Of Paris and Rogers Park

There is a stunning similarity between the recent aldermanic election in Chicago's 49th Ward of Rogers Park and today's presidential election in France. During the campaign for alderman in Rogers Park, ugly - and false - charges and innuendos were lobbed onto the playing field by incumbent Joe Moore. Prior to the first election of February 27, Moore and his people spread the lie that candidate Jim Ginderske, a "progressive liberal" himself, was a "Republican who wants to get rid of the black people." Ginderske, of course, complained bitterly about that lie, but after Ginderske was knocked out of the race, he joined forces with Moore and helped spread a new lie: left-of center candidate Don Gordon, the new lie went, was - you guessed it - a "Republican who wants to get rid of the black people." Moore's gang was spreading fear, instilling visions of (gasp!) "big business" Republicans who "want to take over our neighborhood." One wonders why Moore stopped there and didn't accuse Gordon of being in the Ku Klux Klan, although at least one of Moore's cheerleaders repeatedly drew stark and not-so-subtle comparisons of Gordon to Adolf Hitler (see We Await An Apology, Mr. Westgard). During the French presidential campaign, "the Socialists tried to scare the French planning to vote for Mr. Sarkozy, by warning that he was a danger to democracy and an aggressive politician who could not be trusted to keep his cool as president," wrote Caroline Wyatt of the BBC. Of course, the Socialists tried their best to slander Sarkozy as a Nazi, making their predictable comparisons to Hitler. This is too familiar to us in the United States, where everyone from George Bush down to Don Gordon can be painted by Leftists in the most vile of portraiture art. It is a westgardian tactic used worldwide by "progressives," Liberals, Socialists and Communists. Just have a look at the news stand in Michael James' Heartland Cafe. Walk in, have some coffee, feel the hate. Try the hate omelette if you can stomach it. In fact, Sarkozy's opponent, Socialist candidate Segolene Royal warned that her constituents would riot if Sarkozy won. Using a tactic taken right out of the Andrew Sharp/Joe Moore/DNC playbook, Ms. Royal said, "It is my responsibility today to warn people," she said, "of the risk of his candidacy concerning the violence and brutality that would be unleashed in the country." She said that unrest was especially likely in the volatile suburbs that were the site of rioting in 2005. (Source: KXMB) It did not work: Tonight Mr. Sarkozy is the new French President, with 53% of the vote (with a voter turnout of more than 80%). The scare tactics did not work. If only Rogers Park voters were as smart as the French.