Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Trump Loses France, Bigly

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump, a man who fell three million votes short of carrying his own country in an election last fall, nevertheless feels that he holds great sway on the world stage.  In remarks dating back to the days when he was just a candidate - part of the pack of racist Republican wild hogs - Trump the hate-monger and immigrant-basher was quick to cast himself and his "tough" border stance as a prime reason for Britain voting itself out of the European Union ("Brexit") and for the ascension of Theresa May to head of the British government.  May was also quick to claim  a strong comradeship to Trump.  The two apparently harbored visions of being this decade's Reagan and Thatcher.

Now the British resolve to go it alone on trade appears to be cracking, and Scotland may very well vote to leave the United Kingdom.

But meanwhile back at Mar-a-Lago:

Trump had envisioned the start of a movement that was going to sweep the world.   Trumpism would encourage nativism,  close borders to specific groups, build walls, strengthen militaries, and howl unrelentingly about foreign entanglements like NATO and the European Union.   It was a movement, and it was on the march.

Then, this past Sunday, Trumpism hit a wall when Donald John's preferred candidate in the French Presidential election,  Marine Le Pen, an arch conservative, lost disastrously to moderate Emmanuel Macron.  Trump never actually endorsed Le Pen, not wanting to risk tarnishing his brand in the event she lost, but he did "handicap" the race with this pronouncement:

“She (Le Pen) is the strongest on borders, and she's the strongest on what's been going on in France. Whoever is the toughest on radical Islamic terrorism, and whoever is the toughest at the borders will do well in the election.”
In other words, Trump predicted Le Pen would "do well" because she was of a fascist stripe, like himself.  She didn't do well, and, in fact, Le Pen lost to Macron by more than a two-to-one margin.   France, it would seem, will stay in the European Union for the foreseeable future, and it will not get officially batshit crazy every time a black Muslim from north Africa wades ashore on French soil.  The French, as did the majority of Americans last fall, voted to retain a semblance of common decency and humanity.

The French voted and Donald Trump lost.

And today, in South Korea, a left-of-center candidate appears to be winning the election to become the country's new President.

Trump is having a tough week.  Maybe he needs another vacation.

Viva Macron!

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