Althouse: "France is braced for its 'most consequential' election in decades after the country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, stunned politicians and the public..."

June 10, 2024

"France is braced for its 'most consequential' election in decades after the country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, stunned politicians and the public..."

"by announcing snap legislative elections following a drubbing at the hands of the far-right National Rally (RN) in Sunday’s European parliamentary elections. The RN won about 32% of the vote on Sunday, more than double the 15% or so scored by Macron’s allies, according to exit polls. The Socialists on 14% came within a whisker of the Macron group... The unexpected decision... could hand major political power to the far right after years on the sidelines and neuter his presidency three years before it ends...."

The Guardian reports.

81 comments:

Iman said...: and the rank smell of deviled egg flatulence permeated the land, as the LeGrand Pushback began in earnest…; 6/10/24, 9:06 AM
Dave Begley said...: Finally, the Left's policies have caught up with them. Illegal immigration and the energy transition are destroying France.; 6/10/24, 9:06 AM
gilbar said...: the whole world is turning right.. Well, the whole world that only allows ACTUAL PEOPLE to vote; 6/10/24, 9:06 AM
Mason G said...: "following a drubbing at the hands of the far-right National Rally (RN) in Sunday’s European parliamentary elections."

The far-left didn't do so well, then?; 6/10/24, 9:07 AM
Caroline said...: Sacré Bleu! Those right wing extremists are going to enforce borders make gasoline great again!; 6/10/24, 9:07 AM
gspencer said...: A snap election seems risky. Namely, the momentum from this past weekend's election results.

And with Muslims acting like Muslims - stabbing, raping, massing in the streets & generally Allahu Akbar-ing - Boy Macron might find himself on another losing end.; 6/10/24, 9:08 AM
doctrev said...: Well, the plot to make military defeat remove autocratic governments is progressing splendidly. May it continue.; 6/10/24, 9:11 AM
Michael said...: Things now seen as part of the "far right"

Secure borders
Freedom of speech
Questioning authority
Scientific method
Peace; 6/10/24, 9:11 AM
The Vault Dweller said...: One of the drawbacks of the Left, and the Media calling parties on the right, Far Right, is that if those parties win then people are already primed to expect far right policies. And as can be seen with a lot of woke practices, particularly cancel culture, if people expect something then they are more likely to accept that thing.; 6/10/24, 9:11 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: For everything about the internet that is a negative, and there are many, one of the great positives has been the democratization of information, specifically the voices of the unheard and the cell-phone videos that show what they don't want you to see.

These traitors have worked together with unimaginably powerful forces to keep this information from getting out and if it did, to spin the information with totalitarian effort to prevent the wrong opinions from gaining traction.

The Post-WWII liberal order is collapsing. It can collapse now or it can collapse in the near future, but it will collapse. Long overdue.; 6/10/24, 9:14 AM
R C Belaire said...: Le ver, elle se retourne, oui ?; 6/10/24, 9:17 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Nothing to lose- Macron's party had already lost control of the parliament.; 6/10/24, 9:19 AM
SGT Ted said...: "Far right" = not globalist fascists.; 6/10/24, 9:22 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: On top of everything else going wrong in his own fucking country, Macron seems hell-bent on engaging his 3rd-tier military in a lost war in a country 1300 miles away with another nuclear power, a move that would undoubtedly trigger Article 5. I still can't believe this. It's shocking in its futility and idiocy. It makes no sense, and comes across as some kind of personal vendetta by a man whose masculinity is being threatened, and Macron's masculinity is indeed suspect so it seems plausible.

Absolutely wild times that these fools ever grasped the levers of power.; 6/10/24, 9:24 AM
Ice Nine said...: Somewhere, Marine Le Pen is smiling.; 6/10/24, 9:28 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: I get so tired of the "far Left" MSM using the term "Far Right". I'd like the Guardian to tell us who the "Right" is in France.If Le Pen's Party 31 percent how can it be "far right"? And if macron's party is getting 15 percent, how can it be "Mainstream".

