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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Vive la France

Vive la France

by David Anderson|  April 24, 20222:08 pm| 206 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Politics

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? #BREAKING – Emmanuel #Macron is elected to a second term as #French president on Sunday evening with 58.2% of the vote, according to an estimate from the Ipsos polling institute.

Follow our special coverage on @FRANCE24: https://t.co/gcjHqYbf1a pic.twitter.com/gXKznZa32b

— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) April 24, 2022

Update 1 what Cheryl said:

Another bullet dodged.

I look forward to a time when we can feel good that our candidate won but not that we escaped disaster. https://t.co/bVEaZiUsRN

— Cheryl Rofer (@CherylRofer) April 24, 2022

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Reader Interactions

206Comments

  1. 1.

    Quaker in a Basement

    April 24, 2022 at 2:09 pm

    Blowout!

    Thank jeebus.

  2. 2.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 24, 2022 at 2:10 pm

    I had expected Macron to win, but I really thought it would be a 10 point margin.  Better than I expected.

  3. 3.

    Chief Oshkosh

    April 24, 2022 at 2:11 pm

    Buncha cheese-eating surrender monkeys..

     

    ETA: /s

     

    !!

  4. 4.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    April 24, 2022 at 2:12 pm

    sounds like a good, healthy margin– I just heard on NPR this morning that there were predictions it would be down from 2017

    and a quick google tells me the margin is down a bit, from 66-33 to 58-42

  5. 5.

    MattF

    April 24, 2022 at 2:13 pm

    Good. Macron is good enough and not delusional. Le Pen is straight-up fascist.

  6. 6.

    Raoul Paste

    April 24, 2022 at 2:13 pm

    Thank goodness

    Still think it was too close

  7. 7.

    way2blue

    April 24, 2022 at 2:14 pm

    Bon.  Très bien…

  8. 8.

    thruppence

    April 24, 2022 at 2:16 pm

    Her supporters aren’t gone, though – what’s next for them?

  9. 9.

    Yutsano

    April 24, 2022 at 2:17 pm

    How does one say curb stomping in French? That’s basically a blowout especially considering how close it was last time. Viva le France!

  10. 10.

    Hoodie

    April 24, 2022 at 2:18 pm

    Better than I would have expected. I get the sense he picked up some momentum from Le Pen’s close affiliation with Putin, along with what was a pretty strong performance in the debate. I would be interesting to know what the turnout was, there was some thought that parts of the left would stay home. Maybe that wasn’t the case.

  11. 11.

    debbie

    April 24, 2022 at 2:18 pm

    Great news!

  12. 12.

    Chetan Murthy

    April 24, 2022 at 2:19 pm

    @Yutsano: My French friend wrote this to me on 8 April:

    Thanks. You should not be worrying too much, though. I don’t think we can do worse than the one you had previously :grin:

    Prophetic words!

  13. 13.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 24, 2022 at 2:19 pm

    @thruppence: True, this was obviously a terrible result for people opposing fascism.  Let’s all worry.

  14. 14.

    Calouste

    April 24, 2022 at 2:20 pm

    When Le Pen père was in the run-off way back when, he got about 20% in the first round. In the run off against right winger Chirac, he barely got anything more, because all the lefties held their nose and voted for Chirac. Le Pen fille got in the run-off twice with about 20% in the first round, and in both cases she doubled her share of the vote because right wingers rather vote for a fascist than a centrist.

  15. 15.

    debbie

    April 24, 2022 at 2:21 pm

    This is sure to break Ukraine:  //

    Russia has reached the Freedom Fries stage. Russian stores and restaurants are renaming Chicken Kiev.
    It’s now, depending on the place, Chicken Crimea, Chicken Friendship, Butter Chicken, Chicken Vyatka (?), or, ingenuously, Chicken Kirov.
    — Slava Malamud ?? (@SlavaMalamud) April 24, 2022

  16. 16.

    Calouste

    April 24, 2022 at 2:23 pm

    @Yutsano: It was 66-34 last time in 2017, looks like it will be closer now.

  17. 17.

    Peale

    April 24, 2022 at 2:25 pm

    @debbie: the Indians howl with laughter at this “butter chicken” the Russians are serving.

  18. 18.

    Hoodie

    April 24, 2022 at 2:27 pm

    @debbie: Maybe that is some sort of equivalent to jumping the shark, you start renaming foods concurrent with a military overreach.

  19. 19.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 24, 2022 at 2:29 pm

    @thruppence: The guillotine?

  20. 20.

    Mike in NC

    April 24, 2022 at 2:29 pm

    OT: I pretty much forgot that Orrin Hatch was still alive until yesterday. On the subject of extremist Mormons, Hulu is coming out with a miniseries based on the book, “Under the Banner of Heaven”, about the fundamentalist LDS church in the southwest. Read it a number of years ago and it was very good.

  21. 21.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 24, 2022 at 2:31 pm

    Vive la France!

    Get fucked, Le Pen!

  22. 22.

    debbie

    April 24, 2022 at 2:31 pm

    DougJ has competition:

    While exit polling in France shows Emmanual Macron winning in a 17-point walk over Marine LePen, at this Ohio diner, over plates of french fries, these 5 unvaccinated truckers have a different opinion.
    –The New York Times tomorrow, probably.
    — soonergrunt ?? A Capybara Appreciation Account (@soonergrunt) April 24, 2022

  23. 23.

    Peale

    April 24, 2022 at 2:32 pm

    @Calouste: idk. I think I’ll feel relieved this afternoon. It’s nice to get a semblance of a win, before I can go and fret about the Filipino elections.

  24. 24.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 24, 2022 at 2:33 pm

    @debbie: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

  25. 25.

    JMG

    April 24, 2022 at 2:33 pm

    The first time, Macron was a new candidate. This time he was the incumbent, and French Presidents are always unpopular. His approval rating is lower than Biden’s, but he got a big majority anyway. Protests are a way of life in France about everything, but when a decision must be made, most voters there go for stability.

    PS: Voter turnout is estimated at 72 percent. That’s the lowest in a French presidential election final in over 50 years. It would be the highest turnout in an American presidential election EVER.

  26. 26.

    James E Powell

    April 24, 2022 at 2:33 pm

    @thruppence:

    Her supporters aren’t gone, though – what’s next for them?

    Meetings, speeches, and there’s always good wine.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    April 24, 2022 at 2:33 pm

    ?

  28. 28.

