Category: Politics

Sylvie Kauffmann, a former correspondent in Moscow and Washington and a member of Le Monde’s editorial board, answers questions about Trump’s second term as US President

“Donald Trump’s election for a second term will have consequences beyond the United States and in Europe in particular. The Republican has repeatedly tested the United States’ relationship with its historical allies and he notoriously promised to settle the war in Ukraine in “24 hours”.

But that doesn’t say what Trump will actually do once in office. What do the president-elect’s first declarations and appointments suggest? And will he deal with a united or divided Europe?”—Le Monde

This Q & A was held virtually. To read as the questions were addressed, start at the bottom of this Substack.

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This is the end of our Q&A. Thank you very much for your great questions, looking forward to discussing Trump again with you on Le Monde in English!

Sylvie Kauffmann (Columnist)

4:47 PM (Paris)

Many Ukrainians I know seem happy about his reelection, hoping for change. Given he often oscilates between extremes, could we actually expect a positive change when it comes to US support for Ukraine?

Haris

Hi Haris,

This is a very good observation. Many Ukrainians, including in the leadership, have been frustrated over the past several months by the Biden administration’s hesitations, particularly by its refusal to grant permission to carry deep strikes within Russian territory using Western long-range missiles. I have even heard the nickname “Snake Sullivan” for Jake Sullivan, Biden’s National Security Advisor. They pointed out that Trump, during his first term, provided them with the first lethal equipment, the Javelin anti-tank missiles, that Obama had denied them. So those who were most critical of Biden hoped for a positive change if Trump was elected. Whether this positive change will actually happen is anybody’s guess. I think it will very much depend on President Putin’s attitude and also in part on China’s position, since it supports Russia in this war.

Sylvie Kauffmann (Columnist)

4:39 PM (Paris)

What will be the consequences of the political crisis in Germany for the union of Europe?

Clem

Hi Clem,

The first consequence of the political crisis in Germany is that it is missing in action at this crucial moment when Europeans should be getting together and showing a united front to the future Trump administration. The general election has been set for February 23, which means that Chancellor Scholz and his team will be busy campaigning when Trump is inaugurated and possibly when negotiations start over Ukraine. And it will probably take at least another month or two, or more, to build a governing coalition after the election.

This is the odd and unfortunate situation in Europe at the moment: its two biggest countries, Germany and France, which are supposed to provide the European “engine,” are weakened by domestic political and economic problems. This gives more space to a new player, Poland, to be more active: this is exactly what the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, has been doing since Trump’s victory, trying to coordinate a European common position to strengthen Ukraine in the event of a negotiation.

Poland calls for Europe to wake up after Trump’s victory

Published on November 7, 2024, at 4:06 pm (Paris) 2 min read

Sylvie Kauffmann (Columnist)

4:27 PM (Paris)

Does Trump care about Macron, one of the first leaders to have congratulated him on November 5?

Erika

Hi Erika,

You are right: Macron was actually the third European leader to congratulate Trump on November 6. The first one of course was Viktor Orban, who celebrated on X “the biggest comeback in American political history,” the second was the Austrian chancellor. Macron certainly hopes to resume the friendly relationship he had with Trump during their first term (Macron was elected president for the first time in 2017), even though he failed to convince him not to withdraw from the JCPOA (the Iranian nuclear deal) and from the Paris climate agreement. But they managed to have a working relationship, one that would be very helpful to have this time too.

But things are different today. The world is much more dangerous and unstable, a war is raging in the heart of Europe and the 47th president of the United States will most likely be more radical than the 45th. Also, Macron is weaker than during his own first term because of the political crisis at home and the fact that he no longer has a majority. So it remains to be seen who, with Trump, will speak for Europe. Orban will certainly have a close relationship with him but he can’t claim to speak for Europe.

Sylvie Kauffmann (Columnist)

4:10 PM (Paris)

Can Biden grant Ukraine membership to NATO invitation before the end of his term?

Ali

Hi Ali

Yes, theoretically, President Biden can state that he is in favor of extending an invitation to Ukraine to join NATO − something he has consistently been opposed to so far. This was part of the “victory plan” President Volodymyr Zelensky presented both to Biden and Trump in September. But this is not the most likely scenario.

Read more

‘Zelensky hopes to get an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO out of Biden before he leaves the White House’

Published on September 18, 2024, at 10:23 am (Paris) 4 min read

Sylvie Kauffmann (Columnist)

4:01 PM (Paris)

Are the Europeans hoping to obtain anything from the Biden administration in the next two months? Something that couldn’t be undone immediately by Trump

Liam

Hi Liam,

Yes indeed. This was the subject of the talks held yesterday in Brussels between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO leaders and officials. The idea is to strengthen Ukraine’s armed forces and possibly provide them with more equipment in the short term so that Ukrainian leaders are in a stronger position when a negotiation with Russia eventually starts. But the Biden administration and Europeans must act very quickly, as the situation on the frontline is deteriorating.

Read more

Ukraine’s dashed hopes after three months of an incursion in Russia that was supposed to change the course of the war

Published on November 9, 2024, at 4:00 pm (Paris) 13 min read

Sylvie Kauffmann (Columnist)

3:58 PM (Paris) Further reading

The Republican president-elect has stepped up his threats to withdraw the US from NATO, to which it is the main contributor. Allies anticipate a symbolic withdrawal from the coordination of military aid to Ukraine.

NATO, better prepared for Trump than in 2016, is still leaping into the unknown

Published on November 9, 2024, at 11:45 am (Paris) 6 min read

3:53 PM (Paris)

Are the Europeans involved in negotiations now with Russia to end the war or do they just want to continue to send aid to Ukraine hoping that the Russians capitulate? Trump says he is going to appoint a special negotiator.

Thomas Winterbottom

Hello Thomas,

Very good question! As far as we know, there are no negotiations going on at the moment. Most chances are that in Trump’s mind, any negotiation to end the war in Ukraine will be held between Russia and the United States – hopefully also with Ukraine involved. But he has never mentioned the possibility of inviting Europeans to sit at the table. This is a huge issue for them, particularly for France, because what is at stake in a possible settlement of the war in Ukraine is not only the future of Ukraine but also the whole security environment of Europe. President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday: “Let me be clear: nothing must be decided on Ukraine without the Ukrainians, nor on Europe without the Europeans”.

Sylvie Kauffmann (Columnist)

3:44 PM (Paris)

Do you foresee Trump following through with his threats of tariffs?

