on the political fallout.
What seems to have happened (I’m only speculating) is that the worsening cultural situation in France has nudged people in the direction of “nationalism,” almost without their realizing it. Since the riots in 2005, people have begun to think a little differently. But I fear it’s too little too late. Suddenly they are grasping at straws. They are ignoring the dangerous side of Le Pen because their own lives and livelihood are in peril. They are accepting Marine Le Pen for the same reason but they may end up with a kind of national-socialism plus feminism plus Islamization. I feel that article was much too optimistic about Marine, but many are enthusiastic about her and the fact that her father’s ideas have finally begun to penetrate.
I hear from several readers who are committed to Jean-Marie Le Pen or Marine. Either they are still blinded by his very effective nationalist rhetoric; or they just don’t care what his defects are; or they have the same defects. Some feel that Marine will be less of a polarizing force, less controversial than her father. Yet she is most likely responsible for the appearances of Dieudonné and Alain Soral at the party meetings. (Soral is an anti-Semite and self-proclaimed Marxist.)
Personally, I feel there are two types of “Lepenistes”—those who are willing to overlook his defects and just take what they see as his patriotic rhetoric, which includes an anti-immigration position, though not an anti-Islam position; and those who secretly like Le Pen because of his remarks about Jews and Americans. Many otherwise intelligent French commentators rankle at the idea that they can’t say anything against the Jews or that they should regard 9/11 as a major calamity caused by Islam. Jean-Marie has reassured them on these points with his cracks, and has certainly sought all these years to keep them on his side.
With Marine heading the Front National, it still isn’t clear how things will be different. Right now Le Pen has announced he intends to remain leader of the Front until the European elections in 2009, at which time he turns the party over to Marine. He intends at that point to write his memoirs. So we will never know how he would have ruled.
If you’re interested, here are the highlights of Le Pen’s official policy on immigration. Note that he does not actually call for an end to immigration, but tries to make the prospect of emigrating to France less desirable:
1. Welfare and family allocations are reserved for the French alone.
2. “Augmentation des cotisations de l’assurance maladie et de l’assurance chômage pour les étrangers, à prestations équivalentes.”
According to a French reader this means that the foreigners will have to pay more for benefits (“augmentation des cotisations”) but their benefits will not increase, i.e. the benefits remain equivalent to the benefits received by French nationals for the same service.
3. Abolition of the minimum revenue (RMI) and State medical aid for foreigners. (Note: the RMI is not the minimum wage, but the minimum amount one can live on in France. If you are in France, with no money and no job, you will automatically get the RMI.)
The estimated savings from these three measures: 18.5 billion euros
4. Naturalization reform: abolition of dual nationality and of the automatic naturalization feature. Henceforth naturalization depends on good behavior and degree of integration. Possible revocation of nationality for those who became nationals less than ten years ago and for those having committed a serious crime resulting in a conviction without probation of more than six months in prison.
5. Implementation of a “return-to-homeland policy” that would save 9 to 11 billion euros.
6. Abolition of family reunification.
7. Reduction in the validity of the temporary visa (carte de séjour) from 10 to 3 years, even for those already in France.
8. Expulsion of multi-recidivist foreign criminals.
One final comment. There is an Islamic website calling on Muslims to vote for Le Pen. How they can do this in view of his immigration policy is hard to fathom, except that somehow they must feel he’s on their side. Both he and his daughter are demagogues—maybe Muslims like that. The push now is to get the Front into the mainstream of French politics, whatever it takes. The Front would probably already be in the mainstream were it not for Le Pen’s deliberate offensive comments and his rejection of many colleagues in the party. I think Le Pen stands for Le Pen and his own personal tribe.
The French reader also pointed out to me that in another part of Le Pen’s program he indicates that employers will pay a higher contribution to National Health for their foreign employees. This is to encourage them to hire only French nationals.
If you click here, you will see the opening page of his entire program as it is posted at his website. There are several small photos illustrating the various aspects of the platform. You will see the influence of his daughter, especially in the fifth photo at the top. It all has a very modern, trendy look. Also notice the scientist under “recherche” is female.