Macron Economics and they called him Macroni

This is a continuation of the French election play-by-play.
I don't usually care about France, but it is the second
battleground this year, after the Dutch election. Wilders,
the wild and crazy guy, is set to have the biggest party
in Holland. Holland veers to the far right. and Wilders
is literally crazy, in my books. I wish it wasn't so, cuz
the populist right has much that is right for these days.

Anyway, back to France. This is a far more complex
case. It has a two stage presidential election. This is
specifically designed to keep France from changing
in any drastic way. The people who are the top two
in the first election face off for the prize. In this case,
everybody is saying that Le Pen, the far right
candidate will make it to the second round. But
because of the system and because of France's still
not wanting a "fascist" as their president, whoever
faces off against Le Pen is supposed to win, even
if the French have to vote while holding their nose
like some Roccefort cheese is nearby. That's how
it has worked. But, could this be a unique case
where all the other candidates are garbage or
a scam, like Macron, full of lies, money and
bluster? Is this the chance that Le Pen needs
to actually bust through the gates of the political
Bastile?
Let's get the popcorn ready for April.

Another issue is the opposition. A fun bunch, they
are. We have:
Melanchon- a old-fashioned lefty who dresses like
Mao

Ruling Centrist "Socialists"- Elected a quiet radical
(Hamon), as a response to the sell-out Hollande, but
 who is already planning to lose
Center Right UMP- Chose a scary Thatcherite
(Fillion) who has since been trapped, by Sarkozy-
some say, in a corruption scandal where his whole
family were siphoning public money to live high
on the hog.

Some context
All of the old party system is also hampered by rules
about funding for elections. This is the reason why
the entrepreneurial Sarkozy got illegal money and is
now facing a long court case that will result in him
walking away guilty as sin, and free as a bird.
Do you remember the one about Coco Channel
handing Sarko envelopes of money to take out of
the country tax free, prolly to Switzerland?
Feckin Sarko. The embodiment of a sarcastic cynical
view of life and politics. Sarco

Who has take advantage of this political gridlock?
Emmanuel Macron. Now who is this guy?

He went from being a Mergers & Acquisitions guy
at Rothch bank in France, to being the Socialist
(ya. believe it) Economy Minister under Hollande,
the outgoing 4% popularity guy. He quit last August
but because of his connections with THAT family,
he has a lot of rich media types (I'll find them soon)
splashing his blanched face all over their mags and
papers, prepping him for power. Some baggage he
has in the form of misappropriating money, but who
in France has not tried that. Even Le Pen has snagged
300 thousand from the EU, for her party. 

As if by providence, as soon as Fillion fell on his
face, out comes Macron with a splash.
He's a centrist who uses populist language.
the Party En Marche (bland, prog-sounding)
Money
A big crowd in Lyon (from out of nowhere. He JUST started)
how does that happen?
Big anti-EU talk (bullshit)
Mild anti-banking implications (bullshit)
Stealing other Le Pen lines (again lying, to steal
votes and then continue the neoliberal gravy train).
He played the French anthem at the end (hokey, by
French standards, holding his heart like an American)
Let's watch
his gang "En Marche"


Al Jazeera



he's a smooth talker. I'll grant him that. But
so was Sarko.
If the Alt media, growing in power in France,
albeit slowly, gets its fangs into him, he
might not succeed. However, he seems most
likely to come second to Le Pen and would win
in a face-off second vote. But, the tide is
slowly turning to Le Pen. The gap is closing.
and, as we know from Brexit and Trump, maybe the
French pollsters are asking the wrong people.

In that country where the second vote is designed
to leave things exactly as they are, thank you
very much, it might be the time for Le Pen.

But, she has one fatal flaw, and it's not her
pretty daughter, Marion. It's the fact that she
wants France to leave the EU.
She mentioned leaving the Euro as a first
priority. Not bad, but I don't know how it plays
in France. It might get votes. But, to say that
you'll have a referendum to leave the whole EU
seems crazy. Nobody else in the Union is talking
about leaving, except the UK which left by
accident. France still sees itself as the heart
of the EU. Even the Eurodeath idea is not that
popular. According to polls, only Italy has
close to 50% in favour of leaving the Euro,
and all but one party pledging to leave the Euro
in Italy. So, it might work in France.

The Italians may stumble into a populist election
this year as well.


more soon