The local bar has one of those Internet jukeboxes, and the other night someone put on a song by Steel Panther. They’re one of those goofily bro-friendly acts along the lines of The Bloodhound Gang. The refrain to this song goes:

“My heart belongs to you,
 But my cock is community property”

You have to laugh. But it happened that at the time I was reading the chapter in Keith Lowe’s book “Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II” about how real and accused collaborators were treated in France, so I animatedly explained that this must have been inspired by the French actress Arletty and her defiance in the face of condemnation for her wartime affair with a Luftwaffe officer: “mon couer est français, mais mon cul est international“, and … I’ll get my coat.

Anyway, Arletty was traduced, dragged through a kangaroo court of sanctimonious men who had suddenly and very recently become great supporters of the Résistance, and imprisoned.

All the members of Steel Panther remain at large.