A Global Shift in International Politics

There are few things in this world that can have a long enough ripple effect to change politics on two continents. Especially if those two continents are North America and Europe. In the past it's generally been the trend that when Americans elected a conservative, the Europeans tended to go more socialist. When Americans ventured far left as they are apt to do every 25 years or so, the Europeans tended to go more to the right.

There have been some examples such as when Reagan and Lady Thatcher ruled. The event in that instance that brought both regions into alignment was the threat of the Soviet Union but even then, the Canadians went with the liberal Trudeau and continental Europe varied.

But now we are seeing this odd convergence once again and its happening because of another global scourge--global Islamic terror in general and ISIS in particular.

In the US we are seeing the rise of Donald Trump who has struck a cord with his nationalism, tough talk and common sense approach in talking to the American people. Trump will be the nominee and he will most-likely destroy Hillary in the general. Barring a last minute freak out by the Democratic party where Hillary becomes "sick" during the general and Joe Biden jumps in to save the day, i don;t see it going any other direction. It's not helping anyone that Obama is taking a backseat in the fight against ISIS except Trump. By Obama deflecting blame on the San Bernadino terror attack away from the actual perpetrators and on to the NRA, Republicans and everyone else but those who actually are responsible, he's given an opening to Trump to exploit. The American people are pissed and another attack will only increase that anger. The average low information voter who doesn't generally pay attention until the year of the election is watching and the dithering by the president is registering.

Note: I'm not saying Trump is a conservative but he is nationalistic and his foreign policy would be farther to the right than anyone since George W. Bush's first term post 9/11.

In Europe, there's been a power shift. Angela Merkel was arguably the most powerful leader and showed true leadership during the economic meltdown in Greece. However, any prestige she banked was quickly spent during the recent and continuing exodus of Syrians into Europe. She took the approach of many modern day Germans who wish to erase the 70 year stain of national socialism and bend over backwards showing how they are accepting of everyone--even those who will do harm. That approach has directly led to one attack and an uproar throughout the west.

In the UK, David Cameron has had a rough go of it lately. He wanted to be a domestic issues leader and also wanted to be buddies with Obama. Unfortunately, we live in a world where domestic issues have taken a back seat to global terror ones. ISIS' strategy of radicalization through social media means that the global has now become the domestic and the letter cannot be solved without addressing the former. Just this week, Cameron began a bombing campaign against ISIS and just yesterday an attack occurred against one of his citizens because of it.

The real change is is France. During the early 2000's after the 9/11 attacks, France played it cool. Often they did not wish to deal with external situations unless they were the situations they believed affected them. Sarkozy was what in France is considered center right and was then replaced by Hollande who is definitely left. But now we are seeing a rise of the right that is expanding. The LePen family has been ostracized for decades because of their supposed nationalistic and xenophobic platform. Yes, several pockets of support were there but the larger provinces did not play along...until now and the rise of a young, beautiful leader Marion Marechal-LePen:

On Sunday, buoyed by the shock of the Nov 13 Islamic shootings in Paris, the list she heads is widely expected to come in first in the Provence-Côte d’Azur region, with polls giving her some 40 per cent of the vote. Even if the third-ranking Socialists drop out of the race to favour her Gaullist opponent in next Sunday’s runoff, Marion, as she’s known, has the most chances to swing into office, giving the Front National a shot at ruling one of France’s most dynamic regions, and the second most populous after Paris.

In the wake of the recent attacks, France has taken a step back and assessed where they are as a nation. France is becoming much less French because of the policies currently in place. It was easy to blame the riots of Muslim "youths" on cultural and economic problems but those problems could be solved if the large immigrant populations would assimilate and become French they believed. This worked well with migrants from former French colonies like Morrocco. But the new waves are not French first or even identify as Syrian, Iraqi or Libyan first, they are Muslims first, second and always. Assimilation is not going to happen tomorrow or next year and that is dawning on the continent as a whole and the French in particular. This has already led to Denmark taking a hard line on immigrants from entering due to public backlash.

