OK, Here’s The Second-Dumbest Thing I’ve Read This Week.

The French elections just pushed forward a center-left (by French standards) and right (by French standards) candidates to the final elections.

Heather Hulbert, writing at democracyarsenal.com says:

And the far-right Jean-Marie le Pen falls to 10%, far below the second-place showing that so embarrassed France last time. So much for the SPECTER OF ANTI-IMMIGRANT SENTIMENT LEADING TO RIGHT-WING TAKEOVER.

Um, Heather – do you know was racaille means? Or the implication of nettoyer la cité au Kärcher??

Sarko is popular in no small part because he’s mainstreamed Le Pen’s positions, and wrapped them in a palatable personal history.

Hulbert’s source – a immigrant to France – even makes this point, but somehow it got missed:

Maybe the biggest story is the (relative – sadly not total) collapse of the Front National, which slid back down to 11.1%, about what it used to score in parliamentary elections in the 1980s and early 90s. Probably partly a reflection of the tendency to flee the fringes, but also maybe due to Nicolas Sarkozy taking over much of the security and immigration discourse of the party and making it his own.

When people ask me why I don’t have more respect for my betters – for the people who make their livings as policy analysts in areas where I’m a rank amateur – it’s because I keep reading nonsense like this.

I’m not afraid of an Islamic takeover of Europe. I’m much more afraid of a resurgence of European racism and violent nationalism. they’re much much better at that than we are. And I’m even more afraid of our clueless foreign policy apparachniks and their patent inability to see or think clearly.

21 thoughts on “OK, Here’s The Second-Dumbest Thing I’ve Read This Week.”

  1. I’m more concerned about Francophile elites in this country who seem intent on aping everything the French do apparently because the French are doing it. Let the French be French and the Americans Americans.

  2. You fear a nationalistic takeover of Europe?!! You fear racisim? My God man, do you know ANY Islamic country that is a bastion of human rights? Arabs are just as likely to be racist as any other people (havn’t you seen whats going on in Darfur? It’s straight arab aginst black violence) on the face of the Earth, including Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Tutsi, Zulu, Irish, Hawaian(correct spelling?). I have Palestenian cousins, and trust me, Arabs treat them worse than minorities are treated here in the States, much worse. Racism and genocide will come with an islamic take over of Europe along with religous intolerance. The only ones who can’t see what’s coming are the Neville Chamberlains of our age.

  3. Talso, I’ve written and talked a lot about this. The Arab countries are insanely racist- but not, in reality, very powerful.

    My concern is that they begin to believe they are powerful, at which point they will probably do something stupid enough that the Western street will go crazy and demand that we deal with the issue with serious violence.

    A.L.

  4. AL –

    Don’t forget that Le Pen embraced the Islamists in a bid to get the racalle vote from the Islamist suburbs. This is also part of his collapse.

    I think you are wrong however, Europe is already Eurabia, and will be forcibly converted into Islamic states.

    In Sweden (Fjordman has written extensively on this), the Swedish Govt and Press looks forward fondly to the day when Muslims in the majority institute “gentle” Sharia rule. The Brit Govt. is now offering Sharia compliant bonds. Piglet, pork, the three little pigs, statues of boars, teaching the Holocaust, Holocaust remembrance day, the UK flag, crosses, have all been banned in Britain as part of the Islamist take-over.

    Ethnic cleansing campaigns against Europeans, mostly murder, violence and of course campaigns of rape are common in Europe. Women have to dye their hair black and wear Chadors to avoid being raped in the UK, Sweden, Holland, France, Italy, Spain, and Denmark. Swedish girls are wearing “anti-rape” belts that require two hands to undo to try and prevent them from being raped by Muslim youths.

    Steyn is right: 30% of UK women with degrees will never have children, while Muslim women have 4 or five. In Germany the figure for women with degrees is 40%.

    Europe is dead, dying, and being replaced by Muslims. One more massive terror attack there and they will surrender. Europeans have been trying to surrender for years: Spain reacts to demands by Al Qaeda for the “return of Al Andalus” with more “negotiations” etc.

    Western Europe within ten years will be solidly ruled by Islamists and the massacres/forced conversions of the rest will begin. No one in Western Europe has any balls or desire to fight for what they have and are essentially Able Seaman Arthur Batchelor, crying themselves to sleep at night when the Iranians steal their Ipods and call them Mr. Bean.

    Poland, Serbia, Hungary, Romania and perhaps a few other Eastern European nations might fight for a while, before being overwhelmed. But we ought to acknowledge the Liberal victory:

    Turning Europe over to Islam.

    Sarkozy might win (I doubt it, the media hates him) but even if he wins, it will be more of the same. Muslims run a great deal of France, without fighting, dying, and killing on a massive Bosnian scale the Muslim domination of France and Europe is assured.

    Willpower beats cringing Arthur Batchelors and EUnuchs every day.

  5. Jim,

    You’re right to be concerned, but absolutely wrong in thinking the present trend must continue. It might, but then again the violent discontinuity that A.L. is talking about might happen instead.

