Monday
To each their own Trump. The Argentines have chosen. Exhausted by a devastating economic crisis and 140% inflation, desperate for a corrupt political class, they brought to power Javier Mileil, an ultraliberal populist who promises to turn the tables. He is president, gone are the central bank, the ministry of women’s rights and abortion. So many expensive and useless gadgets. Exit also the Argentine peso, sidelined in favor of the king dollar. One of the commitments of this disciple of Donald Trump who invites himself to the global ball of populists thanks to this astonishing coronation with the chainsaw. “France soon!”, the environmentalist MP Sandrine Rousseau hastens to prophesy upon the election of this self-confessed climate skeptic. But who could Mother Teresa think of quinoa salad? To Marine Le Pen? Too much in search of respectability to play the Milei-style breakup. To Jean-Luc Mélenchon? Capable of replacing the euro with the Venezuelan bolivar, the Rebel in Chief clearly has the profile. To Francis Lalanne, Jean-Marie Bigard or Cyril Hanouna, who might be tempted to follow in the footsteps of “Trump of the Pampas”? The bets are open.
Mardi
When you’re in the desert. In a great show of generosity, the SNCF plans to set up teleconsultation booths in 300 stations located in medical deserts. If the intention is laudable, the project is perplexing. “It would be better to improve rail services to landlocked territories!”, chokes up the National Order of Physicians. It’s hard to prove him wrong. By abandoning entire sections of France, the public operator accentuates a growing feeling of downgrading. Access to care or work: without the rail, there is no salvation. In stations where the SNCF counters have been closed for a long time, the opening of teleconsultation spaces will sweep away any hope of seeing a real medical presence return. What if, before thinking about our health, the SNCF took care of its trains?
Wednesday
Anne in Tahiti. Three weeks after the start of the controversy surrounding the trip of the socialist mayor of Paris to New Caledonia and Polynesia, the successive twists and turns of this affair are worthy of the best Netflix series. Stronger than Emily in Paris, Anne in Tahiti! While a complaint has been filed by the AC Corruption association and the Paris prosecutor has been contacted, the person concerned is defending herself step by step. Her final argument to justify this three-week trip under the coconut trees at 60,000 euros happily mixing professional obligations and private vacations: she was not at the end of the world, but “at the end of France”. You had to dare! Entangled in this distressing “Tahitigate” Anne Hidalgo also excels in the art of counterfire. Referendum on SUV parking taxation, speed limit to 50 km/h on the ring road, doubts about France’s capacity to organize public transport for the Olympic Games: all means are good to create a diversion. And to think that by granting her only 1.7% in the presidential election, the French, so misguided, did not recognize in her the stature of a stateswoman…
THURSDAY
Mickaëlle Paty and colleagues. From the first trickle of voices, a leaden silence erases the gentle hubbub of the large auditorium of the Congress of Mayors of France. Behind the chiseled sentences of the sister of the murdered professor invited to testify by David Lisnard, the president of the AMF, a mixture of pain and cold anger. “Carrying the lessons of the past allows us to prepare for the tragic repetition of it. This is what was not done for my brother, and this is what was missing to save Dominique Bernard.” Then place the words of the Arras assassin recorded in a message of allegiance to Daesh. In the mouth of the martyred professor’s sister, they appear even more abject. “O French people, people of cowardice and unbelievers, I was in your schools. You taught me what democracy and human rights are and you pushed me to hell.” No more “yes, but”, the excuses “from wokists, pacifists, collaborators and preachers” which too often justify terrorist acts and the Hamas attack. Faced with “Islamist terror offensives”, Mickaëlle Paty calls on the French to be courageous and startled. Implacable.
Friday
For Thomas. The sadness is indescribable. The large and collected crowd. The words of his loved ones of admirable dignity. At Thomas’ funeral in Saint-Donat-sur-L’Herbasse (Drôme), everyone contained their anger. After the death of this 16-year-old teenager during a ball in the neighboring village of Crépol, his family thanks the police, demands justice, but does not cry for revenge. In the aftermath of this tragic evening, schools and businesses did not burn. The National Assembly did not observe a minute of silence. Only the rugby fields, Thomas’ great passion, will be silent for a few moments this weekend to pay tribute to him. Considering such a tragedy, this is very little.
SATURDAY
The head upside down. Put the city entrance signs upside down. This new fashion could make you smile. It actually reflects deep distress. That of farmers strangled by charges, weakened by incredible European constraints. Supported by many local elected officials, the #OnMarcheSurLaTête movement could gain momentum, which is confirmed by the strong mobilization recorded this Saturday in Narbonne. Faced with this muted anger, public authorities have an interest in reacting quickly. It is the increasingly uncertain future of French agriculture that is at stake.