forward my minions, etc. but it's amazing how obviously pejorative the coverage is of any given anarchist riot.

The wanton destruction, which lasted for about 90 minutes early Saturday evening, was a dramatic reminder that France and other European nations, below their surface of stability and wealth, harbor tiny bands of ultra-leftist activists who still want to combat the market economies and parliamentary democracies on which the continent's well-being is founded.

"We will destroy your morbid world," one of the Poitiers protesters sprayed-painted on a wall near the city's landmark Notre Dame Cathedral.

well i suppose that the continent's well-being is to some extent founded on market economies and parliamentay democracies. but i also suppose that, if you're going to attribute the ecstasy of europe to its alleged market economies and supposed liberal democracies, you must also hold those items responsible for the miseries of europe, if any.

They donned plastic masks, pulled up their hoods and started destroying everything in sight. In what police described as an organized attack, the band shattered store windows, damaged the facades of several banks and spray-painted anarchist slogans on government buildings.

you might ponder how the specific data about their actions supports the assertion that they were "destroying everything in sight." then they're described as performing "wanton destruction." but though these ultra-violent nihilists more or less leveled poitiers to the ground, there seem to have been no serious injuries, else you can be sure they'd be duly reported. and the only voices quoted are, of course, government spokesmen. 

i'm not asking edward cody of the washington post to endorse anarchist riots, but on the other hand it might be in better taste not simply to go all pravda on us. the piece just takes it as obvious that opposition to the current order in europe is entirely incomprehensible; putting it the other way, the piece blandly asserts that that order is about as sweet and good as it could possibly be. well, to sustain an argument like that (which has no place in a news story anyway), you'd better find out what the objections are. in other words, you've got to do more than just go to the news conferences conducted by officials or re-print their press releases. if immigrants or young people feel profoundly alienated from this system, you might try to figure out why. no point in assuming there can't be any reasons without trying to find out what the reasons might be.