Glenn Reynolds notes perhaps the most apt commentary on the rioting in France, from Jim Dunnigan at Strategy Page.

Thus, the street violence is partly a lark, because the kids know the cops are not going to use lethal force, and anyone who gets caught will, at worst, do maybe a year in the slammer (for burning cars looting stores). The drug gangs encourage the violence as a way to intimidate the cops. When the violence dies down, the gang bosses can threaten the local cops with a revival, if the cops do not back off (when it comes to the drug trade).

There are some Islamic radicals running around in all this, but they are a minority. The Moslem kids like to talk about respect and payback, but very few see this as a religious war. It’s become a sport, with various groups competing to cause the most destruction. Text messaging, Internet bulletin boards and email made it possible for the rioters to stay in touch and compare notes. The media coverage also encouraged the violence, giving the kids some positive (for them) feedback.

Read the entire post.

To my mind, this makes an even sadder case for France and French culture. All this has come about because of the French police and French courts failures to enforce the laws against property crimes. The combination of liberal guilt and the lack of belief in the importance of private property has created a giagantic “jeunesses folles”, “Youths Gone Wild”, without the gratuitous nudity.

That’s sad. Sad for France and for the French. An entire sector of society has become convinced that whatever they do, it will not matter. There are no repercussions to their actions. Nothing they do, bad, or good, matters. This is worse than jihad. This is invisibility.

The French government has finally reacted to the rioting. If the rioters don’t stop, the French will make them stay home. You know, kinda like a time-out.

Recall, even the Nazis wouldn’t burn Paris.

Let’s face it, it’s a horrible experience for the French, but the Bloods and the Crips are laughing. These aren’t riots. Nobody gets killed. Blocks of buildings aren’t going up in smoke. Even when they have civil revolts, the French can’t quite measure up.

Oh, yes, I forgot, The never-ending governmental meetings. And hand-wringing, don’t forget the hand-wringing.

Zut alors!

Usually the French don’t dress up for lovemaking.

As the French celebrate the storming of an empty prison by the wretched refuse of their teeming shore, I feel bound to make a call that I have made before.

It’s time for a change in government in France. Time for the Sixth Republic.

The French change republics as often as they change underwear. Why should they change now?

• The EU Constitution was voted down, despite the government’s single minded determination that France should led a united Europe.
• Corruption is wide spread in the government.
• The French continue to maintain a nuclear weapons program despite the lack of a threat, making France a rogue state in the community of nations.
• Under the Fifth Republic, France has gone from being a world power to being an afterthought on the world stage.
• An American has beaten France at its own Tour for five times and may do it for a sixth time.
• The pride of the French Navy is an aircraft carrier that is a decade old and has made only three successful cruise. The vast majority of the time it has languished in port due to its inferior design and construction flaws.
• And so on.

There is no reason for the continued existance of the Fifth Republic. Time for the French people to revolt, and establish the Sixth Republic, cleaner, greener, nicer, non-nuclear, and a welcomed partner in world affairs.