Videos: The French enjoy their national pastime
posted at 3:45 pm on March 20, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
For Americans, it’s baseball. For the British, it’s cricket. And for the French, well, it must be the season for burning cars and attacking police. French “youth” have rioted for the past two days over the economy, hoping to get French President Nicolas Sarkozy to restore some of the cushy job protections that he has ended in hopes of reforming the French economy towards growth:
I like Shep Smith’s sardonic introduction best. French car-burning riots barely qualify as news any longer, at least not until the number hits more than 200 vehicles lost in a night. In fact, isn’t the entire notion of destroying assets in protests over a bad economy somewhat self-defeating?
And this comes from the most organized-labor friendly nation in the West. If the French don’t have card check, it’s only because they’ve already unionized the main part of the national workforce. Imagine, if you will, what American streets would look like if the unions here had that kind of influence …
Blowback
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That’s not Shep Smith.
lorien1973 on March 20, 2009 at 3:47 PM
Oh…you meant the other one. n/m
lorien1973 on March 20, 2009 at 3:47 PM
It’s too bad schadenfreude is a German word.
keep the change on March 20, 2009 at 3:47 PM
No white flags? No rifles lying on ground??? French national pasttime, you say?
Wethal on March 20, 2009 at 3:50 PM
This is a good way to get our domestic car industry on its feet again, automobile BBQs.
I shouldn’t say that, the Obamateurs in the White House might actually run with it.
NoDonkey on March 20, 2009 at 3:50 PM
The good, strong, brave French were killed off in their wars.
No wonder they are a bunch of leftist patsies today.
blatantblue on March 20, 2009 at 3:52 PM
Comeing soon, to a
TheatreCity Near YOU!Romeo13 on March 20, 2009 at 3:52 PM
Behold Nazi Pelosi’s vision for America.
Ted Torgerson on March 20, 2009 at 3:52 PM
Big Deal.
France is a hole anymore. And anyone who goes there for “pleasure”, most know why you are really going there.
upinak on March 20, 2009 at 3:52 PM
!!!Smug Alert!!!
This could well be what we see in American cities this July if A bomb, ugh! keeps up his pace with the ill advised assistance of the Botox Queen.
DannoJyd on March 20, 2009 at 3:53 PM
Stay classy, Ed.
Proud Rino on March 20, 2009 at 3:54 PM
Don’t laugh, I heard Rush talk about a car exec that wants Obama to force the price of gas up to $4 a gallon so he can move his inventory of thousands tiny, fuel efficient cars that no one is buying now. Maybe he can sell them in France.
zmdavid on March 20, 2009 at 3:54 PM
Well, with only a 4 hour workday, they have a lot of free time.
BacaDog on March 20, 2009 at 3:55 PM
Actualy, in the 1700s over 40% of the French Aristocracy died in duels… as the Rapier became the weapon of choice, and it was very deadly due to its puncture wounds. Some historians believe this killing off of every French Noble with guts and honor, paved the path for the revolution…
Romeo13 on March 20, 2009 at 3:55 PM
Uh huh. Shouldn’t you be trying to stay thatway yourself. OH that is RIGHT, you already hit that meter quite a while ago.
upinak on March 20, 2009 at 3:55 PM
Les merde de tetes
AubieJon on March 20, 2009 at 3:55 PM
So, we’re allowed to post about French civil unrest, but not the potential for American civil unrest…
myrenovations on March 20, 2009 at 3:56 PM
Too bad it can’t be brought back, and American Aristrocrats take part in it.
upinak on March 20, 2009 at 3:56 PM
The ones that were good with a rapier should have survived.
zmdavid on March 20, 2009 at 3:57 PM
The guy in the first video says (not in exact words) that this couldn’t happen in American cities. Is he being overly optimistic?
aengus on March 20, 2009 at 3:58 PM
Yeup……………
…………….. kinda like a riot that burns down the neighborhood, then complaining the next day that you have to walk farther to get to the liquor store.
Seven Percent Solution on March 20, 2009 at 3:58 PM
It happens in certain cities when their teams win championships, so, I imagine it could happen in those cities when they see unemployment like the French.
myrenovations on March 20, 2009 at 4:01 PM
Stay liberal, pseudo-RINO.
Patrick S on March 20, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Not really. Contrary to popular belief, duel outcomes are are very random and only loosely related to skill.
