A toast: to the memory of my Uncle Aubin, first Acadian premier of a Canadian province.

My mother's father was from Prince Edward Island, where his family traced its roots to the first Acadian settlers in 1720. His sister was married to Aubin Arsenault, whom I had the pleasure of meeting when I was very young and he was very old, during the summer of Expo '67. My own children can say they are related to two American presidents on their mother's side, and to a premier of Prince Edward Island on their father's.

Today marks the 250th anniversary of the Acadians' exile from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. When the English came to round up the Acadians in Prince Edward Island in 1758, my mother's forbears are said to have hid in the woods and thus escaped deportation. Years later, Uncle Aubin was one of the first Acadians from the Maritimes to pay an official visit to the Acadians (or Cajuns) of Louisiana.

OK, he's running for president.

But Mitt Romney, when all's said and done, keeps coming down on the right side.

Remarkable that in Massachusetts it has taken a Mormon governor from a minority party to step into the breach and eloquently present the arguments that a Catholic politician – at least one Catholic politician, in a state dominated by them – once would have been expected to make.

This Atlantic Monthly profile doesn't hurt Romney's chances.

Not surprisingly, Romney's positioning is drawing criticism.

The white-bread Mitt is hard to hate (though some are resolved to do so) and it'll be interesting to see what Mitt caricature surfaces as a meme on the Left. Is Bob Dobbs sinister enough?

What Would Sir Winston Do?

* * *

"HOW DREADFUL are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property – either as a child, a wife, or a concubine – must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.

Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen; all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science – the science against which it had vainly struggled – the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."

Winston Churchill, The River War, 1899.

* * *

Winston Churchill, Neocon?

* * *

According to the Churchill Society:

The only people Churchill never forgave were those who, in the words he so often used, "fell beneath the level of events."

And so today, as jihadi assassins press a campaign against civilization, droll sophisticates continue to amuse themselves by portraying the US president as an idiot. Such clever detachment.

On the same day the Boston Globe op-ed page runs a column by Jonathan Power blaming the London bombings on Britain's role in Iraq and its legacy of empire, jihadi car bombers kill and injure scores of fellow Muslims in Egypt's "city of peace."

* * *

"Oh well, we beat one lot of fascist scum through sheer bloody-mindedness and vast quantities of strong tea. I guess we'll just have to do it again." A Brit e-mailer to The Corner.


* * *

Nota Bene: "The sidewalks where terror breeds" * Cox & Forkum on multiculturalism * Victor Davis Hanson: "Enough is enough" * The Spectator: The Left's War on Britishness: * "Can we rid this world of this cult of death?" * Close the madrassas

You've heard of RINOs, who now have their own webring. But what of the DINOs?

Here's a group the latter would appreciate: the Henry Jackson Society.

The British-based society's principles: that liberal democracy should be spread across the world; that as the world’s most powerful democracies, the United States and the European Union – under British leadership – must shape the world more actively by intervention and example; that such leadership requires political will, a commitment to universal human rights and the maintenance of a strong military with global expeditionary reach; and that too few of our leaders in Britain and the rest of Europe today are ready to play a role in the world that matches our strength and responsibilities.

Interesting that Scoop Jackson's legacy is being trumpeted in Cambridge, England (not Mass.).

Not many remain to do so in the Democratic Party here.

A query to readers: Is it possible for the DINO to survive in the Democratic Party? Should the DINO still try? Is there a place for the ancestral Democrat who upholds the FDR-Truman-JFK-Scoop Jackson tradition; who regards America as a force for good that should defend and promote democracy around the world; who empathizes with average Americans, and would call on them to sacrifice in the name of a great shared cause? Or is extinction the DINO's inevitable fate?

UPDATE: Charles Krauthammer pens a piece of epic sweep in the WSJ on "The Neoconservative Convergence." (Via Llama)

No Concessions

The Spectator:

People who are planning to blow themselves up and to murder in the name of a mediaeval vision cannot be reached by argument. They have put themselves beyond it. As a society, our first priority must be to catch them and lock them up so that they cannot do further damage…

Everyone in Britain, of whatever religion, should be proud of the tolerant society that we now have. But it is a precious and fragile heritage, and it will not survive if it is taken for granted.

