Marine Le Pen on trial while corrupt Ursula von der Leyen protected
By Ahmed Adel | April 10, 2025
Although European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen should be in prison for the Pfizergate scandal, not to mention inciting war crimes in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, nothing will come of it as Brussels is evidently corrupt. However, following the verdict handed down to right-wing French National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen, the question arises as to why Ursula von der Leyen has not been indicted for the Pfizergate scandal, which is worth several billion euros.
Le Pen has been sentenced to four years in prison, fined 100,000 euros, and banned from running in the 2027 presidential election. She was convicted of corruption, having allegedly embezzled 2.9 million euros from European Parliament funds. Nonetheless, no one cares whether Marine Le Pen will actually be in prison or not. What matters is that she is banned from political activity and that a coup is carried out against the National Assembly at a time when the ruling paradigm is in crisis.
The case against the former French presidential candidate is not the first instance of a political process canceling unsuitable politicians in the EU, nor is it a precedent, as seen in the ban on Călin Georgescu’s candidacy, where it is clear that the European Commission undermined democracy in Romania.
It is also recalled that in 1999 and 2000, when the right-wing Austrian Freedom Party won 27 percent of the vote in the elections, its then-leader, Jörg Haider, was supposed to be the prime minister. However, Brussels completely isolated Austria, and it ended with Haider giving up, even resigning from the party leadership, and eight years later, he died in a suspicious car accident.
Therefore, the ban on political activity by politicians unsuitable for Brussels is not a surprise, as the EU has never been distinguished by its democratic character, which is why it has often been advertised as “the greatest peace project.” The EU has long had a European Commission composed of unelected bureaucrats, which is why Ursula von der Leyen, as an unelected politician from Germany, has often been perceived as acting like the de facto leader of Europe, or one of two, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.
EU elites support all authoritarians on the continent that suit their interests, such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Moldovan President Maia Sandu, and even on Europe’s periphery, such as Syria’s self-designated president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, regardless of the fact that he committed genocide against Alawites and Christians last month.
Corruption is also an integral part of EU structures. It would not be so significant if it were not accompanied by political action. This is exemplified by the fact that liberal Ursula von der Leyen escapes prosecution for Pfizergate, while right-wing Marine Le Pen is imprisoned.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, von der Leyen made a deal with Albert Bourla, the CEO of US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, to purchase 1.8 billion doses of untested COVID-19 vaccines, valued at approximately $37.6 billion. Von der Leyen negotiated this deal through a series of text messages that she eventually deleted — supposedly by mistake — along with those she exchanged with her husband, Heiko, a medical director at a biotech company with ties to Pfizer. As a result, von der Leyen was accused of corruption and “abuse of power.”
Even before becoming European Commission president, at the end of her term as Germany’s Defense Minister (2013-2019), von der Leyen became the target of an investigation by the Federal Audit Office for continually awarding lucrative contracts to external consulting firms. In its 2018 report, the Federal Audit Office questioned the awarding procedures of some of these contracts, worth millions of euros, which appeared to have been made without proper cost assessment or a proper tendering process.
Although this may seem like incompetence at first, the American consulting firm McKinsey, for example, attracted attention when its Berlin office hired the daughter of von der Leyen. The firm eventually won contracts worth millions of euros.
While von der Leyen is protected from prosecution by German and European Union authorities, Le Pen is being prosecuted because she does not conform to the liberal values of Brussels and is described as far-right.
US President Donald Trump even demanded on April 4 for Le Pen to be freed and allowed to run for office, calling her ban a “witch hunt.”
On Truth Social, he described the court case as “another example of European Leftists using Lawfare to silence Free Speech and censor their Political Opponent, this time going so far as to put that Opponent in prison.”
Trump added that it is “all so bad for France and the Great French People”, before ending his post with “FREE MARINE LE PEN!”
In this way, while von der Leyen is protected, Le Pen is being prosecuted on allegations stemming from her time in the European Parliament that are not yet fully substantiated, all because she threatens the rule of Macron, a loyal servant of Europe’s elites.
Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.
Max Blumenthal: Banning Protests Against Israel
Glenn Diesen | April 9, 2025
The editor-in-chief of The Grayzone, Max Blumenthal is an award-winning journalist and the author of several books, including best-selling Republican Gomorrah, Goliath, The Fifty One Day War, and The Management of Savagery. He has produced print articles for an array of publications, many video reports, and several documentaries, including Killing Gaza.
