It’s a disappointing development for our French friends and for the whole world. As many mistakes as Segolene made, I believe that she would have made a remarkable president. Sarkozy is poised to institute Le Pen-esque policies cracking down on those he has previously referred to as “rabble” and promised to clean out “with a fire hose”—anybody who doesn’t look and act French. If anything, this election proves that Americans don’t have a monopoly on reactionary politicians who get elected by using fear, division, and the politics of exclusion. Here’s hoping for a better result in the upcoming French parliamentary elections.

The “youths” seem even less pleased. Let’s hope they turn over control of the fire hoses to him right away.