Sunday, April 21, 2002

Update: I'm reading the NY Times report on it right now. LePen is an extreme right-wing candidate.

The TImes apparently can't face the truth of the matter either. The only man on the street quote they can come up with is ``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.''

LePen probably won't absorb most of those votes that Jospin had, so it will probably be Chirac again. But, it should be a wake up call that things have to change. Hopefully Chirac will take it as a mandeate to take steps to crack down on crime and try to inject some moderate measures to a country that has been sliding off the table toward a shattering on the floor for years. Their economy presently ranks 13th of the 15 EU countries. Voter apathy is very high in France and turnout is historically low as the vast majority of the people do not believe the government actually has their best interest at heart. This should make it clear to Chirac clear that they want change.

With the swings in other nations, toward the right (Spain, Austria, Italy) and probable swings coming (Norway, Holland) and the addition of the Eastern European (aside from England, our staunchest supporters) countries that spent years under the tyranny of Communism there could be a glimmer of hope on the horizon for Europe. A vibrant and moderate Europe moving away from the paternal bureaucratic stateship more closely aliied with American thought could bring some real change to the struggling countries out there and send a strong message to the petty hate filled would be mass-murderers. I do really hope this but only time and the people of Europe will be able to show this to be true.

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