Posted on 05/08/2007 6:30:11 PM PDT by Cincinna
'Finally, a revolution in France that I approve of!"
That was Edmund Burke, reacting happily to the election of conservative Nicolas Sarkozy as the new French president.
Burke looked and sounded pretty chipper, considering that he's been dead for 210 years. OK, I'm not sure I was really talking to Burke. But I felt his spirit, knowing he would be delighted to see the French socialists defeated once again.
Those socialists, of course, are the inheritors of the 1789 Revolution that Burke so eloquently opposed. In 1790, the Anglo-Irishman wrote a small book, "Reflections on the Revolution in France," which has become a classic. In its pages, he defended the "ancient principles" of society and tradition against the iconoclastic radicalism of Robespierre and his Marie Antoinette-guillotining Jacobins.
As Burke put it, "The Jacobins have resolved to destroy the whole frame and fabric of the old societies of the world, and to regenerate them after their fashion." This radical virus first infected France and then spread, in its more malignant communist form, to Russia and other countries.
But in recent years the red tide has ebbed - even in France, where the defeated candidate, Ségolène Royal, attempted to cloak the failures of socialism in the newer guise of sexy feminism. But it didn't work.
James P. Pinkerton's e-mail address is pinkerto@ix.netcom.com.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Here's hoping the new Sarko era will bring to fruition all it promises.
Jim Pinkerton channels noted Conservative, Edmund Burke:
“But specifically,” I queried, “what’s Sarkozy’s task?”
“He must modernize his economy, in keeping with the verities of hard work and thrift. He must protect the French from ruffians in their midst. And he must safeguard his country from two alien dogmas: the border-flattening beliefs of the globalizers and the mortal danger of Islam, threatening to extinguish the glory of Europe forever.”
And it should remain so.
Good to see the outcome of this election. I guess I don’t even “love to hate the French” so much anymore. :)
Edmund Burke ping.
That said, he hasn't actually done anything yet and promises to be stoutly defied by a hyperemotional and destructive Left with all the political sophistication of an infant whose diapers are in permanent need of a change. Royal showed its true face with her blatant threat of violence should her party be rejected, as it was. And it turns out that a society consisting of well-defined groups with no loyalties but plenty of vested interests is a society under a constant threat of paralysis. The underlying message is "let us rule or we'll tear the country apart." The Democrats are testing this ploy themselves but do not yet dare to use it to the degree the Socialists have in France. I wish Mr. Sarkozy the very best of luck, because he's going to need it.
They lost one election by 6 points. It seems unduly optimistic to write them off forever.
We can hope though.
btt
The Socialists lost this particular Election by 6 points. They have now lost three Presidential Elections in a row. When Sarko’s term is over, the Socialists will have been out of power for 17 years.
The Socialists polled at their lowest since 1969.
I’m not saying its not good.
But remember the Republicans won three Presidential elections in 80,84 and 88. Permanent majorities are hard to count on.
This is the continuation of the “Thirty Year” cycle theory. There is the war decade, then the conservative one, and then the liberal one. Granted, these “decades” never last exactly ten years, but the cycles have lasted for well over a century.
The question is, can Nicolas Sarkozy change ingrained historical norms in French thinking? I'm quite hopeful for him and desirous of his success, but change will likely occur gradually and require patience on his part.
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Marxine Waters (D-CA) tried it in Watts. She got her riots and in the end most of what she wanted.
yitbos
An indictment should be issued for Segolene Royal for conspiracy to incite the leftist rioting.
French people are getting tired of riots and disruption of their culture...I’d say M. Sarkozy has tough work ahead...
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