Une Fête Du Thé

Katherine Mangu-Ward | February 4, 2010

Writing in The New York Times, Robert Zaretsky (a professor of French history at the University of Houston Honors College, God help him), tells the tale of a once-upon-a-time tea party movement in France.

Last week marked the 55th anniversary of the mass demonstration in Paris led by Pierre Poujade, a stationer from a small town in southwestern France, who mobilized his fellow shopkeepers against government tax inspectors. After parsing the parallels, Zaretsky offers this tidy wrapup:

Tea Party activists might find it infuriating ever to be compared to the nation they consider the anti-America. But French observers of our country may be forgiven if they feel a certain déjà vu when they see a movement that brings nothing to the ballot box except anger.

More on Americans bringing "nothing but anger" to our ballot boxes here.

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Warty|2.4.10 @ 4:11PM|#

Ceci n'est pas une tasse de thé.

|2.4.10 @ 4:24PM|#

Qu'est-ce que c'est? Un jeu de mot en français?

BakedPenguin|2.4.10 @ 4:31PM|#

Vous oublie le lien hypertexte, tete de merde.

Maudit...|2.4.10 @ 4:45PM|#

"Vous avez oublier..."

Jonas|2.4.10 @ 5:07PM|#

"Vous oubliez" ou "Vous avez oublié" mais pas "Vous avez oublieR".

Et, @ Warty, René Magritte est un de mes artistes peintres favoris.

Warty|2.4.10 @ 8:19PM|#

Très bon, mon ami.

Marc|2.4.10 @ 4:53PM|#

Yeah, I know, it's a pipe.

TickleStick|2.4.10 @ 4:12PM|#

"the nation they consider the anti-America"

[citation needed]

|2.4.10 @ 4:13PM|#

It is interesting to read about Pierre Poujade and his movement, but the Times article seems primarily to be a vehicle to dismiss the Tea Party activists as a bunch of racists and birthers who the Democrats can rest assured will be gone in a year or two.

DADIODADDY|2.4.10 @ 4:15PM|#

it all depends on your POV...teabagger or teabaggee.

Race Card|2.4.10 @ 4:19PM|#

Conyers Demands Demotion of Haiti Relief Official Because He Lacks Black Staffers:

http://thehill.com/homenews/ho.....y-staffers

Citizen Nothing|2.4.10 @ 4:22PM|#

I'll have the frog a la peche, please.

Race Card|2.4.10 @ 4:24PM|#

RACIST!

Mad Max|2.4.10 @ 4:24PM|#

For those who don't have time for the entire article, here are the relevant excerpts:

'widespread anxiety . . . popular resentment . . . the anxiety of his populist followers . . . the movement’s nostalgic longing for a simpler time . . . nothing substantive to say . . . a footnote to French history . . . mendacity . . . simple solutions to complex problems.'

In sum: Both sets of Tea Partiers are deranged morons. Just ignore them, and like France, the U.S. will continue down its glorious road toward a compassionate society.

Pappy Smear|2.4.10 @ 4:25PM|#

Who the fuck died and made you Executive Summarizer?

Mad Max|2.4.10 @ 4:32PM|#

I don't know, who died and made you Chief Asshole?

|2.4.10 @ 4:40PM|#

I didn't die.

|2.4.10 @ 4:59PM|#

Which means that the title of Chief Asshole still remains with you and has not transferred to Max.

|2.4.10 @ 5:01PM|#

Please stop thinking about my asshole, you Smithian freak.

|2.4.10 @ 5:08PM|#

You're such a huge asshole that Steve won't have to spit on his dick first.

Mad Max|2.4.10 @ 5:06PM|#

Even if I tried to claim that title after Sugarfree's passing, there would be so many rival claimants that it might just be best to abolish the position entirely.

T|2.4.10 @ 5:17PM|#

No, I think the internecine warfare to claim the title will be a thing to behold. Of course, it won't be much different than say, any other Thursday.

|2.5.10 @ 8:33AM|#

SugarFree: The Last Asshole

Suki|2.4.10 @ 4:29PM|#

Very nice Mad Max, thank you.

I especially like the K M-W graphic with the cute little frog on the saucer and the decidedly non-racist alt-text.

Mad Max|2.4.10 @ 4:34PM|#

Oops, I incorrectly described the U.S. in the singular ("its"); I should have used the plural ("their").

Pappy Smear|2.4.10 @ 4:39PM|#

-1

Mad Max|2.4.10 @ 4:46PM|#

I'm giving you +2 on all Douchiness rolls.

