Behind the Façades in France: What expats and the mainstream media (French and American alike) fail to notice (or fail to tell you) about French attitudes, principles, values, and official positions…
During a 6-minute stint on Shalom Radio (Tribune Juive), Philippe Karsenty made a few choice remarks in a radio debate which has been called "une interview choc" (a spectacular interview).
America's new administration is a great chance for Israel, said the spokesman for le Comité Trump France. (Toda Lech for the Instalink, Sarah.)
The French-American member of Republicans Overseas France (ROF) has an article in one of France's oldest (and most widely read) newspapers, he has been interviewed on Sud Radio, he held a speech on the MEGA MAGA podcast on Twitter X, and next Tuesday he will be the guest of Jean-François Mourtoux in a Paris suburb for an "exceptional" discussion.
#MEGAMAGA is a new tag on X: the second part acknowledges Trump's well-known mantra, while the first part copies "Europe" into his formula; and, indeed, "Make Europe Great Again" is what Nicolas Conquer's article in Le Figaro is all about.
In Le Figaro, Nicolas writes that
"Unlike France, the United States understands that the State has to be a facilitator and not an obstacle":
Donald Trump's fight for administrative simplification should inspire France, which persists in favoring regulation rather than innovation, opines Nicolas Conquer, spokesperson for Republicans Overseas France.
… While America seeks to restore its ability to be one step ahead, Europe persists in a systematic distrust of risk, success, and initiative. The spirit of innovation runs up against a regulatory wall designed more to control than to stimulate. In France, this inertia is glaring: standards and rules accumulate, administrative constraints weigh heavily on the economy, and entrepreneurs spend more time complying with the rules than innovating.
… A question of priorities: progress before bureaucracy! Administrative simplification is indeed an economic imperative. In the United States, Donald Trump has instituted a simple and common-sense, albeit revolutionary, measure: for each new standard implemented, ten others must be eliminated. A radical signal that contrasts with the administrative inflation that is paralyzing Europe and France in particular.
… Whereas the United States understands that the State should act as a facilitator and not as an obstacle, France persists in multiplying the levels of unnecessary control, unnecessary agencies, unnecessary authorizations, and unnecessary procedures. This model is not sustainable. … It is not a luxury that is being asked for, it is a question of economic survival.
… The future belongs to nations that innovate, not to those that get bogged down in absurd regulations.
Le combat de Donald Trump en faveur de la simplification administrative devrait inspirer la France, qui persiste à privilégier la réglementation plutôt que l’innovation, affirme Nicolas Conquer, porte-parole du Parti républicain américain en France.
… Alors que l’Amérique cherche à réhabiliter sa capacité à avoir un coup d’avance, l’Europe persiste dans une défiance systématique vis-à-vis du risque, du succès et de la prise d’initiative. L’esprit d’innovation se heurte à un mur réglementaire conçu davantage pour contrôler que pour stimuler. En France, cette inertie est criante : les normes s’accumulent, les contraintes administratives pèsent lourdement sur l’économie, et les entrepreneurs passent plus de temps à se conformer aux règles qu’à innover.
… La France et l’UE débattent d’une énième capsule sur une bouteille, pendant que les États-Unis envoient des capsules spatiales récupérer leurs astronautes. Une question de priorités : le progrès avant la bureaucratie ! La simplification administrative est en effet un impératif économique. Aux États-Unis, Donald Trump a institué une mesure simple et pleine de bon sens, mais révolutionnaire : pour chaque nouvelle norme, dix doivent être supprimées. Un signal radical qui tranche avec l’inflation administrative qui paralyse l’Europe et notamment la France.
… Là où les États-Unis ont compris que l’État devait être un facilitateur et non un obstacle, la France persiste à multiplier les niveaux de contrôle, les agences, les autorisations et les procédures inutiles. Ce modèle n’est pas soutenable. … Ce n’est pas un luxe, c’est une question de survie économique.
… L’avenir appartient aux nations qui innovent, pas à celles qui s’enlisent dans des règlements absurdes.
Sud Radio (entre 21:45 et 40:04) :
Avec Benjamin Cauchy, chef d'entreprise, Nicolas Conquer porte-parole de Republican Overseas, Nicolas Bay député Européen Retrouvez Alexis Poulin sans réserve tous les vendredis de 12h à 13h sur #SudRadio.
