A Revolution in France?

 

I don’t have much to say about this other than, it is must-watch, even if you don’t understand French (as I don’t). You’ll get the gist and maybe even be tempted to stand up and sing La Marseillaise!

Transcript and more available at PowerLine from Steven Hayward.

Donald Trump is a patriot, but this Éric Zemmour fellow makes you long for a more … cultured leader. Someone who understands what it means in depth and breadth to be American. In any case, it looks like France is getting a new president. God bless them and bonne chance!

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  1. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Hans Gruber Pfizer President (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    Hans Gruber Pfizer President (View Comment):

    She’s really lost her mind. Trump broke her.

    But remember: the vaccine is harmless: get your Christmas booster with free egg nog. Call Hans at Nakatomi Plaza any time. We deliver.

    Dude. Not here. Not now. We have a member who lost her baby to the virus — not the vaccine. This thread isn’t about that.

    • #31
  2. Barfly Member
    Barfly
    @Barfly

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):
    The idea that western civilization could be saved by France strikes me as a bit odd. But it probably shouldn’t, I suppose…

    French philosophers have been the bane of liberty for over two centuries.

    German philosophers too.

    • #32
  3. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Hans Gruber Pfizer President (View Comment):
    Zemmour is what he is: a nimble provocateur with a fine line of gabble. If that is what he is, that is all he is.

    That thought crossed my mind.  I hope he is more than just an inspiring speaker…

    • #33
  4. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Barfly (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):
    The idea that western civilization could be saved by France strikes me as a bit odd. But it probably shouldn’t, I suppose…

    French philosophers have been the bane of liberty for over two centuries.

    German philosophers too.

    Germans, period. I say that as one from German stock. But, looking back through history, is there a single people more disruptive to the good?? To unity? To freedom? To economic common sense? I can’t think of any. 

    • #34
  5. Caryn Thatcher
    Caryn
    @Caryn

    Hans Gruber Pfizer President (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    Hans Gruber Pfizer President (View Comment):

    She’s really lost her mind. Trump broke her.

    But remember: the vaccine is harmless: get your Christmas booster with free egg nog. Call Hans at Nakatomi Plaza any time. We deliver.

    Quote from the linked article:

    “None of the women who lost their babies were vaccinated.”

    What the hell is wrong with you????

    • #35
  6. colleenb Member
    colleenb
    @colleenb

    The article in First Things is in August/September and is by Nathan Pinkoski.

    • #36
  7. Caryn Thatcher
    Caryn
    @Caryn

    Hang On (View Comment):

    Phil Turmel (View Comment):
    Phil Turmel @ PhilTurmel 32 Minutes Ago

    I read the translation at PowerLine this morning. Impressive, I thought.

    I just watched the video, and listened with my imperfect french ear. Holy smokes! The translation seems accurate enough, but does not–perhaps cannot–do justice to that speech as delivered. I’ll find out from my in-laws over there what they think about him, but I have nothing but admiration for Monsieur Zemmour. His winning their Presidency would be very, very good for France.

    ( His diction is perfect, too. I might have missed 5%, but just on vocabulary. )

    Absolutely what I thought as well about his use of language, imagery, history, and the future. I used to love to hear DeGaulle speak. This is what Zemmour reminded me of. His use of young people while tying it to tradition, I thought was brilliant. I’ve always been an admirer of French tradition and this shows its strength.

    He is a journalist and called himself a Cassandra in his address.

    He has baggage (an illegitimate child from an affair), but I’m not sure how much that hurts. He doesn’t have the baggage of the le Pens, which is pretty reprehensible.

    I doubt he will ever use ‘iel’.

    Zemmour also is going to face a very nasty campaign against him.

    That isn’t his only baggage.  Some disturbing stuff.

    • #37
  8. drlorentz Member
    drlorentz
    @drlorentz

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    But our history of slavery and racism makes such a speech impossible

    No. Cowardice is what makes such a speech impossible. 

    Stop accepting the moral framing of the Left. All cultures have had racism and slavery, and many still do. Slavery persists in Africa; China is one of the most racist nations in the world. Miraculously, this does not inhibit them in the least from lecturing everyone else.

    Nations are entitled to a national identity as outlined by M. Zemmour. It’s hardly true that the French nation engaged in zero imperialism and oppression of African peoples. Yet, somehow, he finds the strength to speak out. NormieCons have been so cowed by the Left that everything must be prefaced by an apology for muh racism. Unless and until they free themselves from these shackles, conservatives will continue to occupy the lowest moral ground and be readily overrun by the forces of darkness. 

    • #38
  9. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):
    But our history of slavery and racism makes such a speech impossible, I think.  It would be immediately attacked as racist somehow, even though America has been a diverse population for a very long time.  A lot of Americans are not white, which Democrats seem to forget from time to time.

    Overcoming slavery is a plus that France does not have.

    And he’s not afraid to be spat on.  Same here.

    • #39
  10. genferei Member
    genferei
    @genferei

    Don’t confuse Zemmour’s good ideas and entertaining provocations with the man himself. He also has some dodgy ideas and questionable connections. (Not nearly as dodgy or questionable as the frankly repellent Le Pen, of course.)