While America continues to accept immigrants and not take a short break to review policies and procedures, Europe is going the other direction. Perhaps we are on the cusp of seeing the rare confluence of events whereby America and Europe are led by right wing leaders who believe the safety of their citizens is more important than being liked by political elites. This is crunch time in a global war that will have far-reaching implications and the futures of both America and Europe depend on what happens next.

The Latest on the Paris Attacks

President Hollande unleashed his air force yesterday but it appears he's not quite so eager to unleash the ground troops. Liberals are always reticent to go all out when they are attacked. His thinking is that they'd be going it alone and that the indigenous forces should fight the battle. I find this strange considering the entire world is behind France right now, they are a NATO member and by NATO rules, they were attacked and an attack on one is an attack on all. Perhaps he's afraid Obama wouldn't join in or more likely doesn't even want to ask him and put him in the position to have to make a decision--something he is loathe to do with regard to military matters.

Speaking of Obama, he's not backing down from taking in Syrian refugees and will have a battle on his hands. Kentucky, Michigan, Texas, Arkansas and others have said they will not take them in until the system is fixed. Chris Christie also declined but Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf (Democrat) said he'd be more than happy to take them. Of course he sits in Harrisburg--a long ways from either Philly or Pittsburgh and even terrorists don't like going there. Once again, Obama is going against what Americans want because he's Obama and he's never wrong...just ask him.

Obama also lashed out at his critics as expected. Just like he did with Putin when he essentially called him a pussy, Obama always tries to sound tough and manly but ends up coming off sounding like one of the idiot protesters at Dartmouth, Columbia and Mizzou. And of course, he's not going to change the strategy because to do so would mean he was wrong and Obama is never wrong...ask him again. He has the opportunity to leave a real legacy; instead of the worst job market in two generations, a healthcare plan that will cripple us and a plan to unnaturally keep interest rates low that will result in crazy inflation, he could've been the guy who led the coalition that defeated the barbarous ISIS and freed Christians, slaves and Kurds.

Finally, the US attacked an oil convoy today with A-10 Warthogs--the plane the Air Force brass has been trying to get rid of for a decade but is eternally loved by the troops. I guess the low oil prices come with a benefit: ISIS would be making a hell of a lot more money and buying a hell of a lot more weapons if the price of oil was $80 instead of south of $40.

Michelle Obama Doesn't Like to Be Upstaged

Apparently Michelle Obama is a bit put off by French First Lady Carla Bruni:

It seems as though Obama is intentionally slighting the French leader and his hot wife for some unknown reason. Perhaps it's because of Michelle. I guess Obama maybe thinks that Sarkozy's France isn't as historically "French" as Obama's America now is.

Ann Althouse is hosting a caption contest.

Obama Pisses Off Another Major Ally

You can't make this stuff up.

The most un-serious administration ever has now infuriated French President Nicolas Sarkozy:

Now Obama has insulted French President Sarkozy!

Oh no! Obama sent a letter to Chirac, saying he looks forward to working with him the next four years. Le Figaro, French newspaper is horrified at the faux pas. Doesn't Obama ever consult his staff before acting? Sarkozy is the President there! It's like Sarko writing to George Bush and saying he looks forward to working with him. Chirac is the FORMER president.

In the letter Obama credited Chirac for his stance against the Iraq invasion even though anyone with even cursory knowledge of Chirac and Iraq knows that many of the French (and UN) elite had insider deals with Iraq through the corrupt Oil for Food program. Chirac's involvement has never been fully investigated but most signs point to the fact he knew exactly what was happening.

Not only that, Chirac actively tried to profit from our invasion after we had secured Baghdad in a shameless ploy to cozy up after the heavy lifting was done.

Chirac's stand was purely for greed and to cover up his country's massive involvement, it was by no means principled as Obama believes.

So now The One has effectively embarrassed our nation by irritating the Brits, the Poles, the Czechs and now the French. It's only a matter of time before he pisses off the Germans. I'm guessing he'll be really nice to the Soviets Russians, though.

Congratulations to The One, you've set back our relationship with the Europeans more in two-months than W. did in a full two terms. You should be proud. For the rest of us, we're just more embarrassed than ever.

More at Gateway and No Pasaran.

Thursday Night News and Notes

Here's what's a happenin' in this crazy-ass world:

-France returns to the fold. Welcome back.

