50 Years Ago: Plotters Who Tried to Kill de Gaulle on Trial

February 4:

1963 Plane Ready to Bomb Elysée

PARIS — The man who led the machine-gun attack on President Charles de Gaulle last August said yesterday [Feb. 2] there were pilots ready to bomb the Elysée Palace, his official residence, or his country home at Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises had they really wanted to kill him. Former Lt. Col. Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry, an American-trained guided-missile technician, made the disclosure in the sixth day of the trial of 15 men accused of trying to kill Gen. de Gaulle Aug. 22. Bastien-Thiry said the anti-Gaullist National Resistance Council (CNR) which planned the attempt had two choices: a summary execution, or putting Gen. de Gaulle out of the way by an “arrest.” 

February 13: 

1963 De Gaulle’s Son-in-Law Tells of Shots

PARIS — The special military court trying 15 men accused of attempting to kill President Charles de Gaulle last August today [Feb. 13] heard testimony from his son-in-law describing the Chief of State’s dash to safety through a hail of machine-gun bullets. Col. Alain de Boissieu, who occasionally acts as his father-in-law’s aide-de-camp, said: “I heard gunfire and saw bullets ricocheting. ‘Step on it,’ I told the chauffeur. I asked the general and Mrs. de Gaulle to duck. They didn’t obey immediately. Then I saw that the window nearest Gen. de Gaulle was broken.”

March 4:

1963 The Plot to Kill de Gaulle

PARIS — Three ringleaders in the machine-gun attack against President Charles de Gaulle last summer were sentenced to death tonight [March 4] by a special military court. The condemned men are Lt. Col. Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry, 35, Lt. Alain de Bougrenet de la Tocnave, 37, and Jacques Prevost, 31. All 14 men on trial were found guilty of participating in the attempt to assassinate Gen. de Gaulle Aug. 22. However, five defendants were tried in absentia, and by law, their cases must be reconsidered before a court if they are captured. Three of the men tried in absentia were also condemned to death. The other sentences ranged from three to 15 years in prison.

Guest Writer: Sarah A. Hoyt on Being American

Being American

By Sarah A. Hoyt [website]

I read No Pasaran for years, while I hid in ignominious duplicity.  Or, if you prefer – it happens to be true – while I tried to hide my political beliefs because I thought after I had achieved some status in Science Fiction I could then have more influence on those who were already reading me, and, until then, I could reach minds that would, otherwise, close hard against me.  Or, if you prefer – it’s also true – I was keeping my mouth shut and keeping my job because baby needed shoes.

Well, about two years ago I broke.  And this year I really broke.  It is one thing to keep your opinions to yourself when the “war” being conducted on the political sphere doesn’t threaten your adopted home and the future of your children, but when it is doing both…  “they shall not pass” comes to mind, and one opens that political closet door and comes out swinging.

Recently your post on immigration found an echo in me.

Our immigration system is beyond broken: in fact, it seems, at this point, to strive to encourage exactly the type of immigrants who DON’T wish to assimilate: people who walk over the border and fully intend to walk back (and many of whom buy into the lie we stole what should have been theirs); refugees from political messes, who wish to continue conducting their battles on our ground (as opposed to those who wish to live the mess behind and become American); various sorts of people who get in by political favor and who come with who knows what intent.

I can’t say much – I had full intention of immigrating legally, perhaps starting with (I had an offer) an assistantship at an American college, then seeing if I could get a permanent job and a worker’s visit.  As it happened though – even before I came here as an exchange student – I was already mad in love with the US, I fell in love with a US citizen, also, and we married, which gave me a leg up on the line, ahead of all those other people.

How long and how tough is that line?  When I was in high school one of my teachers (who had a Masters’ in French and her husband, who had an Engineering degree) had been waiting through ten years and ever more intrusive/abstruse bureaucracy to be allowed to immigrate.  When I came moved here five years later, she was still waiting.

