Refractory Gauls, or the French politics thread

[Duque de Bragança]

Russians?

https://www.lefigaro.fr/faits-divers/sabotage-sur-le-reseau-tgv-la-piste-de-l-ultragauche-privilegiee-20240726

Far-left also a possibility, as useful idiots as well.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Russians?

https://www.lefigaro.fr/faits-divers/sabotage-sur-le-reseau-tgv-la-piste-de-l-ultragauche-privilegiee-20240726

Far-left also a possibility, as useful idiots as well.

Same scum tbh

[Sheilbh]

Russians?

There have been Russian sabotage attacks in the UK and Spain - and I think elsewhere in Europe.

But my understanding is that arson in particular has been something associated with radical parts of the French rail union in the past.

[Legbiter]

Russians?

My first thought as well. They've been very naughty all across Europe these past few months.

[Josquius]

Russians?

There have been Russian sabotage attacks in the UK and Spain - and I think elsewhere in Europe.

But my understanding is that arson in particular has been something associated with radical parts of the French rail union in the past.

Are the French rail union up to anything at the moment though?
You'd think after the recent election the left overall would be pretty happy.

[grumbler]

This sounds very much like the Russian argument as to why they invaded Ukraine:  "they were mean so they forced me to invade."  The UK had peace after the Treaty of Amiens and they unilaterally broke the peace.

I don't think the analogy in the first sentence holds although I definitely agree with the second sentence.

The war party in Britain feared the growth in French power under Bonaparte, viewed conflict with the traditional rival as inevitable and were worried that waiting further could result in further consolidation of power by France and a weakening of Britain's relative position.

Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 for pretty much that exact reason, so it's not like that thinking was unique to the UK.  My argument was simply that Napoleon becoming emperor was not the result of personal vainglory nor were his wars all the results of French aggression. 

[HVC]

Frances government collapsed. PM resigned. Not sure why the news is calling it a collapse, when they just lost a no confidence vote,  but I really don't understand their government structure. Marcon is still president. Anyway, time for martial law?

[Duque de Bragança]

Here, Mouro! 

Frances government collapsed. PM resigned. Not sure why the news is calling it a collapse, when they just lost a no confidence vote,  but I really don't understand their government structure. Marcon is still president. Anyway, time for martial law?

Jupiter using the law of Mars? 
Well, when a government loses a (no) confidence vote, said government collapses.
Marine allied with the islamo-leftists, the communists and the socialists.  Despite the no confidence bill being explicitly anti-RN.

[HVC]

Oops, forgot about this thread. 

[Josquius]

Saw this map of Paris pollution levels today.
Wow.
I knew they'd made a lot of progress but this looks amazing.

You cannot see attachments on this board.

[Sheilbh]

Macron swears amid furious exchange with cyclone-hit Mayotte islanders
French president makes remark when confronted by residents still without water after huge storm last week
Rachel Savage Southern Africa correspondent and agencies
Fri 20 Dec 2024 16.24 GMT

Emmanuel Macron swore during a furious exchange with residents of the cyclone-hit islands of Mayotte on Thursday night, telling a jeering crowd in the French territory: "If it wasn't for France, you'd be 10,000 times deeper in shit."

Cyclone Chido swept through Mayotte, which lies between Madagascar and Mozambique, on 14 December, destroying vital infrastructure and flattening many of the tin-roofed shacks that make up its large slums. Almost a week after its worst storm in 90 years, France's poorest territory still has shortages of water.

Throughout Thursday, the French president was confronted by angry Mahorais demanding to know why aid had not yet reached them. At one point he told a crowd: "You are happy to be in France. Because if it wasn't France, I tell you, you would be 10,000 times deeper in shit. There is no other place in the Indian Ocean that has received this much help. That's a fact."

On Thursday night, Macron said he was extending his visit to a second day "as a mark of respect, of consideration". He said: "I decided to sleep here because I considered that, given what the population is going through, [leaving the same day could have] installed the idea that we come, we look, we leave."

The heckling continued on Friday. "Seven days and you're not able to give water to the population," one man shouted at Macron as he toured the small community of Tsingoni, on the west coast of Mayotte's main island, Grande-Terre.

"I understand your impatience. You can count on me," Macron responded, saying that water would be distributed at city halls.