-Gov. Perry joins Gov. Sanford in rejecting stim $ for unemployment. The conservative movement is stirring. Sanford is more creative, though.

-Rep. Maxine Waters joins the growing list of Democrats who are entangled in money scandals. This may be a record-breaking year of scandals and they're mostly Dem. They should be about as proud as NJ was to have Camden named the most violent city in the US.

-Liberal hack Margaret Carlson says that Geithner is really smart when no one is around to notice it. Get off your knees, Maggie.

-Obama considering moving National Guard troops to the border to deal with the nasty drug war spilling across our southern border. Perhaps if Bush and McCain had pushed to build a border fence...

...Tony Ward is the President’s nominee to head the Justice Department’s Civil Division. He was John Walker-Lindh's (aka: Johnny Taliban) defense lawyer. So we all have this straight; you defend a guy who converted to Islam and then fought against his own country--what sane people call treason--and you get a nice gig with the next prez. About what I expected from the new president.

Sunday Morning News and Notes

Good morning and a fine early spring one it is here in South Jersey.

Here's some must-reads from around the Internet:

-Pursuing charges against the Bush administration can have serious repercussions.

-Great. Iran fires a new long-range missile. It's from their state TV so take it with a bucket of salt.

-The Most Articluate President Ever can't get away from his tele-prompter crutch.

-Hugo Chavez welcomes Comrade Obama to the light of socialism.

-You know those released Gitmo terrorists? We'll probably be seeing them again thatnks to a French court.

-Treacher dropping Google bombs.

Europeans Learning That Whole EU Thing Not So Great

As with any major agreement between many nations, the European Union has fine print that's written by ideologues who may not have all nations best interests at heart:

The peoples of Europe have finally discovered what they signed up to. I do mean "peoples" (plural) because however much political elites may deceive themselves, the populations of the member states of the EU are culturally, historically and economically separate and distinct. And a significant proportion of them are getting very, very angry.

What the strikers at the Lindsey oil refinery (and their brother supporters in Nottinghamshire and Kent) have discovered is the real meaning of the fine print in those treaties, and the significance of those European court judgments whose interpretation they left to EU obsessives: it is now illegal – illegal – for the government of an EU country to put the needs and concerns of its own population first. It would, for example, be against European law to do what Frank Field has sensibly suggested and reintroduce a system of "work permits" for EU nationals who wished to apply for jobs here.

Meanwhile, demonstrators in Paris and the recalcitrant electorate in Germany are waking up to the consequences of what two generations of European ideologues have thrust upon them: the burden not just of their own economic problems but also the obligation to accept the consequences of their neighbours' debts and failures. Each country is true to its own history in the way it expresses its rage: in France, they take to the streets and throw things at the police, in Germany they threaten the stability of the coalition government, and here, we revive the tradition of wildcat strikes.

Europeans and American liberals are all for open borders throughout the world--for instance US leftists would love to see the border between the US and Mexico erased. The problem as described above is that people are at heart nationalistic. They may join together in happy harmony while things are good but when it comes to feeding ones family, all bets are off. We're seeing that in Europe as we speak.

Just as all the nations who signed on to the Kyoto Protocols learned: an idea may sound great in theory but once people actually get involved, the happiness wanes and reality sets in, usually at great cost.

I see some coalitions splintering and some European leaders getting voted out in the near future.

Thursday Morning News and Notes

It's cold but pitchers and catchers report in 23 days so life is starting to look better.

Here's the news of the day:

Welcome to Washington, Obamatons.

Shocker! The oceans of the world have been cooling according to NASA.

I don't know what's funnier; the fact that Jacques Chirac has a poodle, that he was mauled by it or that it was considered "clinically depressed". Dude, I have an Akita that weighs a buck ten but a poodle?

Obama blows off Medal of Honor winners at ball.

A Conservative icon passes.

Power Outage News of the Day

Just lost power for an hour or so. Thanks to our technology and skilled labor it was back on quickly, no easy feat in an ice storm. Thanks PSE & G, now I can continue to increase my carbon footprint as I was a starting to get the shakes knowing i just wasn't doing my part to increase my output...well, I did light every damn candle in the house so I didn't go completely without spewing carbon.

