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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: goldsnow who wrote (13880)	4/21/2002 5:05:39 PM
From: Elmer Flugum	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

Jews should not assimilate!

To: goldsnow who wrote (13880)	4/21/2002 8:58:47 PM
From: epsteinbd	Respond to of 23908

Dilemma for Thomas/Grasso/(GAG)Gus..." ??? Goldsnow, count me in with them, for a change I'll admit, but still, and most of my French friends too. A sad day. Bin Laden spirit is partially behind this, and Arafat, just as well. But most of it is inside politics, and a "winning" Mitterand policy that backfired.

To: goldsnow who wrote (13880)	4/22/2002 4:13:53 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Respond to of 23908

Re: French prez election. Well, I (almost) told you so! Remember: Message 17181219 I knew Jospin would never pull it off and that the French would pick a maverick instead --I merely bet on the wrong maverick.... Actually, it should have been J.-P. Chevenement vs J. Chirac in the second round... But France's political establishment skillfully wrecked any chance the maverick former "Mr No" might have had. Indeed, you must keep in mind that up to about 3 months before the election's first round Chevenement was hyped as the "third man" (after Chirac and Jospin), hence as a very serious contender for the second round (May 5th). Then --all of a sudden-- the pro-Jospin daily Liberation published a poll scoreboard showing that Chevenement just dropped from 14% to 10% OVERNIGHT.... Savvy? With no event, declaration, slip-up whatsoever to justify Chevenement's sudden fall in opinion polls?!? Four points out of fourteen, that's a LOT! For it means Chevenement lost about 35% of his electorate overnight... WITH NO TANGIBLE REASON. Henceforth Chevenement was routinely derided as an archaic outsider, a would-be De Gaulle lost in the global eurovillage... And, at the same time, far-rightist bogeyman Le Pen was surreptitiously pumped up to "Third Man" status. Actually, the whole scheme makes perfect sense: both the Right and the Left preferred to have Le Pen rather than Chevenement as their closest challenger. The Left's motive was straightfoward since nobody ever expected a second round between Jospin and Chevenement! Chirac, as the Right's unquestioned champion, was certain to make it to the second round. Hence the Left's ill-fated tactics of favoring Le Pen to trump Chevenement AND draw Chirac's constituency down. What the Socialist schemers didn't expect was that their devious ploy would succeed beyond their wildest dreams (or rather nightmares!): not only did Le Pen outdo Chevenement, he outflanked Jospin in the process as well.... As for the Right, the choice between Chevenement and Le Pen was a no-brainer: once we've factored out the drama and the current hysteria about the far-right's success in the FIRST round, we're left with a shoo-in for the SECOND round, namely, Jacques Chirac. For the big difference between Chevenement and Le Pen is that the former might actually have made it! Chevenement might easily beat Chirac in a presidential bid --and such an outcome would have had dramatic consequences for France, the EU as a whole, the Euro, and whatnot. Hence the Right's fallback option: Le Pen vs Chirac --not preppy, not politically correct, a bit sleazy and even shameful yet... doable. Bottomline: once the election fever has subsided and the fuss about Le Pen is over, France will just have more of the same: Jacques Chirac will be re-elected with a pledge of "continuity" and a renewed commitment to "democracy", "Europe", you name it.... Gus

To: goldsnow who wrote (13880)	4/22/2002 5:01:52 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 23908

Footnote to my previous post: France's election result may toll the knell of Arafat --talk about an unexpected side-effect! Indeed, Arafat's best European friend, Jacques Chirac, is cornered into the midst of a major political crisis... So, what if Sharon boldly decides to snuff Arafat out? Germany and Italy, already struck by terrorist attacks (Djerba, Milan), will have few reasons to retaliate against Israel... The UK will likely utter her usual, ineffectual platitudes --waiting for the White House's reaction. Russia will show off her hypocritical dismay and call for an urgent UN Security powwow... And G.W. Bush will likely mumble something like "Sharon is a man of piece"... Yet France will get caught completely off-balance: if Chirac moves, Le Pen will accuse him of yielding to the terrorists... France's Foreign minister Hubert Vedrine is already a lame duck: what could the French government do in the Middle East after the Prime Minister himself (L. Jospin) solemnly announced his proximate stepping down from politics? Besides, the assassination of Yasser Arafat will certainly trigger violent unrests throughout France's immigrant ghettoes --fueling France's xenophobia and securing Le Pen's bid for the Presidency. Sharon and the Judeofascists are well aware that, despite his notorious anti-Semitic catch-phrases, Le Pen would be a much better friend of Israel than Jacques Chirac.... Both Sharon and Le Pen already share a common ground when it comes to repelling the "Green Peril". Therefore, make no mistake: France's Jewry will MASSIVELY vote for Judeofascist Le Pen --against downtrodden immigrants, against pro-Arab Chirac, against the Palestinians... To be sure, France's Likudniks are the swing voters who might well tip the scales in Le Pen's favor. Gus