PARIS BURNS: Riot police fire tear gas as 30,000 protestors furious at Macron

[Sparko]

In the interviews I'm seeing now with the protesters, the nickname "President of the Rich" is coming up more and more for Macron. He seems to be being viewed as simply one of the rich (his background is wealthy investment banker) and as doing policies for them.

His govt has changed the tax system to tax rich people less and poor people more, and a lot of people seem very upset with that and the rising inequality it is creating. France used to have a Wealth tax, which charged people 0.5% per year on total assets over ~$1m, rising to 1.5% on assets over ~$11m, and he's abolished that. Instead he's taxing poor people on the gas they put in their cars. This has upset both rural conservatives who are now having to pay a gas tax, and city liberals who hate the abolition of the Wealth tax.

This is the guy Obama went to bat for.

[Cow Poke]

In the interviews I'm seeing now with the protesters, the nickname "President of the Rich" is coming up more and more for Macron. He seems to be being viewed as simply one of the rich (his background is wealthy investment banker) and as doing policies for them.

His govt has changed the tax system to tax rich people less and poor people more, and a lot of people seem very upset with that and the rising inequality it is creating. France used to have a Wealth tax, which charged people 0.5% per year on total assets over ~$1m, rising to 1.5% on assets over ~$11m, and he's abolished that. Instead he's taxing poor people on the gas they put in their cars. This has upset both rural conservatives who are now having to pay a gas tax, and city liberals who hate the abolition of the Wealth tax.

All that may well be true, Star, but I really think that when these things happen, the individuals who surface to be "interviewed" by the press may not have a clue what the actual protest is all about.

In the case of the "occupy" movements, we've seen some pretty idiotic statements coming from individuals who are interviewed who don't seem to have a clue why they're burning cars or shattering windows or obstructing traffic...

[rogue06]

All that may well be true, Star, but I really think that when these things happen, the individuals who surface to be "interviewed" by the press may not have a clue what the actual protest is all about.

In the case of the "occupy" movements, we've seen some pretty idiotic statements coming from individuals who are interviewed who don't seem to have a clue why they're burning cars or shattering windows or obstructing traffic...

...attacking and injuring first responders trying to tend to injured "protesters", telling female Occupiers who got raped by one of their fellow protesters to keep quite about it, throwing firebombs into inhabited buildings, destroying restaurants that wouldn't give them free food...

Keep in mind that the echo chamber that starlight listens to probably also believes things like Stalin was a right winger.

[One Bad Pig]

This is the guy Obama went to bat for.

Obama is still rather right-wing for Starlight's tastes.

[Starlight]

This is the guy Obama went to bat for.

A lot of people supported Macron over Le Penn in the 2nd round of voting when it had come down to just the two of them, because (a) at the time they didn't realize how terrible Macron actually was, and (b) Le Penn is a racist extremist.

Also, given Obama is a bit of a posturing neo-liberal himself, it's hardly surprising he'd have liked the way Macron sounded.

[Starlight]

CP, I read today that protesters had set fire to one govt building, so SOMETHING BURNS! It wasn't in Paris though, and it wasn't a whole city.

I was also intrigued to see that the yellow vest protests have an approval rating of 84% (or at least did at the time of that article) with a commentator I was listening to today suggesting the French populace in general is quite good at mentally separating the thousands of non-violent protesters who they support with the small number of dummies who burn things or do violence who they don't support, and Macron's approval rating is now down to 18% (he was at 62% approval during the election).

[Terraceth]

Is 18% some kind of record for lowest approval rating of a democratically elected leader? No president in US history has ever been that low (at least the ones we have approval data on, anyway).

[Starlight]

Is 18% some kind of record for lowest approval rating of a democratically elected leader? No president in US history has ever been that low (at least the ones we have approval data on, anyway).

Brazil's govt got to 5% approval last year after the VP took over when the president who had been at 14% personal approval was forced out on flimsy charges.

And it's depressing that in their most recent elections they've elected a fascist strongman while the guy who had an 87% personal approval rating was unable to run in the election because he was in prison on super-flimsy charges.

[Cow Poke]

CP, I read today that protesters had set fire to one govt building, so SOMETHING BURNS! It wasn't in Paris though, and it wasn't a whole city.

Yes sir - the title of the original article, as I already acknowledged, was a bit of ClickBait. But it certainly was more than "just a few cars".

I was also intrigued to see that the yellow vest protests have an approval rating of 84% (or at least did at the time of that article) with a commentator I was listening to today suggesting the French populace in general is quite good at mentally separating the thousands of non-violent protesters who they support with the small number of dummies who burn things or do violence who they don't support, and Macron's approval rating is now down to 18% (he was at 62% approval during the election).

[Cow Poke]

Is 18% some kind of record for lowest approval rating of a democratically elected leader? No president in US history has ever been that low (at least the ones we have approval data on, anyway).

The US Congress often rates just under 20%

[rogue06]

The US Congress often rates just under 20%

Generally used car salesmen are held in higher esteem

[Sparko]

A lot of people supported Macron over Le Penn in the 2nd round of voting when it had come down to just the two of them, because (a) at the time they didn't realize how terrible Macron actually was, and (b) Le Penn is a racist extremist.

Also, given Obama is a bit of a posturing neo-liberal himself, it's hardly surprising he'd have liked the way Macron sounded.

So you are saying that people only supported, endorsed and voted for Macron because he was the lesser of two evils?

[Bill the Cat]

CP, I read today that protesters had set fire to one govt building, so SOMETHING BURNS! It wasn't in Paris though, and it wasn't a whole city..

The Boston Herald used that exact phrase in their coverage of the riots...

https://www.bostonherald.com/2018/12...s-for-america/

As did

The Evening Standard:

https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/c...-a4013161.html

The American Thinker:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog...mandarins.html

Newsweek:

https://www.newsweek.com/structures-...eekend-1240103

The Daily Mail:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ris-Burns.html

And a host of others...

[Cow Poke]

And it continues and grows...

Paris police bracing for more violent protests


paris riots.jpg

[Cow Poke]

CP, I read today that protesters had set fire to one govt building, so SOMETHING BURNS! It wasn't in Paris though, and it wasn't a whole city....

And it continues....

yellow vests.jpg

Thousands of yellow vest protesters take to the streets across France for a 15th weekend

Thousands of yellow vest protesters took to the streets across France on Saturday for a 15th straight weekend of demonstrations, trying to re-energize supporters while stamping down on the violence and anti-Semitism in the movement's ranks.

Among the many rallies around Paris and in other French cities, hundreds gathered at the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris to march through well-off neighborhoods to protest government policies they see as favoring the rich.

Tempers frayed at the end of the main demonstration at the Trocadero plaza, next to the Eiffel Tower, and French police used tear gas to disperse protesters.

Five separate demonstrations were organized in the French capital, which saw 4,000 protesters by 2 p.m. according to Interior Ministry, which said there were 11,600 protesters scattered across France.

Support for the movement has ebbed in recent weeks as it has splintered and outbreaks of violence continue.

Last weekend, the extremist views of some protesters erupted in a torrent of anti-Semitic insults hurled at noted philosopher Alain Finkielkraut on the sidelines of a Paris protest. The assault came days after the French government reported a huge rise in incidents of anti-Semitism last year.