Marine Le Pen is in the lead for the next presidential election in France. The French so called "center-right" is reeling from corruption allegations against former President Nicolas Sarkozy — and the socialist President Francois Hollande is in third.

Le Pen's rise has largely been driven by concerns over mass immigration — or what really should be called Islamic colonization — in the French Republic.

Note the tone of absolute panic in the Financial Times. You can almost hear the ominous music in the background.

The growing threat to France’s mainstream political leaders posed by Marine Le Pen, head of France’s far-right National Front, has been underscored by an opinion poll putting her in the lead for the first time in the race for the next presidential election... The Ifop poll underlined growing fears on both the mainstream left and right... Most analysts continue to believe she would then be defeated in the run-off by whichever candidate she faced, as mainstream voters rallied to defeat her... [Marine Le Pen takes poll lead in race for next French presidential election, by Hugh Carnegy, Financial Times, July 31, 2014]

If the most popular candidate is somehow less "mainstream" than less popular candidates, what does the term "mainstream" even mean anymore?

Mark Steyn has often noted this curious use of the word mainstream. Writing on British politics, he asked,

"After all, what, other than the walled-up windows of the Westminster village, makes UKIP's 23 percent the "lunatic fringe" and the Conservatives' 25 percent the "mainstream"? " [Nigel vs The Lunatic Mainstream, SteynOnline, May 22, 2014]

One suspects that even if Le Pen wins with a solid majority, the media will be filled with desperate warnings about the "fears" created by the "threat" of such an "out of the mainstream" President supported by most people.

Paging George Orwell...