Meet "Our" Nationalist

Marine Le Pen leader of the Front National in France. Popular slogans: "The National Front neither left nor right". "The voice of the people, the spirit of France".

Do not confuse her with "our" buffoon Jean-Marie Le Pen, her father, whom she ate for breakfast and spat out.

Educated at and graduated from the best law school in France [as was President François Hollande] Panthéon-Assas University and was a member of the bar in Paris and often represented [defence] illegal immigrants.

Marine Le Pen is the cool, calculating and intelligent face of French Nationalism, do not underestimate her appeal. She has adopted pretty much every populist position available. Working and middle class families in France also feel abandoned by the left, we have a "Socialist" president whose popularity is in the veritable toilet around 14% and possibly in single figures, deservedly so I might add.

Economically Le Pen is a protectionist and against free trade, she profoundly dislikes and distrusts the WTO and IMF, hates the Euro but supports the Bancor [as proposed by John Maynard Keynes]. She is against the privatisation of the Post office. She rails against the neo-liberal elite.

Le Pen proposes strict regulation of the Banks. She detests that small businesses pay 33% in tax whereas major corporations average about 8%, she proposes a flexible corporation tax base on profits and payment to shareholders.

Le Pen dislikes NATO and believes France should return to its historical position on NATO [Charles de Gaulle] and proposes closer ties with Russia in a Greater Europe for increased security. Not a fan of the US because of its association with Saudi Arabia and hence ties to religious extremism. She is against France's involvement in what she terms as neocolonial foreign wars and to prevent uncontrolled immigration she proposes development and the "decolonisation" [the mentality] of the countries of origin.

On agriculture le Pen detests the European Agricultural Policy and promotes the use of home grown products only, France happens to be a net exporter.

le Pen upholds the ideals of a secular France with its definitive separation of Church and State.

Le Pen defends Abortion Rights and State subsidies for abortion, but detests what she call the trivialisation of abortion and hence talks a little to much about family values and increasing the birthrate of the French.

Le Pen proposes France's withdrawal from the Schengen Area and the return of customs control on all borders, Sarkozy proposes the same.

She proposes the removal of immigrants that have legally obtained French nationality if they commit a serious crime back to their country of origin. Le Pen opposes any route whereby an illegal immigrant can obtain French nationality.

Le Pen often talks about Sharia law and the "Islamification" of France and any national subsidies towards the building of mosques.

Marine Le Pen has tried to hide the xenophobic and racist heart of her Party that you only get to hear if you attend their local meetings.

So you can see how clever Marine Le Pen has been in moving the authoritarian, holocaust denying, xenophobic and racist party of her father by sheer force of will into a warm fuzzy version of the same. You can see the populist appeal, French unemployment stands at just under 10% with youth unemployment at just below 25%.

As we keep saying

It is the economy stupid.
It is the economy stupid.
It is the economy stupid.

When the electorate feels ignored Austerity!™, anything is possible. Brexit!™. Trump!™.

The left [elite] has exactly the same problem here as elsewhere, they concentrated on what they believed to be the case rather than listening to the people. You just knew someone else would grab the populist ball and run with it, historically the extreme right in Europe have been good at that. We all know the end result of believing them.

In France we have a run off between the two leading candidates and the must obtain over 50% of the vote to win. It would not surprise me that Marine Le Pen gets into the final head to head, if you like polls here, I take them with a large pinch of salt and would add once in the run off, anything can happen.

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Have a read

http://pridelife.com/pridelife-issue-exclusive-the-men-who-would-be-quee...

It's her niece Marion Jeanne Caroline Maréchal-Le Pen who is more like her Grandfather.

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dervish's picture

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

riverlover's picture

All warm and cuddly? Mass migration of humans will happen. The US will experience it internally as well as from outside. Europe overall is getting hit first, partly due to US bombing the crap out of the ME. Which is getting hit by CC first.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

of the problem. Hollande has been more than happy to get involved in wars.

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current one is the worst. A real leftist government might be able to effect positive people-oriented change but it doesn't seem to be possible.

I think France would be doing the right thing for France by returning to its original stance vis a vis NATO.

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"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

so long now it is embarrassing.

Left, right and the extremists all go to the same elite universities and in France that counts probably more than their political positioning.

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ggersh's picture

one in the same, watch for Italy in 3 weeks time that seems to be the next
domino to fall, neoliberalism, globalism have failed, people want people taken care of, cause corporations aren't people are they.

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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

dervish's picture

I sense a perfect storm brewing. The Left had better figure it out quickly.

Speaking of those, are they allowing them to stay, and are the encampments really that prevalent?

Two of the things that I miss in Paris in recent years are abundant pissoirs and real trash cans, both gone due to terrorism fears. I am sure that people are terrified that urban tents could present the same danger.

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

Raggedy Ann's picture

I'm glad you did this informational piece on her. I read she doesn't stand a chance and after reading your essay, I'm thinking test Herr Drumpf "didn't stand a chance," either.

When is the election and who looks strong?

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Nobody looks very strong, we have to get through a bit of internal party fighting first.

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Raggedy Ann's picture

I know that's like asking about ours. Just curious, though. I've known lots of people from France due to my previous work. I'm just not in touch with them anymore.

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

and many foresee a run off between Juppé and Le Pen. Any predictions could be embarrassing, I would say the left is in deep shit at the moment

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Raggedy Ann's picture

left decided to abandon their base and then, curiously, starts losing. Thanks for the info. I hope you keep reporting on this. The world is in flux in more ways than one!