Anyway, here's some links from around the 'sphere:

Senator Burris was kept from becoming Senator Burris by a Senator who is by far the most embarrassing of the lot. Racist Democrats, just another example of an all white club trying to keep the black man out.

San Fran Dianne backs down on her denunciation of Obama on the insane pick of Panetta for the CIA chief. Perhaps because the incoming prez and his half-wit sidekick showed the proper respect.

Awesome! Obama tied to man who is at center of scandal that forced Richardson to withdrawal. Dude, Chicago politics is about to not only go national but worldwide. Happy days ahead.

Sweet! Hugo Chavez is forced to make some changes to policy because he doesn't have those crazy petrol dollars to throw around. I sense a coup coming.

Shocka! Jews targeted in France. It must have been those damn non-religious "youths" we hear so much about.

You Can Take the Commie Out of the KGB...

Our old buddy Vlad Putin is still the same old Vlad he was when he was a KGB man back when the Russians were still Soviets:

Nicolas Sarkozy saved the President of Georgia from a threat by Vladimir Putin to depose him from power and "hang him by the balls," according to an account that emerged today from the Elysée Palace.

The Russian Prime Minister told Mr Sarkozy of his plans for deposing the Tbilisi government and disposing of President Saakashvili when the French leader was in Moscow last August to broker a cease-fire in Georgia.

Nice. I imagine old Vlad will not be too happy about the wimpy French (but I'm redundant) President revealing the details of a meeting he had with him. Saakashvili grew up under Soviet oppression so he has to have some intestinal fortitude. It makes one wonder what Mr. Putin will propose to do to the future President Obama?

I foresee Russia trying to supplant al-Qaeda as being the biggest thorn in the side of the US over the next five years. Welcome to the big time, President-elect O. Note that Putin has not started to assert himself again until the end of the Bush years.

Sarkozy: Obama Position on Iran "Utterly Immature"

This is hearsay but it does seem absolutely plausible that a center-right European politician would find Obama's positions vis-a-vis the Middle east infantile at best:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is very critical of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama's positions on Iran, according to reports that have reached Israel's government.

Sarkozy has made his criticisms only in closed forums in France. But according to a senior Israeli government source, the reports reaching Israel indicate that Sarkozy views the Democratic candidate's stance on Iran as "utterly immature" and comprised of "formulations empty of all content."

Granted, this could be Ha'aretz running an unfounded story because they--as I'm sure most Israeli's--an Obama administration. But it does sound genuine.

It goes without saying that if an ally found him to be "empty of all content" that so will Ahmadinejad, Hamas leadership, Nasrallah and the Pakistani leadership.

We are treading on dangerous ground at this point in our history and it isn't all that encouraging to hear that a valuable friend thinks the front-runner is a joke. I imagine that the inept Gordon Brown of Britain and the even more inept Kevin "I eat my own earwax" Rudd of Australia will find a certain kinship with Obama however.

Why Do The Democrats Hate Europe?

The Democrats have been keen on pointing out that Pres. Bush in particular and the GOP as a whole are just not nuanced and continental enough for Europeans who are sick of our "cowboy" mentality.

Explain to me why they would allow Europe to suffer while they took a day off in the midst of the biggest financial crisis in decades:

France heaped pressure on Gordon Brown last night by floating an ambitious plan for a €300 billion (£237 billion) bailout fund to rescue crippled banks across Europe.

As the world held its breath on the fate of America’s $700 billion bank bailout plan, President Sarkozy was seeking the backing of European leaders for his own lifeboat.

Nancy Pelosi shut down the House for Rosh Hoshanna--the Jewish new year celebration--while Europe was left floundering. If the House had been in session on Tuesday, perhaps the world markets would have been calmed somewhat and the Irish banks would not have had to take the actions they did, further worsening the crisis for the continent and the EU.

Pelosi's inaction has left our allies and business partners with a feeling of hopelessness simply because she wants to play politics with this issue. When a crisis of this magnitude erupts, it shouldn't matter if it's election day, Ramadan, New Years Day or Christmas, the House should have stayed in session to assuage the tension felt globally. But then, Pelosi shut down the House in August to go on a book tour while average Americans were struggling mightily with high gas prices so we shouldn't be too surprised.