    TaMara

    April 24, 2022 at 2:34 pm

    @debbie: Looks like I may need to break out a recipe and make a batch.

    ETA: Holy chick, that’s a lot of butter. LOL

  29. 29.

    Diceros bicornis

    April 24, 2022 at 2:35 pm

    Bullet dodged. Now back to WTF is happening to democracy in my native land

  30. 30.

    Elizabelle

    April 24, 2022 at 2:36 pm

    Je suis soulagé.  I am relieved.  *whew*

    I knew that Macron was ahead, but a few too many publications went with scare tactic headlines in the run up to voting.  (Looking at you, FTF NY Times.)

  31. 31.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 24, 2022 at 2:37 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I know this flies in the face of your avowed optimism, but 40% of a nuclear-armed permanent member of the UNSC choosing an out and proud fascist is not a result worthy of foam fingers and raucous applause.

  32. 32.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 24, 2022 at 2:37 pm

    @Peale:

    the Indians howl with laughter at this “butter chicken” the Russians are serving. 

    The blandness!  And what’s this – breading?

  33. 33.

    Diceros bicornis

    April 24, 2022 at 2:38 pm

    @Hoodie: 28% abstention is what is being reported. Early still for good stats. Also hearing Macron could end up as high as 60% – the polls have just closed so all votes not yet counted

  34. 34.

    PeakVT

    April 24, 2022 at 2:38 pm

    @James E Powell: And more dodgy loans from Russia.

  35. 35.

    Diceros bicornis

    April 24, 2022 at 2:39 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: faire foutre, Marine!

  36. 36.

    James E Powell

    April 24, 2022 at 2:39 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Orrin Hatch is the a hole who said there was no question that Republicans would vote to confirm Merrick Garland for the supreme court, then refused to hold hearings.

    There are varying degrees, but every Republican is an a hole.

  37. 37.

    germy

    April 24, 2022 at 2:39 pm

    Le Pen is a Breton surname (meaning ‘the head’ or ‘the chief’)

    Not this time.

  38. 38.

    MattF

    April 24, 2022 at 2:41 pm

    @debbie: I was constantly irritated by media insisting that it really really really might be a close race.

  39. 39.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2022 at 2:42 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    …40% of a nuclear-armed permanent member of the UNSC choosing an out and proud fascist is not a result worthy of foam fingers and raucous applause.

    I say celebrate the 60-40 victory today, and get right back to work for a stronger victory tomorrow.

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    April 24, 2022 at 2:42 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:   Please, G&T.  The French did the right thing.

    We do have to get the deplorables deprogrammed, or, failing that, back under their rocks.  It is pretty much a worldwide problem, with some happy exceptions.

    But we can take pleasure in a good result, today.

  41. 41.

    Matt McIrvin

    April 24, 2022 at 2:43 pm

    That’s a much bigger margin than I was expecting. I thought it was neck-and-neck.

    Macron himself isn’t great, but, you know, for Christ’s sake, any Le Pen should not be a serious threat.

  42. 42.

    Baud

    April 24, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    I look forward to a time when we can feel good that our candidate won but not that we escaped disaster

    Have we in the US ever had that since Ike and Stevenson? (When we’ve lost, it’s been a disaster.).

  43. 43.

    germy

    April 24, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    Merci pour tout ! ❤️?? pic.twitter.com/QQrTRpe5Wc

    — Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) April 24, 2022

    She ate all those corn dogs for nothing?

  44. 44.

    Elizabelle

    April 24, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    @MattF:   Yup.  We should put up a Hall of Shame on that.  Identify those wastrels, and the outlets that published that crap.

    Mostly, I am glad the French do not have to contend with an Electoral College.  It is a chaos agent, and needs to go.

  45. 45.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 2:46 pm

    Two nights ago I dreamed that LePen won with 98.4%. Everyone was saying it must have been a Putin-style victory, but no one could do anything about it. Glad it was just a dream.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    April 24, 2022 at 2:46 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    We do have to get the deplorables deprogrammed, or, failing that, back under their rocks

     
    The tactic of repeatedly beating them in elections is a good way to do that. We should try it sometime.

  47. 47.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 24, 2022 at 2:46 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Macron beat the polls.  It was a better result that Biden vs Trump or HRC vs Trump.  Better result than the Brexit vote in Britain or any subsequent British elections.  I’ll take my wins where I find them.  If you want to look for reasons to be down about this result, I can’t stop you.

  48. 48.

    germy

    April 24, 2022 at 2:47 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I wonder if the same pundits who called it “neck-and-neck” are the ones predicting a red wave here in November?

  49. 49.

    Diceros bicornis

    April 24, 2022 at 2:47 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: no but it’s worthy of a sigh of relief and a vow to come back and keep fighting. Legislative elections are coming up in a month…

  50. 50.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 24, 2022 at 2:48 pm

    Orrin G. Hatch

    (R-Utah) GUILTY GUILTY

    Via CNN, Hatch’s Consensual Cocksucking-gate’s votes.

    Fuck ’em!

  51. 51.

    Calouste

    April 24, 2022 at 2:50 pm

    @Elizabelle: Journalists love them some right-wing extremists, especially the entitled legacy hires at the FTFNYT. Why? Because writing about them doesn’t take any effort, it’s all about simplistic hate and grievances, not about actual complicated policies.

  52. 52.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 2:51 pm

    Should be “Vive la France,” not Viva. // pedant

  53. 53.

    japa21

    April 24, 2022 at 2:51 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I would be hard pressed to say that all 40% who voted for LePen are in favor of fascism, just like all the 43% that voted for Trump are out and out racists and lovers of authoritarians.  40% is a long way from a majority.  Would I prefer it had been 65-35 or greater?  Of course.  But I am happy for these results and hope that the people of France work to keep the LePen types at 40% or preferably less.

  54. 54.

    Another Scott

    April 24, 2022 at 2:52 pm

    “Vote for the neoliberal investment banker! It’s important!!”

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  55. 55.

    trollhattan

    April 24, 2022 at 2:52 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    My limited understanding is polling among the young was skewing towards Le Pen–kids, you know–and with lower than normal turnout I’ll guess the young did not turn out. Could be a reason he exceeded the polls.

    Whatever the reasons, it’s a good day for European democracy. Doesn’t make Orban’s easy reelection any less bitter, though.

  56. 56.

    Elizabelle

    April 24, 2022 at 2:52 pm

    @Baud:   We win a lot, as you know.

