From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...
For most Kossacks, Jerome a Paris needs no introduction. His economic and environmental columns are an almost daily fixture on the recommended diaries list. Like Lafayette in our War of Independence, Jerome is a valuable---nay, crucial---ally in the war on conservative ignorance and deception. This morning he's the latest victim in our never-ending series, Yes, We're All Staring At YOU!
C&J: How long have you been blogging at Daily Kos and what attracted you to it?
Jerome a Paris: I registered in the summer of 2004 but did not become a full-fledged Kossack until a few months later. I really started participating in blogs on Billmon's now defunct Whiskey Bar, and I helped organise the community of the "barflies" when Billmon closed the comments over there---together with SusanG and others, we tried to set up an alternative site to keep the discussions going. Moon of Alabama, built by Bernhard, is still around to this day; I started posting front page stories there, and somehow got around to cross-posting them on dKos on a regular basis. I guess it was attractive to get a lot of feedback---although 30 comments then was a huge number! In 2005, it was still possible to post two diaries per day, and I did that quite often. I started writing regularly pretty much at the time my son got sick, but I've never been able to know if there was a link between the two---a need to share, maybe? Anyway, I've had the privilege of often enjoying a place on the recommended list, and I keep trying to live up to the high standards of the community.
France was so supportive of us after the attacks of 9/11. But when you guys didn’t go along with us on Iraq, the Republicans here couldn’t find enough ways to insult your country. To this day they continue to mock France. Is there anything you'd like to say to them on behalf of yourself and/or your nation?
You know, we have the perfect answer to that: it's called the Gallic shrug. Watch me:
[shrug]
But, to tell you the truth, the level of the vitriol we saw in the US about the French was unusual only in that it came from across the Atlantic rather than from across the Channel: we get that all the time from the Brits, but didn't expect you guys to be jealous too. It's very flattering to get all that attention for an insignificant, declining nation.
What kind of music makes you feel invincible to the evildoers who walk among us?
Musette and Drums, by Cocteau Twins.
Finish this sentence: In the kitchen I make a mean...
Pasta with eggs. I don't like to cook, but this somehow works. People scoff when I tell them what it is (pasta with eggs, plus grated cheese), but they all grudgingly admit that they enjoy it!
You're a founding father of the European Tribune blog. For readers who might not know about it, what do y'all do over there?
Well, the goal was to create a European version of DailyKos, but it's hard to unite the politics of the continent when they're split up in so many national debates, in so many languages and with such different histories and traditions. We've nevertheless managed to gather a fair number of Europeans and Americans (a good chunk of the readership is still made of Kossacks) to join in what are pretty wonky debates. There's a lot of deconstructing the neoliberal common wisdom (as spouted by the business press and repeated by pundits and politicians---if that sounds familiar, well, it is), following EU stuff, and discussing energy and sustainability issues. We have some great "object" blogging (trains, bridges, clocks, photography) as well as an irreplaceable press review provided every day by Fran with clockwork reliability from (where else?) Switzerland. I'm continually amazed by the quality of the comments on ET.
And of course, it's been the birthplace of the "Anglo Disease", the "Countdown to $100 oil" and other unserious series (we spend a lot of time fighting the "serious" people who seem to be wrong a little bit too often...)
And while we're talking about my blogs, allow me a plug for the Oil Drum, one of the best sites to find information and commentary about energy, where I have the honor of being a Contributing Editor.
France, it seems, has more nuclear power plants than bakeries. It all seems to work well and the people don’t mind getting most of their energy from nuclear. In your opinion should America go "nukular"?
As I've written many times, the order of priority should be 1) energy savings & efficiency, 2) renewables, 3) nuclear, 4) traditional thermal power. As my regular readers know, I push wind, both online and in real life, as I finance the industry. But I'm also mildy supportive of nuclear---with one big proviso: I think it should be State-run and State-financed. The State will always bear the ultimate responsibility for (very) long term waste management and any catastrophic accident, and thus it should benefit from the revenues the industry can generate. Also, given that the cost of electricity is highly sensitive to interest rates, it will always be much cheaper if paid for by government. The French did it right, and it works: it's well-run, cheap and safe. Of course you need to trust the government to be able to do it right.
But thankfully, we do have a few more bakeries than nuclear plants, still. You can eat good bread in lots of places around the world, but there's nothing like a warm croissant or crisp baguette right out of a Parisian bakery...
What do you do for fun when you're not blogging?
"Not blogging"? What is this strange concept you're talking about? Oh, you mean, family, wind farms, food, sleep?
Interestingly though, I get so much useful information for my work from the blogs that the distinction is sometimes hard to make between what's part of my professional life and what isn't. I have been contacted by one of the biggest wind turbine manufacturers via my blog, and now we're seriously discussing financing options. I get invited to conferences because of what people have read on the blogs - but they send the invitation to me in my professional capacity. It can create interesting situations... I do take care to always make clear whether I am acting in a personal or professional capacity, and not to mix the two, but I'm not hiding anything either. My bosses have been remarkably tolerant of my second life---but then again it does not harm my work, quite the opposite, I think (I recognize I'm also privileged to have a job where what I do is pretty much aligned with what I believe in as a citizen)
No waffling here: dogs or cats?
I don't like pets. However, I was forced to give in and we now have 2 cats at home. I could not have tolerated a dog, so I suppose the answer is cats. But the cats are here on the strict condition that I never have to take care of them. They seem to tolerate me ok.
You're well aware of the often spineless things the Democratic leadership does here in the U.S Congress. Does the left-wing suffer from that same self-destructive tendency in France, and are the conservatives as ruthless and dishonest as they are here?
Well, Sarkozy is certainly as ruthless and dishonest. He has perfected, like Blair before him, the art of spin. Combined with his Chirac-like combination of competence to run campaign and incompetence (or disinterest) to actually run the country, and adding his fawning for Bush, I can't say I'm pleased with our current president. Also, he was elected by running on a hard-right anti-immigrant, tough guy line: i.e. to steal Le Pen's voters, he stole his policies. But our left has been surprisingly ineffective, indeed, mired in infighting (conflicting personal ambitions which led to a lack of support for Ségolène Royal in the last presidency) and tempted, a bit too often, by triangulation in discourse. It's a pity, because the last left-wing government, that of Jospin in 1997-2002, was one of the best we ever had, and it did a lot of good things. 9/11 played a role, by allowing fearmongering to dominate the 2002 presidential election and lead to the trauma of Le Pen beating Jospin to the second round against Chirac. The left has still not overcome that episode.
Who is France rooting for in the upcoming election and why?
The French would root for a dog as long as it's not George W. Bush. But there seems to be genuine enthusiasm for Obama. People are really keen to see sanity return to Washington. It won't solve all problems and resolve all disagreements, but at least it will open the door again to the possibility that Washington may be part of the solution rather than (part of) the problem.
I have one question left, but I need to go butter my "freedom toast." Please ask and answer the final question yourself...
Calvin famously said: "I imagine bugs and girls have a dim perception that nature played a cruel trick on them, but they lack the intelligence to really comprehend the magnitude of it." Is that what being French is, too? Is that why you hate America?
[shrug]
Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
