French Politics

I thought we could use a thread on French politics.

So, is Manuel Valls actually right wing?

The FN wins seats in the Senate! But is there still a point to the Senate at all?

Patrick Modiano wins Nobel Prize for Literature.

Bernadette Chirac is a Sarkozy fan?!

Sarokzy-backed Raffarin loses

Sex, lies and videotape turn French politics into farce

Bygmalion-gate goes on and on and ooooon

I see that this thread has been opened but I think it'd be better to have a very brief (one or two sentences) summary of each of the articles linked in the OP, just so new people didn't have to read a bunch of articles before they can enter the discussion.

It would take a lot of effort to bring those not already familiar with the topic up to speed...

Basically, Sarko is Thatcher attempting to be Churchill, and Valls is Al Gore.

Naaah, Valls is a Blair.

Sorry, somehow I got them mixed up. That's what I meant: Vals is a big fat Blair. C'est un Blaireau.

Zanu-Liebour lead by Kony Bliar.

Yeah I'm not exactly seeing how this thread passed the "No link discussions" test...

Possibly it's because it's general thread for France. Therefore, there's a wide scope to share news and discuss them.

Still, a few quoteblocks would do no harm...

I didn't open this thread - and frankly I wouldn't have before the summaries were added to the OP. Now that it's open, though, I would like to see someone summatise the main points of those articles.

Well, first off, The Economist predictably praises Manuel Valls for being "tough on crime" and being "realistic" regarding how far left the Socialists can actually go in their economic policies. It pretty much portrays him as a "realistic" rising star, surrounded by petty, envious colleagues. He also has this Obama-ish thing where he enacts repressive security policies that a right-wing government would have been protested at for, without much complaint.

That's depressing.

"Tough on crime"? That is not encouraging. These policies are usually pure snake oil.

edited 11th Oct '14 1:56:53 PM by SeptimusHeap

New Labour also did the same in Britain — the Left can be rather Authoritarian when it comes to Law & order.

That was one of Tony Blair's soundbites!

edited 11th Oct '14 2:53:01 PM by Greenmantle

"We fight crime and the causes of crime", says the slogan. This guy also proposed the name "Socialist" be dropped from the party's name.

Newsweek writes a bile-filled article about how French politicians have shifted from being very private about their financial and personal lives, to a 50-people Soap Opera with Dating Do-Si-Do and ugly divorce-court-like memoirs.

That's a line right from Blair! "Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime". Jesus Christ!

What happens next? "Nous avons trois priorités - éducation, éducation, et éducation."

I would not be surprised if he said that - Valls is a very suspicious guy.

After a quick Google, it turns out Valls has been called the French Tony Blair for quite a while.

Hon hon he hon.

So, is there an actual risk that FN could win the presidency since the incumbent is so despised? Or will the mainstream conservatives probably provide a sane alternative or at least one that isn't obviously a group of (barely) closeted neo-Nazis?

I like Alain Juppé. He did Normale Sup and the ENA.

I've been very disappointed by the Hollande government. While I never trusted them to undo Sarkozy's damage, I at least trusted them not to add to his steaming pile of liberticide/privacycide laws, but they did that too anyway. Not to mention sucking up to the States when Snowden happened, to the point of trying to intrude on a diplomatic plane on suspicion that Snowden was on board.

It's not all bad however, they did pass the Marriage Pour Tous law.

My country did that as well, so I know the feeling. Thankfully, we didn't get any liberticide/privacycide laws.

Who do you think will win the elections?

With the current ambiance and FPTP voting? We'll probably get another 5 years of UMP stomping on our rights and stealing from the poor to feed the rich, though they may do it slower this time if Sarkozy fails to re-take the lead of the party.

Or to put it better:

Nobody, like the rest of Europe?

edited 12th Oct '14 6:09:42 AM by Greenmantle

I'd like Mélenchon's Front de Gauche to get its chance. I don't think they can do worse than the UMPS or FN, by this point.

I see. It seems to me that it's gonna be a heavy dispute between the UMP and the FN, unless Sarkozy re-takes the lead, in which case, yeah, you're gonna suffer 5 years of stomping and stealing.

Front De Gauche looks relatively ok, though I don't if they are popular enough to be able to dispute the elections against the major parties.

edited 12th Oct '14 6:17:16 AM by Quag15