Political Deformation.

"Their foot shall slide in due time; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste." - Deuteronomy 32:35

I don't have much respect for voting electorates around the world. Almost without exception, they are fickle and easily mislead by charismatic, pandering sociopaths. Foremost in my mind over the past few weeks has been French fascist Jean-Marie Le Pen. The French electorate used to vote predominantly on the left, and the communist and socialist parties held the loyalty of the working class. It is that very same base we see now swinging over in support of Nicolas Sarkozy, this election year's president candidate from the conservative Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

You might wonder why it is Le Pen who is on my mind, rather than Sarkozy. It is irrelevant that Le Pen hasn't ever won a French election worth mentioning. The fact that he has at times been considered a viable candidate shows that France has been moving steadily to the right for some years. And Le Pen has been bullying the country in that direction since he founded his National Front movement in 1972.

France is now considered the most conservative country in continental Europe, but I don't think France is shifting right because of the changing principles of its citizenry. As usual, the electorate is easily led by the nose by anyone "new" and controversial. That's why the leftist parties of the 1960s were so popular, and it was the progressivism of the left that allowed those parties to maintain political control in France for so long. After the left became the status quo, slick vultures like Sarkozy and Le Pen were there to offer "salvation." Considering France's track record on issues like racism, I'm surprised it's taken so long for the right to develop into something worth taking seriously.

Le Pen provides the French political discourse with a strong directive force. By voicing the most racist and exclusionary rhetoric allowable (up to and including tacit Holocaust denial), Le Pen has given the basest of opinions a "face," and thereby made each of those opinions a little more acceptable for the everyday citizen to express.

He points out the flaws in the political system as it stands (such as the corruption of Chirac) and promises change for France. In the end, while he has little chance of succeeding in his presidential gambit (as has been shown again and again, every time he has run), he shifts French politics to right, and makes it a little more acceptable for other politicians to voice right-wing rhetoric. And here, in 2007, we see Nicolas Sarkozy appear as a viable threat to the Socialist Party.

Le Pen and Sarkozy present themselves as if they are "new" alternatives, but they are nothing of the sort. Their kind is as old as mankind. We've always had wannabe dictators and resentful authoritarians looking to weasel their way to the top, looking to get revenge for past failures. Look at Adolf Hitler (failed artist), or Richard Nixon (failed lawyer), or George W. Bush (failed businessman). They will always repackage themselves, redrafting their image right on the cutting edge of contemporary anxieties, like terrorism and immigration reform.

Appealing to people's basest instincts and to their fears always gets votes, especially when that appeal is wrapped in the national flag. It's what's been happening in the United States for the past six years, after all. Why should anyone be surprised that it's happening in France now? Even if Mz. Royale achieves victory in the runoff election on May 6, I'm not sure that I have confidence in her ability to handle the increasingly Americanized press tactics of the French tabloids. Her performance, if elected, will be key to the direction of French political discourse in the near future.

Political reform is always effected by highlighting problems in the current political system and promising to change it for the better. People's utopian hopes, regardless of how unfocused, provide ample field for politicians of any stripe to till. The thrust for change is always effective when offered after a time of stagnation. Unfortunately, it seems that, given enough time, left-wing governments will begin to stagnate, but we must always remember that, given any time whatsoever, a right-wing government will damage the well-being of its nation. So, while the right may be making a "comeback" in France, history informs us it will be a temporary one. I only hope the damage to France isn't as devastating as it has been here in the United States.