THE WEIRS TIMES & THE COCHECO TIMES, Thursday, May 17, 2012


7


FRENCH ELECTIONS—SOCIALIST JOLT RATTLES EUROPE Markets rumbled, but the danger


UNITED NA-


by John J. Metzler Syndicated Columnist


TIONS—Tone, tenor, and style separate Nico- las Sarkozy from Francois Hollande as much as clear political ideol- ogy divided the two contenders for the French


presidency. But sentiments like voter discontent, backlash and anti-austerity describe the mood French voters were in when they elected the Socialist candidate. Francois Hollande’s victory


with 52% of the vote compared to 48% for the incumbent, returns the Socialists to the Elysee Palace (White House) for the first time in seventeen years. Sarkozy becomes the latest leader voted out of office resulting from collateral damage from the economic recession. But the euphoria of Hollande’s victory may soon fade as reality inter- venes; first from the yet undecided results of the National Assembly elections in June, and equally from the undertow of recession. Sarkozy was the energizer bunny


of French politics, a peripatetic and dynamic leader who was blindsided by the global economic recession and confronted by the rumbling crisis for the Euro cur- rency. Despite these constraints, Sarkozy enacted some positive economic reforms as well as reori- entation of foreign policy. The president elect, Hollande


known as Mr., Normal is a clam, cautious, and near-passionless, speaker who won in the second round of the elections by cobbling together a coalition of his Social- ists, and the hard left includ- ing the communists. Hollande emerged from elitist schools and shall strive to be a tireless techno- crat. His victory was based less on reciting the socialist dogma than being of the anti-Sarko can- didate, the anti-bling-bling, anti- austerity man. Though moderate and less polar-


izing by standards of the Social- ist party, Hollande nonetheless remains in debt to the hard left which got him elected. Hollande’s victory represents less of a lurch to the left as much as the pendulum swing of politics where the Social- ists have not held the presidency since 1995.


comes not from fear of nationaliza- tions but of mismanaging and mis- judging a deep seated European economic malaise and making it worse through the tempting elixir of massive government spending. “Francois Hollande to be tested


by Power,” argues the headline of the business daily Les Echos. The journal adds that the new president faces major economic challenges including growth, com- petitiveness, debt unemployment and a new European growth pact. So what kind of substantial For-


eign Policy changes can we expect from Monsieur Hollande? Nicolas Sarkozy’s instinctive pro-


Americanism will be replaced with the more traditional French skep- ticism. Sarkozy’s public political passion for the USA has stood out as atypical for either the conserva- tive Gaullists or the Left. It has engendered resentment among much of the Left and never sat too well with sectors on the right. . On Israel, Sarkozy oversaw a


profound shift in French policy towards a more balanced and accommodating view of Israel, a major shift from traditional policy. Don’t expect the Hollande govern- ment to be as fair and balanced in its relations with Jerusalem. In Afghanistan, Sarkozy sent


a sizable French military contin- gent to help with NATO mission. Francois Hollande has stated he will press for an early pullout from Afghanistan. Equally Sarkozy fully reintegrat-


ed the French military back into the Atlantic Alliance. More importantly, France may


go mushy on the issue of Is- lamic Iran’s nuclear proliferation. Sarkozy’s France, along with Brit- ain and Germany have taken a very tough tact towards Tehran. Will Hollande’s government stay on the same diplomatic page, or offer more creative “third ways” to deal with the aspiring Atomic Aya- tollahs in Islamic Iran? Moreover, shall France’s close cooperation with the USA and Britain in the UN Security Council, now become more equivocal? Economically the new govern-


ment in Paris will strive for contin- ued close ties with Berlin. Yet close Franco/German ties between polit- ically like-minded leaders Sarkozy and Merkel could now be strained. Hollande has pledged to renegoti-


ate the Europe’s “fiscal compact” painstakingly worked out between Sarkozy and Merkel to control defi- cits, debt, and spending. Additionally to the backdrop of


the continuing political chaos in Greece, the unexpected collapse


of a conservative and fiscally re- sponsible government in the Neth- erlands, there are few countries except for Austria and Finland who adhere to Germany’s austerity budget guidelines. France under See METZLER on 12


THE MORAL INFRASTRUCTURE


by Thomas Sowell Syndicated Columnist


The “ O c - cupy” move- ment , which t h e Ob ama administration and much of the media have embraced, has impl icat ions that reach far beyond the passing sen- sation it has


created. The unwillingness of authori-


ties to put a stop to their or- ganized disruptions of other people’s lives, their trespassing, vandalism and violence is a de facto suspension, if not repeal, of the 14th Amendment’s re- quirement that the government provide “equal protection of the laws” to all its citizens. How did the “Occupy” move-


ment acquire such immunity from the laws that the rest of us are expected to obey? Simply by shouting politically correct slogans and calling themselves representatives of the 99 percent


against the 1 percent. But just when did the 99 per-


cent elect them as their repre- sentatives? If in fact 99 percent of the people in the country were like these “Occupy” mobs, we would not have a country. We would have anarchy. Democracy does not mean mob


rule. It means majority rule. If the “Occupy” movement, or any other mob, actually represents a majority, then they already have the votes to accomplish legally whatever they are trying to ac- complish by illegal means. Mob rule means imposing


what the mob wants, regardless of what the majority of voters want. It is the antithesis of de- mocracy. In San Francisco, when the


mob smashed the plate-glass window of a small business shop, the owner put up some plywood to replace the glass, and the mob wrote graffiti on his ply- wood. The consequences? None for the mob, but a citation for the shop owner for not removing


See SOWELL on 18


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