Monday, March 31, 2025

Marine Le Pen Lawfared

 


Popular French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has been found guilty of embezzlement by a national court and banned from political life for a period up to and including the country's 2027 presidential elections. Le Pen was also hit with a two year suspended jail sentence and a further two years house arrest, she will appeal the verdict.

Marine Le Pen joins a growing list of lawfared political figures, such as Bolsonaro in Brazil, Imran Khan in Pakistan, Calin Georgescu in Romania and Donald Trump here in the US. Elon Musk weighed in on social media, "When the radical left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents. This is their standard playbook throughout the world." Italy's deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini went further, blasting the court's decision as "a declaration of war from Brussels."

Keen-eyed readers of this inconsequential taco stand on the Information Super Highway might remember a time when Europe and the Free World prided itself on free elections, a free press and an independent judiciary. Now? Not so much. Why, then, should the US under its current leadership spend a single cent on the defense of countries which are at best against our values.

Defense aside, maybe tariffs and increasingly surging nationalism will bring Rainbow Fortress Europa to something resembling sense.

Marseillaise,

LSP

13 comments:

Well Seasoned Fool said...

At least they are not sexist; female or male step out of line.

Wild, wild west said...

The French: Invaded by Germany too much, or not enough? Compare and discuss.

Mike_C said...

Just because we boasted of having free and fair elections, an independent press, and an impartial judicial system didn’t mean we’ve had those things for the last century. Wilder’s most recent is about the loss of trust precipitated by Watergate.

Maybe so as to 1972 being the breakpoint, but maybe not. Maybe the iron collar was placed around 1913, and the chains firmly welded to that collar by 1946. I happened on a used copy of “Killing Patton” at the used book shop the other day. Not particularly a fan of O’Reilly, but I think I’ll give it a read.

As to Marine’s plight. At least she didn’t get the JFK/RFK/Patton treatment. Was she given any cute memorabilia recently, such as a golden pager, for example? And now we know that there is no amount of crawling (such as repudiating your political mentor and own father) that’s enough.

Anonymous said...

Seems push is going to come to shove pretty soon. Or maybe everyone will just buckle under.

LL said...

I think the golden pager was filled with explosives.

Beans said...

The bureaucrats of the EU can't allow the peons to have a say in what happens.

And they've even conducted lawfare in Poland, derailing a conservative sweep of their elections.

What the EU leaders are doing is, well, not very nice. Installing a permanent leader class that subjugates all the people, and starts restricting movement and ownership. Yay. Hitler/Stalin wins!

LSP said...

Well yes, WSF, there is that.

LSP said...

Wild! Now you're talking.

LSP said...

But maybe add Russia?

LSP said...

Ah, Mike, we arrive at 1913. Totally agree. Fed, IRS and iniquity which almost passeth understanding.

LSP said...

Time will tell, Anon.

LSP said...

LL, stand well clear when the wretched thing goes boom!

LSP said...

Beans, I say again, I don't see this working out peacefully. Hope I'm wrong.