It reminds me of Reagan winning two terms as POTUS, including a landslide in 1984, and the NYT's still calling him "Ultra-Conservative"

As for France. If think the Dumbo frenchies are ever going to vote in a sensible manner, forget it. They got Macron, who raised their retirement age to 64, because all the leftists voted for him. they couldn't accept "Far Right" Le pen. And they'll do the same in next election. These leftwing dumbshits would rather toil away for some neo-liberal capitalist government then accept a "far right" Government that would protect their jobs/benefits.

The but Left is the same in ever country. A small, super-smart elite supported by the dumbest and most selfish people in society.; 6/10/24, 9:37 AM
Narr said...: "Somewhere, Marine Le Pen is smiling."

On TV. I just saw it.

Better the Europeans remember their Europeanness late, than never.; 6/10/24, 9:38 AM
n.n said...: The right: libertarians, anarchists. The far-left: Nazis, Democrazis, terrorists.; 6/10/24, 9:39 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: From Macron to Sunak to Von Der Leyen to Scholz, the Post-War Liberal order has represented rule and government by people who think they're educated thinking they know how things work instead of how they actually work. It has represented the triumph of pedigree, class, and social climbing over experiential, engineered and earned trust at great cost. I have not now nor ever considered any of them to actually know what they're doing. Across the globe this 80 year political phenomenon has emphasized faking-it-till-you-make it, making it up as they go along and playing pretend...no wonder they're obsessed with movie stars, they view them as role models.

It is time to put the grown-ups back in charge.; 6/10/24, 9:39 AM
n.n said...: The far-left are Guardians of the old socially liberal order: pedophilia, transgender spectrum, sadomasochism, diversity, human rites, etc.; 6/10/24, 9:41 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Islam is on the march again, after having been forced to stop at the Gates of Vienna. Their Prophet preached Jihad to bring the world into dar al-Islam. In the west, their opponent, for better than a millennium has been Christianity. The left seeks to destroy Christianity, because of its power, so welcomes the soldiers of Allah, as being enemies of their enemies. But the goals of Islam are antithetical to those of the left. Both preach submission, but the question is submission to whom? Allah (and his clergy)? Or godless technocratic socialists? Some day we may see a similar fight between them, that we saw between the communist and fascist branches of socialism a bit over a century ago in these very same countries.

And has been the case for 1300 years in the west, the main bulwark against Islam has been Christianity. These are historically Christian countries, so many are not accepting submission to Allah easily. The advances of western culture are being rapidly eroded, as Muslims impose their morality on society, including their view of servitude of women, who are expected to be raped and subdued, if not protected by the men in their families. The leftist leaders in these countries don’t stand up to this Islamification for various (IMHO selfish) reasons. So, no-go zones remain sacrosanct and expand, while sexual predation goes unpunished. And what was Far Right is now going mainstream in opposition to this loss of western culture.; 6/10/24, 9:48 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Maybe even save the 4000 Joshua Trees from destruction for replacement by a solar farm?

https://redstate.com/bobhoge/2024/06/10/thousands-of-beloved-joshua-trees-to-be-chopped-down-in-maniacal-ca-solar-energy-push-n2175268

Too much to hope for? Prolly.; 6/10/24, 9:52 AM
Gusty Winds said...: could hand major political power to the far right after years on the sidelines and neuter his [Macron's] presidency three years before it ends...."

Macron was neutered by his cougar wife decades ago.; 6/10/24, 10:01 AM
Rich said...: Have to say I am rather impressed by Macron's reaction to this, throws on his gloves and goes for it. You would never get this sort of reaction out of a UK politician (instead, they would hide under the bed sheets until 2027).

Macron came to the fore by being bold. Has stayed in office by being bold. And is again showing us his metal by being bold. Vichy France is alive and well. No surprise. But it is not bold. Their ideology is one of cowardice and isolation. Macron calls their bluff. That’s not a throw of the dice. That’s a decisive move they were not expecting. Macron continues to impress.; 6/10/24, 10:02 AM
MadisonMan said...: "Most consequential" means "Progressives" might lose power.; 6/10/24, 10:11 AM
Aggie said...: It isn't the Boy Wonder calling for elections, it's that wizened hag behind him that's been calling the shots all along. Hopefully this is the start of a wave - yes, a wave of more centrist and sensible governance, but most importantly a wave to expel this perfidious gerontocracy that has its claws around the throat of society. They just will not relinquish power, nor will they allow the camera and air time necessary to allow younger leaders to mature naturally, to inherit their rightful, more energetic place in the scheme of things. Move over and begone, already !

