French far-right leader to visit Occupy Wall Street [View All]

[pampango]

The French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has been known to blast “U.S. imperialism.” Her party, after all, is all about chest-thumping French nationalism, so there’s little room for embracing les yankees.

The question is, how will she will be greeted at Zuccotti Park? Le Pen does share some affinity with the Occupy movement. She is a consistent critic of global capitalism; before she travels to New York she will deliver commentary on global economic crisis in front of the International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington, D.C.

But the National Front stands on the extreme right edge of French politics, with an obsession for national sovereignty and its corollaries: closed borders and safe streets. Critics say the Front’s tough stance on immigration has crossed the line into racism and hate-mongering. When the trip was first announced, Le Pen had sought meetings with Democrats, Republicans, and, most notably, Tea Party leaders. Supporters say the latter is a movement whose electoral success she’d like to replicate.

Like the Tea Party, the Front National considers that the system has run amok and that the average, working folks are getting the short end of the stick. When Sarah Palin skewers the Washington elite, Marine Le Pen assails Brussels bureaucrats, who impose their rules and regulations on French citizens, but also Wall Street and a globalized economy that “steals” jobs away from deserving French nationals.

In a country where flags are seldom seen, the Front National extols the virtues of the nation and refuses to relinquish an inch of sovereignty: if elected, Marine Le Pen would take France out of NATO and the euro, and would not submit to the jurisdiction of international courts. The National Front talks tough on immigration, blames Islam for many of the world’s woes and is the only significant party to even speak of “family values.”

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/france/111101/french-far-right-marine-le-pen-occupy-wall-street-front-national

It should be interesting to see how she is received at OWS and which American politicians she meets with. She hopes this visit will help her in next year's presidential election against the conservative and the socialist candidates.