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Culture War Roundup for the week of November 17, 2025

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Another case of culture war cancellation dropped, this time somewhat more important than the usual cases.

The case of Nicolas Guillou, French judge at the ICC, cancelled by Marco Rubio personally.

If your French is not sufficient, here is Xitter summary.

Guillou's daily existence has been transformed into a Kafkaesque nightmare. He cannot: open or maintain accounts with Google, Amazon, Apple, or any US company; make hotel reservations (Expedia canceled his booking in France hours after he made it); conduct online commerce, since he can't know if the packaging is American; use any major credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex are all American); access normal banking services, even with non-American banks, as banks worldwide close sanctioned accounts; conduct virtually any financial transaction.

He describes it as being "economically banned across most of the planet," including in his own country, France, and where he works, the Netherlands.

That's the real shocking aspect of this: the Americans are:

  • punishing a European citizen
  • for doing his job in Europe
  • applying laws Europe officially supports
  • at an institution based in Europe
  • that Europe helped create and fund

Can it happen to you?

Not in this way, not even the most IRL important mottizen is worthy of Marco's personal attention.

If it happens, it will happen because AI analyzed your online activity and decided it crossed a threshold of dangerous nihilist extremism (and you could do about it just as much as Nicolas Guillou, this means nothing at all.)

And what happens when the ICC kangaroo court puts out a warrant for you?

If such unlikely situation happened, I would go to Hague to clear my name. After few years in comfy United Nations prison, I would show I never participated in any genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity.

There are many rightful complaints against ICC, major is very slow procedure, but no one seriously claimed that any person, of rather short list so far found guilty by ICC was wrongfully convicted.

(i am not aware that any person blacklisted by US received any sort of trial)

There are many rightful complaints against ICC, major is very slow procedure, but no one seriously claimed that any person, of rather short list so far found guilty by ICC was wrongfully convicted.

For what it may be worth, I am ready to defend the position that (1) Netanyahu has not committed any war crimes whatsoever by any reasonable definition of the phrase "war crimes."; (2) there is no reasonable basis to accuse him of such; (3) based on any reasonable interpretation of the ICC Treaty, there is no basis to issue a warrant for his arrest; and (4) therefore, the ICC is acting illegitimately.

I would add that this attack on Netanyahu is pretty obviously the result of the coalition of progressive, Muslim, and Arab Jew-haters.