That specter of Diane Feinstein, propped up sideways in her wheelchair being rolled in to have someone cast her vote for her..... with those other grinning octagenarians around her... Ugh: Technology has not only facilitated their superannuation, it's allowed them to keep an authoritative grip on their power long past their ability to wield it responsibly.; 6/10/24, 10:14 AM
Alexander said...: When you have a third of the vote, are you really 'far-x' or 'extreme'?

Do you really represent the 'center' when you're in danger of falling down to one-in-ten?

Like 'controversial', 'far-right' is just journospeak for 'positions goodthinkers disagree with'.; 6/10/24, 10:14 AM
Achilles said...: RideSpaceMountain said...

On top of everything else going wrong in his own fucking country, Macron seems hell-bent on engaging his 3rd-tier military in a lost war in a country 1300 miles away with another nuclear power, a move that would undoubtedly trigger Article 5.

It is far worse than this.

France has just got it's ass kicked in Africa by Russia. France's economy was propped up by several very colonialist style relationships with corrupt African Regimes that they installed.

Russia and France are in existential conflict over Africa.

The Ukraine war is very much a side excuse.; 6/10/24, 10:20 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Ok, who didn't know Rich didn't have a man-crush on Macron?; 6/10/24, 10:20 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: "France's economy was propped up by several very colonialist style relationships with corrupt African Regimes that they installed."

It's called Seigniorage, and France has been relying on it regarding sub-Saharan African Francs for decades. It's unbelievable really. Seigniorage is about the most colonial thing you could describe, and France has been engaging it with their former colonies for 60 years.

Outside that, their only other major industry is tourism. Airbus is a close 3rd.; 6/10/24, 10:24 AM
Achilles said...: Macron is having these elections now because the French economy is about to be completely restructured. One way or another Macron is finished and he is trying to buy more time in power.

The Ukraine War is tangential to the true conflict at best. Our media once again leaves out important things because they reflect poorly on the globalist regime.

France used to get Uranium in a "deal" with a corrupt installed Niger Regime at well below market value. It had similar "deals" with a dozen corrupt installed African regimes. There has been an uprising and all at once these regimes have fallen.

France has been raping North Africa for decades.

But that is all over now. The African countries have kicked France, and the US, out. The United States is abandoning hundreds of millions of dollars in military infrastructure in several North African countries.

Of course these are "attacks on democracy." They were just as democratic as Ukraine is.

It is all bullshit.; 6/10/24, 10:27 AM
Achilles said...: And people think we will inevitably defeat Russia in Ukraine if we keep pumping money into it.

They are wrong.

We lost Africa. Russia is now moving into Africa mostly without firing a shot because the globalist regime is so corrupt and hated.

The people who control Biden are leading the United States into a box canyon where we get bled out by repeated falls into obvious traps.

Our military procurement system is corrupt and inefficient. It costs us 6000$ to make a 155 shell. It costs Russia less than 600$.

The end of our Regime is clear and obvious. We are late stage Roman Empire.; 6/10/24, 10:33 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Gotta love Newsworld where there are gradations on the Left: Liberal, Progressive, Social-Democrat, Socialist, etc. But never ever a "hard-Left" or "extreme Left." But any right of center or presumed right of center party is always and automatically Far-Right.

And they wonder why their business model is failing, even as their audience sends strong signals that WE AREN'T AS LEFT AS YOU ARE. They don't get it. Maybe they are incapable of seeing what is front of their face, as George Orwell observed.; 6/10/24, 10:35 AM
Achilles said...: RideSpaceMountain said...

It's called Seigniorage, and France has been relying on it regarding sub-Saharan African Francs for decades. It's unbelievable really. Seigniorage is about the most colonial thing you could describe, and France has been engaging it with their former colonies for 60 years.

Outside that, their only other major industry is tourism. Airbus is a close 3rd.

France is either going to elect RN and completely restructure their society and social contract or they are going to take Europe down with them.

The RN leaders are smart but saving France at this point would require divine intervention.