Count to 10 on March 20, 2009 at 4:02 PM
All the strong French didn’t die off, they just lost political power. If the military coup against De Gaulle had succeeded they might have hung on to Algeria although it would be under a very autocratic regime like Franco or Salazar.
aengus on March 20, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Thought our national pastime was worshiping media-manufactured empty suit holograms.
whitetop on March 20, 2009 at 4:03 PM
Anyway…
People in the streets violently destroying property in an attempt to terrorize the government into ritually sacrificing their nation’s economy so they can drink the blood.
Count to 10 on March 20, 2009 at 4:04 PM
There’s nothing remotely “French” about this, the ones burning the cars are immigrant offspring from craphole Arab and African countries.
As long as they confine it to their ghettos, the French will show restraint.
If they start burning the city of Paris rather than the hellhole suburbs, then it will be on and the French will fight, despite all the cliched jokes about them.
The French have far tougher laws to deal with these people than we have and they will use them.
NoDonkey on March 20, 2009 at 4:05 PM
Hm I’ve always thought that sporting riots were a substitute for political riots, like letting off steam.
aengus on March 20, 2009 at 4:05 PM
Not necessarily – only one winner of a tournament – so if aristocrats keep dueling to prove supremacy only a few survive and become supreme but severely dwindled in population.
nolapol on March 20, 2009 at 4:05 PM
Mais, bien sur. C’est France.
juanito on March 20, 2009 at 4:06 PM
At lot the banlieues essentially surround Paris like a siege formation which is a little worrying.
I hope you’re right.
aengus on March 20, 2009 at 4:07 PM
maybe there’s a cheese shortage
gsherin on March 20, 2009 at 4:07 PM
Actually, the French national pastime is rioting in the streets; just ask Marie. Car-B-Que is just a modern and somewhat spectacular way of doing it.
Regards,
Ric
warlocketx on March 20, 2009 at 4:07 PM
don’t laugh too much at us the French, you guys are heading the same way in the united states, once you have “universal health care” you’re really toast, the decline will progress slowly but inexorably.
sad, sad.
sun on March 20, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Could this be a new species: RINOINO?
WashJeff on March 20, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Hold your nose and say:
Zee frencsh zay lawv to beecsh becawz zay ar reeley, jus how you zay, beecshesz.
Speakup on March 20, 2009 at 4:10 PM
I wonder if they protest more than 35 hours per week?
WashJeff on March 20, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Question for you Frenchmen/women out there in HA land (are there any?)….how much IS car insurance in France anyways?
Limerick on March 20, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Its RIOT SEASON!
canopfor on March 20, 2009 at 4:12 PM
Funny you should say that. Dr. Drew Pinsky, no right-winger, opines in this clip that our country is starting to feel like pre-revolutionary France.
Kensington on March 20, 2009 at 4:12 PM
Bet you it’s those damn Christian Youth groups again!
mankai on March 20, 2009 at 4:12 PM
This happens when people who are dependent upon the state find that the state cannot deliver on its outrageous promises.
Katrina was a preview of things to come here.
jazz_piano on March 20, 2009 at 4:13 PM
The problem with that conclusion is that it has continued despite attempts to stop it.
Not going to happen here.
sethstorm on March 20, 2009 at 4:13 PM
The French have always been a RIOT.
chunderroad on March 20, 2009 at 4:14 PM
Like the Republican Party.
sethstorm on March 20, 2009 at 4:15 PM
**Sigh** True
nolapol on March 20, 2009 at 4:16 PM
In all the surrenders conducted by the French, have they ever surrendered to themselves?
They’ve already surrendured to to everyone else…
BobMbx on March 20, 2009 at 4:17 PM
History’s greatest Frenchman was a Corsican.
He would have known what to do – “a whiff of grapeshot.”
Archie Noble on March 20, 2009 at 4:18 PM
You’re right: this is a Muslim Thing, not French at all. The French like one-day ‘general strikes’ where EVERYBODY takes the day off and everyone else suffers tempoorarily
The rioting is a Islamist intimidation technique often used in Sweden and Germany as well as France.
If you travel in France, take my advice: don’t give French police any sh+t. Forget the stupid remarks about all Frenchmen being cowards or always surrendering, etc.
Their cops didn’t get that memo and don’t listen to foreign opinion & trash-talking.
Janos Hunyadi on March 20, 2009 at 4:19 PM
When I lived in Belgium in 06′ I remember Euronews reporting on simular riots stating the “good news” that “only 65 cars where burned last night in France.” I wonder if that means France is violating Kyoto with the carbon emmisions?
Though it makes perfect populist sense. In Europe, cars of any kind are an elite symbol that few blue collars can afford. Most cars are provided by your employers as part of your personal compensation for a white collar job. I had a car and free use of a gas card the whole 3 years I was out there.
