This is a great picture that I have ‘stolen’ (sorry but it is too good) from Marine Le Pen’s Instagram page. As far as I know no one has mentioned that the cat in the photo must be a Somali purebred. The Somali is a longhaired Abyssinian. I prefer the Somali to the Abyssinian (which is a more popular cat by the way). The Somali looks a bit like a fox with rusty semi-long fur. They are incredibly beautiful. Le Pen would agree with me.
And she’d agree that cats are great as she is a self-confessed cat lover. Enlighteningly she said: “I could stop everything and do something else like breed cats. They are exceptionally intelligent animals. They provide deep joy, console me and give enormous sweetness in this brutish world.”
The caption for the photo below is in French: La différence entre un chien et un chat : Le chien pense : ils me nourrissent, ils me protègent, ils doivent être des dieux. Le chat pense : ils me nourrissent, ils me protègent, je dois être Dieu. – Ira Lewis. And in English as translated by Google: The difference between a dog and a cat: The dog thinks: they feed me, they protect me, they must be gods. The cat thinks: they feed me, they protect me, I must be God. – Ira Lewis.
Marine Le Pen is opposed to globalism and European Union federalism. In that way she is supportive of the principles behind Brexit. She supports economic nationalism as opposed to the privatisation of public services. She also apparently opposes the Common Agricultural Policy. So far I have to confess that she thinks a bit like me on those issues anyway. Although she is considered to be on the far right and I am not on the far right. I am firmly in the middle and more or less a liberal.
I don’t think you can link up a love of cats and a person’s politics, however. Although far right believers are less likely to like cats in my view. They are more likely to shoot them in trophy hunting. But I believe that it is fair to say that if you love cats you should love animals and you can’t be a bad person! I just don’t think it’s possible. There must be a side to such a person which is caring because animals are vulnerable in the human world. And therefore you’re prepared to care for the vulnerable, which demonstrates a kind side.
I would disagree, however, with even the notion that breeding cats is okay. This should not be on her horizon in any shape or form. There are too many unwanted cats in the world. It is morally too difficult to justify. That’s my message to Marine Le Pen if she wishes to stop being a politician and do something else. She’d be wiser to consider going into cat rescue.
Apparently, she is or was taking a few days off to obtain a professional diploma on raising her favourite pets i.e. cats (was that about breeding cats?). The questionmark was whether she was planning a career change. There was speculation, apparently, in the news media. Please don’t do it. Don’t breed cats even if they are beautiful Somali cats!
P.S. She has not said that her cat is a Somali. I have assessed the cat as being a Somali. Don’t tell me I am wrong please!