Germany is just a US puppet right now. If Germany was it's own country none of this Russia Russia Russia stuff would be happening. Germany and Russia have been solid trading partners for centuries. But it is governed by a feckless corrupt regime just like every other country in the west.

Germany cannot backstop the EU if France falls.

All of this is leading to an obvious World War.

None of this could be more obvious.; 6/10/24, 10:47 AM
Joe Smith said...: I keep seeing 'Far right' and 'Right wing' in every headline, including he WSJ.

Have there ever been headlines that include 'Far left' and 'Left wing' in mainstream media?

I see 'Progressive' and 'Liberal' only.

The entire system is rigged.; 6/10/24, 10:52 AM
Joe Smith said...: 'And has been the case for 1300 years in the west, the main bulwark against Islam has been Christianity. These are historically Christian countries, so many are not accepting submission to Allah easily.'

I haven't been to Europe in a while, but when I was there the cathedrals and churches were more like museums than places of worship.

Even in Italy.

They are Christians (in this case Catholic) in name only.

Bring back the Crusades and push the heathens off the continent once and for all.; 6/10/24, 10:55 AM
imTay said...: They parachuted Macron into place in a way that stymied Le Pen, IIRC. France is losing her colonies in Africa, they smell blood in the water, and if I remember right, French and Australian troops were sent to New Caledonia, to put down a revolt against French rule. Colonialism is a lot more sophisticated than it used to be, but the “French Exception” relied on reaping wealth from their colonies. When you add in the loss of access to cheap Russian resources, France, like Germany, faces an economic reckoning. They feel like the only way that they will get their hands back on those vast Russian resources is to overthrow Putin, and install another puppet regime, like Yeltsin. I guess it’s a plan.; 6/10/24, 11:01 AM
Harun said...: Remember, EU elections have very little power - so people probably vote more extreme.; 6/10/24, 11:01 AM
stlcdr said...: Just going to pile on the spotlighted 'far-right'.

Since the media has equated 'far-right' with Nazism, they don't have to indicate what 'far-right' actually means. Let the reader fill in the blanks (i.e. see the 'far-left' definition of 'far-right').; 6/10/24, 11:02 AM
rehajm said...: tant pis pour vous rive gauche; 6/10/24, 11:08 AM
imTay said...: The British Empire has maintained a policy of preventing Germany and Russia from forming an economic partnership, since Russia’s resources and Germany’s manufacturing would create a colossus and rival to the empire, the US, as inheritors of the empire have continued the strategy. The problem is that now we have created an even greater rival of China + Russia.

How we get out the Ukraine war without a nuclear exchange is more than I can figure. Will the US take the L or will we push it past the brine? I wish it was someone younger and less doctrinaire than Joe Biden making the decisions.; 6/10/24, 11:14 AM
PM said...: Dear MSM, having replaced 'Conservative' with 'Right Wing' then Far Right', your next steps:
Drastic Right
Murderous Right
Godless Right
Dog-Killing Right
Trumpian Right; 6/10/24, 11:14 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: “Since the media has equated 'far-right' with Nazism, they don't have to indicate what 'far-right' actually means. Let the reader fill in the blanks (i.e. see the 'far-left' definition of 'far-right').”

Which, of course, is idiotic. The Nazis were autocratic national socialists. The political fight almost a century ago was for the heart and soul of socialism, between the communists (Russia) and fascist national socialists (Germany). The right has long opposed both of them, as well as the authoritarian government both require to function.; 6/10/24, 11:19 AM
Achilles said...: This is an AI generated short primer on what is going on in the Sahel Region of Africa now.

At the basest level France is f'ed. Demographics are crap. The fundamentals of the economy were underpinned by corrupt colonialist takings that are now defunct. Have fun with that.

Putin just made Macron his bitch. He is making Biden his bitch right now. We cannot stand up to these dictators with corrupt decrepit losers like Biden, Sholtz an Macron in power.

Russia just kicked the US out of Africa off of 100 million dollar bases without even firing a shot. The people that run DC and Europe are corrupt, pathetic, stupid and weak at best.

It is more likely they are just traitors.; 6/10/24, 11:27 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: "The British Empire has maintained a policy of preventing Germany and Russia from forming an economic partnership, since Russia’s resources and Germany’s manufacturing would create a colossus and rival to the empire, the US, as inheritors of the empire have continued the strategy. The problem is that now we have created an even greater rival of China + Russia."