Ricardo Bruinton

Hi Ricardo,

Yes! I think this is one of the few things we can safely predict, unfortunately. The EU is better prepared this time, but it remains to be seen whether Europeans have really learnt “the art of the deal”.

Sylvie Kauffmann (Columnist)

3:44 PM (Paris)

How will Trump deal with NATO and America’s défense within Europe ?

Nigel

Hello Nigel,

We don’t yet know exactly how Trump will proceed. What we do know is how he behaved in his first term: he accused the Europeans of being free riders in NATO, of taking advantage of the United States and he demanded they spend more for their defense. The situation has improved on that issue: there are now 23 NATO members, out of 30, who have reached the minimum of 2% of their GDP in military spending. It would not be surprising that Trump now raises the threshold to 3%. Some Europeans fear that under a Trump presidency, the US might withdraw from NATO, but that seems highly unlikely, as NATO is also useful to the US. And if Europeans spend more for their defense, logically they will buy more American equipment, which is good for the American economy.

Sylvie Kauffmann (Columnist)

3:30 PM (Paris) Further reading

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban hosted a European Political Community summit in Budapest on November 7, followed by a European Council meeting.

As Trump returns, Europe’s unity is tested: ‘We’re in a boat that’s going to weather a huge storm’

Published on November 8, 2024, at 12:42 pm (Paris) 5 min read

2:50 PM (Paris) Further reading

The election of Donald Trump has plunged Ukraine into the unknown. The country is preparing for a ‘very delicate diplomacy’ when he takes office on January 20, 2025.

Read more

Ukrainian leaders fear Trump’s future appointments

Published on November 13, 2024, at 4:15 pm (Paris) 3 min read

2:45 PM (Paris) Further reading

Speaking before members of the European Parliament, the European Union’s new high representative for foreign affairs put forward a slightly different vision from the one held by her predecessor, Josep Borrell.

Kaja Kallas tells MEPs she will support EU aid to Ukraine until ‘victory’

Published yesterday at 9:16 am (Paris) 3 min read

2:40 PM (Paris) Further reading

Le Monde’s editorial

Donald Trump’s re-election to a second term on November 6, and the success of the Republican Party, of which he has taken total control, represent a major turning point for the United States.

The end of an American world

Published on November 6, 2024, at 11:15 am (Paris) 2 min read

2:32 PM (Paris) Further reading

Faced with the prospect of a settlement of the war in Ukraine from which they could be excluded, some European countries, such as Poland, are taking action, writes Sylvie Kauffmann in her latest column.

‘One week after Trump’s election, a new alignment is emerging in Europe’

Published on November 13, 2024, at 4:31 pm (Paris) 3 min read

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A bientôt,

Sar

Notes from Paris: Watching the Democratic Nat’l Convention

With everything else happening this week, moving apartments, selling my home in Oakland, gobs and gobs of paperwork, I found myself glued to YouTube, the streaming channel that made it possible for me to watch entire evenings of the Convention or just the speeches I wanted to hear. 

Each evening, TV coverage started at 7pm ET which is 1am in Paris. So I elected to get a good night’s sleep and watched everything the following day. As with almost everybody else I’ve heard talk about the Convention, I was immediately struck by the joy, the happiness, and, dare I say it, the hope that oozed off the delegates and electrified each evening. I’m not sure how it happened and would love to hear from my readers, but from the moment President Biden threw his support behind his Vice President, Kamala Harris, the people who were so blue and feeling hopeless suddenly perked up, like watering a drooping plant that had days to go before it died and now suddenly was alive and vibrant. Watching Joe speak that first evening, I was very happy to admit that I was wrong and all the rest of you were right: He needed to step down and let someone younger run for his job. He didn’t look his age, eighty-one, but his entire body screamed that he was old. I felt so sad. What a thing to have to do. After most of his political lifetime, yearning to be President of the US, he got the golden ring but wasn’t able to finish what he started. He was asked to step down for the good of the country. Joe Biden will have a special place in history when Presidents are evaluated. I hope I’m alive to see him earn his well-deserved place. 

I have spent the last 50+ years in California. Hearing the storied journey of Kamala Harris through the halls of California courts and administration was a revelation to me. And her smile!! On TV news channels, during her time in California, we were always treated to photos of her tough side, prosecuting criminals. Her smile is beatific!!! I did wonder over the last four years why people seemed to dislike her. I wondered what she had done. Or was it just that she is a strong, tough highly educated woman, a black woman, who pulls no punches and is not intimidated by bullies. Is that what she was guilty of? 

Now, with the eyes of the world watching America, she is our darling. I was worried that the media would have a field day dredging up rumours and gossip about the Democratic hopeful. But she and husband, Doug Emhoff, seem to think ahead, to look at all those slippery slopes that most politicians, most people actually, don’t want to admit are there and do what is right. When she won the vice-presidency, Emhoff, an attorney whose cases had nothing to do with politics, quit his job in case there was any question about his connection to a possible case being litigated in the law firm of which he was a partner. In other words, he loved his wife more than his ambitions. 

We heard that a lot over the four days of the convention. Biden: “I love my job but I love my country more.” Stephanie Grisham who worked for Trump: “I love my country more than I love my party.” and many other republicans who had voted for Trump said something similar. 

The Love— Coach Walz telling his family how much he loved them. His son, in tears, saying “that’s my dad!” Emhoff declaring his love for Kamala. One of his sons telling us in photos how much fun it was watching his dad and “Momala” falling in love “just like teenagers!” The love, real love between people and families, was palpable even on YouTube watching from 7000 miles away.

It was pretty clear from the second hour of the first night that the DNC was going to take the high road. They grabbed themes that the republicans thought were theirs only and made them Democratic themes: patriotism, freedom, the American flag, families, USA chanted over and over. The words ‘facism’ and ‘neo-nazis’ were rarely mentioned. the words ‘dictator’ and ‘autocrat’ were mentioned as part of Trump’s psychology of “me, me, me,” all about Trump. Project 2025 was a book that several speakers referred to in the plans that Trump has for the US if he were to win. No one went into a lengthy explanation of who actually wrote the book, how long it has been in the making, and that these writers were not going to make the same mistake that was made in 2016 when they were unprepared to use the power that Trump made available to them. If you really want to indulge in a horror show, listen to the two seasons of Rachel Maddow’s Podcast: Ultra.(Click to start). It will make your toes curl, your stomach want to vomit, and wonder why you have never heard all this information so clearly before.

