Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

I really should read my own blog.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / French Election Results are Coming In

French Election Results are Coming In

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The polls have closed in France and the election results are starting to come in and it looks like Macron versus Le Pen in the second round. From The Guardian‘s live blog:

14:06

Different broadcasters are giving marginally different figures, but that looks like the basic picture: Macron marginally ahead of Le Pen (some polling institutes have them dead level), with Fillon and Mélenchon trailing on around 19.5%. The Socialist candidate, Hamon, is way down on 6.5%.

The two second-round contestants seem clear. It will be the independent centrist versus the far-right leader – two radically opposing visions of France.

14:01

Initial vote estimate: Macron and Le Pen through to runoff

The official first vote estimate for the first round of France’s presidential election shows the independent centrist, Emmanuel Macron, has scored 23.7% of the vote and Marine Le Pen 21.7% and have qualified for the second run-off round.

Remember, this is not the official result and those figures could yet change.

And, as we’ve become accustomed to, the usual suspects have been out in force on social media:

Expect the social media, as well as other forms of external intervention to continue through the second round election.

Aux Armes Citoyens!

Update at 2:30 PM EDT

From The Guardian‘s live blog of the election returns:

14:24

Polling for a projected second round pitting Macron against Le Pen have consistently shown the centrist winning by a very comfortable margin. Here’s a Guardian graphic of the way the polls have developed over recent months:

Reader Interactions

123Comments

  1. 1.

    Yutsano

    Do I even want to look at the bad French the pro-Trump accounts put up?

    EDIT: the analysis I’m seeing says this gives Macron a win and the parliamentary election promises to be a total mishegas.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    @Baud: Don’t worry, if he does the NYTimes will be all over it.
    Macron should be in good shape to win the second round, because Le Pen is unpopular. Okay, it’s not over til it’s over.

  5. 5.

    Mike J

    Of course there are Mélenchon supporters (or people claiming to be) saying that Le Pen would be better than Macron, no real difference, blah blah blah.

  7. 7.

    Sanjeevs

    One simple change would make a huge difference. Facebook could ensure that only legit news sources appeared in news feeds. Zuckerberg refuses to do it

  11. 11.

    JGabriel

    Jacob Steinblatt via Adam @ Top:

    I looked at the most influential users within the Twitter networks tweeting about #JeVote Surprise, several are American pro-Trump accounts

    I think he means “American” pro-Trump accounts, since all pro-Trump accounts can be read as doing Putin’s bidding.

  12. 12.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: Yes, he’s going to be doing an outreach tour of all 50 states with Tom Perez, but he is still refusing to join the Democratic Party.//

  13. 13.

    JPL

    @Adam L Silverman: Did you have time to read the NYTimes article on Comey yet?
    Yesterday after reading it, my stomach was in knots, even though I was sorta aware of the timeline. It was apparent to Comey that Russia was attempting to interfere with the election and wanted to write an oped piece in July. In September and early October there was information suggesting possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
    It seems to me that he was okay with writing a generic oped piece in July, but changed his mind because of Trump.
    He already interfered with the election with the statement about Clinton in July, and then had no qualms with the letter the end of October. He appeared to be hell bent on protecting one candidate.

  14. 14.

    Mike J

    @Baud:

    Has Mélenchon said anything yet?

    Cazeneuve (socialist) has come out in support of Macron.

    Eugene Puryear‏ @EugenePuryear 10 minutes ago
    Melenchon saying it’s not over. Probably wishful thinking but I’ll hold some hope. Either way Hamon is a scab for not dropping out

  17. 17.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: I have no idea what Perez and Sanders are doing in terms of where they’re going/how many stops they will make.

  18. 18.

    ArchTeryx

    I’m not sure it’s the Russkies winning the Cold War so much as that the reactionary right is a malignant cancer, a boil on the ass of humanity. Combine it with economic distress – which Europe has in spades thanks to all kinds of austerity – and it starts growing all over the body politic of the Western world.

  19. 19.

    germy

    We had Public Radio on yesterday (I don’t know if it was PRI, NPR or Marketplace or what) and I heard some baffling comments from the panel of experts. The host asked one of the experts who he backed and he replied Fillon. A woman on the panel said this election wasn’t about “right” or “left” candidates, but about a serious nationalism and love of country. The woman didn’t see any racism or bigotry.