This couple were both highly accomplished people, intelligent and already – in their heart – Americans in beliefs and yearnings.  (Possibly the only thing I agree with the current president on is that one can be an American already in one’s heart before he sets foot on these shores.  The point on which I disagree is, of course, the idea that this gives one a right to come in illegally and/or to vote in our elections.) They were, in fact, that of which good citizens are made.  There was no rhyme or reason to keeping them waiting that long – nothing, in fact, but the fact that immigration from Europe is all but shut down.  And part of the reason it is all but shut down is the streaming of immigrants (not just from Mexico) over the border – those who don’t bother with passports or visas.

To an extent this is the predictable result of how long that line is and how impossible to get past and the fact that no one does anything to curtail the illegal stream.  If the only option you give people is to break the law, any number of them will take it.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t give people any respect for our laws or our processes, once they get here.

What we have, in the US is an ideal that attracts people from all over the world – citizens of the US already in their heart.  Even when our principles are honored more in default.  Even when our economy is in a nose dive.  I wanted to come here even while Jimmy Carter was president.  I probably would still want to come here if I were out there.  Any number of people will want to.

A rational immigration policy will be built around letting those who yearn to be Americans come.  And leaving the grievance mongers and those who resent America and all it stands for behind.

To continue in this path will lead us to my future world, in Darkship Renegades and A Few Good Men, where the only USA left is carried deep in the secret of the heart and liberty has vanished from the Earth.
Related: It So Happens That Every Illegal Alien in America Already Does Have Papers

Statutory law in America has expanded to the point that government’s primary activity is no longer to protect, preserve and defend our lives, liberty and property, but rather to stalk and entrap normal American citizens doing everyday things

Statutory law in America has expanded to the point that government’s primary activity is no longer to protect, preserve and defend our lives, liberty and property

writes Bill Wilson,

but rather to stalk and entrap normal American citizens doing everyday things.

After identifying three federal offenses in the U.S. Constitution — treason, piracy and counterfeiting — the federal government left most matters of law enforcement to the states. By the time President Obama took office in 2009, however, there were more than 4,500 federal criminal statutes on the books.

“Too many people in Washington seem to think that the more laws Congress enacts, the better the job performance of the policymakers,” Lynch notes. “That’s twisted.”

Not long after Skyler Capo’s battle with Virginia game wardens, former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese joined Lynch in testifying before a House committee exploring the problem of overcriminalization. “The federal criminal code is overly extensive,” Meese testified. “There are more laws than are needed or could possibly be enforced. There are too many redundant, superfluous and unnecessary criminal laws. They should be consolidated and/or eliminated.”

A compelling new study on overcriminalization by University of Tennessee professor Glenn Reynolds (of Instapundit fame) shows that there are many solutions to this problem, including an end to prosecutorial immunity, “loser pays” legislation and a ban on plea bargains.

But more drastic measures may be required. Reformers should really begin by going through the entire body of federal criminal law — starting with all statutes that carry jail time — operating under the presumption that every statute should be eliminated unless it can be justified as essential. The federal government, especially, has no business duplicating state functions or applying criminal penalties to advance mere social engineering objectives.

No one talks about legal immigrants who are hard working men and women, who wait for the frustratingly slow process that seems to discriminate against those who want to do it by the book

… from personal experience, regardless of how welcoming and friendly the American people were, and are, the immigration system is severely broken in the USA 

muses Mark I Sutherland in the Daily Telegraph.

Our first experience of it was on my first visit. The abusive nature of the customs official was eye-opening and intimidating. Luckily, that attitude of "if I don't like you, you're back on the plane" was limited to the official. The people in the Midwest could not have been nicer.

My next experience with the immigration system was after we had waited in line for a number of years, and our green card applications were approved. This time it was an official at the US Embassy in London. I think if he had his way, we'd have been hauled off in irons for some fun waterboarding in the basement. Fortunately

 … as a legal immigrant, I watched the ongoing debate, and sometimes pure vitriol, surrounding immigration. There is the positioning by both sides, the special interest groups that take an all-or-nothing approach. And there are the children who never knew they weren't born here and the families who risked their lives to enter the land of opportunity, albeit illegally. And finally, those who refused to break the law and sought to enter legally, waiting in line, for years, and years, and years.