Follow Prof. Glenn Diesen: Substack: https://glenndiesen.substack.com/
12,000 Brits arrested per year over social media posts – Times
RT | April 7, 2025
Thousands of people in the UK have been detained and questioned by police over online posts deemed threatening or offensive, The Times has reported, citing custody data.
According to figures published on Friday, officers make around 12,000 arrests annually under Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 and Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988. These laws criminalize causing distress by sending messages that are “grossly offensive,” or by sharing content of an “indecent, obscene or menacing character” via electronic communications networks.
In 2023 alone, officers from 37 police forces made 12,183 arrests – around 33 per day. The Times said this marks a 58% increase from 2019, when 7,734 arrests were recorded.
At the same time, government data shows that convictions and sentencings have dropped by nearly a half. While some cases were resolved through out-of-court settlements, the most commonly cited reason was “evidential difficulties,” particularly when victims declined to proceed.
The statistics have sparked public outcry, with civil liberties groups accusing the authorities of overpolicing the internet and undermining free speech through the use of “vague” communications laws.
The Times highlighted the case of Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine, who were arrested on January 29 after raising concerns in a private parents’ WhatsApp group about the hiring process of their daughter’s school. Six uniformed officers arrived at their home, detained them in front of their youngest child, and took them to a police station.
The couple was questioned on suspicion of harassment, malicious communications, and causing a nuisance on school property after the school alleged they had “cast aspersions” about the chair of governors. They were fingerprinted, searched, and locked in a cell for eight hours.
“It was hard to shake off the sense that I was living in a police state,” Allen told the Daily Mail, adding that the messages contained “no offensive language or threat” but were simply a “bit sarcastic.”
Le Pen’s verdict exposes Western Europe’s dangerous trend
The EU’s repression is backfiring spectacularly
By Vitaly Ryumshin | Gazeta.ru | April 4, 2025
What’s happening in Western Europe is increasingly raising uncomfortable questions. On March 31, a French court found Marine Le Pen guilty in the so-called “fictitious aides” case, sentencing her to four years in prison and banning her from running for office for five years. Remarkably, the ban took effect immediately, without even waiting for an appeal.
The court’s decision has proved highly controversial, and not only among Russians, who typically see Le Pen as part of Europe’s Moscow-friendly political forces. Even French political figures have expressed bewilderment. Given Le Pen’s position as the frontrunner in the 2027 presidential elections, her conviction has undeniably taken on political dimensions. Some French politicians have already called upon President Emmanuel Macron to pardon Le Pen in order to preserve the face of the country’s “democracy.” Prime Minister François Bayrou reportedly expressed alarm, admitting privately to aides, “France is the only country that does this.”
But Bayrou is mistaken in believing France stands alone. Suppressing opposition figures through tactics reminiscent of hybrid autocracies is becoming the latest trend in EU states. Recently, Romania spectacularly canceled the first round of its presidential election, later jailing Calin Georgescu, the leading candidate.
Germany seems likely to follow suit. The emerging coalition government between the CDU/CSU and SPD is drafting legislation that could bar anyone convicted of “incitement to hatred” from political activity. Though not openly stated, this measure unmistakably targets the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The reason behind this crackdown lies deeper than any immediate legal disputes. Far-right parties across the bloc have increasingly challenged the European integration project itself. These political forces have openly called for slowing down or completely dismantling the EU in favor of returning to traditional nation-state structures. While some of these right-wing parties, including Le Pen’s National Rally and Germany’s AfD, have moved toward the political center in order to broaden their appeal, their reputation as “destroyers of Europe’s garden” remains entrenched.
Western European bureaucrats and established national elites are deeply unsettled by the growing popularity of these parties. Having benefited tremendously from the EU’s expansion and centralization for over three decades, they are unwilling to surrender their privileged positions without a fight. It’s as if they feel the ground shifting beneath their feet and will do anything necessary to preserve their status quo.
Yet here lies the paradox: the more the EU establishment struggles to remain in power through repressive measures, the quicker its authority and legitimacy erode. The bloc’s foundational identity rests on liberal democratic ideals, institutional sanctity, and the rule of law. When Brussels arbitrarily removes opposition candidates, it saws off the very branch upon which its entire elite sits.