  22. 22.

    Adam L Silverman

    @JPL: I read it. It tracks with what I’ve been surmising in comments here when it has come up for discussion.

  25. 25.

    Mike J

    Senator Tim Kaine‏Verified account @timkaine 2 hours ago

    Amazing Saturday jamming with @tommy_stinson in Richmond. “You can’t be anybody else for anyone…”

  30. 30.

    Citizen_X

    @ArchTeryx: Yes, but Putin saw a weakness throughout the West, and he exploited it. I’m kind of impressed how effective the effort has been, and all at a pretty low cost, as far as global interventions go.

  31. 31.

    PsiFighter37

    Very pleased. Macron is by far the best of a mediocre field. I just wonder how he’s going to actually do anything (I doubt En Marche! is the largest party after National Assembly elections).

  33. 33.

    tobie

    I’m pleased with these results. Macron will win the next round and Europe will live to see another day. My big fear was that Le Pen and Melenchon would have come out on top and that would have meant a French Brexit or what could be called a Frexit. I’m reassured now that won’t happen.

  37. 37.

    ArchTeryx

    @Citizen_X: Yeah, it doesn’t help that even a third-rate power is actively caring for and feeding the cancer as it grows. He’s more or less turned the electronic Samizdat into another propaganda tool, and you have to admit, as an oligarch, Putin is hella successful at it. But I’m not sure he’s that much more successful then most oligarchs. They’ve been catapulting the propaganda for a long time. He just figured out how to bring it into the modern age.

    Money buys a lot of speech, and propaganda is how money is converted into power. Take a good look at our own elections. The French should know better, but they don’t.

  38. 38.

    germy

    @Baud: Did you see KRock’s childhood home just went up for sale? I think for several million dollars. It’s actually an estate; looks like something Barbra Streisand would own.

    Salt of the earth.

  39. 39.

    SRW1

    Fine piece of irony by Vladimir to have the bank giving loans to foreign political parties call itself ‘Strategy Bank”.

  42. 42.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @germy: Bernard Sableurs! the only true candidate of le people!

    Fillon* and Hamon (Bog issue conservative and official Socialist) have announced their support for Macron to block LePen

    * though I believe much more culturally conservative and church-y than most French conservatives, and of course a cheap grifter

  44. 44.

    donatellonerd

    no, apparently he’s waiting to be sure if he’s 3rd or 4th.
    from a lurker in France whose whole family voted Macron whom we dislike a lot because … he had the best chance to beat Le Pen (and also we’re pro-Europe, though it could certainly be improved.

  46. 46.

    germy

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Fillon and Hamon (Bog issue conservative and official Socialist) have announced their support for Macron to block LePen

    Wow. I guess there was too much ego in these here Yoonited States for any blocking last year.

  48. 48.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @germy: @John Revolta: I had no idea, I’m only vaguely aware of him and confused him with the other white MI right wing rapper who made that 8 Mile movie– which I’ve heard is actually pretty good– and neither of them apparently are Vanilla Ice

    Ritchie was born on January 17, 1971 in Romeo, Michigan to William “Bill” Ritchie, a car dealer who owned several local dealerships, and Susan Ritchie. He attended Romeo High School.[5] He grew up on a six-acre luxurious estate[6] where Robert regularly helped pick apples and cared for the family’s horses.[7]

  49. 49.

    germy

    Voting on a Sunday. How primitive these Europeans are.

    We vote on Tuesday and we like it.

  50. 50.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @JPL:

    Okay, it’s not over til it’s over.

    True. Also, it’s over.

    You’ll hear the “but Brexit/Trump were a surprise” line even still but no one closed a 25% point gap between polling and voting in those. Actually I think Brexit was polling pretty much the way the vote turned out at least at the end, but the denial was really strong. Don’t quote me on that, I don’t follow UK votes like the French ones. Two weeks ain’t a long time, and he’s 25 percentage points ahead. And the same polls that have him 63% and her 37% in round two predicted this first vote pretty spot on.