    But:  the Electoral College makes it more difficult than it should be.

  57. 57.

    Barbara

    April 24, 2022 at 2:53 pm

    What a relief. Le Pen really is Putin’s puppet, bought and paid for. I don’t pretend to understand French political parties, but it’s striking how current parties in so many countries see the future only in the rear view mirror. This is obvious on the right but it’s a problem for some labor-oriented parties as well.
    Whatever personal defects Macron has, Le Pen was straight up promising allegiance to Putin, whose arrogance and disdain for average people make Macron look like a puppy. It still shocks me that she received so many votes.

  58. 58.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2022 at 2:54 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Pretty sure that’s called a nightmare. :-)

  59. 59.

    Baud

    April 24, 2022 at 2:54 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Lots of structural things are against us. The Constitution could end up being a suicide pact.

  60. 60.

    germy

    April 24, 2022 at 2:55 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlhjdC8x4TE

    Brown vs. Hatch

  61. 61.

    Barbara

    April 24, 2022 at 2:56 pm

    @Another Scott: ​
     This is what I mean by how the heck did other French parties so badly serve their constituents that none could come close to challenging Le Pen or Macron. At least not for the top job.

  62. 62.

    evodevo

    April 24, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    @Mike in NC:  Yes…great book and it introduced me to modern Mormonism…I had only vague ideas before reading it…

  63. 63.

    Barbara

    April 24, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    @Baud: ​
     Yep.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    April 24, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    @Barbara:

    Say what you will about Hitler, but he was no one’s puppet.

  65. 65.

    LininalOwl

    April 24, 2022 at 2:58 pm

    @debbie: Don’t forget NBC, per today’s headlines: France’s Marine Le Pen has American Liberals Worried

    Once upon a time, it wasn’t only liberals who were scared of fascism…

  66. 66.

    Calouste

    April 24, 2022 at 2:58 pm

    @Baud: Ike picked Nixon, he started all the crap.

  67. 67.

    debbie

    April 24, 2022 at 2:58 pm

    @TaMara:

    I’m a real butter lover, but I could never bring myself to order it.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    April 24, 2022 at 2:59 pm

    @LininalOwl:

    Wow. I can’t believe American liberals are worried about fascists!  Liberals be crazy.

  69. 69.

    Baud

    April 24, 2022 at 2:59 pm

    @Calouste:

    True.  That doesn’t get enough recognition.

  70. 70.

    debbie

    April 24, 2022 at 2:59 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    I hope he has learned he needs to tamp down that arrogance, French though it may be.

  71. 71.

    Barbara

    April 24, 2022 at 3:01 pm

    @debbie: I know, some of us are asking ourselves, but aren’t all French people like that?

  72. 72.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 24, 2022 at 3:02 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    We do have to get the deplorables deprogrammed, or, failing that, back under their rocks. 

    The deplorables are “reprogrammable meatbags” as driftglass calls them.  FOX could tell them the exact opposite thing tomorrow from today’s marching orders, and they’d turn on a dime.

    As for getting the Nazi trash to go back under their rocks, possibly.  But with all of the red meat being thrown, ie. Don’t Say Gay bill, CRT lies, etc, beating them back at the polls will be an ongoing effort as usual.

  73. 73.

    Calouste

    April 24, 2022 at 3:03 pm

    @Barbara: Mélenchon (left winger) was only 1.2% behind Le Pen in the first round. You wouldn’t have heard about it in a lot of media, because it didn’t fit the narrative.

  74. 74.

    debbie

    April 24, 2022 at 3:03 pm

    It’s also a real pleasure not to hear anything about disputing the results or demanding a recount.

  75. 75.

    oldster

    April 24, 2022 at 3:04 pm

    Now I wish there was a way to sweep the Putin enablers out of the German government.

    Baerbock is good, thank god, and young: she got it right about Nordstream 2 many years ago, and she is saying the right things now.

    But Scholz is a huge disappointment. We knew that Schroeder was bought and paid for; we knew that AfD was a Kremlin front. Austria is always atrocious. But no one expected Scholz to be this bad, esp when German public opinion is supportive of greater involvement.

  76. 76.

    trollhattan

    April 24, 2022 at 3:05 pm

    Also, too, the last French president reelected was in 2002 (Chirac).

  77. 77.

    Barbara

    April 24, 2022 at 3:05 pm

    @Calouste: ​
    I was aware. But the more MOR parties seem to have really faded. Why is that?

  78. 78.

    Geminid

    April 24, 2022 at 3:06 pm

    @Barbara: One thing that reporting on this election made me realize is how much the Socialist Party of Mitterand and the Republican Front(?) of Chirac have declined. I think they finished in single digits in the first round.

  79. 79.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 24, 2022 at 3:07 pm

    @Calouste: Yeah, the big story for me was how much Melanchon outperformed expectations.

  80. 80.

    debbie

    April 24, 2022 at 3:08 pm

    @oldster:

    We need more than sweeping them out. We need to understand how they can continue supporting Putin in light of his actions.

  81. 81.

    Carlo Graziani

    April 24, 2022 at 3:15 pm

    Aux armes, citoyens!

    Formez Vos battalions!!

    Marchons! Marchons! Qu’un…

    Well, let’s not go on with the lyrics, it’s a good tune anyway. Color me relieved.

    And, I bet Putin is pissed as hell. Another one of his inside straight plays somehow fails to pay off. What a khuylo.

  82. 82.

    m.j.

    April 24, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    Disney should issue formal congratulations to Macron.

  83. 83.

    NotMax

    April 24, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    Viva la France

    Spench? Frenish?

    ;)

  84. 84.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    @Carlo Graziani:

    I like that it doesn’t sound like a compliment, but what is a khuylo?

  85. 85.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 24, 2022 at 3:22 pm

    @Elizabelle: I am relieved. I am not rejoicing.

  86. 86.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 24, 2022 at 3:23 pm

    @WaterGirl:  Vulgar slang, approximately “dickhead. “

  87. 87.

    burnspbesq

    April 24, 2022 at 3:23 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Macron himself isn’t great

    He beats the merde out of Flobalob.

  88. 88.

    Carlo Graziani

    April 24, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    @WaterGirl: Oh, Wow. I wish I could recall the Nym of the BJ commenter who referred us to this longform blog post, a work of sheer genius, worthy of an Orwell essay, that made me envious of her writing skill, and which explains the etymology of “khuylo” and the history and significance of its application to Putin perfectly. Everyone should read the whole thing.

