<I'm not sure whether people are praising this Bove character or what. I always thought that the relative political under-development of France was due to the large weight of backward petit bourgeois elements (peasants) in the country. Seems to me that Bove is a typical example. The Poujadiste and lately, National Front influence in France was/is partly based on this. The man's anti Macdonalds and WTO sentiments are not something to play along with but rather analogous to the politics of other right wing and nationalist anti-WTO forces mentioned previously on this list, particularly by Het Fabel de Illegaal. Fascists can also use bulldozers. Lessons to the left: don't jettison all principles every time you see a crowd of people protesting.>
Scott says:
Actually Bove is quite identified with the left in France. His farmers union, whose initials I don't have in front of me is a major left breakaway from the rightwing farm organization that is dominant in France. And thanks to a whole series of protest conducted by Bove and company, not just the McDonalds protest, they are gaining quite a following and have managed to break through in the mass media as people who must be reckoned with in rural issues. BTW Bove told me they take a strong anti-fasicst postion v. Le Pen/Nat Front and support the rights of immigrant farm workers.
I couldn't agree more with: Lessons to the left: don't jettison all principles every time you see a crowd of people protesting. - But that sure as hell wasn't what I saw in Seattle.