Democrats Use Pandemic Narratives to Bully Voters

 From The Rand Paul Review:

The next pandemic is less terrifying than the government’s control of the domestic narrative of the entire USA. Following the start of COVID-19, the federal government flexed unprecedented control over every corner of American society. According to the CDC: “The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant indirect effects on multiple areas of child development, school readiness, educational attainment, socialization skills, mental health, in addition to risks based on social determinants of health.”

A significant portion of the newest generation is under-socialized, exacerbating existing criticisms of impaired social cues from screen-time and isolation. Adults and children alike are victims to an unnecessary government takeover that is almost sure to happen again. Between 2019 and the end of 2023, the pandemic is estimated to have cost upwards of $14 Billion.

Every industry was affected, from airlines to dining to retail. Public gatherings plummeted, and the suicide rate skyrocketed. The inattention to the repercussions of closing down life for a disease that killed one-fifth of the people that obesity kills globally per year indicates that the priority was not really on saving lives. (Read more.)

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The Dark Side of Fairy Tales

 Ben Shapiro interviews Jonathan Pageau.

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Marie-Antoinette at Saint Denis

Catherine Delors beautifully describes the statue of the Queen over her tomb at the Basilica of Saint Denis, and how it reflects the transformation of her relationship with Louis XVI. To quote:

Here... she is pensive, humble, leaning forward and sideways towards her husband. This is very moving in light of the evolution of the royal couple's complex relationship: mutual coldness at first, then disdain on her part, gradually followed by ever increasing closeness, respect and affection. During their last months together at the Temple, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette cared for each other in the deepest sense of the word. She was devastated by his death, and his last earthly concerns were for her and their children.

I believe this sculpture beautifully captures this. There was definitely more than propaganda to the Saint-Denis reburials.

I agree; the royal couple became more and more devoted to each other over the years. I think that the deaths of their baby Sophie and then of their oldest son Louis-Joseph in 1787 and 1789 respectively brought them closer together, too, even before the long imprisonment forged them into one. It has been described by eyewitnesses how she threw herself into Louis' arms when he returned from Paris in June 1789, after Bastille Day. According to Lemaire:

This princess, as virtuous as she was amiable, whom monsters later on accused of having never loved her husband, was absolutely in despair. As soon as she heard the King's carriage entering the Cour Royale she ran towards him holding the Dauphin in her arms, then breathless and almost fainting she fell into those of the King who was no less moved than she was. Holding out one hand to his children who covered it with kisses, with the other wiping the tears from the eyes of Marie-Antoinette and Madame Elisabeth, Louis XVI smiled again...he kept on repeating: "Happily no blood was shed, and I swear that not a drop of French blood will ever be shed on my orders."

~ Histoire de la Revolution Francaise (3 vol.) by M.H. Lemaire, 1816

The focus of my novel Trianon is the evolution of the relationship of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette and how they developed from adolescent strangers into a couple who could be separated only by death. Share

Who Can Stop World War III?

 From Dr. Gorka:

Ideologically, they have made it all so clear, with their Jihadi creed: “First we come for the Saturday people, then we come for the Sunday people.” Functionally, it is just as clear: it is no accident the nation behind Hamas and Hizbollah is the theocratic dictatorship of Iran, a regime which labels Israel as the “small Satan” and America as the “great Satan.” 

There is no denying the fact that this is a civilizational war between Judeo-Christian civilization and the dark forces of barbarism. There is no other way to understand what Hamas did that day, the slaughter of children, the rape and subsequent murder of young women. These victims weren’t “collateral damage” killed as a side-effect of an attack on military targets. They were the target. (Read more.)

 

A problem named Joe. From The Transom:

This is an awfully inconvenient truth for the Kamala Harris campaign, which has been noticeably struggling in recent weeks. The ebullient joy among Democratic partisans hasn’t transferred to the wider populace. The challenges of events both world- and weather-related has distracted from the culture war and generational shift narrative Team Harris wanted to be advancing at this point. And Tim Walz’s horrific performance in his vice-presidential debate represents at best a missed opportunity, at worst an embarrassment that helped JD Vance find his footing and couldn’t even dodge the mockery of the partisans at Saturday Night Live. (Read more.)

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Recovering the “Habits of the Heart” in John Ford’s 'Stagecoach'

 From Onalee:

Sociologist Robert Putnam identified in Bowling Alone and other studies, the enormous loss of community connection that has taken place over decades in our society. Movies of Hollywood’s golden age carry a mysterious aesthetic and moral power to build social capital and social unity.  

Recently at the Educational Guidance Institute (EGI) we finalized our new curriculum, Teaching and Learning Civic Engagement through the Art of Classic Film. There, our Unit 2 features the theme of care and defense of the Common Good with classic westerns like High Noon and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence. Yet it was within the past several weeks when my friend, Sam Morales asked me to write a piece on Stagecoach for his Substack that I realized: 

John Ford’s 1939 masterpiece is one of the best vehicles for all of us, across the generations and across the cultural and political divides, to ponder the question: WHAT MAKES A GOOD CITIZEN?   

This is where the idea of teaching and learning the Aristotelian “Habits of the Heart”  of our title for this post kicks in: the characters in Stagecoach teach us timeless lessons about human nature itself. From the beginning scenes we learn human beings do in fact share a common human nature. This was the big IDEA that started to get lost centuries ago in the long history of Political Theory. Which tradition of thought about human nature is true? The nominalism of William of Ockham and rationalistic dualism of Descartes OR the classic tradition of Aristotle, Cicero and Thomas Acquinas carried on by 20^th century philosophers such as Jacques Maritain, Josef Pieper, Mortimer Adler, Alisdair MacIntyre, and Heinrich Rommen? (Read more.)

