In the "I told you so" file: 'Toxic' Marine Le Pen blamed for Geert Wilders defeat in Netherlands

France has its own special set of conditions, including a massive problem with its inability to integrate an ever-growing Muslim population, which has created enclaves around Paris in which even the police are afraid to enter.  The French government's inability to deal with that ongoing issue, and certain historical sympathies for ultra-conservative extremism in France has created a regrettable but understandable backlash resulting in the growing popularity of the reprehensible far-right in that country.

But not all of Europe is in the same condition as France and while the public is seeking a more prudent and conservative policy outlook, the racist far-right is not the solution that the public in places like the Netherlands want as an alternative. So as I predicted, Dutch Freedom Party's Geert Wilders' alliance with the racist National Front in France was a catastrophe for him and his political movement.

A disastrous European Union election vote for the Dutch far-Right has been blamed on a "toxic" Marine Le Pen and is seen as vindication of Nigel Farage's refusal to work with the French Front National.

The result is a blow to Miss Le Pen and will be widely seen as the consequence of her failure to break from the Front National's extremist past, a legacy embodied by her father Jean-Marie who remains an MEP and honorary president of the party.

His close alliance with Miss Le Pen is seen as the key factor in the unexpected defeat of Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party (PVV) on Thursday night after Dutch exit polls put him in fourth place behind all the pro-EU Dutch political parties.

The dilemma of Dutch Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders going off the deep end

There's no coming back from being in bed with a hard-core, no-bones-about-it neo-fascist party. You can't do that as a credible adult in the 21st Century and say you didn't really know how bad fascism is.

Amazingly, Marxists and other contemporary communists get away with it, and they shouldn't. As ideologies in theory and practice, both  are political manifestations of pure evil. Suppression of the free exchange of ideas and the repression of any individual or groups that conflict with the will of the rulers are inherent features of these totalitarian movements. Though they use the language of liberty and justice, they do so only as empty words to manipulate the gullible; and as tools to reach the power they plan to clutch without ever intending to release it.

That's why among many, there were high hopes for what was represented by Geert Wilders' Dutch Party for Freedom. Despite being characterized as "far-right" by the media, his platform that favored women's rights, including pro-choice policies as well as gay rights and free speech, were actually reflective of classic liberalism. The "far-right" appellation came from a culturally relativist media that was enraged by Wilders' extreme criticisms of Islam. But were those criticisms justified?

Ancient kings claimed divine power so their authority could not be challenged by the inferior reasoning of mortal men. Similarly, in our time political Islam, with its Imams and leaders claiming divine authority as the temporal interpreters of Allah and Mohammed, brooks no real dissent. And woe to those who would dare try. In the Netherlands, Theo Van Gogh tried and he was stabbed to death on the street. Ayyan Hirsi Ali tried, and has spent the life under threat of death, with the unending need for security precautions.

There are critics of Catholicism who are just as harsh as those who criticize Islam. But Catholicism's critics do not have to live in constant fear of being murdered, while Islam's do not enjoy that privilege.

So while it seems Willders has not changed his Party for Freedom's platforms, his willingness to form an alliance with France's crypto-fascist National Front has plunged him into an abyss from which he will probably never emerge.  The National Front's current leader, Marine Le Pen, has tried to rehabilitate the image of the party she inherited from its founder, her Nazi-sympathising father, Jean-Marie.  But the National Front remains what it is, a genuinely far-right party, using thoughtless demonization of all Muslims and fervent opposition to gay marriage as a means to achieving their ends.

Wilders is first and foremost a politician, and seeing the increased popularity of Europe's far-right political parties, he must have seen an opportunity worth exploiting by allying with them for the upcoming European parliamentary elections.  Even if he does achieve a temporary measure of success by that alliance, the irrevocable long-term damage it will inflict on his and his party's credibility show that he is someone who lacks the wisdom to lead a nation.

The one silver lining to this sad development is the rift this has caused between Wilders' party and Britain's United Kingdom Independence Party and its firebrand leader Nigel Farage. Despite uninformed claims by Wilders that UKIP would join the alliance of the far-right, Farage has made it abundantly clear the Dutchman is talking out of his hat.