🎙️ MEGA MAGA – ÉPISODE 13 🇺🇸
— Nicolas Conquer (@ConquerNicolas) February 5, 2025
Trump impose sa ligne sur Gaza, démantèle USAID et interdit les athlètes trans dans le sport féminin !!! LET’S GOOO !! 🔥
•🇮🇱 Gaza : Trump surprend tout le monde – Pas un dollar US pour la reconstruction, pas un soldat américain déployé ! Vers un… pic.twitter.com/DkgH57LNGj
Le 5 février 2025,
Evelyne Joslain, assistée d’Eric, reçoit :
- Erik Svane, porte-parole des Republican Overseas France
- Philippe Karsenty, éditeur, homme d’affaires, porte-parole de MAGA France
- Marc Amblard, avocat international
- Daniel Clément, médecin
Thème : “Les 100 Premiers jours de Trump”
Patron d'émission du Libre journal du Nouveau Monde à Radio Courtoisie, Évelyne Joslain est l'auteur d'une poignée de livres sur les États-Unis et l'Occident. Parmi ceux-ci, son chef d'œuvre est paru il y a quelques mois.
Parmi les revues de livre qui sont parues à ce jour, deux sur No Pasarán et Le Monde Watch, une autre revue sur Les 4 Vérités (sous le titre La Guerre Culturelle : un livre incontournable) et une dernière revue sur Dreuz (sous le titre “La Guerre Culturelle” d’Évelyne Joslain – un livre indispensable sur les dangers qui vous menacent).
Pour revenir à Radio Courtoisie, cliquez sur le lien pour entendre l'émission d'une heure et demie…
Dear President Trump,
as you go, or as the DOGE's Elon Musk goes, through government to find evidence of waste, kickbacks, and corruption within its hallowed walls, and as you indeed find a protection racket related to mainstream media outlets as varied as Politico, CBS, the BBC, and the New York Times, maybe your next step should be to target Disney and ABC — both in general and regarding one specific event.
The event occurred almost 20 years ago and it, or rather its ensuing wake, is described in the Breitbart article, To Protect Clintons, ABC Censored and Buried ‘Path to 9/11’ Miniseries. (Thanks for Instalink, Steve.)
After reminding us of the "length to which ABC, its news division, and its parent company (Disney) have gone to protect and curry favor with the Clintons" — "in 1996, ABC News hired George Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton campaign and White House official" and said "symbol of ABC News has an ongoing relationship (involving large sums of money) with Bill and Hillary Clinton, a relationship that he and ABC News attempted to cover up from viewers" — John Nolte gets to the gist of the matter and reminds us of what befell the mini-series after it was broadcast 19 years ago.
Back in September of 2006, for the fifth anniversary of 9/11, Touchstone Television (a division of ABC) produced a two-part miniseries, The Path to 9/11, that looked, in great detail, at the events that led up to that tragic September morning.
The 240 minute series was meticulously researched by award-winning screenwriter Cyrus Nowrasteh (who has worked on similar historical dramass with the likes of Oliver Stone) and focused, in part, on what the Clinton administration did right and wrong in their attempt to capture or kill 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.
Nevertheless, once the Clintons got wind that a network miniseries might commit the sin of accurately dramatizing some of their mistakes, all hell broke loose. The Clintons complained publicly and privately to their Disney/ABC pals.
And in an act out of outright McCarthyism, Senate Democrats threatened to revoke ABC’s broadcast license if the miniseries wasn’t censored to benefit the Clintons.
Not only did ABC happily comply, after its initial broadcast, ABC went even further in burying forever its $40 million investment.
Rather than risk upsetting the Clintons, Disney/ABC instead chose to cave to government threats and lose tens of millions of dollars in the revenue that almost certainly would have come from a “Path to 9/11” home video release and re-broadcasts, not just on ABC, but its other cable networks.
I remember an article that Cyrus Nowrasteh wrote (in none other than, I believe, the Wall Street Journal), in which the screenwriter acknowledged that fairness is a matter of the utmost importance and that ABC should therefore release a DVD which would feature, among its bonuses, a carte blanche reply from the Clinton camp that could contain as much information and ripostes as Bill Clinton desired, and be however long he desired. Obviously, that came to naught.
President Trump: Lean onto Disney as only you know how and have the ABC channel release The Path to 9/11 on DVD (with or without the Clintons' reply) while honoring its initial decision to re-broadcast the two-part miniseries every year in early September, as initially planned.
