That's enough revolution for now.

ADDED: My post title is my own cheeky interpretation of Drudge's use of Napoleon to represent Macron. But what connections are people making, other than that Macron is young (39) as he takes office and so was Napoleon? Here's WaPo:

Not since Napoleon has anybody leapt to the top of French public life with such speed. Not since World War II has anybody won the French presidency without a political party and a parliamentary base....

He was, it is true, extraordinarily lucky (luck being the quality that Napoleon said he most preferred in his generals). He benefited both from the flameout of Socialist President François Hollande, who decided not even to contest the election, and from a surprise series of personal scandals that dragged down the center-right’s candidate, François Fillon.....

AND: My post title assumes it was Le Pen whose rise was revolutionary, but consider this from The Guardian:

The 39-year-old [Macron] has vowed to bring a youthful “revolution” to French politics but also to return to the historic tradition of a strong leader who can “embody the nation”. He believes that ever since King Louis XVI’s head was chopped off in the revolution, France has been constantly trying to compensate for the lack of a true leader figure who could personify France.

Doesn't that put him on the counter-revolutionary side?

Macron, a centrist political novice, who had never before run for election and until three years ago was unknown, believes he can fill the role of republican guide of the nation.

Macron’s first public gesture as president was to deliberately, solemnly make a long walk alone under spotlights across the Louvre’s Napoleon courtyard to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, the European anthem. It was a carefully coordinated reference to the style of the late Socialist president François Mitterrand, who presented himself as a kind of republican, elected monarch.

Every new French leader wants to contrast the style of the president who went before. If the Socialist François Hollande – who was once Macron’s mentor – was a plodding “ordinary bloke” who described himself as “President Normal” and turned his own door handles at the Elysée instead of waiting for a butler, Macron wants to bring back what he styles as a lofty poise and distance.

But it seems (from this distance) that Le Pen was the contrast to Normal and that people chose more normal. Did they seek normal and get a lofty monarch?



I hadn't noticed before that the Ode to Joy was the European anthem. Is it odd for the new president to do his victory promenade to the anthem of Europe and not France?

Donald Trump did not walk out on election night to the sound of the U.S. national anthem, but of course the music was American. Do you remember what it was? It was not "I'm Proud to Be an American." Listen:



It's the soundtrack to the movie "Air Force One" (in which Harrison Ford played an action-movie-hero President of the United States). He left the stage to the sound of the Rolling Stone's "You Can't Always Get What You Want," which, I guess, was reaching out to those who were shocked and disappointed, though I'm sure many experienced the line "You can't always get what you want" as a taunt and rankled at "But if you try sometimes well you might find you get what you need." I can hear the anti-Trumpist crying This is not what we need.

By the way, Trump's use of the song did not prevent New York Magazine's David Marchese from ranking "You Can't Always Get What You Want" as #1 of all 373 Rolling Stones songs:

There’s formal wit (the boys’ choir and French-horn lines), Mick’s keen and clear-eyed lyrics (he hits on envy, hope, spite, cynicism), Keith’s foundational riffing, and the rhythm section’s subtly powerful groove.... Also, how perfectly Stones-y is it that the best the band says you can hope for is the possibility of getting what you want? “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is more moving and deep than anything else from the band’s classic years, more ambitious than anything that came before, and more authentic and fluid than anything that would come after. When the tempo picks up, it’s sexy, too. Look, maybe “Gimme Shelter” was the band’s true peak, and that song lives in the darkness the Stones knew so well, knew better than any other band, but I’m putting this song at the top. It lets a little light in. Lord knows we need it.

And here are the lyrics to "Ode to Joy" (written by Friedrich Schiller) in case you want to think about how weird they are for a political anthem (but be aware that the lyrics were not adopted as the European anthem, only the music).

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter from Elysium,
We enter, drunk with fire,
Heavenly One, thy sanctuary!
Your magic joins again
What convention strictly divides;
All people become brothers,
Where your gentle wing abides.

Who has succeeded in the great attempt,
To be a friend's friend,
Whoever has won a lovely woman,
Add his to the jubilation!
Indeed, who calls even one soul
Theirs upon this world!
And whoever never managed, shall steal himself
Weeping away from this union.

All creatures drink of joy
At nature's breast.
Just and unjust
Alike taste of her gift;
She gave us kisses and the fruit of the vine,
A tried friend to the end.
[Even] the worm has been granted sensuality,
And the cherub stands before God!

Gladly, as His heavenly bodies fly
On their courses through the heavens,
Thus, brothers, you should run your race,
As a hero going to conquest.

You millions, I embrace you.
This kiss is for all the world!
Brothers, above the starry canopy
There must dwell a loving Father.
Do you fall in worship, you millions?
World, do you know your creator?
Seek him in the heavens;
Above the stars must He dwell.

Even the worm... that's my favorite part.

MORE: I thought I remembered enthusing over "Even the worm" before. With the "worms" tag, I was able to find this post from 2004, where, in fact, I'd attended a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, and I didn't say much about it, but I extracted a short excerpt from the lyrics: "Even to the worm ecstasy is given, and the cherub stands before God."

Also, I see that the NYT columnist Roger Cohen has opined about Macron's music choice:

[Macron] won with a bold stand for the much-maligned European Union, and so reaffirmed the European idea and Europe’s place in a world that needs its strength and values.

This, after Britain’s dismal decision last year to leave the European Union, and in the face of Trump’s woeful anti-European ignorance, was critical. Macron underlined his message by coming out to address his supporters in Paris accompanied by the European anthem, Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” rather than the Marseillaise — a powerful gesture of openness.