They Should Have Hissed Barack Obama

Alexander Cockburn

What a contrast between the French demonstrations and the vast and exciting marches here against proposed immigration laws, as contrasted to the limp turnouts against the US war on Iraq!
Across a few explosive weeks the first two series of protests have surged in numbers and political impact. In France there were 3 million on the streets one day. Just in Los Angeles a few weeks ago, there were more than half a million. In Paris Dominique de Villepin, the author of the hated law loosening curbs on employers' right to fire new hires, is fighting for his political life. In Congress US senators revised the language of their bill in step with the magnitude and passion of the rallies.
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