France General Discussion IV: Yellow Fever

[parochial boy]

What about the whole "abolish ENA" thing huh?

I must admit I am so torn between thinking it is an excellent idea, and thinking well, it's Macron so it's obviously a horrendous idea.

Better analysis is probably about what would replace it, and knowing what Macron's ideology is, it probably means recruiting a load of private sector types as haut fonctionnaires, with all their conflicts of interest and ideological "management" theories. Which is not exactly going to be better...

[parochial boy]

Really, I think LR's existential crisis is much worse than the PS's right now. As in there is always going to be a left-wing vote, as evidenced by the fact that, despite the complete éclatement of the left, they still got 35% combined at the Euro elections; and neither LFI or EELV really seem to offer enough to go the whole way (as in both Mélenchon and the greens have blown it in the past...).

While LR are stuck between a Macron who has sucked up pretty much all of the traditional "right" vote and RN. As in, they were barely eve above average in the ex-Catholic departments in the West. So who even votes for them any more? a handful of bcbg cathos in the Hauts-de-Seine, Yvelines and rich suburbs of Lyon and Paris?

[parochial boy]

In the ongoing saga of privatising Paris Airport - as the bill launched by both right and left against Macron's plan has gone through, a petition has been launched to potentially hold the first ever référendum d’initiative partagée to block the privatisation.

All it needs to do for the referendum to be held is collect the signatures of 10% of registered voters, or 4.7 million in all. About 350'000 have been collected since the launch, and the limit must be reached by the 12th March 2020. lol, I mean, good luck.

[parochial boy]

Progressive? Arguable, it's hard not to look at Colonial Algeria and think about the quasi-apartheid situation it had between pieds-noirs and "natives".

With regards to the Algerian migrants in the 50s/60s - lots of them wound up housed in huge shanty towns, eg the one in Nanterre, before being shunted out to badly designed, bady connected, cheaply built banlieues that the original inhabitants were already fleeing in droves. Really quite obviously sowing the seeds of the issues that exist today.

Immgration from the West Africa and Sahel was a much more recent phenomenon; really picking up from the 80s/90s - the legal technicalities of how those immigrants came varies a lot more than the original Maghrebin wave (some illegal immigration that was later regularised; some asylum seekers; some student or work visas; lots of regroupement familial).

[parochial boy]

Worth at least mentioning today’s general strike surely? Inspired by a set of pension reforms (details tbc), but the country is theoretically on shut down until further notice...

[parochial boy]

My experience of trains in provincial France is that services are so, er, sparse that you'd hardly even notice the difference. That might have something to do with what the gilets jaunes were complaining about?

(have on several occasions had to wait three plus hours in Caen to try and get a train in the general direction of Brittany. Even then, the furthest I ever managed to get was Dol)

[parochial boy]

Édouard Philippe deciding to 49.3 the pension reform is worth marking surely? Nothing like taking advantage of people being distracted in order to override the concepts of representative democracy.

[parochial boy]

https://www.letemps.ch/culture/albert-uderzo-dessinateur-dasterix-decede

[parochial boy]

One thing Macron has done though, and it remains to be seen if this is a good or bad idea, is effectively tried to polarize the debate between his centre ground and the FN/FI souverainisme. He loves the fact that a prominent philospher like Michel Onfray is trying to unite intelllectually all the anti-EU, anti-globalist Right and Left. Its exactly the cleavage he wants to dominate French politics. He's left little space electorally for the old PS-LR and their favoured cleavages and old "traditional  local vote" model by virtue of his victory alone, which whether you like him or not one must recognised is one of the more remarkable revolutionary achievements and turning points in the French Fifth Republic.

Thing is, you say this, and Macron clearly wants it, and the more tedious and pompous elements of the French media have been pushing this for years and years, but... it remains the case that the Macron presidency has been marked, up until now, by contestation over social issues (and I'm using the term the way it is used in French here). That is, things like the gilets jaunes, the cheminot status reforms, the pension reforms, the hospital reforms (and now the marked impact of Covid on social inequalities) have been the dominating themes. All of these are traditional bread-and-butter left v right issues, and the questions over sovereignty or immigration have falled off the agenda.

Add to that, Macron's 2019 electorate was very much a traditional centre-right electorate composed principally of the highly educated, the wealthy, the elderly, the rich suburbs of the big cities and the old catholic vote in places like the Grand-Ouest and Alsace. An impressively like for like replica in fact.

So a pretentious navel gazing intellectual like Onfray, the type of guy the French oh so love to produce way too many of, can have his little pet project with his boring, has been old friends like Chevènement and De Villiers; but he isn't going to make the fact that the French don't like the fact they are getting poorer go away as an issue.

