Well, I cannot say that I am excited
The next round
Emmanuel Macron: Neo-liberal
Marine Le Pen: Fascist
The left basically got what was coming to it after the total disaster that was François Hollande [his warmongering did it for me].
Now neither of the two candidates progressing to the second round have any real power base in the Assemblée Nationale or the Sénat, the Front National has two seats in the Assemblée. In other words the elections on the 11th and 18th June take on even more significance as the president will be known by then. I appreciate France's two stage election system it allows everyone to have their say and be counted, something the US lacks entirely.
I will vote against Marine Le Pen in the next round as I want the toxic brew that is the Front National to suffer the biggest defeat possible. I will continue to campaign for the Parti Socialiste for the Assemblée and against the right in general as per usual.
The right are trying to blame the left for Le Pen progressing to the second round, nothing to do with them running a crook [François Fillon] is it now?
I liked Benoît Hamon because he is the only one looking to the future [the problems with balancing atomisation and work/employment/income] he annoyed me with his support of Trump's idiotic and pointless bombing in Syria. I liked Jean-Luc Mélenchon but he is a little trapped in the past and I couldn't see him adapting, Hamon would have had significant support in the Assemblée. So a head and heart decision in the end and because I believe/hope in the EU and the free movement of people I voted for Hamon, it needs to be more democratic and much less business/bank lead i.e. reformed. Sovereignty never was and never will be the real issue, it's just a right wing power play and easy to vocalise in tirades when trying to blame someone else.
Anyway, anything to stop Marine Le Pen along with her truly odious niece Marion Maréchal Le Pen [see below] and the Front National even building more of a following than they already have is a primary objective. Anything less than 30% of the vote will be a significant victory [forecast between 30 and 40% at the moment].
We will absolutely respect the law until we are in government at the national level and can change it.
~Marion Maréchal Le Pen
Now, there's a desire for order, authority coming from a feeling that society has gone too far to the side of individualism and liberalism.
~Marion Maréchal Le Pen
Take on your enemies one at a time, first the fascists then the neo-liberals.
Have good one.
Comments
Trump
Trump ought to be enough to scare France away from Le Pen. If they aren't careful, they could have Ted Nugent, Sarah Palin and Kid Rock show up at their front door.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
The problem with the Le Pen dynasty is they keep
right on producing more. They just get a little bit better at hiding their anti-Semitism, racism, bigotry and general fascism. They have not come away from Jean-Marie Le Pen's views they just don't repeat them that often.
It's always the left's fault
HW has a great essay on how this result is loved by tptb
they are the ones who always win.
Here in the states I don't see a difference between neoliberalism
and fascism.
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
If you remove the xenophobia and hatred
A good[ish] summary of the two candidates is found here, it misses out a lot of the entrenched vileness that lurks in the FN'
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/23/france-presidential-le-pen...
The LOTE argument comes into play
O endorsed Mac while T endorsed Pen, an interesting dynamic
and while I know nothing(Schultz) of French politics everything
I've read makes this appear to be a redux of the amerikan election.
Globalization at work?
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
Except France is nothing like the US nor is the
basic social structure. The only commonality is the distrust and fatigue of the political elite [France and the EU] and France actually has a distinct political class.
Neither main candidate got 1 in 4 of those that voted to actually vote for them in the first round. Hamon was associated with Holland's PS, not a good position to be in in 2017, basically an assured loss. The right stuck with their holier than thou crook Fillon, so they basically committed political suicide, a bit like the Dem's with Hillary.
The Green Party has also been an assured loss. Nonetheless,
I voted for Stein in the last two Presidential elections. IMO, "lesser of two evils" voting is the worst possible use of a vote, but it would take an essay for me to explain my reasonging.
I understand that you feel differently, so I am going to suggest something else for you. I ask you to do only this: check the polls before the next vote. If it then seems like a (reasonably) definite loss for Le Pen, vote your heart. If it still seems very close, vote your head.
All ready voted with my head and heart. Next round
my head says Le Pen is the real evil.
I was referring to the next round!
I knew when I posted my suggestion that the first round was over. https://caucus99percent.com/content/global-markets-jump-macron-takes-lea...
I got from your post that you had voted against Pen, which, obviously, was the correct way for you to go the first round, given how you feel because it was a close election. Besides, the attack just before the election could easily have swung it to Pen. So, congrats on having that round go your way. But, one or the other may pull ahead (or fall behind) sharply before the next round. (May 7, right?) So just check the polls the day before you have to vote. The polls may tell you that you can vote "lefter" with safety in your own mind.
EDIT: the dupe patrol at work
https://theintercept.com/2017/04/23/macron-le-pen-fight-french-presidenc...
