Day Thirteen: The Protest In Annecy.

Here is the First Amendment to the US Constitution in its entirety:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Yesterday was a national day of protest here in France and I got to watch it up close and personal, as they say. I was profoundly shocked and disturbed by what I saw. Why? Not because the people here were marching and sounding off about their grievances against the government, but because it made me realize that nothing like this could EVER take place in the United States any more without squadrons of riot police carrying rifles, batons and tasers or without massive arrests. And WE claim to be the land of the free!  Hogwash.

I watched about 10,000 French citizens take to the streets under the watchful eyes of perhaps a dozen policemen within my view. Some of the protesters lit highway flares and were whipping up the crowd amidst a display of fire and smoke. The cops just observed. No official action was taken.

How is this possible? In America, we are required to obtain a parade permit before being allowed by our government to stage such a demonstration. In France, the organizers simply notify the government in writing of the date and time of the demonstration and the route it will take. The government then dispatches the police to close off the necessary roadways at the appointed hour. Try THAT on Pennsylvania Avenue or Main Street, USA.

In France, the protests are not confined to "designated protest zones", chain link fence enclosures miles away from the seat of power. Such a thing would be thought of as ludicrous in France. Bear in mind that the writings of Jean Jacques Rousseau were a powerful influence on the men who constructed our Constitution, along with such kindred spirits as John Locke. "Liberal," in the political sense, means nothing more than that the people own the country and the government and not the other way around. And yet, in America today, "liberal" is a term of scorn and derision. How far downhill we have traveled from the lofty ideals upon which our nation was founded.

It is popular these days to disparage France. Many Americans think of the French the way Bart Simpson phrased it: a nation of cheese eating surrender monkeys. Our disdain for the French stems from their refusal to participate in America's criminal misadventures in Iraq over the past decade.

Yet we could learn much from France, especially when it comes to the people exercising their right to express displeasure at the machinations of their government. A free people should do no less. And so, let me leave you with one of my favorite cartoons of all time:

America is many things, but that doesn't mean we are the best at everything or even most things. If we refuse to see what is going on in the world around us, we do so at our peril.

Vive la France!

For pictures of the protest march in Annecy, please follow this link: A Protest In Annecy