  89. 89.

    Jeffro

    April 24, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    I think we should rename the Democratic Party as “Democracy on the Move”   =)

  90. 90.

    JMG

    April 24, 2022 at 3:28 pm

    I was in France for the 2012 election, when Hollande, the Socialist, won. He then proceeded to destroy the Socialist party by after having campaigned against German-imposed fiscal austerity, promptly went along with it. The left voters rightly saw this as a betrayal, and Melenchon, who was a fringe candidate back then, has now more or less united the left behind him.

  91. 91.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 24, 2022 at 3:29 pm

    @Carlo Graziani: The commenter was whatever The Fat White Dutchess’ new nym is; the blogger is a friend of hers, and that post was indeed a work of genius. I have it bookmarked at home, where I am not.

  92. 92.

    Sure Lurkalot

    April 24, 2022 at 3:30 pm

    I read that TFG said at his hate fest last night that our elections should be like in France. Of course the message was “no fake mail in ballots” but I could be open to a Sunday in person election based on the popular vote.

    I actually used to believe we’d be rid of the electoral college in my lifetime. Must have been about the same time when I believed Americans preferred a democratic form of government.

  93. 93.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2022 at 3:30 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Ah, thank you.  “What a dick” is one of my favorites.

  94. 94.

    Brit in Chicago

    April 24, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    @Baud: I was jubilant when Obama won a second term but, in hindsight, I don’t think a Romney victory would have been a disaster. If he’d won a second term, there would have someone competent and sane (unless you think Mormonism is crazy) in charge when the pandemic struck. Possibly even a net gain, though there would certainly have been losses.

  95. 95.

    munira

    April 24, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Thank you. Saved me the trouble.

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: @Carlo Graziani:

    With that clue from Gin & Tonic, I can tell you that her nym is now Liminal Owl.  Not sure whether there’s a space in there or not.

  97. 97.

    Baud

    April 24, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    That’s what she said.

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2022 at 3:33 pm

    @Jeffro: Defenders of Democracy?

  99. 99.

    MazeDancer

    April 24, 2022 at 3:33 pm

    Macron has an approval rating in the 30’s. And he just achieved a 16 point victory.

    Will take le meme chose of people voting to save Democracy in the midterms.

  100. 100.

    Baud

    April 24, 2022 at 3:34 pm

    @MazeDancer:

    Exactly.

  101. 101.

    JMG

    April 24, 2022 at 3:34 pm

    I should add that within both the Socialist and the traditional center-right parties that were the heirs of deGaulle, corruption has been rampant for a long long time.

  102. 102.

    Baud

    April 24, 2022 at 3:35 pm

    @Brit in Chicago:

    In hindsight, probably true.  Romney didn’t seem undisasterous at the time.

  103. 103.

    TaMara

    April 24, 2022 at 3:36 pm

    @m.j.: This is an underrated comment.

  104. 104.

    burnspbesq

    April 24, 2022 at 3:37 pm

    @Carlo Graziani:

    I’m amused by the way the author misrendered the names of Ukrainian football clubs as though they were NFL teams. Kharkiv Metalists? Sure—as soon as we can refer to 1849 San Francisco.

  105. 105.

    Carlo Graziani

    April 24, 2022 at 3:41 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: incidentally, today’s NYT Magazine has an article (paywalled) on a new coinage in use in Ukrainian: apparently “рашизм” in Cyrillic (I copy-pasted, of course), which is pronounced “ruscism”.

    I expect that one to start showing up in Adam’s evening posts soon enough.

  106. 106.

    Elizabelle

    April 24, 2022 at 3:42 pm

    @Baud:

    The Constitution could end up being a suicide pact.

    I think we might need to drop that into conversation more often.  Get the concept out there.

    The Founders were sure right about separation of Church and State, though.  Problem is that rightwing tending to fascism HAS become a religion.

    And the liars who promote it are hiding behind the First Amendment.

  107. 107.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 3:43 pm

    @Carlo Graziani: This has been discussed on the Slavic listserv. It is not new at all. It goes back at least to 2015.

    ETA: I haven’t read the article because I’m kind of sick of Snyder, but that isn’t the right pronunciation.

    ETA: The point is is rhymes with the word for fascism/fascists.

  108. 108.

    Elizabelle

    April 24, 2022 at 3:43 pm

    @ Brit in Chicago and @Baud:   With VP Paul Ryan queued up?  Do we forget that?

    That said, Romney is what passes for a principled and decent guy, on that side of the aisle.  And he does possess some decency, in there with other aspects of his personality.

  109. 109.

    Calouste

    April 24, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    @JMG: The problem with recent French presidents seems to be that they listen a lot to economic advisers who think that France should be more like the US, where the French voters want France to be like France, with 35 hour working weeks, six weeks vacation, and retirement in your early sixties.

  110. 110.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 24, 2022 at 3:45 pm

    @burnspbesq: So much else in that piece was so good, that this was an easy one to let slide, especially from someone presumably unfamiliar with Ukrainian football.

  111. 111.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 3:45 pm

    @Carlo Graziani: To be clear, I’m quoting the following.

    I hate to rain on his parade, but… a little search shows that the word “Rashism” has been used in print at least since 2015:

    [PDF] ceon.rs
    World War II 2.0: Digital memory of fascism in Russia in the aftermath of Euromaidan in Ukraine
    E Gaufman – Journal of Regional Security, 2015 – ceeol.com
    … Pro-Ukrainian commentators have also used the word ‘Rashism’ (conflation of ‘Russia’ and
    ‘fascism’) to emphasize the aggressive intentions of Russia. Another word that is often used …

    It is my pleasure to point out the article of a friend and a college Elena Shmeleva, also from 2015:

    [HTML] Интернет-коммуникация: новые тенденции в русском словообразовании
    ЕЯ Шмелева – Верхневолжский филологический вестник, 2015 – cyberleninka.ru
    … , -ист слова рашизм (идеология «великорусскости», от пренебрежительного названия
    России – Раша, Рашка) и рашист (тот, кто придерживается идеологии рашизма) имеют …

    As you can see, the two definitions are a bit different, which is not uncommon.

    Now that there is a Wikipedia page it might become more popular, of course.

  112. 112.

    James E Powell

    April 24, 2022 at 3:46 pm

    @JMG:

    At the time, it seemed like the entire world’s center-left (left-center?) parties embraced austerity. A grievous error.

  113. 113.

