No one is immune to the lure of power. Like a virus. Let's be clear: politics is a necessary part of running a nation, and those who are in charge of it, even if they are not immune to the allure of power, are always working for the good of the community. This is their greatest merit, although they are not without their faults, which can be criticized.

   In the Robert dictionary, A horse who returns means a repeat offender. In addition to this penal aspect, Alain Rey's dictionary of expressions and locutions specifies that the expression can be applied, in politics, to an "old hand" who keeps coming back, despite being discredited. Également par plaisanterie is said of an old coquette.

   Roselyne Bachelot, back, despite her recent denials, under the gilded panelling of a ministry, in this case that of Culture. As we all know, since she repeated to anyone who would listen that you don't bathe in the same river twice, and that she should be busy feminizing her party rather than getting back into politics, she will be keen to correct this bad taste of  old coquette with some real cultural work, and impose the replacement of the horse by the mare.

   In this semi-quinquennial ministerial reshuffle, a man appears who, for his part, is not returning, since he is not leaving the stable in which he has shone for ages, that of justice. Dupond-Moretti has gone from being a lawyer to becoming Keeper of the Seals, after having burned the boards playing the litigator at the Salle Pleyel and, most recently, drooling into a microphone, Bachelot-style, at the media bar. By playing the same role over and over again, the actor ends up stammering, which can add a touch of humor to a morose show, or become tiresome to forget.

   Apart from that, it's just a game of musical chairs, with a little smaller lesser Prime Minister replacing the previous one. One question has been nagging at me, although I've had the answer for a long time: is it wise to appoint a minister who is a specialist in the field he or she is to oversee? The future will provide its own answer, but the past seems to militate in the negative. A technician is not necessarily a manager, an administrator or a fine manipulator. Politicians trained by their party or their school have the privilege of knowing how to do this better than an amateur, even if the latter is a sphinx in his field. You can't govern like a car salesman or a fairground peddler, even if the rulers get along with it in the gibberich.

   But I would like to come back to the dismissal of Castaner, victim of police harassment, replaced by a Sarkozian clone, Darmanin, like his mentor monopolizing the Interior. After all, for having said on June 8, very humanely and justly, that racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism would not be tolerated among the forces of law and order, that every mistake would be punished and that the use of the choke-hold should no longer be used, the cops rose up like one man, throwing handcuffs and truncheons at their feet, demanding the resignation of their minister. Unacceptable behavior from individuals charged with enforcing order.

   But what? Do they consider racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and lethal force to be privileged elements of their profession?

   All those who show their contempt have thus demonstrated, despite their unanimous and soothing words on the subject, that they are racists, xenophobics, anti-Semites, ready to kill without self-defense. For to reject these common-sense arguments is to prove their willingness to use them. As for refusing sanctions, that's believing oneself to be above the law.

   If these policemen ever want to regain the esteem that they have often deserved, let them a little more height of view. For, as Democritus says, «obeying the law, the magistrate and those wiser than oneself is the act of a well-ordered conscience¹». Or better still, «virtue is to be sought in deeds and conduct, not in words² ».

1. Démocrite, Fragments, XLVII, Les Présocratiques, La Pléiade

2. ibid. LV

Translation of the photo caption:

In Nice, as here, but also in Paris, Lille and Lyon, police officers have left handcuffs and equipment. A strong gesture, unprecedented in the police, after the remarks made by their minister. They threaten to stick to the "minimum service".