    One thing to keep in mind is, no matter how badly out of touch our MSM and cultural elites may be with “Middle America” and “Flyover Country”, they’re our soul mates and good drinking buddies compared to the disconnect between Europe and its elites.

  6. I’m not afraid of a resurgence of European nationalism.

    I’m afraid of an Islamic takeover of Europe. That’s going to happen unless the Europeans start acting very differently from how they have acted.

    A different and successful pattern of behavior will be damned as racism, as extremist nationalism and so on. For a start, the old Europeans need urgently to organize to bring live young into the world – their own children, not the children of enemy settlers – and see that these children are raised in the traditions of old Europe, not Islam and jihad. You’ve got the basis for accusations of “racism!” right there.

    Without widespread old European determination to do what is necessary, regardless of who damns them for it, the old Europeans will go under. They are going under.

    It’s not profitable for us for Europe to succumb to the bite of the jihadist zombies.

    Too bad for us, we don’t get a say.

  7. Jim, I think that you are quite wrong when it comes to the timeline, at the very least. 10 Years? Please. Any significant takeover will require at least 20, and that would be Belgium only. I tend to agree with AL that a European over-reaction is in the works, and it will be driven by the lower/middle classes who don’t really give a damn about so call European moral superiority.

  8. “for the people who make their livings as policy analysts in areas where I’m a rank amateur”.

    Well, there ARE a couple of people you have had respect for, right?

    Phil Carter comes to mind.

    “are you finally ready to accept that Plan G is now the only viable option?”:http://www.slate.com/id/2164509/pagenum/all

    Or the fact that “the clock winds down?”:http://nationaljournal.com/njcover.htm

    Both articles referenced from Kevin Drum.

    Ask the generals:

    _When the administration recently floated the new job of “war czar,” not only did at least five retired four-star generals turn down a wartime president — an almost unheard-of vote of no confidence — but one general dramatically shattered civil-military protocol by publicly excoriating the commander-in-chief’s leadership. “The very fundamental issue is, they don’t know where the hell they are going,” retired Marine Corps Gen. John (Jack) Sheehan told The Washington Post._

  9. Rather than speculating on _which_ social breakdown path (Islamic or old fashioned Euro nationalism) is coming, can we agree that Europe faces increasing tension between Chaos and Statism?

    Other ways of looking at things: EU Statism vs. growing isolation among various groups (Islamicists, Africans, Turks, etc.). EU Statism vs. economic sovereignty (e.g., Euro vs Pound.) EU Statism vs sovereign foreign policy (e.g., Danish, Polish, Czechs, or Ukraine cooperating with the US in peace keeping.)

  10. The question is: Should the US invade France and possibly Britain to get their nukes before they fall into Islamic hands?

  11. Hulbert’s statement could still be intelligent commentary. She wrote: “So much for the SPECTER OF ANTI-IMMIGRANT SENTIMENT LEADING TO RIGHT-WING TAKEOVER.”

    And, based on results, it did not. As happens in all functioning democratic systems, public frustrations found a mainstream outlet and will likely lead to policy changes. Sarkozy’s platform does not involve mass expulsions or ethnic cleansing – and if the French system can adapt to accommodate his law-and-order approach, things are unlikely to ever progress that far.

    Which is pretty significant, and a positive feature of democracy often overlooked in the EU.

    I grok the point you’re trying to make here, but I think you’re being too hard on Heather.

  12. By hiding our heads in the sand and avoiding confronting extremist Islam, we also undercut the forces within Islam that can ultimately tame the violence. Islam has gone through these cycles of violence before, and in many cases it has burned itself out. There are many places where that is happening now. Afghanistan is one. In parts of Iraq, the tribes are fighting Al Qaeda. The ordinary modern or moderate people in Islamic countries have as much to lose as we do. They are already dying all over the world for the sin of resisting these extremists. We must remember these people who are not killers. They are the ones struggling to vote and get on with their lives.
    Harry Reid wants to sell these people out too.

  13. The French will do what they always do – elect another socialist (a left-wing one or a right-wing one, what’s the difference) who will preserve their national values of high employment, negligible economic growth, spiritual bankruptcy, and existential nausea.

    If you want a more pessimistic view, ask a Frenchman.

  14. I would also quibble with this:

    Armed Liberal: “Sarko is popular in no small part because he’s mainstreamed Le Pen’s positions, and wrapped them in a palatable personal history.”

    Le Pen’s important positions include anti-semitism and anti-Americanism.

    For a mainstream politician to peel away the support Le Pen got from raising an important issue, while not taking on Le Pen’s poisonous characteristics, is a good thing.

  15. AL:

    You seriously misread Sarkozy.

    I wonder whether you have researched the background of Sarkozy’s “racaille” and “karcheriser” statements, both of which I agree with 100%. People have a right to security and police protection even in ghetto neighborhoods, don’t you agree?

    As to mainstreaming Le Pen’s positions, Le Pen’s positions on law and order and clamping down on illegal immigration have been increasingly mainstream for over a decade. Just because Le Pen advocates a given position, by the way, does not make that position automatically wrong.

