“….You would think that French deplorables would want to put France first. You would think that they might want to try something new. Things are not exactly going well.
Unemployment in France is 10 per cent. Youth unemployment is over 23%. The ratio of government debt to GDP is running at 96% and the budget is in deficit by about 3.5%. Economic growth is anaemic at about 1%. The deficit on international trade is wide. All is not well on the economic front.
Then there is the Muslim front.
It is estimated that Muslims make up 10% of the population; though there are no official figures because France does not allow the collection of census data on race or religion. What is clear is that some major population centers have been inundated to a much greater extent than the country as a whole. I have seen figures for Marseille, for example, which puts the Muslim population there at between 30% and 40%. No-go areas mar the urban landscape.
Then there is Islamic terrorism.
There have been twenty-two terrorist attacks in France since the Charlie Hebdo massacre in January, 2015. These include the orchestrated shooting and grenade attacks in Paris of November, 2015, which killed 130 people and injured hundreds more; the lorry attack in Nice in July, 2016, which killed 86 and injured hundreds more; and the 86-year-old priest who had his throat slit in his church later that same month. In case you think Muslim terrorists respect election campaigns they don’t.
Shooting and stabbings have continued into 2017. In the latest, a police officer was shot dead and three others injured in Paris on April 20. And an attempted stabbing of police officers was foiled on April 22.
Her policy manifesto contains 144 commitments. I have read them. A lot are so French and to do with ‘housekeeping’ matters that it is impossible for an outsider to make a judgment, except to say none smacks of fascism — if that is what is meant by “far right.” She isn’t far right. She is a patriot and nationalist; which is apparently what the left, the BBC and the ABC call far right….” Le Pen ‘far right’? Mon Dieu, such liars!