It's the old Geographic Pivot of History again. England, English culture, and the English empire are derived from the power of ocean trade. We are the descendants of a seafaring economic empire, one that has provided vast wealth and officially closed the frontier.

So, of course England and its descendants have opposed the great Asiatic coalescing of people's that can walk or drive from place to place as opposed to sail to it. Their economic axis is based on raw materials and cultural unity through strong leadership. It is one of the reasons why England and Western Europe have always tried so hard to deny Russia access to better sea lanes and better ports, to bottle Russia up and deny it access to the wealth and influence seafaring trade can bring.

We in the United States have inherited this feud, despite our historical culture and institutions being opposed to it, specifically because we believe in free oceanic trade. There are powerful historical forces at work behind hatred of Russia and Russians.; 6/10/24, 11:31 AM
Jupiter said...: "The Post-WWII liberal order is collapsing. It can collapse now or it can collapse in the near future, but it will collapse. Long overdue."

Indeed. And what then? What rough beast?; 6/10/24, 11:38 AM
Joe Smith said...: 'Which, of course, is idiotic. The Nazis were autocratic national socialists. The political fight almost a century ago was for the heart and soul of socialism, between the communists (Russia) and fascist national socialists (Germany). The right has long opposed both of them, as well as the authoritarian government both require to function.'

Thank you for this basic history that every liberal seems to either not know or pretends to not know.

The Nazis even put the name 'Socialism' in the name of their party...not exactly trying to hide it.; 6/10/24, 11:41 AM
NKP said...: Voters in France have given their government the finger. Will they actually punch it in the face in the real election that looms?

Comments on French colonialism are interesting - and worrisome.

Anyone here remember France's effort to revive it's colonial status in Indochina? That hell ended badly in a very small place called Dien Bien Phu.

Actually, it didn't end there. Eventually, it spread to a much larger space and left more than 50,000 Americans without a life; just a name etched on a long cold wall in Washington.

What measures will "Biden" take to pull France's roasting nuts out of an open fire, this time? Probably gonna take more than a James Taylor song. Might be scary.; 6/10/24, 12:06 PM
RideSpaceMountain said...: "Indeed. And what then? What rough beast?"

Nothing nearly as dystopian as people might think, so long as they are victorious in securing for themselves what they once were. There was a world before the cataclysm of the 2nd European 30-Years War (WWI & WWII combined), and it is possible to return to something resembling it, albeit with immensely different technology.

We need to reassert our national rights and national sovereignties as being something separate and unmolestable by globalist concerns. We are not one world, we are a collection of tribes whose priorities and aspirations differ significantly, but whose self-determination must be respected within the framework of peaceful coexistence, not globalist manipulation and coercion. As Lincoln said, "With malice toward none and charity for all", but that doesn't mean making the entire world a version of the United States.

The world can't be our oyster anymore. It is everyone's oyster. The United States must start telling the world in a loud and clear voice that every fucking global problem is not the USA's financial and military responsibility to solve. We must make it very convincing that the American taxpayer and American troops are controlled by American voters and American power will not be controlled by any interest that is external to that process, or to our own internal interest.

And if the world has a problem with this, they can take it up with the Federal Reserve and The World Bank because they're the ones that effectively started this problem.; 6/10/24, 12:22 PM
Greg the Class Traitor said...: "France is braced for its 'most consequential' election in decades after the country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, stunned politicians and the public by announcing snap legislative elections following a drubbing at the hands of the far-right National Rally (RN) in Sunday’s European parliamentary elections.

So let me see if I have this straight:
Having just lost the EU elections, Macron wants to destroy his own power by having the same electorate vote for teh national government, as well?

Yancey Ward said...
Nothing to lose- Macron's party had already lost control of the parliament.

Could you please expand on that Yancy?
Because the closest I had to an explanation was that maybe he decided the Right only did so well in the EU elections because of low voter turnout, and so he wanted a national election with higher turnout to "turn around the narrative".

"The unexpected decision... could hand major political power to the far right after years on the sidelines and neuter his presidency three years before it ends...."

