By Joe Schaeffer

In all the leading nations of the West, a shaky ruling political establishment bereft of new ideas is falling back on a familiar playbook: Demonize grassroots protest, including the results of actual voting, against it as “far-right” extreme populism and a threat to democracy. Statists of the status quo are brought to the fore as “responsible” change agents for good governance against the unruly tide of unfocused anger represented by the dangerous outsider purveyors of grievance.

As Liberty Nation News asked in 2022, how long can this well-worn ruse work? In France, embattled President Emmanuel Macron on Sept. 5 appointed a longtime European Union apparatchik to be prime minister. Michel Barnier, 73, is best known for being the point man for the EU on Brexit negotiations with England after that country’s citizens voted to leave the supra-national entity in 2016. A dutiful media has described this careerist (Brexit maestro Nigel Farage has called him an “EU fanatic”) as a “conservative,” in much the same way GOP establishment warhorse Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was described as “right wing” some ten years ago.

“Barnier’s appointment reflects Macron’s view that the [July snap runoff] election delivered a parliament with a center-right lean, even though a leftist alliance, hastily assembled to block the far-right from power, came first,” Reuters reports. But what exactly does “center-right” mean to populist supporters who view politics as usual as the number one enemy........

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