  52. 52.

    germy

    Following an announcement from President Donald Trump’s Justice Department that there are plans to arrest Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the information dissemination group trolled the president by posting a video reminding him that he used to be one of their biggest fans.

    During the campaign, Trump boldly stated he “loved” Wikileaks at a time when the group was publishing emails from Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

  55. 55.

    JPL

    @Bill E Pilgrim: Brexit was polling ahead but stay was closing the gap, if I remember correctly. Truth be known, the British exit should help the French economy.

  56. 56.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s a tradition there, the “clothes pin” vote. Hold your nose and vote for someone you dislike to prevent someone you really hate.

    Actually in another way of looking at it, we eventually end up with two candidates also, and there’s a lot of coalescing[1]. The first round is almost (only sort of) like our whole primary process.

    I seem to remember that people were actually wearing clothes pins but it’s forbidden in polling places so they wore them only to the door.

    [1} For our last election it occurs to me that “congealing” might be a better word than coalescing.

  58. 58.

    J R in WV

    So the FTFNYT has a long story about the Carl Vinson’s canceled port call and how it was mishandled, misrepresented, misinformed, and nearly sparked thermonuclear war. Even the Pentagon was a ClusterFQ on this one, evidently.

    I think we can trust even the FTFNYT to get this story right, now, 3 weeks after the fact… not that everyone else wasn’t evidently 180 degrees off on the story.

    How badly can the White House AND the military mess up a fleet movement? Totally!!

  59. 59.

    Chris

    I voted yesterday. In line a few people behind me was a woman wearing a hijab who’d brought her kids out to vote with her. Hopefully, the final election results do right by her and her family.

    (And speaking of lines, if the French embassy is going to keep making people line up outside of it on election day, it really should invest in a sidewalk someday).

    As for the general election, let me repost what I just posted at LGM:

    Fingers crossed for Macron. We’re back to what’s been my fear all along, which is that Hillbot/Berniebro type crap among the not-fascists would lead enough people to stay home on election night to hand Le Pen a victory. In this case, I can totally see plenty of Euroskeptics on both the left and the “mainstream” right being too pissy to vote for a Neoliberal Centrist Establishment Corporate Crony. The polls I’ve seen gave it to Macron in a Macron/Le Pen runoff, but, well, let’s say I’m not relying on polls to keep me sane after 2016.

  60. 60.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    So it's apparently Le Pen – Macron, which in turn probably means Macron. If so, that's a disaster averted. Good. But ….— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) April 23, 2017

  61. 61.

    Chris

    @Citizen_X:

    @ArchTeryx: Yes, but Putin saw a weakness throughout the West, and he exploited it. I’m kind of impressed how effective the effort has been, and all at a pretty low cost, as far as global interventions go.

    Yeah. The post-Soviet Russians have figured out that, if trying to break up the West by supporting marginalized and despised movements like those on the far left was a fool’s game, doing the same thing to gangster capitalists and white nationalists would be devastatingly effective.

  62. 62.

    Chris

    @donatellonerd:

    and also we’re pro-Europe, though it could certainly be improved.

    This is me too. Honestly, it’s refreshing simply to have a candidate who’s unembarrased to be pro-EU, though the second part of your sentence is incredibly true.

  63. 63.

    James E Powell

    @JPL:

    He appeared to be hell bent on protecting one candidate.

    That’s been my take all along. The alternate explanations strike me as post-hoc grief and excuses.

  64. 64.

    Iowa Old Lady

    John Oliver had a line something like, “Come on, France. You’re always bragging about how you’re smarter than England or America. Prove it!” Thank god, they seem to have at least begun doing so.

  65. 65.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Citizen_X:

    The weakness he exploited was that EVERY TIME our 1% control congress, they shaft their most heartfelt idiot supporters to such an extent that the idiot supporters hand them even more power and control.

  67. 67.

    JPL

    @James E Powell: I know. If Comey had mentioned in the same letter, that the Trump campaign was also being investigating for possible collusion with Russia, the election might be different. In fact the letter wouldn’t have been released.
    I’ve been having visions of the administration being taken down, but Comey didn’t do anything then, he won’t now. It’s magical thinking.

