The French voted and the world may never be the same. The BBC reported:
In the French referendum almost 55% of people voted "No", with 45% in favour. Turnout was high, at about 70%.
It is a severe - perhaps fatal - blow to the EU constitution, which needs to be ratified by all 25 member states.
The French have a democratic tradition that is objectively superior to the United States’. Freedom House ranks them at least our equal in terms of political liberty and civil rights, but Freedom House is perhaps less than objective in their assessment of America. The French in fact have the world’s greatest democracy. The French had a revolution. America had a colonial insurrection. The people of France, victors in a revolution that overthrew the monarchy and laid the foundation for democracy, came to the aid of the ragtag American colonials who were seeking tax relief. We have always resented that. Now we will watch and see what French influence brings to the EU constitutional process. The people have spoken.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Yes because of the French we have a nation, but 1789 was the last time France had any major impact on the world, except for french fries.
And it was the French Communist Party and the radical French right wing that carried the day.
The French never saw the larger picture of a united Europe. The French are paranoid of the future, job prospects, and eastern Europe flooding France with cheap labor.
Why did they import so many Moslems into their Catholic country?
What about paté? What about Pepe LePeu? Apache dancing? Force de frappe? superb modern weapons that compete with the American merchants of death…. ooo, wait a minnit! Could it be that we resent them because they are fine engineers, excellent business people, great artists, and because we are such sick fuck competitors that we can’t appreciate them for who and what they are and what they have achieved?
I think France may save the world some day, from over-easy, brand-driven corpocracy masquerading as democracy.
As a country/culture, they take ideas and words much more seriously than do we here in North America. They still believe in Liberté Fraternité Egalité, and work to make it happen .. versus “In God We Trust”
This vote may be an early signal of what this guy suggests is coming .. the end of globalism …
http://afr.com/articles/2004/02/19/1077072774981.html
What about Paris?
Le plus ca change . . . . oh, screw it. C’est la vie. Or, as the King of Krawferd would say, if he were able to speak French, “c’est la guerre.”
c’est ma vie maintenant. c’est mon choix. in for a penny in for a pound… it took me a while to understand “separation of church and state” being north american and all. mon cul entre deux chaises.