The surge of Europe’s far right has not emerged in a vacuum. Its popularity directly stems from the existing EU leadership’s chronic inefficiency and inability to respond adequately to today’s challenges. Attempting to remove right-wing politicians from the playing field is not a solution. Discontented voters will inevitably find alternative ways to express their frustrations – likely even more fiercely once their grievances are compounded by deep mistrust of the political establishment.
Romania’s recent experience provides a vivid example. After the scandal involving the canceled election, Calin Georgescu’s popularity surged dramatically – from 23% to 40%. Once Georgescu was banned from running, voters swiftly pivoted to another far-right candidate, George-Nicolae Simion, who is now leading the race. This scenario seems almost comical, but could soon be replicated across France, Germany, and other EU states where authorities are excessively targeting opposition figures.
Western European leaders appear somewhat aware they’re playing a dangerous game. However, their conclusions and reactions to this crisis remain fundamentally flawed. EU bureaucrats try to unify the continent by exploiting citizens’ fears – fear of global instability, fear of military threats, fear of economic chaos. Their agendas emphasize support for Ukraine, joint military initiatives, and endless symbolic summits. Billions of euros are readily allocated to armament and defense.
Yet none of these actions address the real issues underlying the bloc’s deepening political divisions – economic stagnation, deteriorating living standards, mass immigration challenges, and declining trust in traditional governance structures. The EU’s refusal or inability to tackle these fundamental problems continues to fuel voter disillusionment.
Ultimately, the more the EU establishment clings desperately to power through authoritarian methods, the faster its cherished structures crumble. Until Western Europe’s leaders face reality and address genuine citizen concerns, this spiral of distrust and repression will only accelerate, making the EU’s future increasingly uncertain.
This article was first published by the online newspaper Gazeta.ru and was translated and edited by the RT team
Prof. JOHN MEARSHEIMER : ‘Ukraine Cannot Survive.’
Judge Napolitano – Judging Freedom | April 3, 2025
IDAHO GOV VETOES MEDICAL FREEDOM BILL
The HighWire with Del Bigtree | April 3, 2025
A sweeping bill to ban forced medical interventions in Idaho, including vaccines and masks, passed both chambers only to be vetoed by Governor Brad Little, who ironically cited “medical freedom” in his opposition. Now, a political clash brews as Attorney General Raul Labrador urges lawmakers to override the veto and defend Idahoans from future mandates.
South Korea’s top court removes president over martial law controversy
Press TV – April 4, 2025
South Korea’s top court has officially removed President Yoon Suk Yeol from office following his surprise declaration of martial law which triggered a political crisis in the country.
The decision by Constitutional Court on Friday came after parliament voted to impeach him in December, ending his presidency which started in 2022.
Yoon, a former star prosecutor, had leaped from political novice to president in less than a year after he entered politics. Four months ago, however, he plunged South Korea into political turmoil by declaring a controversial martial law in the country.
The eight-member Constitutional Court announced on live television that it upheld Yoon’s impeachment because his martial law decree was a serious violation of South Korean laws.
The court explained that there was no serious national threat at the time Yoon declared martial law.
“The defendant not only declared martial law, but also violated the constitution and laws by mobilizing military and police forces to obstruct the exercise of legislative authority,” the court’s acting chief Moon Hyung Bae said.
Moon pointed out that Yoon’s declaration of martial law decree was a serious violation of the country’s laws and “cannot be justified.”
“Given the grave negative impact on constitutional order and the significant ripple effects of the defendant’s violations, we find that the benefits of upholding the constitution by removing the defendant from office far outweigh the national losses from the removal of a president,” Moon added.
The court concluded that Yoon, as head of the armed forces, not only violated the formal process of declaring martial law, but also committed a “grave betrayal of the people’s trust.”
It noted that since there was no justification for Yoon’s behavior, he must be removed from power.
The Constitutional Court’s ruling takes effect immediately and sets the stage for a new presidential election in South Korea.
Meantime, South Korea’s Prime Minister Han Duck Soo was reinstated by the Constitutional Court as acting president.
Political observers cite the swift rise and fall of Yoon, who was once touted as a key US ally who forged close ties to former US President Joe Biden, as an anomaly.
Yoon’s removal had been a hugely divisive issue in South Korea, with mass rallies held by those in favor and those against his removal.
Anti-Yoon demonstrators gathered outside the court to celebrate the announcement, waving flags and dancing to music.