    MazeDancer

    April 24, 2022 at 3:46 pm

    Slovenia had an election today, too. They ditched their populist PM.

    Putin helps Democracy again.

  114. 114.

    Carlo Graziani

    April 24, 2022 at 3:49 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I see. New one on me, though. Seems like it would be useful to spread it into the Anglosphere. 

  115. 115.

    Elizabelle

    April 24, 2022 at 3:51 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:   Relieved is good.  Some days, I will take relieved.

  116. 116.

    Jeffro

    April 24, 2022 at 3:52 pm

    @Carlo Graziani: that’s excellent

    Annnnnd now I want a ‘Kyiv Dynamos’ jersey, too!

  117. 117.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 24, 2022 at 3:52 pm

    @Carlo Graziani: Zhena gogolia is right on the origin and pronunciation. But I can add that there’s also a derisive pronunciation of “Russia,” at least among western-exposed Ukrainians, close to “RA-sha,” which mirrors the first syllable of рашист.

    ETA: I see that referenced in her later comment.

  118. 118.

    Jeffro

    April 24, 2022 at 3:54 pm

    @WaterGirl: I like it.

  119. 119.

    Carlo Graziani

    April 24, 2022 at 3:54 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Hm. To an anglophonic ear, I can see why “ruscism” would make a more compelling portmanteau than “rashism”. The former does more work to actually indict Russia. Possibly this is wasted effort in Slavic languages?

    ETA: Seeing Gin & Tonic’s explanation now, which makes sense.

  120. 120.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    @Carlo Graziani: I’ve been seeing it in tweets that Adam has posted. But maybe I see it because it’s in Cyrillic. Not sure I’ve seen it transliterated. I thought it was fairly widespread, but maybe only in Ukr/Russ.

    It’s poignant, because “fashisty” is what Russians use to refer to Nazi Germany.

  121. 121.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 3:56 pm

    @Carlo Graziani: It’s pronounced rah – SHIST-i, not rooshisty.

    ETA: As with most translations, you’re going to lose a lot of secondary associations if you try to capture it with something like “ruscism.” I don’t think it will work. I almost used рашисты here the other day, but as a non-Ukrainian I don’t think it works coming from me.

  122. 122.

    Sure Lurkalot

    April 24, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    @James E Powell: Re austerity, I still hear “we’re going to be Greece” now and again.

  123. 123.

    Carlo Graziani

    April 24, 2022 at 3:58 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Oddly, that makes it sound very Italian.

  124. 124.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 24, 2022 at 3:58 pm

    @Carlo Graziani: Part of the problem is that the short “u” phoneme as in “bug” is not present in Ukrainian. The flat “a” is the closest analogue.

  125. 125.

    Dangerman

    April 24, 2022 at 3:59 pm

    @Mike in NC: I assume Orrin Hatch will be buried in Utah…

    …which could present a problem given Utah is kind of a dry state; I’m not sure it’ll be easy to get a 12 or 24 pack in the local stores for the appropriate “regards”.

  126. 126.

    Brachiator

    April 24, 2022 at 4:00 pm

    @Calouste:

    where the French voters want France to be like France, with 35 hour working weeks, six weeks vacation, and retirement in your early sixties.

    Of course the French can achieve this only by settling on economic stagnation and becoming a second rate nation. This fate would be even worse had Le Pen been elected and been free to try to push immigrants out of the economy.

    The UK, on the other hand, seems intent on becoming a third rate country as the Tories push for an absurd and futile combination of laissez faire economics and crony capitalism.

  127. 127.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 4:00 pm

    @Carlo Graziani: The Italian word would be closer.

  128. 128.

    Sloane Ranger

    April 24, 2022 at 4:07 pm

    Listened to the BBC interview some French voters this morning. Several left wingers were saying that they disagreed with almost all of Macron’s policies, but they’d be holding their noses and voting for him because it was more important to keep the Fascists out.

  129. 129.

    Ruckus ??

    April 24, 2022 at 4:10 pm

    @Calouste:

    It wasn’t always any better before Ike picked RN.

    Politics is a battle between nothing changing and very slow progress. Because humans. And our system has it’s flaws, like every other system known to humans. Some want no rules, some want blandness, some want complete overturn to something better, some want complete overturn to something worse, and some have their heads so far up their butts that they could be related to SFB. It takes all kinds to make a human race, and we got em. The last 75 yrs has been a time of greater change because of communication. And it goes both ways, better communications go both ways – better and worse information gets better and worse politics.

  130. 130.

    trollhattan

    April 24, 2022 at 4:11 pm

    Meanwhile, war-criming that’s not technically a war crime.

    Dozens of civilians who died during the Russian occupation of the Ukrainian city of Bucha were killed by tiny metal arrows from shells of a type fired by Russian artillery, forensic doctors have said.
    Pathologists and coroners who are carrying out postmortems on bodies found in mass graves in the region north of Kyiv, where occupying Russian forces have been accused of atrocities, said they had found small metal darts, called fléchettes, embedded in people’s heads and chests.

    “We found several really thin, nail-like objects in the bodies of men and women and so did others of my colleagues in the region,” Vladyslav Pirovskyi, a Ukrainian forensic doctor, told the Guardian. “It is very hard to find those in the body, they are too thin. The majority of these bodies come from the Bucha-Irpin region.”
    Independent weapons experts who reviewed pictures of the metal arrows found in the bodies, seen by the Guardian, confirmed that they were fléchettes, an anti-personnel weapon widely used during the first world war.
    These small metal darts are contained in tank or field gun shells. Each shell can contain up to 8,000 fléchettes. Once fired, shells burst when a timed fuse detonates and explodes above the ground.
    Fléchettes, typically between 3cm and 4cm in length, release from the shell and disperse in a conical arch about 300m wide and 100m long. On impact with a victim’s body, the dart can lose rigidity, bending into a hook, while the arrow’s rear, made of four fins, often breaks away causing a second wound.
    According to a number of witnesses in Bucha, fléchette rounds were fired by Russian artillery a few days before forces withdrew from the area at the end of March.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/24/dozens-bucha-civilians-killed-flechettes-metal-darts-russian-artillery

  131. 131.

    Citizen Alan

    April 24, 2022 at 4:15 pm

    @japa21:

    Honestly, I can’t help but wonder how much of that 40% was actually leftists who voted against macron because they think le Pen will usher in the new socialist revolution.  How do you say Susan Sarandon in French?

  132. 132.