H
Hochmeister on March 20, 2009 at 4:19 PM
Speaking of French!
Monty Pythons,Holy Grail French Taunting scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?=9V7zbWNznbs
canopfor on March 20, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Off-topic (maybe): Anyone want to predict which European nation falls to Islam first?
jazz_piano on March 20, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Soccer/football riots – hooligans in the UK?
Car burning – French muslims
Race riots – US
Hey, seems its the thing to do in liberal, socialist countries! Freedom of speech is soooo passe’.
Geministorm on March 20, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Agree and I’ve spent enough time in France to know that they love their beautiful country and they will fight for it.
Muslims burning cars in their own neighborhoods is one thing.
Muslims burning cars or buildings on the Champs de’Lycee will get their asses kicked and killed if they take it that far.
Europe is not going to fall to the Muslims. Muslim Arabs are only able to perform stupid pranks and suicide bombings, they are far too stupid and disorganized to take and hold any ground.
NoDonkey on March 20, 2009 at 4:24 PM
crap,screwed up the link,I’ll try again!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7zbWNznbs
canopfor on March 20, 2009 at 4:25 PM
Getting a driver’s license is much more difficult than in the USA ( the test is an Unholy Bee-yatch ) and like everywhere else in western Europe the insurance is Nightmarish: at least 2,000 Euros a year for a good driver, 3,000 or more if you’re Not So Good.
If any of you judge a nation of SIXTY MILLION souls by a Monty Python skit, you’re as dumb as you sound.
Many French towns in the north and east still honor American WWII vets–every year with some sort of official function–and they’re sincere about it.
French ‘intellectuals’ and bureaucrats are Typical Leftist Scum, but so are the American versions.
Janos Hunyadi on March 20, 2009 at 4:32 PM
The French always were a riot!
chunderroad on Mar 20,2009 at 4:14PM.
chunderroad:I never clicked on you link,I was busy trying to
put the Holy Grail,French taunting scene up!
When I was done,I went back over the comments
and clicked on your link.Well,were on the
same wavelength,haha,I salute you,excellent
pick!:)
canopfor on March 20, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Where do the French get all those cars? Do they have a National Car Program that entitles everyone to a car until maintenance becomes too expensive, at which point they ration care and pull the plug?
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on March 20, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Does European-style count? If so, I’d say the United States of America. It happened two months ago.
Kensington on March 20, 2009 at 4:37 PM
NoDonkey on March 20, 2009 at 4:24 PM
johnjr on March 20, 2009 at 4:40 PM
I found the French to be very nice people, unlike the stereotypes.
Very nice and gracious, as long as you are civil and respectful towards them.
Although I never visited touristy places during the summer, but even here if you visit during the high tourist season, tempers get short.
We have far more in common with the French than we have differences and we’re going to need them in the future. They are a nuclear power.
NoDonkey on March 20, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Yeah, uhmmmm, I’ll wait for the playoffs.
Il pleut/flotte comme vache qui pisse. Non?
juanito on March 20, 2009 at 5:12 PM
GIVE EM’ THE LEAD!!!!
BigWyo on March 20, 2009 at 5:23 PM
To a rational person. Yes. To a socialist, those cars represent something that the socialist doesn’t have. Which makes them evil, which means it’s alright to destroy it.
A socialist would rather make everyone equally poor, than suffer the indignity of having less than someone else.
MarkTheGreat on March 20, 2009 at 5:32 PM
LOL…. as a Black Tiger…. one of the top Elizabethan Fencing groups in the Nation…. I’d have to disagree with you a bit on that…
There truly are people who through training and talent, are top blades…
Romeo13 on March 20, 2009 at 5:34 PM
What? You an anti-capitalist or something? The reason we have cheap and unreliable products today is so people will buy more of them and replace the old ones. Destroying property *IS* capitalism. Always has been. If you never had to buy the same product again, the economy would cease to exist. Where do you think the word CONSUMER comes from?
MrX on March 20, 2009 at 5:45 PM
Master Pot, meet Herr Kettle.
TheUnrepentantGeek on March 20, 2009 at 6:04 PM
That’s French for, “The French stink like their cheese!”
Glenn Jericho on March 20, 2009 at 6:08 PM
We don’t need no water let the motherf*cker burn.
Terry Silver on March 20, 2009 at 6:11 PM
Great minds think alike, fools seldom differ. :P
chunderroad on March 20, 2009 at 6:15 PM
That makes it worse.