Update: Let's not forget , who chose Mediate (of all places) to publish his piece about his own documentary about the 9/11 docudrama, which he calls
one of the most damning films ever made about the Clintons. Blocking “The Path to 9/11” told the remarkable and infuriating story of how The Path to 9/11 was somehow transformed from a extraordinary piece of art which tried to educate the public about what led to those terrorist attacks, into a “conservative” political hit piece.
A personal note: I cannot find any mention of the movie on No Pasarán (which is probably because none of the NP bloggers ever had the chance to see it on a European screen). But what I do remember is some of my first forays into Wikipedia, along with my first personal experience of Wikipedia censorship. Most of the section I created, Responses from the right, was deleted, if I remember correctly, down to a single paragraph or so. And back in those days, Wikipedia had not yet (or had barely) started its numbered References section; instead there would be a section (sometimes sparse, sometimes long) towards the very end called Further Reading. All this would consist of was a list of hyperlinked article titles regarding the subject, plus perhaps the author and the media of origin.
Noticing that every one of the Wikipedia page's two dozen or so articles were leftist and critical, I added some 7 or 8 conservative articles to balance out the point of view. Pretty soon (perhaps within a day or so), I noticed they had been deleted. I protested in the Talk section but was met with a rebuttal that my sources weren't serious enough for Wikipedia. Note: one of these articles that was not serious enough for Wikipedia's readers was one regarding the controversy authored by … the screenwriter himself, Cyrus Nowrasteh — surely of some interest in the debate. As noted above, the source that it came from that was not serious enough for Wikipedia (contrary to, say, the… Colbert Report) was the… Wall Street Journal.
You cannot understand Donald Trump's foreign policy decisions — notably his pronouncements on Greenland, Panama, and Canada — unless you recognize the danger that China's government represents, as much to the rest of the world as to America.
In that perspective, there has been a threat that has not been recognized enough, whether by Western media outlets or by the countries that have signed various agreements with Beijing.
The subject that has been covered, rather fully, has been the Chinese communist threat to its immediate neighbors, as well as the People's Army (or the People's Navy, rather) building military bases, indeed entire islands, in the China Sea.
As China threatens Taiwan and Japan, while redrawing geographical maps (notably with regards to India and Russia) and while writing the era of Britain's colony of Hong Kong out of Chinese history books, the country of Hua Mulan has been engaged in entering into agreements with countries all over the world that turn out to be a Trojan Horse for penetrating a country's economy.
With regards to Greenland and Panama, we get to a much less known aspect of Beijing's policies and diplomacy. Here, we turn to Trump's Call to Denmark's Prime Minister Left Her Like a James Bond Martini, in which streiff gives more details about
China's "elite capture" strategy
aka the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Action Plan on the Belt and Road Initiative published by the State Council of the People Republic of China
Beijing approaches a country with very — mainly, but not uniquely, in Asia and Africa — and offers them very good deals with regards to . When the country cannot pay its bills, the offer turns out to be a Trojan Horse with Beijing taking over all or part of a city's infrastructure.
It's not only cities and port terminals. Here, streiff mentions other "benefits" in the "concerted Chinese effort to establish control (such as Vitkor [sic] Orban's Hungary allow[ing] uniformed Chinese police in Budapest" while The Economist's Telegram mentions "Peru, which … has allowed Chinese state companies to acquire a monopoly on the electricity supply to the capital, Lima."
But mainly, it's about achieving control in urban centers and especially city harbors, such as the Chinese warships [docked] at a Cambodia military base. Or China's recent foray into
Sri Lanka, which is Beijing's first harbor in the Indian Ocean, in addition to managing to pull off international shaming tactics to push the UK to hand over to Mauritius the Chagos Archipelago further West, with the USA's Diego Garcia airbase.
With regards to Europe, Xi Jinping is also present in such European ports as Genoa and Trieste (among other Italian coast cities). As for the management of the Panama Canal, it is by a Hong Kong firm at the core of China’s Geostrategic Approach to Europe (by Francesca Ghiretti):
Geographically, Chinese companies have made acquisitions of terminals all over Europe, covering 15 ports and seven EU member states. Chinese companies are present in the ports of Greece (port of Piraeus and of Thessaloniki), Malta (Malta Freeport Terminal), Italy (Vado Reefer Terminal), Spain (CSP Bilbao Terminal and CSP Valencia Terminal), France (Terminal de France and Terminal Nord, Terminal du Grand Ouest and Terminal de Méditerranée), Belgium (Terminal des Flandres, CSP Zeebrigge Terminal, Antwerp Gateway), the Netherlands (Euromax Terminal and Rotterdam World Gateway), and Germany (Tollerort Terminal in Hamburg).
