K- Don’t you mean Dutch treat?
Just checking in for a minute, but I can’t help but agree with Rich on the EU stuff. Now is the time for unreasonable giddiness, schadenfreude, and rank geopolitical opportunism. Maybe not items one and two, if we’re talking about what the offcial US response should be, but for the rest of us, I can’t see how this is anything but fantastic news.
Though I do think there’s little reason to rejoice about the voter’s intentions. If I understand the debate in France correctly, it was about whether or not a refrigerator box or a tree house makes for a better place to hide. Oh, wait, that was a different debate. This debate was about whether or not the proposed new EU constitution would result in “ultraliberalism” AKA as “the American” economic model. In other words, both the yes-ers and the no-ers were voting with anti-American attitudes. One group wanted the EU to stick it to America geopolitically. The other group found that part appealing, but was more afraid of becoming like America culturally and economically. In short, I think France remains largely a write-off to us. The good news, however, is that France is now far less positioned to determine the course of European foreign policy generally — and that’s great news.