E. Macron : Le Doigt D’Honneur Permanent

When asked about the image traits that best describe the President of the Republic, the responses are overwhelmingly negative - authoritarian, arrogant, disdainful, and unsympathetic. These are not the qualities desired in a leader. It seems the President is not getting the message: "We don't want your retirement reform, what don't you understand about that?" It is not the scandals that will propel France forward. It is not the average French citizen who has the luxury of time in the middle of the week to welcome ministers for four hours straight.

Macron's Attempt to Reconnect

In recent days, Emmanuel Macron has tried to reconnect with the French people by going on visits to what the Macronists call "territories." The problem is, many French citizens have no desire to reconnect with an autocrat who is trying to force a retirement reform they do not want, and whose arrogance, disdain, and violence they can no longer bear. As a result, every time Macron makes a public appearance, he is met with protesters who now bring pots and pans to make noise while he speaks. And he really does not like that. It irritates him quite a bit. But pots and pans will not move France forward.

The Reality of the Situation

In reality, things are not at all as the President describes them. In reality, if citizens are now protesting and making noise whenever Macron appears, it is precisely because he refused to listen to them when they asked him to abandon his retirement reform. It is because he closed the door on their representatives, silenced the unions, stifled Parliament, and suppressed protests with the police and gendarmerie. In reality, it is Emmanuel Macron who has caused democratic dysfunction, to borrow his own technocratic words. He covered the countless voices of citizens who asked to be heard with his immense arrogance, brutality, and contempt, only to now claim that they are the ones refusing to listen, being violent, and threatening democracy. But can one be right against 70% of the French population? No matter how just your conviction may be, Mr. President, can one be right alone against the others? I believe one can take responsibility in a democratic system where elections for both parliamentarians and the president are not far off, and where on the fundamentals of a reform, there is room for completion, room to hear what is being said.

The Culture of Excuse

One of the prevailing behaviors within the government these days seems to be the culture of excuse. Take, for example, Gerald Darmanin's regret for opposing same-sex marriage when he was young. In 2013, he promised that if he were elected mayor of Tourcoing, he would personally not officiate marriages between same-sex couples. He also called for the resignation of the police prefect in Paris, claiming tear gas had been used against families participating in the "Manif pour tous" demonstration. Ten years later, as the current Minister of the Interior, he has softened his stance. "If I had to do it over again, I would vote for the law," he declared. He then apologized: "If I have hurt anyone, I may have made hurtful remarks, but that was never my intention. It is not the role of a politician to do so." And almost everyone in the mainstream press moved on. But one could ask uncomfortable questions and wonder, for example, whether it is not surprising that this interesting character reduces his part in the outbreak of homophobic hatred during the "Manif pour tous" to a few remarks that he now presents as clumsy.

High-Level Incivility

The example of impoliteness actually comes from the top. On March 9th, 2021, at the National Assembly, the Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, made several vulgar gestures and obscene hand signs towards Republican deputy Olivier Marleix, who had dared to remind everyone that several ongoing judicial investigations involved representatives of the President's party. When a high-ranking minister publicly makes obscene gestures towards a member of parliament, he can simply apologize without really apologizing, claiming that his gestures were misinterpreted, and everyone moves on.

In Conclusion

While the President may have negative traits associated with his image, he and his government continue to find excuses for their behavior, aided by the active complicity of the press and mainstream media, who carefully avoid confronting them about their immense hypocrisy. At the same time, if protesters pushed to the brink by constant brutality and the realization that they have no other means of being heard resort to insults or obscene gestures towards the President, like the vulgar display of Eric Dupond-Moretti, they will receive no excuses. It will be considered an outrage, and they will be brought before a court of law. This is the idea of justice as the Macronists see it. The intelligence report states that this day will be marked by a historic mobilization, and indeed it goes further in speaking of a historic day with a vengeful spirit.