Quote of the Month

Writes Mr. Pax Dickinson:

Democracy is only valid when leftists win, because democracy is a left wing invention.

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Monarchy in July

The month of July is arguably a sad, heavy month for the cause of monarchy, as previous blogging at this weblog contributes to show. There is Bastille Day and Yekaterinburg – amongst other tragic incidents.

Wrote The Mad Monarchist:

The official story is that the storming of the Bastille on July 14 was a symbolic assault on tyranny, officially marking the beginning of the French Revolution as a heroic struggle for liberation from the “bondage” of traditional authority (the monarchy, the aristocracy and the clergy) and traditional moral values which upheld such authority. Monarchists know, and everyone else should too, that the facts are very far from this ideal narrative which is celebrated today as the national French holiday.

Royal World has some thoughts on Bastille Day. So does Anarcho-Monarchism.

Moving over to the tragic Russian anniversary, over at his weblog Confessions of a Ci-Devant, concludes Mr. Gareth Russell after a long account:

It had been a horrible, violent, lawless death - carried out in secret, without a trial or without justice. It was a fate that was to befall millions of ordinary Russians in the years under Communist rule - a system of government which has still, inexplicably, managed to escape the historical condemnation it so richly deserves. The Soviet Union was a depraved and genocidal regime, which even on its best days bore all the qualities of a sociopath. It was devoid of morality or respect for human life. It was infinitely worse than any regime in Russian history. And although it had technically come to power in October 1917, it was the events in Yekaterinburg on 17th July 1918 that should arguably be seen as the Soviet Union's true birth-date. Everything that defined it and everything that it was prepared to resort to was contained in how it executed the Romanovs. As Trotsky so rightly pointed out, with his chilling disinterest in human suffering - it proved that there was no going back. It defined what was to come.

A monarchist party has been established in Russia – under opposition from the Imperial House. So reports RT.

On a somewhat related note, over at Taki's Magazine, Mr. Taki Theodoracopulos himself states:

My good friend King Constantine of Greece lost his throne in a rigged referendum in 1974—it was rigged by the fathers of the same politicians who have run my country into the ground. Had he been head of state I like to believe he would have called a halt to the corruption that saw EU money distributed to buy votes rather than invested in the country’s infrastructure.

A king’s duty is to remain above politics and call a halt when the ship of state is about to crash into the rocks.

EvKL 103

103 years ago today, Erik Maria Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn was born.

Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn was mentioned in Why Nations Fail over at the Cobden Centre about a month ago.

Over at the LRC Blog, Daniel McAdams remembered Bastille Day with the great scholar and nobleman.

Happy birthday!

Please feel free to browse previous posts.

Trianon into Force

Four score and eleven years ago today, the Treaty of Trianon came into effect.

Jon Stewart on SCOTUS and Obamacare

Imperial Telegrams

Two years short of a century ago today, Wilhelm II and Nicholas II started a four day exchange of telegrams.

The Kaiservilla, 28th of July 1914

It was a fateful day. A dreadful, horrendous conflict was about to be unleashed.

Two years short of a century ago today. In the Kaiservilla in Bad Ischl, Austria-Hungary declares war on the Kingdom of Serbia – on the day a month after the shots of Sarajevo.

Karl Popper

110 years ago today, Karl Popper was born in Imperial Vienna.

Austrian Independence Treaty 57

Three years short of six decades ago today, the Austrian Independence Treaty came into force. Post-WWII occupation was over. One of the provisions read:

Austria shall have a democratic government based on elections by secret ballot and shall guarantee to all citizens free, equal and universal suffrage as well as the right to be elected to public office without discrimination as to race, sex, language, religion or political opinion.

And yes, then there is this:

Austria further undertakes to maintain the law of 3rd April, 1919, concerning the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine.

Schiff on Student Loans

Peter Schiff makes a case against student loans:

H/T: The LRC Blog

Spanish Professor Takes on Krugman

Professor Pedro Schwartz puts Keynesianism and Prof. Paul Krugman in their place:

H/T: The LRC Blog

Lausanne Treaty Signed

A year short of nine decades ago today, the Treaty of Lausanne was signed.

Taken for Granted

Over at Alternative Right, touching something some of us have known for years, writes Mr. Colin Liddell:

To understand this system more clearly, it might be better to describe it in more operational terms. It could be more effectively described as the "Taken For Granted" (TFG) system because, rather than aiming at anything so grand as actually uniting the nation, the system works by taking core voter groups for granted and then moving in as strongly as possible to hoover up the swing and uncommitted voters in the centre.

