Allons, Enfants de l'Europe
Today is the first election in France, to weed out all the extra candidates, and narrow the field down to two, from which number the President of the Republic will be chosen next month. Since the Brexit referendum last year, and the Dutch elections this year, it is the election that will have the most influence on the future of Europe. In a world where national elections have international repercussions, everyone is worried. I have seen pictures already of long lines at polling places set up in foreign countries for French citizens. Everyone wants to have their say. The five major candidates are different, and some of their views remind one of others, elsewhere. Marine LePen is the scariest of all. She is completely anti-Europe, anti-immigrant, anti-anything-that-is-not-pure-French-all-the-way-back-to-Charlemagne. After the firefight that killed a police officer in Paris last week, she screamed that the terrorist attacks wouldn't have happened if the terrorists hadn't been ...