Congratulations to Emmanuel Macron!

It's unusual for me to remark on the politics of other countries (I don't pretend I understand'em all that well), but this one interested me because of the nationalist thing that people keep talking about. Trump is being chalked up as nationalist--whatever that means in the US. Norbert Hofer lost in Austria, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands--which made it seem like maybe this far right nationalism thing wasn't really taking off on all cylinders. But LePen was getting the kind of attention that made it seem like maybe...

I mean really, when are our US bigots ever wrong? (Besides nearly always.) Also, there was that odd specter of Russian hacking going on. But when the story of Macron's rise from longshot to landslide is told, it should be pointed out that he was fortunate in his opponent, because LePen and what she stands for is truly awful. The world does not need leaders who refuse to learn from history and let bigotry stand in for intelligent policy. We don't need verbal bomb-throwers--we need people of good will and honest ability to listen and work with others.

I think the people of France have chosen wisely and taken to heart the difficulties presented by bad examples--not that I'm naming any names.