[parochial boy]

There's been rumours of a wildcard like Cyril Hanouna* standing. Which Macron apparently finds more worrying than a challenge from Le Pen if he manages to pull a big bunch of dissaffected/gilets jaunes type votes. That, er, remains to be seen though - to put it mildly.

Of course, Panzergirl was also around 30% two years out from the last election, and Juppé was the favourite. So, you know, counting chickens and unhatched eggs and all that sort of stuff.

*He presents a tv talk-show type thing called "Touche pas à mon poste!", which is quite popular with the sort of demographic that would have him qualified as "populist" should he choose to run

[parochial boy]

There's been rumours of a wildcard like Cyril Hanouna* standing. Which Macron apparently finds more worrying than a challenge from Le Pen if he manages to pull a big bunch of dissaffected/gilets jaunes type votes. That, er, remains to be seen though - to put it mildly.

Of course, Panzergirl was also around 30% two years out from the last election, and Juppé was the favourite. So, you know, counting chickens and unhatched eggs and all that sort of stuff.

*He presents a tv talk-show type thing called "Touche pas à mon poste!", which is quite popular with the sort of demographic that would have him qualified as "populist" should he choose to run

I doubt it will be Hanouna. But with Bigard already throwing his hat in the ring and withdrawing it you really get the sense that a Coluche-style candidate is dying to ride the anti-political wave. Son-Forget, somebody you will likely be familiar with, is perhaps in pole position.

I also think, while ruling out people like Zemmour and Onfray, eventually one of the famous talking heads/chroniqueurs of French politics will also throw their hat into the ring and do 10-15 per cent.

I think Macron's greatest fear though, before Panzergirl and whatever clown decides to run on behalf of all the Monsieur Blancs of France, is his own PM. After all Macron himself stabbed his own President in the back. And Philippe is somewhat more popular than Macron was as finance minister.

Hmm, yes Clément Viktorovitch, one of the tiny handful of people on French TV that are remotely worth listening to, did quite a delightful take down of Bigard a few weeks ago. I agree he is more likely to stand, but imo Hanouna would be more interesting (if that's the right word), purely by way of seeming a bit more out of the box. Bigard feels just more like a bog standard french three-quarters celebrity with an over developed opinion of himself.

Would love to see Philippe stand, that would be delightfully messy. And it would be beautiful seeing one of the CNews fascists crash and burn on 2% or something.

Of course, Panzergirl was also around 30% two years out from the last election, and Juppé was the favourite. So, you know, counting chickens and unhatched eggs and all that sort of stuff.

Would you say Melenchon is still the main left wing hope now?

I have no idea to be honest. Between him, maybe one of the big city mayors (Piolle? he's the EÉLV mayor of Grenoble, and there seem to be rumours hanging around), or frankly some hitherto unknown coming out of the wordwork as there really isn't much I'm seeing that is particularly inspiring.

[parochial boy]

And on a somewhat related note, Didier Raoult is now alongside Nicolas Hulot and Édouard Philippe as one of the most popular "political" figures in the country.

I can't see this ending badly at all 🙃

[parochial boy]

And on a somewhat related note, Didier Raoult is now alongside Nicolas Hulot and Édouard Philippe as one of the most popular "political" figures in the country.

I can't see this ending badly at all 🙃

A man can dream, if he likes nightmares.

Je n’ai pas besoin de vous expliquer mon programme. Déjà que vous êtes bien trop incompétent pour le comprendre

[parochial boy]

I saw the headline "Macron appoints Castex" and for a brief moment thought Macron had actually gone and made a start-up Prime Minister.

I've never heard of the guy, and from a brief search, there is absolutely no reason I ever would have heard of him.

On the other hand, a 2022 with Macron, Philippe, Le Pen, a Hanouna/Raoult/Bigard and at least three "Union de la gauche" candidates is going to be a joy to watch. Because at least two of them are going to wind up humiliated, and it will be so well deserved.

[parochial boy]

Borne as well - once close to Ségolène Royal. That one at least is something of an improvement. I suspect that Yann Barthès is the only person who isn't glad to see the back of Pénicaud.

[parochial boy]

Most understanding of French cultural trends can be explained by the fact that they are a nation of innately contrarian loudmouths who love to complain about everything.

And personally, when I think of nude bathing, I think of 60 year old women and obese Germans. I suspect a lot of people have that image too, and is why it's not so fashionable any more.

[parochial boy]

Bit of a yikes article from "Valeurs" Actuelles causing a big scandal today. Although in reality, its probably not that surprising given the radicalisation of much of the French mainstream media in recent years.

