Tea at Trianon: Virginia Democrats Are Not Playing Beanbag

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, February 7, 2026

Virginia Democrats Are Not Playing Beanbag

From Chronicles:

The election, inauguration, and first 48 hours of the Abigail Spanberger administration in Virginia were a case study in this stark contrast between the two parties and their respective approaches to political power. While Indiana Republicans fought a “principled” battle against giving themselves an edge in the redistricting war, Democrats in Virginia solidified their choke hold on power. Indeed, Virginia Democrats chalked up more wins for their base in that short time than Republicans have for theirs in more than 10 years.

Legislation promising leftists things such as massive tax hikes, state-funded “gender affirming care,” restoring voting rights to felons, and, yes, gun control, is now working its way through the Democratic-controlled legislature, where most of it is sure to pass and then be signed into law by the new governor. While Trump similarly bombarded the left with a slew of executive orders during his first days in office, it is telling that, even with ostensible majorities in the House and Senate, he had to resort to temporary EOs rather than codified legislation that will outlast his presidency. He had to work alone.

The Democrats in Virginia instead are working together to pass actual legislation that won’t be so easily undone if Republicans ever retake the governor’s mansion. And, about that, readers should spend some time reading the list of Virginia Democrats’ proposals. Most of them—from gerrymandering to legislation making it illegal to hand-count ballots—are designed to make the prospect of future Republican control of Virginia impossible. (Read more.)