canadian troops reportedly had to borrow basic equipment—including helmets—from their American counterparts. Others bought their own kit from civilian retailers.
This is not merely inconvenient. It is existential. A military without the ability to equip and train its soldiers is not a military but a costume party at the edge of a battlefield. (Read more.)

From Tierney's Real News:

Understand what JD Vance is saying. Notice how key Greenland is (geographically and strategically) to America for all the major arctic shipping routes for the world. It is also a strategic location for air and submarine surveillance in the northern hemisphere. If the US lets Russia & China control that - America is doomed. We will lose control of imports and exports, to our enemies, and also give them a military advantage - TO INVADE US - off our shores.
VP VANCE: "Our message is very simple. Yes, the people of Greenland are going to have self-determination. We hope that they choose to partner with the United States because we're the only nation on earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security - because their security is very much our security."
"We can't just bury our head in the sand — or, in Greenland, bury our head in the snow — and pretend that the Chinese are not interested in this very large landmass. We know that they are."
“Our message to Denmark (which currently rules over Greenland) is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have under invested in the people of Greenland and you have under invested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass."
"We want to have good relationships with everybody... but part of having good relations is showing your strength when you have to. And unfortunately, the story of Greenland over the past 20 years when it comes to security is that we've underinvested... that has to change." (Read more.)

From Sharyl's Substack:

U.S. Aspirations to Buy Greenland Date Back Nearly 160 Years
President Andrew Johnson sought to purchase Greenland in 1867. Johnson’s Secretary of State William Seward explored buying Greenland alongside Alaska, per the U.S. State Department’s historical records. Only the Alaska deal went through.
Truman Tried to Buy Greenland
In 1946, President Harry Truman proposed buying Greenland for $100 million in gold. The idea stemmed from Cold War fears about Soviet influence. Denmark rejected the offer.
Trump Talked About Greenland Takeover in First Term, Too
During his first term, Donald Trump also floated the idea of the U.S. buying Greenland, sparking global headlines in August 2019. He called it a “large real estate deal” for national security. Denmark quickly dismissed the notion, with Greenland’s leaders asserting their autonomy.
A Cold Connection Dates Back to WWII
The U.S. military first set foot in Greenland during World War II to prevent Nazi Germany from gaining a foothold.
Norway Used to Own Greenland
Denmark owns Greenland as a constituent country within the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1814, after the Napoleonic Wars, Norway was forced to relinquish several territories when its alliance with Napoleonic France crumbled, according to the Norwegian Historical Association. Denmark, aligned with the victorious powers, gained Greenland and other territories. (Norway was transferred from Danish to Swedish control.) This wasn’t a voluntary handover but a consequence of wartime negotiations and territorial realignment dictated by the treaty’s terms. (Read more.)