Pelosi's inaction may have worsened this crisis more than we'll know because she decided to act...should we say, unilaterally like a cowboy?

Shocker! France Loves Obama; Palin, Not So Much

France has been tacking to the right lately with the election of Nicolas Sarkozy and their renewed efforts to work with NATO in Afghanistan. However, France will always be France, which wouldn't be such a bad country if it wasn't populated with, well, the French.

They are excited about Obama as shown by the words of this racist esteemed Frenchman:

Bernard-Henri Lévy wrote in the magazine Le Point of Mr. Obama as a new type of American black politician.

“Obama is, certainly, black,” Mr. Lévy wrote. “But not black like Jesse Jackson; not black like Al Sharpton; not black like the blacks born in Alabama or in Tennessee and who, when they appear, bring out in Americans the memories of slavery, lynchings and the Ku Klux Klan — no; a black from Africa; a black descending not from a slave but from a Kenyan; a black who, consequently, has the incomparable merit of not reminding middle America of the shameful pages of its history.”

He goes on for a while, but you get the idea.

He sure has solid view of America and African-Americans, doesn't he? I guess he forgets that we are in 2008 and not 1954 or for that matter, 1944 when us shameful slave owners were kicking Nazi ass all the way across his country--a country the French themselves either abandoned or joined the enemy instead of fight. I'll not even touch on the inherent racism of the statement but will say this: How many "blacks" have been president in France? How many even were accepted enough to attempt it? Answer: zero.

But, this sophisticated and cultured people does not like that evil woman from Alaska, oh no:

There is less philosophizing about Ms. Palin. Dominique Dhombres, writing in a commentary in Le Monde under the headline “She Believes in God, America, the Family and Firearms,” calls Ms. Palin “a powerhouse — she’s almost a tank.” He then compares Mr. McCain to Monsieur Verdoux, “the dapper family man who murders 12 women for their money,” as played by Charlie Chaplin. “I guess you could call them Monsieur Verdoux and his pit bull.”

Mr. McCain is admired for his bravery, but his “maverick” qualities are less understood, partly because he is seen as so conservative on social and religious issues. His experience in foreign affairs is appreciated here, even though some recall his remark during the prewar Iraq debate, when he described the French this way: “They remind me of an aging movie actress in the 1940s who is still trying to dine out on her looks but doesn’t have the face for it.”

It's funny they say McCain is admired for his bravery because he is the epitome of the American male who sailed across the English Channel knowing that death was imminent and stormed the beaches of Normandy anyway. This while half the French nation collaborated and was the exact opposite of brave. as for the murdering twelve women for their money part, it's not even worth a comment.

As for Palin, the French fault her for being that most evil of things: American. My goodness, she believes in "God, America, Family and Guns," how very gauche. The very thing we like about Sarah Palin, the French abhor, that's even more incentive to elect her. She's not the suave, debonair, nuanced, European-light type of candidate like Obama, she's more the type that will protect a friend using any weapon at her disposal when the consequences are gravest (like a pitbull), not throw them under the bus for convenience. Well, I guess Obama really is like the French.

I guess we need not be concerned what the French think for they are about to become a large part of the Muslim Caliphate really soon anyway and cease being, well, French.

Update:It appears the French may just need some of those wretched guns to maintain order:

ROMANS-SUR-ISERE, France (AP) - A French police officer was shot and wounded during clashes with youths that broke out after a teenager died while fleeing police, authorities said Tuesday.

The officer appeared to have been shot in the leg with a hunting rifle, said the police prefecture in Romans-sur-Isere, a southeastern town located 60 miles from Lyon in the Rhone Valley on the edge of the Alps. The officer's life was not in danger. Dents from bullets and buckshot were also found in police vehicles nearby.

I always find it humorous the lengths the AP goes to in avoiding calling the "youths" what they are: Muslim immigrants. Perhaps the French essayist's maight wish to consider writing about solving that nations domestic problems and leave American politics to Americans.