August in Paris is a time when the streets are empty, fifty percent of stores are closed, and most people are taking much needed vacations before La Rentrée, the return to school and the return to work, begins. The few people that are here have the Paralympics on their mind after having just witnessed the glorious Parisian party that was the 2024 Paris Olympics. I would watch my daily dose of the Convention and then wonder who can I talk to? Who can I trade observations with? Very few people were here. I got a few e-mails from Democrats Abroad that were joyful and urging us to get to work and that was about it. I suspect that there were others who had a different experience. Mine was lonely. It’s one of the first times of being an exPat that I longed to be somewhere else and bask in the hope and joy of my community.

In the words of the excellent Heather Cox Richardson: the Harris-Walz team is “reclaiming the idea of Community with its understanding that everyone matters and the government must serve everyone.”—HCR, Substack, August 24, 2024

And now, we who have moaned and groaned, have to “Stop complaining and get to work!” (Michelle Obama). I am volunteering with Democrats Abroad and doing whatever they ask me to do. 

What are you doing?

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A bientôt,

Sara

Say it ain’t so, Joe

I cannot remember the last time I cried.  It was undoubtably over something stupid like stubbing my toe because I didn’t lift my foot high enough when coming inside the apartment from the terrace. Or perhaps reading something to my writing group that unexpectedly went deeper than I’d realized.

Sunday night I cried in shock.  Joe Biden has stepped down from running for President 2024. 

Yesterday, I cried again while reading the hundreds of accolades that important people are saying about him.  Someone sent me a parody of Kamala (Camelot) and I cried and laughed at the same time.

Where is the cynical Sara who thinks every move a politician makes is selfish, self-aggrandizing, and narcissistic?  I’m in shock at myself as much as in shock at this turn of events.  Since I’ve paid attention to these things, I have said that Joe Biden was a decent human being.  In 2008, when he was campaigning for President (stepping aside for Obama), I remember watching him at a fireplace during a fundraiser, speaking, making his usual gaffs, and loving him.  I also liked Obama and had no trouble switching my allegiance. Obama holds his cards very close to his chest.  We really don’t know much about him except what he has shared in his two memoirs.  Joe? We know Joe because he is an open book.  We watched him suffer with tragedy after tragedy. We’ve watched him pull himself together and work for the US because that was his job as an elected official.   We’ve watched him work with his stutter which tends to come back when he’s stressed.  We’ve watched him outsmart many of the MAGA Republicans during his SOTU addresses.

Joe Biden is not only a decent man, he is also a great man.

Yesterday, Hunter Biden wrote that there wasn’t much distance between the public Joe Biden and the private Joe Biden.  I believe him. 

When I learn too much about a famous person, for example JFK who I idolized as a teenager, I want to stuff it all back in Pandora’s box.  I want to hang on to my fantasies that these ambitious people who have to stoop to many compromises to raise money for their campaigns, who tend to misuse power the minute they have it, really are as good as they seem.  Then we have Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden.  They say that Jimmy Carter is the greatest ex-President the US has known.  I met him once at a conference on Aging.  My mother was getting an award, one I had nominated her for.  Carter was the keynote speaker.  He was very accessible, shaking everyone’s hand.  He didn’t need to.  He wasn’t running for anything. 

Joe Biden made gaffs.  TV and media made fun of him.  What you saw was what you got.  During these last three weeks, we’ve watched a defiant President try to tell the world that he still had what it takes.  I was convinced.  Heather Cox Richardson was convinced.  Defiance wasn’t a good look on him. He was angry, he was defensive, and he let us see it all.  That’s who he is.

It will take me a couple of days to make the switch to Harris.  I have an innate fear that the US will never elect a woman, much less a Black woman, or an Asian woman, to be President.  White Supremacists, who have an inordinate amount of power, believe a woman’s place is in the kitchen and there she should shut up.

Much of the news says Biden stepping aside has changed the whole geography of the election.  Now, Trump is the old man, the crazy man, who can’t finish a sentence, who rambles on and on not making any sense.  They are implying that Trump will receive the same treatment that Biden has been receiving.  But there aren’t any Republicans willing to stand up to Trump.  They are terrified of his retribution.

There isn’t a Joe Biden amongst them.  A man willing to make one of the most difficult decisions ever. A decision that serves his country and not his personal ambition.

I subscribe to Good News from The Guardian.  Every Sunday, I get four or five articles of good things that have happened in the past week. After a week of bad news, horrifying news, deadly news that fills up every page for seven days.

Maybe this is why I’ve been crying.  When I was in my early 20s and studying for my licensing exam (Psychology), I used to watch an episode of Bonanza (which I hadn’t seen it’s first time around) every day. Every day I’d cry at the end of the episode. I quickly figured out that I cried because it was about family, love in the family being a priority, and justice always won in the end.

I think I cried about Joe because I like him. And this man that I like did a courageous and selfless act that if unheard of in this day and political climate. In the end, he showed us his integrity.

I have a vision now that with nothing left to lose, our President will achieve more great things in his last six months.

And then?  Please stay alive, Joe.  Don’t let this be one tragedy too many.  Please muster that working class Delaware boy who has a real spine and served the country well for over fifty years. Be a great ex-President.

Thanks for reading Out My Window! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

A bientôt,

Sara

C’est Ouf or What the heck happened in France

Four weeks ago, June 6-9, there was a parliamentary election in Europe, the tenth since the formation of the EU, the first since Brexit. The Far Right won the most delegates in France. Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, her handpicked ersatz leader of RN (Rassemblement National), began to crow. Within one hour of getting the results, without any warning to his deputies or his “friends”, President Macron dissolved the standing Parliament and called for new elections. They would be held on Sundays: June 30 and July 7. 

The country went into a tailspin. Journalists tried to guess why he did this. Most thought it was suicidal. In France, there are many parties from the Far Left to Center Left to Center Right to the Far Right. Macron first ran as Center neither left nor right but has turned out to be far more Right. He won his second election by a hair, many French voting against Marine Le Pen than voting for Macron. His newly formed party, Ensemble (Together) did not win a majority in the Parliament in 2022 so Macron has had difficulty passing many of his reforms. In many cases, the government has used the Article 49 of the French Constitution, paragraph 3 (Article 49.3) which allows the government (essentially Macron) to pass a law without a vote. Some journalists think that he knew he’d reach his limit of doing that. People were angry. He seemed to be favouring the wealthy. If he hadn’t dissolved the parliament, there could have been a call to pass a motion of No Confidence.

