Common Sense with Paul Jacob

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez is not downplaying the political violence in Paris and many other cities in France, as well as elsewhere throughout Europe. He is also not pretending it is uncoordinated, or that it isn’t being driven by the far left.

“Nuñez pointed to calls posted on ultra-left websites urging people to gather at 8 p.m.,” explains an Epoch Times report, “cover their faces, and use Halloween night to loot, vandalize, or attack public buildings.”

These do not seem like “mostly peaceful protests.”

“They called for revolution, for insurrection, for the night of darkness,” said Nuñez, designating the efforts as aiming for “an insurrectional climate, a climate of quasi-revolution.” 

Referencing one of the more deadly bits of violence, Nuñez stated that “When you throw a Molotov cocktail at a police line, I call that attempted murder.”

But France was only the beginning. Protests are indeed all over the EU, with Berlin becoming “the latest European capital to witness clashes,” reports The Daily Mail, “as more than 3,500 demonstrators — many wearing costumes — descended on the streets, with flares, fireworks and glass bottles thrown at riot police.”

Other German cities besieged include Hamburg and Cologne (Köln).

News outlets generally agree on the public face of the organizations behind the events. “The demonstrations were organised by a campaign group called ‘Gen Z regelt,’ which translates as ‘Gen Z takes charge,’” is how ET Now puts it. “The movement drew inspiration from youth-led protests elsewhere in Europe, particularly France and Italy. In Serbia, student activism helped unseat the country’s longtime leader through elections, while demonstrations in France have at times escalated into rioting and looting.”

Meanwhile, Poland reels over an alleged attempt at a “coup d’etat.”

A lot is happening in Europe.

There is a funny exchange of emails between Carol Beecher, director of Alaska’s Division of Elections, and Republican candidate for the Senate, Dan J. Sullivan — who is challenging incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan! This challenge makes much of a middle initial.

You can find the exchange on Dermot Cole’s web page. You can read the actual documents yourself there. Here’s the gist:

1. The May 29 sworn declaration by Dan J. Sullivan
2. Beecher’s June 1 email asking about his ballot-name preference
3. Dan J.’s June 3 letter proposing middle initials to distinguish the two Sullivans
4. The June 8, 11:27 a.m. email from Dan J. consisting of just “Dan S. Sullivan” — an apparently “clarifying” email!
5. His eight-hours-later correction (“Apologies. Please list as Dan J. Sullivan”)

Ms. Beecher interprets this as bad faith on Dan J.’s part. Reporter Dermot Cole judges all this to prove that Dan J. “did not ask to use Dan S. Sullivan’s middle initial.”

Which is correct?

The best face one can put on the exchange appears to be that Dan J. made a mistake when he “accidentally” used his opponent’s initial in an email response. He said as much in the next email. “Apologies.”

But this has consequences for one interpretation of the whole squabble. Two comments on Paul Jacob’s Thursday Common Sense essay heap scorn upon critics of Dan J. and the Democratic challenger for implying that the critics must believe that Alaskan voters are stupid. But since Dan J. himself made the mistake, that must make him stupid, and the marginal voters’ deficiencies understandable.

If the candidate cannot keep his own middle initial clearly in his mind, why would we expect voters to do so?

But then, that was the whole point of the stunt, no?