  69. 69.

    debbie

    The New Yorker is unamused:

    This Presidency is so dispiriting that, at the first glimmer of relative ordinariness, Trump is graded on a curve. When he restrains himself from trolling Kim Jong-un about the failure of a North Korean missile test, he is credited with the strategic self-possession of a Dean Acheson. The urge to normalize Trump’s adolescent outbursts, his flagrant incompetence and dishonesty—to wish it all away, if only for a news cycle or two—is connected to the fear of what fresh hell might come next. Every day brings another outrage or embarrassment: the dressing down of the Australian Prime Minister or a shoutout for the “amazing job” that Frederick Douglass is doing. One day nato is “obsolete”; the next it is “no longer obsolete.” The Chinese are “grand champions” of currency manipulation; then they are not. When Julian Assange is benefitting Trump’s campaign, it’s “I love WikiLeaks!”; now, with the Presidency won, the Justice Department is preparing criminal charges against him. News of Trump’s casual reversals of policy comes with such alarming regularity that the impulse to locate a patch of firm ground is understandable. It’s soothing. But it’s untenable.

  70. 70.

    Roger Moore

    @germy:

    Following an announcement from President Donald Trump’s Justice Department that there are plans to arrest Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

    It’s worth noting they waited until after the Ecuadorian election guaranteed that Assange will continue to have sanctuary. IOW, it’s kabuki.

  71. 71.

    NotMax

    Gotta give him an A for gumption.

    Police in Australia pulled over a 12-year-old boy as he attempted an epic 3,000 km cross-country journey.

    The boy was over 1,000 km into his trip when police noticed the car’s bumper dragging on the ground,…. Source

  72. 72.

    Chris

    @debbie:

    Ironically given that it’s one of their pet peeves, the modern history of the Republican Party has been one long line of that party being handed participation trophy after participation trophy, no matter how badly it fucks up.

  73. 73.

    burnspbesq

    @Frank Wilhoit:

    If Melenchon does not endorse Macron, at least as flatly as Fillon did, not later than noon Monday (Paris time), then Le Pen will win.

    You’re going to have to elaborate on that, because it doesn’t make a lick of sense as stated.

  74. 74.

    Sean

    @tobie: LePen win doesn’t guarantee a Frexit. Still would need a referendum. I see the two splitting the left vote and Macron picking up a large majority of the traditional right vote. Turnout is the one worry; Macron neither offends or excites but he is an outsider of sorts. Given decent turnout, he wins by 15%.

  75. 75.

    JPL

    @Frank Wilhoit: Sky News
    Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon says he will not endorse any candidate for the second round of the French presidential election

  76. 76.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Frank Wilhoit:

    Sanam ShantyaeiVerified account @ SanamF24
    BREAKING #Melenchon: “Once official results are known, we’ll respect them. You need to decide what your duty is.” #Frenchelections
    Jeet Heer‏Verified account @ HeerJeet 11m11 minutes ago
    More
    Jeet Heer Retweeted Sanam Shantyaei
    Looks like Melenchon is toying with strategy of “After Le Pen, Our Turn.”

    I’ve heard a lot of socialists are expected to go Jean-Luc or Bust, but I don’t know enough about it to say> Are there Socialist figures popular and of a stature to counter him/them?

  78. 78.

    Roger Moore

    @Chris:

    The post-Soviet Russians have figured out that, if trying to break up the West by supporting marginalized and despised movements like those on the far left was a fool’s game, doing the same thing to gangster capitalists and white nationalists would be devastatingly effective.

    It shouldn’t be surprising, and I don’t think it’s really a result of Putin being smarter or better at strategy than the communists were. It’s more a matter of each one trying to support ideologically sympathetic groups in the West. It just happens that the extremist right wing is a lot more powerful than the extremist left.

  79. 79.

    Chris

    @JPL:

    Yep. A Berniebro’s Berniebro. No surprises there.

    @Sean:

    True, but a fucking shitload of them could stay home, and we can’t afford to lose much. Especially since there are a bunch of Euroskeptics in the center-right as well to worry about.

  80. 80.

