Politics

Une Fête Du Thé

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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.