Boris Johnson:

You can’t claim to be draining the swamp in the Middle East when the mosquitoes are breeding quite happily in Yorkshire.

Niall Ferguson:

The problem today is not immigration per se; it is the fact that a pernicious ideology has been allowed to infiltrate Europe's immigrant communities. And that has happened because we have blindly allowed our country to be a haven for fanatics.

Elsewhere:

Stanley Kurtz: Multi multiculturalism links.

Victor Davis Hanson: An interview.

Gerard Baker: Why blame the terrorists?

Nota Bene

The David Project: Countering the ideological assault on Israel and its supporters on North America’s campuses.

The Judeo-Christian Alliance: Opposes the use of churches as megaphones for anti-Israel propaganda.

Victor Davis Hanson: The Left's false narrative persists.

Fr James Schall, SJ: The One War, the Real War.

Mona Charen: Can you fight an idea?

Hugh Hewitt: Breeding stupidity.

Clifford May: A few liberal hawks.

Jeff Vanke: An American Foreign Legion for Iraq?

The NYT reviews Christopher Hitchens' new book on Jefferson.

The Washington Post Magazine profiles two bloggers, Barbara O'Brien, a liberal, and Betsy Newmark, a conservative. (Via Power Line)

History Carnival XII is up.

Microcosmographia Academica: A classic revisited. (Via Cliopatria)

"La Marseillaise"

French lyrics:

Couplet I
Allons enfants de la Patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé!
Contre nous de la tyrannie,
L'étendard sanglant est levé, (bis)
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
Egorger vos fils et vos compagnes!

Refrain
Aux armes, citoyens,
Formez vos batallions,
Marchons, marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!

Couplet II
Que veut cette horde d'esclaves
De traîtres, de rois conjurés?
Pour qui ces ignobles entraves
Ces fers dès longtemps préparés? (bis)
Français, pour nous, ah! quel outrage
Quels transports il doit exciter?
C'est nous qu'on ose méditer
De rendre à l'antique esclavage!

Refrain

Couplet III
Quoi ces cohortes étrangères!
Feraient la loi dans nos foyers!
Quoi ! ces phalanges mercenaires
Terrasseraient nos fils guerriers! (bis)
Grand Dieu ! par des mains enchaînées
Nos fronts sous le joug se ploieraient
De vils despotes deviendraient
Les maîtres des destinées.

Refrain

Couplet IV
Tremblez, tyrans et vous perfides
L'opprobre de tous les partis
Tremblez ! vos projets parricides
Vont enfin recevoir leurs prix! (bis)
Tout est soldat pour vous combattre
S'ils tombent, nos jeunes héros
La France en produit de nouveaux,
Contre vous tout prêts à se battre

Refrain

Couplet V
Français, en guerriers magnanimes
Portez ou retenez vos coups!
Épargnez ces tristes victimes
A regret s'armant contre nous (bis)
Mais ces despotes sanguinaires,
Mais ces complices de Bouillé
Tous ces tigres qui, sans pitié
Déchirent le sein de leur mère!

Refrain

Couplet VI
Amour sacré de la Patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs
Liberté, Liberté chérie,
Combats avec tes défenseurs! (bis)
Sous nos drapeaux que la victoire
Accoure à tes mâles accents,
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire!

Refrain

Couplet VII
Nous entrerons dans la carrière
Quand nos aînés n'y seront plus,
Nous y trouverons leur poussière
Et la trace de leurs vertus (bis)
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre
Que de partager leur cercueil,
Nous aurons le sublime orgueil
De les venger ou de les suivre!

Refrain


English translation:

Verse I
Arise children of our fatherland,
[For] the day of glory has arrived!
Against us, tyranny,
Has raised its bloody flag,
Do you hear in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers?
They are coming into your midst
To slit the throats of your sons and wives!

