Macron wins the French presidency with 65 % of the vote.

The voting rate was approximately 75%.  The cities appear to have turned out the vote very heavily.  Le Pen received just under 35% of the vote which for a party and candidate that wants to withdraw from the EU, severely limit immigration and deport those suspected of terrorism is a rather healthy showing.  Le Pen just said on French TV that she received 11 million votes.

Macron is going to be a very conventional politician/president.  He doesn't look like a very strong figure and France faces severe problems.  Le Pen quipped during the campaign that France would have a woman president no matter who won because the actual president would either be she or Angela Merkel.  pl

Comments

[Babak Makkinejad]

Heard very many similar things in Italy and in Spain.

I remember reading 30 years ago that many Spaniards were falsely reporting being unemployed, collecting unemployment while holding jobs (perhaps in the informal sector).

The unemployment insurance itself was a legacy of Francisco Franco's government; that bad bad bad guy.

[Babak Makkinejad]

You have to have the Will-to-Power; Greeks had lost it, likely their mojo too.

Koreans were the same way, eventually selling themselves to the highest bidder, the Empire of Japan around 1900.

The lines on the flag of Greece stands for "Eleftria" - freedom. Likely they need a new flag.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8iYwi_hXoU

[Seamus Padraig]

Yes, a lot of the people here bagging on France's economic dirigisme seem to forget that it was precisely those policies that gave the country thirty years of solid economic growth and widely shared prosperity--the so-called treinte glorieuse (1945-75). No, France's current troubles are definitely caused by the EU and the euro, not by traditional French dirigisme.

[Seamus Padraig]

You're exactly right. I'm assuming that 'confusedponderer' is German, since he/she is regurgitating German MSM talking points almost verbatim. I have lived in the country for 10 years, is this how the overwhelming majority of Germans feel about the subject. Their utter devotion to concept of the EU is almost like a religious faith; to question it is heresy. Other Europeans cynically suggest that this is because the EU works to Germany's advantage, but that's really only true of the 1%. For ordinary Germans, life is getting harder, not easier. I see a lot of pensioners these days going around, digging through the trash to find recyclable bottles and cans. Really sad ...

[Fred]

The Beaver,

That will teach poor Katy Kay to start life as an aid worker in Africa. Of course with the right connections it pays well, at least for her husband who is with the Carnegie Endowmentl unlike people of that other social class back home who have to do work work.

[kao_hsien_chih]

Perhaps so, I certainly did not use the term that you think I did. But the point remains exactly as stated: Macron is about as part of the status quo as Louis XVIII was a Bourbon (and came out of as nowhere as the latter did.) The French Revolution made Louis XVIII king unexpectedly, with the backing of frightened anti-Reovlutionists, much the way the current trends in politics in France Macron the president, with the backing of frightened globalists. I think it would be absurd to think that Macron would be just like the old politicians. There will be some dark days ahead that we are not expecting. Macron will be a reactionary despot--except of the globalist variety--unrestrained by the political conventions of the old, a modern day Naopleon III.

[different clue]

LeaNder,

If you can find something in my comment where I said the Germans are collectively evil, please point out those exact words. If you can show where in this particular comment of mine where I mentioned something about " the 'Clintonites' and 'Obamacrats' ", please feel free to quote those words for all to see.

If you can show where I made any guesses at all about the ethnic/national composition and percentages of EUropean taxpayers who bailed out the Perpetrator Lending Banks using Greece as a conduit, please point out where I made such guesses as to such composition.

If you can show where I said they "dragged Greece kicking and screaming" into the EU, please show me those exact words. Show me why I should not believe this is a half-clever rhetorical device on your part to try diverting attention from the fact that the EU authorities and the banks knew exactly how Greece conducted its economic/financial/social affairs and knew exactly what they were lending credit to.

Show me exactly where I wrote that I hope the EUROzone will break up. Be specific. Show the quotes.

In other words, nice try. Better luck next time.

[Jack]

The period you note was treinte glorieuse not only in France but globally in the Western bloc. Here in the US it was a period when the bottom 80% of households garnered their best share of national wealth relative to recent decades. The policies in the US to Germany to France and Japan were different but revolved around the fulcrum of free enterprise and a legal framework of transparency based on property rights. Fiscal conservatism was taken seriously by governments.

The one data set that shows an inflection point in the mid-70s is debt. Both government debt as a ratio of GDP and total credit market debt as a ratio to gdp. These series have truly run away. France has taken its government debt/gdp from the low 20% to nearly 100% now. So have all countries globally taken financial leverage to unprecedented levels.

Now, MRW and Babak believe this gargantuan expansion of credit relative to economic growth is what is glorious.

[LeaNder]

the 'Clintonites' and 'Obamacrats'

I gave you the benefit of doubt, before I stumbled across the usage of these labels in context, my dear. Put another way, I mostly let your comments float by. Maybe your "different clue" label should have raised earlier suspicion. ...

Please notice, as Seamus Padraig notes below, I am not a particular fan of confusedponderer's challenging selections, beyond the fact I can understand.

Vaguely similar to Pat's sensibility to what he feels might be Anti-American? Maybe? In a nutshell: I can understand the emotions that fed into his response. And yes, I felt I should help him a little my way. Or in my own ways.

[different clue]

LeaNder,

Once again, nice try. Better luck next time.

[crf]

That's very well put.

I remember Hollande campaigned on reforming the growth and stability pact, and Eurobonds. Then he rolled over and died.

Macron won't likely even go through the formality of being seen as trying to change Europe.

I expect his popularity to plummet rather quickly, straight to Hollande's levels.

[Fred]

Interesting that the party picks the candidates for the legislature?
https://www.thelocal.fr/20170512/several-hiccups-as-macron-reveals-new-candidates

Even more interesting from Marcy Wheeler on the Macron hack:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2017/05/11/macrons-false-documents/