Althouse: "Mr Macron... I see you're trying to play the teacher and pupil with me. But as far as I'm concerned it's not particularly my thing."

May 4, 2017

"Mr Macron... I see you're trying to play the teacher and pupil with me. But as far as I'm concerned it's not particularly my thing."

Just one of the insults from last night's French presidential debate. That one came from Marine Le Pen and refers to Macron's marriage to a woman 24 years older than he is and who was his drama teacher when he was 15.

Le Pen had a better line: "I'll tell you what's going to happen, Mr Macron. Either way France will be led by a woman, it'll be either me or Mrs Merkel."

His best line seems to have been: "But you're a product of the system you condemn because you live off it and you're its parasite."

45 comments:

rehajm said...: Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!; 5/4/17, 7:41 AM
Fernandinande said...: "But you're a product of the system you condemn because you live off it and you're its parasite."

S. Sailer had a collection of headlines calling Macron (rhymes with Dacron) an "outsider" to hide that fact.; 5/4/17, 7:43 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Macron's comment seems to attack Le Pen's voters as much as Le Pen herself. It reminds me of Hillary's "deplorables" gaffe.; 5/4/17, 7:45 AM
Larry J said...: "But you're a product of the system you condemn because you live off it and you're its parasite."

All politicians are parasites. Poly means "many" and ticks are blood-sucking parasites. How is Macron any less a parasite than Le Pen? What has he contributed to France's culture or economy?; 5/4/17, 7:46 AM
Balfegor said...: He's an Énarque who was just recently Minister of the Economy for Hollande's government. The idea that he's an "outsider" seems to stem mostly from the fact that he's skipped a lot of steps in the usual cursus honorum. But that's because people like Hollande have lifted him up.; 5/4/17, 7:49 AM
AllenS said...: Le Pen is kind of Trumpy.; 5/4/17, 8:06 AM
Darrell said...: Le Pen is kind of Trumpy.

Both are the people that are needed to pull the cord to stop the train heading over the cliff.; 5/4/17, 8:15 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: Brexit - Trump - Le Pen?

I hope we get the hat-trick, but I don't think we will. In 1939, France had the biggest army in Europe, massive defenses on the Western border, and declared War against Germany. Yet they surrendered in 40 days.

They are pretty far down the path of surrendering to multiculturism and, hence, Islam. They need Le Pen but are to paralyzed to seize her.; 5/4/17, 8:17 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: His best line was standard mean leftist.; 5/4/17, 8:17 AM
traditionalguy said...: Trump needs to sue LePen for copywrite infringement. Just add an orange wig, and voila, c'est Trompe.

And Macron is done for. He represents German Hegemony by EU apparatchiks. She is a proud French Nationalist.

All Macron could say was "You did not build this"...the Germans built it.; 5/4/17, 8:24 AM
Kate said...: Le Pen has a truly great zinger.

But would it work if an actor portraying her, while Macron was played by an actress, said it?; 5/4/17, 8:35 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "His best line was standard mean leftist."

-- If that was a deliberate jab at his marriage, which it sounds like it was, neither really robed themselves in glory.; 5/4/17, 8:36 AM
Big Mike said...: She's a parasite but he's not? Or did he mean Paris-ite? It's very confusing.; 5/4/17, 8:38 AM
Derek Kite said...: Macron managed to insult every French citizen. What it is with the smarmy socialist bankers?; 5/4/17, 8:42 AM
William said...: I don't follow French politics. This is an example of why. The French politicians that have entered the history books--Robespierre, Napoleon, Clemenceau, Petain--are strikingly uninspiring. Ok, the Germans and Russians have produced worse, but, still, it's not much of a track record.; 5/4/17, 8:48 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I think his marriage is fair game. It is a bit strange. I suggest he turn it to his advantage and laugh at himself.

LePen's jabs were better than "You're a parasite".

"I'll tell you what's going to happen, Mr Macron. Either way France will be led by a woman, it'll be either me or Mrs Merkel."

That was good.; 5/4/17, 8:54 AM
furious_a said...: Le Pen's niece is Le Hawt.; 5/4/17, 9:08 AM
Bad Lieutenant said...: Bay Area Guy said...
Brexit - Trump - Le Pen?

I hope we get the hat-trick, but I don't think we will. In 1939, France had the biggest army in Europe, massive defenses on the Western border, and declared War against Germany. Yet they surrendered in 40 days.

