Althouse: "Police have used teargas and water cannon against fuel tax protesters in Paris after violent clashes erupted on the Champs Élysées."

November 24, 2018

"Police have used teargas and water cannon against fuel tax protesters in Paris after violent clashes erupted on the Champs Élysées."

"Thousands of demonstrators from all over France massed on the famous boulevard on Saturday to express their anger at the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his government. But what was supposed to be a peaceful protest by the gilets jaunes (yellow jackets) movement degenerated rapidly. On one side, protesters reportedly infiltrated by far-right extremists and casseurs (rioters and hooligans) tore up paving stones and hurled them and other missiles at police before building barricades that they set alight. On the other, police used teargas, pepper spray, water cannon and bulldozers to clear the road...."

The Guardian reports.

51 comments:

gilbar said...: it's interesting, All Around the World:
protesters infiltrated by far-right extremists (who) tore up stones and hurled them at police
== BAD!

protesters infiltrated by far-left extremists (who) tore up stones and hurled them at police
== GOOD!

It's almost like, the media has an agenda, and a side; 11/24/18, 5:52 PM
David Begley said...: Brent and WTI in a free fall this month. WTI under $55. Gas in Omaha is $2.39 and headed lower. It is $7.50 in Paris and more than half of it is tax.; 11/24/18, 5:52 PM
gilbar said...: Seriously; they're reporting that it's BAD that protesters are fighting the cops.; 11/24/18, 5:53 PM
Unknown said...: Love the Hi-Vis vests, apparently it's the law in France that all motorists have one in their vehicle. I do the Hi-Vis gear at work and whenever I go out at night, because it's a good idea, but I'm not sure how I feel about the govt requiring it.; 11/24/18, 5:54 PM
JML said...: There was no evidence presented that the violence was caused by far-right extremists and casseurs - in fact, the story seemed to show that it was people from all political persuasions that were protesting. gilbar's observation is spot on.; 11/24/18, 5:55 PM
stevew said...: Where's Napoleon when you need him?; 11/24/18, 5:57 PM
Rob said...: Will we ever see the day when Antifa or anti-globalism rioters are called "hooligans" in the NYT? Not holding my breath.; 11/24/18, 6:00 PM
LYNNDH said...: I guess the Paris Police could have used some of the Antifa members from the US to restore order.; 11/24/18, 6:01 PM
DanTheMan said...: These are the worst riots in France in almost three weeks.; 11/24/18, 6:06 PM
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...: far right extremists. wow - they sure are horrible. What were they protesting again? Doesn't matter. All you need to know is "far right extremist protestors were doing bad things."; 11/24/18, 6:07 PM
Quayle said...: How long will it take until the cover of “right wing” can no longer be used to describe the poor and working class, who are fed up with being used then ignored by the elite in government?; 11/24/18, 6:09 PM
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...: from link:
“We’re here because we’ve had enough,” said Joel Mouilleseaux, 24, a student. “It’s always the same people who have to pay for the madness of others. We have to work to pay, work some more to pay some more and it’s been like that for years. It’s been like it since I was born, president after president, and now we’re saying, that’s enough.”

Tax rape by the extremist left will never be labeled as such. Just keep working and paying - so the leisure class can steal your stuff.; 11/24/18, 6:13 PM
chuck said...: Vive la résistance!; 11/24/18, 6:13 PM
JackWayne said...: Considering it’s the Guardian, it’s surprising they weren’t called Wreckers. Over at Breitbart we learn “Macron has insisted that the fuel tax rises are a necessary pain to reduce France’s dependence on fossil fuels and fund renewable energy investments, which is a cornerstone of his reforms of the nation. He will defend fresh plans to make the “energy transition” easier on Tuesday.” So we see yet again the communists in the guise of Saving the Planet, are willing to go to any length to screw the middle and working classes to virtue signal to their fellow globalists. Macron’s statement is so upside-down it’s hard to believe he’s the leader of any country. But that’s the world we live in.; 11/24/18, 6:17 PM
rcocean said...: The French are full of crazy contradictions. They don't believe in Free Speech. They don't care if 10 million Muslims invade their country. They used to have a massive Communist party and even a Monarchist party.

