Bastilledag.

I dag vil Nicolas Sakozy fornærme, forhåne og ydmyge sit land, det franske militær og alle europæere.

Når Paraden i dag defilerer forbi tribunen på Place de la Concorde er soldaterne tvunget til at se mod den. Heldigvis behøver vi andre ikke se på soldaternes ansigtsudtryk. Det vil nemlig ikke være et kønt syn. I det omfang de overhovedet magter at lade være mere at kaste op vil udtrykket “hvis blikke kunne dræbe” nok være den mest præcise beskrivelse. For på denne tribune – der rettelig burde være et skafot – vil foruden Sarkozy og den sædvanlige nomenklatura befinde sig ikke alene alle EU’s 27 capi – inclusive Anders Fup -  men også 15 af denne verdens værste despoter, tyranner og mordere. Heriblandt Syriens Bachar Al-Assad. At disse 15 storslyngler nu skal modtage honnør af det franske militær har bragt sindende i oprør – mildest talt.  Skandalen skyldes, at den lille, naragtige liderbuks af en præsident har genopfundet “Middelhavsunionen” – fortsættelsen af EUROMED – Barcelona-processen.  Selv de ellers affable og politisk korrekte franske aviser kan se vanviddet, der oven i købet kommer samtidig med at klovnen vil skære miltæret ned til sokkeholderne:

Le Monde arce que le président de la République et l’armée française forment une entité constitutionnelle indissociable, il faut relativiser la crise de confiance que traverse ce couple façonné par l’histoire. Elle ne devrait pas être durable, mais elle laissera des traces. Car elle est nourrie d’états d’âme, d’une grogne sourde, voire d’un “malaise” aigu dans l’armée de terre, qui tiennent en partie au style du chef de l’Etat. Depuis quelques jours, une réflexion désabusée fait florès entre officiers et sous-officiers de l’infanterie : “De toute façon, on est des amateurs !”

Af gode grunde har man ikke villet tage det ellers obligatoriske “familiefoto” af alle EU-nukkerne sammen med deres nye herrer fra diverse Barbaristans.  I stedet bringer Hodjas Blog her et klip af noge af de stakler, som skal stå model til den største ydmygelse i deres liv – den eneste, slagkraftige enhed der er tilbage. Men den er jo heller ikke særlig fransk:

UPDATE (fra The Brussels Journal):

Seated in the open military vehicle as it descended the Champs-Elysées, Nicolas Sarkozy was able to measure his unpopularity Monday morning. While he passed his troops in review, before the traditional July 14 parade, an icy silence froze the Parisian crowds, who until that point, had been quite festive. A few boos, several hisses. No applause, at least not where we were. The French president did not delay in rejoining his guests: the 30 heads of State of the new Union for the Mediterranean, seated on the official platform at Place de la Concorde.

This traditional parade of armies gave Nicolas Sarkozy an opportunity to win back his military, whose discontent has broken through their obligatory reserve. The president ventured to issue a communiqué in which he lavished his praise on the uniformed men: “I assure you of all my esteem and my friendship and reiterate my trust in you” [...] These attempts to make amends were urgently needed due to the many tensions of the past weeks. The split between the president and his military is in fact due to an accumulation of factors: the parade before Bashar al-Assad, the elimination of 54,000 positions causing many towns to lose their bases and barracks and to find their populations drastically reduced, the “Surcouf” Affair, when high-ranking officers criticized the president’s new defense strategy, the accident at Carcassonne that prompted Sarkozy to insult his officers, triggering the resignation of General Cuche, and the opposing value systems.

This last point is probably the main area of discord. Hedonism, individualism, passion for novelty, attraction to money, are part of the image conveyed of the French president. For him it is difficult to comprehend the military who defend principles that are diametrically the opposite. And they, in turn, do not understand very much about this president who, publicly, insists on his “right to happiness” while they have agreed to sacrifice their lives. It will take more than fine words to close this gap.