His supporters who had gathered outside the president’s official residence in the South Korean capital Seoul demonstrated deep sadness.
To maintain law and order in Seoul, South Korean law enforcement agencies have ramped up security and police issued warnings to the protesters against any sort of violence.
According to reports, there had been an increase in police presence, and barriers and checkpoints had been set up in the capital.
Shameless: How an ‘EU aspirant’ silences opponents and threatens them with jail
Yevgenia Gutsul escorted by police after a court hearing in Chisinau, March 28, 2025. © Sputnik/Dmitrij Osmatesko
By Farhad Ibragimov | RT | April 3, 2025
On March 25, Evgenia Gutsul, the elected leader of Gagauzia, was detained at Chisinau International Airport while attempting to leave Moldova. A court later ordered her to remain in custody for 20 days.
Officially, the charges relate to alleged illegal campaign financing tied to the Sor Party and an organized criminal group. But while legal justifications were cited, the move immediately raised red flags about political motivations behind the arrest.
This incident sets a significant and troubling precedent: never before has an elected leader of an autonomous region in Moldova been taken into custody. Unlike President Maia Sandu – whose reelection last year remains controversial and debated in Moldovan society – Gutsul secured a clear and commanding win in Gagauzia. Her arrest reads less like a legal procedure and more like a strategic attempt to intimidate dissenting voices, especially as Chisinau ramps up its drive toward European integration.
Still, the confrontation wasn’t exactly unexpected. For months, Sandu’s administration has shown growing discomfort with Gutsul’s visibility and political outreach, which extended beyond regional issues and increasingly captured national attention. Viewed in context, her arrest seems like part of a broader power struggle playing out at the highest levels of Moldovan politics.
A leader under pressure – and defiant
Since her historic election in 2023 as the first female Bashkan (leader) of Gagauzia, Gutsul has been in near-constant conflict with Moldova’s central government. Her criticisms of Chisinau’s policies have been sharp and frequent. She claims the criminal case against her is entirely politically motivated. Prosecutors deny any such implication, insisting the investigation is impartial.
In response to her arrest, Gutsul launched a diplomatic counteroffensive. She publicly appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging him to apply diplomatic and legal pressure on the Moldovan government. Similar appeals followed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – citing a decades-old autonomy agreement signed with Turkey’s mediation – and to US President Donald Trump, whom she described as a global leader capable of preventing internal conflict in Moldova.
Her messages struck a chord in Moldova. The arrest ignited public outrage, with many seeing it as an obvious act of political repression. Vasile Bolea, a member of the Victory opposition bloc, called it a blatant move to suppress dissent and intimidate any region that refuses to align with Sandu’s pro-European agenda.
Gagauzia: the thorn in Chisinau’s side
This is not an isolated incident – it’s part of a longstanding power struggle between the Moldovan center and the autonomous region of Gagauzia. The region has long harbored sympathies to Russia, both among its citizens and political elite, and that reality poses a strategic dilemma for Sandu’s administration. Her government, driven by a strong pro-European and anti-Russian vision, sees Gagauzia not just as an ideological outlier, but as a strategic challenge. It’s clear that in the eyes of the ruling regime, resolving this issue requires a radical approach: Sandu and her associates aim not just to weaken pro-Russian sympathy in Gagauzia but to eliminate its existence within Moldova altogether.
Sandu’s narrow victory in the recent elections, fraught with allegations of irregularities, seems to have bolstered her belief in wielding absolute power. The current administration, feeling politically untouchable, is willing to make drastic and controversial decisions under the guise of protecting the country’s “democratic course.” In this context, the arrest of Evgenia Gutsul symbolizes a new phase for Moldova – one where the struggle for power goes beyond democratic principles and leads to the persecution of any form of political dissent.
The similarities to neighboring Romania are hard to ignore. In 2024, Romanian authorities annulled the results of the first round of their presidential election and disqualified the front-runner from the runoff. Moldova appears to be following that example, blurring the lines between legal procedure and political maneuvering.
Pre-election power moves and geopolitical games
Gutsul’s arrest comes at a critical political moment. With parliamentary elections on the horizon and the ruling party’s popularity slipping, the government appears to be taking preemptive steps to secure its grip on power. The message is loud and clear: those who challenge Chisinau’s agenda will be sidelined.