Yet, if take away one of their "Rights" like 6 weeks of vacation or tax them too much or force them to work 8.2 hours instead of 8, they go crazy!

Its funny but pathetic.; 11/24/18, 6:18 PM
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...: He said he had voted for an independent candidate at the last election. “Left, right, for me it’s the same, always the same. I want to be heard, listened to and have a response.”

Bruno Binelli, 66, a retired carpenter from Lyon, said: “I’m not in any political party. I often vote Front National, but I’m not Front National. It’s not my mentality – and besides, I’m Italian by origin – but I do it out of protest, to say things are not good, and if you continue like this we will end up electing someone from the extreme right.

“But they don’t listen to us. Macron listens to nothing. He’s suddenly concerned about ecology, but it’s a lie: it’s a pretext to make us pay more tax. We no longer know what kind of car to buy: petrol, diesel, electric, who knows? I have a little diesel van and I don’t have the money to buy a new one, especially as I’m about to retire. We have the feeling those from the countryside are forgotten.”

Oh really.; 11/24/18, 6:18 PM
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...: Tom Steyer is laughing all the way to the bank.; 11/24/18, 6:19 PM
rcocean said...: Yeah, "infiltrated by rightists" must have existed in the Guardian's reporters mind. But then the Guardian has been "infiltrated by Leftists" since forever.; 11/24/18, 6:19 PM
Fernandinande said...: "According to most journalists' accounts and according to the statement of the Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, the vast majority of "yellow vests", unaccustomed to the demonstrations, did not participate in the violence of this Saturday.

It is rather groups of young thugs who were at the origin of these, showing some experience in front of the police. The tenant of the place Beauvau thus made a point to distinguish the demonstrators already present during the act I, November 17, which he qualified as "good child", elements violent this Saturday. He said about them that groups of "the ultra-narrow" had been active this Saturday from 10am in the face of the police.

Nevertheless, it is permissible to believe that ultra-leftist groups have also participated in these acts of violence, like anarchist signs, Che Guevara flags or far-left slogans such as "Down with the State". , the cops and the Fachos! "visible on the Champs-Élysées. One of our journalists was also able to identify around 8pm a small group chanting "Justice nowhere, police everywhere", a slogan of the ultra left inspired by Victor Hugo. In addition, on Facebook or Twitter, Black Bloc groups were active in supporting violence. Some have already shared the event of Act III ..."; 11/24/18, 6:20 PM
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...: Like when Antifa burn stuff down and break windows and destroy property. You right wingers made them do it.; 11/24/18, 6:21 PM
Darkisland said...: And the difference between these protesters and Mussolini's Fascists (and American Progressives, while we're at it) is?

John Henry; 11/24/18, 6:22 PM
Darkisland said...: Blogger David Begley said...

Brent and WTI in a free fall this month. WTI under $55. Gas in Omaha is $2.39 and headed lower. It is $7.50 in Paris and more than half of it is tax.

WTI was $50.42 according to yesterday's NASDAQ close

Down about $15 since November 1.

"We can't drill our way out of an oil shortage" President Obama

"Oh yeah? Hold my Coke and watch this!" President Trump.

This is putting a serious hurting on Russia, Iran, Venezuela and others that wish us ill.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) can now be drilled profitably at about $30/bbl.; 11/24/18, 6:29 PM
Big Mike said...: Of course it's due to far right extremists, because nothing the left every proposes or enacts is extreme. Of course not.; 11/24/18, 6:33 PM
Michael The Magnificent said...: Pay attention, Tony Evers.; 11/24/18, 6:51 PM
Jupiter said...: "A week ago around 280,000 gilets jaunes took part in protests at more than 2,000 locations across France. The demonstrations left two dead and more than 600 injured."

That's some serious demonstrating.

"Polls suggest the gilets jaunes have the support of almost 80% of French people."

