Clichés

In French, discussed here. "Les quatres coins de l'Hexagone" is not just a cliché, by the way; it's an offense against l'esprit géométrique.

The Extreme Right

In case you've been wondering what's happening on the extreme right in the national identity debate, you will be reassured to learn that the perennial themes--the undermining of "the nation" by the foreigner and the Jew, or "le mondialiste et le cosmpolite," as the site of l'Oeuvre française puts it--have survived. L'Oeuvre française, rather astonishingly, recently held a memorial banquet in Lyon in honor of Robert Brasillach, who was executed for his collaborationist crimes in 1944. The guest speaker was a fugitive from justice named Vincent Reynouard, a convicted negationist.

Jospin: The Book, The Film

Lionel Jospin is about to publish his memoirs, and Patrick Rotman has produced 180 minutes of film recounting his political life. Excerpts are available on JDD.