My friend, Fatiha, has been explaining to me what has happened day by day. The voters of France were galvinized. For many, the goal became ‘keep the Far Right from getting power.’ The same night as the dissolution, spurred on by François Ruffin, four parties on the left banded together and called themselves Nouveau Front Populaire. These parties do not agree on many things but they do agree that letting the Far Right get power would be disastrous for the country. They put aside any disagreements they had and campaigned as one party They agreed on a social program determining how much each piece of the program would cost. They worked on this for four days. They were the only party to think out and present a detailed plan. Fatiha and her friends were out on the street every day passing out flyers. They went door to door (mostly apartments, they would start at the top floor and work their way down) and talk to people. I asked Fatiha if people slammed doors on her. No, she told me. Some didn’t want to talk but many did. She would send me a photo of the campaigners at the end of the day all happy and exhausted.

Then came the first vote on Sunday, June 30. The outcome was 33% for the RN (Marine Le Pen), 28% for NFP (the Left), and 21% for Macron’s party. All the rest had under 12%. If a delegate received over 50% of the votes AND 25% of the constituency had voted, they were in. Marine Le Pen was in on the first vote. On July 7, all the delegates that had received over 12.5% would run against each other. This meant a triangle. There was real fear that votes would split between Ensemble and the Left giving the Far Right the majority. The left suggested and then followed through with the idea that if their delegate was in third place and RN had a chance of winning, they would drop out making it a two way run off. Macron’s party wasn’t so good. Many did drop out but many stayed. Historically, the Left has helped Macron against Le Pen probably giving him the presidency in both years 2017 and 2022. The favour has not been reciprocated or acknowledged according to Fatiha. I was now caught up in the breathtaking drama of this election. At the first election, 66.7% of France showed up to vote. “63% of French voters turned out to vote for the second round of the country’s snap parliamentary elections on Sunday, July 7, slightly less than for the first round (65%). It is the highest turnout since 1981. These figures confirm intense interest in the vote.” Le Monde

We all know the outcome. Nouveau Front Populaire won 182 seats. Macron’s Ensemble won 168 seats. Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National won 143 seats. A hung parliament. “A hung parliament with a large eurosceptic, anti-immigration contingent could weaken France’s international standing and threaten Western unity in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. European Union officials, already learning to deal with far-right parties in power in Italy and the Netherlands, are watching France closely. And in Rome, Pope Francis chose the day of the French vote to warn against “ideological temptations and populists”, adding: “Democracy is not in good health in the world today.” Le Monde—July 8.

The last time this kind of thing happened was in Mitterand’s Presidency. He honoured the French vote by choosing a prime minister from the party that got the most seats even though it wasn’t a majority. Fatiha has no faith that Macron will do the same. She is ready for anything sneaky, egotistical, and anti the French people. A majority of people now feel as she does. I asked her if she thought anything would happen before or during the Olympics. My common sense says it all should wait. The Olympics are fraught enough. No one knows. The French want a Parliament. Macron may try and stall. So far, he has not made an appearance on television. So far, he has not talked to the French people.

My sister wrote to me and wanted France to send NFP to the US to galvanise them. I wrote her back that there is a fatigue in the US. Much as I detest Marine Le Pen and her beliefs, she is not a criminal, she hasn’t stirred up the kind of violence that Trump has, she seems to keep her language in check. Americans seem inured to the most detestable way of speaking, they expect lies on a daily basis. We, in France, have watched stunned as all the news after the Biden-Trump debate has been about Biden and his age. Nothing about Trump’s criminal acts, his inflammatory speeches and actions, and he seems much more deficient in brain cells than Biden. WTF is going on? (Read my friend Pamela Drake’s Substack for an opinion: 

https://pameladrake.substack.com/p/the-ice-floe-or-the-endtimes

And what the heck does “C’est Ouf” mean? It’s a wonderful expression!

“C’est ouf – roughly pronounced say oof – is a colloquial French expression to express shock or surprise. 

It is the rough equivalent of ‘it’s wild’ or ‘it’s crazy/mad’ in English or just ‘wow’. (From Fatiha: ‘ouf’ also means “What a relief!” This is what made the front cover of Liberation so brilliant)

C’est ouf can be either positive or negative, depending on the context. 

The word ouf is the verlan, or backwards slang, of ‘fou’ which means crazy. While ouf is colloquial, you can still hear it used by people of different generations – not just young people.”—the local.fr

More excitement (and I’m afraid not the good kind) coming up.

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A bientôt,

Sara

France’s snap elections

Dear Francophiles and Friends

The following is a reprint from an on-line journal that I subscribe to. All my friends in the US seem very confused by what is going on. I hope this helps.

“5-minute guide to the latest on France’s snap elections

written by Emma Pearson – emma.pearson@thelocal.com

Election news: 5-minute guide to the latest on France's snap elections

Protesters gather to demonstrate against the far-right in Paris. Photo by Zakaria ABDELKAFI / AFP

From party alliances to shock announcements and the emerging key figures, here’s your essential roundup of all the latest from France’s snap parliamentary elections.

France will head back to the polls at the end of this month for snap parliamentary elections – called by Emmanuel Macron on Sunday in the wake of his party’s humiliating European election defeat at the hands of Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National.

The president’s announcement caught everyone off guard – even key members of his own party – so three days later, political groups are scrambling to get ready and fight the very short election campaign.

READ ALSO What do snap parliamentary elections mean for France?

Here’s a roundup of the latest election news:

Republican front

The most widely-heard call in France over the last three days has been for a Front républicain.

The concept of a ‘republican front’ is not a new one, it essentially means that when necessary mainstream parties put aside their differences in order to combat the extremists in the far-right movement.

Most recently it’s been seen in the second round of the presidential elections of 2017 and 2022 – the final two candidates were far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron and in that context plenty of people who detest Macron and all that he stands for cast their vote for him because they considered that the alternative – a far-right president of France – was much worse.

In the context of these parliamentary elections, the Front Républicain is more to do with political parties and essentially involves parties making agreements not to run candidates against each other in certain constituencies, in avoid to avoid splitting the vote and allowing in the Rassemblement National candidate.

Talks on these potential agreements are mostly still ongoing but it would involve, for example, the four left-wing parties who made up the Nupes group agreeing to run a single Nupes candidate in each seat – rather than diving the leftist vote by fielding one candidate from the far-left La France Insoumise, one from the centre-left Parti Socialiste, one from the Green and one from the Communist party.

It’s early days, but most of these agreements are far from being done deals, despite pleas for unity.

Eric effect

One politician who appears to be swimming against the republican tide is Eric Ciotti, leader of the right-wing Les Républicains who has announced that he would be open to an alliance with Le Pen’s party.