Check out the CFR for Tracking China’s Control of Overseas Ports
The China Overseas Ports interactive visualizes degrees of China’s overseas port ownership by types of investment across regions and time. It also evaluates the dual-use (commercial and military) potential of ports owned, constructed, or operated by Chinese entities. The database supporting this interactive includes 129 port projects of which Chinese entities have acquired varied equity ownership or operational stakes.
In From Greenland to Panama and Mexico, leaders are in shock due to the Trump decisions, The Economist reports that
The canal is part of a bigger piece of real estate that Mr Trump is eyeing. He wants to influence territory and infrastructure close to the United States. He views Mexico as a source of unwanted migration, drugs and Chinese goods, Canada as a liberal dystopia and Greenland as a weak link.
China’s Arctic silk-road project, unveiled in 2017 [or the] “silk road on ice” (as China calls its polar transportation plan in Chinese) would become a “new platform” for the Belt and Road Initiative, it said, referring to the country’s spree of port, railway, road and other infrastructure-building around the world.The weekly's Telegram adds that
Chinese ambitions to develop a port near Antarctica were “appalling” to America, he says. China’s space-peering radar station is a “very hard” problem because it is governed by a bilateral treaty.
… [Already, Beijing is responsible for] Chancay, a Chinese-built and controlled port in Peru, which will be the largest and deepest on South America’s Pacific coast.
It is a new Chinese Megaport referred to as China’s gateway to South America. Moreover, adds The Economist,
Peru, which, besides Chancay port, has allowed Chinese state companies to acquire a monopoly on the electricity supply to the capital, Lima.
Regarding Greenland, the London weekly points out that
Mr Trump’s allies point to China’s “Polar Silk Road”, a spree of infrastructure-building in the Arctic, as a threat … It is undeniable that Greenland is important to America’s national security. The shortest route for Russian nuclear missiles to reach America’s east coast goes right over the island: Pituffik Space Base in the territory’s north-west hosts part of America’s missile-early-warning system. The so-called Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap plays a central role in the high-stakes submarine contest between NATO members and Russia. … An independent Greenland could be vulnerable to coercion and be an unreliable ally.Let a military specialist have the last word.
Why do small Pacific islands matter?
asks Austin Bay in his article about waging Diplomatic War in the Central and South Pacific.
Chinese military aircraft and navy warships need forward bases beyond the First Island Chain (Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines).
The new bases also provide the People's Liberation Army with missile launch sites. The closer missile launchers are to U.S. bases such as Pearl Harbor, San Diego and Puget Sound, the better, from Beijing's perspective. All the better for cowing the U.S. Navy.
Saipan, Palau, Truk Atoll. They were valuable islands in 1942. Many American citizens, victims of bad schools and leftist teachers, have never heard of these World War II battlegrounds. But controlling them or denying Japan use of these and other islands led to Japan's defeat. For the record, Japan used Saipan as a base for attacking Guam.
In 2023, the hearts and minds of people living in these islands matter. In these small nations, (and that's the current political configuration, nations and confederations) they are vulnerable to the suite of tricks that serves Beijing well in Europe and Washington. The wallets of agents of influence -- diplomatic slang for politicians and media operatives accepting bribes -- are a classic means of first obtaining a weather station, then fishing rights, then naval anchorage rights, then a navy base. After the navy base: a missile launch site.
The process I describe isn't theory. In spring 2022, a leaked document indicated that China had reached an agreement with the Solomon Islands that would give it the right to make naval ship visits and send soldiers or police to train and (according to one source) "maintain order."
Maintain Order: that's Beijing-speak for taking control when the moment is ripe.
Related: • The Systematic Destruction of Denmark's Military Over 30 Years: "Ships that cannot sail; Planes that cannot fly; And cannons that cannot fire — Everything is missing"
• Avoiding the NATO Burden: "Denmark has made the skill of tricking the US into an art" Writes Danish Editor; "Denmark Deserves No Respect from America"
In his article for the Causeur monthly, Ce que j’ai vu à Washington (What I Saw in Washington),
Nicolas Conquer
recounts, as the title indicates, his week in the DC area after traveling from France across the Atlantic Ocean to witness the inauguration of Donald Trump.