The situation also fits into a wider geopolitical context. Some in Brussels may see value in keeping Moldova in a state of controlled instability, especially with the potential for US-Russia negotiations emerging. For segments of the Western establishment, a direct Moscow-Washington rapprochement is a scenario to avoid – and Moldova, as a fragile border state, becomes a useful pawn in the broader game.
Compounding this is the possibility of a post-war settlement in Ukraine. Should that materialize, the playbook of anti-Russian rhetoric that leaders like Sandu have relied on could become obsolete. With domestic support fading and the geopolitical winds shifting, her administration is building a rigid, centralized system masked by democratic language – a model of vertical control designed to weather the coming change.
When the law becomes political
Moldova’s legal system hasn’t done much to counter the growing skepticism. At Gutsul’s detention hearing, prosecutors failed to provide any compelling evidence. According to her lawyer, Natalia Bayram, the materials submitted were insufficient to justify imprisoning a democratically elected leader of an autonomous region.
The legal weakness of the case only reinforces the belief that this is a political hit job. Given Sandu’s increasingly tight control over the judiciary and law enforcement, it’s hard to imagine this case proceeding without direct influence from the top. Every sign points to coordination at the highest level.
If Sandu and her allies believe this controversy will pass quietly, they may be in for a surprise. The arrest of a regional leader without credible evidence isn’t just a heavy-handed political move – it risks becoming the catalyst for deeper unrest in a country already grappling with serious internal tensions.
Farhad Ibragimov – lecturer at the Faculty of Economics at RUDN University, visiting lecturer at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
Canadian PM Mark Carney Downplays Role in Freedom Convoy Crackdown Despite Backing Emergency Measures
Carney called protest “sedition” and Urged financial chokehold
By Didi Rankovic | Reclaim The Net | April 1, 2025
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney recently gave a masterclass in the art of political evasion and deflection – all the more “masterful” since one of the arguments he went for was that he is not really a politician.
This unfolded before TV cameras in the area of the 2022 Freedom Convoy blockade, which the authorities led by former PM Justin Trudeau and his Liberals clamped down on using unprecedented measures.
They included invoking the Emergencies Act to target the protesters against restrictive Covid-era policies with anything from extreme vilification to freezing their bank accounts.
“Sedition,” is what Carney decided to brand the civil protest in an op-ed published in the Globe and Mail on February 7, 2022, and, true to his previous roles in Big Finance, proposed to put an end to the protest (he called it “this occupation”) by “choking off the money” that funded it.
Now – given his current “affiliation” with the Liberal party, the new prime minister was asked to send a message to those Canadians who lost trust in the previous cabinet because of its handling of the protest.
Instead of doing that, Carney first sought to “distanced himself from himself” – saying that he has only been a politician for two months, and claiming that he took on his new role because he “knew this country needed big change.”
And he then proceeded to list all the allegedly significant changes achieved during his short time in office so far, thus deflecting from the Freedom Convoy question.
Despite his best efforts to paint himself as no more than a conscientious citizen determined to help his country through difficult times – three years ago this former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England was an informal advisor to Trudeau.
And he not only accused the Freedom of Convoy protestors of committing “sedition” and those donating to the cause of “funding sedition,” but was also mentioned in the Public Order Emergency Commission documents (which investigated the invocation of the Emergencies Act).
Spoiler: Carney supported that decision, along with the freezing of citizens’ bank accounts because they protested against the government.
But Carney’s failed upward now to become prime minister, and “re-earn trust” – not to mention, introduce “big change.”
Germany: Does Chaos await the CDU party? Unrest growing as AfD closes in on first place
In democracy, it is always best to simply ban the party that might end up beating you
Remix News | April 2, 2025
With coalition negotiations ongoing, the Christian Democrats (CDU) are beginning to experience inner turmoil over the current polling weakness of the party. Meanwhile, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is soaring in the polls, and now just one point behind the CDU.
Dennis Radtke, head of the CDU’s workers’ wing, told Handelsblatt newspaper, that the polling weakness is now a major concern.
“We must confidently explain why we do what we do,” Radtke demanded, including why weapons investments are needed to “prevent our children from having to learn Russian.”
“The current development is, to say the least, highly problematic and dangerous,” Radtke said. He is calling for an “honest analysis” of the election results.
The party must “not give the impression that the CDU has won an absolute majority and that we are selling our souls unnecessarily.”