    Medicine Man

    April 24, 2022 at 4:17 pm

    Oh thank Christ.

  133. 133.

    Glidwrith

    April 24, 2022 at 4:22 pm

    @MazeDancer: I’m not familiar with Slovenian politics. Since a populist is usually bad news, can I assume the PM being thrown out of power is a good thing?

  134. 134.

    Kay

    April 24, 2022 at 4:23 pm

    On Friday afternoon, the small convoy of semitrucks, pickup trucks, minivans and other cars drove to Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks’ East Bay home to protest her support of an abortion rights bill. As they honked and used bullhorns in the quiet residential neighborhood, neighbors gathered to heckle them right back, yelling at the truckers to get off their street.
    Livestreams posted by convoy participants show police arriving to protect Wicks’ home, which eventually prompted the group to move on. It was here the convoy members made their mistake, driving onto busy, one-lane College Avenue on the Berkeley-Oakland border. There, slowed down by the usual Friday afternoon traffic, they were sitting ducks outside the Safeway. A large group of kids, armed with eggs purchased at the grocery store, began pelting the convoy.

    In the aftermath of its defeat at the Rockridge Safeway, the convoy has returned to Sacramento Raceway Park. It’s unclear what its future plans are, but according to its website, it has raised nearly $1.9 million in donations.

  135. 135.

    Ruckus ??

    April 24, 2022 at 4:27 pm

    @James E Powell:

    There are varying degrees, but every Republican is an a hole.

    From big to bigger to damn, how did one get that big.

  136. 136.

    brendancalling

    April 24, 2022 at 4:33 pm

    I hope Orrin enjoys burning in Hell.

  137. 137.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2022 at 4:35 pm

    @brendancalling: Have you had your job interview yet?

  138. 138.

    brendancalling

    April 24, 2022 at 4:38 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: my ex pronounced “bug” as “baaag.” Russia was “Rahsha.”

    I miss her and her accent.

  139. 139.

    Ishiyama

    April 24, 2022 at 4:38 pm

    @James E Powell: And I believe there is a term for that governing philosophy.

  140. 140.

    brendancalling

    April 24, 2022 at 4:39 pm

    @WaterGirl: I had two interviews at two different schools in Philly, and another this Friday. I also have an interview here in Burlington on Wednesday, although that’s mainly my backstop. I wanna get back to Philly.

  141. 141.

    Ksmiami

    April 24, 2022 at 4:41 pm

    @debbie: Or we can suspend all German business transaction with the US until they remember that we are the leader and they’re the client state. Tighten the screws

  142. 142.

    trollhattan

    April 24, 2022 at 4:42 pm

    @Kay: Antifa is using egg tactics now? Will they stop at nothing?

  143. 143.

    Raven

    April 24, 2022 at 4:45 pm

    @trollhattan: Beehives

  144. 144.

    Kay

    April 24, 2022 at 4:49 pm

    @trollhattan:

    They get really excited when they make contact with the first truck – jumping up and down.

    The convey were surprised and disappointed by their reception. I can’t imagine what goes on in these peoples head at this point- they have convinced themselves they’ll be greeted as liberators.

    Also-weren’t we told repeatedly they objected to vaccine and mask tyranny- that was the specific grievance? They went there to scream at people about abortion.

  145. 145.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2022 at 4:54 pm

    @brendancalling:  that’s great.

    Oh, I was thinking of the full-time position where you are now, even though you want to move.

    Are all of these full-time?

  146. 146.

    MagdaInBlack

    April 24, 2022 at 5:01 pm

    @Kay: They just want to be mad, Kay. Petulant children.

    I do love the ridiculousness of being driven out with eggs. ?

  147. 147.

    Spanky

    April 24, 2022 at 5:02 pm

    @brendancalling:

    I wanna get back to Philly.

    Now there’s a sentence you don’t see everyday.

  148. 148.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2022 at 5:03 pm

    @Spanky: Home is where the heart is.

  149. 149.

    Elizabelle

    April 24, 2022 at 5:03 pm

    @Kay:   LOL.  And this in a time when we are told eggs are scarcer and more expensive.

    You go, kids.

  150. 150.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 5:04 pm

    @Spanky: I’m watching This Is Spinal Tap for the first time in my life. It’s pretty funny. Christopher Guest is hilarious. I love when Tony Hendra is explaining that Philly is the rock capital of America.

  151. 151.

    Felanius Kootea

    April 24, 2022 at 5:04 pm

    @thruppence: Don’t worry, the New York Times is on the case.  Expect French diner stories from now through forever.

  152. 152.

    BC in Illinois

    April 24, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    President Macron, on Twitter:

    À celles et ceux qui ont voté pour moi, non pour soutenir mes idées mais pour faire barrage à celles de l’extrême droite, votre vote m’oblige. Ce soir, je ne suis plus le candidat d’un camp, mais le Président de toutes et tous.

    To those who voted for me, not to support my ideas but to block those of the extreme right, your vote obliges me. This evening, I am no longer the candidate of one camp, but the President of all. [par google traduction]

  153. 153.

    Calouste

    April 24, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    @Kay:

    [the anti-abortion convoy] has raised almost $1.9 million in donations

    I remember one of the grievances Martin Luther had against the Roman Catholic Church was that you could basically buy your way into heaven by making donations to the church. It seems like current day evangelicals just have a little more circuitous way to try to achieve the same effect.

  154. 154.

    debbie

    April 24, 2022 at 5:10 pm

    @Spanky:

    W.C. Fields begs to differ.

  155. 155.

    Kay

    April 24, 2022 at 5:11 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    They yell at them “we’re fighting for your freedom too!” but I don’t think the kids heard them over their celebrations of each direct egg hit.

  156. 156.

    Steeplejack

    April 24, 2022 at 5:16 pm

    I went over to LGM to read the Orrin Hatch obit (very good, by the way) and happened to catch this Paul Campos gem in his piece on the Michigan GQP:

    Grifters like DeSantis, Cruz, Hawley, etc., are trying to position themselves to grab the tiara should it tumble from Dear Leader’s magnificent coiffure, but that’s only going to happen when Trump is either dead, completely incapacitated physically and mentally, or in prison after the successful completion of Merrick Garland’s super secret and therefore all the more devastating investigation into the incredibly obscure and complex question of whether Donald Trump led a seditious attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, on live TV that one time.

    I know we argue about what’s happening with Garland, but that’s funny.

  157. 157.