To which Rich babbles...
Have to say I am rather impressed by Macron's reaction to this, throws on his gloves and goes for it.

Why? He can't reverse the results of the EU election with this, those are good for the next 5 years.

I'm doing my best to resist all snark here because I really would like to know what it is that Macron thinks he can accomplish here. Anyone have an actual answer?; 6/10/24, 12:33 PM
tcrosse said...: The soi-disant left in Fwonce are contemptuous of the Workers and Peasants. Marx would not approve. What they have is not a Left vs Right conflict, but a good old fashioned Class War. Something similar is taking place in the US.; 6/10/24, 12:37 PM
imTay said...: The fight that Macron is making is to call the elections so rapidly that the opposition will not have enough time to organize. Same as Sunak has done in the UK.; 6/10/24, 1:23 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Greg,

Macron is President of France, not a Prime Minister- win or lose the elections in a few weeks, his term still runs another 3 years. The election he is calling is for the legislative offices, but his party had already lost control of those a year or two ago, though the right had not gained enough seats to control it either. Polls show his party will do worse, but I think the commenter above is right- Macron is calling a snap election hoping the opposition isn't as prepared as his party is which has probably known Macron was going to do this for weeks now.

Macron has nothing to lose in trying to gain some legislative power and initiative- he is term limited anyway, so won't be standing at the next presidential election.; 6/10/24, 1:39 PM
Michael K said...: To the "Guardian", anyone with common sense is "The Far Right."; 6/10/24, 2:17 PM
Narayanan said...: gilbar said...
the whole world is turning right..
============
rotationally speaking that is based on science!; 6/10/24, 2:57 PM
Achilles said...: Greg the Class Traitor said...

I'm doing my best to resist all snark here because I really would like to know what it is that Macron thinks he can accomplish here. Anyone have an actual answer?

It is straight downhill for Macron from here. This is as good as he will get. His regime is collapsing and this is a last grasp.

If he holds elections in 2 years it will be worse than 1 year and worse than today.

The French economy is going to have to adjust to reality. The people in France lived subsidized by their African colonialism. The African colonies hate France.

The reason Macron is pushing for war with Russia so hard in Ukraine is because Russia just kicked him out of the Sahel. The African nations down there have embraced Russia just like China and India are.

Our Warmongering Regime is turning the world into a place that hates the United States and we are locked at the hip with feckless pieces of shit like Macron trying to start wars with everyone to prop up failing regimes.; 6/10/24, 3:16 PM
imTay said...: The reason that the Africans trust the Russians is that, while Europe is resource poor and resource hungry, Russia has no need to rape African countries the way Europe needs to, because Russia has more resources than they could exploit. The reason that the West wanted and provoked this war with Russia was that we wanted to exploit her resources the same way we have been doing in Africa. This has been the dream of Western Europe since Napoleon. The second reason is that Russia is the last European power that refuses to bend the knee to Washington.

We have been manipulated into hating Russia because the cronies running our country are pissed off that Putin won’t submit the way France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, etc have. I don’t mean to imply that Russia is perfect, just that what goes on there is none of our business.; 6/10/24, 3:30 PM
imTay said...: Achilles is right, we have squandered the good will we earned by defeating Hitler, by fighting endless wars. It’s not anti-American to want our country to play a positive role in the world.; 6/10/24, 3:35 PM
Greg the Class Traitor said...: imTay said...
The fight that Macron is making is to call the elections so rapidly that the opposition will not have enough time to organize. Same as Sunak has done in the UK.

Well, I'm with the group that agrees that Sunak screwed up, hard, and the Tories are going to get absolutely smoked on the 4th of July, when those snap elections happen.

Given that the opposition just finished a successful campaign, "hoping the opposition will not have enough time to organize" strikes me as a rather forlorn hope.

Yes, I know they have to create a list of people who will join the Assembly based on the % of the vote they get. But it would be criminal malpractice on the part of the NR not to already have that list, with at least 300 names on it (they're not going to get that many in).

So, Yancy and imTay, thank you for your answers. For the next 3 weeks I'm going to stick with "Macron f'ed up". We'll see; 6/10/24, 3:47 PM
Greg the Class Traitor said...: Yancey Ward said...
Macron is President of France, not a Prime Minister- win or lose the elections in a few weeks, his term still runs another 3 years.

