Saturday, May 21, 2011

FRANCE - CRS on the wagon

I never thought one day write in defense of the CRS. And yet, something truly horrible is happening to them. These men we hate so passionately just been banned by official decree as precious qu'ancestral pleasure: a small glass of wine (or cider or beer) to accompany the meal. On second thought, there are few pleasures as simple as a small glass of wine with dinner.

And the fact that the CRS had been accustomed to eat during service, does not change anything. This latter prohibition ("after the niqab, the red hue!") Is further evidence of the movement of moralization that takes in our society today. It is often said that alcohol, consumed in small quantities during the meal, does not prevent people from working, especially in the physical trades.

CRS are not surgeons, they are mountains of muscles equipped with a helmet and a pair of boots. Their job is to scare and to use urban guerrilla tactics to protect peaceful demonstrations by some agitators. We meet every day in Paris, day of event: they are generally quite young and athletic men.

A glass of wine with their shepherd's pie is not likely to affect their decision (they obey orders to anyway) or make them stumble. They will not be more aggressive and could not even tell the truth not only be more humane. CRS-like characters from manga futuristic armor and first confrontations with them is a rite of passage for all young protesters in France.

One of the first slogans that young adolescents learn French is "CRS SS", "Legacy of May 68. This assimilation is however at odds with reality. Created in 1944 by Gaullist France, the Republican Security Company (SRC) were formed mainly of former members of the Resistance, a large number of Communists.

In 1947, CRS has refused to intervene during a demonstration organized by the Communist Party. The police force was promptly reorganized. Since then, they neutralize the agitators with a zeal * depending largely on the personality of the prefect, the interior minister or the government.

In 1968, with the exception of an accident on the sidelines of events, the students had regretted any casualties, which is a feat of knowing the level of tension that prevailed in the capital and across the country. One thing is certain: CRS not an easy job. They act as shock absorbers of democracy and are needed at every confrontation with the government, to avoid overflow.

And that is why I think they deserve their daily glass of wine. This prohibition is much like another false idea of Nicolas Sarkozy, the kind of initiative that only someone who does not touch alcohol, and likes nothing more than the chocolate mousse and raspberry yogurt could serve after a highly charged meeting with anti-alcohol lobbies.

Let us leave the last word to Charles Baudelaire, who wrote in The Soul of Wine: [...] Because I feel a tremendous joy when I fall in the throat of a man worn out by his labors, and his chest is hot Where a fresh grave I like much better than in my cold cellars. [...] I will light the eyes of your wife happy; to your son I will give her strength and her colors and will be for that frail athlete of life oil to harden the muscles of the wrestlers.

[...] And before you accuse me of inciting debauchery, let me say that, like all life's pleasures, it is in moderation. Cheers!

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