🇺🇸 France on Fire

Plus, this generation was just labeled the “biggest liars” according to a new survey…

July 10, 2023

The Flag

Good morning, and happy Monday. A World War II veteran, who was one of the first women to ever be deployed overseas, shared her incredible story of service and sacrifice in honor of Independence Day.

Plus, this generation was just labeled the “biggest liars” according to a new survey…

Also, if you’re in the market for a mortgage, make sure you go with the pros…

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FRANCE

France on Fire

Destructive riots have unfolded across France, amid anger at police following the shooting death of a 17-year-old boy, Nahel Merzouk, in a suburb of Paris. Reportedly, he had been stopped while driving, and may have put his foot on the accelerator before being fatally shot.

Reporting from the Left: Riots in France have already cost businesses more than $1 billion Joseph Ataman, Oliver Briscoe and Olesya Dmitracova, CNN

From The Flag: Merzouk is of Moroccan and Algerian descent, and a large portion of those protesting and rioting in response are Muslim. Meanwhile, donations exceeding $1 million have come in to support the officer accused of voluntary homicide. Here’s more from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

France Is Both a Warning for the US, and Its Own Unique Mess

  • France is being forced to reckon with its colonial history, and rampant racism, something Europeans like to pretend is a US problem.

  • A culture of dependency and macho criminality is thriving in France, and elsewhere in Western Europe.

  • Author Douglas Murray says violent protests should be a warning about the consequences of illegal immigration and open borders.

France burns as unresolved racial tensions boil over Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner Opinion: "... while the rioting is utterly unacceptable, it underlines the enduring sense of disenfranchisement by young French Arabs and other minorities. These citizens embrace the psychological scars of France's colonial past, most notably the Algerian civil war, and find associated anger toward the state. They feel successive French governments and other French citizens have treated them as second-class citizens. Saturated in improving but still rundown city suburbs, or banlieues, these citizens suffer youth unemployment rates more than double that in the United States. They also lament what they regard as frequent, racially motivated identity and traffic checks by police officers. ... This speaks to a broader problem. While it is a common refrain of Europeans to criticize US race relations as a uniquely American injustice, the reality is that much of Western Europe grapples with a far deeper and more insidious racism than that which exists in the US."

The French Riots and the Broader European Underclass Dominic Green, Wall Street Journal Opinion: "As the riots in France abate... President Emmanuel Macron blames the copycat contagions of social media and videogames. That’s shooting the messenger. ... A deep-rooted dynamic of disorder has set France’s police against teenagers and young men from immigrant backgrounds. The law-abiding majority now faces the consequences of the state’s long failure to enforce the law. On June 28... two police officers stopped Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old... When he attempted to accelerate away from the police during their interaction, one of the officers shot Merzouk. Prosecutors have charged the officer with 'voluntary homicide by a person in authority.' ... Merzouk had no criminal convictions, but not for lack of effort. His judicial file... is said to contain 15 items... He didn’t deserve to die. The law-abiding, hard-working majority in the outlying housing projects known as banlieues don’t deserve to live amid endemic crime and violence."

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Confronting Cops’ Bias: It’s a Harsh Reality

  • French cultural ideals rooted in egalitarianism make it difficult for the nation’s authorities to consider that police may show implicit bias.

  • Up until now, many White people in France may have been able to convinced themselves that racist cops are an American problem.

  • The aggressive police tactics that led to the death of Nahel Merzouk reflect wider problems in French society.

Violent protests challenge French view on race Joshua Berlinger, CNN: "What does it mean to be French? ... an answer to the question of how to define French identity remains a point of contention that helps to explain why... burnt-out cars, shattered glass windows and other signs of furor surround the makeshift memorial where the teen took some of his last breaths. ... many young people of color who live in France’s multiethnic suburbs... believe race was a factor in the death of Nahel... According to a 2017 study by one independent human rights group, young men perceived as Black and Arab are 20 times more likely to be stopped by police than their peers. ... (But) a longstanding ideal that the state is colorblind and all citizens are French first has made it particularly difficult to convince government officials to broach the possibility that implicit biases may play a part in the treatment of France’s ethnic minorities."

In France, protests against police violence reflect rage Lee Hockstader, Washington Post Opinion: "In the sprawling housing projects that ring many French cities, heavily populated by working-class minorities, the rage is rarely far from the surface. Often, for good reason, it is directed at the police. That simmering fury erupted in waves of violence in suburbs and cities across France this week after police shot to death a 17-year-old named Nahel M., from a family of North African origin, in a town just west of Paris. Video of the incident, which went viral almost instantly, showed a policeman opening fire as the boy started to pull away from two motorcycle officers who had stopped his car. Nahel was unarmed. French police discharge their weapons and kill civilians at a fraction of the rate their US counterparts do, and many people in France tend to regard violence and racism by law enforcement as mainly American problems. Many White people in France, that is."

One more opinion piece from the Left: The Observer view on the riots in France: a grim tale of the growing gulf between haves and have-nots Observer Editorial, The Guardian

FLAG THIS

Macron’s Approval Rating Up Amid Riots

French President Emmanuel Macron is receiving his highest approval ratings (33%) since March, according to polling conducted as riots were underway.

Just over 1,000 adults were surveyed, with Macron’s approval rating now up 2% from last month.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne’s approval rating is also up 4 points to 30% (Paris Match/Sud Radio).

Did the riots and protests that unfolded in the US after George Floyd's death in 2020 have a lasting impact?

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FLAG FINDS

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WATERCOOLER

Scopes Monkey Trial, Never Too Late to Become a Swimmer, Greyhound Lessons

Because of the extreme heat, Judge Raulston moved court proceedings outdoors.

July 10, 1925: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called Scopes Monkey Trial begins with John Thomas Scopes, a young high school science teacher, accused of teaching evolution in violation of a Tennessee state law.

Today I learned that Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford once encountered each other in the studio, drank heavily and inadvertently wrote a song together. It ended up being the highest charting US single of either of their careers.

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