True. But my understanding of the situation is that if his Party doesn't control the Assembly, he essentially has very little to no power.

The other thing that interests me:
Terms in both the Presidency and National Assembly are for 5 years. This has meant that the National Assembly elections were always two months after the Presidential elections, and that the usual result was that the winning President's Party got a boost in the National Assembly elections.

But he people elected in July will be in office for 5 years, yes? So now the terms are out of sync unless the next new President dissolves the National Assembly after he wins.

Correct?; 6/10/24, 3:52 PM
Rory said...: "We have been manipulated into hating Russia because the cronies running our country are pissed off that Putin won’t submit"

Don't underestimate the effect of Soviet disinformation on leftists in the West. A Russian nationalist is the devil to them, and most don't even know why.; 6/10/24, 4:15 PM
Mikey NTH said...: I don't know the issues facing French voters, or pretend to. That said the blindingly obvious is that the Powers That Be have failed to figure out where the people were going and get in front of the parade. That sort of failure is caused by dismissing the voters and not listening to them, lecturing the voters and not understanding them.

Arrogance brings its own rewards.; 6/10/24, 4:29 PM
RideSpaceMountain said...: "Achilles is right, we have squandered the good will we earned by defeating Hitler, by fighting endless wars. It’s not anti-American to want our country to play a positive role in the world."

Vietnam was a watershed. Our government and the people should've examined that conflict more closely, because that's where a lot of the squandering began. There were many stalwart allies, friendly and neutral nations that told the US they were making a mistake continuing to invest in an absolutely impossible two-state solution. Our soft power as an economic powerhouse, as a mediator, an amazing center of innovation and other aspects has always been 10x more important than our military might. There's a great deal of wisdom from SunZi in "Winning one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”

So now we have spent $2+ trillion dollars and 20 years to take Afghanistan from the Taliban just to give it right back to them, and so that most of Iraq's government can be controlled and influence by Iran. We're not squandering the world's good will anymore, we're squandering our own principles as well as huge amounts of money and blood.; 6/10/24, 4:30 PM
Mason G said...: "we're squandering our own principles as well as huge amounts of money and blood."

Many of those doing this don't have principles in the first place, it's not *their* blood and a lot of that money is slopping over onto their plates.

So there's that...; 6/10/24, 4:43 PM
Mikey NTH said...: Something I do find confusing is when people opine on the political happenings in foreign countries as if those foreign political happenings are just like those in their home countries. While there may be some trends each country is different with its own stress points.; 6/10/24, 5:17 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Greg,

As I understand it, yes, the people elected to the Assembly in July will have 5 year terms from that point forward, but when the new Presidential elections occur in 2027 Macron can again call snap elections so that the new President, whoever he is, can try to gain control over the legislature.

As I wrote in an earlier comment- Macron was already mainly powerless since his coalition lost control of the legislature in 2022's elections- it has been hung since then since no one has a majority. Macron may be hoping to rope the leftist parties into a new ruling majority after the elections, but their leaders are already positioning to try to win the election in 2027 since they don't have to give Macron anything since he is a lame duck.; 6/10/24, 5:42 PM
Hassayamper said...: @ImTay:The reason that the Africans trust the Russians is that, while Europe is resource poor and resource hungry, Russia has no need to rape African countries the way Europe needs to, because Russia has more resources than they could exploit. The reason that the West wanted and provoked this war with Russia was that we wanted to exploit her resources the same way we have been doing in Africa. This has been the dream of Western Europe since Napoleon. The second reason is that Russia is the last European power that refuses to bend the knee to Washington.

I agree with this. It also pertains to the Chinese. Within the past year or two I read a story about an African leader who was asked about his country's growing affinity for China, and replied with something like, "We ask for help and the Chinese give us an airport, while the Americans give us a harangue about drag queen shows and dildos and genital mutilation for our schoolchildren."; 6/10/24, 6:02 PM
Narr said...: "Western Europe" doesn't have dreams.; 6/10/24, 6:22 PM
Joe Smith said...: Any country, including the US, that allows a single Muslim into the country is killing itself.; 6/10/24, 6:36 PM
mccullough said...: Is handing your country over to Islam — just north too quickly - the Centrist View in France?

