Happily, La France is well on its way down les toilettes socialiste! I say "happily" but I don't really mean it. Every nation needs a neighbour to poke fun at and feel superior to and we have the French and, of course, they have us. Actually, I like France and the French and so it doesn't really give me any pleasure to watch it steaming steadily toward the socialist rocks even if the end results might - just might - be very useful for us.
Ms. Raccoon, whom I look upon as my 'French correspondent' as she lives in the country, posts today on a very remarkable by-election which has just been held in the town close to her. The previous politician to hold the seat had been a minister in their equivalent of the Treasury until it was discovered that he held an overseas bank account as a means of avoiding the increasing tax rates imposed by President Hollande in his crazy drive to create a socialist nirvana. Obviously he had to go but what was interesting was the result of the subsequent by-election - a win for for the (so-called) 'far Right' Front National. Not only did it win but it won Big Time - 46% of the vote! And that, as Ms. Raccoon emphasises, was in a district which is normally staunchly socialist.
That report from Ms. Raccoon reminded me of a headline I spotted a few days ago, which I meant to keep and pontificate comment upon, in which Ms. Marine le Pen, the leader of the Front National, was quoted as saying, in effect, that when she gains power she will 'utterly destroy the euro' because, as she puts it, "The euro ceases to exist the moment that France leaves, and that is our incredible strength. What are they going to do, send in tanks?" If President Hollande continues his mad drive to socialism and the results are similar to those reported by Ms. Raccoon then Marine le Pen might well stand a chance. I will finish by reciting a statistic I heard on a radio financial report last week to the effect that new car sales in France have dropped by just under 10% year on year, and it has been known for some time that the major French car group, Peugeot-Citroen, is technically broke. Modestly, I will also remind you of a previous post in which I urged the French to indulge their revolutionary habits and suggested that it might not be that far off. Hopefully, however, this time they will confine their revolutionary enthusiasm to the ballot box rather than the guillotine - too, too messy!
