Perhaps the French will listen to their National Anthem with new ears:
Arise children of France,
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us tyranny’s bloody standard is raised.
Listen to the sound in the fields,
The howling of these fearsome soldiers.
They are coming into our midst,
To cut the throats of your sons and women.
To arms citizens!
Form your battalions!
March, march,
Let impure blood
Water our furrows.
They sang this quite a bit during the big demonstration in Paris.
They are coming into our midst,
To cut the throats of your sons and women.
To arms citizens!
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Oh, the dark bitter irony! “To arms citizens!”? If only. Even “if only” their gendarme were armed.