    Felanius Kootea

    April 24, 2022 at 5:16 pm

    @Calouste: Didn’t the left leaning candidates basically split the vote?  There’s a lesson to be learned there.

  158. 158.

    AxelFoley

    April 24, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    @Brit in Chicago: LOL no, Romney would have been a disaster. I guess you’ve not been paying attention to the Republican Party for the last 20+ years.

  159. 159.

    Uncle Cosmo

    April 24, 2022 at 5:24 pm

    @Dangerman: Utah is not at all “a dry state” – but it does have fairly weird alcohol laws, according to this website.

    (It ain’t so much what we don’t know, as what we know that just ain’t so. – Artemus Ward)

  160. 160.

    wetzel

    April 24, 2022 at 5:24 pm

    Fascist candidates make elections a ratchet to totalitarianism. If they win, you can’t get them out. A true fascist, like Trump, will use extra-Constitutional means to stay in power.

  161. 161.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 24, 2022 at 5:27 pm

    @AxelFoley: Agreed.  Any win against the GOP is a win.  Any other way of looking at it is a version of “heightening the contradictions.”

  162. 162.

    Cameron

    April 24, 2022 at 5:29 pm

    @MazeDancer: Outstanding! I’ve been hoping that could be my getaway place when DeSantis finally gets around to declaring martial law here in Florida.

  163. 163.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 5:33 pm

    @AxelFoley: yes.

  164. 164.

    MazeDancer

    April 24, 2022 at 5:34 pm

    @Glidwrith: Yes, a very good thing.

  165. 165.

    Cameron

    April 24, 2022 at 5:37 pm

    @Kay: “The Battle of Rockridge Safeway” will have a cherished place in wingnut lore for the next…..fifteen or twenty minutes at most.

  166. 166.

    J R in WV

    April 24, 2022 at 5:40 pm

    I have noticed that in statements from Ukrainian officials, the name of the attacking forces is always spelled with a lower  case “r” — as in russian forces did whatever despicable things yesterday!

  167. 167.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    April 24, 2022 at 5:42 pm

    Speaking of politics, in my judicial race in the Louisville exurbs, I am literally the only registered Democrat running in any race in the largest demographic lump county of this three county circuit (Kentucky judicial elections are nonpartisan).  I’ve been publicly shamed and barred from events (which has pissed off the local candidates I’ve interacted with at a ton of events – they like me). Today, I learned from a GOP candidate for jailer (he likes me a lot) that a number of my yard signs placed with others in the public right of ways around this most populous county were collected and placed in a county dumpster behind the county courthouse. I went, and sure enough, they’d pulled up a solid 10 signs (strategically placed) from a village of about 4000.  They’d separated the signs from the frames and then wrecked half the frames. Of course, everyone else’s signs are still up.

    I have a solid suspect in who caused it to happen. It’s the c*** who shut me down at the GOP judicial forum, who has known me for over 20 years and whose husband used to share office space with me.  You could see her driving route with regard to removed signs – she lives in the center of the removal area, and the lifted signs include some I placed on exit ramps.

    Was I filled with insensate, inchoate rage?  Yes. Will I place three in her yard in the dark of night with a “fuck you, Debby and Mike, I know what you assholes did” note attached at the bottom? Perhaps…

    Am I saving the bulk of my remaining signs for the other counties in the circuit? Yes…

  168. 168.

    kalakal

    April 24, 2022 at 5:43 pm

    @debbie:

    Butter Chicken Goblin

  169. 169.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    April 24, 2022 at 5:45 pm

    White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was warned before Jan. 6, 2021, about the threat of violence that day as supporters of President Donald Trump planned to mass at the U.S. Capitol, according to new testimony released late Friday by the House committee investigating the insurrection.
    One of Meadows’s top aides, Cassidy Hutchinson, told congressional investigators she recalled Anthony Ornato, a senior Secret Service official who also held the role of a political adviser at the White House, “coming in and saying that we had intel reports saying that there could potentially be violence on the 6th. And Mr. Meadows said: All right. Let’s talk about it.”
    Hutchinson added, “I’m not sure if he — what he did with that information internally.”

    Carol Leonnig @CarolLeonnig 1h
    This decision to allow a USSS agent – who is sworn to be above politics -to serve as a Presidential political adviser crossed a major line for @SecretService. It was approved by current director James Murray at Trump’s urging, a decision that infuriated current and former agents

  170. 170.

    Elizabelle

    April 24, 2022 at 5:45 pm

    @Kay:   “Free-dumb!”  *SPLAT

  171. 171.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 24, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I adore all those Christopher Guest movies. Spinal Tap is wonderful, as are A Mighty Wind, Waiting for Guffman, and the rest. But by orders of magnitude, my all-time favourite is Best in Show.

  172. 172.

    kalakal

    April 24, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    That’s a great relief.

    Vive la France. A bas les fascistes

  173. 173.

    NotMax

    April 24, 2022 at 5:50 pm

    @Kay

    Since when does fighting = driving?

  174. 174.

    Brachiator

    April 24, 2022 at 5:51 pm

    @BC in Illinois:

    To those who voted for me, not to support my ideas but to block those of the extreme right, your vote obliges me. This evening, I am no longer the candidate of one camp, but the President of all.

    Well said. Good luck to him.

  175. 175.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    April 24, 2022 at 5:51 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Investigators also have found evidence that Meadows repeatedly communicated with GOP Reps. Scott Perry (Pa.) and Jim Jordan (Ohio) before and on Jan. 6, 2021. Hutchinson identified Perry, Jordan, and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) as the leading proponents in Congress “who were raising the idea of the Vice President doing anything other than just counting electoral votes on January the 6th.”

  176. 176.

    Kay

    April 24, 2022 at 5:53 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    The convoy participant who is livestreaming says calmly “it’s convenient for them because the Safeway is right there”.

    Big flaw in the battle plan

  177. 177.

    Bupalos

    April 24, 2022 at 5:54 pm

    @Brachiator: I’m not sure what is supposed to make a country “first rate” if not time to actually practice freedom. Also I think there’s a fair amount of research suggesting marginally reducing working hours doesn’t significantly negatively impact productivity.

  178. 178.

    kalakal

    April 24, 2022 at 5:54 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Stonehenge has me in stitches every time. And the ‘interviews’ are hysterical, espescially Harry Shearers.

  179. 179.

    Elizabelle

    April 24, 2022 at 5:55 pm

    @Kay:   Perhaps some of the truckers transported the eggs into Safeway, in their reefers.  Alas.

