Une Fête Du Thé

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.