Les Républicains is one of the two parties that dominated French politics in the post-war period – the party of presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy.

Badly weakened since 2017 and at risk of fading into irrelevance, the party has been steadily drifting to the right for several years, electing in 2022 the very right-wing Ciotti as party leader. 

An alliance with Le Pen would not come as a surprise to anyone who had read his most recent manifestos and policies, but the thought of the political heirs of Charles de Gaulle getting into bed with the far-right has caused shockwaves in France and within the party itself.

Protests

There have been several protests, especially in Paris, this week but unions and left-wing parties have called for mass demos across France this weekend.

Intended as a show of solidarity against the far-right, the protests are intended to echo 2002 when million of people took to the streets after Jean-Marie Le Pen progressed to the second round of the presidential election.

READ ALSO What would a victory for Le Pen’s party mean for France?

Key figures

It’s not only opposition parties and the media who were taken by surprise by Macron’s election call, it also caught senior members of his own party off guard, with several saying privately (or less privately in the ear of friendly journalists) that they think Macron’s ‘grand pari‘ (big gamble) is a bad idea.

This number appears to include prime minister Gabriel Attal who was conspicuous by his absence for 48 hours after the announcement (even failing to post on his usually active Instagram account). However he’s now back and saying that he will do whatever it takes to “avoid the worst”.

Those of Macron’s ministers who are members of parliament – and in France it is not necessary to be an MP in order to be a minister – are also declaring their candidacy in these elections and so far there are no surprises . . .  

Key dates

Candidates have until Friday to confirm that they are standing. The formal campaign period begins on Monday, which is when election posters will start to go up and TV debates will be organised.

Voting takes place in two rounds; Sunday, June 30th and Sunday, July 7th.”

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Please leave comments below with thoughts and questions and I will do my best to answer as the elections move closer

A bientôt,

Sara

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s–Doris Kearns Goodwin.

I was thirteen years old the year, 1960, that John F. Kennedy ran against Richard Nixon for President of the United States. My family lived on the Main Line west of Philadelphia which was republican country. At that point in my life, I had no interest in politics. One of the main reasons being that I had to compete with the goings on in the world for attention from both my parents. I wanted to be seen and to be heard and hated the competition.

In the summer and fall of 1960, a lot of that changed. JFK was stirring up passionate feelings in his supporters who were doubling and tripling with each of his planned campaign stops. When he came to Philadelphia, I don’t remember where, my father took me with him to stand in the glow of this 43 year old man who had captured the attention of a nation with his movie star good looks and his fresh opinions. This may be a faulty memory, but I remember being in a large parking lot. He was standing higher than us, his adoring fans-probably in a car or makeshift stand of some sort. My father and I made it to the front of the crowd and JFK shook my hand. I don’t remember anything else.

I have another memory of bicycling from Haverford, where we lived, to Ardmore the next town over. We, my friends and I, usually went there to buy 45s (If you remember those, you are as ancient as I am!). Across the street, an enterprising person was selling Democrat buttons and trinkets. With my own money, I bought a gold donkey. Of course, it was rubbish stuff but it was my rubbish stuff! I pinned it on whatever blouse I was wearing and sensed my parents would approve.

I have thought a lot of that time during the past week as I’ve been reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s latest book: An Unfinished Love Story: A personal history of the 1960s (2024). Goodwin was married to Dick Goodwin for forty-two years and “married to American History” even longer. Doris worked under President Johnson, helped him with writing his memoirs, and wrote a biography of him after he died. Dick Goodwin was a speech writer for JFK and Johnson and then became very close friends with Robert Kennedy as he contemplated and then decided to run for President. 

DKG is such an engaging writer that I felt yanked back to the 60s but witnessing it as an adult as well as through the eyes of the two Goodwins. Anyone who lived through the 60s knows what an amazing decade it was. One of such hope and possibility then tragedy after tragedy. I have tended to look back on that decade as one that failed us. That my generation somehow screwed up. By the end of reading An Unfinished Love Story, I was willing and happy to view it from DKG’s eyes—much more positively.

This book came to exist because Dick collected every piece of paper that he ever held. He carted around 300 boxes of his letters, journals, speeches, and memorabilia but would never open them. On his 80th birthday, he told Doris that he was ready to see what was there. It took them two and a half years to get through all the boxes. By then, Dick was ill and eventually died. It took her several years of grief and moving her home, to take up their project again. She felt she had to write the book as she watched what was going on in the country. 

The two met in 1973 after most of the events in the book had taken place. She takes us through the boxes, through those years before they met, and tells us how they discussed each event, their reminiscences. I listened to the audio version of the book and was treated to a number of speeches made by JFK, RFK, and Johnson. What a jolt hearing those voices again. 

What makes this book so interesting for me, aside from the fact that it is so well-written and engaging, is that it fills in details that I didn’t know about because I wasn’t especially political. I began to appreciate why Goodwin is so interested in leadership (She has also written a book entitled Leadership). She lays out the qualities of these men that were trying to guide our country to live as a democracy. The decisions they made and how they made them. It is such a contrast to much of what is going on today. The two of them would often argue the traits of JFK and Johnson.

When I finished the book, I wondered about President Biden. How would they describe his leadership qualities? I am now a person who reads a lot about politics in the US. There is a different perspective watching and listening when living in France. We don’t get the 24 hour loop on TV that people in the States get – if they watch TV. Most of my information comes from reading and I am choosy about what publications I read. I have wondered out loud why Biden’s ratings are so low when he has done so much for the citizens of the United States—all citizens. In fact, I believe he is on record as getting passed more laws that help the ordinary man and woman of the US than any president since FDR. I’ve watched his State of the Union speeches and chuckled out loud as he cleverly led MAGA Republicans into traps that were hard to get out of. Famous for his gaffs, I’ve noticed very few in his years as President. He works hard at being a leader for everyone. 

In general, leadership qualities are not valued in the US anymore. The media rarely reports an event where Biden has spoken with skill and compassion (I was amazed at how often Bobby Kennedy used that word in all his speeches while running for President) when referencing us as a population or an event that needed interpretation by the President. The media believes that the US population is far more interested in all the hate speeches, all the threats of violence, and the fascist ramblings of the other candidate.

