THE FRENCH CELEBRATE CINCO DE MAYO.

I was just about to write a post about the seminal disaster of the battle of Cinco de Mayo.  Cinco de Mayo, is a day celebrated in the US by the large Mexican diaspora here who love Mexico so much that they needed to see it from a distance.  Cinco de Mayo is also lustily celebrated here by my countrymen, who will gladly celebrate the black hole of Calcutta if it involves heavy drinking and the wearing of funny hats.  The day celebrates an early Mexican victory over an invading French army in the 1860's.  With American help the Mexicans finally ejected the French and murdered the French imposed Maximilian III their last good leader.   

I say disaster because it represented the last chance Mexico had for something approximating good government.  Had Mexico allowed itself to be managed by France she would not be the indo-hispanic, dysfunctional kleptocracy she is today.  She would be a more elegant and European country.   a bit corrupt perhaps, but in a more complex, Gallic way. Imagine the wines of Mexico as crafted by French vintners! Imagine......But It's pointless now to speculate on what French influence and governance would have accomplished in Mexico.  

It seems that the French, in electing Macron, are themselves rejecting French governance.    Ms. Le Pen it seems is too French to be elected to the Presidency of France.  

The last debate between LePen and Macron was striking in how weak and fatuous Macron's arguments were.  His conflation of EU interests with that of the French nation were so transparently dishonest as to be laughable to an idiot.  As to terrorism and the threat of Islam, he actually claimed to have been busy at the Hague while being traduced by LePen!  He came within a hair of declaring the traditional French culture an unacceptable impediment to social stability.  If this isn't some sort of treason what would be?  In fact he declared LePen's rather mild plan to bring the Muslims to book "An incitement to civil war." 

It seems that the French are only gradually coming to trust themselves with their own destiny.  Until they do, they stand with the lowly Mexicans celebrating their escape from the glory that was France.