
 |
|
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
June 6, 2005
/ 28 Iyar, 5765
French, Dutch arrogance sets continent adrift
By
Richard Z. Chesnoff
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Talk about the arrogance of the French! How about the arrogance of the Dutch? Fearful of competing with workers from other parts of Europe, not to mention losing some of those extravagant social benefits they can't afford anymore, French and Dutch voters went to the polls last week, dramatically rejected the European Union's first-ever proposal for a regional constitution and threw the entire continent into turmoil.
I say both naysay votes part of a pan-European series of constitutional referendums were major mistakes. All the French and Dutch did was deal devastating blows to the grand scheme to unite Europe as a bloc, the very dream that France and the Netherlands have claimed to champion for more than 50 years.
An astounding 61.6% of Dutch voters said nee. But in France, the 55% non vote was more than just an expression of French xenophobia. Many French voters failed to understand the complicated proposal. Instead, they went to the polls angry about double-digit unemployment and an ever weakening economy, and decided to render a sharp political slap in the face to the man they hold responsible President Jacques Chirac.
Chirac had staked his prestige on winning the referendum, then predictably shrugged off cries for his resignation a move that would not only lose him his remaining two years in office, but also the immunity that currently protects him from corruption charges. Now in the wake of his defeat, Chirac has fired his premier the affable but largely ineffective Jean Pierre Raffarin and appointed a rubber stamp protégé in his place, Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin.
Americans will best remember the snooty de Villepin as the man who led the often nasty French anti-American campaign at the United Nations on the eve of (and ever since) the Iraq war. (Once the fighting had begun, de Villepin was quoted as saying he wasn't "certain" which side he wanted to win).
De Villepin appears ill equipped to deal with France's internal problems or rather, like Chirac, afraid to take on the French labor unions and deal with those problems by talking reality to the French people. "What France needs," says moderate French parliamentarian Pierre Lellouche, "is a political leadership that will tell French workers you can't compete in the 21st century with 35-hour workweeks, with social benefits we can't afford. France needs to rediscover our ambition."
So where does Europe go from here? Chances are things will get worse before they improve. It's back to the European Union drawing board at best. In France, future hope may lie in the man many would have preferred over de Villepin, Nicolas Sarkozy, a former finance minister, a technocrat with a positive attitude toward the U.S. and currently Chirac's greatest rival for the French presidency. In a move aimed at neutralizing him, Chirac named Sarkozy to a powerful place in his cabinet minister of the interior. Few expect Sarkozy to take a backseat. The game has just begun.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
CHESNOFF'S LATEST
The Arrogance of the French
Sean Hannity This book will open your eyes!
Bill O'Reilly Why do the French hate America? Richard Chesnoff has figured it out and informs us with entertaining clarity.
Dennis Miller France sucks, but this book doesn't.
Michael Barone, Co-author, The Almanac of American Politics Americans-and the French-will learn a lot from this book.
Clifford D. May, President, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies Richard Z. Chesnoff insightfully-and entertainingly-explores America's most dysfunctional relationship with America's least reliable ally.
Sales help fund JWR.
|
JWR contributor and veteran journalist Richard Z. Chesnoff is a contributing correspondent at US News & World Report, a columnist at the NY Daily News and a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense of Demoracies. A two-time winner of the Overseas Press Club Award and a recipient of the National Press Club Award, he was formerly executive editor of Newsweek International. His latest book, is "The Arrogance of the French: Why They Can't Stand Us & Why The Feeling Is Mutual". (Click on cover above to purchase. Sales help fund JWR. ) To comment, please click here.
ARCHIVES
© 2005, Richard Z. Chesnoff
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|