Ultimatum of July

Two years short of a century ago today, the Austro-Hungarian Empire issued its ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia.

Anniversary of July Attacks

His Majesty the King of Norway and other members of the Royal Family have today attended memorial services, a wreath-laying ceremony, and a national memorial concert (Royal Court announcement in Norwegian).

The blog MyRoyals has more photos.

The Selling of Central Bank Gold

Over at his Telegraph blog, Thomas Pascoe ponders the selling of British government gold reserves (H/T: Lew Rockwell).

The central bank of Norway, Norges Bank, sold off its remaining reserves in the first quarter of 2004, save some gold for exhibition purposes and of “historical value,” as the bank says in its FAQ on gold.

At headquarters of Norges Bank in Oslo there is a gold weight at the entrance – for weighing people going in and out. It is reportedly no longer in use.

Christina Croft: Shattered Crowns

Over at Tea at Trianon, Ms. Christina Croft has a guest post and introduces her trilogy Shattered Crowns, based on the great crimes that was the Great War.

She writes towards the end:

In the Shattered Crowns trilogy, I hope to have demonstrated the courage and humanity of these monarchs who were genuinely concerned for the welfare of their people and who endured many personal tragedies, and to cast a different light on the greatest crime of the twentieth century.

Freedom and the "Arab Spring"

Over at LewRockwell.com, Karel Beckman reflects on freedom, democracy, and the “Arab Spring.”

SCOTUS and Obamacare

In a complicated verdict (PDF), the Supreme Court of the United States ruled not to strike down the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the end of last month – save some details.

There is a lot of discussion out there on the issue, and I can of course not list it all. There is even speculation that the Chief Justice changed his mind at a very late stage, for instance, at The Volokh Conspiracy here, where I have joined in the comments.

Over at LewRockwell.com, Judge Andrew P. Napolitano reflects on the recent judgement.

The Judge and others:

More from the Judge:

U.S. Senator Rand Paul on the Peter Schiff Show:

Over at SCOTUSblog, Lyle Denniston ponders the possible enforcement of the “tax.” SCOTUSblog has more here, here, and here.

A piece of paper is supposed to protect you in a system where the sole source of power is the people? The Chief Justice himself has said that it is up to the people to throw out the elected officers if they don't like what they do.

On a related note, the authority of the Supreme Court of the United States to rule on the constitutionality of legislation was the first check on popular majority rule I learnt about in my conscious memory. This case is one of many exhibits of evidence since of its lack of effectiveness

Nepalese Restoration?

His Majesty King Gyanendra of Nepal wants to come back. So BBC News reports (H/T: Royal World) – a statement made in connection with His Majesty's birthday.

Telegraph Nepal also reports on lots of Nepali, including royalist, taking part in the birthday celebrations and demanding restoration.

Nepali Netbook reflects on restoration.

Please also feel free to visit or revisit my Nepal article at LRC, published on the 59^th birthday of His Majesty.

Franz Josef 182 Next Month

As an annual event, Bad Ischl celebrates Austria's Diamond Emperor, His Late Imperial and Royal Majesty Franz Josef I, around his birthday. This year is his 182^nd, which is in exactly one month – August 18. The festival takes place August 15 thru 18. More details can be found here.

Some videos from last year's event (in German, a lot of negative and careful interviewees on bringing the monarchy back but also an interview with the SGA):

There is also the Mitteleuropean People's Festival August 17 thru 19.

There may also be other events, but the Bad Ischl festival is arguably the main one.

Yekaterinburg, Remember!

Remember Yekaterinburg!

94 years ago today.

St. Germain

Four score and a dozen years today, the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye came into effect.

More Diamond Jubilee

I recently reported and reflected on the Diamond Jubilee.

Here's some more.

There was a flag of the Portuguese interregnal government in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.

Anamoly UK has some reflections on the jubilee. Anamoly UK also has a follow-up of a previous talk on monarchy.

The Fourth of July

Earlier this month the Americans celebrated Independence Day.

Royal World, The Mad Monarchist, and Anarcho-Monarchism have their reflections respectively.

I am probably closest to The Mad Monarchist of the three. My views on American independence have been more positive than they are today, although I have never been clearly republican – let alone anti-monarchist – in my politically conscious life.

I tend to sympathize with the American Loyalists, which should come as not surprise to readers of this weblog. Yes, there are deplorable aspects in and coming out of those United States, as this blog should bear witness, but there are good ones too.

As I said in a self-interview some years ago, I am an anti-Americanist but not anti-American. We may get back to more details on this later. It is a complicated issue.