    Sadly Macron seems a shoe-in. 

    • #40
  11. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member
    9thDistrictNeighbor
    @9thDistrictNeighbor

    You can turn on the closed captioning for the video…fairly accurate.

    I note that the second movement of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony was also used in the (in)famous video by now-canceled Fr. James Altman, which I post below in honor of Mississippi.

     

     

    • #41
  12. colleenb Member
    colleenb
    @colleenb

    Hans Gruber Pfizer President (View Comment):

    I was going to say – I know Claire B will not like Zemmour at all.

    • #42
  13. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    drlorentz (View Comment):
    All cultures have had racism and slavery, and many still do.

    The media doesn’t talk about it, but those kids separated from their “families” at the border are likely to be trafficked for either sex or labor. Democrats still support slavery, they’ve just gotten good at selling it as “compassion.”

    • #43
  14. Brian Clendinen Inactive
    Brian Clendinen
    @BrianClendinen

    MarciN (View Comment):

    Some demographics:

    France Demographics

    A law from 1872 prohibits the French Republic from conducting a census by making any official distinction between its citizens in terms of race or religious beliefs,

    I wish we had the same law. Since Race does not matter.

     

    • #44
  15. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):
    The idea that western civilization could be saved by France strikes me as a bit odd. But it probably shouldn’t, I suppose…

    French philosophers have been the bane of liberty for over two centuries.

    Perhaps 3 1/2. 

    • #45
  16. Barfly Member
    Barfly
    @Barfly

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    Barfly (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):
    The idea that western civilization could be saved by France strikes me as a bit odd. But it probably shouldn’t, I suppose…

    French philosophers have been the bane of liberty for over two centuries.

    German philosophers too.

    Germans, period. I say that as one from German stock. But, looking back through history, is there a single people more disruptive to the good?? To unity? To freedom? To economic common sense? I can’t think of any.

    I once considered writing a post “What’s the Matter With Kansas Germany?” but I’m not schooled enough in the particulars of their history and philosophy. The broad strokes I could write, but everyone knows those. 

    • #46
  17. Barfly Member
    Barfly
    @Barfly

    colleenb (View Comment):

    Hans Gruber Pfizer President (View Comment):

    I was going to say – I know Claire B will not like Zemmour at all.

    I hesitate to speak for anyone, but Claire is quite an apologist for the left. Not a good ambassador.

    • #47
  18. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Barfly (View Comment):

    colleenb (View Comment):

    Hans Gruber Pfizer President (View Comment):

    I was going to say – I know Claire B will not like Zemmour at all.

    I hesitate to speak for anyone, but Claire is quite an apologist for the left. Not a good ambassador.

    She seems to have gone globalist. 

    • #48
  19. Hang On Member
    Hang On
    @HangOn

    France has never come to terms with either the 3rd Republic or Vichy/Petain (I hate autocorrect). There is an enormous amount of hypocrisy on the part of French elites. Giscard d’Estaigne was a political functionary for Vichy and when the wind changes, he changes. Everyone who can says they were part of the resistance, but it was almost only communists after 1941 who were in the resistance. Before June 1941 and after September 1939, the communists were collaborating. At the same time, communists were the ones (with one extra vote) who didn’t betray the Czechs when asked to vote for the Munich pact.

    What I’m saying is there’s no principled stand by most of the actors in France or those trying to make sense of what happened in the 3rd Republic or Vichy. DeGaulle, who was an exception, understood that and papered over it as a way of building unity. Now it’s used as a cudgel by those whose hands or whose family’s hands aren’t particularly clean.

    • #49
  20. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Hang On (View Comment):

    Phil Turmel (View Comment):
    Phil Turmel @ PhilTurmel 32 Minutes Ago

    I read the translation at PowerLine this morning. Impressive, I thought.

    I just watched the video, and listened with my imperfect french ear. Holy smokes! The translation seems accurate enough, but does not–perhaps cannot–do justice to that speech as delivered. I’ll find out from my in-laws over there what they think about him, but I have nothing but admiration for Monsieur Zemmour. His winning their Presidency would be very, very good for France.

    ( His diction is perfect, too. I might have missed 5%, but just on vocabulary. )

    Absolutely what I thought as well about his use of language, imagery, history, and the future. I used to love to hear DeGaulle speak. This is what Zemmour reminded me of. His use of young people while tying it to tradition, I thought was brilliant. I’ve always been an admirer of French tradition and this shows its strength.

    He is a journalist and called himself a Cassandra in his address.

    He has baggage (an illegitimate child from an affair), but I’m not sure how much that hurts. He doesn’t have the baggage of the le Pens, which is pretty reprehensible.

    I doubt he will ever use ‘iel’.

    Zemmour also is going to face a very nasty campaign against him.

    I thought affairs and illegitimate children were normal in French society.  Wives standing next to mistresses at funerals and all that.

