As the fire ripped through Notre-Dame in Paris on April 15 2019, the firefighters, unable to save the cathedral’s roof, made a desperate last stand to stop the blaze from reaching the bell towers. They were terrified that the fire would consume the towers, sending the eight massive bells tumbling to earth and probably bringing the entire structure down with them.
The north and south towers were saved, and last week Notre-Dame welcomed the rich and infamous for a bit of flesh-pressing and rent-seeking with the world’s most famous man.
Repairing the cathedral cost nearly $1bn, less than Donald Trump spent on his re-election campaign, which involved far fewer artisans but is likely to have a longer-lasting impact on the planet.
Embattled French President Emmanuel Macron may have scored a coup by getting Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and Prince William in the same room, though drawing up the seating plan — what with US first lady Jill Biden representing her absent husband — must have been awkward for some poor court jester.
Macron promised the job would be done in five years and so it was. (Meanwhile, the work to repair our own fire-ravaged parliament apparently continues slouching towards Bethlehem ... perhaps by the end of 2025?)
Elon Musk was also there, though he didn’t get to sit next to his chum (more awks). Some commentators are beset with worry that Musk will run a parallel state, missing the point that Trump — 40 days before he exits what was meant to be his political wilderness — already seems to be running a parallel government.
Fire. Burning towers. Money. Monstrous egos. Machinations. Brutal handshakes. Taking the knee to the wrong guy — heavier portents than Calpurnia’s violent dream (“graves have yawn’d”; “drizzled blood upon the Capitol”) the night before husband Julius Caesar puts on his white toga and trudges off to the senate. And look how that turned out.
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