Tea at Trianon: An Existential Crisis

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, July 5, 2026

An Existential Crisis

From The Federalist:

The simple yet shocking reality is that generations of Americans have been taught since early childhood to hate their country and despise their heritage. How can you celebrate a nation you have been taught is morally corrupt, hypocritical, and responsible for a legacy of oppression and violence? You can’t, which is why so many Americans are greeting our semiquincentennial with a shrug or an apology.

And that points to a deeper problem with the state of America in 2026, a problem that won’t be solved with better reading lists or institutional reform or a GOP victory in 2026 or 2028. The problem is this: too many people in this country either despise America or are completely indifferent to it.

Among these are the tens of millions of foreigners now living in the United States who don’t just reject the natural law principles upon which our form of government rests, but also have no intention of adopting American culture or an American way of life. Many of them have made little or no effort even to learn the English language. They are here, essentially, to make money, and have no real vested interest in America as such.
Many others are not just indifferent but actively hostile toward their adopted country. This tendency seems especially pronounced among the adult children of immigrants, who grew up in the United States but were taught by liberal public schools and the mainstream culture to despise their country and resent it. They essentially revived the Third World politics of their parents’ home countries and adopted the anti-colonialist mentality of their leftist teachers and professors. (Read more.)

Obama fraud. From Tierney's Real News:

I wrote about suitcases of cash leaving Minnesota in 2018 when it was $100 million a year. Now it's $300+ million a year. So, this is nothing new…
Here’s what I wrote in 2018: “Wow, Minnesota, I hope you’re sitting down for this one. Millions of dollars in carry-on cash in suitcases fly out of the Minneapolis airport every week. But, why? Daycare fraud. Daycare fraud is costing Minnesota taxpayers as much as $100 million a year. According to public records and government sources, most Minnesota daycare fraud is perpetrated by Somali immigrants.
How does it work? Where does the money go? The story begins at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), where mysterious suitcases filled with cash have become a common carry-on. On the morning of March 15, a man took a carry-on bag through security that was packed with $1 million in cash. Travelers can do that, as long as they fill out the proper government forms. This happens almost weekly at MSP. The money is usually headed to North Africa, the Middle East, Dubai and points beyond.
In 2015, investigators documented $14 million in carry on cash. By 2016, it had mushroomed to $84 million. Then last year, $100 million. So, in 2017, more than $100 million in cash left MSP in carry-on luggage. The same thing is happening in other cities, like Seattle.
The money is sent via “Hawalas.” Hawalas are businesses used to courier money to countries that have no official banking system. Some immigrant communities rely on Hawalas to send funds back to their home countries. However, investigators discovered some of the money was being funneled to Hawalas in the region of Somalia that is controlled by the al Shabaab terrorist group. When the money arrives in Somalia, whether it’s intended for legitimate purposes or not, al Shabaab terrorists demand a cut. Tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of remittance payments are from immigrants who are on US government assistance. How could they possibly come up with such big bucks to transfer back home to Somalia?” (Read more.)