In the past, Macron has often got in trouble with off-the-cuff remarks in public that he says are meant to "tell it like it is" but have come across as insensitive or condescending to many French people, contributing to his sharp drop in popularity over his seven years as president.

Back home, opposition politicians pounced on the comments. The Socialist party leader, Olivier Faure, posted on X: "A president cannot say that. In which other French territory would the president lecture our fellow citizens by asking them to please stop complaining about their tragedy since they are already lucky enough to be French?"

Sébastien Chenu, of the far-right National Rally, said: "I don't think the president is exactly finding the right words of comfort for our Mayotte compatriots, who, with this kind of expression, always have the feeling of being treated differently."

The hard-left politician Éric Coquerel said Macron's comment was "completely undignified".

The official death toll in Mayotte, at 31, has remained lower than expected, after officials had said they feared thousands could have been killed. Immediate burials, in keeping with Islamic tradition, and the large numbers of undocumented migrants from the nearby Comoros who avoid authorities for fear of being deported, may mean the true number of fatalities is never known.

The cyclone also killed 73 people in northern Mozambique and 13 in Malawi, according to authorities in the south-east African countries.

Mayotte officially has a population of 320,000, but authorities have said there could be 100,000-200,000 more, most from the Comoros and living in the islands' slums. Mayotte became a part of France in 1841 and voted to stay French in 1974, when the Comoros islands chose independence.

Earlier in the week, the French interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, a rightwinger who is vocally anti-immigrant, said Mayotte could not be rebuilt without addressing migration.

In Kaweni, a slum on the edge of the island's capital, Mamoudzou, Ali Djimoi said eight people who had lived close to him were killed by the cyclone, two of them buried quickly near a mosque.

Mayotte had been "completely abandoned" by the French state, he said. "The water running out the pipes – even if it's working you can't drink it, it comes out dirty."

Macron is facing separate accusations of racism over an alleged comment on problems in hospitals, which his office strongly denied he had made.

According to an article in Le Monde on Wednesday, the French president said during a discussion last year in front of his then health minister, Aurélien Rousseau, that the "problem with emergency care in this country is that it's filled with people called Mamadou". Mamadou is a name popular among men originating from Muslim ethnic groups in west Africa.

"The Élysée strongly denies these reported remarks, which were not subjected to any verification by the presidency before publication," an official in the presidency said.

One of the senior Le Monde reporters behind the story, Ivanne Trippenbach, wrote on X: "Le Monde stands by all of its information."

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

[mongers]

Macron swears amid furious exchange with cyclone-hit Mayotte islanders
French president makes remark when confronted by residents still without water after huge storm last week

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

What does Macron always wish to be at the eye of the storm, in this case literally.

[Duque de Bragança]

Still burning your golden veal? 

You forgot the part where Jupiter called Ganymedes (Attal) i.e little faggot (petit pédé) or grande tarlousez (sissy / pansy), by SMS. Also, Matignon was compared to the Bird Cage (la Cage aux folles), as movie reference.
Why? 
According to Le Monde, quoting well-known opposition to Macro.

As for the Mayotte controversy, Macron chose the wrong way to state his point. He is not wrong, sadly.
Pointing out at the even sorrier state of Comoros, which claim Mayotte, would have been better but then Macron was never much of a pedagog, more of a demagog.

Macron is known for that kind of gaffes. This is not his worst one, the Mayotte that is. Not that it is the first one about Mayotte and Comoros, as in illegal immigration, in 2017.

https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2017/06/05/apres-les-propos-choquants-de-macron-les-comoriens-exigent-des-excuses_5139073_3212.html

PS: in good Zupiter fashion, Macron claims he was answering to France-insulting RN people, in Mayotte. 

[Duque de Bragança]

Macron swears amid furious exchange with cyclone-hit Mayotte islanders
French president makes remark when confronted by residents still without water after huge storm last week

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

What does Macron always wish to be at the eye of the storm, in this case literally.

 

Remember, he is Jupiter, the god of sky and storms. 

[mongers]

Macron swears amid furious exchange with cyclone-hit Mayotte islanders
French president makes remark when confronted by residents still without water after huge storm last week

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

What does Macron always wish to be at the eye of the storm, in this case literally.

 

Remember, he is Jupiter, the god of sky and storms.