French President Macron says anti-vaxxers are unpatriotic
Last week French president, Emmanuel Macron, made international headlines when he said, “tres envie d'emmerder les non-vaccinés” or he “really enjoyed pissing off the unvaccinated”. Predictably, his political opponents were ‘shocked’ and ‘outraged’ at this base language used by the head of state. And the French intellectual class, which includes just about every French citizen, excoriated the English-language media for mistranslating the word ‘d’emmeder’. Reminding us that no one does nose-in-the-air opprobrium better than an amateur Gallic philosopher.
Another thing the French do well - so well it’s a national pastime - is to take to the streets to protest. The BBC so reported in a story headlined, “Covid: Thousands protest in France against proposed new vaccine pass”.
From the headline, you might mistakenly think that France was verging on a civil war between the government and a significant horde of science-denying, freedom fighters. And the first paragraph does nothing to dispel this interpretation of events,
“French authorities say more than 105,000 people have taken part in protests across the country against the introduction of a new coronavirus pass.” [Bolding was the BBC’s decision.]
But if you hang in there until the 14th paragraph, the BBC admits,
“But despite the vocal protests, opposition to the new measures is not widespread and recent polling suggests the vast majority of people back the vaccine pass.”
Adding, “France is one of the most highly vaccinated countries in Europe, with more than 90% of over-12s eligible for the shot fully vaccinated.”
While the BBC may be burying the vaccination status of the vast majority of the French under a clickbait headline, Macron is well aware of the truth. He is a canny politician. And as he is facing reelection, we should assume that he’s not picking his words idly.
And, unlike America, the French government reacts to the wishes of the majority. And in France the number of vaccinated is 10 times the number of unvaccinated.
Any suggestion that Macron regretted either his sentiment or his choice of words has been dispelled. He has doubled down on his criticism of the selfish gits who put their fellow citizens at risk so that they can selfishly enjoy their individual liberties. He said of the protestors and their fellow anti-vax travelers,
“not only do they put others’ lives at risk, but they are also curtailing others’ freedom. That I cannot accept. When you are a citizen, you must agree to do your civic duty.”
The message is clear, anti-vaxxers are not patriots. In every war — and the fight against the COVID pandemic is a war - people have to make sacrifices. Citizens need to pull together. And people need to “do their bit”. It is a lesson that too many “it’s all about me” Americans have failed to learn.
Let’s note, before pro-COVID zealots offer their inevitable hyperbolic allusions to Nazism, French law and regulations do not mandate vaccination. They only require vaccination for people who want to be around others in restaurants, cafés, museums, the movies, nightclubs, etc. If you do not wish to be vaccinated, so be it, just keep to yourself.
The US is on a different path The Supreme Court is sending pretty strong signals that it will overturn Biden’s executive order mandating companies with more than 100 employees to require vaccination for their workers.
And red-state Governors are doing everything within their power to ensure that America remains the global leader in COVID deaths. And, in a show of gobsmacking chutzpah, they then blame Biden for mishandling the Covid pandemic. And all of this against the background of American anti-vaxxers cheering the prospect of their own demise.
C’est incroyable.