Having literally prayed for this outcome, and being unfamiliar with Maurras except in a general "I know I hate his fucking guts and that's enough for me" way, I didn't immediately register the irony of your title
"Vichy Democrats" - the name rings a bell from the mid-naughties of this century. Around 2005 there was "The News Blog" of Steven Gilliard, who was very down on the Democrats who were too well-mannered to take their own side in argument (a description that I think came into fashion a few years later). He called that faction the Vichy Democrats.
It's good to see that excellent description again.
The tail end of his activity (we can't use the word "career" can we?) coincided with the beginning of my unhealthy fascination with US politics, which was just before Hurricane Katrina. "We dodged a bullet!" Not sure if he was wearing pajamas, and there was probably no basement in his mother's apartment in Harlem. WWII history buff, and so like many of us, very good at analysis, and not good at prediction... his demise was due to bad health.
At the time John Cole was still a Republican.
And there was firedoglake. Can you believe that once upon a time Glenn Greenwald made sense, and that he was posting from the same blog as Marcy Wheeler?
Because at least one of these two is important, and because I didn't know the Vichy details even though my father lived through them, albeit from Dakar, and because I like to show-off:
0.) Note that the Vichy government began in literal treason in time of war. The French government had not fallen, it had relocated to Algeria just as it had relocated away from Paris, (to Arles?, or was it to Vichy even then?) at a time when Algeria was as much 'France' as Paris, makjng the Right's charge of abandonment invalid.
1.) That De Broglie's son was a very worthwhile person, being one of the first proponents of wave-particle duality in quantum mechanics, and (much less importantly) winning a Nobel therefor.
(A side-note: my father was in Dakar because even the Front could not stand against a population whipped-up against immigrants, and so given a choice between La Légion and return to a Poland amping-up anti-Semitism out of 'populism' and an attempt to ally with the Nazis, he made a wise choice.)
Your Harper’s essay…..to me it is as honest and poignant and wistfully hopeful as I hope you envisioned it would be when you wrote it. A lovely testament.
Here's a little thread that explains how fantastically ill-equipped Macron is to deal with the coming government. Expand by clicking of the dots at bottom right. Is there any hope he'll start listening to Attal?
Having literally prayed for this outcome, and being unfamiliar with Maurras except in a general "I know I hate his fucking guts and that's enough for me" way, I didn't immediately register the irony of your title
Governance-wise it’s a bloody mess, but goddamn if it isn't exhilarating to witness the anti-fascist popular front tradition kick into gear.
It is good news in France. Now we need to defeat the Vichy Democrats here at home.
"Vichy Democrats" - the name rings a bell from the mid-naughties of this century. Around 2005 there was "The News Blog" of Steven Gilliard, who was very down on the Democrats who were too well-mannered to take their own side in argument (a description that I think came into fashion a few years later). He called that faction the Vichy Democrats.
It's good to see that excellent description again.
Gilliard's obituary: www.thenewsblog.net
Yeah I remember Steve.
The tail end of his activity (we can't use the word "career" can we?) coincided with the beginning of my unhealthy fascination with US politics, which was just before Hurricane Katrina. "We dodged a bullet!" Not sure if he was wearing pajamas, and there was probably no basement in his mother's apartment in Harlem. WWII history buff, and so like many of us, very good at analysis, and not good at prediction... his demise was due to bad health.
At the time John Cole was still a Republican.
And there was firedoglake. Can you believe that once upon a time Glenn Greenwald made sense, and that he was posting from the same blog as Marcy Wheeler?
Because at least one of these two is important, and because I didn't know the Vichy details even though my father lived through them, albeit from Dakar, and because I like to show-off:
0.) Note that the Vichy government began in literal treason in time of war. The French government had not fallen, it had relocated to Algeria just as it had relocated away from Paris, (to Arles?, or was it to Vichy even then?) at a time when Algeria was as much 'France' as Paris, makjng the Right's charge of abandonment invalid.
1.) That De Broglie's son was a very worthwhile person, being one of the first proponents of wave-particle duality in quantum mechanics, and (much less importantly) winning a Nobel therefor.
(A side-note: my father was in Dakar because even the Front could not stand against a population whipped-up against immigrants, and so given a choice between La Légion and return to a Poland amping-up anti-Semitism out of 'populism' and an attempt to ally with the Nazis, he made a wise choice.)
This isn't quite related, but the Paris Summer Olympics will be starting soon. Could be intriguing if anyone wants something to look forward to.
Your Harper’s essay…..to me it is as honest and poignant and wistfully hopeful as I hope you envisioned it would be when you wrote it. A lovely testament.
Here's a little thread that explains how fantastically ill-equipped Macron is to deal with the coming government. Expand by clicking of the dots at bottom right. Is there any hope he'll start listening to Attal?
https://mastodon.online/@iinavpov/112727140809721888