2016/17 USA and French presidential elections (Bruno Comby)

It's good to keep an open mind and a balance between both political camps (liberal/Democrat and conservative/Republican), with an invitation to mutual respect whatever one's private opinions might be. Politics is always a hot potato when speaking publicly to more than two people.

My personal opinion on the US elections, even if it is totally irrelevant as 1) I'm not an American citizen and 2) Environmentalists For Nuclear Energy, EFN, is in no manner a political organization, is that in the US the presidential election was a choice between two rather unattractive candidates: an older woman who never did anything but politics, and an older, disrespectful man with no experience in government, and rather strange manners and behaviors.

I would probably have had to walk backwards and close my eyes before voting reluctantly between these two. I believe the US deserved a better election. The vote was it seems not an enthusiastic vote for many US voters with a result close to 50-50 tie. Just a few voices can then get the country on the good or bad side (whatever side you feel is good or bad). Politics are then unstable.

This happens in numerous countries and is perhaps the result of democracy: politics is a strange ecosystem, and the best don't always make it to the top of the basket (of crabs!) in that universe. As a result voters often don't vote for the best candidate but against the worst candidate, and sometimes there isn't any candidate at all that you would really trust and think (s)he can lead the country in a proper manner. And yet you still have to vote and choose.

After years where the French have been taking their distances from politicians not reflecting their opinions, or even doing after being elected the opposite of what they had been elected for, the recent primary election in France was different however, this Page 1

doesn't happen very often : one of the candidates was far better than all others both on a personal level (at last a sober and honest politician, with good manners, not just a killer/liar with a large smile, one that is neither an alcoholic nor a cocaine-addict), politically with a decent although liberal program, who unites rather than divides, speaks English to some extent, works hard and to the general knowledge only for the good of his country. François Fillon was elected brilliantly as the candidate of the French Republican Party (although two weeks earlier nobody expect a few friends and myself thought he could struggle to the top of the basket of crabs before he did and succeeded: the most famous crabs were so busy fighting each other that they didn't notice that wise animal climbing the other side of the mountain). He received support from voters of all sides: right, left and both extremes. I believe Fillon is a good man and we will see if he keeps up with the hopes many are projecting upon him. It often arrives that there is great hope, then followed by great deception. Fillon is certainly the most popular politician in a long time (at least among Republicans), and he certainly is also the most pronuclear major French politician that we've seen in a long time. This will be greatly needed as the French nuclear industry is under constant attack in the recent months from the media and powerful and very rich anti-nuclear groups (EFN's budget in comparison is just a joke). In my opinion Fillon is the best French politician since the Général de Gaulle. We will see how he fares now under constant attack from the dirty press/media, since his designation.

But at least there is hope.

If each of us does his best, and we all respect each other, even when our opinion differs (whether it is about politics, religion, being pro-/anti nuclear, climate skeptic or climate enthusiast, gay or not, vegetarian or meat eater, raw food eater or cooked food eater, or pro-/anti anything else), in any case the world will become a little better... if we all respect each other and do our best.

Bruno Comby Houilles, France Founder – President of The Bruno Comby Institute (www.comby.org), 1993 Founder – President of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy – INTERNATIONAL (ecolo.org), 1996.

This organization also goes by: “Association of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy” (EFN), EFN - Environmentalists For Nuclear ™ and L'Association des écologistes pour le nucléaire (AEPN) Page 2