Middle and upper-class youths, many from the universities or just out of them, formed the phalanx of the various leagues that in January had taken to the streets. The most active and effective of these was the royalist Action Francaise, whose storm troopers were organized as Camelots du Roi. Their spirits roused by the daily dose of inflammatory articles by Charles Maurras, the poet-philosopher of Action Francaise, by Leon Daudet, who possessed the most vituperative pen in Paris, and by Maurice Pujo, leader of the Camelots, in the daily newspaper L’Action Francaise, they staged their first big demonstration on January 9, the day Parliament reconvened after the holidays. They were repulsed by the police before they could get to the Chamber, though on the Place de la Concorde, just across the Seine from the Palais-Bourbon, they were able to haul the Minister of Marine, Albert Sarraut, out of his car and rough him up before he was rescued by the police.
So far our leagues have mostly been from the left (Move On, BLM, various campus groups etc). I’m not sure if there is a classic right wing here anymore—left/right may not be the right classification. AVI noted that the "right," at least so far, tend to hunker down and the left tend to take to the streets. When the "right" starts taking to the streets in the same aggressive way(*), I’ll know to stick a fork in it. But of course it only takes one side to make a fight.
(*)The TEA party demonstrations have, in all instances I’ve heard of, not just been peaceful, but cleaned up after themselves—in stark contract to Occupy.
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We might be closer than we think especially if Trump gets the nod on the GOP side.
So far both sides have been pretty well able to outsource manning the barricades on the most inflammatory issues (abortion, racial grievances) to the professionals because their stances have been diametrically opposed, and one side has usually been holding the high ground legally.
I don't think it's just love of street action that prompted Bern's Brigades to spearheaded the anti-Trump protest in Chicago. Trump is showing that 47% (number deliberately chosen) of the GOP is perfectly happy with government distributions so long as they are beneficiaries of the largesse. He's also enough of a bull in a china shop to not campaign on anything as genteel as 'compassionate conservatism'. It's going to be an all out bidding war for support. Whether they know it intellectually or just viscerally Democrats, especially Sander's backers, know that with Trump in the mix the next election is going to be fought over who gets the most support from the #WheresMyFreeSh** crew. Internecine battles are always the hardest fought.
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