God Save the Queen

“When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.”  Thomas Paine

As I watch Canada, thoughts go back to my undergrad days, when Trudeau was a Prime Minister – that’s Pierre, not Justin, and the protest movement as the sixties became the seventies was anti-war, not independent truckers with a Freedom Convoy.  Folks were headed to Canada to dodge the draft, not to protest mask and vaccination mandates.  It’s important to remember I live about 20 miles south of Canada – Canadian politics affects me.  There’s a reason Eureka is occasionally called Tijuana del Norte.  As a community, we depend on Canadian trade.

Pierre had some good remarks – my memory includes “I’ll bloody well not tell you whom I seduce.” – but I can’t find that one online.  I can find “Who is it that said that ‘you have not converted a man because you have silenced him?’ This is true of the use of the military on people.”  Another Pierre quote, possibly relevant today is “There are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don’t like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is go and bleed. It is more important to keep law and order in society than to be worried about weak-kneed people Society must take every means at its disposal to defend itself against the emergence of a parallel power which defies the elected power.”  I’m pretty sure the son won’t have as many good quotes as the father.

I’ve spent most of my lifetime respecting the Queen.  For quibblers, that’s Queen Elizabeth II.  For me, there is but one Queen and she doesn’t need introductions.  I like, I respect the lady.  But I remember that virtue is not hereditary.  In her case, Charles and Andrew have spent most of my lifetime demonstrating Thomas Paine’s 1776 observation.

Admitted, there have been times when I kind of envied Prince Charles his ease of decisions on career choices.  He was going to grow up and be king of England.  He didn’t need to write and revise resumes, or plan for interviews. His Master’s from Cambridge just required him to stay out of jail for six or seven years after he got his BA.  Still, at 72, retired for the past five years, and with a resume packed with interesting job, I think my career path was better.  Prince Charles is a year older, and still hasn’t got the job he was born to fill.  His record doesn’t seem to be above reproach, so it may be that, as Thomas Paine pointed out, “Virtue is not hereditary.”  On the other hand, I’ve seen colleagues and neighbors with equally nasty, but much less publicized divorces.

Then we get to Prince Andrew.  Last month I read that, while he is still titled, His Royal Highness the Duke of York, he’s been stripped of his other royal titles and tasks because he’s under charges resulting from Epstein scandals.  Thomas Paine was right – “Virtue is not hereditary.”

God Save the Queen.  I’m not sure even God can save Justin Trudeau.