Marion Maréchal-Le Pen is the new deserved “It Girl” of French politics and a clear voice of courage and common sense in a country and continent in need of both.

In 2012, she earned the distinction of being France’s youngest elected Member of Parliament. Last week she handily won the first round of a race for the leadership of a large important region in southeastern France that’s home to the beautiful port city of Marseilles. Unfortunately, she lost the run-off election today because the two establishment Parties joined forces to defeat her.

But despite today’s tough losses, Marion and her aunt Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Front (FN) Party, have established themselves and their supporters as a force to be reckoned with in France’s 2017 presidential race, in which Marine is sure to be a contender with her talented niece right behind her.

For some time now, I’ve admired the bold style of Marine Le Pen, who wrestled control of the leadership of her populist party in order to purge it of any trace of anti-Semitism, which it had unfortunately been tainted with in the past. But I’m especially impressed with the courage of her young niece who is a devout Catholic and unapologetically pro-life – not an easy thing for a politician to be in a country that’s aggressively secular.

More importantly, young Marion Maréchal-Le Pen is unashamed to champion France’s Judeo-Christian identity and heritage as something worth preserving and fighting for. She publicly proclaims it, setting an example for even American politicians to be so bold. With France (and indeed all of Europe) caught up in an existential crisis against radical Islam, these are the sentiments they need in their leadership.

The Charlie Hebdo attacks last January and the Paris attacks last month were a tragic wake up call for France. The forces of civilization are engaged in a great war against the Death Cult that is radical Islam. This year the conflict reached the shores of France, which has become the Western Front of this Great War, thanks in part to the migrant crisis overwhelming the European Union.

Was anyone surprised that the mastermind of the Paris attacks entered the country by posing as a Syrian “refugee”? The Islamic State bragged that they were going to exploit Europe’s open borders! Is this not the clearest warning to politically correct pundits and politicians in our own homeland who think we can filter the nefarious out from the future flood of young, strong, able-bodied immigrants claiming “refugee” status? It’s common sense to encourage these young men to stay and fight for their countries and families during this time made tumultuous in part by our utter lack of border security and vetting processes.

The migrant crisis has made a mockery of any idea of national sovereignty. The EU’s open border policy means that all of Europe is now forced to bear the burden of Germany’s insane decision to welcome in those untold millions of mostly fighting age young Muslim men who have zero interest in assimilating to secular western values, as heretofore mentioned.

To this, Marion Maréchal-Le Pen declares that France is not an Islamic land, but Muslims are welcome to become French citizens “only on condition that they bend to the customs and the way of life that Greek, Roman and 16 centuries of Christianity fashioned.”

What she’s saying should not be controversial. It’s common sense. The western values enjoyed by every French citizen regardless of their religion are necessarily rooted in those 16 Christian centuries. Our understanding of human rights and human dignity comes from the Judeo-Christian worldview that shaped modern Europe. If you transplant to your shores a foreign population that’s hostile to the very things your country stands for, you won’t have a country for very long. This is the hard truth. You can’t maintain a peaceful liberal democracy with people who want to impose Sharia law on you.

But for some reason saying this out loud is considered “hate speech” or xenophobia in Europe. They can even press criminal charges against you for it!

We see members of a Death Cult gun down Parisians in a café and concert hall, slaughter cartoonists at their desks, shoot up a Jewish market, sell women and girls into sexual slavery, stone gays to death, crucify and behead Christians, and declare their intention to infiltrate and destroy western countries. But the Left reserves its harshest criticism not for the murderous Death Cult, but for any leader offering commonsense solutions to curtail the terrorists’ ability to wage war on the innocent.

The Left wraps itself in political correctness and multiculturalism like a suicide vest. They’d rather blow up the whole country than admit the stupidity of thinking a nation can remain the same after inviting in millions of people who despise its values.

I guess it’s not surprising really. The Left in Europe and America has always had a self-destructive hatred for the things that make a country great and worth living in: free markets, free speech, a civil society grounded in Judeo-Christian values, a strong national defense, and sovereign borders. They’re constantly attacking every one of these things. That’s undeniable.

But their dangerous ideology is being “mugged by reality.” People are waking up. Young Marion Maréchal-Le Pen built her electoral win last week by going to the rural small business owners – the average French citizens who have been ignored by their elite politicians and have had enough.

We see the same thing happening here in America. Call it the rise of the populists. Pundits are already seeing the similarities between Marion and Marine Le Pen, Donald Trump, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). All are non-establishment candidates taking on corrupt, entrenched, and detached political elites who are more interested in preserving their own power than in defending their countries.

It’s time to wake up, America. Nowhere in Europe or America is safe from this Great War against the Death Cult. San Bernardino wasn’t a one-off phenomenon. ISIS is already here. According to a House Homeland Security report, over 250 people in the U.S. have attempted to join ISIS (that we know about), and 82 have been caught in ISIS plots. Meanwhile, the FBI has nearly 1,000 open cases involving ISIS that we know of.

We don’t have a handle on this situation now, but our insane politicians want to import more so-called “refugees.” Forgive me if I’m a little skeptical about the refugee part. We just learned that ISIS is forging fake Syrian passports, and we already know that two of the Paris attackers entered Europe posing as refugees. We have no way to vet anyone coming to our country. This is why we need to seal the borders.

And we must speak candidly about the need for those coming here to assimilate to our values, as immigrants have always done in the past. Our country isn’t 16 centuries old, but our Founders were under the influence of nearly 18 centuries of Judeo-Christian thought and time-tested truths when they drafted our Constitution. We would do well to remember that our Constitution is incompatible with Sharia, and anyone who wants to live under Sharia should settle elsewhere.

When Marion Maréchal-Le Pen speaks of France’s 16 centuries of Judeo-Christian history and heritage, her rhetoric isn’t about “hate” or xenophobia. It’s about love – that deep love of country we call patriotism.

Mark Twain believed patriotism was personified in the story of a young French woman who “found a great nation lying in chains, helpless and hopeless” and led it “from victory to victory” until it was free. “With Joan of Arc love of country was more than a sentiment – it was a passion,” Twain wrote. “She was Patriotism embodied.”

As Marion faces the political battles ahead, I wouldn’t be surprised if she says a prayer to France’s Patron Saint, for Marion is a reminder of her – Joan of Arc.