THOSE VIOLENT EUROPEANS: “Attacker Stabs, Injures Paris Mayor.” No information on the attacker.

UPDATE: Claire Berlinski reports from the scene:

Hi Glenn,

I was, evidently, within 50 feet of the attack — I was at the Hotel de Ville at exactly that time — and had no idea, none at all, that it had happened until this morning. Neither did anyone else there. The mayor didn’t want to ruin the good time everyone was having and insisted upon being escorted away discreetly. Today the French papers are reporting that the assailant appears to have been a random lunatic “known to the police” — there’s no evidence as yet that it was political.

Re. your headline “Those Violent Europeans:” This was such depressing news, because this event was otherwise inconceivably good-natured and civilized, by US standards — imagine opening the White House doors to every US citizen for the night, having an open bar, live music, no security — none — at the gates, letting in anyone who wants to come in, and having an perfectly lovely evening where everyone listens politely to the music, admires the paintings in the Oval Office and is very careful not to damage the carpets. The whole city was having a good time and no one was behaving badly — except for one lunatic. Really sad, especially since the mayor is such a *nice* guy — he organized all of this just so that Parisians could have fun and feel that the public monuments really belong to them. That’s why there was no security.

Sad, but the way of the world today, I’m afraid.