Mark Steyn: The Eurosnots learn nothing

National Post (Canada) ^ | 04/26/2002 | Mark Steyn

[Carolina]

In practice, this boils down to a candidate who's left of right of left of centre, and a candidate who's right of left of right of left of centre.

Okay, my head's spinning.

[toddst]

Very interesting article - thanks for posting.

The French are undergoing a terrible wave of criminality, in which thousands of cars are routinely torched for fun and more and more immigrant suburbs are no-go areas for the police. Chirac and Jospin's unwillingness even to address this issue only confirmed their image as the arrogant co-regents of a remote, insulated elite.

I've not seen this situation described before. No wonder the immigrant issue hit a nerve. Exporting of immigrants IS a big deal solution on the minds of many Frenchmen, apparently. This is one to watch.

[jalisco555]

Thanks for the ping. One of his best ever.

[Grig]

The Canadian PM is reportatly in a bit of a tizzy over the possibility of the same kind of thing happening here and the 'extreemist' Canadian Alliance taking power. I would be so happy if that actually happens

[Cuttnhorse]

I resent the characterization of M. Le Pen as "extreme right."

My sentiments exactly...have never been able to understand why he is consistantly characterized as"extreme right." Hell, my wife says I'm extreme right and I don't believe in any of the junk this guy does.
My wife also says I'm so politically narrow-minded I can look through a keyhole with both eyes.

[VadeRetro]

Europe's ruling class has effortlessly refined Voltaire: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death my right not to have to listen to you say it.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[eureka!]

Ah, the inimitable Steyn pens wonderfully again....

[Cuttnhorse]

Le Pen wants to get tough on crime; Chispac and Jorin think this, too, is beneath discussion, and that may have been their mistake. European Union and even immigration are lofty, philosophical issues. But crime is personal.

There have been some very interesting articles on crime in Europe lately...but it is a subject that no one in Europe wants to talk about...they prefer to point to the USA as the crime nation. Mark Steyn wrote a great article on crime in England and how it skyrocketed about the time England confiscated everyone's fire arms.

[crystalk]

Gets Best of This Week on FR Award.

[Cuttnhorse]

Ah, the inimitable Steyn pens wonderfully again....
He is my favorite!

[LisaFab]

Extreme right = Evil, subhuman bogeyman

It matters not what one's actual positions may be, if you're wrong you're a right-winger.

[MeekOneGOP]

Mark Steyn: The Eurosnots learn nothing

Excerpt:

The Eurosnots, of course, learn nothing. President Chirac, for his part, has announced that he will not deign to debate his opponent during the remaining two weeks of the campaign. M. Le Pen beat M. Chirac in nine of France's 22 districts. Unlovely he may be, but he is the legitimate standard-bearer for democratic opposition to Chirac. By refusing to engage, the President is doing a grave disservice to French democracy. Similarly, Gerhard Schroeder, facing difficult electoral prospects this fall, is now warning German conservatives that he will decline to participate in a "campaign of fear" -- i.e., on touchy issues. But the way you defeat poisonous ideas is to expose them to the bracing air of open debate. In Marseilles, they're burning synagogues. In Berlin, the police advise Jews not to leave their homes in skullcaps or other identifying marks of their faith. But Europe's political establishments insist that, on immigration and crime, there's nothing to talk about.

A century and a half ago, Tsar Nicholas I described Turkey as "the sick man of Europe." Today, the sick man of Europe is the European -- the urbane Continental princelings like Chirac and Michel, gliding from capital to capital building their Eutopia, oblivious to the popular will except on those rare occasions, such as Sunday, when the people do something so impertinent they finally catch the eye of their haughty maître d'. I've said before that September 11th will prove to be like the Archduke's assassination in Sarajevo -- one of those events that shatters the known world. To the list of polities destined to slip down the Eurinal of history, we must add the European Union and France's Fifth Republic. The only question is how messy their disintegration will be.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[TopQuark]

Dennis, reading about Erope makes me want to howl even when the moon is not full...

[Tolik]

Thanks for the ping.

Juicy Steyn is ripe for quotes.

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

To the list of polities destined to slip down the Eurinal of history, we must add the European Union and France's Fifth Republic.

LOL.  This guy's pen is a major cause of acid rain.

[hang 'em]

I suggest you upgrade to a Commodore 64^TM.

[Nonstatist]

. Chirac and Jospin ran on identical platforms -- they're both in favour of high taxes, high unemployment and high crime. So, with no significant policy differences between them, the two candidates were relying on their personal appeal, which, given that one's a fraud and the other's a dullard, was asking rather too much of French voters

Steyn is hilarious, and right on the money.

[jla]

So, when are the "Eurosnots" in Ireland going to elect a PD as Taoiseach?

[rohry]

Great article! And we thought we had limited choices for leaders in the USA!

[dighton]

Bump for Steyn in top form.