These are my thoughts only. I ponder while I walk around Paris and the Parc de Bagatelle. To me, Biden has grown into a leader. He is a leader in a world that no longer wants his kind of leadership. More and more, the world seems to want Fascist leadership, authoritarian leadership. A Big Brother who tells us what to do and will punish severely if we trespass. So is Biden a leader? Has he taken the temperature of the whole country and finessed how to lead us through this ‘valley of the shadow of death’? I don’t know. I don’t read the polls, which are usually wrong, anymore. I have no way of predicting since so many Americans have very short-term memories and vote passionately.

I would be very interested if you, my readers, would put your thoughts in the comments below. And then go get yourself a copy of An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin. You’ll thank me.

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A bientôt,

Sara

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”- George Santayana

There is a series on PBS Television called World On Fire. Now that I am in California, I can watch it. Saturday, I watched Episode 1, Season 1 which begins another WWII story about ordinary people, you and me. The episode opens with a gathering in Warsaw of people being spoken to by a Pro-Nazi someone. The crowd was cheering and Seig Heiling. Those that disagreed with them were singing a plaintiff song. The crowd turned on them and the beatings began. The beaten ones were the offenders, were thrown in jail, bloodied and hurting. 

That scene could have been present day USA. A gathering of MAGA fascists spreading love on their anointed leader, the criminal Mr. Trump. Anyone who disagrees is beaten badly or killed as we saw on January 6. Here we are some 80 years since those gatherings in Warsaw, and the scenes are identical. And, as in 1938/39, the majority of people aren’t scared out of their wits. We have daily visuals of two wars and still people aren’t scared enough of Fascism/Autocratism to take a stand. They think journalists are overreaching when they tell us “Be afraid, be very afraid of Trump.” If you are paying attention, 59 journalists, at last count have been killed in the Israel-Gaza war.

Already the war in Gaza, supported by Iran and Russia, is taking away all the focus on Ukraine. The MAGA politicians who love Russia do not want to any more financial support for Ukraine. Russia couldn’t win against the Ukraine. So they did the next best thing, help start a war between Israel and Hamas. The Americans were bound to get involved. When was the last time you heard an in-depth report on Ukraine? Without American support, Russia believes it will win that war.

In so many ways, Ukraine had become the symbol of David beating Goliath, the little country fighting for Democracy for all of us. If they could win against Russia, there is no doubt, that the tide were turn dramatically in favour of democracies everywhere. As we all know, Republicans no longer believe in Democracy. It has taken me a long time to have this truth sink in. Naive people like me have been raised to think good will prevail. When the stakes are so high, even Republicans will get it and not let us be at the mercy of Fascists. Not true. They see the power they can and do wield.

In the past week, there have been two protest marches in Washington, DC. One pro-Israel and one pro-Palestine. To both sides the culprit is now President Biden. When interviewed, participants were saying how they felt so let down by him, that he has no interest in human rights and he will never get their vote again. Wait. What? You’ll vote for Trump in order to get human rights? Or not vote at all which is the same as voting for Trump. In what world does that make any sense?

When a President like Joe Biden, who has done more good for the average person in this county than any President since FDR, has such low ratings what does that say? When I ask people with more knowledge than me (many people) I’m told he isn’t commercial enough. He doesn’t have the good looks and charisma of a Jack Kennedy,the Clinton humor of a down home good ‘ole boy with a clarinet, the intellectual brilliance of an Obama who can stop people in their tracks when he makes a speech. He’s just Joe, regular old Joe, who has given his entire life to the service of the USA, has made many verbal faux pas, and proved to be human like the rest of us. That is not good enough.

There isn’t a day that goes by that there isn’t a film or a series about the hell of war, the greed of the American White Man Who Can, where we witness where Hatred can take us. A day doesn’t go by that we aren’t treated to video and photos of Gaza and Ukraine. Yet, we still sit here smugly thinking that can’t happen here. Yet, Trump has said, in excruciating detail, what he will do to take his revenge when (not ‘if’) he is elected President. Martial law, prison for dissenters. We have one year to rally around Biden. We have one year to take seriously the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads.

To misquote Mary Oliver: Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one precious year?* What will you do? What will I do? I only have history to teach me what will happen if I chose not to act. War is terrifying. Hatred is terrifying. Living under Fascist rule is terrifying to me. Jim Johnson, who everyone said was such a milquetoast, is terrifying. It all leads in one direction.

In a review of Rachel Maddow’s latest book Prequel. An American fight Against Fascism, Jeff Shesol, in yesterday’s New York Times, quotes Alexis de Tocqueville from 1840. ‘“Our contemporaries (Americans) are constantly excited by two conflicting passions; they want to be led, and they wish to remain free.” The result, says de Tocqueville, was a peculiarly American compromise, an abiding tension between state power and popular sovereignty. Tocqueville had faith that Americans could keep the two in balance. At the same time, he warned against a slide into ‘democratic despotism”. The people, he wrote, might someday vote to cede their power and place the government “in the hands of an irresponsible person or body of persons. Having witnessed the rise of American democracy, Tocqueville also, it seems, foretold its decline.’-Shesol, NYTimes, Nov. 19, 2021

A bientôt,

Sara

*From the poem The Summer Day: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

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Israel and Gaza

It seems wrong not to express some words about the war in Israel and Gaza. I often don’t respond quickly. In fact, I often go numb when horrifying things happen and have to gather information, read a lot, and get the facts. Here we are almost two weeks later and I feel empty of words. I don’t consider myself a cynical person, but I’m now of the opinion that hatred and fear are universal feelings that are much stronger than “World Peace” no matter how many beauty contestants pray for it. It is also wrong to completely abandon thoughts on Ukraine. The media only writes about the ugly stuff never the good stuff. I get an e-mail from the Guardian every Sunday with Good News. It is a short e-mail. We are taught to believe that only hatred, war, shootings, and bad deeds are newsworthy. People have expressed shock and outrage that Hamas, a known Terrorist organization, has done what they do best—wreak terror, spread fear, and kill in the name of religion.

My cousin’s eldest daughter sent me a Twitter/X on Tuesday of a nineteen-year-old girl, living on a kibbutz near the Red Sea, expressing rage (watch it)—not just at Hamas but at Netanyahu. She says everyone saw this coming. They’ve been asking, begging for help and protection for years. She calls him Bibi. I haven’t heard him called that in years. It sounds so intimate.

