If you think politics is bad in the country, trying running France.

Chirac has about a year left in his term and his health is bad, and so two ministers in his own government are in a shooting war in order to succeed Chirac--de Villepain is in the hot seat right now with his proposal to loosen up regulations for employers so they can fire lazy-ass young French. Sarkozy is standing by with a bucket of kerosene to make sure de Villepain burns to a nice crispy crust.

A nationwide strike cancelled flights, curtailed trains and buses and disrupted other public services throughout France Tuesday morning, as authorities dispatched 4,000 law enforcement officers onto the streets of Paris in preparation for the largest demonstrations in three weeks of protests against labor reforms aimed at young people.

An estimated one-third of the flights at Paris area airports were cancelled and virtually all other flights were delayed because of striking air traffic controllers, airport authorities said. Half of the suburban commuter trains in Paris were not running and one-third of the national train network was shut down by strikers, rail officials said. Commuter train, bus and streetcar services were limited in most French cities, according to initial reports.

Student and worker unions have called protest marches throughout the day Tuesday in at least 100 French cities, with unions bussing thousands of people into Paris for what is expected to be the largest demonstration. Police positioned at train and subway stations in Paris detained numerous youths disembarking from suburban trains, witnesses said.

Law enforcement authorities blamed youths from poor, suburban neighborhoods for inciting violence at the conclusion of protest demonstrations in Paris last week. Both sides in the conflict viewed Tuesday's general strike and demonstrations as pivotal in the standoff, which threatens President Jacques Chirac's government and the presidential ambitions of his prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, the author of the contentious law, due to take effect next month. Chirac has cancelled all scheduled visits outside of Paris this week to address the mounting crisis, according to French news reports.

"Le Manifestation" has a long tradition in France, so this development doesn't have the same meaning over there as it would here, but it is nonetheless highly problematic. De Villepain himself has been quoted as saying that reform appears to be against French nature, only revolution serves as a force for change and renewal.

The problem of course is that you can't really guillotine millions of French socialists.