Dealing with Decline
I’ve tried to get worked up about Germany’s recent electoral confusion, but nothing came of it. Couldn’t even muster any good ol’ Teutonic schadenfreude over our old friends’ troubles. My one brief thought on the issue wasn’t even worth blogging by lonesome: “Certainly a Germany with no leader is preferable to a Germany with a strong one.” Pretty lame stuff.
Before Germany’s weekend election, of course, French President Jacque Chirac checked into the hospital, instigating a mad scramble for power. Imagine 50 Frenchmen of a certain age in really nice suits, all shouting and waving like Arnold Horshack trying to get a little attention from Mr. Kotter. Or in this case, from that tiny fraction of the French electorate that really decides things.
What was shocking though was what I read on the blogs about France and Germany: Damn near nothing.
Chirac, America’s best back-stabbing friend, is having health problems, and the blogosphere practically ignores him? Germany rejects much-needed economic reforms, and warbloggers aren’t giddy with I-told-you-so-itis? What’s going on here?
I think I might know.
Individually, any blogger is just as prone to error and bias as anyone else. Collectively, the blogosphere has wisdom and tenacity enough to bring down Dan Rather, Howell Raines, and Trent Lott
The problem with replacing France’s UN seat with an EU one of course, is that you would have to do the same to Britain.
And there is no way I want to surrender our seat!
France and Germany want to be treated as equals. Fine, treat them that way.
…I can only assume you mean equal with each other.
Never consult one without consulting the other. Or better yet, do all the consulting through their EU bastard child.
….hm.
Either way, eventually France and Germany will be back at each other’s throats
Tuesday Required Reading
Over at Vodkapundit, Stephen Green has some thoughts on recent developments in France and Germany and what they mean for American foreign policy.
If an EU seat is conditioned upon giving up her own seat, I think Britain will back off from full integration.
It will be fun to hear France’s explanation that she needs her own seat at the SC even though the EU is supposed to handle her foreign policy.
Stephen,
divide-and-conquer policies are easily recognizable and would backfire badly.
Ralf,
“Good Cop/Bad Cop” is also easily recognizable, but it works, nonetheless.
Exactly! France is the bad cop, Germany is the good cop.
But it’s not divide-and-conquer- that’s the beauty of it. It’s unite-and-neutralize!
Same difference.
Germany is just another example of the MSM/DNC lies. I have said many times here the last 16 months I have relatives there and the middle class is solidly pro-American. I mentioned that his party was crushed in each of the last 2 rounds of state elections. The rich Germans do not like America (think Kofi, oil-for-food) and their MSM hates us. But most Germans supprot the War on Terror and their voting the last 4 years shows this.
One thing that most Americans do not understand is that Germany has many parties. When he first came into office his party barely got a third of the vote. He had to form a “coalition” with the Communist/Greens and 3 other “minor” parties to form his government.
The man on the street in Germany has always supported the War on Terror. Schroder’s anti-American stance has cost his party in each of the last 3 elections. Of course you will never hear this from the MSM/DNC.
– Herr Germany needed moral clout and forgiveness. Mademoiselle France needed money and muscle. They never loved each other, but each could give the other something the other one needed.—
It’s the European way.
I’ve been telling the Euros about the EU – 1 voice, 1 vision, 1 seat at the UN.
If they get 26 we should have 51.
As to Britain, I cannot urge too strongly to begin reading EU Referendum which has been doing a wonderful job covering “defence” issues.
Mother’s senile and has fallen for the froggie gigolo, she should stay in that old folks’ home.
Via EUR:
The state-controlled China Galileo Industries (CGI) is bidding to take over the operations of the EU’s Galileo satellite positioning system in the Chinese region, giving it full control of all the systems. This will include the ability to provide targeting information for its new-generation cruise missiles and the sophisticated military command and control systems under development.
This was reported last night by the Xinhuanet news agency, which cited Meng Bo, chair of the board of CGI, saying, “We’re trying to get the operation franchise in China, which might begin in 2008.”
—
Our tech transfer w/Mother has been thinning for a few years now.
My head snapped back when I heard Rumsfeld refer to “Old Europe” a while back. Don’t know if that was a slip-up or if he intended to say it, but it was my first clue about the decline of “Old Europe”. My only concern about Europe, in terms of affecting the US, is their rapid Islamofication. That cannot bode well for us.
Dear Sir,
I resent your statement that we in the blogosphere neglected the Big News From Europe. For example, I have been providing extensive coverage of Jacque Chirac’s activities:
http://louminatti.blogspot.com/2005/09/jacque-chirac-leaves-hospital.html
ralf,
two of the biggest mistakes after wwII were giving the french and the germans self government. this was almost immediately apparent with the french and has been intermittently apparent with the germans (especially kinders schroeder and lafontaine).
hopefully the allies will not make this mistake again when the US and the UK need to return to the european mainland. restore the rights of the kings of england to govern france (all of it this time, not just a few kingdoms) and make germany an overseas territory jointly administered by US and UK. hopefully canadian politics will return to their stature of WWII and we’ll see the dominion playing a central role in the anglo empire. just have to get the americans to accept hearing rule britannia… maybe make it a joint anthem with star spangled nbanner