• January 20, 2006: Headlines: COS - Tunisia: Journalism: Humor: Politics: Washington Post: Al Kamen writes: Misdirection at the White House  Thursday, February 02, 2006 - 4:49 pm [1]

Al Kamen writes: Is Bush Robespierre?



Thermidor is "a historical term that has come to mean the reactionary period after a revolution. And Washington helped bring a democracy revolution in the Middle East." Washington Post reporter Al Kamen served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tunisia.

Al Kamen writes: Is Bush Robespierre?

The Axis of Thermidors

At a news conference last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addressed the state of affairs in the Middle East.

"The neighborhood is changing," she said. "It's changing quite dramatically. And while there are a couple of states -- among them Syria and Iran -- that seem to want to engage in pushing toward some kind of thermidor, it's not going to happen."

The unwashed and uneducated reporters scratched their heads. Lobster? Refrigerator? What's she talking about?

But Loop Fans and other sophisticates would immediately understand she was referring to the month that Robespierre was overthrown in the French Revolution. It's a historical term that has come to mean the reactionary period after a revolution. And Washington helped bring a democracy revolution in the Middle East.

So is Bush Robespierre?

When this story was posted in February 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




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