Colonel_Angus|2.4.10 @ 4:35PM|#

I'll accept this summary. It seems about right for the New York Times, and the proregressives.

|2.4.10 @ 4:37PM|#

I actual DID read the whole thing (well, at the 80% mark I think I couldn't stand it anymore and skipped to the very end), and your synopsis is better.

I had never realized that Progressives have a complete lack of empathy. I assumed their ignoring the opposition was a political ploy. I now believe that they consider the opposition sub-human.

Spoonman|2.4.10 @ 4:52PM|#

It's like the guy is trying to live up to a stereotype (condescending elitist nanny-statist) by spouting stereotypes.

Citizen Nothing|2.4.10 @ 4:24PM|#

Anyway, the peach is then sliced open down the middle to reveal...oh my god… about three hundred squiggling black tadpoles...

|2.4.10 @ 5:52PM|#

"It's full of stars!"

Old Mexican|2.4.10 @ 4:26PM|#

Last week marked the 55th anniversary of the mass demonstration in Paris led by Pierre Poujade, a stationer from a small town in southwestern France, who mobilized his fellow shopkeepers against government tax inspectors.

What was this guy's beef with tax inspectors? Taxation is not theft - the tax-feeding Statists told me so.

Suki|2.4.10 @ 4:30PM|#

LOL! You almost caught me.

Old Mexican|2.4.10 @ 4:28PM|#

Writing in The New York Times . . .

'Nuff said.

|2.4.10 @ 4:31PM|#

Join us, French brothers! Free-dommmm!

|2.4.10 @ 4:39PM|#

Demain, l'Capitalisme!

ed|2.4.10 @ 4:31PM|#

Americans bringing "nothing but anger"

That's a lefty MSM talking point. I hear it several times daily. Stupid protesters! Look at all those mean signs. They're just angry!

BakedPenguin|2.4.10 @ 5:12PM|#

Right. As opposed to the calm demeanor they exhibited when Bush was in power. TEAM RED!! TEAM BLUE!! GO TEAM GO!!

Zinn is not yet cold in his grave, and already a contender vies for his idiot throne.

T|2.4.10 @ 4:53PM|#

The supply of idiot communist sympathizers is, if not infinite, close enough to infinite for all practical purposes.

|2.4.10 @ 4:58PM|#

They are just so easy to make... a dollop of white guilt, even slightly conservative parents, a nagging inability to live in the real world coupled with enough self-awareness to never try... boom, you have a lefty dumbass who's only real skill is a stubborn refusal to understand that the people he sides with aren't the only ones who have rights.

Roger Murdock|2.4.10 @ 5:26PM|#

Add the constant drag of and cumulative wear from the chip you lug around on your shoulder. That you, and a few like you are imbued with the knowledge, wisdom, and judgement to dictate even the most mundane of life's decisions for the unwashed, knuckle-dragging, mouth breathing proles.

|2.4.10 @ 4:41PM|#

LvMI has a couple of bad-ass articles on les Poujadistes (What up?!)

http://www.antiwar.com/stromberg/?articleid=3370

http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=327

|2.4.10 @ 4:49PM|#

Americans, stop bringing your anger to the polls. We like it better when you bring your bi-partisian naive patriotism to the polls. It is much easier to manipulate that into making my friends and I more powerful and richer while taking away your individual liberties. Love your slavery, don't hate it...love our lies, don't hate them, don't be negative.

smartass sob|2.4.10 @ 4:50PM|#

"Gooder" brand tea bags? ;-)

|2.4.10 @ 4:55PM|#

Oh wow, no way! I never thought about it that way before! Amazing

RT
www.web-privacy.cz.tc

|2.4.10 @ 5:41PM|#

I now believe that they consider the opposition sub-human.

Speaking only for myself...

|2.4.10 @ 5:43PM|#

Shouldn't the frog be *in* the hot water?

John Tagliaferro|2.4.10 @ 6:06PM|#

"Une Fête Du Thé"

I could smell that text half way across the continent.

BeesInTheBrain|2.4.10 @ 7:37PM|#

Historical parallelism is the duct tape of my profession: we apply it to the most disparate things. Sooner or later the tape frays, revealing unique fissures that require individual attention.
Professor Zaretsky, please re-read and correct your paper before submitting again. You "duct tape" could not even survive your own examples.

jamin t.|7.15.10 @ 10:20PM|#

bestpriceforsales equus 3100 Does exactly what it's supposed to do.......have used it on several of my cars and friends cars and so far, it has given me great data.

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