They are pretty far down the path of surrendering to multiculturism and, hence, Islam. They need Le Pen but are to paralyzed to seize her.

5/4/17, 8:17 AM

Monsieur -

Frenchmen are very French. They aren't like us.

One thing a Frenchman will do, if you show him where his interest lies, he will defend it efficiently, ruthlessly and without apologies. If Le Pen can show the people their interests run with hers and not his, she will get the job.

and...

Even gutted as they were by the shambles of WWI, France did, indeed, fight the Germans.

Now, Poland by some measures may have done as well or better - 1 month and 5 days from 9/1/39 invasion, beset on both sides, versus France's fall in six weeks from 5/10/40 - but 360,000 killed and wounded on the French side is not quite rolling over and playing dead.

The Russians didn't do so hot either, for a while, when Rundstedt, Guderian & Co. went up their asses. Operation Barbarossa, kicked off 6/22/41, advanced more than 400 miles into the USSR over an 1800-mile front by mid-July of that year. That area would be greater than the whole of France.

Anyway...If and when the Frogs realize the water is getting to the boil they will, indeed, jump.; 5/4/17, 9:09 AM
furious_a said...: Yet they surrendered in 40 days.

The British turned and ran for the evacuation beaches, too. Not that they had a choice.

One thing a Frenchman will do, if you show him where his interest lies, he will defend it efficiently, ruthlessly and without apologies.

Indeed, they handed Joan of Arc over to the Burgundians, dynamited the Rainbow Warrior and armed the Francophone Hutu against the Anglophone Tutsis in Rwanda.; 5/4/17, 9:20 AM
Martin said...: I liked the Merkel line--though, not being French, I have no idea how it plays to the electorate.; 5/4/17, 9:33 AM
Birches said...: That Merkel line would be devastating here in the US.

I listened to a podcast a few days ago with a French reporter. National Front has a real polling problem, people will not admit their vote, so if things were moving in LePen's direction, it might be hard to see. Also, Le Pen has all the legitimately shady Russian connections that Evan McMullin's fevered dreams imagine for Donald Trump. Very interesting.; 5/4/17, 9:54 AM
cubanbob said...: Le Pen is right, either way Merkel will be running France.; 5/4/17, 9:56 AM
M Jordan said...: Le Pen missed an opportunity by not saying. "I'm old enough to be your wife."; 5/4/17, 10:13 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: Le Pen wants out of the Euro so she can run big deficits, like the Trump budget is going to do here.; 5/4/17, 10:16 AM
buwaya said...: Napoleon was uninspiring?
He spawned hordes of imitators all over the world.
He and his career still deserve close study.

Petain was a great general and a revolution in responsible attitude to soldiers lives. By the time he was given the government in 1940 the only question was not whether but on what detailed terms France would surrender.; 5/4/17, 10:26 AM
wildswan said...: Who will the French vote for - Merkel or Le Pen? Interesting way to summarize the French election. Much clearer than Macron v. Le Pen. Also (to me) simultaneously removes the stigma of voting for a woman while suggesting that the Germans are re-invading. But who knows how the French think?; 5/4/17, 10:39 AM
Drago said...: Left Bank of the Charles: "Le Pen wants out of the Euro so she can run big deficits, like the Trump budget is going to do here"

Yeah, if we don't watch Trump carefully he might take our debt up to $20T or something!

Left Bank is a real "Johnny on the Spot" for timely fiscal warnings.; 5/4/17, 10:46 AM
Drago said...: wildswan: "But who knows how the French think?"

The Germans have always seemed to have a pretty good handle on that.; 5/4/17, 10:47 AM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/4/17, 11:12 AM
Mick said...: Macron was touted by the Usurper Hussein Obama and Le Pen is hated by all the right Globalist scum. Le Pen wins. Doubt me?; 5/4/17, 11:19 AM
Guildofcannonballs said...: No No The BOSS IS PARASITE!; 5/4/17, 11:55 AM
MaxedOutMama said...: Macron is going to win, but to even have this debate would have been unthinkable in the French society of a decade ago.; 5/4/17, 12:02 PM
Achilles said...: Left Bank of the Charles said...
Le Pen wants out of the Euro so she can run big deficits, like the Trump budget is going to do here.

Deficits are bad again. What changed?

This is the pure stupidity and intellectually dishonest crap that makes discussing politics no fun anymore. The left is no longer populated by a majority of people who are acting in good faith.