Chorus
To arms, citizens!
Form your battalions!
March, march!
Let impure blood
Soak the furrows [of our fields]

Verse II
What does this horde of slaves want,
Of traitors and conspiratorial kings?
For whom these vile chains
These long-prepared irons?
Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage
What methods must be taken?
It is us they dare plan
To return to the old slavery!

Chorus

Verse III
What! These foreign cohorts!
They would make laws in our courts!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would cut down our warrior sons
Good Lord! By chained hands
Our brow would yield under the yoke
The vile despots would have themselves be
The masters of destiny

Chorus

Verse IV
Tremble, tyrants and traitors
The shame of all good men
Tremble! Your parricidal schemes
Will receive their just reward
Against you we are all soldiers
If they fall, our young heroes
France will bear new ones
Ready to join the fight against you

Chorus

Verse V
Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors
Bear or hold back your blows
Spare these sad victims
That they regret taking up arms against us
But not these bloody despots
These accomplices of Bouillé
All these tigers who mercilessly
Ripped out their mothers' wombs

Chorus

Verse VI
Sacred patriotic love
Lead [and] support our avenging arms
Liberty, cherished liberty
Fight [back] with your defenders
Under our flags, let victory
Hurry to your manly tone
So that your enemies, in their last breath [before death]
See your triumph and our glory!

Chorus

Verse VII
We shall enter into the excavation
When our elders will no longer be there
There we shall find their ashes [lit. dust]
And the mark of their virtues
[We are] Much less jealous of surviving them
Than of sharing their coffins
[For] We shall have the sublime pride
Of avenging or joining [lit. following] them

Chorus

Clip: John Philip Sousa

UPDATE: More on the bloody lyrics of "La Marseillaise," with a bit of Burke thrown in, from last year at Matthew Yglesias * The annual Bastille Day block party returns to Marlborough Street in Boston on Friday night * A reprise of last year's Lafayette Escadrille tribute

Ted Williams, 1941

Here's Ted Williams crossing the plate after hitting the winning homer in the 1941 All Star Game at Detroit. If MLB gets its clips working, you can see footage of the Splendid Splinter hitting the fabled round-tripper in '41, and of Reggie Jackson, 30 years later, hitting one off the Tiger Stadium roof in the '71 Midsummer Classic.

Meantime, if tonight's Home Run Derby left you nostalgic for the original TV version from the late '50s, before the hype took over and $500 was some long green, you can see a clip of vintage Wally Post-vs-Dick Stuart by scrolling all the way to the bottom of this page at TV Party.

Elsewhere, Sheila O'Malley pays tribute to the Impossible Dream Red Sox of 1967, while also recalling EB White's birthday. She'll be added to the favorites posthaste. How is it she wasn't there before now? (Via the Llamas)

We must recognise that we have a great inheritance in our possession,
which represents the prolonged achievement of the centuries;
that there is not one of our simple uncounted rights today
for which better men than we are have not died on the scaffold or the battlefield.
We have not only a great treasure;
we have a great cause.
Are we taking every measure within our power to defend that cause?

Winston Churchill
Paris
September 1936

Much more Churchilliana, suitable to the times: Churchill Society, London * Churchill Centre

* * *

What terrorists do: "They are the enemies of democracy and the enemies of all humankind. They must be fought till they have been defeated," writes Norman Geras. (Via Andrew Sullivan)

We Are All Britons Today

Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country, and in other civilised nations throughout the world. Tony Blair

* * *

News and comment on the London bombings:

BBC * Times * Project Nothing * Bloggers via WSJ and London Times

Andrew Sullivan * NY Sun * Llama Butchers * Andrew Cusack

I don't have to tell you that the one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has been erased like a blackboard, only to be rebuilt and then erased again. But baseball has marked time while America has rolled by like a procession of steamrollers. It is the same game that Moonlight Graham played in 1905. It is a living part of history, like calico dresses, stone crockery, and threshing crews eating at outdoor tables. It continually reminds us of what once was, like an Indian-head penny in a handful of new coins. WP Kinsella, Shoeless Joe

* * *

How about those Nats? And what kind of baseball karma or mojo (or call it what you will) would be at stake in a Washington-White Sox World Series?