However, the influential Welt newspaper is predicting even more dire consequences for the CDU. The influential deputy editor fo the paper, Ulf Poschardt, slams the CDU’s “firewall” against the AfD, pointing out that it is only strengthening the AfD.
Dear friends of the firewall, dear Antifa, congratulations on erecting the great firewall and its effective violence. You’ve done it. The AfD is now only slightly behind the CDU/CSU – and you don’t have to be a great prophet to suspect that this is only an interim result.
The CDU/CSU has made itself dependent on the culturally dominant left-green zeitgeist, and now the once conservatives and conservatives are being presented with the bill. The firewall agitators in the editorial offices, from the far left to the left to the center-left – which is most journalists – should also be rather grateful. The destruction of the CDU/CSU is in full swing. What the opportunist Angela Merkel failed to achieve, Friedrich “We’re halving the AfD” Merz is now managing to do.
He goes on to appeal to the conservative wing of the CDU, imploring them not to join a coalition with the SPD.
“And the conservatives in the CDU/CSU, the only relevant Antifa after Franz Josef Strauss, must ask themselves whether they want to allow the destruction of their party in a senseless coalition with an irresponsible SPD. Or not. It’s no longer just about the self-destruction of the CDU/CSU. The destruction of the country is getting closer. A little closer every day.”
The federal chairwoman of the Small and Medium-Sized Business Union, Gitta Connemann (CDU), also raised the alarm.
“The dire predictions even before the coalition negotiations have been concluded aren’t helping anyone, least of all the country,” also told Handelsblatt.
The new Forsa poll has the AfD at 24 percent, just a point behind the CDU, which is at 25 percent. If elections were held today, there is no way the CDU could join a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD), as the party would not have enough votes.
Friedrich Merz, who is thought to be the next chancellor, made a radical break with his campaign promise to not remove the debt brake. Almost immediately after the election, he said he would take out hundreds of billions of debt and change the constitution to do it, which he successfully passed using the previous Bundestag formation before a new parliament could take power.
It is thought that the Office of the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the powerful domestic spy agency, has a report that will classify the AfD as “confirmed right-wing extremist.” At that point, the new Bundestag is expected to vote on a ban on the AfD, including the Greens, SPD, Left Party, and the CDU.
Merz himself has said he will recommend his MPs vote for a ban if the BfV delivers the report with such a designation. The BfV, a highly partisan agency, was led by a CDU member, Thomas Haldenwang, up until recently. Currently, a new president has not yet been appointed.
If a ban is voted through, the issue will go to the Constitutional Court.
In the end, Germany may end up banning the most popular party in the country.
Le Pen conviction: How France’s courts keep sidelining the establishment’s political rivals
The case of the National Rally leader and presidential favorite, conveniently taken off future ballots, is part of a long pattern
By Rachel Marsden | RT | April 1, 2025
Earlier this week, the anti-establishment French political leader whom all polls suggest would easily win the presidency, if the vote were held tomorrow, was barred from running for office for five years. How convenient.
Right-wing National Rally leader Marine Le Pen has been found guilty in a Paris court of embezzling European Union funds. Accused of enabling a system whereby aides hired to serve in Brussels ended up doing work for the party, she was also fined an sentenced to two years of home detention under electronic monitoring. The allegations against Le Pen, dating back to at least 2014, were so old that they could have qualified for a French pension. But now the verdict conveniently takes her out of the 2027 election cycle.
If you were looking for a foolproof way to supercharge support for Le Pen’s party, congratulations, French judiciary – you nailed it. There’s no better way to fire up a political movement than to turn its leader into a martyr of a state that looks to be meddling with citizens’ democratic options. Just ask Romania’s Câlin Georgescu, who was on his way to victory before getting politically kneecapped by the system: arrested, accused of foreign funding, then ultimately just dismissed for a paperwork technicality.
And what happened next? His replacement, George Simion, is now surging in the polls. Who could’ve seen that coming? (Spoiler: Everyone.)
Disqualifying candidates for crimes like corruption, fraud, and electoral violations wasn’t automatic in France – until Emmanuel Macron’s party conveniently made it so in 2017. Timing is everything: that law landed roughly three years after Brussels put Le Pen in its investigative crosshairs. Surely just a coincidence.
