Rassemblement Franglais

Perfidious and contemptible as they may be, the status of the French as beastly Euro-wogs clearly does not preclude an occasional bracing outbreak of Britishness. Having inherited six months of EU presidency through no particular virtue of its own, the government raised the EU flag before the Arc de Triomphe, which was itself originally raised to celebrate the good old days of occupying Spain, plundering Germany and invading Russia. The EU flag remained in place for two days, during which the national front for Britishness rallied to emit the usual squeals about their national identity being erased. Just like the greatest country in the world (England, for those who came in late), it appears that French national identity is so fragile that it can be erased by waving a piece of cloth in the wrong place. Now that the flag has been removed (in line with the planned schedule, according to the president's office), the more Churchillian elements are already claiming credit, as patriots will, for events beyond their power and outside their control.