Suffice it to say, I do believe it is a bit over the top – to put it mildly – to wear a mourning suit for the Fourth of July – unless the occasion is another appopriate one of course.

Where Go the Lords?

“Reform” of the House of Lords has been on the agenda this week.

This MP partly gets it right:

The Deputy Prime Minister was heckled:

The coalition's agenda suffered defeat, as The Guardian reports, and 91 “Conservative” MPs opposed.

The problem manifests itself in the manifestos of all three major British political parties, as we reflected on at The Monarchist just prior to the latest British general election.

Writes Mr. Gerald Warner over at Scotland on Sunday:

There is no need to reform the House of Lords, beyond punishing miscreants with expulsion and improving the calibre of those admitted. The chamber that urgently needs reform is the House of Commons, yet it presumes to interfere with its less reprehensible neighbour.

It is time the asinine criticisms of the Upper House were dismissed for the nonsense they are.

Over at his Mail Online blog, writes Mr. Peter Hitchens:

The key word here is ‘principled’. There has been (as he notes) some *pragmatic* opposition to the Bill, much along the lines of the campaign in Australia against the abolition of the monarchy a few years ago, under the cunning slogan ‘not *this* republic. This enabled republicans to vote against what was, even on their terms, a not-very attractive new constitution, without ceasing to regard themselves as republicans.

Mr. Hitchens goes on:

The idea that a mainly hereditary House was superior in every way (which it was, because it was entirely outside the power of the whips and had the right sort of powers for a revising chamber , that is delay and obstruction, but a veto only over major constitutional change) is now considered an absurdity by the so-called Conservative Party. As with every piece of ground this party gives up as it retreats before the social, cultural, sexual and ultimately political revolutionaries of the 1960s left, it has no understanding of, or liking for, the things it is supposed to defend. So once it has given them up, usually by running away from a fight, it never occurs to it to recapture the ground lost. It becomes, bit by bit, the image of its opponents, until it is actually part of the revolution itself.

An appointed House is in the end indefensible. On what principle is it chosen? Either you worship at the altar of 'democracy' or you defend the force of tradition and inheritance.

Further:

Here's a conservative principle, that tradition, inheritance and nobility are things which are good in themselves, coupled with a sensible scepticism about that upstart idea called ‘democracy’ – which in Parliament means that the members are chosen, controlled, rewarded and punished by a centrally-directed party machine subject to the executive.

Hitchens follows up in a later post:

The Commons might well be (in my view is ) completely under Downing Street’s thumb. But the old Lords were not. Could we say the same of an appointed House (which then seemed to be what we were going to get)? And can we say the same of an ‘elected House’, that is, one selected by the centralised party machines?

Where will the drive for democratic absolutism end?!?


Elsewhere: Royal World, The Mad Monarchist

Cross-posted at The Monarchist.

Ron Paul Going Forward

Ron Paul discusses the future with Neil Cavuto:

God Save the King!

Poll Results: Who Can Be Said to Be Living Most in the Past?

The results for the poll, asking who can be said to be living most in the past, ending at midnight between June and July, are as follows:

Total votes: 28.

• He who refuses to take real learning from the vices of modern government: 25 (89%)
• He who wants to restore some concept of old that has been wholly or partially abandoned: 3 (10%)

A new poll will be up shortly.

Investigation Ends

Two years short of a century ago today, Austria-Hungary concluded the investigation of the Sarajevo Assassination.

Informed Voters?

Idiocracy

Is human intelligence improving?

Happy Birthday, King Gyanandra!

His Majesty King Gyandendra of Nepal is 65 years old today.

Happy Birthday!

Edward Lisle Strutt

We mark 64 years since the passing of this weblog's icon, or mascot if you will, Lt.-Col. Strutt, of whom the late Archduke Otto had a fond memory.

Lt.-Col. Strutt gave a few helping hands to the Habsburg family.

Please feel free to browse posts on this great officer.

Bayonet Constitution Signed

Five quarters of a century ago today, the Bayonet Constitution was signed.

Archduke Otto

One year ago today, His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Otto passed on.

Victory in Liechtenstein!

The initiative to remove the right of the Prince of Liechtenstein to deny assent to popular referenda has failed – fortunately and expectedly. More than three fourths supported retention of this right. More than four fifths turned up for the referendum.

BBC News reports. So does The Globe and Mail. Google News has more.

Hoch leb' der Fürst vom Land!

This blogger has noticed that Liechtenstein is repeatedly referred to as the only monarchy in Europe where the monarch has any real powers to speak of left. Let us not forget the Principality of Monaco.


Elsewhere: Royal World (and pre-referendum)