France - Macron reelected

[malbui]

It seems like they have forgotten about the horrors of 1930's Europe and what that led to.

The area where my in-laws live saw some appalling events during the Occupation and a lot of retribution afterwards. But those who lived through that are essentially all gone now and their commune voted strongly Le Pen yesterday.

 

[dudalb]

It seems like they have forgotten about the horrors of 1930's Europe and what that led to.

See my comment about how the living memory of the horrors of fascism has given the far right an opening. I was always afraid this would happen.
Living memory is very important.

 

[dudalb]

Maybe the Fifth republic will go the way that the other Four Republics went.

 

[dudalb]

I guess the question is how many of the Le Pen votes were True Belivers, and how many were protest votes over France's current economic problems.

 

[Norman Alexander]

Can we expect a storming of the National Assembly building by an armed right-wing mob soon?

 

[Venom]

I note that Putin has congratulated Macron.

<snip>

Is this an attempt to drive a wedge between Macron and the rest of the pro-Ukraine alliance ?

I'd have thought that Putin would more naturally aligned with Le Pen but perhaps he didn't want to be explicit in his support ?

Macron's been pandering to Putin for years.

 

[Lurch]

We're just about a century on from the last crop of bastards that wrought rack and ruin on the world. The forgetfulness of fallible Man is plateauing as the last of those who lived through those dreadful years die off. A couple of generations of comparatively comfortable living has beguiled us into believing it all can't happen again.

And so the new crop of bastards are getting perilously close to realizing their stupid, foolish nihilism. All because historical memory is apparently not a thing among the masses.

 

[dudalb]

Can we expect a storming of the National Assembly building by an armed right-wing mob soon?

Don't laugh,a mob tried to do just that during the French Revolution at one point during the Directory. They were stopped by a French Army Captain of Artillery from Corsica who gave them "A whiff of grapeshot".

 

[Andy_Ross]

In France a demented anti-Europe leader got 43% of the vote and lost.
In the UK 2019, a demented anti-Europe leader got 43% of the vote and won an 80 seat majority.

 

[Ziggurat]

US politicians respond:
https://twitter.com/themattfriend/status/1518353178282102784
(ETA: not really)

 

[psionl0]

In France a demented anti-Europe leader got 43% of the vote and lost.
In the UK 2019, a demented anti-Europe leader got 43% of the vote and won an 80 seat majority.

The difference is that the UK parliament doesn't do run-off elections.

If it had just been FPTP for the French presidential election then Macron would have won in the first round with 27.9% of the vote.

 

[KDLarsen]

A different way of looking at it of course, would be to look at the number of seats their party have in the French parliament, especially after the elections this summer.

Le Pen may have receved 43% of the votes in the Presidential election, but her party is pathetically small in terms of size in the parliament (6 members out of 577 seats).

 

[dudalb]

I suspect a good deal of Le Pen' vote was a protest vote more then anything else.