French Election Mumbling; GOP Debate Notes

Now Playing: Rush, "Snakes & Arrows" - hmmm....

Anyone else notice how abruptly American media fled the French PM election story after their hopeful - the vestigial socialist Segolene Royal - lost to the reportedly "conservative" and America-friendly Nicolas Sarkozy?

Yeah, that sounded a lot like a pin from this end too...

That election result has gotta just burn if you're on the staff of the New York Daily Socialist Worker (a.k.a. "Times") - 'considerably more encouraging to those of us who count ourselves among the civilized. The big question is whether Sarkozy can do much of anything in the direction of rationality and liberty, as head of a nation rooted in the intellectual goo that is Rousseau.

The instant rioting that followed Sarkozy's victory over Royal is not encouraging - though rioting has been a more or less constant feature of France regardless of who's running the show. At any rate, an about-face to enthusiastic pro-American, semi-free-market leadership is an unexpected shot in the arm from an ally that's traditionally been an antagonist. There may be hope for Western Civilization yet.

America's Presidential prospects, however... Well, last week we got a good preview of what the GOP has to offer and it's a mixed bag at best. The only one who approached the Reaganism to which they all paid lip service was Ron Paul, who made some now-unheard-of admonishments to Constitutional reference for all government activity. The man clearly possesses sincere conviction on that point - unfortunately, he's stuck in a kind of Kantian quicksand on the subject of national security. Echoing the most disastrous of Libertarianism's flaws, Paul embraces what he calls "non-interventionism" as a kind of categorical imperative on foreign policy, to be adhered to regardless of context.

In terms of consequence it doesn't matter whether his advocacy of retreat and Ostrich Mode is based on his reading of Founding principles or the Left's emotionalist pacifism. On 21st century Earth it's tantamount to suicide, or more precisely, "victim-assisted homicide." Isolationism was only practicable when crossing an ocean was a matter of months rather than hours - the only issue for which the passage of time and development of technology have changed the equation.

'Most unfortunate that Paul is most solidly wrong on the one most vital issue: National security and the defense of Western Civilization. His eloquent, often passionate articulation of first principles in nearly every other area relegated the rest of the rostrum to the status of maleducated teenagers. The contrast was unexpected and stunning:

- Giuliani's most valuable assets are limited to a.) his status as "most likely landslide material" given his potential to pull from Democrat moderates and b.) his palpable commitment to the fight against terrorism, wherever that may end up being. Beyond that he's perhaps the King of All Mixed Bags;

- Romney takes the prize for slickest telegenic presence, also for most readily-identifiable RINO - but then we had his record as Governor of Massachusetts as proof of that;

- the rest of the pack are studies in mixed premises, destined as also-rans;

- and lastly, Constitution-shredder McCain remains embarrassingly confused as to the location of the Democrat-Socialist debate.

Speaking of Demo-Socialists, they continue their slide into blind rage and de facto neo-Nazism, which is only disturbing - as opposed to merely pathetic - if the GOP leaders on the "do" end of Edmund Burke's famous quote do...what Burke described, yet again.

Stay tuned...