I wonder just how much her support is being underestimated/underreported.
Posted on 05/04/2017 9:00:52 AM PDT by pgkdan
Marine Le Pen, the French presidential candidate for the National Front (FN) party, speaks boldly of economic protectionism, stronger borders, leaving the Eurozone and returning to a national currency. Characterized by popular media outlets as the “non-winnable” candidate, or worse, a fascist, Le Pen continues forward towards the run-off on May 7 between herself and pro-EU centrist, Emmanuel Macron.
Yet her vision for a better France began much earlier. In December 2015, following the National Front party’s failure to win any of the 13 French regions, Marine Le Pen, as leader of the party, used the opportunity to paint a new vision for France. She stated:
Now the gap is not between the Left and the Right, but between globalists and patriots. The globalists are acting for the dilution of France and its people in a huge worldwide magma. The patriots hope that the nation constitutes the most protective space for the French. That means for everyone among you.
As Le Pen and Macron enter the run-off, one puzzling media play has occurred, namely the supposed non-viability of Le Pen’s campaign. The media refuses to recognize the fact that out of four candidates, Le Pen finished so closely with Macron that it required a run-off (a roughly 3% difference to be exact). If she had been “trailing behind” as the media has reported, she wouldn’t even be in the race at this point.
Why do media elites fail to recognize her as a viable candidate? Perhaps because they don’t want her to be a viable candidate. If Ms. Le Pen actually does what she says she will do, it is a win for the people of France, but not for the elitist globalist ecosystem spanning the EU. Power to the people means taking the power away from those who benefit from the globalist ecosystem.
As Greg Ip wrote in The Wall Street Journal earlier this year:
The new nationalist surge has startled establishment parties in part because they don’t see globalism as an ideology. But globalism is an ideology and its struggle with nationalism will shape the coming era much as the struggle between conservatives and liberals has shaped the last.
What many globalists fail to see is the fact that 1) globalism is an ideology and 2) this ideology has and will continue to fail. Why? Because globalism, the notion that countries should be dissolved into centralized global governing units, runs counter to human nature.
As cliché as it sounds, humans are made for community…local community. Humans are made for self-preservation, self-rule and self-reliance. Participation in these activities gives us a sense of dignity, value and worth. It gives us a feeling of ownership and promotes self-expression, art and beauty. It is, essentially speaking, liberty.
Even the French Revolution, though admittedly flawed in numerous respects, was based on three ideals: liberty, equality and fraternity. These ideals spoke to a France that ran its own show…not managed a show for another.
Yet beyond debating the mere abstractions of globalism and nationalism, the French voters have also dealt with the harrowing realities of terrorism, violence and the senseless murders of their fellow citizens by Islamic extremists. The most notable are listed below:
*Paris: November 13, 2015 — 130 victims murdered 368 injured by shooting and grenade attacks.
*Nice: July 14, 2016 — 86 victims murdered, 434 injured by vehicle ramming.
*Normandy: July 26, 2016 — 86-year-old priest stabbed to death by two terrorists.
*And most recently, on April 20, an Islamist fired at police officers on the Champs-Elysees.
For a country slightly smaller than the state of Texas, this has become an epidemic of grief, fear and anxiety for the people of France.
Interestingly enough, German chancellor Angela Merkel and outgoing French president Francois Hollande, both of whom have had serious Islamic terrorist attacks occur under their leadership, have endorsed Macron. For the French citizens who are more interested in keeping their country safe than in failed social experiments of utopian globalism, these endorsements may act, simultaneously, as a nail in Macron’s coffin and a feather in Le Pen’s cap.
Ironically, the most glaring oversight by the media has been the very thing that defined the United States' 2016 presidential election: gender. No one seems to mention that Marine Le Pen is, in fact, a woman. No one seems to be lauding her for breaking any glass ceilings or being a hero to young girls or representing the disenfranchised women of the world.
Yet, Le Pen is leveraging the alleged impossibility of her candidacy as velocity for her campaign. She said recently, “Brexit was impossible. Donald Trump’s election was impossible, yet both have now become reality. My election to the presidency has been dubbed impossible for months. Now it is up to the people to make it possible.”
As with the referendum on Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, the citizens of France now hold within their voting power the opportunity for more of the same economic and political insecurity with Macron, or perhaps a better, safer and more prosperous future with Le Pen.
Yet within their own elitist echo chamber, the media cannot fathom that the people — regular people; voting people — are a force with which to be reckoned. That, however, is perhaps why they continue to be wrong. Hopefully the people of France will show the media how wrong they are again.
I wonder just how much her support is being underestimated/underreported.
Send {{{shockwaves}}} through the globalist ranks. lol
Le Pen isn’t a Trump-like figure. Very little of her campaign was about helping French companies or improving the jobs situation. There’s a minimum of ten points difference between her and Macron, and it could go as high as fifteen points. For her to win, you’d need at least one-third of the people who voted two weeks ago in the primary to stay home.
Fillon would have been a better choice in the end, but his little fake pay scandal screwed up that opportunity. He would have dumped 500,000 civil service employees in France.
I wonder just how much her support is being underestimated/underreported.
Le Pen is against the globalist cabal, which is good...but she wants to nationalize France’s banks like Franco in Spain and Mussolini in Italy.
Which is to say that while I hope that she wins her election, I’m not going to cozy up next to her.
She brings new problems into the fold...just problems less severe than globalism.
Agreed...
Emmanuel Macron has many of obama’s attributes - came out of nowhere with little known about him. Another empty suit. Sounds like a Soros prop.
Warts and all, Le Pen is the better choice, but after seeing Geert Wilders go down, I have little hope for Europeans.
Agreed.
The problem, who will assist the winner with bringing their vision to life.
The combined left on one side and the nationalist on the other, both mostly left.
Stalemate at best, no one will vote for major cuts to the ranks of civil service.
Look at the events in DC, many talk a good game, but...
Have a look at these maps. Muslim ‘refugees,’ are not evenly distributed throughout France. In places with heavy Muslim populations, Le Pen leads Macron. In the parts with fewest Muslims, Macron leads.
All the international papers are saying she lost the debate (even her father said that, thanks Dad).
However, I listened to it and thought she won.
It’s not always about a debate. Debates aren’t necessarily predictive.
“However, I listened to it and thought she won.”
I wondered about that - thanks for a Freeper perspective. 8^)
She is estranged from her father, who was largely responsible for the negative views held in France of the Front Nationale. His legacy has been a perception of fascism in Marine Le Pen’s campaign, even though she’s been working for years to distance herself and now has resigned from her role in the party. He’s angry with her for this, and it’s behind their estrangement. That he’d speak poorly of her performance is not surprising. But, it might actually play well in France among those who fear the Jean-Marie Le Pen-led Front Nationale of old.
Most of the biggest libs I know these days have retreated to very 1950’s white areas.
The Globalist are fine with Africans retaining nationalist feelings, and with Muslims retaining nationalist feelings.
They have a problem with white, Christians having a sense of community and national pride.
Somehow they must imagine the Muslims will never spread. Shortsighted at best.
Simple. Globalists control virtually all the mass media. Mass media is one of the main tools used to control the minds of the public. It will always be the enemy of freedom and decency because the people who control it are simply evil. They would never use the truth. Not even if the truth would aid them. They are compulsed to act thru lies. They can’t help it. It’s in their nature.
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