French fascism's disturbing resurgence

Three words, folks: holy fucking shit.

I remember thinking that Le Pen was headed for the dustbin when the 
National Front split a few years ago, but here he is.  Most of us had been 
paying attention to the rise of the far left, and the idiotic -- and now 
clearly revealed as self-destructive and dangerous -- bickering therein 
(had the LO and LCR run a joint slate, things might have turned out 
differently).  The media campaign against the left and the incessant 
red-baiting of Arlette Laguiller -- which reduced the trots' final tally -- 
no doubt contribted to all of this.

And now we have Chirac, the French Hindenberg of the 21st century, calling 
on everyone to unite behind him as the savior of basic democratic values 
against the fascist beast. And so much as it pains one, it's obvious that 
people are going to have to hold their noses and vote for Chirac in the 
runoff.  Even Le Pen's opportunistic enabler is better than Le Pen himself.

The carping of the liberals and the social-democratic bootlickers of 
neoliberalism is going to go from the sanctimonious to the outright 
intolerable in the aftermath, as they blame the left for not uniting behind 
Jospin (though Jospin himself, at least, has said "I plainly assume 
responsibility for this failure").  Let's keep one historical lesson in 
mind, though: in 1933, even though the communists did not vote for 
Hindenberg, Hindenberg still won.  And he ended up appointing Hitler 
chancellor.  Which goes to show that the fight against fascism will be won 
more in the streets than at the ballot box.

John Lacny


**********
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-France-Election.html

The New York Times online, April 21, 2002

Chirac and Le Pen in Runoff for French Presidency

Filed at 5:49 p.m. ET

PARIS (AP) -- In a huge upset, extreme-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen 
qualified on Sunday to face incumbent Jacques Chirac in the runoff for 
French president, a political earthquake that appeared to reflect both a 
sense of deep voter apathy and insecurity over rising crime.

Le Pen, who virulently opposes immigration and has been accused during his 
long political career of racism and anti-Semitism, was in second place with 
more than 95 percent of the vote counted, defeating Socialist Prime 
Minister Lionel Jospin.

Interior Ministry results showed Chirac, a conservative, with 19.54 percent 
of the vote, Le Pen with 17.26 percent and Jospin with 15.9 percent.

For months, polls had consistently projected that Chirac and Jospin would 
finish in the top two spots.

A shocked Jospin announced he would retire from political life immediately 
after the presidential election, which ends with the May 5 runoff.

"I plainly assume responsibility for this failure," Jospin said in a choked 
voice, calling the results a "thunderbolt."

"And I draw the conclusions," he continued, "in withdrawing from political 
life after the end of the presidential election."

Chirac, meanwhile, called on all French citizens unite to defeat Le Pen in 
the second round.

"I call on all French men and women to gather up to defend human rights," 
Chirac said. "At risk is our national cohesion, the values of the 
Republic," the president said.

Voter turnout was 72 percent -- the lowest in nearly four decades -- in 
Sunday's first-round which featured a record 16 candidates.

Le Pen is founder and head of the National Front party, which historically 
has blamed immigrants for high unemployment and urban violence. He is 
notorious for once describing the Holocaust as "a detail" of history. He 
has denied he is anti-Semitic.

Le Pen, 73, has played a central role as kingmaker in past presidential 
elections, with a typical score of 15 percent. He placed third in the last 
two races. This is his fourth presidential campaign.

During the campaign, Chirac denied allegations that he met personally with 
Le Pen between the two rounds of the 1988 presidential election.

France has been governed since 1981 by Chirac's mainstream right or the 
Socialists on the left. Centrists held power in previous terms.

For Jospin, a political heir of the late Socialist President Francois 
Mitterrand who has served as prime minister since 1997, it was a crushing 
blow.

The three French TV networks based their projections on exit polls 
conducted by three top polling firms: Sofres, IPSOS, and CSA.

The firms estimated variously that Chirac had won 19.8 to 20 percent of the 
vote; Le Pen 17 to 17.9 percent; and Jospin 16 to 16.1 percent.

Le Pen, speaking just after the projections were announced when polls 
closed at 8 p.m., said on French television that he had predicted the 
result.

"It's a great flash of lucidity by the French people," he said. Neither 
Chirac nor Jospin had an immediate comment.

He attributed his apparent victory to the deep concern among French voters 
over rising crime -- a concern that, he said, hadn't been addressed by the 
government.

"There is a dramatic state of (public) insecurity in our country," he said, 
"and those responsible for it, the people have understood, are Jospin and 
Chirac."

Under the French constitution, if no candidate wins outright with more than 
50 percent of the votes cast, the two with the most votes face each other 
in the runoff. The runoff is scheduled for May 5.

French people in the streets expressed astonishment when they heard of the 
media projections.

"That's not possible," said Agathe Romon, 17, a student in Paris. "It's 
unbelievable. We were all expecting a duel between Jospin and Chirac."


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