France's EU Rejection

The French rejection of the EU Constitution could be summed up best as a failure to provide much-needed leadership. Jacques Chirac’s penchant for pomp and bluster has been revealed as a bit of a smokescreen. Perhaps the same lack of leadership that resulted in the fissure regarding Iraq is responsible for the results of this referendum. As you recall, Chirac’s version of diplomacy within the EU has amounted to informing dissenting members of “New Europe” to shut up, or sniping at Tony Blair that he was brought up poorly. Granted, President Bush has certainly made his share of diplomatic blunders, but to my knowledge, he has not stooped to the level of name-calling.

David Ignatius writes in today’s Washington Post:

It was a no that resonated on many levels: a rejection of the document and the wider Europe it came to symbolize, a rejection of a market-driven way of life that's taken for granted in America, and above all a rejection of President Jacques Chirac, who tried to trick and cajole France into embracing the realities of the global economy, rather than forthrightly explaining them.

Of course, the ‘non’ camp has been described as a collection of Communists, Troskyites, Socialists, and Far Rightists. What does this say about the majority of the French electorate? Most Europeans seem to have a very academic view of Marxism. Americans choose a more pragmatic view of this system. A dreamer might look at a system that has generally failed in practice, and wonder how that same system would work in theory. Of course, Capitalism has its flaws as well, but we could always compare North Korea and South Korea to gain some perspective on this

Europeans must come to realize that a Global Economy is a fact. Ignatius writes:

Whatever their class, age or political orientation, French people want to conserve what they've got. They want to maintain inflexible management and labor unions, six-week vacations, a 35-hour workweek -- and also to be a growing, dynamic, entrepreneurial economy. Chirac never had the guts to tell the French they couldn't have it both ways. He never explained that rigid labor rules had led to a high unemployment rate, currently 10.2 percent.

Hopefully, Angela Merkel will have the courage to do what Mr. Chirac could not bring himself to do. She must be straight with the German electorate, and tell them that they must change their way of thinking, and she must have the courage to lead an unwilling population to go where they must go (even though they may not want this). Hopefully, Germany will have the courage to be “led” through this process.

The EU Constitution

The European Union’s impending Constitution showdown is very interesting indeed. Most agree that the document is bulky, hyper-political, and so complex that it’s meaning will be difficult to precisely interpret. However, most logical reviews of this situation also indicate that ratification of the EU Constitution is necessary for the Union’s continued development and economic improvement. There are two main issues that come to the forefront:

First, as George Will indicates in his recent article, the document itself has serious issues…

The proposed constitution has 448 articles -- 441 more than the U.S. Constitution. It is a jumble of pieties, giving canonical status to sentiments such as "the physical and moral integrity of sportsmen and sportswomen" should be protected. It establishes, among many other rights, a right to "social and housing assistance" sufficient for a "decent existence." Presumably, supranational courts and bureaucracies will define and enforce those rights, as well as the right of children to "express their views fully." And it stipulates that "preventive action should be taken" to protect the environment.

Do the European elites really believe that their rank-and-file public electorates understand this document? Or does it not really matter because the majority of EU citizens will not be afforded the opportunity of a referendum vote such is occurring in France today? The elites in Germany recently adopted the Constitution at the Bundestag level only. If given the opportunity would the social-minded Germans react any differently than the French Socialists? Will Continues:

The European Union, which has a flag no one salutes and an anthem no one knows, now seeks ratification of a constitution few have read. Surely only its authors have read its turgid earnestness without laughing, which is one reason why the European project is foundering. Today in France, and Wednesday in the Netherlands, Europe's elites -- political, commercial and media -- may learn the limits of their ability to impose their political fetishes on restive and rarely consulted publics.

Of course the other main issue is one of the European public’s inability to administer itself some much-needed medicine. Will correctly notes that the European process has come this far by largely bypassing democracy.

Many French voters will use today's referendum to vent grievances against Jacques Chirac, who has been in power for 10 years, which would be excessive even if he were not overbearing. Some French factions, their normal obstreperousness leavened by paranoia, think the constitution is a conspiracy to use "ultraliberalism" -- free markets -- to destroy their "social model." That is the suffocating web of labor laws and other statism that gives France double-digit unemployment -- a staggering 22 percent of those under age 25.

