The Un-US Politics Discussion Scenario

[biondetta]

Italy, as well, at some unknown date. Hopefully Renzi and the PD will get back in and have a better time than last time. The rest are all pretty horrifying.

[kostgard]

France did everything right that we did wrong - they have their nice media blackout leading up into elections (and they didn't go nuts with the hacking of Macron's emails, unlike here where Hillary's email got three times the coverage of any and all actual policies combined), and after the first round when it was down to Macron and Le Pen, the center-right in France rallied around Macron. Here the GOP all rallied around Trump.

[chonies]

I did get a chill around the discussions of French voters abstaining or spoiling their ballots, as well as the repeated claim from FN and LePen that this was a victory that elevated the far right and fully established their legitimacy.

[Deleted]

Not politics but Macron related, I'm getting a bit annoyed with every news outlet bringing up the age difference between Mr and Mrs Macron when it is almost exactly the same as The Turnips age difference, it shouldn't matter either way!!

[chonies]

May 8, 2017 13:00:32 GMT -4 @fitz said:

Not politics but Macron related, I'm getting a bit annoyed with every news outlet bringing up the age difference between Mr and Mrs Macron when it is almost exactly the same as The Turnips age difference, it shouldn't matter either way!!

I think it does matter a little bit--if they met when he was at university or sometime after she wasn't his teacher, it would be a fluffy bit of trivia. Since she was his teacher, and he was a minor, and his parents sent him to a different school literally to get away from her, I think it's slightly less fluffy. It seems to have worked out for them both, but between the story and the hair, I can't not think of Mary Kay LeTourneau. Hopefully that will pass because it's a really annoying association.

[petitesuite]

May 8, 2017 11:28:54 GMT -4 chonies said:

I did get a chill around the discussions of French voters abstaining or spoiling their ballots, as well as the repeated claim from FN and LePen that this was a victory that elevated the far right and fully established their legitimacy.

Yes--I read that Le Pen got 35% of the vote while her father before her got 17.5%--so that is still pretty scary, even though it's nowhere near as scary as it could have been. But this does at least mean, I think, that the EU lasts a little while longer.

And I have an extremely hard time believing there was no grooming-type behavior going on from Macron's wife. An ooky relationship is of course better than fascism, so...but also ew.

[chonies]

And to be honest, I really don't know what it means, or should mean, now that it's history. And I will concede that it probably doesn't need to be mentioned much more.

[Deleted]

I agree the back story not so fluffy, it just bugged we don't hear ...and Mr May x years her senior blah blah, anyhoo enough said.

I did see an interesting comment on twitter where a stat/poll found that Macron scored very high with the age group old enough to remember fascism in Europe the last time.

[chonies]

May 8, 2017 13:39:24 GMT -4 @fitz said:

I agree the back story not so fluffy, it just bugged we don't hear ...and Mr May x years her senior blah blah, anyhoo enough said.

I did see an interesting comment on twitter where a stat/poll found that Macron scored very high with the age group old enough to remember fascism in Europe the last time.

Which round? Spanish fascism that only ended in the 1970s? Or the old-timey German kind?

[Deleted]

I'm going to see if I can find it to see other age groupings, but I'm thinking the old time German kind.
found link the voting break down was closest between 35 and 49year olds which as I'm in that age group yikes!