The law’s biggest cheerleader? Macron ally and centrist leader, François Bayrou, who championed it – right up until he found himself accused of the exact same EU cash-grab scheme as Le Pen. Awkward. He lasted a whole month as Macron’s justice minister before getting booted. But don’t worry, he bounced back. Acquitted last year, he was later handpicked as Macron’s prime minister, despite not running for anything. You know who actually won that election? Le Pen’s party got the most votes, and the anti-establishment left won the most seats – neither of which entitles you to actually govern France anymore, apparently. Meanwhile, leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon is also under investigation for – you guessed it – precisely the same kind of disqualifying offense involving EU funding as Le Pen.
It’s no wonder Trump looks at this mess and sees himself in Le Pen’s situation. “She was banned for five years and she was the leading candidate,” Trump said. “That sounds like this country.” If Trump had been French, and convicted on some of his own election-related charges, like those in Georgia, he wouldn’t have been able to run for president, either. Hopefully the fashion capital of the world won’t set a trend with this one. Sure, convict someone. But let the people decide if the convict is still a better electoral option. Democracy means letting people choose – even if their top pick needs a parole officer instead of a campaign manager.
There’s a distinct pattern here: every time a candidate starts looking like a real threat to the establishment, the legal system suddenly finds a reason to hit the brakes. It’s almost as if France has an unofficial “Incumbent Protection Act”.
Remember Dominique Strauss-Kahn? Back in 2011, as IMF head, he was basically measuring the drapes at the Élysée Palace for his imminent move in. Then – bam! – a New York hotel maid accused him of sexual assault. Career over. And just to make sure, French authorities later charged him with pimping. Yes, pimping. He was acquitted, but good luck running for office when “IMF President” and “Accused Pimp” are both on your CV.
Jump to 2017: François Fillon, a former prime minister, was leading the race to replace then president François Hollande. Then, right on cue, an investigative paper got a tip that he was allegedly paying his wife and kids to hold fake parliamentary aide jobs. His campaign imploded, and suddenly, here comes a relatively unknown political wonderboy named Emmanuel Macron to win it all. What luck!
Even the much-beloved former President Jacques Chirac couldn’t dodge the pattern. He was convicted in 2011 for a fake jobs embezzlement scheme dating back to his Paris mayoral days from 1977 to 1995. The only reason they didn’t nail him sooner? He had presidential immunity until 2007. They waited him out like a debt collector until his longtime nemesis, Nicolas Sarkozy, took office. To illustrate the contrast of worldview between the two presidents, Chirac kept France out of Uncle Sam’s regime-change-mobile in Iraq, and Sarkozy invaded Libya and was single-handedly responsible for reintegrating France back into NATO command after President Charles De Gaulle refused to do so in the interests of national sovereignty. By the time Chirac was actually convicted, he was no longer any kind of electoral threat to Sarkozy’s team, since he was denying Alzheimer’s rumors by that point more often than political wrongdoing.
Le Pen’s conviction has sparked immediate reactions from her political allies. Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán tweeted, “Je suis Marine,” in a nod to the “Je Suis Charlie” slogan that emerged after jihadists shot up the Parisian newsroom of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine. Dutch right-winger Geert Wilders called the sentence “incredibly harsh” and predicted that she’d win on appeal and win the French presidency. If she actually wins on appeal. And if that happens before 2027. And if the French legal system doesn’t suddenly “discover” another obstacle, with the EU’s help, as is often the case. Because if history tells us anything, it’s that French elections aren’t just won or lost at the ballot box – they’re also decided in courtrooms. And somehow, the ruling party never seems to be the one on trial.
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Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu: Leave No Palestinian or Arab Alive
By Jonas E. Alexis | Veterans Today | July 23, 2017
Israeli Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu seems to have picked up where the late Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef left off. The Israeli army, Eliyahu said, must slaughter the Palestinians “and leave no one alive.” The Palestinians, the good rabbi continued, must be “destroyed and crushed in order to end violence.” Here is Eliyahu’s algorithm:
“If they don’t stop after we kill 100, then we must kill 1,000. And if they do not stop after 1,000, then we must kill 10,000. If they still don’t stop we must kill 100,000, even a million.”
There is more to this “logic” than meets the eye and ear. Eliyahu even postulated that the Israeli army ought not to get involved in arresting Palestinians because “If you leave him alive, there is a fear that he will be released and kill other people. We must eradicate this evil from within our midst.”
You may say that this is just an isolated case. No Israeli official believes that, right? … continue
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