    • #50
  21. Phil Turmel Inactive
    Phil Turmel
    @PhilTurmel

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    Barfly (View Comment):

    colleenb (View Comment):

    Hans Gruber Pfizer President (View Comment):

    I was going to say – I know Claire B will not like Zemmour at all.

    I hesitate to speak for anyone, but Claire is quite an apologist for the left. Not a good ambassador.

    She seems to have gone globalist.

    Not seems.  She has enthusiastically gone globalist.  Go to her twitter and you’ll see that her current project is “Cosmopolitan Globalist”.  At least she’s up front about it. Sigh.  I miss the old Claire.

    • #51
  22. Barfly Member
    Barfly
    @Barfly

    Phil Turmel (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    Barfly (View Comment):

    colleenb (View Comment):

    Hans Gruber Pfizer President (View Comment):

    I was going to say – I know Claire B will not like Zemmour at all.

    I hesitate to speak for anyone, but Claire is quite an apologist for the left. Not a good ambassador.

    She seems to have gone globalist.

    Not seems. She has enthusiastically gone globalist. Go to her twitter and you’ll see that her current project is “Cosmopolitan Globalist”. At least she’s up front about it. Sigh. I miss the old Claire.

    I miss her hanging around here on the threads, but she’s no different now than ever. Lefties expose their views (maybe even to themselves) only within the perceived constraints of their private Overton window.

    • #52
  23. Hang On Member
    Hang On
    @HangOn

    Flicker (View Comment):
    I thought affairs and illegitimate children were normal in French society.  Wives standing next to mistresses at funerals and all that.

    Affairs, yes. Illegitimate children, no. But there aren’t that many children legitimate or illegitimate. 

    • #53
  24. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    I’m praying for him.  France and the rest of Europe is on a downward spiral.  I don’t know if one election can reverse what seems a death knell for the heart of Western Civilization, but we must keep trying.

    • #54
  25. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    He has baggage (an illegitimate child from an affair), but I’m not sure how much that hurts.

    In other words, he is French, right down to his pregnant “personal assistant.”

    • #55
  26. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    Phil Turmel (View Comment):
    Not seems.  She has enthusiastically gone globalist.  Go to her twitter and you’ll see that her current project is “Cosmopolitan Globalist”.  At least she’s up front about it. Sigh.  I miss the old Claire.

    Something of a joke, since the Jews were called “Rootless Cosmopolitans,” beholden to a supranational order, not true patriots.

    I don’t know about this guy, but I know the type. Sometimes they’re besotted by their own iconoclastic rep and the acclaim it brings (“Perhaps Dreyfus was guilty! I’m just asking questions”), and they have a moment when they bang the national tuning fork just right, and everyone feels the elemental resonance. They’re carried around for a while on the shoulders of people who knew nothing of them before, until they’re undone by some pesky intellectual or dogmatic itch they can’t help scratch in public. And then everyone looks for the next guy who made a great speech.

    @Claire’s point about Beethoven is spot-on. As if Hector B wasn’t available? Set that thing to “March to the Scaffold,” and you’re up 10 points.

    • #56
  27. Phil Turmel Inactive
    Phil Turmel
    @PhilTurmel

    James Lileks (View Comment):
    and they have a moment when they bang the national tuning fork just right, and everyone feels the elemental resonance. They’re carried around for a while on the shoulders of people who knew nothing of them before, until they’re undone by some pesky intellectual or dogmatic itch they can’t help scratch in public. And then everyone looks for the next guy who made a great speech.

    I’m not so sure that applies to Zemmour.  He’s been a public intellectual for some years in France, even holding the conservative side in a long-running French television debate program, “Crossfire”-style.  His warts (and they definitely are warts) are well-known.  A big chunk of the French population doesn’t seem to care about the warts if the policies are right.

    That sounds awfully familiar.

    • #57
  28. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    Their job is more difficult than ours.  They’re top down so would have to replace the top with a new top.  We, in contrast, have to just ignore the top, fire almost all of them and not replace them.  

    • #58
  29. Phil Turmel Inactive
    Phil Turmel
    @PhilTurmel

    Barfly (View Comment):
    but she’s no different now than ever.

    I strongly disagree.  The Claire of today is unrecognizable compared to the Claire that wrote “Menace in Europe”.  (On my bookshelf.) She had enough presence of mind to get out of Instanbul when the getting was good, but then ensconced herself in the ultimate bubble of lefty bubbles: the Parisian elite.

    • #59
  30. Barfly Member
    Barfly
    @Barfly

    Phil Turmel (View Comment):

    Barfly (View Comment):
    but she’s no different now than ever.

    I strongly disagree. The Claire of today is unrecognizable compared to the Claire that wrote “Menace in Europe”. (On my bookshelf.) She had enough presence of mind to get out of Instanbul when the getting was good, but then ensconced herself in the ultimate bubble of lefty bubbles: the Parisian elite.

    It was all there – the basic fall (down, and to the left) was always evident in everything I saw from Claire. These things express themselves only opportunistically. If she was in a different environment, she’d be a different leftist. It’s in the person; it always is.

    • #60
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