Farage has made it plain that he would have nothing to do with any multi-party union that involved the National Front, leading Marine Le Pen to lash out at him this week, like a spurned lover.

I can't say that I know Farage, but did meet him briefly and chatted with him while we were ordering drinks at the bar at an event where he spoke. It was a speech in which his firm commitment to human rights, liberty and individual freedom was passionately and abundantly clear.  His rejection of any cooperation with France's National Front, despite the immediate political gain that could come with it, reiterate Farage's commitment to those principles.

It is a very sad development for the Netherlands and Europe that Geert Wilders capitulation to expediency shows he lacks that same wisdom.

Nazi, alleged "comic," M'bala M'bala banned from entering Britain

London (CNN) -- The French comedian at the center of the controversy over the "quenelle" gesture has been banned from entering Britain, UK authorities said Monday.

Dieudonne M'bala M'bala has been widely associated with the gesture -- which involves pointing the right arm straight down and touching that arm with the left hand -- that many believe is a Nazi salute in reverse.

Dieudonné: from "anti-racist" to neo-Nazi scumbag

...In 2006, Dieudonné made a surprise visit to the National Front's annual fair and shortly afterwards he invited holocaust denier Robert Faurisson on stage at the Main d'Or theatre he owns in Paris.

He has developed a close friendship with National Front party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen and is godfather to one of his children.

His trademark gesture, the “quenelle”, which involves pointing the right arm straight down and touching that arm with the left hand, has been described by critics as a modified Nazi salute.

Last week, Dieudonné said of a prominent Jewish journalist: "Me, you see, when I hear Patrick Cohen speak, I think to myself: 'Gas chambers ... too bad (they no longer exist)."...

French President Vows Tough Iran Stance in Israel

France's president promised Sunday to take a hard line toward Iran in upcoming nuclear talks this week as he began a three-day visit to Israel.

Francois Hollande's message was sure to be welcomed by his Israeli hosts, who have voiced concerns that an emerging deal with global powers gives Iran too much without getting enough in return.

"France will not make concessions on nuclear proliferation," Hollande said at a welcome ceremony at Israel's international airport. "France will maintain all its measures and sanctions until we are certain that Iran has renounced nuclear weapons."

Femen leader chosen as inspiration for French stamp - Islamic outrage ensues

Only two days after Femen movement leader Inna Shevchenko was chosen as one of the inspirations for France's new official stamp, the controversial Ukrainian activist, known for her topless protests has sparked an outcry on Twitter for a July 9 tweet where she slams the holy month of Ramadan and Islam. 

The tweet in question was discovered on July 16, a day after Shevchenko was chosen as the first foreign woman to represent the incarnation of Marianne, one of France's national emblems.

On July 9, Shevchenko tweeted: "What can be more stupid than Ramadan? What can be more uglier then [sic] this religion?"

Femen vs French Nazis

From Vice TV - Sextremism in Paris



More on Femen from Vice here and here

Just in - spineless Obama administration becomes film critic - puts US Embassy seal on condemnation of Mohammed movie

Obama`s administration is lending US insignia to its apologia for free speech.

See:

New television ads with US Embassy seal condemn anti-Islam film and feature Obama

We live in a time when a Socialist President of France has more balls than the President of the United States:

This'll get you firebombed in France

Charlie Hebdo is standing up to the terrorists who firebombed their offices after a satirical issue that made fun of Islam. They are using the controversial cover as their twitter feed avatar and is reprinting the issue as a special supplement.

Maybe the terrorists will realize that their stupidity can backfire. Let's hope.

Jack Layton's Health Critic Libby Davies: proud of solidarity with French politician accused of anti-Semitism and other Jew-haters

NDP Health Critic Libby Davies recent twitter expressions of "solidarity"  with the Armada of Fools attempting to break Israel's arms blockade of Gaza contained some fascinating information about the Vancouver East MP.