The civil war comes and this kind of garbage is one of the reasons why.; 5/4/17, 12:16 PM
Achilles said...: Le Pen is a socialist people. They keep saying "far right." She decidedly is not far right. She just believes in French sovereignty along with socialism.; 5/4/17, 12:17 PM
Gahrie said...: Le Pen wins. Doubt me?

Not me.; 5/4/17, 12:20 PM
Balfegor said...: Re: Rene Sauce:

I think his marriage is fair game. It is a bit strange.

It's a bit strange, but look -- his wife's the predator and he's the victim in that scenario. I don't think it's really appropriate for his opponent to call out.; 5/4/17, 12:24 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Macron is going to win- I think that is a foregone conclusion- Le Pen's support is simply not broad enough yet to win head to head. When she does lose, it will be proclaimed that the populist revolt in Europe is at an end, but it will be pyrrhic victory for the establishment. These elections taking place in Europe are the last hurrah because they are clearly defining who is in power and who is not, and in the next economic crisis, there will be no place for the established parties to hide- no place at all, they will own the responsibility entirely because the right and left mainstream parties will have conspired openly with each other to hold power.; 5/4/17, 12:53 PM
Anonymous said...: Yancey Ward: Macron is going to win- I think that is a foregone conclusion- Le Pen's support is simply not broad enough yet to win head to head. When she does lose, it will be proclaimed that the populist revolt in Europe is at an end, but it will be pyrrhic victory for the establishment. These elections taking place in Europe are the last hurrah because they are clearly defining who is in power and who is not...

I think you're right, but what comes after the last hurrah? One fears that things are too far gone, and that any "populist" restructuring in the making is too little, too late - not developed enough and strong enough to provide a peaceful, political route out of the mess the current regimes have made.; 5/4/17, 1:47 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: Balfegor said...
Re: Rene Sauce:

I think his marriage is fair game. It is a bit strange.

It's a bit strange, but look -- his wife's the predator and he's the victim in that scenario. I don't think it's really appropriate for his opponent to call out.

5/4/17, 12:24 PM

Au contraire, we don't elect victims (or didn't) and perhaps neither do they.; 5/4/17, 2:00 PM
Balfegor said...: Oh, he'll probably win, but no matter how it goes, it's almost certain that Front National has made substantial progress since the last time they ended up in the second round of the Presidential election, and the other parties all colluded to defeat them. The collusion grows ever more impudent, and the trendline for FN is positive. Marine may fall short, but in 10 years, if France is still standing, perhaps Marion Marechal-Le Pen will take her shot.; 5/4/17, 2:02 PM
Mr. Groovington said...: The odds went longer after the debate, now back to about where they were two days ago. Le Pen is seeing the volume though, so it appears plenty are taking a punt on her. A bad bet.

https://www.oddschecker.com/politics/european-politics/french-election/next-president; 5/4/17, 3:40 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Ha! And we think we have incivility in politics.; 5/4/17, 5:39 PM
Lydia said...: Macron had a very strong finish, appealing to French pride. Here’s a rough translation I found at C-Span:

“Madame Le Pen has lied about my project without saying what she wants for our country. I don't want that for my country, for France. I don't want people to benefit from the failures and exploit anger. France deserves better. France, my country, our country is going through a deep crisis, a moral crisis, which is due to the failures of policies over 20 years, the failure of our abilities to unify the country and some people explore to this anger. I would simply like to say, I listened to doubts expressed. I want to answer by courage. The courage to tell the truth. I have never lied. I haven't said I'm going to make gifts good, donate and promise things which are improbable to achieve. The courage to keep our commitments firmly and to maintain our schools, the authority in our school system, to maintain our work, our language and maintain our language. I grew up with the French language, with our culture, and which has a global presence. Our country has always been strong in a strong Europe. And in an age of open world, not a world open to the four winds but a world in which we can defend ourselves, because we will have trained our fellow citizens. We will have a proactive, I refuse the spirit of defeatism and hatred. We will do that together my dear fellow citizens. We will do so by being faithful. We've always been a generous country, an open country, the country that was the light to all the world and not obscurism.”; 5/4/17, 5:59 PM
Mick said...: Polls are lies, Odds are lies based on liar polls. Establishment Globalists in full court press to elect Macron. Obama is even now "interfering" in the French election.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/04/barack-obama-backs-macron-in-last-minute-election-intervention

Judging by the way that correct thinking people all over the world Hate the Usurper Hussein Obama, that should be the nail in the coffin for Macron.; 5/4/17, 6:17 PM
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