Notes on Alan Schom's biography of Napoleon Bonaparte (HarperCollins 1997; highly recommended), as they relate to fraudulent accusations intentionally made for depraved political and personal reasons:
A failed assassination attempt of Napoleon in Paris occurred on 12/24/1800.
While Napoleon, Lannes, Bessières and Lauriston, uninjured, su…
Notes on Alan Schom's biography of Napoleon Bonaparte (HarperCollins 1997; highly recommended), as they relate to fraudulent accusations intentionally made for depraved political and personal reasons:
A failed assassination attempt of Napoleon in Paris occurred on 12/24/1800.
While Napoleon, Lannes, Bessières and Lauriston, uninjured, survived the blast without losing their composure, Joséphine "was hysterical for hours afterwards" (p. 274).
In the aftermath, "with the panic came the inevitable anonymous denunciations... as in the days of Robespierre and the Reign of Terror [1792-94] --- neighbors denouncing neighbors against whom they had [had] some long-standing grudge... well over thirty such denunciations reached [police chief] Dubois's desk alone, all... unsubstantiated... some even vicious, permitting thirty innocent names to enter police records.
'We must speak out, for if this awful system of cowardly anonymous denunciations is allowed to continue, who among our honest and law-abiding citizens cannot be tainted in this manner?' " (p. 275).
Nothing changes.
Atlantic Monthly magazine recently (this was written in September 2020) ran an accusation that Trump on a European tour of military bases and historical sites had uttered nasty slurs upon American soldiers who had fought in the battles.
Evidence? Six or eight anonymous sources. Needless to say, the outrage provoked was as intense as Limondin's, and for exactly the same reason.
(The issue died an almost instant death. As Ric Grenell famously lectured the jackals in the WH Press room, "No one is listening to you any more!")
Post Note (12/12/22): Ironically, Schom himself became a Trump Derangement Syndrome case study, and a serious lunatic about the issue, at that. I can only assume that this condition became evident long after 1997 when the book was published.
Notes on Alan Schom's biography of Napoleon Bonaparte (HarperCollins 1997; highly recommended), as they relate to fraudulent accusations intentionally made for depraved political and personal reasons:
A failed assassination attempt of Napoleon in Paris occurred on 12/24/1800.
While Napoleon, Lannes, Bessières and Lauriston, uninjured, survived the blast without losing their composure, Joséphine "was hysterical for hours afterwards" (p. 274).
In the aftermath, "with the panic came the inevitable anonymous denunciations... as in the days of Robespierre and the Reign of Terror [1792-94] --- neighbors denouncing neighbors against whom they had [had] some long-standing grudge... well over thirty such denunciations reached [police chief] Dubois's desk alone, all... unsubstantiated... some even vicious, permitting thirty innocent names to enter police records.
"Even... [chief police inspector] Limondin finally got fed up.
'We must speak out, for if this awful system of cowardly anonymous denunciations is allowed to continue, who among our honest and law-abiding citizens cannot be tainted in this manner?' " (p. 275).
Nothing changes.
Atlantic Monthly magazine recently (this was written in September 2020) ran an accusation that Trump on a European tour of military bases and historical sites had uttered nasty slurs upon American soldiers who had fought in the battles.
Evidence? Six or eight anonymous sources. Needless to say, the outrage provoked was as intense as Limondin's, and for exactly the same reason.
(The issue died an almost instant death. As Ric Grenell famously lectured the jackals in the WH Press room, "No one is listening to you any more!")
Post Note (12/12/22): Ironically, Schom himself became a Trump Derangement Syndrome case study, and a serious lunatic about the issue, at that. I can only assume that this condition became evident long after 1997 when the book was published.
[End 12/12/22 4:53 a.m.]