These are the forgotten. No one talks about these people, who like me, are not interested in breaking the law, regardless of how attractive America looks. These hard working men and women, who wait for the frustratingly slow process that seems to discriminate against those who want to do it by the book. These are the type of people who come here and started my favourite Scottish restaurant – and employ Americans. These are the people who emigrated from southern England and started a tea room where I can get Duke and Duchess tea, with a side of Branston Pickle and cheese – and employ Americans. These are the people who emigrated from China, started the best Chinese restaurant I have ever experienced – and employ Americans.

These are the people who after creating jobs for Americans, embrace the culture while also bringing the celebrations of their home country with them, adding to the vibrancy and diversity that is the American melting pot.

 … I have a glimmer of hope. Because I know how welcoming American is. I know how special America is. And my hope is that the locked door, where the No Vacancy sign hangs, will be unlocked and thrown open, and we again hear the refrain of Lady Liberty welcoming those yearning to be free.

Update: Being American

Breaking: Hugo Chávez Dead

Hugo Chávez has gone to meet his maker, according to Venezuela's vice president…

French Minister Condemns Islamo Fascism, Using the Same Expression that Brought George W Bush So Much Opprobrium a Decade Ago

France's minister of the interior has condemned "an Islamic fascism that is on the rise just about everywhere." The words of the socialist Manuel Valls against "this obscurantism" is of course the very language that got George W Bush into so much trouble (as his BDS critics conveniently forgot the times when the American president referred to Islam as a religion of peace).

Manuel Valls, ministre de l'Intérieur, a réagi … aux manifestations qui éclatent en Tunisie depuis l'assassinat de l'opposant Chokri Belaïd. Sur Europe 1, il a dénoncé "un fascisme islamique qui monte un peu partout". Il a estimé que "cet obscurantisme (...) doit être évidemment condamné (...) puisqu'on on nie cet état de droit, cette démocratie pour lesquels les peuples libyens, tunisiens, égyptiens se sont battus."

Selon lui, la France doit "soutenir les démocrates" en Tunisie pour que les "valeurs de la révolution du jasmin ne soient pas trahies". Il a également assuré que "la France ne coopérera jamais quand il s'agit de réprimer un peuple". Le ministre de l'Intérieur a dit toutefois "garder espoir dans le rendez-vous électoral pour que les forces démocratiques et laïques, celles qui portent les valeurs de cette révolution du jasmin, demain l'emportent". "C'est un enjeu considérable (...) pas uniquement pour les Tunisiens mais pour tout l'espace méditerranéen, et donc aussi pour la France."

This comes of course as a new book comes out revisiting Jacques Chirac's Foreign Policy and France's opposition to Bush during the Iraq War, and as France is involved in a Muslim region war of its own, in Mali where François Hollande is compared to Charles de Gaulle (regarding the horrors of white racism, incidentally, check out the post Mali Native Tells Incredulous MSM Reporter That He Would Like Nothing Better Than for Mali to Be Colonized by Whites Again (VIDEO)).

Oh, and the information about the speech of Manuel Valls (who was asked questions by by Le Parisien's readers) would not be complete without this surprise: The mainstream media (neither French nor international) hardly seems to have tried to make anything close to front page news about the Manuel Valls statement, much less to cry bloody murder regarding this piece of news (as they would have were Dubya involved). At the time of this writing, few of the search results after a Google search of the words fascisme islamique manuel valls lead to any MSM reports of the event (Merci à Bill).

(Update: Et un merci pour le Professeur Reynolds) Related: • 9 to 10 Years' Jail Time for Italy's Secret Service Honchos for Helping Bush White House 10 Years Ago (The international left's fight against the Bush Administration in particular and against conservative America in general continues…)

• Speaking French in Paris, John Kerry Takes Dig at America's Clueless Conservatives (VIDEO)

Kim Jong-un Treated with More Respect Than Any U.S. Conservative

That is the world we live in — and one that Obama obviously lives in: one where Kim Jong-un is treated with more respect, and with more understanding (tolerance, anyone?), than any American Republican.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wants US President Barack Obama to call him, and does not want war, according to retired basketball star Dennis Rodman.