That's everybody but the Muslims. May even include some Muzzies.; 11/24/18, 6:56 PM
n.n said...: The Guardian is obsessed with "white girls next door" that carry the SPLC label of "far-right extremists". A sign of rabid diversity in the rarefied air of the Fourth Estate. Then again, this is France. Does the right-wing in France adhere to a libertarian philosophy?

That said, the high cost of energy is a first-order forcing of catastrophic anthropogenic climate change, retarded development, and rationed distribution, and thus a broad spectrum concern, in France, in China, in America, everywhere.; 11/24/18, 6:59 PM
Elliott A said...: They are just sensible people who do not wish to pay a 3>> per gallon tax to pay for totally unreliable energy not to mention the inflationary ripple that the energy tax will result in. All this garbage about climate change and the idiot politicians converting to the religion is truly remarkable. Can't let the regular folk get their necks out from under the boot of the elites.; 11/24/18, 7:18 PM
MadTownGuy said...: False flag infiltrators?; 11/24/18, 7:26 PM
MB said...: Just came to say the same thing. Even if there are communists and anarchists in the ranks of the vandals the Guardian wouldn't see them, because the Guardian itself is left-wing and they're blind to such matters, like a fish in its own element.
To them, when Che Guevara T-shirt-wearing anarchists break windows, it's just ordinary folks expressing their grievances. It's the heartfelt protest cry of the oppressed or some such. Nothing unusual, nothing to see there, move along.
Of course, nobody is really that stupid. This sort of willful ignorance is willful, to a large extent.; 11/24/18, 7:30 PM
Mary Beth said...: infiltrated by far-right extremists and casseurs (rioters and hooligans)

Are the casseurs also right-wing, or are they just there because they like to tear stuff up? (I read it as two distinct groups that The Guardian is trying to imply is one group. Otherwise, why not just say "far-right extremist casseurs"?); 11/24/18, 8:06 PM
Paul said...: It is $7.50 for gas in Paris? Wow.. it's $1.99 here in Texas. Hahahahahaha... drill baby, drill!

Let the Frogs eat cake as they goose step with Merkel.; 11/24/18, 8:13 PM
MB said...: The big issue is who can claim to be representing the people and to be speaking in its name. Several groups, mostly left-wing (the unions, the Socialist and Communist parties, the French Republic itself) derive their claim to legitimacy from such events.
This is the traditional source of legitimacy in France, for a couple of centuries. The people (in practice Parisians mostly) goes out into the streets and voices its opinion, its grievances, causing the fall of the government when the government doesn't listen. But most governments listen. It's a carefully staged show with a long tradition.
Hence the conflicting points of view.
The protesters: we're apolitical, we don't have any secret leaders, we're just ordinary Frenchmen; we're the people.
The government: this is not the people, this is just a band of fascists opposed to our very sensible reforms.
The left: either you adopt an explicitly left-wing platform and call for the revolution or we are gong to denounce you as fascists too.
The left especially derives its legitimacy from public shows of strength, which they hold at least once per year, on May 1st. So they have to either co-opt or suppress the protests. They cannot afford to let them go on in their current form. For now they are mostly trying to co-opt them, but the implicit threat is clear.
That's where the Guardian comes in. If the protesters don't adopt an explicitly left-wing message, like "Occupy Champs Elysées", and stick to their "apolitical" citizens' protest instead, then they'll be tarred with the fascist brush and any sorts of reprisals (tear gas, arrests, firings) will be permitted.; 11/24/18, 8:38 PM
Sebastian said...: Who knew there were so many frog climate deniers?

For the good of the planet, gas 'm.; 11/24/18, 8:38 PM
Gahrie said...: it's $1.99 here in Texas. Hahahahahaha... drill baby, drill!

$3.29 here in SoCal is the lowest I've seen. Our "leaders" dream of charging us $7;50 a gallon.; 11/24/18, 8:54 PM
YoungHegelian said...: The French populace knows from the experience of the Germans next door that attempts to base an economy on renewable energy alone is doomed. I mean, if German engineers can't get that shit to work, what hope do the French have?

Waddya gonna do? Solar energy in Normandy, where it's cloudy or raining about 75% of the time? No geothermal to speak of. At least the Frogs didn't shut down their nuclear like the Krauts did.

