"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Tuesday, January 07, 2025

Jean-Marie Le Pen dies at 96

The French politician who was sadly one of the most antisemitic creeps of his time has died at age 96:
Jean-Marie Le Pen, the former leader of the French National Front party, presidential candidate, member of the European Parliament, and patriarch of the Le Pen political family dynasty, has died at the age of 96.

A figure who loomed large over French politics over the past five decades, Mr Le Pen was hailed Tuesday by his supporters as a fearless “patriot” and derided by his detractors as a fascist and an antisemite.
Tragically, he was. And despite any claims to the contrary, he wasn't really opposed to Islam any more than Jean-Luc Melanchon was. As a result, his supposed opposition to mass migration was all a sham, and besides, when somebody like that gets chummy with despots like the late Saddam Hussein, something is terribly wrong.
In a moment of historical coincidence, Le Pen’s death was announced on the day that France marked the tenth anniversary of the Islamist attack on the offices of the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine, in which two Algerian jihadists shot and killed 12 people and injured 11 more in reprisal for the magazine publishing a caricature of Mohammed.

After reiterating his belief that the Holocaust was a “detail” in 2015, the party he founded voted to expel him, and two years later, his daughter Marine Le Pen renamed the party to the National Rally (Rassemblement National) in a bid to distance herself and the party from her father’s legacy. Their relationship never fully recovered after the split.

While he cast the move as politically suicidal, Marine Le Pen has grown the party to the largest in the French parliament. She currently stands as the frontrunner to replace Emmanuel Macron as president of the republic when his second and final term ends in 2027. [...]

Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said that “respect for the dignity of the dead and the grief of their loved ones does not erase the right to judge their actions,” accusing Le Pen of spreading “hatred, racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism.”
Also notice how Melenchon repeats the morally equivalent cliche of blurring the difference between "islamophobia" and antisemitism, which he himself has been just as guilty of. There's just no excuse.

Julian Jackson notes how Jean-Marie Le Pen did little more than poison French/European politics, and unfortunately, he did do only so much to damage efforts to oppose the spread of Islamofascism. I seriously doubt he even wanted to defend Charlie Hebdo's own freedom of speech. He won't be missed, and it's to be hoped his departure will help improve the landscape again one day.

Monday, January 06, 2025

The Death of the 'Progressive Moment'

I don't know if we're talking about just a "moment." We should be burying a movement. And they're not "progressives." They're leftists, communists. Let's see them decimated over the next four years --- and beyond.

At the Wall Street Journal, "The Progressive Moment in Global Politics Is Over":

Weak economic growth and record immigration are driving gains by the right, especially populists.

The progressive moment is over—at least for now.

This past year showed that the progressive politics that dominated most industrialized countries over the past two decades or more is shifting to the right, fueled by working-class anxieties over the economy and immigration, and growing fatigue with issues from climate change to identity politics.

The return of Donald Trump to the White House is the most dramatic and important example—but it is far from the only one.

Across Europe, where economic growth has largely stalled, conservatives and populist right-wing parties are making unprecedented gains. Three-quarters of governments in the European Union are either led by a right-of-center party or are ruled by a coalition that includes at least one.

The shift is set to continue. Canada appears poised to kick out a deeply unpopular progressive prime minister and Germany is expected to dump its center-left government. Polls show the top two parties in Germany represent the center-right and the far-right.

Part of the shift is the normal pendulum of politics swinging back and forth between established parties on the left and right. The difference this time is a strong strain of populism and a growing rejection of traditional parties.

In country after country, many working-class voters—especially those outside the biggest cities—are signaling the same thing: They mistrust the establishment—from academics to bankers to traditional politicians—and feel these elites are out of touch and don’t care about people like them.

Years of increased migration and trade, coupled with low economic growth, have led to a backlash and a rise in nationalism, where people want more of a sense of control, political analysts say. The rise of social media has exacerbated divisions and led to an upsurge in antiestablishment parties.

“It’s a broad shift that goes across countries,” said Ruy Teixeira, a lifelong Democrat who now works for the center-right American Enterprise Institute think tank. “Working-class people are just pissed off—about immigration, about all the culture war stuff, and the relatively poor economic performance that has shaped the working-class experience in the 21st century.”

While one of the two establishment parties won in the U.S., the Republicans have largely been taken over by the insurgent figure of Trump, who clearly has a mandate from voters to shake things up, said Teixeira. He said he doesn’t see either the left or conventional right easily recapturing Trump’s populist, multiracial working-class majority.

In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s center-left Liberal Party looks to be careening toward a decisive election loss, trailing the Conservative Party by roughly 20 points in opinion polls. Trudeau must hold a vote by October 2025...

More.

And for Canada, see, "Trudeau to Resign as Voters Sour on His Vision for Canada."

Plus, at Instapundit, "WELL, BYE." 

And BCF, "Justin Trudeau Has Quit. Will The Legacy He Built Survive? … Well It Will Take Time To Rebuild The Ruined Nation He Leaves Behind So There’s That."

Sunday, January 05, 2025

NYC allows march supporting intifada

Just a short time after the terrorist attack in New Orleans, a march by Islamic terror supporters took place in New York City at Times Square, calling for another intifada (via Breitbart):
Several hundred demonstrators called for an intifada on Wednesday at an anti-Israel protest in New York City’s Times Square to mark New Year’s Day.

Attendees chanted “Resistance is glorious — we will be victorious,” “We will honor all our martyrs,” and “Gaza, you make us proud.” They carried signs that said “Zionism is cancer,” “No war on Iran,” and “End all US aid to Israel.”

“There is only one solution — Intifada revolution,” they chanted, using a common refrain at anti-Israel rallies in the US. “Intifada,” Arabic for “uprising,” is associated with the Second Intifada, a period of terror attacks in Israel in the early 2000s marked by suicide bombings.

Speakers at the Wednesday rally urged attendees to recommit to anti-Israel activism in the new year.

“2024 was a year of struggle against the crime of Zionism,” a speaker told the crowd. “We will be here every single year for generation after generation until total liberation and return.” [...]

A handful of pro-Israel counter-protesters showed up to wave Israeli and American flags on the sidelines of the demonstration, while heckling the anti-Israel activists. A Jewish retiree led chants of “Get a job” directed at the protesters.

Arguments broke out between the two sides situated on opposite sides of a metal barrier. One anti-Israel protester shouted “Hamas,” “Go back to Europe” and “You’re all white people” at the pro-Israel demonstrators, and hurled racist slurs at a Black member of the pro-Israel group.
NYC, as it's been in the last decade or so, has really sunk to new lows if they allow this, which amounts to little more than exploitation of "free speech rights" as an excuse to espouse pro-violence slogans. All the officials in charge of the Big Apple have done is let their city become infested with vermin, much like Europe itself. This will have tragic consequences in the future.