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
the global corporatists are smiling
as they tighten control. I like your strategy of downing the fascist and then going after the neolibs. All the best to you and the French people.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I like the way the elections are split up
a months reflection between Presidential and Assemblée. Then we have the EU elections in 2019, the municipal elections in 2020 and the departmental elections in 2021 then back to the Presidential and Assemblée in 2022.
Except somehow we never get around to the neolib's.
They survive everything by being just a little bit better than the fascists.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
and by having huge financial support
and the complete support of the neoliberal press. BTW Macron has managed to raise a lot of money from no one knows where, but as an ex Rothschild banker we can guess who is behind him.
Doubtful
that Palin has a passport. Or even knows how to spell passport. Or can find France on a map.
Dear Dems: You lost the WH, Senate, House, dozens of governors, state level SOS and AG and about 1,000 state legislative seats. Maybe...you're doing something wrong.
It's a disaster
for everyone except the wealthy.
The markets love it.
An interesting map:
Notice how the western rural areas are the least
favourable to Le Pen. No love of "Paris" here we have had better local governments over the years.
It looks to me
like exactly the situation the Dems were angling for here; all parties must now unite behind the bankster to stop Le Pen.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
LaFeminista,
thank you for all of this information. It is very important for Americans to understand what is happening in France in as much detail as you can provide. I've learned more from you this morning than I had in the months leading up to the election. I would like to know more about how our lives are different in detail, in everyday life, so that what happens in French elections means more to me than the superficial reports by our media. Vive la France.
The problem with this strategy --
is that the neo-liberals position the fascists as the only real alternative to neoliberalism. Eventually the fascists will win, everywhere, because the voters will recognize how terrifying neoliberalism has become, and they will all stay away. The "Left" adherence to this strategy is the main reason why there is no "Left," not here and not in much of Europe. Meanwhile in Nebraska --
All the nice "liberals" reading this stuff on Facebook are like, "are they just supposed to let the Republican win?" No, of course not. You're supposed to dilute the brand to the point where the Republican will win anyway because nobody can tell the difference.
"the reason you need a new class to come into power in the United States is because this one is useless" -- Vijay Prashad
Thank you for making the point that
it seems that the Dem Leadership believes that we're supposed to buy into "You're supposed to dilute the brand to the point where the Republican will win anyway because nobody can tell the difference."
Remember, folks, this was the strategy adopted by Rahm Emanuel and the Dem Leadership in the mid-2000's--run a conservative (in some cases, a Republican who switches parties, and simply puts a "D" in front of their name) against a conservative Republican, in order to win. Never mind that they likely would never buy into a progressive/liberal agenda.
Hey, I would never base a vote on any part of the 'women's agenda,' personally. If anything, I'm sick and tired of the heads of the sold-out Dem Party special interest groups, who sell out the rank and file, but always give cover to corporatist Democrats, and the Dem Party Leadership. Also, admittedly, I don't know a great deal about Mello, but considering that fact that he's a former senior aide of Ben Nelson's, I have to figure that he's basically either a corporatist, or a flat-out conservative. (Going by the old axiom, "You're known by the company you keep.")
Yes--maybe Mello's the only type of Democrat who can beat a conservative Republican in the state of Nebraska. Saw a quote of Bernie's which noted that Mello is 'running against an anti-choice Republican.' (I forget the name). Again, what have progressives achieved if Mello's elected? Nothing substantive, as far as I can tell--just a point on the scoreboard, and (possibly) a lawmaker who will actually help corporatist Dems push the Dem Party even further to the right.
I have to figure that something's not quite right, when a former Reagan speechwriter, and Wall Street Journal columnist, Peggy Noonan, defends Mello on the Sunday talk shows (even if she is a pro-lifer).
Mollie
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."
____Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Yes, a Democrat for Pelosi and no one else.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
If Macron wins, in a year he will be as popular as Hollande is.
And then France will get Le Pen in the next go around.
So we vote in Le Pen now? I'm not going to do that.
Better to boycott the election.
Basically what I did voting for Stein and others did voting for Johnson.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
The difference is the US has only one round
In France if nobody gets over 50% in the first round the two leading candidates go on to the second round.
I cannot see the point in boycotting a run-off between the two most popular candidates.
The US general election is the equivalent of the run-off.
When you vote for a candidate you say you want that candidate. That's fine if they are the lesser of two goods, but if you vote for the lesser of two evils, you still vote for evil.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
In short, save your energy.
A victory for Macron will in all likelihood persist in being another defeat for you and for the rest of us. It's all "real evil" as long as you're prevented from doing something good.
"the reason you need a new class to come into power in the United States is because this one is useless" -- Vijay Prashad