More likely, you’d want to say “Give them the Kärcher!”. That’s what they’d do anyway.
sethstorm on March 20, 2009 at 7:24 PM
Somebody asked William F. Buckley, in his final Notes and Asides column, whether there was an equivalent, in French, of the German term and concept of schadenfreude.
Chairman Bill’s reply, in toto, was “There is. It is joie de vivre.”
warbaby on March 20, 2009 at 7:29 PM
COMING SOON TO AN AMERICAN STREET NEAR YOU .WHEN DR.FRANKINSTIEN CREATED THE MONSTER THATS WHAT HE GOT A MONSTER WITH OBAMA GETTING PEOPLE TO HATE THE RICH VIOLENCE CAN NOT BE FAR BEHIND. WHATS GOING ON IN THE HOUSE
IS VERY DESTRUCTIVE
wade underhile on March 20, 2009 at 7:37 PM
I really don’t get it. They are rioting because the government isn’t doing enough to help with their economy and we are having Tea Parties because our government has done too much to our economy. Where the H – E – double toothpicks is the middle? Where is there a country that leaves the citizens alone so they can work and produce and live happy lives?
cjs1943 on March 20, 2009 at 7:46 PM
America. Circa 1870.
warbaby on March 20, 2009 at 7:56 PM
Sarkozy needs to put them in an Obamanic Civilian Defense Force and get their minds right.
Dr. ZhivBlago on March 20, 2009 at 8:46 PM
They already have far too much influence:
–ravaged US steel industry through outrageous demands
–crippled US auto industry through outrageous demands
–trashed US Constitution by bankrolling Democrat politicians
jgapinoy on March 20, 2009 at 9:06 PM
“… enjoy their national pastime.” Eating and drinking? that usually works for me, too!
james23 on March 20, 2009 at 9:39 PM
Hemmer draws a contrast by saying “we hold hearings”… Sadly, I fear we’re going to see scenes like this coming to our shores sooner rather than later… though it won’t be the union people, because they’re Barry’s buddies. It will be the rest of the country tired of watching The One and Friends deliberately destroying this once great country.
RightWinged on March 20, 2009 at 10:34 PM
after a couple years of obama, we’re going to ENVY THE FRENCH!!
pathetic, isn’t it?
right4life on March 20, 2009 at 10:56 PM
I have been to Europe four times. On three of our trips we were affected by strikes. They are constantly striking over something. At a train station in Paris we went outside and the police were throwing tear gas at rioters in the street. We took our butts inside and tried not to look “American”. We were only able to get a train to Lyon, the train people were striking and few options were available. We ended in sleeping in a youth hostel that a kind taxi driver found us, we were hungry and just glad to have gotten out of Paris! That was 2005, in 2006 we got to Heidelburg, Germany and there was trash stacked taller than me on ever street corner. As we were touring the trash filled city, we had to duck around a corner to get out of the way of the trash men parading down the street with signs demanding some kind of concession. In 2007 we arrived in London and the train people had been on strike days earlier and they were trying to clear the gridlock. In 2008 we had a strike free trip to Germany. By the way, in my experience, Europeans seem to love Americans. I have been to France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Wales, and Italy and have been treating with kindness and interest in our culture everywhere. Other than being mugged in the Milan train station I enjoyed every moment.
TXMomof3 on March 20, 2009 at 11:34 PM
They’ve been planning this shit for March 19th for months now. It’s organized chaos.
ebrawer on March 21, 2009 at 12:37 AM
Hate to say it, but when I sent the link to a friend, his reply was, “Carbecues in France? Wake me when there’s some actual news.”
Blacksmith on March 21, 2009 at 3:16 AM
It is to be hoped that humanity will grow up one of these years.
darktood on March 21, 2009 at 6:16 AM
The Working Families Party in NY entirely backed by and comprised of unions has been taking to the streets and the airwaves, and looks like it’s going to be successful in forcing “rich” NYers who make $250+ to pony up even more income tax. All in the name of “fairness” (sound familiar?). Ironic since we live in one of the biggest welfare union states: I know firemen, cops and municipal workers who retire in their 40s – some with “disability” (cough, cough) where they get up to 75% of their income tax free (plus their usual gold-plated healthcare, for which they pay next to zippo). Don’t even get me started on the railroad workers, where recently 98% of their retirees were found to be receiving disability. I know – punching tickets is so physically demanding.
Unions are already running and ruining New York state – and they didn’t need to burn a single car to do it.
redfoxbluestate on March 21, 2009 at 11:59 AM