Speaking on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Mr Rodman claimed: "He said, 'If you can, Dennis - I don't want [to] do war. I don't want to do war.' He said that to me."

When questioned about Mr Kim's human rights record, Mr Rodman said he was not apologising for the North Korean leader, "but as a person to person, he's my friend."

Related: When to Bring Up Human Rights Issues?
Only When Dealing with (Conservative) America and the West,
Never with True Despots, Like Russia

Plantu Compares "General" François Hollande to Charles de Gaulle

Plantu has "General" François Hollande channel Charles de Gaulle's free Paris speech from 1944
• François Hollande:
Mali humiliated…
Mali wronged…
But Mali liberated!

"Jacques Chirac's Foreign Policy" Re-Visits France's Opposition to Bush During the Iraq War

In a book review of Christian Lequesne and Maurice Vaïsse's La Politique étrangère de Jacques Chirac (Jacques Chirac's Foreign Policy), Daniel Vernet claims that Chirac's anti-American quote is false. ("In foreign policy, I operate on a simple principle," he was said to have told Tony Blair and Gerhard Schröder. "I look at what the Americans do, and then I do the opposite. That way I know I am right.")

La résistance à l'unilatéralisme américain atteint son apogée en février 2003 quand la France, avec l'Allemagne et la Russie, s'oppose à la guerre de George Bush en Irak. "J'ai un principe simple en politique étrangère, explique le président français au premier ministre britannique Tony Blair et au chancelier allemand Gerhard Schröder, je regarde ce que font les Américains et je fais le contraire. Alors je suis sûr d'avoir raison."

La phrase est plaisante mais elle est fausse. Avec les Etats-Unis, Jacques Chirac n'est pas animé par un antiaméricanisme systématique. Il continue de jouer du mélange d'amitié et d'hostilité, caractéristique de l'attitude française traditionnelle. Tantôt il les presse d'agir, comme en Bosnie où il ne tolère pas que des soldats français soient pris en otages, tantôt il les contrarie comme en Irak ou fait cause commune avec eux comme au Liban à propos duquel il se brouille avec le clan Assad à la suite de l'assassinat de son ami Rafik Hariri.

Meanwhile, Béatrice Gurrey reports on a TV documentary about the Chirac clan:

Le mérite du film de Pierre Hurel est d'avoir exhumé des archives oubliées ou mal connues pour raconter l'histoire de cette famille dévorée par la politique. Celle de trois femmes fascinées par un seul homme, le mari et le père, pour le destin duquel tout sera sacrifié. D'abord, il y a l'épouse, Bernadette, avec ce front très grand, cette bouche trop pâle, qui assure d'une voix timide se contenter d'une "petite fleur de temps en temps" de la part de son mari : ses débuts à Matignon, en 1974, semblent marqués du sceau d'un ennui sans fond.

"PAPA PRÉFÈRE ME VOIR DANS "ELLE" QUE DANS "LUI""

Puis il y a Laurence, l'aînée, si sérieuse et précise, qui pèse chaque mot, dont la maladie va bouleverser la vie de la famille. Mais pas la trajectoire du père.
En 1984, le maire de Paris commente, face caméra : "On est beaucoup plus puissant qu'un ministre. Le goût du pouvoir est beaucoup plus satisfait. On n'a pas au-dessus de soi un président ou un premier ministre." Bouffée de cigarette. "Voilà", conclut-il, dissimulant ses failles.

Enfin, il y a Claude, alors jeune fille délurée adepte des nuits parisiennes, qui déclare avec aplomb au magazine Confidences : "Je ne serais pas capable de me sacrifier pour un homme, comme maman." Elle pose dans Elle avec son boy-friend, Vincent Lindon, et assure avec impertinence : "Papa préfère me voir dans Elle que dans Lui."