I found an article on ZNet today epitomizing some of the things I complained about just yesterday. This article claims that in the French elections, 'The impression of a "far right upsurge" was largely an illusion.' However, the article shows no evidence this isn't wishful thinking.

The article even has a boner on voting systems, claiming "French presidential elections are vastly more democratic than the American system" and yet "even the best system can produce a fluke". One could argue that the French presidential elections are less democratic, because this time the system produced a candidate in the second round that 80% of voters didn't want. Why is Le Pen's showing a "fluke", when surely, if a similar thing happened in the US, it would be evidence of a rotten system?