    Sean

    @JPL: center right are much closer to centrist Macron. LePen is far right on race, security, immigration and EU but left of center on most domestic policy.

  83. 83.

    Redshift

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    The weakness he exploited was that EVERY TIME our 1% control congress, they shaft their most heartfelt idiot supporters to such an extent that the idiot supporters hand them even more power and control.

    After investing a relatively tiny amount in propaganda to convince them that brown people and immigrants are the real cause of the shafting.

  84. 84.

    Cacti

    @germy:

    Did you see KRock’s childhood home just went up for sale? I think for several million dollars. It’s actually an estate; looks like something Barbra Streisand would own.

    Salt of the earth.

    Yeah, Bobby Ritchie grew up in upper class, suburban Detwah. Son of a Lincoln dealership owner.

    Total poseur jackass.

  85. 85.

    ArchTeryx

    @Cacti: Far as white rappers go, Eminem, like him or hate him, has more sincerity in his pinky finger then KRock has in his entite life.

  87. 87.

    Cacti

    @ArchTeryx:

    Far as white rappers go, Eminem, like him or hate him, hss more sincerity in his pinky finger then KRock has in his entite life.

    Yeah, Kid Rock’s blue collar shtick is about as authentic as the princelings of Duck Dynasty.

  88. 88.

    D58826

    @debbie: Maybe Ivanka and Kushner can keep his itchy finger off the nuclear button and see to it that he works at least part of the day on being president. If they keep him from blowing up the world then the Chinese trademarks for her products are well worth the price.

  90. 90.

    HeleninEire

    Nobody here is talking about the French elections. It’s on the Irish news but the people here are not really interested. They cared GREATLY about the American elections. But not the French. That’s why I moved here. We are removed both geographically and socially from almost everyone. I like it here.

  93. 93.

    hovercraft

    From the Guardian


    Second-round projection
    Pollsters asked voters for the main contenders who they would opt for in the second round, if the remaining candidates were Macron and Le Pen. Using the actual first-round votes cast, this would imply a second-round result along the following lines:
    Macron inherits
    43% of Fillon’s voters
    70% of Hamon’s voters
    50% of Mélenchon’s voters
    Le Pen inherits
    31% of Fillon’s voters
    3% of Hamon’s voters
    12% of Mélenchon’s voters

  94. 94.

    Aleta

    The White House announced Sunday that President Donald Trump will have dinner Thursday with the U.S. Supreme Court. “That evening, the President will have dinner with the Justices of the Supreme Court, including his successfully confirmed nominee Justice Neil Gorsuch,” the announcement read.

    -From Joe.My.God. (also on Huffpo)

    (Now when they rule against him he can wail, “I was very nice to them.”

  95. 95.

    msdc

    @germy: Is there any doubt?

    But other insinuations have come directly from Moscow — or at least through Moscow.

    Reports of Macron’s ties to Clinton arise from remarks by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the hawkish Russian broadsheet Izvestia last week.

    “We have interesting information about another presidential candidate in France, Emmanuel Macron,” Assange told the newspaper.

    Assange, who has been accused of having ties to the Russian government, which he denies, nonetheless joins Moscow in a desire to see the current European order upended.

  96. 96.

    Taylor

    @HeleninEire: I think there’s a strong connection with the US because just about every family has relatives in the US. When I was growing up, every house had a picture of Pope Paul and of JFK.

  104. 104.

    msdc

    @Baud: Anti-Americanism, anti-“banking” fervor (nudge nudge, wink wink), and a Sputnik/RT whispering campaign, enthusiastically amplified by Assange, about Macron’s sexuality. The ties to Clinton are only important insofar as they allow Assange to claim inside information confirming the conspiracy theories… and, of course, insofar as they make the destruction of another republic all about the EMAILZ.

  105. 105.

    HeleninEire

    @Taylor: Yes. I thought that because Ireland is part of the EU they would be more engaged. Nope. All they want here is peace and prosperity. Ireland is a neutral state. Like Switzerland. We just wanna live our lives. Quietly.

  109. 109.

    hovercraft

    @msdc: @Baud:

    These are from last year.

