Rachel Marsden: Europe’s elections send a warning to America

PARIS – Hardly a week goes by without a public debate over whether America is headed toward civil war. According to a May 2024 Marist National Poll, nearly half of Americans of all political stripes felt that it was likely at some point.But there’s little actual introspection about what’s driving this notion.“Trump could still lead the US to civil war — even if he doesn’t run in 2024,” headlined Time magazine as far back as January 2022.Well, he did run again, and judging by polls, he has a good chance of winning. But Trump himself isn’t the problem. He’s just a symptom of the problem. He’s an unconventional, pragmatic, anti-establishment candidate who stood on the debate stage during the 2016 presidential Republican primaries and pointed out how many of his opponents had gladly taken his donor cash. He spent decades backslapping Washington cronies and their benefactors inside the tent, only to then step outside and toss a match at the establishment’s safe space.It’s a mistake to conflate the American establishment with America’s democratic institutions, though. The latter arguably needs to be saved from the former in order to remain functional. Democracy exists precisely as a peaceful alternative to the mob. So when talk of civil war starts ramping up, it should serve as a warning that there’s a devastating discrepancy between the democracy that those institutions are supposed to serve, and actual reality.Here in Europe, much is being made of the gains made by anti-establishment parties in last weekend’s European Parliamentary elections on June 6-9. These parties, the most successful of which are on the right, have been attacked, marginalized, and vilified so often by the European establishment, that voters can be absolutely sure that they weren’t allowed anywhere near the steering wheel of the EU Slipup Mobile and had the least to do with the impending crash.Protests across Europe have ramped up against EU policy on everything from its inaction toward Israel as it levels Palestinian civilians in Gaza in an effort to eliminate Hamas in the process, to its enabling of escalation in Ukraine, as EU member states ratchet up their own involvement by musing about sending troops or lifting red lines on use of their weapons to strike Russian territory despite the EU’s insistence on a unified foreign policy. Democratic dissent is routinely vilified, like when Hungary opposed beginning Ukraine accession talks, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reportedly talked Prime Minister Victor Orban into dipping out into the hallway so the other 26 countries could just ram through a vote with the requisite unanimity.Europeans had no recourse against the supranational EU policy that insisted on cutting off the bloc’s cheap Russian gas supply, sending inflation and energy prices for everything in the European supply chain skyrocketing with no end in sight. Then, when it proved unpopular, they said that less gas would be great for the climate.Speaking of which, farmers all across the EU have spent months periodically turning highways into parking lots in opposition to top-down EU climate change diktats that involve the use of the bloc’s Copernicus satellite network to spy on farms to ensure compliance with submitted paperwork. Farmers in the Netherlands were pressured to sell their land to the government if their belching, farting, and defecating cattle weren’t prepared to abide by climate change emissions laws. Brussels also made these same farmers compete with duty-free Ukrainian farming products. Nothing like sticking it to Putin by playing Russian roulette at dinnertime with questionably regulated “Chernobyl Chicken”.European citizens didn’t actually vote for any of this. The policies are drawn up by the bureaucrats of the European Commission, headed-up by an unelected “President” who’s handpicked through palace intrigue and then plopped in front of the new EU parliament for a confirmation vote. Forbes named current European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen the “world’s most powerful woman” last year.So the most powerful person in “democratic” Europe, unelected “Queen” Ursula, like all other royalty, can only be deposed through an internal palace coup.The EU election was an opportunity to finally stick it to the European establishment – democratically. Here in France alone, 38 percent of voters told an Ipsos survey late last month that they were casting their ballot with the primary objective of sticking it to French President Emmanuel Macron, even though he wasn’t even running. But although the people have had a chance to speak, and the establishment parties are now heading into the next five- year cycle weakened, the will of the people has an uphill battle in translating into policy because of the inherent flaw that allows the establishment to retain control over the all-powerful top job. Until European democracy reaches right to the very top, voter frustration will continue to manifest in the streets.The lesson for America is that Trump isn’t the catalyst for potential future civil war. He’s just the pressure release valve for those who would otherwise be in the streets, feeling like they have no other recourse against a system whose democratic levers no longer work as advertised. Tough to argue otherwise when the “best” that same system can spit out for the presidential race is Trump and Biden.(Rachel Marsden is a columnist, political strategist and host of independently produced talk shows in French and English. Her website can be found at http://www.rachelmarsden.com.)©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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