The problem with renewable is that no one's even come close to getting it to work, & even the plebes know it.; 11/24/18, 8:59 PM
JHapp said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/24/18, 9:21 PM
JHapp said...: Just wait till they are forced to use ethanol.; 11/24/18, 9:22 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: the Frog-In-The-Pot cant take the heat anymore; 11/24/18, 9:50 PM
nbks said...: A BVA opinion poll on Friday found Macron’s popularity had slipped to a new low, with only 26% of French people having a favourable opinion of the president, a drop of three points since last month.

That is absolutely stunning. Based on American media reports, I would have guessed Macron's approval to be 70% or more.; 11/24/18, 10:03 PM
Ambrose said...: They need a Napoleonic "whiff of grapeshot."; 11/24/18, 10:09 PM
Darkisland said...: Blogger YoungHegelian said...

The French populace knows from the experience of the Germans next door that attempts to base an economy on renewable energy alone is doomed.

The French economy has long been based on renewables.

Yeah, that nasty n-word.

John Henry; 11/24/18, 10:40 PM
themightypuck said...: Fuel tax? In the USA we'd call it gas tax. I'm suspicious. Probably some global warming tax that isn't either obviously or sufficiently aimed at the rich.; 11/24/18, 10:40 PM
Darkisland said...: Maybe "based on" is too strong.

But they sure do have a lot of those n-words and have been getting the majority of their electric from it.

They also have a really cool tidal generation project built back in the 60's "La Rance" Cool as it is, there are not many locations where it is feasible. If anyone tried to do it in the US it would be stopped because it might (Maybe, perhaps) hurt some fish.

As for output, it averages 57MW and supplies 0.12% of France's total energy needs. Not 12%. 0.12%

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rance_Tidal_Power_Station

John Henry; 11/24/18, 10:49 PM
richard mcenroe said...: Those darn far right extremists.; 11/24/18, 11:09 PM
richard mcenroe said...: Rob: Will we ever see the day when Antifa or anti-globalism rioters are called "hooligans" in the NYT? Not holding my breath.

Do you mean far left antiglobalism rioters or far right antiglobalism riots. Because those are icky.; 11/24/18, 11:12 PM
Oso Negro said...: One wonders what “the extreme far right” actually wants in France - restoration of the monarchy? Return to Napoleonic splendor? Frexit? A country without socialism? Just enough Africans to win the World Cup but not muddy the gene pool? Some jumped up teenage girl from Domrémy to lift the siege of Orleans and put Charles VII on the throne? Hi; 11/25/18, 1:55 AM
AllenS said...: Gasoline is the only fuel that is taxed as far as I know. No tax on propane for my tank, and I just bought 640 pounds of coal, and there was no tax on that either.; 11/25/18, 6:17 AM
Bill Peschel said...: France is what happens when the rule of law is ignored on all levels. No one has moral authority and you end up with anarchy.; 11/25/18, 12:33 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: There have been partisans of Monseigneur le Duc d'Anjou participating in the gilets jaunes demonstrations but I can assure you that they didn't foment or participate in any acts of violence or arson.

My impression is that many on the Catholic Right are waiting to see who Marion Maréchal (formerly Maréchal-LePen) becomes, as she moves away from the near orbits of her grandfather and her aunt Marine. Last week, she spoke at the Autumn conference day of the folks who stage the annual Pentecost Pilgrimage from Nôtre-Dame to Chartres; I don't pay close enough attention so have no idea how enthusiastically she was received there.

Sooner or later the Fifth Republic will give way to a successor regime: I suppose we have to hope that its leader won't be any worse than General de Gaulle, on the one hand, or a Mohammed Ben-Abbes, on the other.; 11/25/18, 12:44 PM
Etienne said...: The French can't even spell gasoline...

"I do deny them my essence..." - Jack D. Ripper, BG, USAF; 11/25/18, 3:37 PM
Sam L. said...: The peasants are revolting! You said it! They stink on ice!; 11/25/18, 10:02 PM