Royal Flushed.

Updated at bumped: Conservative and pro-American Nicolas Sarkozy wins big. I took the question mark out of the title as the Socialists were handed a defeat in the French election. Now the question is, what will happen (see post below)?

You have to hand it to the French electorate. They had an 86% turnout which puts American voting patterns to shame (we're lucky to get much more than 50%).

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In an hour or so we should know who the next president of France will be, and if it's not the lefty's favorite female socialist Segolene Royal, this is what we can expect (h/t Best of the Web):

Tony Essono, 32, an unemployed economist whose parents emigrated from Cameroon before he was born, said that despite years of anger and discrimination, people in La Courneuve were willing to put their faith in the ballot box "because they understand they can change something" by voting. But, he added, "if Sarkozy is elected, it means we haven't been heard, and we'll trash everything."

This is the same kind of idiocy that caused the residents of South Central to burn down the businesses in their own neighborhoods following the Rodney King verdicts in 1992. After the fires were out they started complaining that there was no place to shop near their homes. Real bright.

If conservative Sarkozy wins there probably will be violence as those who currently make their living on the French dole will fear for their government safety blankie that keeps them in Euros while requiring nothing in return. The European media is already rooting for a riot, so things could get interesting.

I'll update this when the election returns come in.

UPDATE: Belgian media reports that Sarkozy is on his way to an easy victory:

Conservative favorite Nicolas Sarkozy is on course to win France's presidential election run-off on Sunday with between 53 and 54 percent of the vote, Belgian media reported.

The RTBF public broadcasting station and the newspapers Le Soir and La Libre Belgique reported on their Web sites that unofficial estimates showed Sarkozy beating Socialist Segolene Royal comfortably.

No word yet from official sources.