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Gustav Klimt’s Obsession With Gold

 
From ArtNet:

Gustav Klimt made gold modern. At the turn of the 20th century, the Viennese artist captivated public attention with his sinuous depictions of women (and occasionally men) which he adorned with copious amounts of gold leaf. These visions—which were sensual and often erotic, featuring glittering backgrounds—changed the course of 20th-century art.

Most famous among these was his masterpiece, The Kiss (1907–08) (called The Lovers by the artist), which depicts a man and woman embracing, their bodies dissolved into golden abstractions, in a moment of transcendence. It has become the icon of the artist’s celebrated “Golden Phase,” an era of work when ornamental gold leaf featured prominently across his canvases. Pallas Athene, from 1898, is considered the earliest work from this period, which the artist continued until 1909. In this painting, the Greek goddess Athena appears in golden armor with an imperious stare. With gold leaf applied to the background and her armor, the painting hints at the disembodied and majestic beauty of Klimt’s later works, while still hewing to his earlier realist style. Right now, this style-shifting painting is on view “Secessions: Klimt, Stuck, Liebermann on view at Wien Museums in Vienna, Austria, through October 13, 2024.

An Aesthetic Rebellion, Leafed With Gold

To the surprise of many, these golden-laced works comprise only a small fraction of the artist’s oeuvre. A founding artist of the Vienna Secession, an art movement closely aligned to Art Nouveau in France, Klimt rebelled against the stagnancy of traditional styles and embraced cross-disciplinary influences. Throughout his relatively brief lifetime (he died at 55 from the effects of the Spanish flu), he was prolific, and drew daily; more than 4,000 of his drawings survive today. He painted over 200 paintings, it is believed, of which over 160 are known. (Read more.)

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Lockdowns Were a Luxury of the Laptop Class

 From The Rand Paul Review:

Disdain for the people who allowed tyranny to unravel in the name of Covid is mounting. It’s just dawning on the thinkers still left among us that the actions of the privileged few were grotesque during this time, and reveal a greater problem with our so-called Democratic Republic.  

The top 1% of society, arguably people in positions of power in our government, at U.S. universities funded heavily by the National Institute of Health (NIH) under Fauci’s dictatorship, or employed by Big Tech, who were controlling freedom of speech on the topic of Covid vaccines all kept on going, unaffected, while regular, every day Americans paid the price. (Read more.)

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Bringing Reagan’s Ideals to a Crumbling America

 From The Right Flank:

During the past four years, the DNC and federal entities have violated our constitution, destroyed our economy, and failed to secure our borders. Unlike elections from previous decades, this upcoming election has much less to do with political parties and much more to do with us choosing a candidate who can fight for our liberties, create economic prosperity, and ensure that America does not lose sight of its core values.

These growing threats are, in fact, the very danger that Reagan warned us about decades ago when he said that “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction”.

By studying some of the history of the 1980s, people can revive their hope that the right American president can restore a shattered economy and increase our country’s respect around the globe. While the DNC has destroyed our country’s economy and respect, we are still not beyond repair, as a president like Trump who embodies some of Reagan’s ideology could help bring restoration to our country in 2024-2028. (Read more.)

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Our Lady of the Rosary

Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs’ "Our Lady of the Rosary"

 It is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and let us celebrate it by admiring a new painting by my friend Gwyneth Thompson Briggs. From The Catholic World Report:

On October 7, 1571, things weren’t looking good for nations in Europe and the Mediterranean region. The Ottoman Empire, seeking to expand its influence throughout Europe, aimed its fleet of galleys and galleasses—with 12,000 to 15,000 Christian slaves as rowers—toward the Gulf of Patras, on the west side of Greece. Defending against the Muslim Turks was the Holy League, a much smaller fleet of Catholic ships from Spain, Venice, and Genoa, under the command of Don Juan of Austria.

However, St. Pope Pius V, realizing that the Turks had a decided material advantage, called upon all of Europe to pray the Rosary, asking Mary for victory. Christians gathered in villages and towns to pray as the sea battle raged; at the hour of victory the Pope—who was hundreds of miles away at the Vatican—is said to have gotten up from a meeting, walked over to an open window exclaiming, “The Christian fleet is victorious!” and shed tears of joy and thanksgiving to God.

The toll of the sea battle was great: The Holy League lost 50 of its galleys and suffered some 13,000 casualties. The Turks, however, lost much more: Their leader Ali Pasha was killed, along with 25,000 of his sailors. The Ottoman fleet lost 210 of its 250 ships, of which 130 were captured by the Holy League.

Coming at what was seen as a crisis point for Christianity, the victory at Lepanto stemmed Ottoman incursion into the Mediterranean and prevented their influence from spreading through Europe. Through the intervention of Our Lady, the Hand of God prevented the Muslims of the East from overcoming the Christian West. Recognizing the importance of the victory, Pope Pius instituted a feast on October 7th in thanksgiving for Mary’s patronage. Pope Pius originally named the feast for Our Lady of Victory. Two years later, in 1573, Pope Gregory XIII changed the title of this feast day to “Feast of the Holy Rosary.” (Read more.)

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