Is Japan Far Right?

These fucking terms are meaningless anymore.; 6/10/24, 6:39 PM
imTay said...: What Sunak is probably doing is protecting the Labor - Tory duopoly. It’s intended to shut out the populists, and Sunak is more than happy to hand labor a huge victory so that they can pass laws making it very difficult for third parties to organize. That’s the theory of Mercouris of The Duran, and it makes a lot of sense to me. The guy is British and once worked in the government there, though he is commentator now. Basically Yes Minister was an accurate representation of the British government.; 6/10/24, 6:44 PM
Greg the Class Traitor said...: Yancey Ward said...
As I understand it, yes, the people elected to the Assembly in July will have 5 year terms from that point forward, but when the new Presidential elections occur in 2027 Macron can again call snap elections so that the new President, whoever he is, can try to gain control over the legislature.

Well, the normal rule appears to be "National Assembly elections 2 months after Presidential elections."

He called "snap elections" 3 weeks from the call.

So I think he'll need to win the 2027 Presidential election before he can productively call an Assembly election.

And right now I wouldn't bet much on him winning in 2027 :-); 6/10/24, 9:54 PM
Greg the Class Traitor said...: imTay said...
What Sunak is probably doing is protecting the Labor - Tory duopoly. It’s intended to shut out the populists

While that could be his plan, I'm among those who think that Reform will outperform the Tories in this election.

At which point any sort of "cut out the populists" measures will more work to kill the Tories, and make the populists of Reform even stronger :-); 6/10/24, 9:58 PM
Rich said...: I think Macron is doing the right thing. The fringe parties are full of talk but when it comes to governing they are often found to be severely lacking and constrained in the same ways as traditional parties. The risk he's taking now could well pay off by the time of the presidential election.

The problem there though is that the lack of substance (as with Trump, Brexit, Meloni, Milei) is only revealed after they have already been elected.

And then it's deemed a success that the world didn't collapse, e.g. Brexiteers boast that there wasn't a big recession, only stagnant growth ever since or Trump's greatest achievement seems to be that he didn't start any new wars (itself contentious but we'll leave that...). Meanwhile these countries suffer five or so years or poor governance.; 6/11/24, 5:54 AM
Meade said...: “ Trump's greatest achievement seems to be that he didn't start any new wars (itself contentious but we'll leave that...).”

Which new war did Trump start?; 6/11/24, 6:11 AM
Meade said...: “Dr. Biden made a round trip from Paris to Wilmington [to be present for one day at Hunter Biden’s trial] for an estimated $223,000.“; 6/11/24, 6:21 AM
Meade said...: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13513343/democrat-donor-jill-france-delaware-hunter-biden-trial.html; 6/11/24, 6:25 AM
Greg the Class Traitor said...: Rich said...
I think Macron is doing the right thing.

Of course you do. You're a political groupie who's convinced "your side" is always right, now matter what.

As is demonstrated by the fact that the entire rest of your post there is a list of reasons why what he's doing is the wrong thing to do.; 6/11/24, 9:22 AM
Rich said...: Les Républicains leader says he wants alliance with France’s far-right National Rally
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/11/french-far-right-national-rally-les-republicains-election-pact-talks

Éric "tête d'oeuf" Ciotti, the paragon of mediocrity, finally reveals his true colors. And so he will revert to his natural state of insignificance.

Incredibly weak from Ciotti. If the traditional center-right decides to roll over and pave the way for extremist governments not only will they fade into irrelevance but we will all pay the price.

In both Europe and the US we need a moderate conservative political offering which is prepared to stand up for itself and not capitulate to the ethno-nationalist right.; 6/11/24, 9:48 AM
Rich said...: And Meade offers up a OT thread jack?; 6/11/24, 9:50 AM
Leland said...: Meade said...
“Dr. Biden made a round trip from Paris to Wilmington [to be present for one day at Hunter Biden’s trial] for an estimated $223,000.“

It is great to be both privileged and have the ability to flaunt that privilege knowing you won’t be called out for doing so. That goes for what Jill did too.; 6/11/24, 10:14 AM