Lucky 13

Thirteen straight nights of rioting in France but things are looking up. Only 617 vehicles torched this time. Oh, and one firebomed major transportation hub. And some burned out stores. But only 617 vehicles torched.

State of Emergency Begins in France
Wednesday, November 09, 2005

PARIS -- Rioters defied a state of emergency that took effect Wednesday, as they looted and burned two superstores, set fire to a newspaper office and paralyzed France's second-largest city's subway system with a firebomb.

However, the number of car burnings -- a barometer for the unrest -- dropped sharply, suggesting the movement lost steam. Overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, youths torched 617 vehicles, down from 1,173 the previous night, national police spokesman Patrick Hamon said. Incidents were reported in 116 towns, down from 226 the night before.

Judging by this report on NPR the French are in denial about their situation.

Cobb had this to say about the "rioting turns deadly" headlines the other day:

The caption, 'the rioting turns deadly'. What kind of class struggle is this? It takes eleven days for anyone to get killed here? What do the television journalists, who always go for the blood, have as their top picture? A burning bus. Jeez Louise. How pathetic.

And this about the French government:

It must be that suspension of reality that's going on in the minds of the French government. It's a riot. It might not be a deadly riot, but it's a riot - the biggest they've had since May of 68. But perhaps they believe some consensus that it's something else might prevail. No such occurance could get by here in America. We count bodies and injuries and millions of dollars of damage, and we demand that something be done to restore order, NOW. Picture Ray Nagin screaming. Americans demand action. Cause, Effect. Action, Reaction.

But I imagine that so long as it's just cars that getting burned, the French feel they can dither. For this they will pay.

As Juliette says, "Good Luck With That."