Sarkozy Wins Over Unions

There was an earthquake earlier this week in Europe. It was not one that shook the ground but one that shook long-established traditions.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy took on the vaunted French unions and won through righteous resolve. He knew that it was a battle that had he lost, he would effectively have lost momentum and credibility. Instead, he stared them down and in doing so may have saved the French economy and their standing as a world power.

The French have been mired in a stagnant economy for quite a while as the rest of Europe, led by Ireland, has flourished. 35-hour work weeks and numerous vacation days had the result of sinking production, efficiency and output thus reducing French economic power in the EU and around the world. Under Chirac, the French lost support of the American citizen and those of the continent. In fact, French credibility was so reduced as to be insignificant as shown by the EU Constitution going down in flames.

Sarkozy has done several things that will benefit his nation long-term: first he reconciled with the US. Years of Chirac had led to diplomatic hostility and harmed relations on all fronts (see the French wine industry as exhibit A). Next, he reiterated his support of NATO. Now he went after the biggest domestic problem for the French, the unions and the firm grip they had on the nation.

Investors Business Daily sums it up thusly:

On Friday, Sarkozy vowed to go ahead with economic reforms that may help end France's long economic slide into irrelevance. "I have no intention to stop the reform movement, no intention to slow it down, no intention to forget my promises," he said. "I made commitments. They will be kept."

Those phrases echo those made by both Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher when they faced similar union-made problems — in Reagan's case, with air traffic controllers; in Thatcher's, with the Marxist-led coal miners. Both stuck to their guns and won. Now Sarko's done the same.

No longer, he told the transport and energy unions, could their members expect to retire on full pensions at age 55 — and in some cases as early as 53. Instead, they must put in a full 40 years.

Contrast that with Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac. During his presidency, the unions routinely got their way — especially in 1995, when they virtually shut down the economy with strikes over basically the same pension issues.

Comparisons with Reagan and Thatcher--high praise indeed.

I'm not well-informed on Thatcher and the coal miners, but Reagan changed the way the federal government operates when he booted the air traffic controllers. Bush could have had his Reaganesque moment if he had the nerve to stand up for Social Security reform. He failed miserably in that skirmish.

Let's hope Sarkozy continues to make the necessary changes as we need allies that are not only strong militarily but strong economically as well.

Bush and European Leaders Reunite

In the run up to the war in Iraq, Democrats and liberals screamed about unilateralism despite the fact that we had numerous allies with us. You see, Germany and France were not a part of the "Coalition of the Willing" and therefore it was unilaterialism. The left moaned and whined that our standing was degraded by the thoughtful and nuanced Europeans seeing the folly of our actions and the "cowboy" George W. Bush has made us a laughingstock in the eyes of our "allies" across the Atlantic. The fact that France had, shall we say, a financial reason for not joining us was lost on the anti-warriors. Also lost was the way the left short-changed our newest allies such as Poland and Bulgaria.

Fast-forward to present and the current state of our relationship with European leaders. Angela Merkel is a close ally with the President as is Gordon Brown of Britain (update: he's been cold due to his political situation but that will change). But the most avid response we've seen from a European leader has to be from Nicolas Sarkozy, the new leader of France.

Sarkozy is currently in Washington D.C. and he seems to have a firm grasp on the seriousness of the Iran question as well as the greater War on Terror:

"Let me say it here before all of you: The prospect of an Iran armed with nuclear weapons is unacceptable for France," Sarkozy declared to applause.

"Iran must be convinced to choose cooperation, dialogue and openness," he said. "No one must doubt our determination."

Sarkozy said the Americans did not need to worry about France backing out of Afghanistan, where a resurgent Taliban challenges NATO troops. France has about 1,100 troops in the country.

"France will remain engaged in Afghanistan for as long as it takes, because what's at stake in that country is the future of our values and that of the Atlantic alliance," he said to more applause.

France did not live up to their NATO obligations under Chirac but with the advent of a new Europe and the undetermined future of Russia, Sarkozy is well-aware of the need for alliances like NATO.

This is all well and good for now as it is still the honeymoon portion of Sarkozy's rule, yet time will tell how he'll react if the only course remaining against Iran is the military one.