    As another commenter pointed out, Sarkozy is also pro-Israel and relatively pro-American. Indeed, he is the least Gaullist of the leading candidates, even if he is the standard bearer of the nominally Gaullist party. He is also the only candidate in favor of affirmative action and has consistently spoken out in favor integrating marginalized groups through increased employment through lower taxes and more flexible employment rules. These are not recent electorally tailored positions, but views he has advocated for years.

    Whether or not you agree with any of these positions, they are certainly not LePen’s. Nor are they the positions of the socialist party or the (supposedly) centrist Bayrou. Indeed, they threaten nationalist xenophobes as much as they threaten the labor union and public sector constituencies on the left.

    I think you should seriously reconsider your understanding of Sarkozy.

    Gabriel Gonzalez

  16. Gabriel, I’m not anti-Sarkozy, and I’m sorry if my post gave that impression. As you note, he’s pro-American, pro-Israel, and pro-the rule of law in les bainlieues.

    For France, that makes him a man of the right, I’d argue.

    My issue with Hulbert’s post is that she saw the collapse of the Le Pen candidacy as a sign that the right in France was rejected, which maintains the left narrative that Frace will continue to embrace what has passed for multiculturalism there and the right narrative that the Islamists will take over a weakened France.

    Neither is true, in my view.

    And if Sarkozy wins, and can bring the rule of law to the slums ringing Paris, than it will be far less likely that we’ll be looking at an ultranationalist who picks up the reins from Le Pen.

    What do you think of that argument?

    A.L.

  17. Well, AL, you’d still be wrong. The French far right’s attitude has always been one of utmost indifference to les youpins et le sauvages. The reason Le Pen didn’t talk about cleaning up the housing projects is that as far as he was concerned, all he wanted was for the projects to be isolatable like Soweto so the Arabs in them could only foul their own nests, and to limit immigration so no more of France’s acreage would have to be devoted to kennelling them. (And yes, I am using inflammatory language to demonstrate the FN’s attitude.) Sarkozy’s desire to clean up the projects is a large enough difference from Le Pen’s platform that neither he nor his supporters deserve to be associated with Le Pen.

  18. I’ve never heard of Hulbert and don’t know her credentials as expert, so, she isn’t on that list for me.

    Maybe this is one of many comments she’s made on the French elections that ought to be taken together, but, as a stand alone comment, I agree with AL regarding his rebuttal of Hulbert. Though she could have been being a tad sarcastic in the “SPECTER …” comment, who knows, and an expert talking as an expert, rather than chatting at the picnic table (summer’s coming, get out of the kitchen) she ought to have reminded readers of the age old political concept of co-opting the opposition’s vote winning policy rhetoric.

    I still consider myself an amateur even though for years I’ve taken political science classes from Professor R. World, foremeost expert in the field, and World consistently works that into the subject in every class. I’d guess World would give Hulbert a D+ on that post, with the comment “sarcasm is stupidity to the stranger”.

    As for Sarkozy, I don’t know much about him. From what I do know, it seems he has had a law and order streak which may or may not have been a prounouced trait over the years. If so, then Le Pen’s showing last time round and events since surely would have given Sarkozy the opportunity to showcase it in his election run, not to mention the five years of prepping for it. That doesn’t mean any politician will steal another politican’s platform, plank and nail, and I don’t think AL was suggesting that.

    I liked the rank amateur comment, btw, AL. Reminds me of something my wife often says: Strive to be #2.

  19. IMHO Sarkozy is the best that has appeared in France in decades. I don’t think he would be harder than strictly necessary against immigrants, because he is a descendant of one. He brings new ideas based in solid principles, which is somewhat uncommon in French politics.

    You should take into account how such a Socialist state work in order to understand what Sarkozy means. A Socialist state endows privileges to certain people or minorities, Sarkozy is against that if it endangers the country. That means strictly apply a neutral law in Muslim issues (and others that might harm the Republique), and reforms in different areas. What he proposes is an evolution that brings the country out of the impasse.

    In a Socialist country, mainstream political parties tend to become just a part of the State itself, as managers of the privileges and regulators of the economical life.

    Who vote Le Pen or such parties in Europe? Usually people un-privileged by the State, people angry against everything: mainstream political parties, economic tissue, immigrants that take the few employments…

    What do they want? They usually say they want a change, but what they normally want is just a swap: they don’t want the system to be altered but to be the same with them as privileged ones.

    In my opinion, Sarkozy has wisely lured those voters saying that things are going to evolve, to be cleverly and smoothly changed; but at the same time, he has not frightened the mainstream right wing ones, making clear that the privileges that not endanger the country would be left.

    I repeat, that is a new stance on the Socialist Europe, where protests have always being confronted giving up privileges.

    Europe needs Sarkozy as president of France, which does not mean that he is going to be able to do what he promissed, but at least he is a shot in the right direction.

  20. Last year, I responded to one of Ms. Hurlbert’s posts. She complained about the US military’s public relations campaign, calling it a kind of misinformation intended to mislead the American people.

    I posted a link to her think tanks’s website showing a job ad. The think tank was seeking to hire a PR person to do exactly the things Ms. Hurlbert complained of. The irony was lost on her.

    I agree with Armed Liberal. Think tank wonks often disappoint.

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