Tea at Trianon: Baby Boom

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

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Baby Boom

From Tierney's Real News:

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against President Trump’s executive order that sought to end automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to illegal aliens and temporary visitors. The fake news media is celebrating as if this settles the issue forever, but that could not be further from the truth. This decision does not end the fight. It actually clarifies and strengthens the path forward.

What the fake news is not reporting is how we got here, where birthright citizenship came from to begin with, what prompted Trump’s EO against it, what the arguments were for and against, how honest leaders in America are reacting, what a doable workaround is, what are the next steps and if this means the fight is over or not.

So, let’s not join with the panicans and doomers who say the sky is falling - let’s look at the facts and make an informed decision. This is a complicated argument and there is no magic bullet.

I’m sure I’ll hear from some people who will tell me this newsletter is too long and they want me to cut it down to two paragraphs. Well, I can’t report all the facts in two paragraphs - that’s why the fake news is fake news. The TRUTH takes a little longer. So stay with me, please. (Read more.)