# What the hell did I just hear in the news? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 21, 2002, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-did-i-just-hear-in-the-news/104836 "2002-04-21T18:32:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-did-i-just-hear-in-the-news/104836/1 "2002-04-21T18:32:41Z")
Right-wing Le Pen has obviously made it into the second round of France’s presidential elections, defeating current premier Jospin. People talking that shit Le Pen is emitting all the time just make me sick, and believe me there are more than enough of them everywhere in the EU. He blames immigrants and the EU for literally everything that’s awry, without switching on his brain (or maybe iit’s all just tactics, and he himself doesn’t belive in what he says). I’m not particularly fond of the Gaullists and Chirac (one word: Mururoa), but I’m glad he’s going to beat Le Pen in two weeks. ---
**Author:** ![kase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@kase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kase)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-did-i-just-hear-in-the-news/104836/2 "2002-04-21T18:39:00Z")
not a lot of the French have voted today. Did you hear about that left-wing mailman? I hope he wins. 🙂 Anything, but anything, better than Le Pen. That man’s as mad as a hatter. ---
**Author:** ![berdollos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@berdollos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/berdollos)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-did-i-just-hear-in-the-news/104836/3 "2002-04-21T18:43:00Z")
The town of Toulouse had a major explosion detonated by terrorists, while the government did nothing. In the meantime, Arab demonstrators are all over the place and there are anti-semitic acts of terror. No wonder Jospin lost. P.S. Did you hear the joke: “France is the only arab country that is a democracy!” ---
**Author:** ![Anahita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9a28c/32.png) [@Anahita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anahita)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-did-i-just-hear-in-the-news/104836/4 "2002-04-21T18:45:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by berdollos \* > \*\* > > P.S. Did you hear the joke: “France is the only arab country that is a democracy!” \*\* :rolleyes: * * * Le Pen is a nutcase. That has nothing to do with Arabs. ---
**Author:** ![Jurhael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@Jurhael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurhael)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-did-i-just-hear-in-the-news/104836/5 "2002-04-21T23:26:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by berdollos \* > \*\*The town of Toulouse had a major explosion detonated by terrorists, while the government did nothing. In the meantime, Arab demonstrators are all over the place and there are anti-semitic acts of terror. > > No wonder Jospin lost. > P.S. Did you hear the joke: “France is the only arab country that is a democracy!” \*\* You are an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-did-i-just-hear-in-the-news/104836/6 "2002-04-22T03:35:27Z")
Okay, you have to imagine me now as a giant Samoan-looking guy driving France around in a big, red Cadillac: “As your attorney, I’d advise you to vote. And forget that ether. Chew on this half of a sunshine blotter.” ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-did-i-just-hear-in-the-news/104836/7 "2002-04-22T09:41:57Z")
I’m going to say something that I’ve never said before, and will probably never say again. And I want you all to know that this is causing me physical pain. \ **OhSweetJesuspleaseletChiracwintherun-offpleasepleaseplease!!!** Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity fuck. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-did-i-just-hear-in-the-news/104836/8 "2002-04-22T09:58:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sofa King \* > \*\*Okay, you have to imagine me now as a giant Samoan-looking guy driving France around in a big, red Cadillac: > > “As your attorney, I’d advise you to vote. And forget that ether. Chew on this half of a sunshine blotter.” \*\* You can’t help thinking they’d be doing better if Hunter S Thompson was standing for election… ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-did-i-just-hear-in-the-news/104836/9 "2002-04-22T10:03:02Z")
There’s also a thread about this [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=110792). Rather than retype, I’ll just quote what I said there: > [@](#): > > The thing is […] if you look at the historical support for this scumbag, you’ll see that it hasn’t actually changed much in all the time he’s been running. Furthermore, at the last set of elections some staggering proportion of voters who voted for him in the first round (something like 80%) said in an exit poll that they didn’t actually want him to win, they just wanted to register a protest vote. > > What was different this time? Simply a particularly low turnout (23%, as you said), which allowed the protest votes and kooks to be more dominant than they usually are. Combined with a late surge in unpopularity for Jospin and an apparent cleaning up of Le Pen’s act that allowed a few self-deluded voters to choose him. > > He’ll be creamed by Chirac in the final vote, with a much much lower percentage than he got in this first round. > > I agree that the rise of the European right is a touch concerning but I wouldn’t read too much into this specific vote. pan ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-did-i-just-hear-in-the-news/104836/10 "2002-04-22T12:59:38Z")
A radical right-wing administration that requires knee-jerk patriotism by the masses to survive, and advocates treating immigrants like criminals? Yup, that’s bad all right … fortunately, we get to vote him out in 2004. PS in regards to calling berdollos an “idiot” - has there been no breakdown yet of the Franco-Arab vote for Le Pen? Is it so un-PC to suggest that a lot of Franco-Arabs voted for him because of his anti-Jewish rhetoric, when many Frenchpeople didn’t bother to vote at all? ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-did-i-just-hear-in-the-news/104836/11 "2002-04-22T14:09:43Z")
It’s unreasonable to suggest that, because Le Pen hates the Arab/Maghrebin population, too (a sentiment sadly common in France). He would prefer that all French residents be “French” (white).