So while the world expresses shock and outrage at terrorists doing what terrorists do, Israelis are going to funeral after funeral, yelling at the neglect of this corrupt politician who somehow manages to keep getting back in office. There are innocent Palestinians trapped in Gaza knowing an Israeli ground force will soon be on them while Bibi yells “Revenge.” Revenge for something he might well have preventedu88i

I blame him for the murder of a teacher here in France by an Islamic yelling “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great” in Arabic during the attack. The Louvre was shut down on Saturday and Versailles on Sunday. Both were due to bomb threats. Macron has deployed 7,000 military soldiers to protect us. Six French airports were shut down earlier this week. My metro line received a bomb scare and for forty-eight hours, the trains moved very slowly and stopped three or four minutes in each station. In my hometown, Oakland, and the immediate surroundings in the Bay Area, fifty schools received bomb threats last Monday. Much like Trump, Bibi has unleashed the dogs from hell. 

This is all much more complicated than my simple retelling of what most of us know. But the big picture stays the same. If we elect autocrats to rule because we’re afraid of ‘someone else’ and want that ‘leader’ to take care of it, we’re going to get the Trump rhetoric—pushing fear and hatred, calling innocent people “enemies of the people” if they have a differing opinion. All leaders, according to this philosophy, must lay down the law, construct walls both physical and metaphorical, making sure that the small people know who is right and who is wrong.

The media loves it and eats it up. Peaceful times are not newsworthy. When I was writing my book: Saving Sara, I wrote about the hell of food addiction and the wonder and excitement of recovery in my draft. My editor told me “Stop your story when you first get into recovery. No one is interested in your recovery. They only want to read about the down and dirty times.” I was shocked. I shouldn’t have been. I went back and watched movies about alcoholics and alcoholism. She was right. They all end the moment the alcoholic stops drinking. Who wants to read or hear about good things?

When I was in college, a group of cinephiles brought International films (mostly French, Italian, and Swedish) once a week for students to watch. I loved going to them. Friends would say “I don’t understand why you like them. They’re so slow, nothing happens.” Nothing happens, just a little slice of life written by a brilliant filmmaker, usually an affirmation of life, these little everyday moments that bring us love and show us how to get through conflicts. I only mention this because little slices of life that are uplifting just aren’t newsworthy – unless they are films and I’m willing to bet that less that 5% of Americans like Int’l Films.

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Monday, President Biden flew to the Middle East. His intention was 1—to caution against Revenge and 2—to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. According to a wonderful synopsis by Heather Cox Richardson which you can read here, President Biden has a huge following in Israel. They love him. He gave a stirring speech, and Netanyahu, who most often wants to align himself with Trump, made sure he was in every photo opportunity with Biden. 

I also read today and found it heartbreaking, that for the first time in this White House, people of the opinion such as mine have been shut down. Aides and staff are divided but cannot discuss it. So where does this lead us? I don’t know. I want the world to surprise me. I don’t think it will happen. But I’ve joined all of you in saying out loud how angry I am—at Netanyahu, at terrorists in general, at two wars being fought at the same time. I’m quite sure that Putin who is visiting his “dear friend”, Xi, in China, is like a pig rolling in shit.

A bientôt,

Sara

What’s going on in France?

As an exPat for the last nine and a half years, I encourage any of my readers and friends to chime in on this subject. It takes living in France a long time to understand the French.

One would have to be living in a bunker to not know what is going on in France. Transport strikes, garbage strikes, street protests, all in resistance to President Macron’s raising of the retirement age from 62 to 64 (at least that is the purported excuse though the french often don’t need much of an excuse to say they don’t like something).

The massive French protests against Macron’s pension

Macron no longer has a majority in the Assemblée Nationale, so he enacted the new law by special powers under Article 49.3 of the constitution. Last Friday, the Constitutional Council met to decide whether he was correct to do so and had France’s best interests at heart. As the sun set Friday, word came out that it was constitutional and the committee agreed with Macron 100%. He signed it into law within twenty-four hours.

People protest with a poster referring to the visit of Britain’s King Charles III – cancelled due to unrest in France – in Nantes, western France. [Jeremias Gonzalez/AP Photo]

People took to the streets in more protests. Monday night, Macron gave a pre-recorded speech meant to calm down the masses and urge everyone to move on. John Litchfield, who writes Opinion for The Local, an English language newsletter, had this to say on Tuesday:

“Yes, the pension reform is painful. But it was necessary. It’s all over now. Dry those tears. End the tantrums.  We can move on to things you will enjoy.

Higher wages. Sharing of profits. Better schools. No queues in emergency wards.  Expulsion of failed asylum seekers. Something for the Left of you and something for the Right.

Will it work? Probably not. The nationwide fit of shrieking and toy-throwing, some sincere, some synthetic and hypocritical, will continue for quite a while.

It is unlikely that President Macron will have much to show his wailing child at the end of the 100-day recovery period, ending on July 14th, that he promised on Monday night.

Superficially, this is just French politics as usual. France demands “change”. It opposes all changes.

France complains that it is slipping down the global league table of prosperity, influence and functioning public services. It refuses to accept that it should work longer or tax itself less to compete with its rivals and neighbours.

Superficially, we have been here before. All presidents for the last three decades have faced strikes and street protests against modest social reforms.

Some were withdrawn. Others such at retirement at 62 instead of 60 are now the “acquis” (status quo) which the new generation of protesters defend.

Others, such as the simplification of hiring and firing and reduction in pay-roll taxes, help to explain why joblessness in France has plunged from 9 percent to 7 percent in the last six years. Those reforms, started by François Hollande and continued by Macron, were opposed at the time by strikes, marches and scattered violence.

Surprise, surprise, no-one mentions unemployment much anymore.   

But there has been something qualitatively different – almost existentially different – about the pensions reform protests of the last three months. The language is different. There is an edge of hysteria in the allegations that the modest move in the pension age from 62 to 64 is “brutal”, “unjust” and “autocratic”.

The government’s use of its special powers under Article 49.3 of the constitution to push through the reform was predictable and widely predicted. It has happened 100 times before in the last 65 years.

This time 49.3 was presented as “an assault on democracy , “a trampling of the will of the people”, an act of “violence which called for a violent response”.

Close to my village in Normandy someone has erected a cardboard sign with the scrawled message in felt-tip pen: “49.3 = 1789”.  Revolution is in the air again, in the Gilets Jaunes rural heartlands, not just among the self-pleased, black-clad, young bourgeois anti-capitalists who smash shop windows and burn cars in Rennes or Lyon or Paris.

Compare and contrast this hysteria (I believe that the word is justified) with the unemotional language of the Constitutional Council’s ruling last week. The nine “sages” declared that the pension reform was reasonable and constitutional – and so was the manner of its enactment.  

The Council said that the increase in the official retirement age to 64 by 2030  would “assure the financial balance of the (state pension system) and guarantee its survival in the light of the increase in life expectancy”. The government’s use of several special powers to hurry and then force a decision was “inhabitual” but not contrary to the Constitution.