[parochial boy]

Bit of a yikes article from "Valeurs" Actuelles causing a big scandal today. Although in reality, its probably not that surprising given the radicalisation of much of the French mainstream media in recent years.

What was it?

Picturing Danielle Obono, a black FI, députée as a slave so as to "show role of Africans in the transatlantic slave trade"

[parochial boy]

New ecologist mayor of Lyon Grégory Doucet creates a bit of controversy by calling the Tour de France "macho and polluting".

At the risk of editorialising somewhat, he's an elitist pillock and this is why EÉLV will never win a presidential election.

[parochial boy]

You know, I feel the real victim here is still the woman who had a whole article fantasizing about her being sold into slavery in a major national magazine. Some debate about whether or not to punish the author just detracts from the fact that we’re right to be horrified by how much of a dark place the French mainstream media has gone to these days

See the latest installment where there has been collective outrage on the part of the usual pseudo républicain bien-pensants over the idea that someone could appear in parliament while veiled. Or worse, cook on instagram while veiled.

Some convoluted free speech thing just lets valeurs actuelles pretend that they’re the victims. When they’re not, they’re the aggressors

[parochial boy]

https://twitter.com/MVCDLM/status/1311955167550595074

I suppose it's a relief that he didn't come up with anything too overtly designed at inflaming tensions. But it's pretty much exactly the kind of moral panic you'd expect in a country whose media discourse is set entirely by CNews, Sud Radio, Zemmour, Charlotte D'Ornellas and all their fascist friends.

Pretty scary what's going on over the border to be honest.

[parochial boy]

I've got some bad news for you I'm afraid. That is an LFI affiliated channel, but is fairly representative of what most, let's say, non-establishment left coverage is like.

In the case where the above doesn't seem especially woke to you... well, I refer you to Zinneke's earlier post. We're not talking about burqas or full face covering or anything like that, we're talking about the level of hysteria that merely appearing in public wearing a hijab generates in France at the moment.

If there are people actively pushing for parallel societies and "separatism" in France right now, then it's Marlène Schiappa and Natacha Polony's fault, not Imane Bounes's.

[parochial boy]

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has labeled the attackers as "little bullies"

This made me laugh out loud actually. Subject of expertise for Poison Dwarf Junior there or what?

[parochial boy]

So anyway, now that the Muslim world is boycotting France; Blanquer is in the Journal du Dimanche ad verbatim repeating Lepéniste points about "Islamogauchisme"; and the poisonous shït sack has taken a break from sexually assaulting women* to deam the existence of halal (an Kosher) aisles in supermarkets as being proof of "separatism" and a grave threat to the republic.

It's all going well, huh? Even Marine Le Pen isn't actually sure whether she is currently the president or not.

*présumé innocent jusqu'à preuve du contraire

[parochial boy]

As much as it is a cliché, I think that this is a time for “when they go low, we go high”. I don’t know exactly what these sections of the Muslim world aim to achieve with their anti-free speech campaigns, which are quite frankly absurd in the levels of hypocrisy they approach, but the West should not respond by stigmatising Muslims at large in their own countries - perhaps this is the response the fundamentalists desire, as it increases radicalisation. Easier said than done, I suppose.

The thing is, they make themselves such easy targets right now because all their high words about laïcité and freedom and all the rest seem to be contradicted by the way they behave at home.

So actual government ministers actively participating in a media discourse aimed at targetting, not islamism the ideology, but any visible sign of being a Muslim; combined with the same enthusiastic promotion of a narrative that essentially says that "anyone who complains about stigmatising Muslims is literally supporting Islamic terrorism"; combined with a conception of laïcité that only seems to be worried about one particular religion (catholic private schools? no problem, carry on). And you have something that is quite frightening in terms of how acceptable it is to express, well, left wing opinions. Let alone what it would feel like for someone who actually is a Muslim.

I mean, a boycott aginst  "how dare those dastardly French show caricatures of the prophet". Yes, it's and risible, and pathetic. But for the French government to stand up as the great defenders of liberty, and then to actually go about stigmatising, well, people's religions or their political beliefs in the name of this liberty... As much as Erdogan clearly has no real interest in free speech, and is more worried about scoring political points against a man he spent the summer in a pitched battle about the Meditteranean with; it makes his point for him.

And, it isn't just that. Like I said, it's frightening in it's own right. It's frightening to see where attitudes in France about having the wrong political beliefs or the wrong religion have gone. And when you have a government minister, serving in a liberal adminstration expressing his disgust that Muslims are able to go to a supermarket and buy halal food. Well it's frightening to see the whole country adopt this sort far right rhetoric as part of its own national story, and into its political mainstream.