I was parusing Powerline this morning and I happened upon Paul Mirengoff's commentary on the riots in France. Imagine my utter surprise when I found myself completely agreeing with him. Thankfully this was not to last. In the third paragraph he takes another shot of kool-aid and returns to his normal wingnut state.
Earlier Assrocket himself gave his "enlightened" views on what should be done:
Yeah, right. It's the most natural thing in the world for an unemployed person to burn cars, destroy schools, and set helpless women on fire. The authorities need to get a grip on the situation, soon. And wringing their hands about "poor housing" and "racial discrimination" isn't going to help. Napoleon's remedy--a "whiff of grapeshot"--still works, but I doubt whether France has the courage to use it.
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Now, for Paul
As far as I can tell, the situation in France today is nothing like that. These riots are not the tail-end of a peaceful, pro-French civil rights movement. They are a manifestation of raw hatred of France. The anti-French rhetoric is not the result of youthful hot-headedness or a desire to shock the French into living up to their creed (if what France stands for can be called that). It is, at least in part, the product of a religion with its own diametrically opposite creed. The rioters and their leaders aren't demanding that the French embrace them, nor is that what they are after. If they have an objective, it is to transform France into an Islamic state. Certainly, the intention is not to do away with the vestiges of slavery. At best, these thugs and fledgling Islamofascists wish to preserve their ability to act outside of the constraints of law and civilized norms. At worst, they wish to terrorize the French until they convert to Islam, and to enslave those who don't convert.
I don't pretend to know French culture. I don't even have an interest in learning the language. But, I have a hard time believing that the rioters are the modern day version of the invading Moors, waging a Jihad to claim Europe for Allah.
I also have a hard time believing that France, as a people, truely cares about these people. My experience in other countries in Europe (particularly Germany) is that the Turks and other Islamic nationalities are extremely distrusted, and are seen as second class citizens. In fact, I can see a sizable minority thinking to themselves, "We should have settled this in the Crusades."
What I see is a glass ceiling, and the people underneath are trying to shatter it.
Assrocket might be trying to be snarky in the quote I included above the fold, but what he describes is all-to-common in the United States as well. Maybe not so concentrated an effort, but I would like to know of one major city where gangs do not set several vehicles a day on fire. After catching a night game at Comisky (i forget the new name), perhaps he should take a walk out past center field, into the projects, or go on a road trip with his nice, shiny new car to Compton.
In spite of Jerome's diary this weekend, and the other diaries attempting to explain why, I can't help but fault both parties. Europe needs to be more embracing of diversity. The rioting population needs to discover patience, and civil disobedience. A crusader complex can work both ways. Maybe that is contributing to the situation.
This started off as a snarky diary, but in writing it, I actually decided to think, and explore my understanding and perception of what is going on. Take it for what it's worth. I'm not a social economist. I'm not a psychiatrist. I'm not even a college graduate. But I do know that the more viewpoints are thrown out, the better the debate.