The peculiar logic of the name "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" informs Jeff Kallman's creative new method of keeping the big-league standings.

In the New York Times: A remembrance of Shea Stadium, "worst ballpark in the world."

Around the Horn

* Are you an extremist? Take the test at ShrinkWrapped.

* Our Girl in Chicago waxes nostalgic for Ernie Harwell while listening to the Chisox vs Tigers, and excerpts Mary McCarthy on the vibrant spirit in a French convent school.

* At the Claremont Review of Books, the legacy of Wm F Buckley is appraised; seven historians debunk Queer Theory on the "gay" Lincoln, and Victor Davis Hanson has a few college presidents for lunch.

* On Evelyn Waugh, con and pro:

Stephen Baldwin

Bleak Mouse: Waugh was not a conservative; he was an arch-reactionary. He was not a profound thinker (though he had his moments); he was a bloody crank. To one who complained of his hypocrisy at being both a Catholic and a horrid person, he is said to have replied, "Think how much worse I'd be if I weren't Catholic." But I'd rather not…I loved Waugh when I was a young radical. I continued to love his works when I was a silly liberal. I don't admire his works now because I'm conservative, but because they are brilliant and quite funny.

* Via Armavirumque, Sir Arnold Lunn on Waugh's snobbery:

"One of the most amusing afternoons I ever spent with Waugh began in the London Library. He took me around in a taxi to White's, which was only five minutes' walk on foot, and ordered a bottle of champagne in the bar. To the barman, he said, 'I'd like you to produce a really nourishing sandwich for my friend. He's an author, but not successful like I am, and he looks rather underfed.'

"We took a specially chartered limousine to Paddington where he missed his train. Back to White's where Waugh ordered another bottle of champagne. He asked me to come down to spend the night with him in the country, but I never accept that kind of invitation after the second bottle of champagne. I did, however, again drive with him to Paddington. 'How do you propose,' he asked, 'to go back to the slum in which you live?' I replied that I'd take the Underground. 'No, my friend,' said Waugh. 'You shall go back in my car. This is a day in fairyland for you.'"

* A profile of Mark Helprin, literary warrior:

Helprin is a classicist. He believes in history, tradition, and eternal verities. He values aesthetic symmetries and the literary forms the centuries have passed down to us. To Helprin, the principles of modernism are fatal to art, and he has no truck with the avant-garde. “The avant-garde are frauds,” he bluntly declares. “Modern literature is all cool and detached, even though a lot of modern writers are passionate about their politics. To me, passion should be for literature, and reason and detachment for politics.

“A lot of people hate heroes,” he continues. “I was criticized for portraying people who are brave, honest, loving, intelligent. That was called weak and sentimental. People who dismiss all real emotion as sentimentality are cowards. They’re afraid to commit themselves, and so they remain ‘cool’ for the rest of their lives, until they’re dead—then they’re really cool.”

The Luckiest Man

Sixty-six years ago, at Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig, the Iron Horse, stricken with the illness that would claim his life at 37, said farewell in what has been called Baseball's Gettysburg Address.

I've been listening in the car to the audio book version of the new Gehrig biography, Luckiest Man. Driving is tough with your eyes misting over.

* * *

For the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break.

Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

I have been in ballparks for 17 years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day?

...Sure, I’m lucky.

When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift - that’s something.

When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies - that’s something.

When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter - that’s something.

When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body - it’s a blessing.

When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed - that’s the finest I know.

So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.

Happy Fourth of July: We're off to Cape Ann. The Library of Congress has the "Stars and Stripes" and other patriotic melodies covered. Wishing all a festive holiday!