Not hapless President Hollande and his Socialists, sure? No. They are down to 21 percent in the polls. Nor is it the centre-Right Gaullistes, who are on measly 22 percent – and have scarcely ever been less popular.
The shocking truth is that the most popular political party in France, according to one recent poll, is the Front National, supported by almost one in four French voters.
The Front National is beyond the pale. They are not simply a protest party, but extreme. Their political philosophy, in so far as they have one, seems to me to derive from a reading of Jean Raspail’s dystopian novel, the Camp of the Saints. Pessimistic, they seem to lack any uplifting vision of France or the future.
So why are they doing so well? Read on and comment » | Douglas Carswell | Tuesday, October 22, 2013
My comment:
Douglas Carswell doesn't know what he's talking about. Most politicians these days don't.
Many of us have been saying for years that all this uncontrolled immigration was going to bring a strong reaction. The pendulum always swings back – eventually. Further, some of us have been saying for a very long time that the European Union was going too fast; it has been trying to achieve too much. It has been expanding too much, and too rapidly.
The European Union was not a bad idea. But it has been ruined. The euro was not a bad idea either. But that has been ruined too. I, for one, was always pro-European; but even I have now become disillusioned with the whole project.
For starters, the EU should have remained a Judaeo-Christian club: Only countries with a common heritage should ever have been allowed to join. But instead of that, the powers-that-be have been determined to continue with the experiment of bringing peoples together who have little or nothing in common, and still less in common when it comes to their vision for the future.
The result of all this is that populist parties are on the up in Europe. Why! Even Norway now has a populist government. Who would have predicted that? Extreme poverty breeds communism; extreme destruction of the nation state brings about populist right-wing, nationalist parties. There's nothing that should surprise us about this. What is surprising is that the politicians from the established parties have been so slow to understand this.
Marine Le Pen is doing so well in France because of a confluence of unfortunate circumstances, not least of which is the growing underclass of Muslim immigrants into the country who have little or no desire to integrate into the French, secular way of life. Many French people now feel threatened as a result. Marine Le Pen and the Front National offer a way out for them; they offer hope for the future where now there is only despair.
The French, like the British, are a very proud nation. And rightly so. They have so much to be proud of. Marine Le Pen plays on that; and it is leading her to success.
I tire of all these people who keep on slapping extreme right-wing, fascist, Nazi labels on her. So far, at least, I see no real evidence of anything too much more extreme that getting France out of the euro, reversing all immigration, and a determination to keep France French, for the French. If it takes Marine Le Pen to achieve this, then so be it. Vive la belle France! – © Mark
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