Thousands of [Yellow Vest] protesters took to the streets of French cities on Saturday in the fifth weekend of nationwide demonstrations against Emmanuel Macron’s government. …
The government, as well as several unions and opposition politicians called on protesters to stay off the streets on Saturday, after four people were killed in a gun attack at a Christmas market in the historic city of Strasbourg [on Tuesday].
(Reuters, December 15, 2018)
Macron must have dearly hoped his performance this week had won him a reprieve – not just from the protests but also from the clarion calls for him to resign. After all,
- On Monday, he was Petainian as he surrendered to the protesters, conceding to what he surely thought were all of their demands.
- On Tuesday, he was Churchillian as he presided over the hunt for the Strasbourg terrorist. French police cornered and killed him on Thursday.
- On Friday, he was Clintonian as he consoled his grieving nation in the wake of this latest terrorist attack.
Yet, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose …
Despite the concessions by the government, the protesters said Mr. Macron had not done enough to assuage their concerns.
‘We are exhausted by the colossal pressure of taxation that takes away the energy of our country, of our entrepreneurs, of our artisans, of our small businesses, of our creators and of our workers, while a small elite constantly dodges taxes,’ Priscillia Ludosky, best known for a petition calling for a drop in gas prices, said in front of the Paris Opera house in Paris.
(The New York Times, December 15, 2018)
In my original commentary on these Yellow Vest protests, I warned it would be thus. Frankly, Macron should beware that irremediable grievances like these caused Britain’s King George III to lose the American colonies and, even worse, France’s King Louis XVI to lose his head.
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