European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was “ready to lead the fight” against extremist political forces in a speech to the European Parliament. “I will never let the extreme polarization of our societies become accepted. I will never accept that demagogues and extremists destroy our European way of life,” von der Leyen told lawmakers as she asked them to grant her a second term in a vote on Thursday. Praising the Europe that emerged after the end of World War II as “the best version in history,” von der Leyen said she would never “stand by and watch it be torn apart from t…