The far-reaching social entitlements system in Europe is stifling the collective economy, but the general public seems unwilling to make the necessary reductions to this system. Again, this is a difficult pill to swallow if you are accustomed to these full benefits. The Euro-Elites are also paying the price of their very existence right now. The governments of western Europe have not kept up with their ever-changing populations.

Furthermore, with a Muslim presence in France of 8 percent and rising, there is a backlash against Chirac's championing of E.U. membership for Turkey, which would be, by the time it joined, by far the most populous E.U. country. Admission of Turkey would further reduce -- more than did last year's admission of 10 nations, eight in Eastern Europe -- the European Union's output per person, which according to one study already ranks below that of 46 American states.

This is of course in part, the point… With a 8% Muslim population in France, I believe that there are approximately zero Muslim members of the National Assembly. With a 2% Turkish population in Germany, I believe there is approximately one Turkish member of the Bundestag.

The Newsweek Debacle

<>Newsweek finally retracted their Qu’ran flushing story yesterday afternoon. This came after refusing to retract the story earlier in the day. Of course the entire process of damage control is in high gear. Clearly, Newsweek is treading that fine line of being just remorseful enough, but not totally copping to the realities of their anti-Bush bent.

I understand that Michael Isikoff has even offered up that he would be willing to resign over this issue. Problem is…apparently the parent company would not accept his resignation because they obviously don’t really think that journalistic standards have been abused in this story.

How biased must the overall organization be when the original story famously quoted that “sources tell Newsweek" that "interrogators, in an attempt to rattle suspects, flushed a Qu'ran down a toilet. . . .” How badly must the organization have wanted this story to be true to characterize the so-called story in this way? Newsweek now admits that not only was there only one “source,” but that the anonymous pentagon source essentially “thought” he remembered reading a report that had indicted testimony of the flushing incident. Apparently Newsweek did not bother to request a copy of (or proof of its existence) this pentagon report. How can the parent company deem that this constitutes proper sourcing of the main crux of this story?

It should not be unreasonable for a "free-thinking" journalist to question the obvious logical lapses in the entire premise of this story. It is widely known that the US military in Gauntanamo Bay have reportedly been extremely respectful of the prisoners' religious requirements, from diet to time to pray, etc... Would a college-educated journalist not even bother to wonder about the logistics of actually flushing a book down the toilet - even if in pieces? I'm not sure what the water-saving measures are in Cuba, but here in the US our toiltets use a scant 1.6 gallons per flush. I have personally had great difficulties getting things much smaller than the Qu'ran to actually to down... Not sure if it's even possible, but certainly worth questioning.

The print media is largely responsible for the growth of anti-Americanism in may parts of the world. Luckily, we in the US are now getting a balance of news reporting via cable television and the Internet. Unfortulately, Europe as a whole, largely depends on the print media for its source of news. The bias there is pervasive in all of the media; from Paris to Berlin.

Finally, why does this sort of story seem to constantly end in rioting? Don't know, but it's always something!!!!

Capitalism Debate in Europe

There is currently a big debate in Europe about the merits of capitalism. In particular, Deutsche Welle has reported that Franz Muntefering, of the Germany’s ruling SDP party, recently made reference to international investors as “locusts.” This of course brings up several questions regarding not only the validity of these statements, but perhaps the timing as well.

Could this be just another case of “Blame America First” by the Germans? We all know that when used in a derogatory tone, the term “capitalist” is code for American companies whom invest in Germany. This is done as some sort of camouflage / smokescreen to the real ills of the German economy. The politicians in Germany know precisely what the real ales are, but they are too gutless to address them. The social entitlements in Germany, combined with poor domestic consumerism and low birthrates are choking out their vaunted entitlements system.

We don’t see an ongoing debate among Germans about the ills of their socialist system. This is because the Herr Schroeder cannot get re-elected by speaking these truths. He has been half-heartedly trying for a couple of years to institute structural reforms. However, an unmotivated electorate that is far too accustomed to social handouts make it impossible for these much-needed changes to be implemented. In my opinion, Germany today is enduring a malaise of low expectations similar to that of America in the late 1970s. What is desperately needed is the adoption of business-friendly tax reforms so that domestic investment can stimulate the overall situation.

Does the timing of this debate have anything to do with lagging poll results for the current coalition government? We all remember how an infusion of good old Anti-American rhetoric drove the current government to re-election in 2002.

Germany…Stop looking for scapegoats and make the necessary reforms that everyone knows are way overdue!