XPost: alt.law-enforcement.corruption, alt.france, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics
Left-wing lawfare has gone global. Following the campaign to slander, impoverish, and imprison President Donald Trump last year, conservative
leaders throughout the Western world are facing a shocking crusade of
liberal judicial activism that threatens to stifle democracy.
The latest outrageous miscarriage of justice came in France, where a court
on Monday ruled that Marine Le Pen, the leader of the conservative
National Rally, had misused European Union funds. Le Pen received a four-
year prison sentence, half of which was suspended. Judges said she could
serve the remaining two years on house arrest.
More importantly, Le Pen is barred from seeking public office for the next
five years – meaning that she won’t be eligible for France’s 2027
presidential election. After Le Pen came in second in the last two
contests to incumbent Emmanuel Macron (who is now term limited), a March
29 poll showed her as the clear front-runner in the race, with 37 percent support.
The trial itself reeked of political corruption and was rife with
procedural shortcuts. Thanks to a bit of bureaucratic maneuvering, the
case was adjudicated entirely by judges, denying Le Pen the basic right to
face a jury of her peers.
Prime Minister François Bayrou of the opposing European Democratic
Movement was reportedly “troubled” by the verdict, while France’s current justice minister, Gérald Darmanin, said last November that it would be
“deeply shocking” if Le Pen were barred from running in 2027. Le Pen must
be defeated “at the ballot box, not elsewhere,” the Macron ally said.
The timing of the conviction couldn’t be more convenient for liberals and
the European Union establishment as right-wing populist movements continue
to surge in France, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere. With French liberals
facing a reckoning over their failed policies, unelected judges have now effectively denied French voters the chance to choose their next
president.
All of this will no doubt sound familiar to American readers who just
witnessed a left-wing effort to pull off a similar stunt against Trump in
the United States. Just as Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg invented a ridiculous “novel legal theory” to turn misdemeanor charges into felony charges, the French court slapped absurdly high penalties on Le Pen for what are known
in French law as “délit,” or “lesser” crimes.
But France is hardly the only nation where the left has weaponized the judiciary to undermine democracy.
Across the continent in Romania, the country’s liberal-controlled constitutional court has been on a rampage, ginning up one absurd ruling
after another to keep conservatives out of power. Last December, citing “Russian interference” (sound familiar?) the court canceled an entire presidential election just two days before the final round of voting.
Up until that moment, the court had insisted that the elections would
proceed. But after conservative candidate Calin Georgescu emerged as the favorite after the first round of voting, the judges suddenly reversed
course, tossing the country into chaos. The court has now booted both
Georgescu and fellow right-wing contender Diana Sosoaca from the ballot
for May’s rescheduled election.
In Brazil, populist conservative Jair Bolsonaro is already barred from
running for office again until 2030 thanks to a 2023 court ruling stemming
from Bolsonaro’s criticism of the country’s electronic voting machines. In
yet another striking similarity to the American left’s targeting of Trump
over his concerns about election integrity, the Brazilian left has
effectively disenfranchised Bolsonaro’s voters for demanding greater transparency and accountability in election infrastructure.
But even ending the 68-year-old Bolsonaro’s political career has
apparently not been enough for the left-wing government of Lula da Silva,
which now has just a 24 percent approval rating. In February, Brazil’s top prosecutor also charged Bolsonaro with plotting a coup. A conviction by
the country’s liberal Supreme Court (7 of the 11 justices were appointed
by left-wing leaders, including 4 by Lula himself) could land Bolsonaro in prison for supposedly leading a “criminal organization” aimed at
overthrowing the government.
That case yet again echoes the American left’s claims that Trump incited
an “insurrection” on January 6, 2021, forming the basis of Democrats’
second impeachment effort and multiple attempts to kick him off the ballot
last year.
America has long been a beacon of democracy, inspiring nations to embrace
free and fair elections. But that influence works both ways. The American
left, in its relentless pursuit of power, has signaled to the world that
it is acceptable to weaponize the courts against the political opponents
of those in power.
That message has been received – and imitated – by liberal elites abroad,
who now see judicial activism as a shortcut to dismantling democracy under
the guise of “justice.” By barring opposition leaders from elections
through dubious legal maneuvers, the left isn’t just attacking individual candidates; it’s undermining the very foundation of representative
government.
When political battles are no longer fought at the ballot box but in
courtrooms controlled by unelected judges, the people lose their voice. If America continues down this path, it will no longer be a model for
republican self-government, but a cautionary tale of how easily it can be
lost.
https://amac.us/newsline/society/left-wing-lawfare-goes-global/
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