  180. 180.

    Another Scott

    April 24, 2022 at 5:56 pm

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:  Keep fighting the good fight.  It’s important.

    Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  181. 181.

    persistentillusion

    April 24, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Or you could do what a friend of mine did in 2012 after the 8th time her Obama sign was stolen or vandalized. (Red town in a blue state.) Got a Realtor friend to get her a real estate sign (metal and heavy), put an Obama sign on each face of the sign and using clear plastic tape, tape the bejesus out of the sign.  Placed it in her front yard, next to a metal fence and, with a chain and padlock, chained it to the fence.  Made the neighborhood Neo-nazi kids crazy.

  182. 182.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 6:08 pm

    @J R in WV: That’s normal practice. Adjectives referring to nationalities don’t get capitalized.

  183. 183.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 6:09 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: “namin’ nuts”

  184. 184.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 6:10 pm

    @J R in WV: How’s your wife doing? I was thinking about her at 3:00 AM.

  185. 185.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 24, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    @zhena gogolia: However, until fairly recently it had been standard practice for translated statements to follow the target language’s orthography.

  186. 186.

    Ruckus ??

    April 24, 2022 at 6:29 pm

    @Kay:

    They went there to scream at people.

    FIXIT for you. Code words work with them because they know that no one knows what the hell the code actually means. The basically get to scream at everyone and make noise, be seen, be heard, and in their minds yell about everything wrong with the world.

    If they only had mirrors……

  187. 187.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 6:32 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Interesting.

  188. 188.

    randal m sexton

    April 24, 2022 at 6:48 pm

    Le Sigh of Le Relief. Vive France, Vive la Republic.

  189. 189.

    J R in WV

    April 24, 2022 at 6:56 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Wife is doing well. Will see the neurosurgeon next week, still has the original post-op bandage on her neck below her right jaw.

    My role now is to keep her calm, and from doing too much too soon.

    Thanks for thinking of us! The support from the B-J commentaries has been a big help for me !!

  190. 190.

    zhena gogolia

    April 24, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    @J R in WV: I hope she continues to improve rapidly.

  191. 191.

    ian

    April 24, 2022 at 7:01 pm

    @Ksmiami:

    Or we can suspend all German business transaction with the US until they remember that we are the leader and they’re the client state.

    Sometimes I wonder what goes on in your head.

  192. 192.

    Dan B

    April 24, 2022 at 7:17 pm

    My partner’s former brother in law is from Senegal.  He despises Macron for what he’s done in Mali and I assume other former colonies.  Sounded as though he might have preferred Le Pen because of Macron’s treatment of Mali.  I believe she would have been far worse.

    I don’t know what transpired with Mali.

  193. 193.

    Ken

    April 24, 2022 at 7:45 pm

    @Calouste: I remember one of the grievances Martin Luther had against the Roman Catholic Church was that you could basically buy your way into heaven by making donations to the church. It seems like current day evangelicals just have a little more circuitous way to try to achieve the same effect.

    But not, perhaps, the same destination.

  194. 194.

    Spc

    April 24, 2022 at 8:36 pm

    @Barbara: the left got close in the runoff – just behind Le Pen but they have some issues of their own.

  195. 195.

    Geminid

    April 24, 2022 at 8:40 pm

    @Dan B: The French waged war against insurgents in Mali for most of the last decade. This person’s grievance against Macron might come out of that conflict.

  196. 196.

    No One You Know

    April 24, 2022 at 8:46 pm

    @Cameron: I wonder if that ballad could be set to the tune of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

  197. 197.

    Fake Irishman

    April 24, 2022 at 8:53 pm

    @MazeDancer:

    thats legitimately good news.

  198. 198.

    YY_Sima Qian

    April 24, 2022 at 8:54 pm

    That’s a relief!

  199. 199.

    Misterpuff

    April 24, 2022 at 10:20 pm

    @brendancalling: I hope he gets his planet but his number one wife makes it hell on him and her younger sister wives.

  200. 200.

    tybee

    April 24, 2022 at 10:26 pm

    @trollhattan:

    in the US, that’s a “beehive” round.  been around since the late 60’s

  201. 201.

    tybee

    April 24, 2022 at 10:27 pm

    @Raven:

     

    da

  202. 202.

    Carlo Graziani

    April 24, 2022 at 10:33 pm

    @kalakal: “I wouldn’t worry about Boston. Not a big college town.”

  203. 203.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 24, 2022 at 10:37 pm

    The unspeakable vermin of the Village are of course talking more about LePen picking up a couple of percentage points than Macron cleaning her clock.

  204. 204.

    Carlo Graziani

    April 24, 2022 at 11:11 pm

    @Brit in Chicago: 

    I was jubilant when Obama won a second term but, in hindsight, I don’t think a Romney victory would have been a disaster. If he’d won a second term, there would have someone competent and sane (unless you think Mormonism is crazy) in charge when the pandemic struck. Possibly even a net gain, though there would certainly have been losses.

    I’ll add a little—polite—pushback to this, because I see a good deal of plaudits in profiles about people such as Romney, Ryan, and McCain that give them credit for the sense that they showed when theit political careers were not at any kind of risk, but which fail to mention the utterly craven pandering to which they were perfectly capable of stooping when they felt that they needed to out-ignorant their election opponents.

    Romney disavowed the ACA, a health policy not different in its essentials from the one he supported and signed into law as Governor of Massachussets, because he needed to sign on to the GOP’s toxic “everything Obama wants must die” purely destructive platform. He coyly played footsie with birtherism, and campaigned on fatuities such as “binders full of women”, while showing his true colors in that secretly-recorded video in which he confided his view that Obama voters were freeloading welfare-dependent dead weight.

    All of which by way of saying that as President, his political obligations would have been to Q and to Wall Street.  Looking to his post-2012-loss behavior for guidance on a Romney Presidency is too alternate-universe. He was free of having to cater to an annoying national electorate at that point.

  205. 205.

    Amir Khalid

    April 25, 2022 at 12:15 am

    @Ksmiami:

    The kind of high-handedness you propose is how Putin operates. It is offensive to America’s allies, and ultimately doesn’t work.

  206. 206.

    Steeplejack

    April 25, 2022 at 1:00 am

    @tybee:

    We used flechettes in Vietnam, to our great shame. Fired from Cobra gunships and also fixed-wing aircraft, I believe. Saw a documentary about that once, but I can’t find it now.

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