On Oct 27, 2011, at 9:53 AM, Doug Henwood wrote:
> On Oct 27, 2011, at 9:47 AM, Michael Smith wrote
>> I feel sure ZZZZ would have deplored the storming of the Bastille.
> Why? Storming a prison is a lot different from storming a consumer
> electronics store.
But the Bastille was not stormed because it was a prison. It was virtually empty, with but a handful of prisoners left inside. The Bastille was stormed because it was a fortress. Louis XVI was known (especially by his cousin Philippe d'Orléans) to have ordered his army to garrison the Bastille. A garrison in the middle of Paris would put a quick end to the Revolution and enable him to shut down the États Généraux. And so at Le Palais Royale, the headquarters of the future regicide, the assault on the Bastille was organized. Soon the structure had been leveled. The rest was history.
Shane Mage
"scientific discovery is basically recognition of obvious realities that self-interest or ideology have kept everybody from paying attention to"