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\n(Paris soccer fans sign their national anthem as they exit the Stade de France in an orderly manner after the attacks of Friday night).<\/p>\n
\n(Paris soccer fans sign their national anthem as they exit the Stade de France in an orderly manner after the attacks of Friday night).<\/p>\n
The New York Times is reporting that the French Police are looking for an eighth murderer who may have escaped. Seven are dead, either by their own hands or in a shoot-out with police.<\/p>\n
Eight young men are responsible for the slaughter, though of course they were enabled by others. The question this morning is \u201cwhat is next.\u201d I don\u2019t have any policy recommendations, not that the National Security Council would listen anyway. French President Hollande is going to have to act- and what his advisers tell him to do will be interesting to see as it unfolds.<\/p>\n
The larger problem is one common across the European Union- once into the zone, migrants face no border control, and France has already demonstrated what happens when un-assimilated populations ghettoize and grievance against their benefactors festers.<\/p>\n
I don’t know if this latest horror- there are now so many of them- will change the public policies that have guided immigration. In Sweden, for example, the rate of rape, once as low as one would expect, now is exceeded only by that of the kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa.<\/p>\n
But remember, in the relativist world, all cultures are equal and good, and it is forbidden to comment on the obviously ridiculous and violent situation that results.<\/p>\n
The barbarians of ISIS have already demonstrated that they are opportunists, and have stated that American Blood tastes the sweetest. So, as we wait for the next shoe to drop, it is worth taking a look at how the French people took the news. The biggest crowd was at the Stade de France, with nearly 80,000 fans watching a football match against Germany. You have probably seen the images from the stadium as the bombs near the entrances went off. It was surreal, as the action on the field continued (France won, 2-nil) and the news of the bombings and shootings trickled in via thousands of mobile devices.<\/p>\n
French President Francois Hollande left the stadium, and the facility went into lock-down, a gigantic exercise of \u2018shelter in place.\u2019<\/p>\n
The order to evacuate was given around midnight, and the fans dispersed from the exit tunnels in an orderly manner. I have seen the tape of one tunnel, in which the Tricolour was waved and the crowd began spontaneously to sing the Marseillaise, the French National Anthem. It is pretty moving.<\/p>\n
Like everything else these days, the lyrics to the anthem have been under attack for failing to account for modern sensibilities. Like the Star Spangled Banner, the stanzas are said to reflect a martial spirit that is not appropriate to the Europe of today. True enough, though the times may have come around on that topic.<\/p>\n
The words and music to the Marseillaise were written by a fellow named Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, then a French army officer. He originally called it the ‘Chant de guerre pour l’Arm\u00e9e du Rhin’ (‘War Song for the Army of the Rhine’). First sung in April 1792, it reached the bustling Mediterranean port of Marseille with the troops three months later. It’s rousing theme was an immediate success, and it was a battalion from that city sung the anthem in Paris later that year, and the association with that unit caused it to be re-named the \u201cMarseillaise.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is a pretty brutal song, urging the French to fight against the Prussian invasion that followed the revolution, and was subsequently banned under Napoleon and for much of the 19th century. It was only selected as the national anthem in the aftermath of the next humiliating defeat in the he Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71.<\/p>\n
It is an undeniably stirring song, but if you do not speak French, it can be stirring without being a call to action. That is what it is.<\/p>\n
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Remember the scene from the magnificent film \u201cCasablanca?\u201d Rick\u2019s Caf\u00e9 Americain is the hottest ticket in town, and the occupying German officers are gathered at a table, and want to ensure that the Colonists know who their new masters are. Nazi Colonel Strasser leads what becomes a humiliating defeat in a battle of the anthems. Originally, the script called for the Germans to sing the iconic Nazi Party song, the \u201cHorst Wessel Lied,\u201d but in the Hollywood of 1941, that song was still under international copyright. Warner Brothers instead substituted \u201cDie Wacht am Rhein\u201d (The Watch on the Rhine).<\/p>\n
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In response, Resistance leader Lazlo steps up to the orchestra, and directs the musicians to strike up the Marseillaise. The crowd joins in as the strains of the anthem drown out the Nazis. It is a nice piece of theater, though of course it results in Rick having his place shut down, and one of the great lines in movie history, one that is particularly appropriate to Washington DC in our times.<\/p>\n
In French, the melody is soaring, but the words may give us an indication of what President Hollonde may have to do. In its native tongue, the anthem starts out like this:<\/p>\n
Allons enfants de la Patrie
\nLe jour de gloire est arriv\u00e9 !
\nContre nous de la tyrannie
\nL’\u00e9tendard sanglant est lev\u00e9
\nEntendez-vous dans nos campagnes
\nMugir ces f\u00e9roces soldats?
\nIls viennent jusque dans vos bras.
\n\u00c9gorger vos fils, vos compagnes!<\/p>\n
Aux armes citoyens
\nFormez vos bataillons
\nMarchons, marchons
\nQu’un sang impur
\nAbreuve nos sillons<\/p>\n
Which to we Americans, who can barely speak our own language, is quite impenetrable. So here is the whole thing in English, just to get some context on what the French were singing in solidarity:<\/p>\n
Arise children of the fatherland
\nThe day of glory has arrived
\nAgainst us tyranny’s
\nBloody standard is raised
\nListen to the sound in the fields
\nThe howling of these fearsome soldiers
\nThey are coming into our midst
\nTo cut the throats of your sons and consorts<\/p>\n
To arms citizens
\nForm you battalions
\nMarch, march
\nLet impure blood
\nWater our furrows<\/p>\n
What do they want this horde of slaves
\nOf traitors and conspiratorial kings?
\nFor whom these vile chains
\nThese long-prepared irons?
\nFrenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage
\nWhat methods must be taken?
\nIt is we they dare plan
\nTo return to the old slavery!
\nWhat! These foreign cohorts!
\nThey would make laws in our courts!
\nWhat! These mercenary phalanxes
\nWould cut down our warrior sons
\nGood Lord! By chained hands
\nOur brow would yield under the yoke
\nThe vile despots would have themselves be
\nThe masters of destiny<\/p>\n
Tremble, tyrants and traitors
\nThe shame of all good men
\nTremble! Your parricidal schemes
\nWill receive their just reward
\nAgainst you we are all soldiers
\nIf they fall, our young heroes
\nFrance will bear new ones
\nReady to join the fight against you
\nFrenchmen, as magnanimous warriors
\nBear or hold back your blows<\/p>\n
Spare these sad victims
\nWho with regret are taking up arms against us
\nBut not these bloody despots
\nThese accomplices of Bouillz
\nAll these tigers who pitilessly
\nAre ripping open their mothers’ breasts
\nWe shall enter into the pit
\nWhen our elders will no longer be there
\nThere we shall find their ashes
\nAnd the mark of their virtues
\nWe are much less jealous of surviving them
\nThan of sharing their coffins
\nWe shall have the sublime pride
\nOf avenging or joining them<\/p>\n
Sacred Love for the Fatherland
\nLead and support our avenging arms
\nLiberty, cherished liberty
\nJoin the struggle with your defenders
\nUnder our flags, let victory
\nHasten to you virile force
\nSo that in death your enemies
\nSee your triumph and our glory!<\/p>\n
I have no idea what is going to come next. Secretary Kerry seems to think that a cease-fire in Syria is just the ticket, as if that were possible. I am not sure that is what the French are thinking. I guess we will find out in due time, won\u2019t we?<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Copyright 2015 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com
\nTwitter: @jayare303<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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