the name sounds so much different?
Steve Bannon has jumped over to France over this weekend, to participate in the National Front’s big hullaboballo convention, just — I suppose — as Marine Le Pen made her appearance at America’s CPAC conference — to some embarrassment amongst some conservatives. Except, Steve Bannon wouldn’t have made an appearance at CPAC — what with his break from the Trump Administration…
… though, correct me if I’m wrong.
The big news at the National Front conference is the decision — or plan — to scrap the name National Front. And what do we have now instead of the boot-strapping sounding “National Front” name?
The National Rally!
Le Pen proposed on Sunday the party should rename itself “Rassemblement National,†which translates to “National Rally.†Almost immediately after the big reveal, French media and experts on far-right groups noted the similarity to a party founded in 1941 to work with with the Nazis ― “Rassemblement National Populaire.â€
Eh. The lack of “Popularire” makes all the difference. (Is that the “National Popular Rally in English?)
Another issue with “Rassemblement National†is that a smaller French right-wing party already has that name, and its leaders accused Le Pen of “astonishing amateurismâ€Â for trying to steal its banner. An official from the Rassemblement National trademarked the name in 2013 with The National Institute for Intellectual Property, according to HuffPost France.
Le Pen, in turn, claimed that the National Front will sue Rassemblement National for copying her party’s red-and-blue flame logo in its materials. She tweeted Monday that the media should apologize for broadcasting Rassemblement National’s statements, and called the allegations â€#FakeNews.â€
Smaller parties don’t exist. They can’t exist. It’s a hybrid variant of America’s two party system and the general relationship with third parties — except in a multi party run off system [although noted in the last couple elections, they are the second party] – eventually you can’t claim to have a party. Or maybe it’s how I saw this book for children entitled “Dog Man” (I believe written by the Captain Underpants writer) featuring the same cartoonish likeness for “Dog Man” as I had for Dog Man when I was a child — and probably a whole lot of other Dog Man child creators — maybe one of us should have copyrighted it, but then again — it’s a little too obvious.
“Rassemblement national” — which can be translated as National Rally or National GatheringÂ
Dog Man probably translates to French and then back to English as “Dog Gathering”?
“Dear Marine, the RN (Rassemblement National) already exists and you can’t deny that when it has stood against your candidates several times since 2014,†Kurek wrote in a letter he published on Twitter.
“The RN is Gaullist and republican right, the FN is extreme right,†he wrote, referring to the National Front.“The FN will NEVER be the RN and the RN will NEVER be the new FN.â€
Speaking on RTL radio, Le Pen dismissed Kurek’s claim, saying her party first registered the name“Rassemblement National†in 1986. She said she would take legal action against Kurek for what she called his fraudulent use of the National Front’s flame logo as his party’s symbol.
Oh. Hm. Were they just parking the name for future use? And wouldn’t it be null and void by the similarity with the WW2 era Nazi occupation party?
 In France, trademarks and logos are registered with the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). The INPI register shows that the brand“RN Rassemblement National†and its logo were registered to a Frederick Bigrat in 2013.
[…]Â In a statement, the National Front said it knew that and had bought the rights by private deed last month.
Frederick Bigrat SOLD OUT, man!
But Kurek shows little sign of backing down. He told Europe 1 radio he planned to go to court to defend his use of the name and would field candidates in 2020 municipal elections under the Rassamblement National banner.
It’s just like when there were two different Reform Partys back in 2000, and so scattered around the nation you couldn’t tell if you were voting for Buchananites or Transcendental Meditators. I suppose France can hack such a situation if America could.