    From UPI
    http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2016/06/29/Obama-US-Clinton-enjoy-high-ratings-around-world-confidence-in-Trump-low/5681467221664/

    Hillary Clinton, seen by many as representing a general continuation of Obama’s policies, enjoys similarly high ratings in the nations surveyed. In Europe, nearly 60 percent say they believe Clinton will handle world affairs appropriately — compared to 27 percent who said they aren’t confident in her abilities.

    But I also found this, but it’s from an outfit I’ve never heard of before, Frenchly:
    http://frenchly.us/why-is-hillary-unpopular-in-france/
    Why Is Hillary Unpopular…in France?

    So who the hell knows?
    They can try and taint him with Hillary, but Obama who has an 80% approval rating endorsed him himself, so I think that will carry more weight, or at least I hope so.

  110. 110.

    mai naem mobile

    @Aleta: I wouldnt go if I was one of the liberal justoces. He might poison me. Also he doesn’t understand shit about law.

  111. 111.

    Chris

    @Sean:

    Yes, but not everyone has to be 100% Front National. All it takes is a certain number of people who’re Euroskeptical and FN-curious enough to vote for her, and a number of other people staying home because EU vs Le Pen = not a dime’s worth of difference!

  112. 112.

    msdc

    @hovercraft: AFAIK it’s not specifically about tainting him with Hillary so much as using the Most Secret Treasure Trove of Emails Ever to imply they can substantiate all the other BS they’re trying to taint him with – too close to “the banks” (nudge nudge, wink wink), sekrit ghey, etc.

    But who knows? Assange is so far off the deep end he probably does think connecting a centrist liberal to the dreaded she-beast is some sort of knockout punch. I wonder how long before Greenwald follows suit.

  115. 115.

    Dusty Confetti

    Another Romeo HS grad here. Although I didn’t know him personally (though I knew his sister, slightly) my brother had the misfortune of interacting with “Rob” a few times in high school.

    It shouldn’t come as an surprise that he was just as unpleasant person in high school, as well. It blows my mind that he’s been able to get away with the promoting himself as a voice of the trailer-class. Ugh.

    He’s generally well-liked in the area still, unfortunately, because this area is the deepest, darkest red part of Macomb County, aka “Birthplace of the Reagan Democrats”.

    (I’ve had some incidental connections with Eminem too – long story – and let’s just say that while he’s got some issues, he’s just several orders of magnitude better a human being than Mr. Ritchie.)

  117. 117.

    Bill Arnold

    @msdc:

    Assange, who has been accused of having ties to the Russian government, which he denies, nonetheless joins Moscow in a desire to see the current European order upended.

    Long past time for a drastic reduction of wikileaks’ influence. There are now many alternatives for leaking, that aren’t subject to whatever influences are causing wikilieaks to objectively support fascists by attacking their opponents.
    Alternatives:
    (Warning!!!; https site for leaddirectory.org doesn’t appear to be configured correctly (or so firefox says) so verify the contents before using)
    Leak site directory
    But probably best are the securedrop.org sites:
    The Official SecureDrop Directory
    (securedrop wikipedia article)
    Roll your own security can work too IFF leakers know what they are doing, but basically nobody does.

  118. 118.

    SFBayAreaGal

    @HeleninEire: There is no such thing as being neutral. Switzerland was far from neutral during WWII. They were rounding up the Jewish people also.

  119. 119.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Mr Stagger Lee: We didn’t have photos on the wall, but Dad’s unofficial Holy Trinity was FDR as The Father, JFK as The Son, and…tell you what, extra credit for anyone who can guess who played the Holy Ghost.

  121. 121.

    JMG

    The polls in France were dead on in the first round, and they have Macron crushing LePen in the second. The word bourgeois was invented in France for a reason. There are plenty of people, some of whom are my daughter’s co-workers, who have little trouble with LePen’s positions but would never vote for her because it would not be “correct” that is, respectable.

  122. 122.

    J R in WV

    @HeleninEire:

    Glad to hear from you. How did the rest of your date go?

    Glad you feel remote from Europe. We’re visiting Italy for a week next month, Tuscany and Florence, I’m curious about asylum policy in Italy. Or Ireland, but I would prefer Italy, or Spain.

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