Vive la France!

For those of you who were learning to put condoms on cucumbers in government schools instead of learning about world history, here's a brief summation of Bastille Day....

During the reign of Louis XVI, France faced a major financial crisis, triggered by the cost of intervening in the American War of Independence, and exacerbated by an unequal system of taxation. On 5 May 1789, the Estates-General of 1789 convened to deal with this issue, but was held back by archaic protocols and the conservatism of the nobility, comprising 2% of France's population at the time. On 17 June 1789, the Third Estate, with its representatives drawn from the middle class, or bourgeoisie, reconstituted themselves as the National Assembly, a body whose purpose was the creation of a French constitution. The king initially opposed this development, but was forced to acknowledge the authority of the assembly, which subsequently renamed itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July.
The storming of the Bastille and the subsequent Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was the third event of this opening stage of the revolution. The first had been the revolt of the nobility, refusing to aid King Louis XVI through the payment of taxes. The second had been the formation of the National Assembly

What a great start for a modern State shifting from an authoritarian monarchy to a system of government that treats every man as equal. What happened? In a little over 200 years, France has become a decadent nation of lazy socialists who expect the government to hand them everything at the expense of the ever-diminishing productive class. Before long, the French will find themselves once again in bondage but, this time it won't be to a King. It'll be to the State to whom they look for everything. That is if the Muslims don't take over before then.

Whatever, if you find yourself in a pub today, lift a Tourtel or Kronenbourg(if you can find one) to our friends across the pond.