EU Politics

[fraurosena]

Oh damn! It's a terrorist attack after all. I'm reading reports now that ISIS is claiming the attacks.

Shit.

[Smash!]

Re French election: It's Marine Le Pen against Emmanuel Macron in the 2nd round in May and they couldn't be more different. Now this is scary because it shows how divided the country is. Let's just hope there isn't another disaster like Trump. It reminds me of the saying "Divide and rule". Looks like some politicians in the western world have rediscovered and mastered it.

[unsafetydancer]

This just in over here: the Brexit campaign Leave.EU are also now under investigation for electoral fraud during the EU referendum. We shall see what happens next.

Also @Smash! yes they really have

[fraurosena]

Is anyone else slightly apprehensive about the French elections today? 

 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

Winning seems pretty impossible for Le Pen, so no I am not very anxious. I am not overly enthusiastic about Macron though, despite being so young he sounds like same old same old. I don't expect great things from his presidency for good or for bad either. From an European pov I fear he won't push for the change and renewal that the EU needs in order to survive and solve its problems. I hope he'll prove me wrong.

[fraurosena]

Winning seemed nigh impossible for Trump too. 

I just hope that if Macron wins, he will be able to be a stablizing factor in France and that he doesn't rock the EU boat. Nobody will profit from a (partial) collaps of the EU, there will only be losers, despite what many anti-EU people believe.

 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

I don't think the LePen-Macron is comparable to Trump-Clinton. We have already seen the numbers of LePen core supporters, now she needs to convince a lot more people to join her and with her divisive political positions and the baggage of her name and her past it seems impossible. Macron being a centrist starts in a better position to reach out to a wider number of voters, plus he is very young and there isn't much dirt about him circulating. He advertised himself as the outsider and that seems to be the winning move lately.

ETA forecasts were spot on in the first turn, I don't see them getting so spectacularly wrong this time. Also a Trump victory was a possibility well in the range of forecasts accuracy, for LePen to win forecasts should be wrong in the double digits.

[Smash!]

Since the election of Trump I just think that everything can happen and we shouldn't be too sure about the impossible not happening.
I don't particularly like Macron but LePen would be a disaster.

[ADoyle90815]

At this point, Macron is ahead and could pull off a win, but I'm not getting my hopes up until all votes have been counted. LePen would be a major disaster from what I've heard about her.

[fraurosena]

News outlets here are claiming Macron has won the election.

I have to say I'm relieved. Although he's a relative unknown, what I've read about him so far is that he's pro-EU and has plans for extensive integration within the EU and the eurozone in particular.

If the elections on June 11 and 17 will give En Marche! a comfortable majority in the Assemble remains to be seen, but things are looking hopeful it seems.

[Smash!]

Thank god! Macron will at least not destabilize the EU and that is what we need right now.

[47of74]

LOL

thebeaverton.com/2017/05/france-successfully-defeats-fascism-first-time/

Quote

Jubilant French citizens took to the streets this evening to celebrate their nation’s Presidential election results, which mark the first time their country has been able to prevent a fascist invasion.

“Obviously the last time we were threatened by a horde of charging right wing extremists, things went less than optimally,” said Philippe Deplasse, political analyst for Le Monde. “Fortunately this time we were able to stand firm, which I credit to the will of the French people, as well as the fact that we did not rely on the Maginot line.”

“Also Nazis these days are such whiny bitches,” Deplasse added as he pointed to the angry group of young white men still holding up Le Pen signs. “In the past the Nazis used brutal tactics like the blitzkrieg, but today they use less effective tactics like tweeting at women and minorities for having opinions, or existing.”

France overwhelmingly won today’s battle against fascism, with early projections showing Macron handily defeating Le Pen by over 30%. This stands in stark contrast to 1940, when the fascists won by a margin of total annihilation to complete surrender.

 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

59 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

LOL

thebeaverton.com/2017/05/france-successfully-defeats-fascism-first-time/

Quote

the first time their country has been able to prevent a fascist invasion.

 

I don't want to nitpick but actually this is not correct. Jean Marie LePen, a fascist worse than his daughter if you can imagine it, made past the first turn in 2002 with 16% of votes, only to be beaten 17% to 82% by Jacques Chirac. In that occasion everybody united against him and backed Chirac and he improved his first turn result of only one miserable percentage point. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_presidential_election,_2002

It seems that Marine has doubled her father's votes and increased her own first turn results by more than ten percentage points. Add to this that turn out was lower than ever, that reportedly 12% were spoiled votes and that reportedly only 39% of those who voted Macron did so because they believe he will be a good president while 49% did it to defeat Le Pen. 

Things have changed a lot from 2002 and not for the better. While his presidential victory was an easy bet personally I fear Macron will be an insipid and vulnerable president much like Hollande and that five years from now the situation will deteriorate further. We will see what will happen in the legislative elections, he may not even have a majority to speak of. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/07/emmanuel-macron-elected-french-president-what-happens-now

Quote

Macron has promised to field candidates – half of them women and half from civil society or local councils – in all 577 parliamentary constituencies, but he is starting from almost zero. 

I don't feel good saying this but I think future is still bleak.

[candygirl200413]

I think it was on BBC that I was watching earlier and the reporter was saying how Le Pen supporters aren't racist, they just want "immigrants to assimilate with their culture" which I couldn't stop rolling my eyes at. Love but still kinda hurts that France was able to learn from us.

[47of74]

19 minutes ago, candygirl200413 said:

I think it was on BBC that I was watching earlier and the reporter was saying how Le Pen supporters aren't racist, they just want "immigrants to assimilate with their culture" which I couldn't stop rolling my eyes at. Love but still kinda hurts that France was able to learn from us.

I see the Branch Trumpvidians are getting stupid over this...

resistancereport.com/world/trump-supporters-france-election/

Quote

While Trump was at least gracious enough to say he would work with President-elect Macron in a tweet on Sunday afternoon, Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters are now predictably condemning France as eternally doomed for embracing multiculturalism and welcoming in refugees from war-torn regions. However, it’s important to remember that Le Pen supporters are in the minority, as she only managed to capture just over a third of all votes in Sunday’s election.

Here are some of the more vile responses from Trump supporters in response to Macron’s overwhelming victory. In a shocking twist that should surprise no one, some of the most despicable responses were in a Breitbart Twitter thread about Le Pen’s loss:

 

 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

Ignorant idiots. What can you expect from people who ignore their own country history enough to not understand the link between 19th century slavery and natives genocides and current racism. Luckily French people seem to still remember the link between their country's ugly history of colonialism and the current difficult multiculturalism.

[faraway]

This is kind of funny:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/05/06/did-macron-outsmart-campaign-hackers