We Must Be Lucinda

The following story comes at a great remove from the heat of Paris. Those of us not situated in the City of Lights can only watch and wonder who'll have the last laugh. Le Pen is probably enjoying the view, laughing up his sleeve. The following is excerpted from a newspaper from Canada.
***

"We must be lucid: The Republic is at a moment of truth," Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said.

"A return to order is the absolute priority."

Mr. de Villepin told parliament that economic stagnation in the ghettos will be addressed with the equivalent of $140-million in subsidies for local associations, 25,000 new government-funded jobs and 15 economic zones with lower taxes.

He also promised to set up an anti-discrimination agency, saying it is necessary for the country to reconsider the way it has dealt with minorities.

"All French people want to return to normality and safety," Mr. de Villepin said.
***

By early evening, French police said the crackdown was showing signs of success.

Cars burned and gangs threw firebombs at police in Toulouse, but overall the unrest seemed diminished as only 66 people had been arrested as of 11 p.m.
***

Some of the suspects were as young as 12.
***

"All French people want to return to normality and safety," Mr. de Villepin said...the equivalent of $140-million in subsidies for local associations, 25,000 new government-funded jobs and 15 economic zones with lower taxes.
***

The rioters have set fire to businesses, police stations and schools; fired weapons at police; and torched at least 6,000 cars.
***

We must be lucid.
***

Watching in horror, European editorialists and politicians warned that the spreading violence was not a problem only for France.
***

Overall the unrest seemed diminished.
***

Italian opposition leader Romano Prodi said earlier that an explosion in Italian suburbs is inevitable. "We have the worst suburbs in Europe," he said.

Faced with widespread lawlessness, some people in France have started defending their property. In Seine-Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris rocked by several nights of unrest, a community group has started patrolling local properties armed with pepper spray and heavy flashlights.

There's little sympathy in these neighbourhoods for the rioters. One 19-year-old was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police. His story merited only a few sentences in local newspapers.
***

Subsidies; new government-funded jobs; an anti-discrimination agency. We must be lucid.
***

The main opposition to the measures has come from the left wing of the political spectrum in France. The leftist newspaper Libération said the curfews show that "the reign of Chirac is a tragic farce."
***

We must be lucid. Some of the suspects were as young as 12.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
***

It's our position here that unless emergency measures come into play within the course of the winter there will be "youths" wild in the streets. If nothing reasonable is done, then it'll be too late for France to repel the likes of Le Pen. "Nothing is done," of course, is office jargon for "no one takes responsibility." Object, verb, (subject.) A passive construction.

We, not being passive or pacifists, urge that the men and women who are able take direct action to ensure that the "youths" do not have a pleasant winter during which they brag about their exploits burning and looting and shooting at the police. We urge that those who can take a message to the "youths" directly, the message being "NO!" Not a moment's rest for them, not a wink of unguarded sleep, not a ride on the train, not a walk in the park.

We urge that the French steal Le Pen's thunder. We must be-- not Lucinda-- we must be lucid. El Cid. Livid!