Davies not only tweeted her support for the Sea Hitler (aka Tahrir) activists, but seems to be promoting French Senator Alima Boumediene-Thiery, who spoke at the anti-Israel rally she attended. As you can see from the picture Davies tweeted, and a YouTube video posted under the authorship of rabbletv, that the tweet seems to be a still-shot from the video. So unless she's tweeting from someone else's blackberry, it appears Davies is moonlighting as a videographer for her spouse's virulently anti-Israel and sometimes anti-Semitic website, rabble.ca (or is standing so close to the rabble photographer as to be intertwined).

Senator Boumediene-Thiery, who is the star of Davies' video and one of her solidarity rally buddies, was prosecuted in France in 2010 for charges related to anti-Semitic activity, of which she has a long record. In 2003, she hosted an exhibition at the European Parliament that was anti-Semitic to the extent that Roger Helmer, the member of European Parliament for East Midlands, ripped down one of the banners as a gesture of protest. Helmer's website describes the incident:

The European Parliament played host to an exhibition, sponsored by the French MEP Alima Boumediene-Thiery, called "Apartheid israel" in which the words "Israel" and "Apartheid" were juxtaposed to form an inappropriate and racist comment, according to Helmer. The exhibition was even more inappropriate considering that it was deliberately featured during the week that Israel celebrated its 50th Anniversary of Independence.   

Mr Helmer was so incensed by the display that he removed the offending banner causing the organiser of the exhibition, to accuse Mr Helmer of "violent behaviour". Ms Boumediene-Thiery MEP later sent an email to the entire European Parliament accusing Mr Helmer of "an unworthy act" and of "aggression".   

Roger Helmer MEP, who has been a long-term campaigner for diplomacy and democratic resolution to conflict, said:   

"I removed what I, and others, considered to be an inflammatory and anti-Semitic message.  I am a strong proponent of free speech. But there comes a point at which free speech crosses the line and becomes national and racial abuse. This is such a case."

Senator Boumediene-Thiery is a member of France's Green Party, which was co-founded by Ginette Skandrani, an individual who was closely associated with Holocaust-deniers and was eventually expelled from the party when that exposure became just a tiny bit embarrassing for them.

As a senior member of the NDP, now the Official Opposition, Davies association with anti-Semites and fanatics is no longer just a personal disgrace, but reflects on the judgement of Jack Layton and the NDP leadership as a whole.

It leads to the inescapable question of whether Davies' embarrassing, irresponsible behaviour reflects what we could expect from an NDP federal government, should there ever be one.








Some of the video work evidently filmed by Davies at the Sea Hitler Solidarity Rally:






The Pride of the NDP:

Gaddafi threatens to attack civillian aircraft in Mediterranean as No Fly Zone imposed

Colonel Gaddafi threatened retaliatory attacks on passenger aircraft in the Mediterranean last night if foreign countries launched air strikes against Libya. 

“Any foreign military act” would expose “all air and maritime traffic in the Mediterranean Sea” as targets for a counter attack, the Libyan regime said. 

The warning was issued after America formally backed a joint British and French initiative for a no-fly zone over Libya and other military action against Col Gaddafi’s regime.



More from The Telegraph

Luxury Hotel for Dogs opens in Paris

(Reuters Life!) - Heated pools, massage salons and a-la-carte menus are de rigueur at luxury hotels across the world but in one exclusive Paris establishment the difference is the guests: they have four legs, and enthusiastically wagging tails.

Actuel Dogs bills itself as France's first luxury hotel for dogs, and founders Devi and Stan Burun, a dog behavior specialist and lifelong dog-lover, also offer training programs unruly hounds and dog walks in the woods.

As well as a dip in the pool, or a massage, guests including Ulysse, a bumptious yellow Labrador sporting a smart red collar, enjoy "doggy jogging," or simply relax on cushioned couches in their luxury suites.

Their tiled-floor rooms smell fresh and clean and are adorned with framed prints of dogs and equipped with televisions so dogs can watch their choice of DVDs.



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