Islam is "perfectly compatible with the ideals of France," said French President François Hollande in a visit to Paris's largest mosque to honor Muslim colonials who fought in World War I.
Because colonials fought in France's side a hundred years ago -- they probably had little choice in the matter -- Hollande believes that the laws of political and social physics have been superseded.
I was reminded of something I read the other day in Michel de Montaigne's essay "On Presumption," citing the words of a Chancellor Olivier: "The French are like monkeys, which go clambering up a tree, from branch to branch till they get to the top, and display their backsides when they get there."
It is French presidents, of course, who climb to the top.
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