Tea at Trianon: The Surprising Bipartisan Fight Against the Chinese Communist Party

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, October 10, 2026

The Surprising Bipartisan Fight Against the Chinese Communist Party

From AMAC:

For years, lawmakers in Washington have warned that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is exploiting America’s generosity and openness to weaken the United States from within. Now Congress is moving to address that threat and close some of the most glaring pathways the CCP uses to covertly exert its influence.
A series of bipartisan bills introduced this year by members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party would target Chinese involvement in fentanyl trafficking, connected vehicles, robotics, and biotechnology. Though the threats are different, the principle behind the legislation is the same. Chinese companies should not be allowed to use access to American markets, technology, capital, and infrastructure in ways that endanger Americans or strengthen the CCP.
Taken together, the measures reflect a meaningful shift in Congress’s approach toward China. Rather than simply documenting the threats posed by the CCP, lawmakers are increasingly targeting the specific channels through which Beijing-linked entities can gain leverage over the United States — whether by exploiting weaknesses in the financial system, collecting sensitive data, undercutting American industry, or gaining access to strategically important technology. (Read more.)