French Far-Left Rising

[derspiess]

The communists could win wars.  The Fascists, not so much.

Like in Spain?

[Razgovory]

Like in WWII.  It was a pretty big fight.  Surprised you didn't hear about it.  The Spanish fascist got sidelined pretty quickly after Civil War.  Not much of a win for them.

[Razgovory]

The communists could win wars.  The Fascists, not so much.

this is, in the case of both communists or fascists not a redeeming factor for either. Given the results.

The folks in Auschwitz thought it was.

[CountDeMoney]

Cuba is not a dictatorship according to him as well

You know, I love me some Sarkozy, but I have to admit:  I like this guy.

I love any candidate running on a 1793 platform.

FYP
Are you a true Jacobine ? I actually approve of his suggested end of special status for Elsaß-Mosel (laïcité über alles at last !

Comte Largent

He's pro-chinese btw (Red variety)

As long as he's rebuilding the guillotine in the Place de la Concorde, I can accept some of his weaknesses.

[DGuller]

Stories like this are a good reminder that the American electorate is not uniquely stupid/crazy. It's just that we subsume our crazy within the two major parties, while the euros give the crazies their own parties.

Is that a good thing?  I'd prefer to have crazies out in the open, rather than have them infiltrate the party that can actually be in power (e.g. GOP).

[alfred russel]

Meh. I'd send the Armada to all those tiny tax haven archipielagos.

Your armada has struggled against brigands set up on island backwaters. 

[alfred russel]

Marseillaise and Internationale played during his meetings He should listen to the respective lyrics, they are kind of antithetic
Cuba is not a dictatorship according to him as well

It would be interesting to see how a populist like this would do if you took off some of the lunatic edges that don't add to his appeal (Cuba, China). Maybe the second round?

[Zoupa]

What would be more interesting is how he would poll in the 2nd round against Sarkozy.

I think he could win. 

[Neil]

Meh. I'd send the Armada to all those tiny tax haven archipielagos.

Your armada has struggled against brigands set up on island backwaters. 

They've adapted.  These days, they'd just steal all their fish.

[Sheilbh]

What would be more interesting is how he would poll in the 2nd round against Sarkozy.

I think he could win. 

What's the chances of Hollande signing a 'Programme Commun' for the second round?  Also will we get FdG Ministers?

[Crazy_Ivan80]

The communists could win wars.  The Fascists, not so much.

this is, in the case of both communists or fascists not a redeeming factor for either. Given the results.

The folks in Auschwitz thought it was.

the folks stuck in communist paradise thought is wasn't.

[Zoupa]

What would be more interesting is how he would poll in the 2nd round against Sarkozy.

I think he could win. 

What's the chances of Hollande signing a 'Programme Commun' for the second round?  Also will we get FdG Ministers?

Hollande is polling between 53-55% for the second round without any major assurances or promises to either the green or communists. At this point, he doesn't need to promise anything, green or red voters will not switch to Sarkozy in any case.

If Melenchon and Sarkozy's numbers in the first round keep rising though, all bets are off.

[Razgovory]

The communists could win wars.  The Fascists, not so much.

this is, in the case of both communists or fascists not a redeeming factor for either. Given the results.

The folks in Auschwitz thought it was.

the folks stuck in communist paradise thought is wasn't.

For the most part they were not being exterminated.  Also many of them were siding with the Germans.

[Sheilbh]

France

Anti-capitalists and Communists
In their own words
Apr 16th 2012, 9:16 by S.P. | PARIS

THE strict rules governing the right to equal airtime for all ten presidential candidates, which have been in place since last week, are based on a commendable principle. But the result, if you watch television or listen to the radio at the moment, gives the impression that France is awash with Communists, anti-capitalists and other revolutionaries.

Three candidates fall loosely into the far-left camp, and therefore between them are allocated nearly a third of all airtime: the Left Front's Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who is backed by the Communists; the New Anti-Capitalist Party's Philippe Poutou, a car-factory worker who took over from Olivier Besancenot, the postman who ran in 2007, and Nathalie Artaud, from the Workers' Struggle.

Together, these three get 14%-18% of the vote, according to the latest series of polls, with the vast majority of that going to Mr Mélenchon. To put this figure in perspective, remember that François Bayrou, the centrist candidate, is polling at around just 9%-11%.

You really need to be here to appreciate the sort of discussions that are currently taking place on serious political programmes. For the benefit of those following from afar, here are some excerpts.

Mr Poutou was on the radio last week talking about his plan to reduce the French working week from 35 hours to 32. The idea, explained Mr Poutou patiently, is "to work as little as possible and to earn as much as possible":

We're told that the 35 hour week is a luxury. Well we think it should be reduced.

He then added:
If it was possible to not work at all, we wouldn't be against that.

Mr Poutou sits squarely on the revolutionary far left, which dreams of overthrowing the capitalist system. So does Ms Artaud, who this weekend denounced Mr Mélenchon for being a mere "vote-catcher" for François Hollande. To this pair, Mr Mélenchon, who spent years as a Socialist Senator but is now backed by the Communists, is merely a harder-talking version of the traditional establishment left. The Communist Party, after all, was until ten years ago part of a formal governing alliance with the Socialist Party at national level, under Lionel Jospin, and has hooked up with the party on various lists at regional and local elections. So it is worth listening closely to the man.

Mr Mélenchon's slogan is "Seize power". His television clip ends with the line:
You see, with the will, we can share out the wealth. The money exists. What needs to be done is to make it available to everybody.

Here is a taste of the man in full flow, at a rally in Clermond-Ferrand, to rapturous applause:
Look the rich in the eye, and tell them not "I'm not dangerous" but "I am dangerous": I'm going to empty your pockets!

And here he is explaining in a TV debate the core of his programme:
The number one question is not immigration or insecurity, the number one question in society is the sharing out of wealth...If I'm elected, we will share it out, and those who don't want to share willingly will share by force.

I could go on, but will leave it at that for now. It may help explain why, outside France, with his 75% top tax rate, François Hollande comes across as an outdated, old-style tax-and-spend leftist. But inside the country, he is seen as a woolly moderate who has embraced austerity politics and the Brussels consensus.

[Neil]

It's interesting to see how the French left doesn't talk about solidarity or social obligation, but simply uses the language and ideals of a mugger.

These guys are thugs, and nothing more.