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

lotlizard's picture

for me just conjured up a mental image of a runner on first trying to steal second, and getting caught in a rundown.

Voters: yerrrout!

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"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

ggersh's picture

now that's friggin embarrassing, but then so was losing to......

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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

I guess losing to...was worse.

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"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

elenacarlena's picture

Does anyone anywhere have an effective left wing that stands for the people in opposition to corporations and other powerful institutions?

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

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bygorry

hellinahandcart's picture

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Citizen Of Earth's picture

this wave of Nationalist whackjobs taking over the world is really troubling. And US adventures of bombing the hell out of the ME to 'fix it', thus causing the biblical refugee crisis hasn't helped matters.

Of course we have our own fucking problem to deal with now on this side of the pond. About to find out how much less evil Trump will be. Wink

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Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.

Cassiodorus's picture

to the neoliberal whackjobs currently running the world, and the "Left" wasn't available because it sold out to neoliberalism about the time that Anthony Giddens put out Beyond Left and Right, pretty much around 1994.

1994, of course, was a year occurring just after another European whackjob concept of governance came to an end, the post-Stalin "Soviet Union." The post-Stalin "Soviet Union" had been a case of people who recognized that the angry-schoolmaster pseudo-version of "Marxism" practiced by Stalin was all wrong, but who just couldn't bring themselves to give up power.

As long as the "Tribes" thing takes precedence over any reasonable discussion of what concepts of governance work, we'll probably continue to be ruled by fools.

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"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

Raggedy Ann's picture

plans to implement universal biometric ID's there? Just read about it on Naked Capitalism. Sounds like the French need to resist this, big time.

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

terrorist attacks, its now wrangling how all the information from Passports and Identity cards is store, accessed and protected and for how long it is held.

In France you must have a piece of official identity [with photograph] on you at all times, even just walking around, it is illegal not to.

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Azazello's picture

Next week, Frauke Petry and AfD.

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

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on almost all policy points?

WTF has happened to the world?

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

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dervish's picture

It's as if we're undergoing some sort of convulsive re-alignment, and the whole political landscape is lining up a little differently. The old left/right lines don't apply quite as easily as before, and there are plenty of strange bedfellows.

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

solublefish's picture

Aside from the racism and xenophobia, the rest of what you describe here sounds appealing enough. I did not realize how far Marine LP had moved her father's party toward sanity - if that's the right word. Is all her talk about NATO, Church-State separation, bank regulation, etc just empty words to attract votes? If not, then aside from her (muted) racism and xenophobia, what reason would people have to reject her?

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

rolled them into one, clever aint she?

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“If there is no justice for the people, may there be no peace for the government.”

some things in there are xenophobic coded to sound more appealing. I believe "secular France" is the dogwhistle for forbidding Moslem women to wear hijab.

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solublefish's picture

Since 'conservatives' in France have traditionally been closely allied with the Catholic Church against secularism (from de Maistre to ... when, the '60s? later still?), whence comes this seemingly new found respect for laïcité? I wondered also if it might be in reaction to the influx of Algerians, Moroccans, etc. That would be a nice little irony of history (well, besides the 'barbarians' rebounding to take over the colonial core, of course).

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But has she really - or is this a typical psychopath ploy, as seen in the corporate party candidate picks in this nightmarish US election?

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

orlbucfan's picture

regardless of how cute and perky it looks! Rec'd!

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Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

No third Brexit in France.

She will definitely make the final run-off, then she will get absolutely crushed by Alain Juppé.

Yes, Trump sprung a mild upset in a race between two unpopular candidates in the US. But in France, the political situation and system are different. The unpopular center-left incumbent, should he even attain his party's nomination (not a sure thing), has no chance and will go down hard in the first round. In the runoff, the extremely popular (for no good reason, but it is what it is) center-right Juppé will face Le Pen. In that run-off, he leads her in current polling by 30-40 points.

Le Pen is a known quantity in France. Unlike Trump, the neo-fascist clan has featured in national elections for decades and she can't effectively play the role of political neophyte, freakshow media phenomenon, or improvisatory rabble-rouser. It's a very different political culture and she's a very different candidate than our homegrown Orange Far-Right Buffoon. I wouldn't underrate the Trump Effect either -- many French will react in horror at Trump's victory and be very energized not to allow France to face a similar catastrophe.

And, rightly or wrongly, center-right Juppé (unlike Hillary in the US) is roundly respected and admired in France. There just will not be time enough to shift that well-anchored perception. Le Pen won't get to con the French media, who will NOT play her up as cute or funny like the US media did for Trump. And she won't have the months Trump did to throw a million rallies and hammer home an image of her foe as an evil one that only Le Pen can defeat, etc.

She'll have two weeks (between first-round and runoff). It won't be enough.

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right is doing in France.

I have a feeling she will be in the run-off, I expect her to double her fathers total and get between 35 and 40% of the vote and that is bad enough. Each year that goes by and the governments are seen as pathetic [and Juppé gas some dirty linen] the stronger they become, the left meanwhile is just a mess.

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Your image is too large. It is blocking us from reading the other diaries on the right of your post. Others here do this as well; I'm not singling you out.

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ggersh's picture

Marine Le Pen Takes "Huge Lead" In French Presidential Election Poll Just Days After Being Written Off

36,516
NOV 20, 2016 1:14 PM

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-20/marine-le-pen-takes-huge-lead-f...

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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