BUSH'S MANDATE FOR EUROPE

New York Post ^ | 11/08/04 | NICOLE GELINAS

[kattracks]

PARIS

THE French spent the days leading up to the U.S. election cat aloging the evidence of an irreparable schism between les deux Amérique: Red states vs. blue states, coastal voters vs. heartland voters, rich vs. poor. But the re-election of President Bush last Tuesday will expose more domestic fault lines in Western Europe than in the United States over the next four years.

More than three-quarters of French citizens would have voted for John Kerry, according to international polls. But say this for the French: They accepted their electoral rout quickly and stoically.

The French — from the elites of the political class to the waiters in cafés — understood immediately that they could no longer view their two-year-old split with America as a temporary quarrel with a barely legitimate president. The Le Monde newspaper called Bush's triumph "a conservative revolution." Le Figaro lamented that "this year, the Democrats' resounding defeat cannot be doubted."

[snip]

And when Bush reforms America's Social Security system during his second term, America will leave France and Germany further behind — because an aging Europe faces the same entitlement-reform challenges that America is finally confronting.

So Bush's second-term mandate for Europe is: Change economically, or admit your political irrelevance.

Europeans loathe the message. But after last Tuesday, they know they are in no position to fight the messenger.

[Seattle Conservative]

Thanks. It looked ok when I reviewed it, obviously, it wasn't :-(

[processing please hold]

Don't live up to your name do you....

[MNnice]

I'm a liberal, and I know you guys don't like that.

Look, I never had much time for liberal twits with their collectivist economics, libertine social policies, or their kumbaya views of globalism, but I always, at least, respected the left's willingness to stand with us on the right to fight against tyranny.  With your utter failure to lift a finger to help us remove the biggest threat this world has ever known, I no longer have ANY reason to respect you people.

 

[liberallarry]

Excellent, excellent observation supported by great examples.

[liberallarry]

supplying us with false intelligence, causing us to go where they fear to

If you're referring to the phony Niger yellow-cake documents, I thought the Administration position was that they didn't influence our actions. If not, what are you referring to?

[shibumi]

Sorry, in the heat of my anti-Gallic rhetoric, I misspoke. (Surely liberals are familiar with that phenomenon!)

I should have phrased it: "supplying us with phony intelligence in an ATTEMPT...."

The point being, they will sell out anyone, even those they are doing business with. Lying to the French is more of a habit than an anomaly. This probably explains why the most recent Democratic Pretender spoke their language so well.

[liberallarry]

(Surely liberals are familiar with that phenomenon!)

Intimately. And with every other sin known to man including, specifically, pomposity and constipation. But sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I wasn't criticizing. I was just inquiring.

[Tolik]

I am reading a book called "Shadow War: The Untold Story of
How Bush is Winning the War on Terror" by Richard Miniter. It answers perfectly the misconception that Bush was distracted from the WOT. I understand that you'd need to spend your money to buy the book, but it least read some of his articles at the http://www.richardminiter.com/

[nosurrender]

Sure I do. I won't surrender; I just hope I can understand what just happened, to be honest. I don't want to think that a majority of this country is insane. I wouldn't want to think 30% were, to be honest.

[shibumi]

Pomposity is something I will freely admit to, but I'll have you know that I eat at least eight servings of fruit and vegetables every day. In fact at this very moment, I'm consuming a sushi roll, cucumber salad and half of a fresh pineapple. It really works, too!

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

I usually go on left-wing sites, so maybe there's something I don't know.

If you do usually go to left-wing sites, then there's no "maybe" about it.