Normally the pronouncements of The Sages are accepted without much comment. On this occasion, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the radical Left, said that it was a “violent” decision which would encourage a violent response.

Macron’s decision to sign the pension reform within hours of the Council’s decision was presented, even by moderate union leaders, as a “denial of democracy” and an “autocratic” refusal to listen to the voice of the people.

All of this can be dismissed as the sour grapes of bad losers. Mélenchon, who has been stirring violence for weeks, has little right to talk of democracy.

But those who believe – like me – that the pension reform is modest and justified must also now accept that something is happening here which goes beyond the recent French cycle of reform and protest. It is something that also goes beyond rampant Macronphobia of many French people.

Solenn de Royer in a column in Le Monde said that this has become a revolt not just against pension reform, but against the technocratic, top-down, diluted democracy instituted by Charles de Gaulle 60 years ago. There is much truth in that.

Emmanuel Macron claimed in 2017 to be a suited revolutionary. He was an impatient young man with many good ideas but he was no revolutionary. He was – and he was seen by many to be – the epitome of the kind of technocrat who used to stand behind presidents. Now HE was the president.

The father-knows-best tone of his 15 minute address last night – “dry your tears; lets move on” – placed Macron firmly in the Fifth Republic tradition of paternalistic semi-democracy. In the age of social media and the collapse of old political allegiances, that no longer works very well.

The Gilets Jaunes movement of 2018-9 already revealed a formless hunger for a new, more direct kind of popular control of decision-making. It also exposed how dangerous that desire can be.

If the French people want to have more direct control of their lives, they also need to move on. They need to grow out of the child, or teenage-like, modes of thinking which the top-down Fifth Republic has encouraged.

“The state (like mummy and daddy) is all-responsible and usually wrong. The state should do more but we should pay less taxes.”

In sum, the crisis over pension reform is both absurd and profound. It is both Macron’s failure and France’s failure.

A drum-beat is already starting suggesting that Marine Le Pe and the Far Right will reap the benefits in 2027.  That is the subject for another column.

But I believe that, in four years’ time, the country may be  more likely to revert to the unthreatening immobilism of the Chirac years: someone who promises to “listen” and then delivers little.”—-The Local

A bientôt,

Sara

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Thinking about the midterms from Paris

At 10 pm CET, Tuesday night, Voting Day in the USA, I was ready to go to bed. I’ve been sick and too tired to be anxious. I checked my e-mail from my sister who has worked her butt off for MI Elections: Her last e-mail reported: “We’re all going crazy with worry today–for Michigan and for the country.  I’m having a small election “party” but we all fear it’s going to be a wake…” This last e-mail I received was sent one hour later and read:`’Most of the people I invited aren’t coming because they are so depressed and just don’t want to face it. So it’s going to be weird.” She followed with “Not much is going to be known for MI even by tomorrow (my tomorrow). And if the D’s win anything, they’ll call it fraud, so it’s all a big mess.” 

I woke up Wednesday morning to two wins in MI, Governor Whitmer has retained her seat and a house member has also won. According to CNN, the Dems were very happy and relieved. I wanted to call my sister and wake her up but thought better of it. 

from Frank Bruni’s Op Ed piece in NYTIMES.

People have had a rainbow of reactions. I wondered about my own lack of anxiety. Perhaps it was because I’ve been sick for over a week and didn’t have the energy. Maybe I’m just too far away living here in Paris or maybe I’ve started to integrate that it’s useless to worry without enough information. I did pray- before I went to bed—I think it was a heartfelt prayer to whatever Higher Power watches over us. I prayed for kindness to the US. The papers were predicting a blood bath for the Democrats, and, naive me, just could not fathom that the God of my misunderstanding would send that kind of facism to the US. Unless it was to teach us a lesson. That particular god sent Hitler and the Holocaust. If there was a lesson there, it certainly wasn’t learned. With the arrival of Trump and all the ugliness out from under the rug, there is clearly as much antisemitism and white supremacy as ever.

I’ve been watching the Lincoln Dilemna on Apple TV+ and, it seems to my untrained historical mind, that things were worse back then. Worse to the point that eleven states ceceded from the Union and were willing to go to war for their beliefs. And though the South lost the war, they’ve never really given up or given in. Then there was Woodrow Wilson….”Wilson defended segregation on “scientific” grounds in private, and (scholars) describe him as a man who “loved to tell racist ‘darky‘ jokes about black Americans.” – Wikipedia. I’ve never seen statistics but I’d be interested to know how many Americans sided with Germany during WWII.

People say there will be another Civil War. I’ve said that I didn’t see massive change without violence—as if there wasn’t enough violence now. With the US’s hands in so many other wars, where would there be people willing to fight in a full-out war. The question people over here in Europe are asking is how could so much money be spent on these elections? 9.3 billion dollars. Can that be right? And now more millions will be thrown at Georgia between now and Dec. 6th. I had some naive hope that all the bullying and demanding e-mails for money might stop but no. I’ve received at least 100 in my Spam since the run-off was announced. 

There is great relief that there was no red wave. Biden called it a victory. My Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson, says Democracy won. There are still outstanding contests to be called. This morning I learned that Mark Kelly has been declared the winner of the Arizona senate seat. Forty-nine to forty-nine. So it could be that nothing has changed—the Senate divided fifty/fifty. The Times says the big change is Trump. He had 330 personally hand-picked people running. Very few won. 

Is there anyone who hasn’t seen this? 

Trump disgustingly threatened De Santos if he ran against him for President in 2024. Two men with god complexes running against each other. If it wasn’t so sad, it would be fascinating. The media view, one which I agree with, is that the Republican party is moving away from Trump—but towards what? A more eloquent white supremacist or someone else? 

There is still so much to learn from these elections, especially the two Senate seats in Nevada and Georgia. As of this writing, the two contenders in Nevada are neck and neck with a large percentage of mail-in ballots still to be counted. We won’t know Georgia’s outcome for at least a month. And now I learn that Nevada finished counting and has a Democratic Senator. A close call. Fifty/Forty-Nine.

Here in France, the midterms have been in the News. But my french friends say people are tired of us and these shenanigans (my word). Nobody understands what is happening to a great country like the USA. How could so much blatant hatred be tolerated? Of course, we have Marine Le Pen and her far-right but somehow to this American, it isn’t the same.

These are all thoughts. The next two years will be very interesting.

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A bientôt,

Sara