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The photo above is from an article about the battle for control of the French parliament now that a socialist has won the presidency. The woman on the left (ha!) is Marine Le Pen the far-right, anti-immigrant, nativist who has made a career on her papa’s (Jean Le Pen) ideas. The man to the right is Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the left-wing candidate.
I find the slogans interesting. Le Pen’s is, “Your only defender,” or “The Only One to Stand Up for You,” appealing to the frustrated sense of victimhood that fuels popular movements everywhere, often with a fascist tinge. It would not be out of place in a Tea Party setting.
Mélenchon’s is “Take the power.“ Can you imagine such a slogan in the US? What I find intriguing is that it recognizes that there is power to be taken! Here, we assume that we have it already, people-power, democracy, all that. His slogan would amount to class-war heresy here in the US.
Posted by Lichanos 