A French-American member of Republicans Overseas France (ROF) with a great last name, Nicolas Conquer had adventures aplenty, visiting Mount Vernon (as George and Martha's home prepares for the nation's 250th anniversary), paying his respects at Arlington, and exercising his « god-given rights » by shooting guns with a son of Nicolas Sarkozy.
But Nicolas Conquer was also present at Capitol One to watch the Village People and to witness (cough) Musk's Nazi Salute:
J’attends trois heures dans la file d’attente aux côtés d’un juif ultra-orthodoxe, de sa femme et leur nouveau-né. On regarde ensemble la prestation de Musk, et son geste décrit comme un simulacre de salut nazi. Au moment où il tend son bras vers la foule pour lui offrir « tout son cœur », il n’y a pourtant aucune réaction dans la foule. Pas davantage chez mon interlocuteur qui aurait pu se sentir blessé. Un calme précaire toutefois : je connais le monde médiatique, je sais comment ce geste sera interprété. L’indignation ne tarde jamais.
"I spend three hours waiting in line alongside an ultra-Orthodox Jew, his wife, and their newborn baby. We watch Musk’s performance together, along with his gesture described as a recreation of the Nazi salute. When he extends his arm to the crowd to offer them “all his heart”, however, there is no reaction in the crowd. Certainly not from my neighbor who could have felt shocked. 'Tis but a precarious calm, however: I know the media world, I know how this gesture will be interpreted. Indignation is never long in coming."
As Europeans look aghast at Donald Trump's decisions on major tariff raises on Canada, Mexico, and China while referring to Donald Trump as "un voyou" (a hoodlum or a thug), Randy Yaloz, head of Republicans Overseas France, spent almost an hour and a half on TF1's LCI channel (video at link, starting at 35:35) to defend the "thug's" foreign and economic policies.
Le 22h Rochebin - Broussouloux du lundi 3 février 2025
Publié aujourd'hui à 0h00Au sommaire : Budget : le PS épargne Bayrou... malgré le 49.3 ! Trump/taxes : a-t-on les moyens de se rebeller ? Et maintenant Trump veut... des terres ukrainiennes !
Jeffrey Carter on The Tariff Game (Lots of Disinformation):
I knew Democrats [as well as Europeans] couldn’t grasp economic concepts before, but now they are full-throated in their ignorance. … Everyone was doom-and-gloom. … the goal of the tariffs would be to end tariffs on both sides. … I think that tariffs are dumb. But, I also don’t like being a patsy. …
… Trump is getting a lot of stuff done that people in the US have wanted en masse for years. Who hasn’t heard a liberal or a conservative say they want good government? Who hasn’t heard someone say they want to eliminate waste?
All the crying you hear today is from people actually seeing waste get eliminated.
LCI :
Du lundi au jeudi Darius Rochebin et Emilie Broussouloux animent ensemblele « 22H Rochebin – Broussouloux ». Editorialistes, experts réguliers et invités, notamment politiques, se succèdent pour confronter leurs idées et contribuer au débat de 22h à minuit. Tous les vendredis et samedis soir, place au « 22H Nivat – Cérin » de 22h à minuit, Anne Nivat et Guillaume Cérin exercent leur regard aiguisé sur l’actualité du jour. Et le dimanche, Darius Rochebin ouvre la semaine à venir dans le « 22H Rochebin », avec une tablée d’éditorialistes et d’invités qui reflètent la diversité des opinions et des points de vue, en prise constante sur l’actualité de 22h à minuit.
Sur LinkedIn, QuotaClimat a protesté devant le fait que les paroles remplies de bon sens du porte-parole du Comité France Trump, Philippe Karsenty, n'ont pas été immédiatement refoulées par les présentateurs de BFMTV.
As Europeans — politicians, élites, and media alike — start ventilating about an "economic world war," Randy Yaloz, head of Republicans Overseas France, was on the BFMTV set to give Donald Trump's point of view.
Donald Trump : vers une guerre économique mondiale ? - 01/02
Votre rendez-vous 100% direct, décryptage, débats. Pour tout savoir mais aussi tout comprendre de l’actualité. Aux côtés de François Gapihan : les meilleurs experts et tous les acteurs qui font l’info
| Durée : 18:25
Philippe Karsenty
provides an answer to QuotaClimat and to the left's numerous criticisms in the comments: